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Proverbs 1:10-14

Resisting Temptation

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 4, 2023

When there is no fear of God, anything goes. When there is no accountability for one’s actions in this life or the next, violence will become the norm. Look at what is happening in many of the larger cities in America. Liberal prosecutors have let criminals walk without any consequences. It has created chaos in our cities. People are afraid to walk down the streets alone anymore in many places. There is no peace in the land. It is only when we live under the rule of law that we might live a peaceful life. Paul tells Timothy that he should teach his congregation to be obedient to the laws of the land in order that they live a calm and peaceful life.  Solomon is acting as a wise parent as he instructs his son that the world is not always calm and peaceful. There are evil people in it, and they will prey on you one way or another. In Proverbs 1:10-14, Solomon warns his son. He says, “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, ‘Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; like Sheol, let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder; throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse.’”

This passage does not deny the fact that all of us are sinners. We all do fail, but this passage looks to the career sinners. Ortlund says, “In the extreme, this kind of person is a professional criminal, like the bad guys in The Godfather. Bullying is how some people make their way through the world. The key to this human profile is anyone who gets ahead by his own devices, anyone who is out for number one. They are the ‘sinners’ of whom we must be aware. They are out there. You will encounter them.”[1] If they want something another has, they take it. If they want to hurt someone, they do it. Morey observes, “When men no longer fear God, there is no restraint upon their lusts. The fear of the Lord is the recognition that God is holy as well as loving, and thus He is to be feared as well as trusted. God is the Righteous Judge of all the earth who sits upon His throne, judging the nations with equity. If we make the mistake of neglecting or denying this biblical view of God, we will suffer…”[2] When evil persists in any country, it’s the innocent who suffer the most. Sinners do not focus on who they hurt. They focus on what they can get for themselves.

Just like those in misery, sinners love company. They will promise all kinds of rewards and profits, but the end result is never what it was presented to be. The wise person does not fall for such enticements. Solomon wants his son, and us as his readers, to be wise with regard to enticement to evil. As Ortlund Says, real “Wisdom pays attention to the realities built into us by God our Creator. Wisdom humbly gives in to God’s design; it adapts and adjusts. A wise person notices, picks up on the clues, cuts with the grain, and tears along the perforated line. Unwise people can be gifted, but they are trying to be healthy on junk food, run high RPMs on low-octane gas, get home by the wrong road, or swim against the stream of the universe. Sin is trying to succeed by ignoring reality.” As the ultimate source of enticement to evil, the Devil is not as bright as he thinks he is. Actually, it “makes the devil the ultimate fool. He wants to reengineer the creation his own way. He is both evil and dumb. C. S. Lewis wrote, ‘The Devil is (in the long run) an ass.’ But the book of Proverbs is where God speaks to us as our life coach, guiding us into the only real success that’s out there.”[3] A hundred years ago, William Trench wrote a great poem.

Still, they plead, and still, they promise; wilt thou suffer them to stand?

They have pleasures, gifts, and treasures, to enrich thee at command.

Heed not thou, but boldly strike them; let descend the faithful blow.

From their wreck and from their ruin, first will thy true riches flow.

[1] Ortlund, Raymond C., Jr. 2012. Preaching the Word: Proverbs—Wisdom That Works. Edited by R. Kent Hughes. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

[2] Morey, Robert A. 1999. Fearing God: The Key to the Treasure House of Heaven. Yorba Linda, CA: Davidson Press, Inc.

