Messianic Perspectives

Liz Aiello: With media attention focused on Israel and the people of the Gaza Strip, hope for a peaceful solution to the Middle East situation seems almost hopeless. Yet the ancient prophets told us thousands of years ago how everything will turn out. Stay tuned as we talk about Bible prophecy today right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Shalom, and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the Scriptures from a distinctive first-century Jewish point of view. This is Liz Aiello. Today, Dr. Gary Hedrick is talking about Bible prophecy. His subject is Egypt and the Arab nations in prophecy.

Here on Messianic Perspectives, we usually focus on prophecy as it relates to Israel, but today, we'll be looking at the future of the Middle East from the viewpoint of the Arab nations because, believe it or not, Israel is not the only nation in the Middle East that God has a plan for. I'll be back a little later with information about a special offer, so have your pencil and paper ready. And now, with today's installment, here's Gary.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: Thank you, and welcome listening friend to this edition of the program. It's good to have you with us today as we continue this series of studies dealing with Egypt and the Arab nations in prophecy. We said on the last program that you can trace the origins of both the Jewish and Arab nations by going back to Genesis chapter 12. In verses 1 through 3, you've got the beginnings of the Jewish nation, and then in verses 10 through 20, you've got the roots of the Arab nations because that's where Abraham went down to Egypt.

It was while he was in Egypt that he acquired Hagar, who became Sarah's handmaiden, and later it was through the union of Abraham and Hagar that Ishmael was born. We talked about that in detail last time, and of course, today Ishmael is considered the father of the majority of the Arab nations. We didn't have time to go into it on the last program, but there's something very interesting in this story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar.

When you compare the story of Abraham and Sarah here in Genesis chapter 16 with the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3, there are four distinct parallels between the two accounts. Let me show them to you because I want you to see what an understanding of Hebrew parallelism—that's what it's called—can do for your understanding of Scripture.

In Genesis 16:2, Sarah said unto Abraham. In Genesis 3:2, it says Eve said unto the serpent. In Genesis 16:2, Abraham agreed to what Sarah had said. In Genesis 3:17, Adam agreed with what Eve had said. Genesis 16:3, Sarah took Hagar, and in Genesis 3:6, Eve took the fruit. Genesis 16:3, Sarah gave Hagar to her husband Abraham, and in Genesis 3:6, Eve gave the fruit to her husband Adam.

That's Hebrew parallelism. You see Sarah said, Eve said; Abraham agreed, Adam agreed; Sarah took, Eve took; Sarah gave, Eve gave. Now, let's go back and pick up the story in Genesis chapter 16 because this is after Hagar and Sarah had their spat and Hagar ran away into the desert. So, there she was, pregnant, lost, alone, hundreds of miles from her family back in Egypt, wandering around out there in the desert.

She thinks she's totally abandoned, but look what it says in verse 7: "And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur." This angel of the LORD here is Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Christ. It's what we call a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. Verse 8: "And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go?"

Notice the very first thing the angel said to her was her name. He said, "Hagar." Not only that, but he expressed a personal interest in her. He said, "Where did you come from? Where are you going?" You see, this Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, wasn't anything at all like the gods and goddesses Hagar knew back in Egypt. Those pagan Egyptian deities didn't care anything about her.

But here was Jehovah God, the God of the universe, talking to her and calling her by name. He said, "Hagar, where did you come from? Where are you going?" And it says she said, "I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai." Verse 9: "And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands." Now, watch this. This is what I want you to see. He gives her five specific prophecies regarding the future of her son Ishmael and the Arab nations.

Verse 10: "And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude." Let's stop there for just a moment. The first prophecy is that God will multiply Hagar's descendants through Ishmael. He says they would not be numbered for multitude, and in the next chapter, chapter 17, verse 20, the Lord says, "As for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation."

So, that was the first prophecy, and it's come to pass in a most remarkable way. In fact, today there are 21 Arab nations with a combined population of 175 million people. The Arabs occupy a total area of 5.3 million square miles of oil-rich land. Compare that with Israel with a population of only four million, squeezed into an area of only about 8,000 square miles.

