Sarah Bears Isaac, Banishes Ishmael (MP 23)

Sarah gave birth to a son, when God had said;
His name was Isaac, for he brought laughter
To all who thought her womb for birthing dead,
And to her, whose heart sang ever after!
But poor Ishmael and Hagar had to go,
For their presence Sarah would not abide;
She made Ishmael’s claim to be heir zero—
Sent to the desert without any guide!
With no water left, by a bush he lay;
Hagar could not stand to watch Ishmael die;
An angel called from heaven with this to say:
“Look up, Hagar, and see the well nearby!”
Muslims in droves visit the well each year,
Believing Ishmael lay exactly here!

Scripture Quoted: Genesis 21:8-13 (NIV)
"The child grew and was weaned and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. But Sarah saw that the son whom the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, ‘Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.’ The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, ‘Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ “

Commentary on: Genesis 21 (NIV)
“Is anything impossible for God?” (Genesis 18:14) God had said to Abraham when He had heard Sarah laughing inside her tent about His promise that she would bear a son at age 90. Evidently nothing is too hard for God to do, for Sarah certainly did have a child, just as He said. His name was Isaac, meaning “laughter”, for everyone who heard about the miracle birth laughed about it. Hebrew names usually had a meaning relevant to something in their lives.

Sarah’s attitude toward Hagar, her maidservant, had been hostile ever since she got pregnant with Abraham’s first son Ishmael. Now it grew more so, since she had finally borne her own son. At the great feast Abraham gave on Isaac’s day of weaning, she demanded that her husband get rid of the mother and Ishmael her son. Abraham was distressed, but the next day he gave Hagar a skin of water and some food, then banished them from the camp. They wandered deep into the southern Arabian desert, until the water ran out and they were at the point of death. She bade Ishmael lay in the shade of a bush; then she went off about a hundred yards, for she could not stand to see the 13-year-old boy die, But God was watching; He had an angel call to her from heaven and tell her to open her eyes; when she did so, there was a well. They were saved, and Ishmael became a father of the Arab race.
In the seventh century A. D., an Arab named Mohammad claimed to have heard from the angel Gabriel who dictated the Qur’an, purportedly from God, whom they called Allah. The Islamic religion was launched, and today it has over a billion adherents. The spot at which Ishmael lay was identified as the well Zamzam, which is located in the heart of Mecca, the holy city of Islam. Mecca is in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Mohammad. The huge Grand Mosque of Islam is there, and within it is the revered well Zamzam. Their belief is that as he lay under the bush, Ishmael kicked the ground with his feet, and God sent the water gushing forth. Muslims also believe Christians and Jews collaborated in fabricating the Bible; one of their supposed perversions of truth is that the chosen son of Abraham was Ishmael, not Isaac. This false claim is the chief basis of their hatred of Jews and Christians and one of the causes of terrorist acts against Israel and the United States today. As they see it, their suicide-murder attempts are holy jihad, or holy war, against infidel Jews and Christians. I believe Satan fostered Islam by masquerading as Gabriel and invented it all. Satan counterfeits everything God does, in a futile effort to put himself in God's place; Islam is Christianity's counterfeit.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him will not die, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)