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God's Promise to Ishmael
By Stephen E. Jones, God’s Kingdom Ministries
The crisis that arose in the 1900's in the Middle East is largely a crisis between Ishmael and Esau, not between Jacob and Esau, nor even Isaac and Ishmael.
I recall the year 1979 when Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin made their historic peace agreement. One prominent radio preacher, Dr. Benjamin Morris, began to proclaim loudly that this was a repeat of the biblical story of Jacob and Esau embracing in Genesis 33:4. Of course, he meant the Israelis were "Jacob" and the Egyptians were "Esau."
I challenged him on this the following day, since he had a call-in radio program. My question was this: "Why is that for all these years you called the Arabic nations "Ishmael," and now you say that they are "Esau"??
There was a long and painful pause. Then he answered rather meekly, "Did I say they were Esau?"
"Yes, you did. You are saying that president Sadat is Esau, and prime minister Begin is Jacob."
To his credit, Dr. Morris backed down faster than a cat caught on the kitchen table. This began a 57-minute conversation live on the radio.
It is too easy for prophecy teachers to misidentify the characters in modern prophecy. First of all, not every Muslim nation is Arabic. Turkey is Muslim, but they are Turks, not Arabs. Iranians are Persian Muslims, but not Arabs. Egyptians and Sudanese are not Arabs either. Though they generally have Islam in common, they are not at all unified and, at times, they really hate each other. Their tribalism and disunity have long prevented them from dominating the world.
Having said that, the heart of Islam centers around their holy city, Mecca, which is in Saudi Arabia. In effect, these non-Arab countries have joined an Arab religion. So from a religious perspective, they are Arab in the same sense that they can become Christian and thereby share in the inheritance of the promises of Christ.
Ishmael is the primary source of Arab identity, biblically speaking. So a study of Ishmael, his biblical conflicts, and the promises of God to him prophesy of the present-day conflict as well as the future Kingdom of God when this conflict is resolved.
This issue has become important, because Christian Zionism has taken the side of the Israelis in virtually all matters and often manifest the same hatred for Arabs found among non-Christian Israelis. They do this because they have lost sight of God's promises to Ishmael. We need to understand these things in order to know how to conduct ourselves today as well as to know how the story will end.
Ishmael was the son of Abram and Hagar, the young Egyptian princess that Pharaoh had given to Sarah as restitution for taking Sarah into his harem for a time (Gen. 12:15). The book of Jasher tells us that Hagar was Pharaoh's daughter by a concubine. Ten years later, after Sarah went through menopause, they decided that the promises of God would have to be fulfilled through Hagar. The law in those days allowed proxy parenting through one's bondservants. Gen. 16:3 says,
"And after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram's wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife."
Hagar was no mere concubine. She was Abram's second WIFE. Nonetheless, she was a bondwoman. The Bible recognizes two kinds of marriage--bondwoman wife and freewoman wife. Each had its place, and so Hagar and Sarah became prophetic types of Old and New Covenant marriages (Gal. 4:24). Both covenants were valid and good in their own ways, but only the New Covenant could bring forth the ultimate promises of God.
One of the fundamental differences between the Bible and the Koran is that the roles of Ishmael and Isaac are reversed in each. The Koran says that Abraham offered Ishmael on Mount Moriah, whereas Gen. 22 says it was Isaac. There is, therefore, a religious disagreement about who is actually called to bring forth the promises of the Kingdom of God on the earth. This is part of the present world conflict as well, for Muslims believe that their religion will prevail upon the whole earth, Jews and Christian Zionists think that Judaism will prevail, and Christians believe that Christ's Kingdom will prevail.
The matter will be decided finally when Scripture is fulfilled, saying, "Cast out the bondwoman and her son" (Gen. 21:10; Gal. 4:30). This is a word not only to physical Ishmaelites (Arabs) and Islam in general, but also to legal Ishmaelites (Jews) and to spiritual Ishmaelites (Christians under Pentecost).
