Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is study #10 of Genesis, chapter 16 and we are going to read Genesis 16:12-16:

And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. And she called the name of JEHOVAH that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael. And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

I will stop reading there. We have been going through this passage. Last time, we looked at the first part of Genesis 16, verse 12 where the Lord spoke to Hagar and told her about her son. He even told her, “Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because JEHOVAH hath heard thy affliction.” The name “Ishmael” means “JEHOVAH will hear.”

Then God said in Genesis 16:12:

And he will be a wild man…

We saw that the word “wild” identifies with the “wild ass,” one that runs free in the wilderness and God used the wild ass to typify mankind that is born like a wild ass’s colt, so Ishmael is a picture of the natural man. This is why we see in Galatians, chapter 4 that Hagar is in bondage with her children and she gave birth to children of the flesh. The children of the flesh are all unsaved mankind.

Hagar does have special significance in representing those that attempt to identify with God and His kingdom, whether it be Old Testament Israel or the New Testament churches. They attempted to get right with God through the keeping of the law and, therefore, God called Hagar “mount Sinai in Arabia.” Her son Ishmael would be a child of the law or a child of the works gospel. This is why all those born of Hagar are children of the flesh.

Going back to Genesis 16, it says in Genesis 16:12:

And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him…

In our last study, we went to Zechariah 14 and we saw the language is similar in that chapter, which is a chapter that pertains to Judgment Day. And due to our vantage point of having gone through the Great Tribulation and continuing to remain on the earth in those days after the Tribulation in Judgment Day, we have learned that God brought to pass a spiritual judgment on the world in a similar manner to that which He brought upon the churches 23 years earlier. We are presently in the Day of Judgment and from the Bible we know that God has begun to pour out His wrath to punish the world since the date of May 21, 2011 and He will continue to do so (it appears) for some time longer. We know these things are true from what we learn in the Bible and, therefore, when we observe the things going on in this world we wonder, “How is God’s judgment and the shut door of heaven operating and how is it taking effect upon the inhabitants of the earth?” Since Ishmael does identify with the children of the flesh (the unsaved man), how is it that “his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him”? Let me read, again, Zechariah 14:13:

And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from JEHOVAH shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

This goes along with what it says in 2Chronicles, chapter 20, which also identifies with Judgment Day, as King Jehoshaphat led the people to a battle and God said they will have no need to fight in this battle. So, they went forth with musical instruments, praising God. They had been told the victory was theirs and they would not need to fight in the battle. Again, we know it identifies with Judgment Day because of the language in Joel 3 that speaks of the valley of Jehoshaphat, in Joel 3:12-14:

Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of JEHOVAH is near in the valley of decision.

This is the valley of Jehoshaphat and it is the place that is in view in 2Chronicles 20:22-23:

And when they began to sing and to praise, JEHOVAH set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

There were armies coming against Judah and Judah went out to meet them, but not to engage in warfare because God had told them they would not need to fight. Then they came and saw that these armies had destroyed one another, as it says in 2Chronicles 20:24-26:

And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much. And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed JEHOVAH: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.

The book of Joel picks this up. The slaughter that took place was in the valley of Jehoshaphat and there God will sit to judge all the heathen, so we can see how it identifies with Judgment Day, just as the language in Zechariah 14 identifies with Judgment Day. We have this curious account of this true historical event that took place in that valley where the enemies of Jehoshaphat were destroyed. Jehoshaphat would be a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and Judah is a picture of all the elect of God. And the enemies are not fighting against the ones they came to fight against. They came against Judah, but God (in His wisdom) arranged the situation so that those coming to do battle against the kingdom of God end up fighting against one another: “And they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour,” as it said in Zechariah 14.

Ishmael would be a wild man and “his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him.” Again, he is a picture of the children of the flesh and it is at this time at the end of the world, especially since May 21, 2011, if you would take note that the problem of terrorism has grown and multiplied all over the earth. Physically, Ishmael is the patriarch of many of the Arab nations that are involved with the religion of Islam and it is through that involvement that this idea has emerged that to honor God and to be faithful to their religion they commit acts of terrorism in order to praise God. They say, “Allahu Akbar,” when they are carrying out these acts of terrorism that harm and kill people.

We are about six years in to Judgment Day at this point and the focus of the world has shifted. You know, during the 23 years of the Great Tribulation period from May 21, 1988 through May 21, 2011 the focus of the world was against the Christian church. The Christian church had lost the indwelling Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ who had protected them and had allowed them to have favor with God and man, but once the Spirit of Christ departed the favor also departed and people began to look upon the churches in a different way and to find fault. Of course, since the churches were full of tares (unsaved individuals), much fault could be found. There were all kinds of scandals and terrible things happening. There were church burnings and a series of pastors that were caught in acts of immorality and priests that were caught in acts of immorality. There were terrible things going on, so the “target” was the churches and the world kept hitting on that target. Every night on the news, there were reports of one scandal or another in denomination after denomination. The corporate church looked very bad and there were many occasions for the people of the world to blaspheme the name of God through the activity of the churches. This was all according to the program of God because God had loosed Satan. God retreated from the churches and congregations of the world and He was no longer defending them and, therefore, they became like a dead carcase that the fowls of the air could come down upon and feed upon at will. It all had to do with Babylon conquering Judah, a picture of Satan and his kingdom coming against the kingdom of God via the corporate churches and overcoming them.

