Is Ishmael the reason for Islam? I have heard preachers say that it was Abraham costly mistake of going in to Hagar and having a son with her that made Islam a reality because he founded Islam?
Is that scripturally correct? Let's examine the Scripture to know if it's true.
I get puzzle at such understanding of the Bible. Many preachers often say that it was the impatience of Abraham in waiting for the promise of God (Isaac) that led to what became Islam.
Hence, they refer to Islam as the children of the bondwoman. Is Islam specifically implied as the children of the bondwoman in scripture?
Christians implying that the scripture specifically refer to just Muslims as children of the bondwoman speak of two things – it is either they have never had to research their bible to find out the truth for themselves or they are confusing the use of the word “Arabia” in reference to Agar (Galatians 4:25) to mean Islam.
The scriptural use of the word “children of the bondwoman” doesn't just refer to Islam.
In the book of Galatians 4:22, it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman (Genesis 16:15; 21:2, 9).
The word "bond" is the same as slave. The scripture says that Ishmael was the child of the bond or slave woman according to the "flesh."
But as for Isaac, he is the son of the free woman; born in fulfillment of the promise.
We all know the story of Abraham. God had promised him a son who was to be the symbolic representation of the dispensation of grace – the coming of Jesus Christ.
But prior to Isaac's birth, Abraham became inpatient and went in to his maid Agar with the consent of his wife Sarah and they had a son named Ishmael.
But God told him that Ishmael was not the son of the promise he made to him, because it is Sarah who would conceive and give birth to Isaac (the promise).
Sripturally, both Isaac and Ishmael are the symbolic characterization of the "Law" and "Grace" dispensations.
They were both the symbolic expression of the deeper meaning through which these dispensations and their dichotomies were to be understood. That's what the scripture teaches.
Isaac represented Grace, while Ishmael represented the Law of Moses. The law came before the dispensation of Grace, so Ishmael came before Isaac.
Galatians 4:24 says that the both of them were the allegories that God used to explain Jesus’ days to Abraham.
In Galatians 4:24, the bible says that both Sarah (free woman) and Agar (bondwoman) represented two covenants.
One covenant originated from Mount Sinai where the Law was given and bears children destined for slavery. This is Agar.
Bondwoman represented by the figure Agar is the Mosaic Law that was given at Mount Sinai. But Sarah the free woman represented Grace. She is the figure adumbrating Mount Zion.
The tabernacle in the Old Testament and the priests who ministered in it were shadow of what God had established in heaven.
The heavenly tabernacle was the true, perfect, and authentic sanctuary. God gave Moses the blueprint of that sanctuary while the Israelites were at Mount Sinai.
Mount Sinai is an adumbration of Mount Zion. These are two different locations. One is physical while the other is spiritual. One is heavenly while the other is physical.
The New Covenant is a replacement of the Old. Christ is the fulfillment of the Old and the guarantee of better promises.
The words “bondwomen” and "free woman" were used in scriptures to distinguish two covenants and dispensations.
Under the Mosaic Law, the regulatory codes called the laws of Moses were given by God to his people the Israelites to bring men to the knowledge of sin and revealed to them their inabilities.
The Law of Moses pointed the people to their inadequacies and lack of spiritual realization without Christ – no one was justified under the law (Romans 3:19-20; 4:15; 5:13, 20; 7:5, 7-14, Galatians 3:24).
The word “Arabia” does not in any way refer to Islam. From biblical records, Arabia is a location in the present day Middle East where we have Israel, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, etc.
This geographical location has been in existence since Bible days. Even Paul, after his conversion retreated to the Arabia Mountain for few years. Scholars believe Paul had most of his intimate encounters with God in Arabia mountain.
Ishmael is not the grand patron of the Islamic religion, Mohammed is. Ishmael is only the ancestor of the Arabs. Arabian was not synonymous with Islam even though that's what it seems now.
Scripturally, Ishmael is the father of those who are in the flesh, by physical descent.
Muslims are not the children of the bondwoman in the sense of Ishmael being a Muslim or the progenitor of the race. They are like the rest of the unbelieving world who do not believe the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Islam did not exist as at the time that God gave the Laws to Moses at Mount Sinai. What God’s people practiced then was Judaism.
Ishmael is the ancestor of the Arabs, not Muslims. Arabs are related to the Israelites. Islam is a religion that began around the 6th century. Arabs were idolaters until Mohammed converted them with jihad.
So the use of the word “bondwoman” is only symbolic of the covenant that God’s people lived under before the dispensation of Grace.
It has nothing to do with Islam. Both Sarah and Agar were symbolic representations of two covenants and dispensations.
The sending away of Agar and her son, according to the scripture, is symbolic of the end of the Law of Moses (Galatians 4:30, Genesis 21:10).
So, every born again child of God belongs to Jerusalem above – Mount Zion, which is the Messianic Kingdom of Christ. We are free, and symbolically, Sarah is our mother. She represented Mount Zion. We are all children of Abraham (Galatians 4:26).
Hence, anyone who is not yet born again, whether Muslim, eckist, atheists, etc. is of a physical descent, and as such not yet a child of God by virtue of the promise made to Abraham.
So they are all Ishmaelites. This is the teaching of scripture. The scripture recognize them as children of the flesh (Ishmael).
Every unbeliever, be it Muslim or church goers, are descendants of Ishmael until they come to Christ.
Thanks for your time.
I repeat, Ishmael has nothing to do with Islam. If you are an unbeliever, you are of the flesh. Ishmael means children of the flesh. So it's not peculiar to Muslims. It speaks of unbelievers.
