Children of Abraham
I do not profess to know why the descendants of the children of Abraham wake up every day trying to kill one another? I am sure that it would pain Abraham to think that he had brought such misery into this modern world through his seed. Who was Abram or Abraham? We often hear that he is the father of many nations so who are they and why are these cousins trying to kill each other every day? Not only full cousins but half cousins through the children of Abraham's nephew Lot.
Abraham was born and raised in Ur of the Chaldees which was a city in the country of Mesopotamia ruled by Sumerian kings approximately 2,000 years B.C. Mesopotamia is modern day Iraq and the city of Ur was rediscovered by a combined team from the British Museum and the University Museum of Pennsylvania in the early 1920's. The city itself is approximately 230 miles south of Baghdad.
Abraham later moved with his father Terah to Haran and then on to Sichem in Canaan. Canaan is modern day Israel though some would also say it included Lebanon. So basically all of Abraham's children were born in modern day Israel. So they could all be considered modern day Israelis. To my limited knowledge Abraham himself never lived in Jerusalem over which much of the controversy and fighting is taking place. Was it a holy city in Abraham's day? Yes. Melchizedek was the king of Salem and Abraham gave to him tithes of all or a tenth of everything.
Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised together. Ishmael being circumcised by his father when he was thirteen. If Ishmael was circumcised then he was a part of the covenant between Abraham and God. Abraham did not intend to leave his first born son out of the blessing as he loved him and God recognized this love and blessed Ishmael. It is interesting that Ishmael had twelve sons just as Jacob, Abraham's grandson, was to have later before changing his name to Israel. Rachel and Leah, Jacob's wives like Rebekah, Isaac's wife were born in Iraq and not in Israel. In fact none of Israel's sons were born in the modern country of Israel they were all born in Iraq too. All of Esau's children (Jacob's brother) were born in Canaan or modern day Israel.
Abraham was by modern terms an Iraqi living in Israel. The children of Abraham are or were Ishmael born to Hagar an Egyptian. Isaac born to Sari or Sarah who was also an Iraqi and Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midlan, Ishbak and Shuah born to Keturah whose nationality is unknown. Jewish folklore says that she was probably Hagaar but she may have been a Canaanite woman. We just do not know and no one can be sure.
One thing we can be sure of is that there appears to have been no animosity between Ishmael and Isaac as both are given credit for burying Abraham. It is difficult for us in modern times to fully understand the relationship between the children of a concubine and a wife. Ishmael was the first born son but not of Abraham's wife. Isaac was the second born son but of his wife so I am sure that they both understood how this interplay of relationships worked far better than we do today.
Kutrah was a wife and not a concubine. If indeed she was Hagaar then Abraham married her after the death of Sarah which is plausible but as stated earlier we just do not know. If the children born to Kutrah were full brothers to Ishmael would biblical and historical records not have recorded this somewhere? The only clue that we have is in Genesis 18:12 where Hagaar is told that "he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren." This however could simply have meant Isaac or the twelve sons born to Ishmael. We do know that Ishmael lived to the east of Isaac. No squabbling over land in those days.
So who caused all this squabbling? Actually it was an Italian by the name of Hadrian who created the name Palestine in 135 A.D., prior to this the name simply did not exist. Before 135 A.D. the Romans called the land Judea and Galilee. The Romans had to subdue this province twice. Once in A.D. 70 and again in A.D. 135. Emperor Hadrian decided as punishment to rename the land after the ancient enemies of the Israelites, the Philistines, who were neither Jewish nor Arabs but Europeans from the Adriatic sea close to Greece. Hadrian was a pagan and so cared nothing for any of Abraham's children or the God that they believed in.
Jerusalem itself was ruled by Christians for almost one hundred years before Saladin took over control and made it Muslim. It should be understood that the Christians butchered the Jewish people and kicked them out of Jerusalem and it was Saladin who permitted them back in and allowed them to worship freely. Now if Saladin was so tolerant why all of the hatred today? The Jewish claim to the city goes back to the time of king David. The Palestinian claim goes back to 1967. The modern day people who call themselves or identify themselves as Palestinians might better call themselves Ishmalite's or after any one of Abraham's children at least then their claim to the land if not the city would go back to the time of Abraham.
Confused? Me too. However one must remember the holy scripture. Jerusalem belongs to God and no matter how long man squabbles over the city or the country one thing is sure it all belongs to God. The Jews were scattered in accordance with prophesy for not following the teaching or path of God. They are returning in accordance with that self same prophesy. If Ishmael and Isaac lived together in peace then why not their descendants? To confuse matters even worse we in the West consider all Arabs to hate Jews but in ancient times before the rise of Islam the term Arab could be used to describe a Jewish Arab, a Christian Arab etc. It designated a type of people and not a religion.
So why do all these descendants of the children of Abraham fight and try to kill each other every day? I do not know and truth be known I do not think they do either. I think it is generational fear that breads this hatred, terror and destruction or could it simply be ruthless men who like past dictators are simply seeking power? Men who are using misery and misunderstanding to achieve their own ends? I know not but I do know that God is in control and at the judgement seat they will answer for their actions.