In terms of population, the Jews are outnumbered by a ratio of 43 to 1, and in terms of geographical area, they're outnumbered by a ratio of 662 to 1. So, the first prophecy has been fulfilled. The descendants of Ishmael have been multiplied exceedingly. Now let's go on. Verse 11: "And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael."

Literally, Ishmael in Hebrew means "God hears" or "God shall hear." "Thou shalt call his name Ishmael," he says, "because the LORD hath heard thy affliction." Verse 12: "And he will be a wild man." Literally in the Hebrew, it says, "And he will be a wild donkey of a man." It's the same word that was used to describe the packs of wild asses that used to roam the deserts of Palestine.

This is a prophecy that the descendants of Ishmael would be nomadic people. They would roam the deserts of the Middle East. Of course, the Arabs have historically been nomads. So, the second prophecy is that Ishmael will be a wild ass of a man. Then he goes on to say, "His hand will be against every man." That's the third prophecy.

In other words, he's saying that one of Ishmael's traits would be that of aggression. I'm sure that even before Ishmael was born, when he was in the womb, he could sense the conflict and the hostility between his mother and Sarah. Maybe that's one reason he grew up to be a man of hostility and aggression, and those traits have been passed down from one generation to another down to the present time.

Isn't it amazing how much our children and our descendants grow up to be just like us? Then he continues and says, "His hand will be against every man." Here's the fourth prophecy: "And every man's hand will be against him." That's only logical that as Ishmael and his descendants display their aggressive tendencies, they would bring retaliation and retribution upon themselves from their enemies.

When you look at the history of Israel since 1948, that's basically what you've got. It's basically a series of Arab attacks, one right after another, followed by Israeli retaliation. In fact, a lot of people talk about Israel's illegal occupation of the West Bank and their illegal annexation of the occupied territories and the Golan Heights and so forth, but the fact is that all of those areas were taken in self-defense. The Arabs attacked first.

We'll talk about that some more next time. Let me quickly finish this up before we run out of time. Number five is right here in verse 12 where it says, "And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren." Literally, in the Hebrew, it says, "He shall dwell over against his brother." It's an idiom of the language, and it means to live side-by-side, but in a state of hostility.

Can you think of a better way to describe the Middle East today? Not only do the Jews and the Arabs live side-by-side in a state of tension and hostility, but even the Arabs themselves in many cases don't get along with each other. So, those are the five prophecies the angel of the Lord gave Hagar out there in the desert when she was pregnant with her son Ishmael.

Verse 13 says, "And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?" Verse 14: "Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered." That's what Hagar called that place where she met the Lord. She called it Beerlahairoi.

In the Hebrew, it's a phrase that literally means "well of the living one who sees me." You see, what impressed that little Egyptian woman was that God saw her, and He spoke to her. Isis and Osiris back in Egypt had never spoken to her. The sun god never spoke to her. Pharaoh never gave her the time of day, but God Almighty saw her. He spoke to her, and He even called her by her name.

You see, that's what Abraham and Sarah had forgotten. They had forgotten that God hears, that He sees, and that He cares. They had been praying and hoping and longing and yearning for a son for ten long years, and they finally just decided God wasn't listening anymore. So, they went with their own plan, but God revealed Himself to Hagar the Egyptian as the God who hears, who sees, and who loves us. He loved Hagar, and He even loved her unborn son. In fact, He had a plan for Ishmael and his descendants. We'll continue this next time. See you then. Bye-bye.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary, and thank you listening friend for tuning in today. Gary Hedrick's subject today has been Egypt and the Arab nations in prophecy. Now, on a program like ours with Messianic emphasis, you might think it's rather odd to be talking about Egypt and the Arab nations. However, it's important to understand that God has a prophetic plan for the Arab people just like He has a plan for Israel and the Jewish people.

He has not forgotten the sons of Ishmael, and the prophetic scriptures tell us that Arab believers will have a prominent place in the coming millennial kingdom. If you enjoyed today's presentation on Egypt and the Arab nations in prophecy by Gary Hedrick, you'll be glad to know that we've placed the entire series on one convenient CD. It's available for a gift of just $6 or more to the ministry of Messianic Perspectives.

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And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. This is Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series on Egypt and the Arab nations in prophecy, right here on Messianic Perspectives.

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