The Story of the Bible 10
Adam--Seth--Noah--Shem--Abraham...Do you understand what is going on in the Bible?
The Offspring of Abraham 1 (Genesis 12-50)
Adam—Seth—Noah—Shem—Abraham....
Ok, so, as we saw in the last article in this series, we are to look for the Messiah through the descendants of Abraham (Genesis 12:2-3). But Abraham had many sons—one (Ishmael) through Hagar, his wife Sarah’s handmaid, one through Sarah herself (Isaac), and several sons by his wife Keturah, whom Abraham apparently married after Sarah died (Genesis 25:1-2). From which of these sons will the Messiah come?
“In Isaac your seed shall be called” (Genesis 21:12).
The Arab peoples today also claim to be descendants of Abraham, through Ishmael. And since Ishmael was the first-born, the law of primogeniture says that he should be the favored son, thus the Arabs—Muslims—are the “chosen people” of God. Of course, this wouldn’t work, even in ancient times, because Hagar was not the legitimate “wife” of Abraham; indeed, technically, Ishmael was born via an act of adultery. The Messiah would be God in the flesh (Isaiah 9:6-7). Nobody in Arab history, not even Mohammed, fits that description. Only Jesus does.
So, we must look for the coming Redeemer through Abraham’s son, Isaac. God even told him (Isaac) so: "And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 26:4)—the exact same thing He had said to Abraham. But Isaac had two sons—Esau and Jacob. Through which of these two are we to search for the Messiah? The Lord does not leave us guessing....