Answers - A Third Reply

Submitted by M. Tovey (United States), Jun 16, 2010 at 17:56

In responding here, I'm of the mindset to combine answers to two different inquiries of yours, and hope that in do so, there is an understanding of why there is a disparity in true Christianity powered in faith in Jesus Christ, and how that affects what may be presented to you regarding the previous questions you had, and these latest ones.

I had recalled an earlier inquiry questioning Israel's rights to the land when there are other 'sons of Abraham', and why does the Biblical perspective preclude anyone from usurping Israel's promise by Almighty God. To paraphrase, what governs the promise? A number of other similar answers have been given, and yet a deeper study of the WORD of the LORD enhances the issue.

The Abrahamic covenant embraces Isaac as the line through which Israel is in succession to the promise of the land. It is Isaac that Abraham brought to Mt. Moriah (contrary to what others might say), and it is his sacrifice of the substitutionary ram that foretells the sacrifice of Jesus Christ centuries later. That having been said, Ishmael does have his own heritage, but it is one of a different type. We have said before, that Isaac is the son of the promise to a free man; Ishmael, the son of a bond servant, a distinction that is Biblically made.

I'll not recount the full promise to Abraham through Isaac; that I have sufficiently mentioned it before. But through Ishmael, we see a different course outlined; a different heritage for the descendents. Here are some of the excerpts:

Genesis 17:19) And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, [and] with his seed after him. 20) And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.21) But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. 22) And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

Genesis 25:13) And these [are] the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, 14) And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,15) Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: 16) These [are] the sons of Ishmael, and these [are] their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations.

Isaiah 21:16) For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail:17) And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel hath spoken [it].

Ezekiel 27:21) Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these [were they] thy merchants.

Isaiah Chapters 42 -43: (an excerpt, but the full text should be read in context) 42:11) Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up [their voice], the villages [that] Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. 12) Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.

Isaiah 60:3) And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising…………6) The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD………..7) All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory…..9) Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. 10) And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.11) Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that [men] may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and [that] their kings [may be] brought. 12) For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, [those] nations shall be utterly wasted. 13) The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. 14) The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Moving from the promise of the land to the people, to the promise of the new covenant:

Hebrews 9:15) How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 16) And for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first (Old) Testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

This is the bottom line, that as I wrote before, we who have accepted Jesus Christ at His WORD in faith have a joint inheritance in the future with Him, for He paid the price of our sin debt, and we are justified through His sacrifice to be with Him as He reigns. The pagan theologies did not-could not teach that; neither can any other religious endeavor. Our faith in Jesus Christ gives us our only hope.

Now to attempt to justify, or not to justify any religious endeavor that does not preach the love of Christ as the basis of proving or disproving a means of belief is useless, and I'll not engage in doing so, for there is no productive end to that. The Holy Bible stands on its own power through the WORD spoken by Jesus Christ.

As to a growing presence of Islam in places once though impervious to outside non-Biblical religious influences, the Bible has much to say about that, as I have already pointed to. It is not restricted to the 'Bible-belt' locales of the United States, but it is world-wide. Remember, the United States was not created as a Christian only country, but a place that allowed for PEACEFUL expression of one's beliefs.

Thus the rise of Islam is now seen as the force to be reckoned with, and of the conflict predicted in Jeremiah and elsewhere. It is so predicted in the Holy Bible, a sign of the impending return of Jesus Christ. This is where one needs to be wary, that if one rejects the truth about Jesus Christ as promised and predicted by Jesus Christ Himself, to whom does one go if His truth is proven by the Holy Bible and there is nowhere else to go.

I point again to the best available proof of the WORD of the LORD and the Word spoken by Jesus Christ; that Israel is the promise and fulfilled promise of Almighty God through which salvation comes by faith, and continues to be so, forever. All other attempts to discredit those facts on the ground are futile and nothing more can be said to add to the Words of Jesus Christ Himself.

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