The Strand Study Bible

GENESIS GENESIS 16:2 Sarai wanted the child that God had promised both her and Abram in Genesis 15:4, however, she was not willing “to wait” on God’s timing, and she engineered a means to getting her way by offering Abram their maidservant, Hagar. THE ADAGE IS TRUE: There is always present in the heart of man that perpetual temptation to accelerate his own destiny 16:7 This is the first time the term ANGEL OF THE LORD appears in the Bible. Anytime you see the word “angel” in its singular form throughout the O.T. it is always a reference to the SECOND PERSON OF THE TRIUNE GODHEAD ( Mic 5:2 ). Herbert Lockyer in All the Doctrines of the Bible notes: 104

The most striking Old Testament preparation for Christ’s Advent, however, were those wonderful theophanic appearances. These pre-incarnate manifestations of His were designed to prepare the world for Christ’s more permanent abode in human flesh. Biblical scholars identify “The angel of the Lord”–“The angel of his presence”– “The angel of the covenant” (Genesis 22:14; 31:11,13; Exodus 14:19; Isaiah 63:9; Malachi 3:1), as Christ, the Son of God, in pre-incarnate manifestation. “His Incarnation is the center by reference to which all angelic ministrations are best understood.” 1

16:10 God made a promise to Hagar that still holds to this day. Hagar’s descendants (the Arab people) are alive, well, and thriving ( I will multiply thy seed exceedingly ). Although the religion of Islam now governs most of the Arab people, Islam did not begin until 2,500 years after God’s promise to Hagar. Which means: God’s promise to the Arab people had nothing to do with the religion of Islam . NOTE - According to Bruce Bickel & Stan Jantz, in their book called World Religions & Cults 101 , Islam is the second largest religion in the world with a current membership of over 1 billion followers. 2 What they believe and how they behave is based on three books: The Qur’an ( Koran ), the Sunnah (the sayings and deeds of Muhammad), and the Hadith (the oral traditions that guide Muslim behavior). The two oldest biographies of the founder of Islam (Muhammad) are the Life History of Muhammad , by Ibn-Ishaq (AD 768), edited by Ibn-Hisham (AD 833); and The Expeditions of Muhammad , by Al-Waqidi (AD 822). The youngest of the monotheistic megafaiths, Islam was started by a Bedouin trader fromMecca by the name of Muhammad (c. AD 622). Born in the year AD 570, Muhammad in his youth was employed as a shepherd, but later engaged in trade. At twenty- five he married a wealthy widow by the name of Khadija, who fell in love with him. This enabled him to live a life of leisure and to devote much of his time to meditation. Fifteen years later, at the age of forty, having already been exposed to Jewish and Christian teachings throughout his travels with trade caravans, Muhammad claimed that he heard God’s voice through the angel Gabriel ( Gal 1:8 a ), while in the cave at Hira. When Muhammad first started having these visions he feared that he was being visited by a jinn (demon), and that he was going mad (Sura 81:19-29). However, his wife (Khadija) convinced him to the contrary. At the time Mohammed received his initial spirit visitation, there were hundreds of gods being worshipped in Mecca by Pilgrims who came there each year to pray. One of those gods was Allah, the moon god. When Muhammad decided to proclaim that there was only one god, he selected Allah as that god. It is no coincidence that the crescent moon is the symbol of Islam . John Hagee in Jerusalem Countdown notes: Muslims worship the moon god of Mecca called Allah. 3 Because Mohammed himself was illiterate, scribes wrote down Muhammad’s utterances during trances he was thrown into by spirit visitations. These statements were then compiled into book form after Muhammad’s death (AD 632). By the reign of the third caliph, Othman (c. AD 657), there were so many different texts available that, due to the confusion, Othman ordered one official version to be amassed and approved and all other previous texts condemned and burned. As a result, Islam was born. According to Muslims (including Mohammed), “pre-Islamic” Arabia claimed five prophets to have been sent from God: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Christ. Thus, Muslims universally agree that God revealed His message to mankind: first , to the Jews (the Torah and the Psalms); secondly , to the Jewish Christians (the Gospels); and lastly , to their prophet Mohammed c. AD 610. In conclusion, “pre-Islamic” Arabia drew their beliefs from the Jewish Scriptures. In fact, Mohammed (according to his own writings) regarded the Jewish Scriptures as authentic and did not consider the Bible as “dead writings.” If anything, Mohammed applied the idea of abrogation (to abolish, repeal, annul) to his “own” texts, not to those of the Jewish Scriptures (Sura 2:106 & 3:7 & 6:115-116 & 29:46). And although Muslims are taught to disregard the Torah because the Jews supposedly altered it, the evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls confirms Muhammad’s writings (the Koran ) that the Torah was not altered. When examined carefully, The Qur’an (like that of The Book of Mormons ) bears an uncanny likeness to the Jewish Scriptures. Even The Qur’an itself appeals to the Torah and the Gospels as an authority for life and doctrine (Sura 2:136 & 5:44-68 & 10:64,94). In fact, a careful examination of The Qur’an shows that much of The Qur’an is devoted to simply retelling the stories of the Bible. So when comparing Islam to Christianity with the purpose of determining which should be pursued, all one must do is compare the differences. There are fourteen glaring differences between the founder of Islam and the CHRIST of Christianity : 1. Whereas Mohammed admitted that he was a sinner; both the Koran and the Jewish Scriptures claim CHRIST was sinless According to Isaiah 7:14 (Mt 1:23 and Jere 31:22), the promised OT MESSIAH would be virgin-born and thus sinless - Isa 53:9 (II Cor 5:21, Heb 4:15 & 9:14, I Pet 1:18-19 & 2:21-22 and I Jn 3:5) and Deut 32:4 (I Cor 10:4). He would also be known as “ IMMANUEL ,” which being interpreted is, “ GOD WITH US. ” It is interesting to note that those who recognized Jesus as the promised virgin-born OT MESSIAH also worshipped Him as God - Isa 9:6 (Mt 2:1-11 and Jn 5:17-18 & 8:24,56-59 & 10:30-36). Those who rejected His virgin-born sinless claim to Deity refused to worship Him as God (Jn 8:37-43). According to Matthew 1:18-23, Jesus fulfilled the person of the promised OT MESSIAH to perfection. 2. Whereas Mohammed was born a man, the Jewish Scriptures claim Jesus was born the GODMAN of the human seed of David in Bethlehem According to Psalm 132:11 and Isaiah 9:6-7 (Lk 1:31-33 and Psalm 89:3-4,29,35-36), the promised OT MESSIAH would