A 4000 Year Hatred That Threatens The World

Abraham's Other Sons

Such barbarism is difficult for the Western mind to comprehend. Most Americans cannot fathom the depths of this kind of wanton savagery. What could possibly justify this kind of uncivilized butchery?

After the fateful events of September 11th, 2001, Americans have suddenly been thrust into the middle of this same ancient conflict that furnished the motivation for Pearl’s murder. We have actually been involved in this conflict for a long time without realizing either its magnitude or its ultimate destiny. But after September 11th, most Americans began frantically groping to understand it. Many questions were raised after the shock of those initial days.

Some Disturbing Questions

What could inspire people to hate with such intensity that they willingly give their own lives to kill you? Why would they rejoice over the murder of almost three thousand men, women and elderly people who had no connection with their conflict? Why do they hate Americans?

What is their ultimate goal?

Are those we call Islamic Fundamentalists an aberration of
the Muslim religion, or are they—as they claim—its true followers? These questions can only be answered by understanding the ancient conflict that started between descendants of the Patriarch Abraham four millennia ago.

At the beginning of the 21st Century, it is hard to imagine how a
4000-year-old hatred could explode into such a conflict that it would determine the fate of the whole earth. Who would have ever believed as the 20th Century dawned that a backward, under-
developed part of the world that was as desolate as the moon would become the center of a world controversy?

Who would have dreamed that this ancient family feud would drag the great world powers into it? For centuries, world attention focused on the peoples of Europe, the Americas, Russia and the Far East. Until the middle of the 20th century, many people couldn't find Jerusalem on a map. But today, the headlines
aren't about western civilization or Asia; they are about the sons of Abraham and the Middle East. For the first time in history, ancient Biblical names are making global headlines.

Yet as we near the predicted end of history, as we know it, the strategic center of the world has shifted back to the very region where it all started. It has shifted to a place that had largely been by-passed by the great progress of civilization and science.

A Wonder Of The Ages

One branch of the family involved in this feud was scattered throughout the world for almost two thousand years. They were never truly accepted in any of the countries to which they were scattered after the Romans destroyed their nation in AD70. They remained a distinct people, literally a nation in exile. They were
persecuted in almost every place they attempted to settle. In most cases they were eventually driven out with only the clothes on their backs.

Many times they were slaughtered. In fact, one of the great wonders of history is that they survived at all, much less that they remained a distinct people – a nation without a land. Of course I am referring to the people of Israel. They are very carefully traced in the Bible as the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I must confess I didn’t realize why God identified Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob so many times until recently. This is a very important factor that will be analyzed at length later in the book.

Abraham’s Other Sons

The other branch of the family is composed of Abraham’s other sons and grandsons. Ishmael is actually Abraham’s first born, but under the wrong circumstances. Ishmael is the result of Abraham’s lack of faith. He is the half brother of Isaac born of his wife Sarah’s Egyptian handmaid.

Ishmael’s descendants are the most dedicated enemies of Israel – and the most powerful. He is the principle father of the Arab people. The Arabs also come from the descendants of Esau, the rejected twin brother of Jacob. As it is written, “So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father Isaac; and Esau went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth.” Esau’s descendents became known as the Edomites.

Abraham also had other sons after his wife Sarah died, “Now Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. And she bore to him Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah. And Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim. And the sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.”

Now I realize that is somewhat boring to go over a bunch of old
unfamiliar names. But understanding the future depends upon learning about these ancient people who fueled the conflict that envelopes our present world. Some of these names constantly come up as enemies of the people of Israel and part of this conflict throughout history. Especially the descendants of Midian. There is no question but what many of these people became part of the Arab people.

The seeds of their enmity toward Israel can be seen by what is revealed about the sons of Abraham through Keturah, “Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; but to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east (i.e., Arabian Peninsula).”

As I will show, there is one common thread in the enmity of all of Abraham’s other sons. They all felt like they were cheated out of their inheritance by Isaac, Jacob and Jacob’s sons. Even though they were all given a generous inheritance, they wanted it all. And so a root of envy was born that produced a hatred that has transcended the centuries.

Enmity Takes A Quantum Leap

As if the conflict wasn’t bad enough when it was all in the family, a direct descendant of Ishmael through his second son Kedar was born in AD570. His name was Mohammed. Later Mohammed received strange visions and revelations in the desert that became the source of the Muslim religion.

Those revelations became a carefully memorized oral tradition which was written down by Mohammed’s immediate followers. This collection became the Muslim holy book called the Koran.
Much more will be written later on this subject, but I want you to note that the enmity toward Israel, that was part of the very soul of the Arabs, was enshrined in the Koran. So an enmity that had been a family affair now became an integral part of the Muslim religion. Consequently, all who embraced Islam also embraced the everlasting enmity of Ishmael, Esau and the sons of Keturah.

The Spreading Flame

As I noted in footnote 4, Mohammad came from the region known as the Hejaz, which includes Mecca and Medina. The Arab people of that area from time immemorial were called the Beni Harb, which literally means in Arabic, Sons of War. This was certainly a fundamental characteristic of the religion Mohammed founded.

In fact, no other religion is so completely wrapped around the culture in which it was born. Mohammed had no trouble in gathering converts from the warriors of the nomadic Bedouin tribes of the Arabian Peninsula. Mohammed drew his sword and dashed across Arabia proclaiming, “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is His Prophet.” Those who confessed faith in this creed mounted up and joined the Muslim crusade.

