Hi Summia! I hope you are well today. I can't help but comment on how passionate you are in your love for Allah. It is very lovely to me to see such deep devotion like you have. I am sorry you believe I try to lie on purpose, for I, of course believe I have the truth. But that is okay. I see we definetely believe differently still on Ishmael and Isaac. I understand Isaac means laughter because Sarah laughed when she heard God promise she would become pregnant at such an old age. And you are correct about Ishmael's name'for the Bible says God HEARD Hagar's affliction:
Genesis 16
11And the angel of the LORD said unto
her (Hagar), Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son,
and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction
Note that God heard HAGAR's affliction, NOT Abraham's. For Sarah had kicked her out because she was angry because she had not conceived yet. This is in Genesis 16 if you want to read the story.
Here are some verses about Isaac and God's promise:
Genesis 17:19
And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name
Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
21
But my covenant will I establish with
Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
Genesis 21:3
And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him,
Isaac.
Here we see Isaac was born of Sarah and that God would establish His covenant with him for an everlasting covenant. What we believe about this is that Jesus Christ came from Isaac's line and it is through Him that salvation is available to all the world. Here are some verses that you would probably consider lies but they do not conflict with the rest of the Bible:
Genesis 22:2
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son
Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ***, and took two of his young men with him, and
Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon
Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7And
Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
9-13And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound
Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
23:10And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God,
seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. 13And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
The verse I underlined is significant to us Christians because Jesus said:
John 3:16
For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
So, just as Abraham was so obedient to God that he was willing to offer his only son, God offered His only Son that whoever believes in him may have everlasting life. Here are some verses we believe:
Hebrews 11
17By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
18Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
Just as Abraham believed God was able to raise Isaac from the dead, God raised His Son, Jesus. who actually was sacrificed for our sins, from the dead. You see how this ties in with our core beliefs? Of course we both believe we are right and the other wrong about this, but I wanted to share a little bit about my beliefs.
Here is the promise God gave to Abraham:
Genesis 12
1Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee:
and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
This last phrase, that in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed, we believe as I said, that Jesus descended from the line of Isaac, who begat Jacob, who begat twelve sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel through whom came Jesus, the Messiah. "All families of the earth" may be blessed by believing in Jesus for eternal life, which is a free gift to all who believe Jesus paid for all our sins on the cross and rose again.
The Bible also says good things about Ishmael. I will give some background verses then the verses that tell what God says about Ishmael. Note that God told Hagar to name him Ishmael because He heard HER affliction, not Abraham's:
Genesis 16
10And the angel of the LORD said unto her (Hagar),
I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
11And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. 12And 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.
15And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
The Bible says God would make of Ismael a great nation, which He did. Here is a bit more scripture:
Genesis 17
15And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
16And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
17Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
18And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
19And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
20And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
So we see from these verses that God promised Sarah a baby but Abraham tried to make it happen on his own and conceived Ishmael by Hagar. But Sarah did miraculously conceive and had Isaac through whom God said all nations will be blessed--we believe because through his line Jesus would come to save anyone who calls upon His name. Yet, Ishmael is also blessed of God but no covenant is made with him that through his seed all nations would be blessed, yet he would still begat a great nation. Well, this is what the Bible says and what I believe, thank-you for letting me share with you my beliefs. God bless you and if I can explain my beliefs further I will try to do so.
Peace and Love,
Mike