[3] Ortlund, Raymond C., Jr. 2012. Preaching the Word: Proverbs—Wisdom That Works. Edited by R. Kent Hughes. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

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Psalm 5:9-10, Romans 1:22-27

No Truth In Their Mouths

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 3, 2023

David acknowledges that his only claim to the right to enter into the presence of God is the abundance of God’s steadfast love. It’s God’s grace to sinners that make it possible for a man to come into His presence. David seems to speak a lot about God’s “steadfast love.” This is because David is well aware of his own sinfulness before God. He was an adulterer and a murderer. Paul also speaks of God’s “steadfast love.” He uses the idea of the “Grace of God” in his understanding of God’s steadfast love. Paul, too, recognized his own sinfulness. He calls himself the least of the apostles. He later calls himself the least of all the saints. Then in his last letters, he refers to himself as the greatest of sinners. But in his letter to the Corinthians, he says, “I am what I am by the Grace of God” (1 Corinthian 15:10). Both David and Paul acknowledge that there is a God to whom they are accountable. Both confess their sins and look to God for forgiveness. They know that God is a gracious God, always ready to forgive. But, both David and Paul live in a world where God is not acknowledged. The public denies God and His authority to direct their lives. Their only god is the lust of their flesh and the opinion of the crowds. David prays for God to deal with them. In Psalm 5:9-10 he says, “For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions, cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.”

There is no “truth” in their mouth. The nature of our culture today surely presents this in many ways. The Bible is clear on the gender issue. God created man in his own image, “Male and female created He them.” It’s argued today by some liberal theologians that this verse teaches that God created man without gender. No, God created mankind intentionally in two genders to be a blessing to them and to give them compatible partners with which to experience life together. The translators of the New English Translation of the Bible say, “There is no possibility that the verse is teaching that humans were first androgynous (having both male and female physical characteristics) and afterward were separated. The mention of male and female prepares for the blessing to follow.”[1] Even the obvious presence of the two genders in our world, as observed by everyone, is rejected. There is even a Supreme Court Justice who can’t or won’t answer the question, “What is a woman?” She said she wasn’t a biologist.

David prays that God will let them fall by their own counsels. I’m sure that Paul has this in mind when he writes to the Romans regarding homosexual and transexual issues. In Romans 1:22-27, He says, “Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

[1] Biblical Studies Press. 2006. The NET Bible First Edition Notes. Biblical Studies Press.

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Job 1:7, 1 Peter 5:8

Our Adversary

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 2, 2023

Things were going on well for Job. He had a great family, ten kids that got along well with each other, lots of wealth and health. He had just about everything one could ask for. He’s a good man and is noted as such in the text. But then the “accuser” of the brethren shows up before God to cause trouble. The exchange between God and Satan begins in Job 1, verse 7. It says, “The Lord said to Satan, ‘From where have you come?’ Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’”

 Why does God ask Satan a question? The question could be looked at as a pointed question to Satan asking about his origin. What brought you into the world? Or maybe it was a question prodding Satan to consider how he’d become the adversary that he was. God’s question might be something like, “Where did you come from?” If the emphasis in that question is on “you,” it would indicate some kind of surprise. I don’t think we would understand that God was surprised to see Satan. If we believe God is omniscient, He knows that Satan would appear in his court of heavenly beings. It has been suggested that Satan was a regular attendee at the heavenly court. Neither does the question indicate that God did not know where Satan had been. According to the book of Genesis, God asked Adam, “Where are you?” It wasn’t asked because God didn’t know already. It was asked to push Adam to consider his situation himself. It appears that the question was asked to reveal both to the character and the readers of the story the nature of the person being questioned. Jesus once asked his followers, “Why do you call me Lord and don’t do what I say?” Most of the interpreters I’ve read on this verse see it as a question designed to shame a person into better behavior. We have all heard questions motivated by this from our parents, teachers, and others in authority. But I’m inclined to think that Jesus asks that question because he wishes his readers to think about the question. When contemplated as a legitimate question, one must ask himself why he keeps sinning even though he believes in Jesus. The truth is that God wants us to recognize the reality of our sinfulness. God does not want us to raise our heads to heaven, thanking Him for not being like other sinners as the Pharisees did. He wants us to bow our heads before him and recognize our sinfulness as the tax collector did.