Each is a manifestation of Ishmael in a little different manner. Paul tells us that physical Jerusalem is "Hagar" (Gal. 4:25), and "is in bondage with her children." Who are those "children"? He is telling us that the adherents of Judaism are the "children" (Ishmaelites) of Hagar-Jerusalem. This makes Jews legal Ishmaelites. I say "legal," for the following reason:
Hagar is the Old Covenant, given at Sinai IN ARABIA (Gal. 4:25). Arabia is the inheritance given to Ishmael. That is why Islam is an Old Covenant religion. But so is Judaism. Though the two religions are in conflict, they are, in fact, two manifestations of the same prophetic type--Ishmael. Judaism had opportunity to progress from Old Covenant to the New, but they rejected the Mediator of that New Covenant, Jesus Christ. In deciding to remain under the jurisdiction of Mount Sinai, they effectively put Jerusalem under the spiritual authority of Ishmael.
In later years, God hired the Roman army to drive out the Jewish inhabitants of the land (Matt. 22:7), and some centuries later, God gave the city and the land to Islamic people known today as Palestinians. This happened because the Jews had inadvertently given their city and territory to Ishmael by putting it under the jurisdiction of Mount Sinai in Arabia. Of course, they did not know what they were doing, but God knew, and so He showed them through history the result of their legal decision.
By the law of tribulation (Lev. 26 and Deut. 28), the Jews were unable to return to that old land as a whole until such time as they would acknowledge their offense and hostility to Yahweh-Jesus (Lev. 26:41). But, as I showed in my book, The Struggle for the Birthright, they took advantage of a loophole in the law. The Jews had conquered and forcibly converted the Edomites (Idumea) in 126 B.C. Josephus tells us that "they were hereafter no other than Jews" (Antiquities of the Jews, XIII, ix, 1). Virtually all Jewish historians agree with this historic fact, and it can be found in any study of Idumea (the Greek form of Edom).
The Jews of Jesus' day, then, included both Judeans and Idumeans in a single nation. The Romans set up Herod as their king, primarily because he was half Judean and half Idumean. They figured he would be acceptable to both sides.
The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and the subsequent Jewish dispersion did not put an end to this Judeo-Idumean alliance. There are many Bible prophecies about Edom-Idumea in the last days, and there is only one people through whom these prophecies may be fulfilled. It is not Egypt. Anwar Sadat was not an Idumean. Sadat was representing Ishmael, and Begin was representing Esau-Edom-Idumea.
The present conflict in the Middle East is not between Jacob and Esau, but between Ishmael and Esau. Esau has a temporary claim to the land in order to fulfill Isaac's prophecy to him in Gen. 27:40, after Jacob had taken the birthright by deceit and lies. Mal. 1:4 says they will "build" but eventually God will destroy what they build.
Ishmael has the overall claim to the land on a more permanent basis, for the Old Covenant is their inheritance.
Genesis 16 tells us that Ishmael was the son of Abram the Hebrew and Hagar the Egyptian. Because Sarah was barren, she gave her servant (Hagar) to Abram as a wife in order to bring forth a son who could be the heir of God's promises. But when Hagar became pregnant, she became arrogant, as verse 4 says,
"And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight."
Pride was the first heart problem. The second problem was that Sarai reacted by mistreating her. The result was that Hagar ran away, intending to return to Egypt. But an angel of the Lord found her. Verses 9, 10:
" (9) Then the angel of the Lord said to her, 'Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.' (10) Moreover, the angel of the Lord said to her, 'I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they shall be too many to count'."
The angel first addressed Hagar's heart problem and told her to return and submit to Sarai's authority. Secondly, as a result of submitting to proper authority, she would have many descendants of her own. These, of course, would not receive the highest promise of God--the Birthright from Adam--but even so, her children would receive a lesser promise of God.
Many years later, in the story of Israel and Judah, we learn more about how this principle actually works. Joseph received the birthright, while Judah received the promise to provide the kings (Messiah) for Israel. After the death of Solomon, when the nation was divided, there was a breach between Israel and Judah, and it brought about a breach between the Birthright and the Scepter. Because of Solomon's mistreatment of the Israelites (high taxation), they refused to submit to the rightful king, the son of Solomon. Only when the two nations were in unity could each benefit from the other's calling.
On a secondary level, we find the same problem with Hagar, and the same kind of resolution. She should swallow her pride and submit to Sarai's calling, and this was the condition by which she would be blessed.
How does this actually work out prophetically, and how does this apply to the current Middle East crisis?
