Who Are the People of God?
This article is another response to the apologists at Answering Christianity (*). Once again, Abdallah and his allies slash and slice at the Bible. He isolates a small number of verses in a small number of books in order to defend a polemic which is dishonest and ignorant. While Abdallah seems comfortable with his demonstrated lack of knowledge, Christians must be willing to tutor even 'ignorant beasts' whose hands are held in holy counsel though they rage against God [Psalm 73:22-28].
I.
So, just who are the ‘People of God1’? While indeed all mankind is descended from the seed of Adam, beginning in chapter ten of the Book of Genesis we are given a picture of nations as they occupied the earth at the end of the primeval age [Hartley, Genesis, p. 116]. It is, then, Noah from whom all later nations grew and in whose sons is the connective bond by either human lineage, divine covenant or national treaty. It was Noah whose heroism was in his faith, not in the practice of violence [cf. Genesis 4:23,24; 6:11,13]. Like Jesus who would come much later, Noah did not allow the wickedness of his day to infect his message or weaken his confidence2. From Noah we find not only the roots of our shared human heritage, but simultaneously discover the pattern to be imitated under the most perilous of circumstances or trials. Into Noah's hands God once again gave the Creation Commission to go forth and multiply [Genesis 1:22; 9:1]. However, after the Flood, Noah would allow the comforts of his success and standing to lead him into the sin of drunkenness, from which the destiny of whole nations would carry a curse for centuries until finally freed by Christ3.
II.
God is indeed good; however, man is not. Discord and division did not end with Noah, and once again later broke our unity. Human achievement and the lust for power gave God no choice but to scatter the human race into nations, tribes and clans [Genesis 11:1-9; cf. Q. 49:13]4. Mankind had again become incapable of steadfast obedience. But even after this wide separation, within the lineage of Shem, God raised Abraham5. While a discussion of the aggregate narrative or the entire 'toledoth' of Abraham is beyond the scope of this paper, reviewing the promises made to Abraham is important in answering the thesis question, 'Just Who Are The People of God?' To find out, we have to travel back in time 3,500 years.
Abraham was called by Yahweh while living with his family in Haran [Genesis 12]. Abraham was to leave his father’s house and his country. He would leave behind any rank or title connected with his father’s name6. Later, Abraham would send his servant Eliezer back to Haran in order to find a wife for his 'only son' Isaac7 [Genesis 22]. However, long before Rebekah becomes the wife of a patriarch, God speaks to Abraham, certain promises are made, and the later lineage of the Old Covenant People begins to become clearer. Still, to get the greatest possible grasp on the answer to the thesis, we need to delve into God's visitations with Abraham [Genesis 15ff], the subsequent covenant of circumcision and the effect on the birth of a specific nation [Genesis 17] which would receive God's instruction and establish the people which would preserve for themselves and later deliver to us all, the plan of salvation8. We'll look too at the last years of Abraham's life after the death of Sarah [Genesis 23-25]. Later in this paper we'll also see from the Book of Genesis the real and undeniable details which Muslims must fight against or cover up in order to maintain the delusion they hold. We'll close by refuting the first of Abdallah's claims. I will let others discuss the second part of Abdullah's attack9.
Revelation came to Abraham in a vision10, where God stilled Abraham's fear and declared that He was a 'shield and a great reward'. Abraham's response was to express his agony over being childless, which the Sovereign Lord replied to with words of encouragement. God promised that a son from Abraham's own body would be his heir [Genesis 15:4]. In the closing verses of chapter fifteen, a very dramatic event passes and God gives Abraham the right to the land his descendants would inherit, which is described as being limited to the Levant and including the land between the river of Egypt and the Euphrates. In chapter sixteen we find a few clarifying illustrations that need to be discussed. First we see that Sarah's barrenness was not due to physiological factors, but God's will. She and Abraham then ignored divine prerogative and providence. They conspired to 'help God out' by providing a substitute wife. Hagar later despised Sarah, resulting in mistreatment of Hagar so severe that she fled11. While the prophet of Islam would have us believe that the angelic visitation to Hagar occurred near Mecca, the Bible records that,
The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur [Genesis 16:7]12.
The next step in the growth of the covenant people occurs in the seventeenth chapter of Genesis. Ironically, the covenant of circumcision is to Muslims a critical point in Islamic history, yet when analyzed honestly, it refutes the Islamic model. Unfortunately, they see from this narrative the evidence that Ishmael was, as the firstborn in the flesh, the natural heir to the promises made to Abraham. But is this true? To find out, we have to consider just what the covenant included, and while we are discussing the necessary scriptures we'll explore to whom it was passed.
