Worthy is the Lamb: TELL ME ABOUT ISHMAEL

Monday, September 12, 2016

TELL ME ABOUT ISHMAEL - By: Stan Arney

Stan Arney

THE WORD OF GOD

Tell Me About Ishmael

Genesis 16:1-16

Now Sarai, Abram’s Wife, had borne Him (Abram) NO Children. And She (Sarai) had an Egyptian Maidservant, whose name was Hagar. So, Sarai said to Abram, “See now, The LORD (GOD Almighty) has RESTRAINED me (Sarai) from bearing children. Please, go in to My (Sarai’s) Maid; perhaps I (Sarai) shall OBTAIN children by Her (Hagar).” And Abram HEEDED The Voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s Wife, TOOK Hagar, Her (Sarai’s) Maid, The Egyptian, and GAVE Her (Hagar) to Her (Sarai’s) Husband, Abram, to be His (Abram’s) Wife, after Abram had DWELT Ten (10) Years in The Land of Canaan. So, He (Abram) went in to Hagar, and She (Hagar) CONCEIVED. And when She (Hagar) SAW, that She (Hagar) had CONCEIVED, Her (Hagar’s) Mistress (Sarai), became DESPISED, in Her (Hagar’s) Eyes.

Then Sarai said to Abram, “My (Sarai’s) WRONG be upon YOU (Abram)! I (Sarai) GAVE My (Sarai’s) Maid (Hagar) into Your (Abram’s) Embrace; and when She (Hagar) SAW that She (Hagar) had CONCEIVED, I (Sarai) became DESPISED in Her (Hagar’s) Eyes. The LORD (GOD Almighty) JUDGE between YOU (Abram) and me (Sarai).” So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed Your (Sarai’s) Maid is in Your (Sarai’s) Hand; do to Her (Hagar) as YOU (Sarai) please.” And when Sarai DEALT HARSHLY with Her (Hagar), She (Hagar) FLED from Her (Sarai’s) Presence.

Now, The Angel (GOD Almighty’s Holy Angels) of The LORD (GOD Almighty) FOUND Her (Hagar), by a spring of water in The Wilderness, by the spring on The Way to Shur. And He (The Angel of GOD Almighty) SAID, “Hagar, Sarai’s Maid, where have YOU (Hagar) come from, and where are YOU (Hagar) going?” She (Hagar) said, “I (Hagar) am FLEEING from The Presence of My Mistress, Sarai.” The Angel (GOD Almighty’s Holy Angels) of The LORD (GOD Almighty) SAID to Her (Hagar), “Return to Your Mistress (Sarai), and submit yourself under Her (Sarai’s) Hand.” Then The Angel (GOD Almighty’s Holy Angels) of The LORD (GOD Almighty) SAID to Her (Hagar), “I (GOD Almighty) Will MULTIPLY Your (Hagar’s) Descendants EXCEEDINGLY, so that They (Hagar’s Descendants) shall NOT be Counted for Multitude.” And The Angel (GOD Almighty’s Holy Angels) of The LORD (GOD Almighty) SAID to Her (Hagar): “Behold, YOU (Hagar) are WITH Child, and YOU (Hagar) shall BEAR a Son. YOU (Hagar) shall call His Name, Ishmael, because The LORD (GOD Almighty), has HEARD Your (Hagar’s) Affliction. He (Ishmael) shall be A WILD MAN; His (Ishmael’s) Hand shall be AGAINST EVERY MAN, and Every Man’s Hand AGAINST Him (Ishmael). And He (Ishmael) shall DWELL in The Presence of All His (Ishmael’s) Brethren.” Then She (Hagar) called The Name of The LORD (GOD Almighty) who SPOKE to Her (Hagar), YOU-Are-The-GOD-Who-Sees; for She (Hagar) said, “Have I (Hagar) also HERE, SEEN Him (GOD Almighty) who SEES me (Hagar)?” Therefore, The Well was called Beer Lahai Roi; OBSERVE, it is between Kadesh and Bered. So Hagar BORE Abram a Son; and Abram named His (Abram’s) Son, whom Hagar BORE, Ishmael. Abram was Eighty-Six (86) Years Old, when Hagar BORE Ishmael to Abram.

Genesis 17:20

And as for Ishmael, I (GOD Almighty) have HEARD YOU (Abraham). Behold, I (GOD Almighty) have Blessed Him (Ishmael), and will MAKE Him (Ishmael) FRUITFUL, and Will MULTIPLY Him (Ishmael) EXCEEDINGLY. He (Ishmael) shall BEGET Twelve (12) Princes and I (GOD Almighty) Will MAKE Him (Ishmael) a Great Nation.