The question is not asked of Satan so that God would be informed of Satan’s activity. It was asked of Satan so that we would be informed of Satan’s activity. We hear it in his own words. He goes “to and fro” throughout the whole earth. He not only goes “to and fro” but also walks “up and down.” There’s no place he hasn’t visited. David Allen writes, “Satan is a world traveler. He could sing the Johnny Cash song, ‘I’ve Been Everywhere.’ You can almost picture Satan as he saunters into the heavenly council from his recent random world tour, one hand in his pocket, the other picking his teeth, disdainful of all the other angels, waiting for an opportunity to stir up trouble. Satan’s job description includes inspection and examination. He’s an unspiritual detective, we might say, who hurries up and down the earth with a clipboard in hand. Like an emperor’s spy, Satan has been looking for any secret disloyalty to the crown.”[1] God’s clever question to Satan might be worded, “What have you been up to?” Satan answers God’s question pridefully, not realizing he is giving himself away to us all. Peter takes Satan’s answer and turns it into a lesson for you and me. Knowing Satan’s tactics helps us prepare for his attacks. He says in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

[1] Allen, David L. 2022. Exalting Jesus in Job. Edited by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida. Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference.

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Esther 1:19, John 14:1-3

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 1, 2023

Sometime around the fifth century BC, Ahasuerus, the king of the Medes and the Persians, held an open bar party for his friends. They had too much to drink, and the king decided to stroke his ego by parading his wife, Vashti, before them to show off her beauty. She wouldn’t go along with it, and the king elevated a domestic dispute into a national crisis and asked his fellow partiers what “legal” action would be most appropriate for her disobedience to the king. His advisors gave him horrible advice and elevated the issue to the level that the kingdom was at stake. They argued that all the women in the nation would disrespect and therefore disobey their husbands as a result of Vashti’s actions if she was allowed to get away with it. So, they tell Ahasuerus, “If it pleases the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that it may not be repealed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.”

 This verse contained a familiar phrase that most of us have heard. The saying “the law of the Medes and Persians” is still referred to in our own culture. It is used to refer to something that cannot be changed. Manser tells us that the phrase “The law of the Medes and Persians” is retained by all the contemporary versions of the Bible except the New International Version, the New Revised Standard Version, and the Revised Standard Version. But those versions still retain similar phrases that are indistinguishable from “The law of the Medes and Persians.”[1] The phrase has its roots in the Book of Daniel. Chapter six uses the phrase several times, always referring to an irrevocable law. The King regretted his decision to make the decree but ended up throwing Daniel in the lion’s den because he could not undo his proclamation, which was also made at the suggestion of bad advisors. When the King regretted making such a decree, he wanted to rescind it, but the same advisors reminded him that once signed into law, it could not be changed. Daniel ended up in the lion’s den.

The integrity of the king was at stake. He could not go back on something he had decided without losing the authority and respect of the nation he ruled. God, the great King of Kings, had passed laws as well. They came in the form of promises. He promised the nation that even though they would end up in captivity in Babylon, He would bring them back to their own land after 70 years. Of course, that is what happened because God’s integrity and honor were at stake. Jesus made promises to his followers as well. The promises that God made to Israel in the time of their captivity were to inspire them with hope for a bright future yet to come. This is the kind of promise Jesus makes to his followers. As Jesus was preparing for his crucifixion and leaving his followers alone in the world, he passed a law ever much as binding and irreversible as the laws of the Medes and Persian. In John 14:1-3 we can see this promise. “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also.” So, fellow followers of Jesus, “Let not your heart be troubled.”

[1] Manser, Martin H., Natasha B. Fleming, Kate Hughes, and Ronald F. Bridges. 2000. I Never Knew That Was in the Bible!. Electronic ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

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Nehemiah 2:1-2, Various

The King’s Heart

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 31, 2023

Nehemiah acknowledges that the situation of Israel as slaves in Babylon was a result of their own sin while they occupied the promised land. Nehemiah confesses and identifies with the sin of his people. His only hope is God’s mercy. After accepting responsibility for Israel’s captivity in Babylon, Nehemiah prays that God will show mercy by moving in the heart of the king to show mercy to the captives. Then, Nehemiah informs his readers of his relationship with the king. He ends Chapter 1 with the statement, “Now I was cupbearer to the king.” We’re not sure how long Nehemiah’s prayer of confession lasted or how long he prayed for God’s compassionate intervention on their behalf. But when the time was just right, Nehemiah used his role to invoke the mercies of the King. Nehemiah 2:1-2 says, “In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence.  And the king said to me, ‘Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.’ Then I was very much afraid.”

