Friday 10 November 2023

Psalm 18:1-19

Background

God has fulfilled his promise to Sarah and, in giving her a son, has given her good cause to be joyful (or laugh, as she puts it) but it is not enough for her. Sarah had been jealous of Hagar (Abraham's second wife) since ever she conceived Abraham’s child. There is real cause: Hagar's son Ishmael was the first-born and if he remained in the family until Abraham died he would have claim to the inheritance.

No mercy is shown and Hagar and Ishmael are cast out into the wilderness. But God changes the outcome for his own purposes, saving Hagar and her son by his actions. Ishmael is not just saved, he too is given a promise of great things to come.

Ishmael is the traditional father of the Arab tribes from whom Muhammad is descended and he is described as a prophet. Some stories describe Abraham coming to Mecca to meet with his son and between them building the Kaaba, the house of God in Muslim tradition.

The main thrust of our story is to identify the Abrahamic line in the Hebrew tradition, linking the Jewish tribes back through Abraham to Noah and eventually to Adam. In both the Jewish and Islamic traditions the purpose of this is to identify them as the people of God.

In the New Testament, Matthew's Gospel opens with a genealogy that links Jesus back to Abraham as well, still offering this link to demonstrate a place for Jesus in the covenant made by God with Abraham.

Clearly Jews, Muslims and Christians are, in their literature, laying claim to a covenant with God which was originally about land.

To Ponder:

•  In what way does the link to the Holy Land matter to you today?
• Considering the common source of all three religious faiths, how would that affect the way you look at present-day relations?