Genesis 21:9-21

And Sarah SAW The Son (Ishmael) of Hagar, The Egyptian, whom She (Hagar) had Borne to Abraham, SCOFFING. Therefore, She (Sarah) said to Abraham, “Cast Out This Bondwoman (Hagar) and Her Son (Ishmael); for The Son (Ishmael) of This Bondwoman (Hagar) shall NOT BE HEIR with My (Sarah’s) Son, namely with Isaac.” And The Matter was Very Displeasing in Abraham’s Sight, because of His Son (Ishmael). But GOD (GOD Almighty) SAID to Abraham, “Do NOT let it be Displeasing in Your (Abraham’s) Sight, because of The Lad (Ishmael) or because of Your Bondwoman (Hagar). Whatever Sarah has said to YOU (Abraham), LISTEN to Her (Sarah’s) Voice; for in Isaac, Your (Abraham’s) SEED shall be CALLED. Yet I (GOD Almighty) Will also MAKE a Nation of The Son (Ishmael) of The Bondwoman (Hagar), because He (Ishmael) is Your (Abraham’s) SEED.”

So, Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on Her (Hagar’s) Shoulder, He (Abraham) gave it and The Boy (Ishmael) to Hagar, and SENT Her (Hagar) AWAY. Then She (Hagar) departed and wandered in The Wilderness of Beersheba. And the water in the skin was used up, and She (Hagar) PLACED The Boy (Ishmael) under one of the shrubs. Then She (Hagar) went and sat down across from Him (Ishmael) at a distance of about a bowshot; for She (Hagar) said to Herself, “Let me NOT SEE, The Death of The Boy (Ishmael).” So, She (Hagar) sat opposite Him (Ishmael), and LIFTED Her (Hagar’s) Voice and Wept. And GOD (GOD Almighty) HEARD The Voice of The Lad (Ishmael). Then The Angel (GOD Almighty’s Holy Angels) of GOD (GOD Almighty) CALLED to Hagar, OUT of Heaven, and SAID to Her (Hagar), “What Ails YOU, Hagar? Fear NOT, for GOD (GOD Almighty) has HEARD The Voice of The Lad (Ishmael) where He (Ishmael) is. Arise, LIFT UP The Lad (Ishmael) and HOLD Him (Ishmael) with Your (Hagar’s) Hand, for I (GOD Almighty) Will MAKE Him (Ishmael) a Great Nation.” Then GOD (GOD Almighty) OPENED Her (Hagar’s) Eyes, and She (Hagar) SAW a Well of Water. And She (Hagar) went and filled the skin with water, and GAVE The Lad (Ishmael) a drink. So, GOD (GOD Almighty) was with The Lad (Ishmael); and He (Ishmael) GREW and DWELT in The Wilderness, and became an Archer. He (Ishmael) DWELT in The Wilderness of Paran; and His (Ishmael’s) Mother (Hagar) TOOK a Wife for Him (Ishmael), from The Land of Egypt.

Genesis 22:1-2, 15-18

Now it CAME TO PASS, AFTER These Things that GOD (GOD Almighty) TESTED Abraham, and SAID to Him (Abraham), “Abraham!” And He (Abraham) said, “Here I am.” Then He (GOD Almighty) SAID, “Take NOW Your (Abraham’s) Son (Isaac), Your (Abraham’s) ONLY Son, ISAAC, Whom YOU (Abraham) Love, and GO TO The Land of Moriah, and OFFER Him (Isaac) THERE as a Burnt Offering ON One of The Mountains of which I (GOD Almighty) shall TELL YOU (Abraham).”

Then The Angel (GOD Almighty’s Holy Angels) of The LORD (GOD Almighty) CALLED to Abraham a Second Time OUT of Heaven, and SAID: “By Myself I have SWORN, SAYS The LORD (GOD Almighty), because YOU (Abraham) have DONE This Thing, and have NOT WITHHELD Your (Abraham’s) Son (Isaac), Your ONLY Son (Isaac), BLESSING I (GOD Almighty) Will BLESS YOU (Abraham), and Multiplying I (GOD Almighty) Will MULTIPLY Your (Abraham’s) Descendants AS The Stars of The Heaven and AS The Sand which is on The Seashore; and Your (Abraham’s) Descendants shall POSSESS The GATE of Their (Abraham’s Descendants’) Enemies. IN Your (Abraham’s) SEED All The Nations of The Earth shall BE BLESSED, because YOU (Abraham) have OBEYED My (GOD Almighty’s) VOICE.”