Nehemiah claims that he maintained the courtesy every servant must show to the king by never being sad in the king’s presence. I’m sure he did his best to hide his fallen countenance. Some think that the wine the king drank made him melancholy and aided his recognition of Nehemiah’s sadness. Others argue that God opened the eyes of Artaxerxes to see the true demeanor of Nehemiah. This would align more logically with the outcome of Nehemiah’s request. He was about to ask the King to let him go back to Israel. I can imagine how difficult this might have been for him. We see how hard he prayed about this situation in Chapter One of the Book. One commentator says, “This reminds me of a friend of mine who wanted to go on a short-term mission trip but was worried that her boss would not give her the time off. Before asking for this favor, she felt exceedingly nervous, if not quite “dreadfully afraid.” But I am sure that Nehemiah found himself in a much more delicate position than my friend, for if he displeased the king, he could lose more than his job—his very life was on the line!”[1]

Nehemiah heard about the dire circumstances in Israel four months earlier. His heart was grieved, and he wanted to do something about it. All he could do was pray. He did that for four months. He trusted God to initiate the action. I suspect that Nehemiah might very well have been a biblically literate individual. He might have thought of Moses’ fear of Pharaoh as he faced the Red Sea on his East and the Egyptian army on his West. He had nowhere to run, and I’m sure he was panicking. God simply told Moses to “stand still,” and he would see the salvation of the Lord. Maybe he knows the verse from the book of Ruth where she is told to “sit still” while Boaz works out the situation for her. Maybe he remembers this Psalmist’s exhortation to “Be Still” and “Know that I am the Lord.” Wiersbe says, “When you wait on the Lord in prayer, you are not wasting your time; you are investing it. God is preparing both you and your circumstances so that His purposes will be accomplished. However, when the right time arrives for us to act by faith, we dare not delay.” God opened the eyes of Artaxerxes to see Nehemiah’s sadness. Once again, the truth of Proverbs 21:1 is confirmed, “The king’s heart is in the hands of the Lord. He turns it any way He wishes.”[2]

[1] Roberts, Mark, and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. 1993. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. Vol. 11. The Preacher’s Commentary Series. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

[2] Wiersbe, Warren W. 1996. Be Determined. “Be” Commentary Series. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

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Ezra 2:3-19

Lest We Forget

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 30, 2023

 Ezra went to great lengths to give detail about the families that returned to Israel to occupy their land after the Babylonian captivity. He begins by listing the people by their 18 families and clans. The total of this count is 15,604 families and clans listed by name. The individual clans and families are recorded in Ezra 2:3-19, “The number of the men of the people of Israel: the sons of Parosh, 2,172. The sons of Shephatiah, 372. The sons of Arah, 775. The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812. The sons of Elam, 1,254. The sons of Zattu, 945. The sons of Zaccai, 760. The sons of Bani, 642. The Sons of Bebai, 623. The sons of Azgad, 1,222. The Sons of Adonikam, 666. The sons of Bigvai, 2,056. The Sons of Adin, 454. The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. The Sons of Bezai, 323. The sons of Jorah, 112. The sons of Hashum, 223.”

 If a person makes it through the book of Numbers and Chronicles in their read through the Bible plan, they face another big challenge in the Book of Ezra. In Chapter Two, they encounter a long list of unpronounceable names. Why does God include such lists in the Bible? I find that the interesting thing about this long list of unfamiliar names is that the thousands of home comers were not lumped together but were separated and counted out by family affiliations. This humanizes the settlers. It specifically recognizes them by name as the brave men and their families who made the long, dangerous trek to Israel to reclaim the Land that God had promised them. The men are listed because they were heads of households. All their descendants could identify with them. These names were of individuals, of course, but they represented their clans and families. The descendants in all generations to follow will have this list and will be able to point at a name and say, “That’s my family heritage.” Imagine opening the Bible and having your family name recorded as a permanent record.

