Arab / Jewish Conflict

For generations, news stories of Arab-Jewish fighting have reserved their place on the front page of nearly every local newspaper around the world. The headlines, nearly always the same, "Suicide bomber kills three Israelis, Israel retaliates with deadly force." For more than 3,000 years, this jealous rampage has left hundreds of thousands dead, and a thousand more lined up to carry on the mission of the martyrs before them.

What underlying cause has indoctrinated generation after generation into believing that salvation is achieved through a suicide mission? The reasons for so many years of explicit hatred between the Jews and the Arabs are no more complicated then a personal, family-squabble over dad's inheritance.

This bitterness dates back to 1910 BC and is fought between the descendants of Abraham's two sons, Ishmael and Isaac; Ishmael, the father of the Arab people, and Isaac, the father of the Jewish people, The problem stems from Abraham's wife, Sarai, being frustrated with her inability to have a child and impatient with God's timing, asked Abraham to give her a child through their Egyptian maid "Hagar".

"Now Sarai, Abrams wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar so she said to Abram, "The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleepwith my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her." (Genesis 16:1-2)

Hagar, servant that she was, submitted to being used this way. But her pregnancy gave birth to strong feelings of superiority toward Sarah. Into this tense atmosphere, Ishmael was born. For 13 years Abraham thought Ishmael's birth had fulfilled God's promise. He was surprised to hear God say that the promised child would be Abraham and Sarah's very own and not that of Hagar's.

"And I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her." Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be born to a man 100 years old? And will Sarah, who is 90 years old, bear a child?" And Abraham said to God, Oh that Ishmael might live before Thee (meaning he was first born)! But God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him." (Genesis 17:16-19)

Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to be born into the wrong family? Sarah's pregnancy and Isaac's birth must have had a devastating impact on Ishmael. Until then, he had been treated as a son and an heir, but this late arrival made his future uncertain. The Bible does not reference a whole lot about how Ishmael viewed life, but that question must have haunted him at times. His life, his name, and his position were bound up in a conflict between two jealous women. Sarah, impatient with God's timetable, had taken matters into her own hands, deciding to have a child through another woman.

During Isaacs weaning celebration, Sarah caught Ishmael teasing his half-brother. As a result, Hagar and Ishmael were permanently expelled from Abraham's family.

"Therefore she said to Abraham, 'Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac.' And the matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son. But God said to Abraham, "Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named." (Genesis 21:10-13)

God did not just turn His back on Ishmael, He promised great blessings to him:

"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." (Genesis 17:20)

But in His infinite wisdom, God also saw the people Ishmael's descendants would become:

"He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and every ones hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all their brothers." (Genesis 16:12)

"His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers." (Genesis 25:18)

Gods word in Genesis 17:20, 16:12, and 25:18 has certainly been fulfilled.

Today, Abraham's land, having been bequeathed to Isaac by way of a covenant with God, is still at the center of the battle. Up to this point in history, the first born, in this case Ishmael, received their fathers covenant. However, as clearly outlined above, God chose to establish this covenant through Isaac - Abraham's second born and the first born to Sarah.

Like Abraham his father, Isaac also had two sons, Esau and Jacob; and again the Lord rejected the firstborn, Esau, and gave the inheritance to the second, Jacob - whose name God changed to Israel.

God told him,

"For all the land...to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever" (Genesis 13:15)

"...all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession" (Genesis 17:8)

Twelve times Yahweh calls Himself "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," declaring,

"this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial to all generations" (Exodus 3:15)

More than 200 times, from Exodus 5:1 to Luke 1:68, Yahweh is called "the God of Israel."

Both the Bible and Qur'an agree that 4,000 years ago God gave the 'Promised Land' to Abraham and his descendants. Yet, to this day the Arab peoples refuse to recognize that through Abraham God established His covenant with Isaac and because Ishmael was the first son, they feel the land rightfully belongs to them. For this is the very reason alone why the Arabs have such an expressed hatred towards the Jews.

Domiciled in Canaan

Muslims claim, as have many others who hate God, that the Bible was corrupted by later revisions (please see How can anyone trust the Bible today when it has been translated so many times?). However, the Bible's thousands of manuscripts, historical and prophetic accuracy, and the intricate integration of themes from Genesis to Revelation reduce such a claim to nonsense (none of which the Qur'an can boast!).

