Through Isaac, the Seed Was Promised

As I've written before, Arabic Muslims believe they're the special people because they descended from Ishmael. While Abraham did father two boys, only Isaac was the one who was the child of promise.

We see God's declaration of this in Genesis 21:12 (KJV), as it is written, "And God said unto Abraham, 'Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.'"

But the word "seed" is singular, not plural. Look at what Paul wrote in Galatians 3:16 (KJV). "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, 'And to seeds,' as of many; but as of one, 'And to thy seed,' which is Christ."

We see our position as heirs of the promised Messiah declared in Galatians 4:28 (KJV). Paul wrote, "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise."

But does this apply to us today? Paul also obliquely referred to all the faithful in Christ. Romans 9:7 (KJV) reads, "Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called."

And because of Christ, we too are heirs by faith. As Paul wrote in Galatians 6:16 (KJV), "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God."

Though Abraham had a sun through his slave Hagar, it was God who caused the miraculous birth of Isaac. Hebrews 11:11 (KJV) explains, "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised."

Trusting completely in the salvation provided by God is the main theme of my upcoming book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Only by faith, meaning total trust, will anybody be saved. I keep having to make this point because it's counterintuitive to human nature.

By the way, Saturday's song will be about gun control and why it doesn't work.

Who Was the Child of Promise, Isaac or Ishmael?

Muslims believe that they descended from Ishmael, the son born to Abraham's concubine. But as the Bible says many times, Isaac was the promised heir. Quite naturally, Muslims think they're right and that our scriptures were tampered with. I'll address that topic another time but for now, I need to show how Isaac was the one promised to Abraham.

Now it is true that Ishmael was born first but he wasn't the child God promised to give Sarah. We can see that in Genesis 16:3 (KJV) where it says, "And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife."

But we see who the child of promise was in Genesis 17:19 (KJV), "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."

Since the word "seed" is singular, we know it means Christ. He was promised from the beginning to be the saviour of humanity. As Galatians 4:28 (KJV) explains, "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise." All who belong to Christ are counted as children of promise.

We also can tell that Ishmael had a different temperament than Isaac. Genesis 16:12 (KJV) describes him this way. "And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."

We who believe in Christ need to know the truth but we also must reject error. That's why I'm writing my book You Think You're Going to Heaven? Just as bank tellers can recognize a counterfeit bill, so we need to be so familiar with the truth that any lie will become blatant and obvious to us.