First, keep in mind that Sarai's mistreatment of Hagar occurred before God had changed Abram's name to Abraham and before Sarai had become Sarah. Their names were changed 13 years after Ishmael's birth, when God added the Hebrew letter hey to their names. Hey is the breath of God, and it indicates inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Not until God changed their names to Abraham and Sarah was it possible to conceive and bring forth the promised seed, Isaac. It was done by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Ishmael, then, was born from fleshly Abram, and his birth was "natural," that is, "of the flesh" (Gal. 4:29). Later, Isaac was born from spiritual Abraham, and his birth was "by promise," that is, "according to the Spirit" (Gal. 4:29).
This teaches us that the promises of God cannot come about by the power of the flesh or by the natural man (i.e., the "soulish" man, or the Adamic man). God's promises are brought forth only by the power of the Spirit.
Ishmael was the son of Abram; Isaac was the son of Abraham. That is the difference. The story has allegorical significance to us all, both personally and corporately as well as prophetically in the present condition of the Middle East.
First, on a personal level, our Adamic nature corresponds to Abram and Sarai. It cannot bring forth the promises of God. Anyone who depends upon the flesh, or who thinks that God will bless the flesh and give the Birthright to its genealogical "seed," will be disappointed. Paul and John tell us that the Gospel is a seed that has begotten a new creation man within us, "Christ in you," which is of the Last Adam. This is the "Isaac" within us, and it is the true inheritor of the promise of God. The Adamic flesh has already been condemned to death, and it will not inherit the promise, even if it enjoys a certain level of faith and righteousness through the Old Covenant.
You may want to read that last sentence again, since I threw a lot into it.
Corporately speaking, since Hagar represents the Old Covenant (Gal. 4:24), Ishmael represents the people who adhere to Old Covenant religion. This is a religion that attempts to discipline the old Adamic man into submission to the law of God and thereby make this old Adamic man righteous enough to inherit the promises of God. It cannot be done.
The story of Ishmael and Isaac are an allegory of the distinction between the first Adam and the Last Adam. They are our two identities--fleshly and spiritual identities, of whom Paul speaks in Romans 7:20, saying, "But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me."
Note that the "I" which sins is not the same "I" that "am no longer the one doing it." Paul chose to identify, not with the fleshly "I" from Adam, but with the spiritual "I" that is from the last Adam. 1 John 3:9 confirms this, saying literally,
"no one who has been begotten by God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin because he has been begotten by God" (Emphatic Diaglott).
In other words, when God begets an embryo within us by the Word of God, the Son of God has been conceived within us, which cannot sin any more than Jesus could sin after being conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit.
This holy seed within us is the Son of God because God is its Father; but it is also the son of man because we in our flesh are its mother. This is the seed which Isaac typified, while all other children born naturally are mortal children typified by Ishmael.
Our "Ishmael" can be trained to be righteous, but he can never be righteous enough to be spiritual or to inherit the promise. Only that which is begotten by God will receive the promise and live forever. That is our "Isaac."
Yet Ishmael has been given a promise. It is a secondary promise, however, and should not be confused with the promise given to Isaac. There are three main religions that have Hagar as their mother--that is, the Old Covenant. Islam, Judaism, and pre-Tabernacles Christianity. Their adherents are Ishmaelites in different ways, but they all have this one feature in common--they all want to make Adamic flesh righteous enough to inherit the promises of God.
True Christianity among the overcomers is different because it recognizes that the Holy Spirit must beget the inheritor of the promise. The promise will not come to Adamic flesh or to any other genealogy from the first Adam. Being a genealogical Israelite is as insufficient as being a genealogical Ishmaelite. Both are from Adam who has been condemned to death.
So of what benefit is religion? Religion is not the answer, nor is it synonymous with being begotten by God. Religion rules the flesh, and religious leaders tell fleshly people what to do to be "righteous." It restricts sin by enforcing laws--even the divine Law itself. But the law is weak in that it cannot change Adamic nature into the nature of Christ. Religion is an Old Covenant measure to restrain the flesh until the Sons of God are manifested.
The day will come when God will reveal or unveil the true inheritors. It is called the manifestation, or unveiling, of the Sons of God (Rom. 8:19). They will be called, not to oppress or mistreat the Ishmaels in the world, but to show them the way to experience the same thing in the age to come.