The Qur'an itself even supports what the Bible says concerning Israel's claim to the Promised Land:

"We made a covenant of old with the Children of Israel" (Surah 5:70);
"We brought the children of Israel across the sea, and Pharaoh with his hosts pursued them..." (10:91). "...
"[B]ut we drowned him and those with him all together. And we said unto the Children of Israel...dwell in the land hereafter...we shall bring you...out of various nations" (17:103, 104);
"[W]e delivered the children of Israel... from Pharaoh....We chose them, purposely, above all creatures" (44:30-32);
"favored them above all peoples" (45:16);
"Remember Allah's favor to you...He...gave you what he gave no other of his creatures. O my people, go into the Holy Land which Allah hath ordained for you" (95:20, 21);

The territory God gave to Abraham and to his descendants was not "Palestine," but Canaan

"Into the land of Canaan they came" (Genesis 12:5, 6)

There were no "Palestinians" from whom those who take that name today claim to be descended

"the Canaanite and Perizzite dwelled then in the land" (Genesis 13:7)

In an effort to Biblically support Israel's right to the land Dave Hunt wrote:

Thirty-seven years after Ismael's birth, at the age of 127, Sarah died. Abraham was still living in Hebron, having been there more than 70 years. To bury Sarah, he bought the cave of Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite (Genesis 23:1-20).

Thirty-eight years later, at the age of 175, Abraham died. Isaac and Ishmael buried him in Machpelah next to Sarah. Isaac lived in Hebron 110 more years. Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah were also buried in the cave of Machpelah.

Abraham had entered Canaan 400 years after the flood and 300 years after the Tower of Babel. It was sparsely settled, the land was his for the taking, and he, Isaac, Jacob, and their families, lived there more than 300 years before temporarily moving to Egypt to escape a famine. There, for 400 years they were slaves, just as God had said, until the Canaanites became so wicked that He was forced to destroy them. God used Israel for that task, giving them Canaan as an everlasting heritage (Genesis 15:13-16), as He had promised.

God referred to Isaac as Abraham's "only son" (Genesis 22:2). Thus Ishmael was not buried in Machpelah, but where he had settled far away.

"died in the presence of all his brethren" (Genesis 25:17, 18).

No Arab or Muslim was ever buried in Machpelah.

Arabs can't claim a pure descent from Ishmael. Ishmaelites intermarried with Midianites (Judges 8:5,12,22,24), Edomites (Genesis 28:9), and Hittites (26:34; 36:1-4). In contrast, during 400 years as slaves in Egypt, the Israelites became an identifiable ethnic people who were led en masse into Canaan. We know who they are today.

Denying Israel's God-given heritage, Yitzak Rabin, who had secretly promised Clinton he would give up the Golan, declared, "The Bible is not a geography book." Shortly thereafter, he was assassinated, preventing him from giving to Syria the most strategically vital part of Israel.

It was not Arabs but Hebrews who settled in ancient Hebron and all of Canaan, creating Israel, whose kings ruled from Jerusalem over an empire stretching from the Sinai to the Euphrates. Around 600 B.C. they were conquered by the Babylonians and scattered to many nations.

Chased out of their land under God's judgment in the Babylonian dispersion, and later twice by the Romans, numbers of Jews always returned. This despised people continued living in Israel under the oppressive heel of various occupying foreign invaders for another 2,500 years. On May 14, 1948, Israel declared itself an independent nation once again. The Jews once again possessed their own land, as God had promised - but only that small fraction of it that had been allotted by the UN partition on November 29, 1947.

In contrast, the Arabs never lived in Canaan, but settled in the Arabian Peninsula. Not until the seventh century A.D., through the Islamic invasions, did Arabs come in any significant numbers into the land of Israel, which, in A.D. 135, the Romans had angrily renamed Syria-Palestina, after Israel's chief enemy, the Philistines.

The so-called Palestinians of today are Arabs whose ancestors came from Arabia. They are a Semitic people, with no relationship either to the Canaanites or the Philistines, who were not Semites. It is a blatant lie that today's "Palestinians" (who at the same time claim descent from Ishmael) are descended from the original inhabitants of the land of Canaan, which God promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their heirs.

David was first crowned king in Hebron and ruled there seven years before moving his throne to Jerusalem. This ancient city has no significance to Arabs/Muslims. Yet they have built a mosque at Machpelah, have forbidden access to Jews, and, at various times in history, have massacred Jews living there. Today Muslims are attempting to force out the few remaining Jews. They claim all of "Palestine" and state that Israelis are occupying land that belongs to them! And this fraud is the foundation for a so-called road map to peace!"¹

In Joel 3:2, God warned those who would gather against Israel,

"I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land."

Anyone attempting to divide His land either militarily or through peaceful negotiations will be destroyed.

"And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. In that day," says the LORD, "I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, 'The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the LORD of hosts, their God.' In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place--Jerusalem." (Zechariah 12:3-6)

On September 13, 1993, Yassar Arafat and Yitzak Rabin signed the Oslo Accords on the White House lawn. Very shortly after that, and out of fear for his life, Arafat began publicly apologizing to Muslims around the world by saying he was only following the Islamic law Muhammad established. Anwar Sadat was murdered by Muslim extremists for signing such a peace-deal Israel.

