Whose Land is it anyway? Part 2
Someone had recently commented about the Promised Land - that land being Israel - and asked the legitimate question saying “Wasn’t Ishmael Abraham’s son as well?” I have given an extensive answer in a previous post that you may want to read called ‘Whose land is it anyway?’ This post was getting quite a bit of readership, so you may want to go on over to check it out.
I would like to take this opportunity today to reiterate that I stand on the bible alone with regards to God’s given land firstly; in this post however, I will also point to the Koran and where the Koran actually stands regarding this little bit of highly contentious piece of real-estate. In regards to above question, I have just brought my rebuttal over here to a new post as it was rather lengthy. But I wanted to make additional clarification for those who have stumbled across my blog for the first time.
Regarding the question of ‘ Wasn’t Ishmael Abraham’s son too?’, yes he was Abraham’s son, (in fact Abraham had many sons by another wife called Keturah), Ishmael was also blessed but not with the land of Israel but with the land called ‘Paran’ which is known today as Egypt, his mother’s homeland.
Abraham himself noted that Ishmael was not recognised as the promised seed by which Sarah was to give birth to and Abraham petitioned God concerning the plight of Ishmael. Abraham had this to say:
Gen 17:18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
God answered with a very clear prophesy saying this:
Gen 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.
The Covenant land (also known as the Promised Land) was established with the seed of Abraham by his wife Sarah and it is later that Jacob enters into the equation through being Isaac’s second born son (remember too that the covenant is an everlasting one and speaks of Isaac’s seed after him that being Jacob whose name is later changed to Israel. Much can be said about the patterns of blessing promised to the second born son right throughout the bible - there is a unique typology being set up here that is most important to understand, as this points to Christ in a very clear way - I may post on that one-day!).
This covenant however was not for Ishmael… Ishmael was blessed with much more land than Isaac ever received in comparison.
Gen 17:20-21 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. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
Gen 21:20-21 And God was with the lad, and he grew. And he dwelt in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.
Important Disclaimer:
I have stated at the beginning of this post that I will always use the Bible as my defense and that which I will stand upon; I will use it foremost to make my argument, as I believe it to be the inspired Word of God. However, I have read the Koran and have researched the historical and cultural significance of Mohammad and his successors and the subsequent conquests made on behalf of the new religion of its time called ‘Islam’; of which many peoples and many nations were converted to throughout its long history.
I personally view the Koran not to be an inspired book, but one that can be of cultural and historical significance only because of certain valuable insight given to an early pagan Arab era when there were many tribal rivalries because of the many gods that were worshiped during that time (the moon god being one of many, this moon god is still seen being carried on the flag of Islamic nations today).
The Koran is also important for the very reason that if we are to begin with any basic understanding of the religion of Islam we would start with the actual book and also the Hadith which is a collection of sayings of Mohammah and other prominent figures that lived during the earliest years of Islamic conquest.
The Koran when compared with the bible which has an obvious historical significance - also let it be noted, the Bible was written many centuries earlier than the Koran - has been found to have many inconsistencies contained within but of more concern to me is the contradictions it has concerning Christ Himself and indeed other notable figures of the Old Testament, it also confuses the triune nature of God (the Koran we have today was compiled by Uthman the third of four so called rightly guided Caliphs).
However, for those readers who are not altogether convinced by the ‘Bible alone stand’ that I take, perhaps for you then, the Koran can add more weight and consideration in regards to the land and the rightful occupancies, that being the Jews, as both books re-iterate and in no way does either book contradict but rather reinstates my argument of which I am not alone.
In this Surah Moses is quoted as telling the Jews to “enter into the Holy Land which Allah has assigned to you”. While Mohammad later condemns the Jews for their sins and their refusal to accept his message (meaning, accepting Mohammad himself as the prophet of God which collectively they have never done, neither have Christians for that matter), he never says that, as punishment, that Allah has revoked the Jews title to the Holy Land. Therefore the title still stands according to the Koran.
Surah 5:20-21 Remember Moses said to his people: “O my people! Call in remembrance the favour of God unto you, when He produced prophets among you, made you kings, and gave you what He had not given to any other among the people. “O my people! Enter the holy land which God hath assigned unto you and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin.”