If you visit the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., you will see a list of men who gave their lives in a war that the Nation as a whole rejected. Those names on the wall are not just of individual men but of people that are identified with families. The families visit that wall and remember with pride the sacrifice that their relatives made during this unpopular war. There are over fifty thousand names on the wall. It’s a very moving scene. Wives point out their husbands. Children point out their fathers. Fathers and Mothers point out their sons. Their names are memorialized on the wall so that we, as a nation, never forget the sacrifices that were made to secure for us all the liberty and freedom we enjoy today. I think God wanted to ensure that the generation of Israelites that would be born in the land after the Babylonian captivity would look at their names and remember their heritage also. The lives they were enjoying were bought and paid for by those who came before them.

Rudyard Kipling is one of my favorite poets. He understood the importance of remembering our heritage and those whose sacrifice gave us the good things in life we enjoy now. He wrote,

The captains and the kings depart;

Still stands thine ancient Sacrifice,

An humble and a contrite heart.

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,

Lest we forget—lest we forget!

Far called, our navies melt away—

On dune and headland sinks the fire—

Lo, all our pomp of yesterday

Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!

Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,

Lest we forget—lest we forget![1]

[1] Federer, William J. 2001. Great Quotations: A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Quotations Influencing Early and Modern World History Referenced according to Their Sources in Literature, Memoirs, Letters, Governmental Documents, Speeches, Charters, Court Decisions and Constitutions. St. Louis, MO: AmeriSearch.

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2 Chronicles 1:14-17, Various

Moderation Is The Key

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 29, 2023

After Solomon humbled himself before God with his simple request for wisdom to lead God’s people instead of riches, power, or pleasure, God approved his request but then added all the things that Solomon didn’t ask for. 2 Chronicles 1:14-17, ends with this: “Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. And Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s traders would buy them from Kue for a price. They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150. Likewise, through them, these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.” The hordes of silver and gold, along with the multiple horses, demonstrated that God kept his promise to Solomon to give him the wealth that he didn’t ask for.  Yet the law forbids the accumulating of these things, for they would tend to turn the king’s heart from God. Deuteronomy 17:16-17 says, speaking of the King, “Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.”

Solomon asked God for something else later in life. He learned that having too much was as bad as having too little.  In verses 8-9 of Chapter 30 of the book of Proverbs, He prayed, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.” Then, even later in his life, Solomon applied this truth even to religion. He said, in Ecclesiastes 7:17-18, “Be not overly righteous and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked; neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this.” Smith says, “The ethical emphasis of Ecclesiastes is on the golden mean of conduct. Koheleth did not want his readers to go to seed, to become fanatics, to become so narrowly focused that they could not appreciate all that life has to offer. Moderation in all things was his motto.”[1]

This wisdom that Solomon said was good for us to “take hold of” Was also the subject that the writer of the Book of Hebrews addressed in Chapter 12, Verses 1-3. He tells us that too much of anything slow us down in our walk with God.  He says that the accumulation of too much stuff will become “obstacles” to a healthy spiritual life. The Greek word for “obstacles” in this passage means “protuberance.”  “A protuberance is a tumor or swelling, an excess growth. So the idea seems to be that we should lay aside anything that is superfluous, that we do not need, in order to run the race successfully. Too much of anything, even any good thing, should be left behind. This is a call to moderation in order to keep in spiritual shape so that we can run with endurance.”[2] I can’t imagine any society needing this wisdom more than our own. Bowman well said, “Moderation is the badge of the righteous. We live in a world where excesses are not only available but promoted as stylish.”[3]

[1] Smith, James E. 1996. The Wisdom Literature and Psalms. Old Testament Survey Series. Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co.

