How the quarrelsome Arab's mother, Hagar came into the picture:
Gen 16:1 But Sarai and Abram
had no children. So Sarai took her maid, an Egyptian girl named Hagar, 2
and gave her to Abram to be his second wife.
"Since the Lord has given me no children," Sarai said, "you may sleep with
my servant girl, and her children shall be mine." TLB |
And Abram agreed. (This took place ten years after Abram had first arrived
in the land of Canaan.)
| Gen 16:4 So he slept with Hagar,
and she conceived; and when she realized she was pregnant, she became very
proud and arrogant toward her mistress Sarai. TLB
(Gen 16:4 When she knew she was pregnant,
she began to despise her mistress. NIV |
Hagar was, therefore, the first surrogate mother in history - we see this
from Sarai saying,
| "her children shall be
mine." |
But she was wrong, Hagar didn't want to be just a surrogate mother, and a
power struggle erupted:
| "she began to despise her
mistress," |
Hagar obviously wanted to become wife number ONE and that her child would
be Abram's heir. This was definitely not what God intended. Hagar (and obviously
her offspring) was to remain in an inferior position in Abram's household.
This is reflected by the angel saying to Hagar:
| "Go back to your mistress and
submit to her* Gen 16:9-10 NIV
-("act as you should,"
TLB) |
She didn't submit, though, that eventually led to Sara having to demand that
Abram get rid of her:
Gen 21:10 she turned upon Abraham
and demanded, "Get rid of that slave girl and her son. He is not going to
share your property with my son. I won't have it."
11 This upset Abraham very much, for after all, Ishmael too was his son.
12 But God told Abraham, "Don't be upset over the boy or your slave-girl
wife; do as Sarah says, for Isaac is the son through whom my promise will
be fulfilled. 13 And I will make a nation of the descendants of the slave-girl's
son, too, because he also is yours."
14 So Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food for the journey,
and strapped a canteen of water to Hagar's shoulders and sent her away with
their son. She walked out into the wilderness of Beersheba, wandering
aimlessly.15 When the water was gone she left the youth in the shade of a
bush 16 and went off and sat down a hundred yards or so away. "I don't want
to watch him die," she said, and burst into tears, sobbing wildly. 17 Then
God heard the boy crying, and the
Angel of God
(Messiah)
called to Hagar from the sky,
"Hagar, what's wrong? Don't be afraid! For God has heard the lad's cries
as he is lying there. 18 Go and get him and comfort him, for I will make
a great nation from his descendants."
TLB |
Similarly Abram sent away the children of other concubines:
| Gen 25:5 Abraham deeded everything
he owned to Isaac; 6 however, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines
and sent them off into the east, away from Isaac. TLB |
He also clearly indicated that Isaac's wife's two sons will become two nations,
the Hebrew nation (stronger) and the Edomites (weaker):
Gen 25:21 Isaac pleaded with
Jehovah to give Rebekah a child, for even after many years of marriage she
had no children. Then at last she became pregnant. 22 And it seemed as though
children were fighting each other inside her!
"I can't endure this," she exclaimed. So she asked the Lord about it.
23 And he told her, "The sons in your womb shall become two rival nations.
One will be stronger than the other; and the older shall be a servant of
the younger!" TLB |
Then Esau (Esav in Hebrew),a carnal man, not caring about his birthright
(and having no vision, initiative or ambition), sold his birthright as 1st
born son:
| Gen 25:30 He said to Jacob, "Quick,
let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" (That is why he was also
called Edom. - Hebrew adom=red - from him came the Edomites) 31 Jacob replied,
"First sell me your birthright." 32 "Look, I am about to die," Esau said.
"What good is the birthright to me?" 33 But Jacob said, "Swear to me first."
So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob
gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got
up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. NIV |
Isaac confirmed the supremacy of the Jews over the descendants of Esav, other
relatives (viz.Ishmael's people) and other nations:
| Gen 27:27 May many nations be
your slaves. Be the master of your brothers. May all your relatives bow low
before you. Cursed are all who curse you, and blessed are all who bless you."
TLB |
The world and the Arabs are, however, trying to overturn God's decision by
using the Arabs living in Israel's territory to to serve as a vehicle to
displace the Jews and take the land mandated to them. There strategy was
to turn these Arabs into a nation, the so-called Palestinians and by keeping
myriads of them, who were said to have been displaced by Israel, squalor
in refugee camps inside and outside Israel in neighboring countries. Those
in camps inside Israel are used for publicity purposes for the world to condemn
israel for what they have done to the "poor" Palestinians, and those outside
Israel to remain "displaced" and in need to return to their "homeland," which
is actually land mandated to Israel as a homeland for the Jews. |
