"God hath heard
the voice of the lad where he is" Gen.
21:17
This was the word of the Angel of God
about Ishmael (through who came the NATIONS OF THE ARAB peoples and,
eventually, ISLAM AND THE GREATER ISLAMIC WORLD), and it is one which we do well to
ponder. ISHMAEL was the son of the bond-woman, the offspring of a FAILURE OF FAITH. When ISAAC, THE CHILD OF FAITH,
was born, the bondwoman MOCKED. That is a suggestive statement. It was
necessary that Hagar and Ishmael should be sent forth. They could have no part
in the purposes of God, which were being wrought out through the chosen people.
But when thus sent out, they had not passed out of the sight of God, nor beyond
His care and government. God provided for him what he needed at the moment to
preserve his life; God was with the lad, and he grew; God made of him A GREAT
NATION. This account, rightly apprehended, will help us to that VIEW OF ALL
HISTORY which is necessary to intelligent understanding thereof. God's
elections never mean His abandonment of those not elected. There is no nation
which He has not made. There are no people which He has excluded from the
purposes of His goodness. Those elected are elected to SERVE THE OTHERS. When
at last His city is built, all the nations shall walk in the light thereof (Rev. 21:24). When the SEED, called in ISAAC,
has won the final triumph, ISHMAEL
will share in the glorious results knowing
Christ to be Jesus of Nazareth and his Savior and Redeemer. A remembrance
of that fact will purge our hearts from
the possibility of all contempt for any less-favored peoples. We shall see
in them those whom God sees, for whom God cares, and for whose ultimate recovery
and blessedness God is forever working.
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