Those who didn’t were either put to the sword or made slaves who paid oppressive taxes. The goods of those who were slain became the booty of the Muslim warriors. This movement spread like wildfire across North Africa. Mohammad’s followers continued the crusade. Within a hundred years it had conquered all of the Middle East and North Africa and was knocking at the doors of Vienna. The Muslim Moors crossed Gibraltar and conquered Spain.

A Fire That Still Spreads Today, there are more than 1.3 billion Muslims in the world. There are more Mosques than Churches in bonny old England. There are hundreds of millions of Muslims in Asia and the South Pacific. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any country. There are more than eight million practicing Muslims in the United States. We of the west must face
this disturbing fact; Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world.

And this is the most important fact; there are Muslims in Indonesia who hate Israel. There are Muslims in the Philippines who hate Israel. There Muslims in Pakistan, Somalia, Libya, Algeria, England, America, Herzegovina, Chechnya, etc, who all hate Israel. Why? None of these peoples are Arab. But they are Muslim. And the more they study the Koran and the Hadith, the more they absorb the Arab’s enmity toward Israel. And the more of a fundamentalist they become.

What Is A “Fundamentalist?”

A “fundamentalist” in any religion is one who seeks to literally follow the foundational truths of that religion whole-heartedly.
One cannot be a Muslim Fundamentalist without having enmity toward Israelis. It’s part of the doctrine. Even “Moderate” Muslims catch this enmity toward Israel. It is generally believed that at least 10% of Muslims are now Fundamentalists. That means that there are at least 130 million Muslim Fundamentalists who are primed to become terrorists. I demonstrate in my new book how the old Arab enmity has been spread worldwide.

1948, When The Enmity Exploded

From the time Israelites began to flee the persecutions of Europe and go to Palestine, the old conflict heated up. Towards the end of the 19th Century, Israelites returned to Palestine and bought at inflated prices what the Muslims considered worthless land. As will be shown, when the Israelites started to return, the land was almost uninhabited and a complete desolation. There was almost no vegetation of any kind. The hills were barren from erosion. The terraces of old were broken down and unattended. Much of the fertile valleys had become fowl swamps infested with disease. At great cost and sacrifice, they drained the malaria-infested swamps, restored the terraces and water systems.

To the Muslim’s amazement, it began to flourish. Then more Jews came. The surrounding Muslim nations became infuriated and sent in a flood of Muslim settlers to contest the Israeli’s right to be there. Then the ultimate sacrilege, as far as the Muslims were concerned, happened. Against all odds, Israel became a nation. The next day, seven Muslim armies attacked the new state of Israel from all sides. There declared intention was to annihilate the Israelis and drive the survivors into the sea.

But even more amazing, the poorly equipped Israeli army
defeated the combined might of the Muslim nations. The old enmity burst into an entirely new dimension hatred that has no parallel in the world. The USA – “Harlot Israel’s Mother” This is what the US is called by most of the Muslim countries. The United
States has come under the Islam’s enmity because we have sought to help Israel survive as a Nation within borders originally granted to her by the British Mandate, the League of Nations and the United Nations.

The USA is also hated because we are the most powerful force for changing cultures into modern democracies. This is the antithesis of the Arabian 7th Century culture around which the Muslim concept of government and culture is based. Their ideal is that of a benevolent tribal chieftain who rules autocratically by the Koranic laws. The classic example of this is Iran. Iran was one of the few modern societies that had embraced the 20th Century and had adopted Western culture. It prospered as a nation under the Shah.

The United States stood by and allowed the Shah to be overthrown in 1979 by Islamic Fundamentalists led by the Ayatollah Khomeini up. Khomeini immediately dragged Iran back to the culture of 7th Century Arabia, as per the Koran. The so called “human rights abuses” of the Shah palled into insignificance in the light of the tens of thousands of executions and imprisonments that followed the Ayatollah’s implementation Islamic law called Sharia. Women were quickly returned to the Islamic standards of no rights, no education and no freedom. A woman could not even leave the home unless escorted by her husband or a male relative appointed by him. The Ayatollah quickly branded the USA the “Great Satan” primarily because our culture is such a threat to his “Islamic Theocratic Paradise.”

In the light of the September 11th attacks, some have questioned why we should continue to support Israel. Frankly, the answer to that question involves our continued existence as a nation. Supporting Israel is dangerous, because it makes us a target of the terrorists who are inflamed with the age-old enmity. But we will see some amazing things on this issue – some things that will no doubt surprise many readers.

Read my new book, The Everlasting Hatred: the roots of Jihad, and find out why Jerusalem, the Land of and people of Israel will soon become the most important issue on earth. Our attitude toward them will determine our destiny.

Jesus Christ predicted concerning the Israelites, “And they [Israel] will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (Luke 21:24) Titus and the Roman Tenth Legion fulfilled the first part of this prophecy in AD70.

The Israelites, as predicted, have been scattered throughout the world for the last 20 Centuries. But this dispersion was only to last UNTIL the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. The “times of the Gentiles” refers to a fixed period of time God allotted for them to dominate the world. When Israel was reborn in 1948, the “times of the Gentiles” began to be phased out. Then when Israel recaptured old Jerusalem in 1967, this “phasing out” went on fast track.

We are rapidly approaching the time when God’s Anointed King, the Israelite Jesus Christ, is going to fulfill the many unconditional promises to set up a spiritually reborn Israel as the rulers of the world under Him. This Kingdom will be brought in with a terrible global war called Armageddon. It is approaching so quickly that I can smell the smoke. Are you ready? Have you accepted the gift of pardon Jesus gave his life to purchase for you? Receive His pardon for sin now, before it is too late.

By: Hal Lindsey