Abraham was born and raised in Ur of the Chaldees which was a city in the country of Mesopotamia ruled by Sumerian kings approximately 2,000 years B.C. Mesopotamia is modern day Iraq and the city of Ur was rediscovered by a combined team from the British Museum and the University Museum of Pennsylvania in the early 1920's. The city itself is approximately 230 miles south of Baghdad.
Abraham later moved with his father Terah to Haran and then on to Sichem in Canaan. Canaan is modern day Israel though some would also say it included Lebanon. So basically all of Abraham's children were born in modern day Israel. So they could all be considered modern day Israelis. To my limited knowledge Abraham himself never lived in Jerusalem over which much of the controversy and fighting is taking place. Was it a holy city in Abraham's day? Yes. Melchizedek was the king of Salem and Abraham gave to him tithes of all or a tenth of everything.
Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised together. Ishmael being circumcised by his father when he was thirteen. If Ishmael was circumcised then he was a part of the covenant between Abraham and God. Abraham did not intend to leave his first born son out of the blessing as he loved him and God recognized this love and blessed Ishmael. It is interesting that Ishmael had twelve sons just as Jacob, Abraham's grandson, was to have later before changing his name to Israel. Rachel and Leah, Jacob's wives like Rebekah, Isaac's wife were born in Iraq and not in Israel. In fact none of Israel's sons were born in the modern country of Israel they were all born in Iraq too. All of Esau's children (Jacob's brother) were born in Canaan or modern day Israel.
Abraham was by modern terms an Iraqi living in Israel. The children of Abraham are or were Ishmael born to Hagar an Egyptian. Isaac born to Sari or Sarah who was also an Iraqi and Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midlan, Ishbak and Shuah born to Keturah whose nationality is unknown. Jewish folklore says that she was probably Hagaar but she may have been a Canaanite woman. We just do not know and no one can be sure.
One thing we can be sure of is that there appears to have been no animosity between Ishmael and Isaac as both are given credit for burying Abraham. It is difficult for us in modern times to fully understand the relationship between the children of a concubine and a wife. Ishmael was the first born son but not of Abraham's wife. Isaac was the second born son but of his wife so I am sure that they both understood how this interplay of relationships worked far better than we do today.
Kutrah was a wife and not a concubine. If indeed she was Hagaar then Abraham married her after the death of Sarah which is plausible but as stated earlier we just do not know. If the children born to Kutrah were full brothers to Ishmael would biblical and historical records not have recorded this somewhere? The only clue that we have is in Genesis 18:12 where Hagaar is told that "he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren." This however could simply have meant Isaac or the twelve sons born to Ishmael. We do know that Ishmael lived to the east of Isaac. No squabbling over land in those days.
So who caused all this squabbling? Actually it was an Italian by the name of Hadrian who created the name Palestine in 135 A.D., prior to this the name simply did not exist. Before 135 A.D. the Romans called the land Judea and Galilee. The Romans had to subdue this province twice. Once in A.D. 70 and again in A.D. 135. Emperor Hadrian decided as punishment to rename the land after the ancient enemies of the Israelites, the Philistines, who were neither Jewish nor Arabs but Europeans from the Adriatic sea close to Greece. Hadrian was a pagan and so cared nothing for any of Abraham's children or the God that they believed in.
Jerusalem itself was ruled by Christians for almost one hundred years before Saladin took over control and made it Muslim. It should be understood that the Christians butchered the Jewish people and kicked them out of Jerusalem and it was Saladin who permitted them back in and allowed them to worship freely. Now if Saladin was so tolerant why all of the hatred today? The Jewish claim to the city goes back to the time of king David. The Palestinian claim goes back to 1967. The modern day people who call themselves or identify themselves as Palestinians might better call themselves Ishmalite's or after any one of Abraham's children at least then their claim to the land if not the city would go back to the time of Abraham.
Confused? Me too. However one must remember the holy scripture. Jerusalem belongs to God and no matter how long man squabbles over the city or the country one thing is sure it all belongs to God. The Jews were scattered in accordance with prophesy for not following the teaching or path of God. They are returning in accordance with that self same prophesy. If Ishmael and Isaac lived together in peace then why not their descendants? To confuse matters even worse we in the West consider all Arabs to hate Jews but in ancient times before the rise of Islam the term Arab could be used to describe a Jewish Arab, a Christian Arab etc. It designated a type of people and not a religion.
So why do all these descendants of the children of Abraham fight and try to kill each other every day? I do not know and truth be known I do not think they do either. I think it is generational fear that breads this hatred, terror and destruction or could it simply be ruthless men who like past dictators are simply seeking power? Men who are using misery and misunderstanding to achieve their own ends? I know not but I do know that God is in control and at the judgement seat they will answer for their actions.
posted by Wisdom at 8:00 PM
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