The covenant included three principle parts: an heir, an inheritance and a heritage. In this paper, the discussion of the heir will draw us into the conclusion that Ishmael has been completely purged out of the covenant by none other than God13. The facts regarding the inheritance will cast aside any notion that Muslims or even Arabs have a legitimate claim to the land of Israel, and lastly the question of heritage leaves out the offspring of Ishmael as having a prophetic role at all. In the opening verses of chapter seventeen, God confirms what he had said before, and adds the injunction to 'walk before me and be blameless' [Genesis 17:1-2]. Abraham is to be completely devoted to God in practice and in moral commitment. God would fulfill each of his previous promises. Abraham accepts the offer, along with its terms by falling face down. God seals the covenant by renaming both Abraham and his wife14. From that day forward, the notion of a divine covenant permeates and dominates all God's dealings with His people15. The covenant includes but is not limited to pronouncements of external possession of the land in an everlasting covenant. The sign of the covenant will be circumcision16. While even those 'bought with money' are to be circumcised, and grafted into the covenant, it is the family of the 'mighty Prince' [Genesis 23:5] who will govern and lead. While indeed Abraham would be the 'father of many nations' it would be through both Abraham and Sarah that the Promised Son would be born [Genesis 21]17. It is only by Abraham's marked intercession that Ishmael receives any blessing at all [vv. 19-22]18. While Ishmael was a loved son of Abraham, the divine presence of God would live with a 'kingdom of priests' who were to carry out their part as a holy nation [Exodus 19:6]. Muslims are quick to point out that the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael at the time Isaac is weaned was prompted by Sarah. What Muslims must ignore is that in this particular instance, God tells Abraham to ‘listen to whatever Sarah tells you’ [Genesis 21]. Obviously, God used Sarah for the necessary action that Abraham was reluctant to take. Only when Hagar and Ishmael depart does God call upon Abraham to ‘come to the land of Moriah’19. The sequence of events here is vital to understand. When God calls Abraham to Moriah, Hagar and Ishmael had already been sent away. While the Muslims will find the truth uncomfortable, the connected series of events leaves us with no other alternative but to affirm the long held tradition as authoritative and true. Ishmael later appears in scripture at the burial of Abraham, where his lineage is listed and his own death is recorded and his career in Holy Writ ends. Muslims will not be surprised, though somewhat angry, to find that the covenant line continues and Ishmael has nothing to do with it outside of Islamic imagination20. Ishmael, though blessed by God, has no birthright, and is no more than the seed of the bitter harvest. The Islamic reinterpretation is a dismal failure.
III.
Let’s now consider the claims made by Abdallah. He states that,
No race, color or gender are chosen by GOD Almighty in Islam. Everyone is evaluated by his Good Deeds.
While the sentiments are pleasing in appearance, are they true? Islamic sources confirm that mankind was made into nations and tribes [Q. 49:13; Tafsir al-Jalalayn] and that the most noble are the ‘most God fearing among you’21. There can be no doubt that while the Arabian peninsula was drowning in occultism and polytheism, the Noble Jews were holding fast to the inheritance of Abraham, and under great pressure remained firm to the covenant. How was this possible? They were God's chosen people, of course! The Jews were a covenant people who saw in their distinctiveness the truth of Abraham's call. Jews knew even in their failures that they were to be a great people whose progeny would be the blessing provision for the whole world. Jews, as God's chosen people were therefore conscious of their distinctiveness among all the people of the earth. As I already pointed out, the Mighty Prince Abraham, followed by Isaac and Jacob, then the Tribes, were given providence and authority over the land and the Prophetic office. So, while all people can share in faith, not all can produce Prophets and not all claimants to the Office bring legitimate revelation [Luke 1:69; John 4:22; Acts 4:12; Romans 1:16; I Peter 1:10, et al]. The Islamic hostility towards the Jews and Christians has, according to apologist James Arlandson, become a metaphysical one that is debased and irrational [source]. This indicates just which side of the covenant Muslims are fighting from. The origin of the rage can be found in the Quran itself. Muslims are to fight the Christians and Jews until they are killed, convert, or pay jizya [Q. 9:29; Tafsir al-Jalalayn]. Needless to say, it seems remarkably false that God would dispose of His firstborn by dispensational violence22 [Exodus 4:22]. While the scepter may pass from one Priesthood to another [Exodus 40:15; Hebrews 7:11; I Peter 2:5] no legitimate covenant holder would be called by God to destroy Israel23, and as time itself begins to wind down to Judgment Day, Muslims should know better.
