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Hagar and Ishmael
Many people do not realize but this passage from the Old Testament is the story of the people who now claim Allah as God. The Muslim religion traces its roots back to Ishmael. For this reason, Abraham is honored in the Muslim faith. We spoke about this in one of our Bible studies recently to point out the second and third order consequences of our actions. Abraham had been given the promise that he would be the Father of a great nation. Because Sarai, his wife, knew that she was barren, she took the situation in hand and took her handmaiden, Hagar to Abraham who slept with her, impregnating her with the boy Ismael.
If Ismael is the Ancestor to the Arabs, then this one action -- not willing to wait on God -- created the nation that now wants to destroy the Jews (descendants if Isaac). God's timing is perfect and we need to learn to wait on the Lord.
Another interesting fact is that Muslims theologians believe it was Ismael, not Isaac, who was supposed to be offered as a sacrifice to God.
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