The Everlasting Hatred by Hal Lindsey Page B

Canaan with Isaac and send his other seven halfbrothers to the land of the East.
    Muslims teach that Abraham went to Mecca, where he raised all eight sons together. Muslims also believe that it was Ishmael— not Isaac—that Abraham offered as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah until the angel stopped him. They absolutely believe that Ishmael was the chosen one of God, not Isaac. This is the basis of their denial of the Biblical covenants that are specifically confirmed to Abraham through his line of descendants from Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s twelve sons. It is on this basis that Muslims claim all the land of Israel and Jerusalem. Christians view this as a great error because it is contrary to the specific testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. He taught that the God of the Bible is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—not Abraham, Ishmael, Esau, and Mohammad. The Lord Jesus confirmed this when He taught, “But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken to you by God saying, ‘I
AM
the
God
ofAbraham, and the
God
of Isaac, and the
God
of Jacob.’ He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” 101 Jesus leaves no question about both the source of the Old Testament and just who are the heirs of His promise to Abraham. The continuous action of verb tense for I AM is the basis of why Jesus said that even though Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob died, they are still alive with God. He thus showed that He considers even the tense of verbs inspired by God in the Scriptures.
THE ARAB’S WARRING NATURE
    The writer of Psalm 120 gives insight into the violent nature of the descendants of Kedar, “Woe to me … that I live among the tents of Kedar! Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am a man of peace; but when I speak, they are for war.” 102 Both secular and Biblical sources describe the Arabs, especially the sons of Kedar, as a people who continuously fought. This certainly fulfills God’s prophecy about the sons of Ishmael: “His hand shall be against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him.”
    The prophet Isaiah has a number of prophetic visions of judgment concerning the nations surrounding Israel who afflicted the Jewish people. These visions are called “Oracles.” The following oracle gives an insight into the character of the Arabians—particularly Kedar—in the eighth-century B.C. This oracle actually predicted the invasion of Arabia in 716 B.C. by King Sargon of Assyria. In Isaiah 21, we read:
    An oracle concerning
Arabia
: You caravans of
Dedanites
, who camp in the thickets of Arabia, bring water for the thirsty; you who live in
Tema
, bring food for the fugitives. They flee from the sword, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow and from the heat of battle. This is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a servant bound by contract would count it, all thepomp of
Kedar
will come to an end. The survivors of the bowmen, the warriors of
Kedar
, will be few.” The LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken. 103
    As indicated above, the sons of Kedar were known for being expert archers. Kedar must have learned his skill with the bow and arrow from his father Ishmael, for it is written of him, “God was with the boy [Ishmael] as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an [expert] archer.” 104 The northern Arabians fled to the south and were weakened for over a century after this invasion.
THE EXTENT OF ARAB TERRITORY
    Keil and Delitzsch link the descendants of Kedar to the wealthy and powerful merchants known as the Nabateans. 105 They ruled the region known by the Chaldeans and Romans as Arabia Petra. Petra, the capital, was a famous banking city that was built into a natural fortress in the mountains of Edom. During the Greco-Roman times, this kingdom covered the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula.
    Petra later became known as the “Lost City” until archeologists