Squabble between two half-brothers
IHAVE been receiving continuously letters requesting for more update information about Jerusalem, about Israel, about the Palestinian State and about the history and the culture of the people living in Israel (the Israelites sometimes known as the Jews/Hebrews) and the people living too in the neighboring countries in the Middle East (Arabs). Generally speaking, there is some kind of hostility or dislike existing between the Jews and the Arabs and vice versa. While many of us know about this strained relationship, it is important for us to understand that not all Jews distrust Arabs and vice versa. Otherwise, we will be guilty of stereotyping people.
*** One may ask: Is there a Biblical explanation why (generally speaking) the Jews and the Arabs dislike/ distrust/conflict with each other? The Arab-Israelite conflict goes back many centuries ago. More specifically the conflict goes back to a family squabble between two half-brothers.
*** Many of us are wondering why there is hostility between the Jewish people and their Arab neighbors. The Book of Genesis of the Old Testament provides the answer to the puzzling relationship between the Jewish people and their Arab neighbors in the Middle East. It dates back to the hatred and bitterness that existed between Sarah, wife of Abraham, and her Egyptian maidservant named Hagar, as narrated in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible.
*** In Biblical history, Abraham is remembered as the founder of the Hebrew nation or, as is more popularly known, the Jewish nation. Abraham, the son of Terah at age 75, left Ur of the Chaldees and went to the land of Canaan. Abraham responded to the following call of the Lord: “Leave your country, your people, and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3)
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Going through the pages of the Book of Genesis we see our Lord appearing to Abram (renamed Abraham by God) then 99 years old and saying to him: “This is My covenant with you. You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.” (Genesis 17:3-6) ***
God further said to Abraham: “As for Sarai, your wife, her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” (Genesis 17:15-16)
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To people who do not believe in the omnipotent powers of our Almighty God, God’s promise to Abraham was ridiculous. Why? Because Sarah could not possibly bear children at the age of 90. In fact, before God appeared to Abraham, Sarah told Abraham to sleep with Hagar her maidservant, saying: “Perhaps I can build a family through her.” (Genesis 16:2) Abraham slept with Hagar and she conceived and gave birth to a son whom Abraham named Ishmael. Abraham was then 86 years old. God appeared to Abraham 13 years later to reassure him that his wife Sarah would bear him a son. True enough, when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old, a son named Isaac was born to them. Shortly, after the birth of Isaac, Sarah told Abraham to send away her maidservant Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham was saddened because Ishmael was his son. God’s reassuring words to Abraham: “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tell you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the maidservant (referring to Ishmael) into a nation also because he is your offspring.” (Genesis 21:1213) Hagar and Ishmael then left the home of Sarah and Abraham. From Ishmael descended the Arabs and from Isaac descended the Jews. The common ascendant of both the Jews and Arabs is Abraham. No wonder people are saying that the hostility and rivalry that have persisted through the centuries in the Middle East between the Jews and the Arabs started with the hostility between two women.
*** How tragic indeed that the problem in the Middle East between the Jews and the Arabs started with the hostility between two women!
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This column continues to give out copies of the Holy Bible for free to those who cannot afford to buy their own copies. If interested, please send your letter-request to Ms. Nelly Favis Villafuerte, 5233 LRV Building, Fahrenheit St., Palanan, Makati City. Kindly mention if it is the Tagalog, English, Cebuano, or Ilocano Bible that is preferred.