There are many levels of meaning and application of God's promise to Ishmael. So far we have focused largely on the most personal and universal application. It is God's promise to our own inner Ishmael--our flesh. We have seen that the flesh, or the "old Man" inherited from the first Adam, is not and can never be the inheritor of God's promise.
Yet as a child of the Old Covenant (Hagar), Ishmael did have a promise from God. It was fulfilled in Israel's first inheritance in the land of Canaan. It was purely a fleshly land inheritance. By contrast, the New Covenant offers us a greater inheritance, for here the "land" is a glorified body of flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). Israel was not ready to receive this greater inheritance under Joshua, and so they entered Canaan, not at the feast of Tabernacles, but at the time of Passover. Specifically, it was the tenth day of the first month, when they were supposed to select the lambs for Passover (Joshua 4:19).
The Old Covenant inheritance was a type of the greater inheritance yet to come. It was a temporary inheritance for Israel until such time as they were ready for the greater. A measure of this greater inheritance was given in the fulfillment of that second feast, Pentecost, in the second chapter of Acts. But the full inheritance will not be given until the fulfillment of that third and final feast in the law, Tabernacles. The purpose of Tabernacles is to manifest the Sons of God, who will have authority to minister in heaven in spirit and to minister in earth in physical bodies.
In a very real way, though the character of an overcomer must be "Isaac," Ishmael himself is a type of that glorified flesh. Ishmael was the offspring of a Hebrew and an Egyptian, and he pictures the genetic offspring of heaven and earth, God and man, spirit and flesh. Fascinating stuff, indeed.
Yet when we contrast Ishmael and Isaac on another level, we see that Isaac was a greater type of offspring of heaven and earth, for his birth required divine intervention from heaven.
And so on the corporate level of application, there are various groups of people represented by both Ishmael and by Isaac. I find at least three levels of application, each distinct and yet having things in common.
Physical application: There are physical Ishmaelites in the world, represented by the Arabs and (more broadly applied) represented by the religion of Islam in general.
Legal application: There are legal Ishmaelites in the world, represented by those adhering to the religion of Judaism.
Spiritual application: There are spiritual Ishmaelites in the world, represented by pre-Tabernacles Christianity. Generically speaking, it is Pentecostal Christianity--not the denomination by that name, but rather the Church under its pentecostal anointing.
As for the physical application, the promise to Hagar and Ishmael is found in Ishmael's name itself. It means "God hears." The angel told Hagar to name him thus, because "the Lord has heard your affliction" (at the hands of Sarah). In other words, God recognized that Sarah had no right to mistreat Hagar and to afflict her, even though Hagar's attitude was not right either.
The angel gave this promise by the well called Beer-lahai-roi, "the well of living after seeing." This incident was a prophecy that Ishmael's descendants in the end would see God and live (receive immortality). They will drink the water of life from the wells of salvation. (Yeshua, or Jesus, means "salvation"). They will come to know Jesus for who He really is, according to the word of Isaiah 12:2, 3,
" (2) Behold, God is my salvation [Heb., Yeshua]; I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord God [Yah Yahweh] is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation [Yeshua]. (3) Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation" [Yeshua].
This passage prophesies of the incarnation of Jesus Christ, saying, "Yahweh has become my Yeshua." The God of the Old Testament became flesh and dwelt among us. Therefore, we are able to draw water from Him. For this reason Jesus said in John 7:37 and 38, "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. . . from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water."
The two Old Covenant religions of Islam and Judaism do not yet know Jesus in this way. Neither understands how the God of the Old Testament could come to earth in human flesh, nor do they understand the purpose of the feast of Tabernacles and what they are destined to become.
This is, however, the "well" where the angel of God will find Hagar. The promise to her is that God has heard her and understands her bondage and affliction. When she sees, she will live.
The well beer-lahai-roi was located "between Kadesh and Bered" (Gen. 16:14). Kadesh means "holy," and Bered means "hail." Isaiah 28:17 tells us that God's hail will sweep away the refuge of lies. Hail, then, indicates the coming of TRUTH by whatever means God chooses. God finds Hagar somewhere between holiness and truth. But that is where she will receive her revelation of Jesus Christ.