Muhammad, whose words cannot be changed, ordered every Muslim to eliminate all Jews. Only then can the "Last Day" - the climax of Islam - arrive. That fact makes "peace" between Israel and Muslims impossible - ever. Therefore, any apparent peace agreements signed by Muslim leaders, past and present, will have no validity.

No Arab/Muslim can contradict Islam's founding prophet. Therefore, continuing to pursue a negotiated "peace" in the Middle East will only lay the foundation for a false peace. Yet Western political and religious leaders continue to hold out that vain hope and to force concessions upon Israel that pave the road to her destruction!

Today, Israel occupies a relatively small piece of land as opposed to her Arab bothers - who possess 700 times as much, with vast amounts of oil and minerals too. Why are the Arabs hell-bent on possessing tiny Israel too? Because a sovereign Jewish state proves the God of the Bible is the one-true God and that Muhammad was nothing more than a false prophet and Allah, a figment of his imagination!

Muhammad - his character revealed

In A.D. 628, Muhammad led a few of his converts (to his new religion, Islam) from Medina back to Mecca, hoping to join thousands of pagan Arabs in the hajj. This annual pilgrimage to the Ka'aba, which Islam claims was built by Abraham and Ishmael, with its elaborate ceremonies, had been practiced by pagan Arab tribes for centuries before Muhammad was born. He was turned back by the Meccans, so he signed a 10-year ceasefire known as the 'Treaty of Hubaybiya', which relinquished his claim of being "the prophet of Allah."

Just two years into this 10 year peace agreement, in A.D. 630, Muhammad broke the ceasefire and took over Mecca. At first, he allowed pagan Arabs to continue in the hajj, mingling with the new Muslims in the ancient rituals. Then he gave the pagans four months in which to convert to Islam or be killed. Thereafter, no non-Muslims were allowed into Mecca, as is true today.

Beginning with the first sighting of the new moon in the ninth month of the Muslim lunar calendar, Ramadan was celebrated by pagan Arabs in honor of Allah, the moon god, for centuries before Islam. To the hajj and Ramadan, Muhammad added the horror of jihad and commanded Muslims to take over the world. That belief has cost millions of innocent lives and drives terrorism today.

Those promoting the Road Map to Peace are following a history of good intentions on the part of Israel and the West, which invariably have been betrayed by the Arabs/Muslims and have steadily made Israel's position more untenable.

Things still to come

Pursuing their impossible peace initiatives, world leaders defy the God of Israel and of the Bible.

"Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed saying, "Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The LORD shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure:" (Psalms 2:1-5)

We are in the final stages of the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, behind which lies the omnipotent hand of God himself.

"I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem..." (Zechariah 12:2, 3).

That remarkable prophecy is being fulfilled today. Never before in history have all those surrounding Israel been united to destroy her. This significant development in history and Bible prophecy has come about through the rise of Islam.

The free-world wants a "democratic, viable" Palestinian state living in peace with Israel, but no democracy exists, or can exist, in a Muslim society. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. The free-world is trying to create democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq. If that could happen, it would shake the entire Muslim world. Islam cannot survive in freedom. No wonder there is such fanatical opposition from Muslims worldwide, even for the capture of that sadistic mass torturer and murderer, Saddam Hussein. Muslims hold 80 percent of the world's political prisoners.

The Bible foretells a false peace, by which Antichrist will destroy many,

"And in the latter time of their kingdom, When the transgressors have reached their fullness, A king shall arise, Having fierce features, Who understands sinister schemes. His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; He shall destroy fearfully, And shall prosper and thrive; He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people. "Through his cunning He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; And he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; But he shall be broken without human means." (Daniel 8:23-25).

Tragically, Israel will be deceived, tear down the security wall now being built, and drop its guard, opening the door to "the time of Jacob's trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7) and Armageddon (Ezekiel 38:11,12,14,16). Two-thirds of all Jews worldwide will be killed (Zechariah 13:8, 9). Those who survive will believe in Christ and be saved when He rescues them and they recognize the crucified, resurrected Lord as their Messiah and God (Zechariah 12:10; Matthew 24:13; Romans 11:25, 26).

The book of Genesis so clearly reveals the character of Ishmael's descendants and the Old Testament prophets foretell us of the approaching destruction they will incur. Iraq, Jordan, Lybia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and the Palestinians, when not killing Israelis, they are killing each other. It is these followers of Islam and their extreme hatred that will lead to a seven year peace covenant, which will begin the Tribulation hour - the final seven years of man's rule. And like Muhammad did in A.D. 630, they will shortly thereafter break this covenant, which will unleash God's wrath on a satan-deceived world and fulfill the final prophecies of Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Book of Revelation.