ISAAC AND ISHMAEL

A REFLECTION FOR THE 4TH SUNDAY IN LENT

Among the descendants of Noah’s son Sem there lived an elderly couple called Abram and Sarai. They had been married for many years and were childless in their old age, so that it had become clear to them they would eventually have to pass on their inheritance to people outside the family. Abram complained of this to God, and was probably surprised when he received God’s answer that he would not only have children, but that his seed would be as great in number as the stars in the heavens.

When his wife heard of this, she was naturally skeptical of her abilities to conceive at her age.  Instead of trusting in God’s promise, she nevertheless determined to see it fulfilled, and offered her handmaid Hagar to her husband Abram, that he may have a child by this woman.  Abram acquiesced and Hagar conceived a child.

At this point, things began to go downhill.  Hagar, in her new position as future mother to Abram’s child, started to exert her influence in the household, even to the point of looking down on Sarai, Abram’s wife.  This naturally infuriated Sarai, and she and Abram agreed to expel her from their home. Hagar fled, but asked God in her affliction for his blessing on herself and the child she was expecting.  God sent an angel to answer her prayer, with the promise that her seed would also produce future multitudes of people, and that her child should be called Ishmael: “he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”  Ishmael would indeed be hailed by future generation as the father of the Arab peoples, and the angel’s description of Ishmael would be a fitting prophecy for the Muslims who today recognize him as their patriarch.

Thirteen years later, when Abram was at the ripe old age of 99, God appeared again to him and reminded him of his promise.  He told him that he would be the “father of many nations”, that he would henceforth be called Abraham instead of Abram, and his wife Sarai would be called Sarah, that she would conceive and bear a son.  Abraham “fell upon his face, and laughed.”  Sarah was 90 years old after all.  However, God’s prophecy was of course fulfilled, and the son, Isaac, was born to Abraham and his wife.  Isaac would go on to be the father of Jacob (later known as Israel), whose twelve sons would be the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Thus, Ishmael is hailed today by the Muslims as their patriarch, while the Jews hail Isaac.  Both children were descendants of Noah’s son Sem, and so both Muslims and Jews today are technically Semites.  The term ‘anti-Semitic,’ however, is usually only applied to the descendants of Isaac. Interestingly enough, St. Paul in today’s Epistle describes how Ishmael, “born after the flesh” persecuted his younger half-brother Isaac, “born after the Spirit,”—“and,” he points out, “so it is now.” Today, we can join St. Paul and acknowledge that indeed “so it is now,” as Muslims continue to launch their attacks against the Jewish people.  As New Testament Christians, we must be cautious in taking sides, rather placing ourselves above these ancient feuds and rivalries, and pledging allegiance only to Him who was “born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Only in the Word made Flesh can we ever truly unite.