The people of Hagar-Ishmael, then, are future Christians, future overcomers. Instead of mistreating them for their pride in thinking that Old Covenant religion can inherit the promises of God, we ought to see their destiny as God sees them. They will not see and live until God reveals Himself to them.
Meanwhile, however, the angel told Hagar that Ishmael would be a "wild donkey of a man" (Gen. 16:32). The Hebrew text reads pareh awdawm. The word pareh means "a wild donkey." Later, we find that God called Israel a wild donkey as well (Jer. 2:24). And, of course, I showed in my book, The Wheat and Asses of Pentecost, that the donkeys are one of the primary biblical symbols of Pentecost as well.
Hence, Ishmael, the "wild donkey," is a prophetic type that fits at least three levels of application: Islam, Judaism, and Pentecostal Christianity. They all have one thing in common--rebellious character, a "stiff neck," which makes each an unclean creature in the sight of God.
As I explained in Part 1, Judaism also revolves around Hagar, because their adherents consider Jerusalem to be their "mother." Jerusalem is Hagar (Gal. 4:25), and her children are in bondage under the Old Covenant. Furthermore, they persecute the children of Sarah, Paul says (Gal. 4:29). In their pride, these legal Ishmaelites think they are "chosen" to fulfill the promises of God as if they were Isaac. They have induced Christian Zionists to join with them in their quest to make Hagar bring forth the promise and to make Ishmael the chosen seed. But their quest will fail when God casts out the bondwoman and her son.
Finally, most of Christianity (as a religion) is a form of spiritual Ishmael, because they have reverted to Old Covenant thinking. When the Church followed the example of Israel under Moses by refusing to hear God's voice for themselves, they were left with a physical sword with which to bring righteousness into the earth. For a thousand years the Church tried to subdue the earth under Christ by using force and violence. They only succeeded in shedding more blood on the earth.
And so they too fulfilled the word of the angel who revealed the character of the wild donkey, saying in Gen. 16:12, "his hand will be against everyone, and everyone's hand will be against him." In other words, they would use violence to establish their will and, supposedly, the will of God.
With all the types and shadows in the Old Testament, it would be helpful to step back for a moment and look at the big picture.
Adam and the Last Adam portray the types that contrast the "fallen" nature of Adam with the "righteous nature" of Christ.
Nimrod and Shem (Melchizedek) portray the types that contrast the different methods of rulership utilized by the fallen nature of Adam and the righteous nature of Christ. Nimrod usurps power over men by violent conquest and enslavement, while Shem builds Jerusalem, the "City of Peace." They are the founders of Babylon and Jerusalem, as well as Mystery Babylon and the New Jerusalem.
Ishmael is the type of religious man that has the fallen nature of Adam. Isaac is the type of a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Ishmael is the wild donkey that needs restraint by an Old Covenant and through fear. Isaac is the lamb offered to God on Mount Moriah, and he portrays the lamb-like nature of Christ who loves enough to give his life as a living sacrifice.
Esau and Jacob/Israel portray the types of the unbeliever and the believer who is on his journey to become an overcomer. Esau, the unbeliever, helps to train Jacob by the negative example of violence and force. Jacob, in turn, is the imperfect believer whom God is training to become Israel, the name of the overcomer.
There are many other contrasting characters in the Bible, such as Moses and Pharaoh, Saul and David, David and Absalom, Jeremiah and Hananiah, and (in the New Testament) Jesus and the temple priests. Each of these portrays the contrast between the Adamic nature and the nature of Christ in some manner.
In our current study, we are focusing upon Ishmael, the religious man who uses the violent nature of the fallen Adam in the attempt to establish God's will in the earth. Each of the three main religions represented by Ishmael has the Adamic nature in common, though each manifestation takes a different form.
What do they have in common? They do not recognize God's sovereignty and therefore they rely upon the flesh to accomplish their purposes. Esau, the unbeliever, thought God was either irrelevant or non-existent, so he acted in his own self-interest. Ishmael represents fleshly religion that works with great zeal to bring about God's Kingdom in the earth. When God gives religion some authority in the earth, they do not know how to utilize that authority by the mind of their Sovereign. They fulfill their "duty to God" in a fleshly manner and soon degenerate into violent and bloodthirsty methods of "helping God" to subdue the earth.