[2] Constable, Tom. 2003. Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible. Galaxie Software.

[3] Bowman, Dee. 1995. “Front Lines: Repetitions and Rewards.” Christianity Magazine, 1995.

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1 Chronicles 1:28-31, Galatians 4:30

Sons Of Ishmael

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 28, 2023

The Chronicler traces the lineage from Adam to Noah, from Noah to Shem, and then to Abraham, the father of all who trusts God. He reaches the point of his genealogy in 1 Chronicles 1:28. The point is one person: Abraham. This is what he was aiming at from the very beginning. He wants to talk about Abraham’s line through Isaac, but he first chooses to cover Abraham’s line through Ishmael. We read this in 1 Chronicles 1:28-31. It says, “The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael. These are their genealogies: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael.” Ishmael was Abraham’s first-born son, but it’s not unusual to see Isaac listed first when the two are mentioned. Isaac was the one through whom would come the salvation of the world. But God does not forget his promise to Hagar, Ishmael’s mother. When she fled from the personal abuse of Sarah, God instructed her to return to Sarah’s house and then promised her that He would bless her with so many descendants that she would be unable to count them. God repeats this promise to Hagar later as well. Using this language, we see that the blessing applied to Isaac was also going to apply to Ishmael. But the children of Hagar were slave children, while the children of Sarah were free.

The Muslims claim a right to the promised land because they are descendants of Abraham. Like the ten tribes of the northern Kingdom of Israel, these specific descendants of Abraham have intermarried with the peoples of the land to such an extent that their heritage from Abraham has been lost. Morey says, “The descendants of Ishmael were scattered in Northern Arabia from the wilderness of Shur to the ancient city of Havilah. They were absorbed by the local tribes, such as the Midianites (Gen. 37:25–28; 39:1; Judges 8:24). There is no historical or archaeological evidence that Ishmael went south to Mecca and became the ‘Father’ of the Arab race. Some modern Arab scholars admit that before Muhammad, Qahtan was said to be the ‘Father’ of the Arab people, not Ishmael.”[1] The Arab nations have no legal claim to the land of Palestine. It belongs to the descendants of Isaac.

This seems to be clearly stated by Paul’s interpretation of the account of Hagar’s son, Ishmael, and his descendants. In his letter to the Galatians, he clearly says that the children of Ishmael cannot share in the inheritance of Isaac. In Galatians 4:30, Paul says, “But what does the Scripture say? ‘Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.’” Isaac was the only heir to the promises of Abraham. He was the one born only of divine promise and not by human design as Ishmael was.  Isaac was the one of the supernatural birth when both Sarah and Abraham were well beyond their childbearing years. So Isaac’s descendants are not like the other descendants of Abraham. Their heritage rested on Abraham’s faith in God’s promises, not in the ordinary familial lineage. [2] Sarah and Abraham’s manipulation brought Ishmael into the world. God’s promise brought Isaac. Paul uses this truth to teach Christians that we are saved according to God’s promise of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus alone. We can’t do anything to earn or deserve it. It’s based on acceptance of the gift in Christ. It’s not based on one’s own efforts to keep the law or earn God’s acceptance. It is this promise, fulfilled in Christ, that makes us free from the law. If Abraham and Sarah could bring about God’s promise of an heir through their own efforts, there would be no need for Isaac’s birth. If the Christian could bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation through his own efforts to live a righteous life, there would be no need for Christ. The “sons” of Ishmael are those who, even today, think they can make God’s promises come true through their own efforts. The “sons” of Isaac will be those who trust in Christ.

[1] Morey, Robert A. 2002. “Are the Arabs The Descendants of Ishmael?” Journal of Biblical Apologetics 6: 4.

[2] Pratt, Richard L., Jr. 2006. 1 and 2 Chronicles: A Mentor Commentary. Mentor Commentaries. Fearn, Tain, Ross-shire, Great Britain: Mentor.

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