Fellow Believers, did YOU (Believers) happen to notice what GOD Almighty said? GOD Almighty CALLED Isaac, Jacob’s Son, Jacob’s ONLY Son. What about Ishmael?

Genesis 25:7-10, 12-18

This is The Sum of The Years of Abraham’s Life which He (Abraham) Lived: One Hundred and Seventy-Five (175) Years. Then Abraham BREATHED His (Abraham’s) Last and DIED in a Good Old Age, an Old Man and Full of Years, and was gathered to His (Abraham’s) People. And His (Abraham’s) Sons, Isaac and Ishmael, BURIED Him (Abraham) IN The Cave of Machpelah, which is BEFORE Mamre, IN The Field of Ephron, The Son of Zohar, The Hittite, The Field which Abraham PURCHASED, FROM The Sons of Heth. There Abraham was BURIED, and Sarah, His (Abraham’s) Wife.

Now, THIS IS The Genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s Son, whom Hagar, The Egyptian, Sarah’s Maidservant, BORE to Abraham. And These were The Names of The Sons of Ishmael, by Their Names, according to Their Generations: The Firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These were The Sons of Ishmael and these were Their Names, by Their Towns and Their Settlements, Twelve (12) Princes according to Their Nations.

These were The Years of The Life of Ishmael: One Hundred and Thirty-Seven (137) Years; and He (Ishmael) BREATHED His (Ishmael’s) Last and DIED, and was gathered to His (Ishmael’s) People. They (Ishmael’s People) dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is East of Egypt as you go toward Assyria. He (Ishmael) DIED IN The Presence of All His (Ishmael’s) Brethren.

Genesis 28:6-9

Esau SAW that Isaac had BLESSED Jacob and SENT Him (Esau) AWAY to Padan Aram to TAKE Himself (Esau) a Wife from there (Padan Aram), and that as He (Isaac) BLESSED Him (Esau) He (Isaac) GAVE Him (Esau) a CHARGE, saying, “YOU (Esau) shall NOT TAKE a Wife FROM The Daughters of Canaan,” and that Jacob had OBEYED His Father and His Mother and had GONE to Padan Aram. Also Esau SAW, that The Daughters of Canaan did NOT PLEASE His Father, Isaac. So, Esau WENT to Ishmael and TOOK Mahalath, The Daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s Son, The Sister of Nebajoth, to be His (Esau’s) Wife, in addition to The Wives He (Esau) had.

Galatians 4:21-31

Tell me (Believers), YOU (Unbelievers) who DESIRE to be UNDER The Law (Satan), do YOU NOT hear The Law? For it is WRITTEN that Abraham HAD Two Sons: The One (Ishmael) by a Bondwoman (Hagar), The Other (Isaac) by a Freewoman (Sarai/Sarah). But He (Ishmael) who was of The Bondwoman was BORN according to The Flesh (Satan), and He (Isaac) of The Freewoman (Sarai/Sarah) THROUGH PROMISE (Jesus Christ), which THINGS ARE SYMBOLIC.

For THESE ARE The Two COVENANTS: The One (Satan) FROM Mount Sinai which GIVES BIRTH TO BONDAGE (Unbelievers), which IS Hagar for THIS Hagar IS Mount Sinai IN Arabia, and Corresponds to Jerusalem which NOW IS, and is IN BONDAGE with Her (Satan’s) Children (Unbelievers), BUT The Jerusalem ABOVE IS FREE (GOD Almighty), which IS The Mother (GOD Almighty) of Us (Believers) All.

For it is WRITTEN: “Rejoice, O Barren, YOU who do NOT bear! Break Forth and Shout, YOU who are NOT in Labor! For The Desolate has Many More Children THAN She who has a Husband.”

Now We (Believers), Brethren, AS Isaac WAS, ARE Children (Children of GOD Almighty) of PROMISE (Jesus Christ). BUT, AS He (Unbelievers) who was BORN according to The Flesh (Satan) THEN PERSECUTED Him (Believers) who was BORN according to The Spirit (The Holy Spirit), even so IT IS NOW. Nevertheless, what does The Scripture (The Holy Bible) say?

“CAST OUT The Bondwoman (Satan) and Her (Satan’s) Son (Unbelievers), for The Son (Unbelievers) of The Bondwoman (Satan) Shall NOT BE HEIR, WITH The Son (Believers) of The Freewoman (GOD Almighty).” So then, Brethren, We (Believers) are NOT Children of The Bondwoman (Satan), BUT of The FREE (GOD Almighty).