In other words, the religious Ishmaels are willing to kill for God in order to subdue man through fear, instead of being willing to give one's own life in order to subdue man through love.
Thus, Ishmael persecuted Isaac in ancient times (Gal. 4:29). In the New Testament, the priests of Judaism persecuted the Christians in their fleshly zeal for God. Later, the Christian Church persecuted "heretics and infidels" in their fleshly zeal for God. And still later, Islam did the same.
Today, all three Ishmaels are reaching a climactic struggle to see who is the strongest, the most violent, the most bloodthirsty of them all. Jewish Zionism has taken Palestine by force and violence, as seen most clearly in the 1940's when they were the terrorists of the day. Christian Zionism has taken their side, thinking that God approves of Jewish terrorism, violence, and force in establishing His Kingdom. And Islam has raised its own fleshly opposition to establish its own terroristic reaction.
None of the above will win in the end. The time is drawing near to "cast out the bondwoman and her son." This means that religions of violence and force are all disqualified from establishing the Kingdom of God and bringing forth the promises of God. Scripture says that the purpose for casting out the bondwoman and her son is to make it clear to the world WHO is actually the child of promise, called to establish the Kingdom. It is Isaac, not Ishmael.
The Isaac company are those who do not follow the violent methods of the Ishmaels. Instead, they know God's sovereignty and believe that God is perfectly capable of fulfilling His purposes without the need for zealous but carnally-minded Ishmaels to assist Him. The Isaac company, then, is willing to WAIT for the appointed time, after the Ishmaels have had their day. In the end, the Isaac company will fulfill the feast of Tabernacles, give birth to the Manchild on the first day of Tabernacles, and will be presented to God as the Sons of God on the eighth day of Tabernacles. Then on that same day of presentation, according to the law, they will be revealed in the earth as the Manifested Sons of God.
I wrote about this in detail in my book, The Rapture in the Light of Tabernacles. So there is no need to repeat it here.
I find it interesting to read reports from various sources how many Muslims are receiving dreams and visions of Jesus Christ, which are causing millions to leave Islam and to turn to Christ. Many report that they are seeing the violent nature of Islam as its zealous but carnal, religious nature is now visible for all to see. All of this violence has made many Muslims sick of their own religion and ripe for a new revelation of Christ.
Dr. Tom White writes: "In Iran, their culture of hate has produced a thirst for love. Iranians are tired of hate. The Iranians I have met are ready and responsive to apostles of love. It would be simple to call for a crocodile hunt in Iran through an armed revolution. Iran has been the leading exporter of terrorism since 1980. Yet as a Christian ministry, we realize another kind of warfare exists as described in Scripture. . .
"Entire families are throwing aside hate and receiving the love of Christ. (Some say there are hundreds of thousands [of Iranian Christians], others say closer to one million.) . . . We continue to find first-generation apostles of love in the middle of this madness.
"This summer [2006] we completed a book called Desperate for God with testimonies from the Iranian underground church. Many believe this to be the fastest growing Muslim-convert-to-Christ church in the world. Those tired of hatred are being driven into the arms of Christ in what could be one of the ripest nations for the gospel on the planet." [from The Voice of the Martyrs, August 2006]
At the present time, Muslims are suffering the most at the violent hands of all three Ishmael-type religious forces. This may be why they are turning to Christ in record numbers. They are seeing that hate may be a religious virtue, but there is something not quite right about it. When they see the love of Christ and are able to read about it in the New Testament, it is obvious to them that Jesus knew what He was talking about. The religious and political leaders have everything to lose by this new message of love, so they remain opposed to it. But the oppressed people themselves find it to be a refreshing drink of water in a dry place.
It may take a little longer for Jews and Christians to come to Christ, because at the present time they have the upper hand in much of the world. But the present war doctrine is providing opportunity for Mystery Babylon to establish legal precedents that will soon be used against Christians in America. In fact, this is already happening, though not yet widespread. We are moving toward the day when it will be unlawful for anyone to convert from the religion of his birth. Such legislation is already in place in much of the world. It will be unlawful to call sin sin or to quote certain New Testament passages. The time to oppose Ishmael-type violence is NOW.
God's Kingdom Ministries
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