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So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away . . . And God was with the lad, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness, and became an archer. And he lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. (NASB) Genesis 21:14, 20-21 |
Later in Genesis 25:12-16 we discover that Ishmael had twelve sons. One of them was Kedar.
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Now these are the records of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's maid, bore to Abraham; and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the first-born of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam and Mishma and Dumah and Massa, Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages, and by their camps; twelve princes according to their tribes. (NASB) Genesis 25:12-16 |
Kedar's name occurs a number of times in the Old Testament. The most significant one for this question reveals that Kedar was an Arab. Genesis 16:1 reveals that Hagar, Ishmael's mother, was an Egyptian.
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Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, they were your customers for lambs, rams, and goats; for these they were your customers. (NASB) Ezekiel 27:21 |
Conclusion: The Middle East conflict was predicted in the Old Testament. It will continue until Jesus returns. The conflict is the result of Sarah trying to accomplish the Lord's will her own way. Have you ever asked God to give you leading in your life about His will? Then perhaps you did not receive the answer you wanted, so you did things your own way? May be you ignored the Word of God because you knew God was a God of grace and would forgive you? This is a great lesson for us. We need to remember that on the surface doing things our own way can appear great and yet be the seed of trouble to come. |
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