The Promises to Abraham

Back in Genesis we read about a man called Abraham, who was called by God to travel from his home city in Ur in Chaldea (which is in modern day Iraq) to the land of Canaan (now called Israel). In chapter 12 of Genesis, God made this promise to Abraham:

Abraham's wife was called Sarah, but she could not conceive children, so the idea of Abraham having any heirs seemed remarkable, if not completely unbelievable. What happened next was an example of what happens when man fails to trust God. Abraham was so desperate to have a child that he had a son, Ishmael, by his wife's handmaiden, Hagar. Later on, through God's intervention, Sarah did have a child, Isaac. The Jews stem from Isaac and the Arabs stem from Ishmael.

Now arises the problem. Because Ishmael was the firstborn, the Arab nations believe that they are the heirs of God's promises to Abraham, but because the birth of Isaac was a miracle, the Jews believe that they are the true heirs to them…

If we read further on in Genesis, we see God's answer to the problem.

So the Bible states that Ishmael's descendants will be a great nation and in fact, if we consider the Arab states, they are the wealthiest nations in the world today, so God did keep his promise to Ishmael's offspring. But what about the Jews and the nation of Israel, Isaac's descendants?

The Jews

The history of Israel reads like a roller-coaster ride. We read in the Bible that they were the chosen nation of God, but that they rejected Him. God appointed kings such as King David to rule over them, but still they failed Him. Finally He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, and again they failed and crucified him. Jesus prophesied that God would exile the Jews from their land "until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled". In AD 70 the Jewish people were driven out of Jerusalem; the temple they loved was destroyed; they were dispersed across the world for the next 2000 years, and just over 50 years ago risked complete annihilation at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust.

So has God forgotten His promise?

NO! God was willing to give them one last chance, and prophesied in the Book of Ezekiel that, before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, He would bring the Jews back into their land, and they would be a prosperous nation again. And if we look back to 1948, that is exactly what has started to happen. The Jews are back in their land and growing as a nation. The source of a lot of the troubles today is the widely-held view that the UN and leading Western nations allowed the return of the Jews to the land of Palestine, but gave little regard to the Palestinian (mainly Arab) people who have been settled there for the last 2000 years. So again the old conflict has flared up between the Jews, who say the land is theirs in accordance with the promises which God made to them, and those Arabs who have now made the land their home. The other point of contention is Jerusalem. We have already said that this will be the capital of the new Kingdom, and the Jews and the Arabs are desperate to have control of the city. Events in Jerusalem are more significant than events anywhere else in the world.

Is this a Holy War?

Many groups with extreme beliefs will claim that they are fighting a "Holy War". Many other people today claim that "religion is the cause of most wars". So which claim is correct? The excuse for a "Holy War" is usually just that, an excuse. But in battles in the Bible, the nation of Israel often wiped out nations that despised God. And the fact is that God's hand is visible in ALL wars in the world. God is engineering world events, so that the time will be right for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. At first this may make God seem callous and uncaring, but what it actually shows is that the tribulations of this world are merely a temporary state. That soon all wars will be wiped out, and in the Kingdom of God there will be a new world order of peace, love and happiness.

How does this affect me, I'm not a Jew or an Arab?

Back in our quotation from Genesis, you may have noticed that it said, "… all peoples on earth will be blessed through you". Well, this is now the case. Through Abraham and his descendant, Jesus Christ, the offer of a place in this Kingdom has been extended beyond the Jews, to ALL people in the world who believe and follow the commandments of Jesus Christ.

We can read more about this in Paul's letter to the Galatians, where he writes:

You may not be Jewish or Arabic, but keep an eye on the Middle East. Every time something develops in this part of the world, we are seeing events that are affecting God's chosen people, and these are all signs that the return of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God is not far off (see When will it come? for more details).