The Middle East conflict started when Abraham’s wife, Sarah, did not follow God’s will. God had promised Abraham that he would become the father of a great nation (Genesis 12:2; 15:18). Since Abraham and Sarah had no children at that time, Sarah suggested that Abraham have a child by her handmaid, Hagar (Genesis 16:1-2). The custom of their times was that if a woman was barren, her husband could have children through one of her maid servants. So, Sarah was “helping God out.” She had her own idea as to how Abraham could become the father of a great nation.
As a result, trouble followed. Abraham and Hagar had a child. Sarah became jealous of Hagar and Hagar fled. The Lord had more compassion than Sarah.
The angel of Adonai found Hagar in the desert and said to her: “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority. I will greatly increase your descendants so that they shall be too many to count.” The angel of the Lord said to her further: “Look, you are pregnant, and you will give birth to a son; you are to call him Ishmael because Adonai has paid attention to your misery. “And he will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; living his life at odds with his kinsmen.” Genesis 16:10-12
Notice, the Lord stated that conflict would follow. The conflict would be between Isaac and Ishmael. Ishmael’s hand would be against everyone, and consequently, everyone would react against him and his descendants.
Also, God promised to make great nations of both Isaac and Ishmael. Isaac would be the father of Israel and Ishmael the father of the Arabs.
“And as for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.” Genesis (17:20-21)
Sometime after Isaac was born, Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away. They went into the desert to live.
The Middle East conflict was prophesied in Genesis. The conflict is between family members, the descendants of Isaac and the descendants of Ishmael. It is the result of Sarah trying to accomplish the Lord’s will in her own way.
When Islam emerged in the 7th century under the prophet Muhammad, it self-consciously positioned itself as a “correction” to the Judeo-Christian tradition. Muhammad traced his lineage through Ishmael and proclaimed Islam as the true continuation of Abrahamic faith.
The Ottomans retained religious significance as the custodians of the Islamic caliphate, a title granting them spiritual leadership over Muslims worldwide. The prospect of a European-dominated world order, with Christian empires ruling over Muslim populations, stirred ancient resentments.
World War One thus presented an opportunity for the Muslim world, led by the Ottoman Empire, to reassert itself against the Judeo-Christian West. The call to jihad in 1914 was a spiritual echo of Ishmael’s hand being “against everyone,” reigniting the ancient hostility prophesied in Genesis.
The clash between Islam and Judeo-Christianity during World War One was not a new phenomenon; rather, it was a continuation of an ancient conflict that began thousands of years earlier, with the rivalry between the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael.
The conclusion of World War One didn’t bring peace between Islam, Jews and Christians.
Muslims saw the carving up of the Ottoman Empire by Britain and France, through agreements like Sykes-Picot and declarations like the Balfour Declaration, as a betrayal. Western powers imposed new borders and installed regimes friendly to their own interests, disregarding indigenous people and their needs.
Particularly inflammatory was the British promise of a Jewish homeland in Palestine — a move that rekindled Muslim fears of Jewish and Christian domination in lands they considered to be their own.
The tensions that surfaced during World War One, continue to resonate today. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the rise of Islamic extremism, and the broader struggle between Islamic and Western civilizations are all echoes of the ancient rivalry between Isaac and Ishmael.
In the more than 45 years since the Middle East war of June 1967, there have been many peace plans and negotiations. So far they all have failed.
Only God himself will bring lasting peace.
Standing with Israel 