Yes, there may have been some act of terrorism during those 23 years. Of course, there was because there was 9/11 in the year 2001 and, yet, the focus was never on other religions. They never became a target or object of ridicule and mockery. The mocking was very steadfastly attached to the churches because it was the time when judgment began at the house of God. God had an object of wrath in His sights and it was a spiritual judgment, which in this case meant that there was no salvation taking place within the corporate body and no one became saved during those 23 years. But there were also other consequences or side effects that had to do with God leaving the churches exposed. The churches were no match for Satan and the world and the individuals within the churches were no match. Only the Lord Jesus Christ could provide protection and safety.

We are now living a few decades past the end of the church age, but during the church age there was certain honor and respect shown to those within the churches, like pastors. If you look at old church programs and see how a priest or minister or “man of the cloth” was portrayed, they had respect shown toward them. However, over the course of the 23 years after God had gone from the churches, all respect was lost and they became a target of ridicule and mockery and everyone spoke badly of them. You see, this was the outworking of a judgment that was spiritual in nature and, yet, it had additional consequences that took place. On the news casts, there was almost a delight or a relishing when a church scandal would come to light and there would be a focus on the terrible activities within the churches: “What terrible hypocrites they are!” The world was rejoicing.

It reminds me of what it says in Revelation, chapter 11 about the two witnesses that lie dead in the streets. The death of the two witnesses was the witness of the Word of God in the congregations and it occurred simultaneously with the 23-year Great Tribulation. It says in Revelation 11:8-10:

And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

There was a rejoicing over this. Of course, no one knew that they could trample all over the churches at that time because God had left them. The churches were the caretakers of the Word of God, but God had left them. People could not see when Christ was dwelling in the midst of the candlestick or when He departed, but all they knew was that it was “different.” The beast had risen up out of the sea and his deadly wound had been healed and Satan had renewed vigor and strength and was winning against the churches that had always confounded him to at least some degree, but now he was winning against every church and not just the Catholic church or the Apostolic Church or the churches that believed in tongues and even the Reformed churches. All churches were the target of the wrath of God and all the world could attack and they had plenty of ammo because God was not protecting the churches. The natural sinful nature of the members of the churches, including the pastors, elders and deacons, gave bountiful opportunity for the world to criticize. The news media reported on all these things as the mouthpiece of the world and the world rejoiced over the weakness of the corporate church. It had become weak. It was like Sampson having his hair cut off and then they took him into a stadium to mock him and make “sport” of him.

That is exactly the idea with what was going on throughout the 23-year Great Tribulation. There was no time to mock Buddhists or Muslims. Who would want to mock them? They did not identify with the Bible. And man’s real problem is the God of the Bible. Mankind knows that the Bible is the Word of God and they know deep down that there is no comparison between the Bible and any other religious writings. And the Christian churches identified with the Bible and that is why there was such an assault against the churches that had the Bible within them. That same kind of attack and opposition never occurred against other religions that did not have the Bible, so there was no real “heart” for the people of the world to attack other religions.

But what has happened since the Great Tribulation concluded on May 21, 2011? The focus has shifted and this is a major signpost. It is a major indicator of Judgment Day. You really cannot go back and find a time when the target has been moved off the Christian church, for all intents and purposes, and placed on another religion (at least, not that I know 0f). It is a focus on another religion because the more these terrorist attacks occur, the more the descendants of Ishmael set their hand against every man, and every man set their hand against them.

This is all in keeping with the nature of a spiritual judgment. We should expect to see (just as the Christian church was ridiculed, mocked and discredited in the eyes of the world) that the world which is under the wrath of God will experience these types of things.

And this is what we are also seeing when we watch the news media. For as long as I can remember, the news media had been honored and respected, just like the pastors were prior to 1988. A journalist was considered a good job. They were considered intelligent people that were wise. They were newscasters. But now they are despised and spoken badly of and people do not have any respect for them. They are mocked and ridiculed. Why is this?

The religion of Islam, the Muslim religion, is not like Judaism, which was once the outright representation of God’s kingdom on earth. And it is not like the Christian churches, which were also God’s representation of His kingdom on earth. That was never the case for Islam. It is a world religion and it is the biggest of the world’s other religions, with over a billion adherents. Therefore, it has become a prime target. Every aspect of the world is under the wrath of God and God will dishonor them or, as it says in Ezekiel, God will spoil those that spoiled them. They have had their time spoiling the outward representation that was the Christian corporate church, but that time has ended. Now God has turned the tables and those that were mocking are mocked. The mouthpiece of the world is the news media. The religion of the world is the Muslim religion. The philosophy of the world is secularism and it, too, is becoming more and more a mocked thing, as people see how ridiculous it is. The direction it is leading is toward things like transgender bathrooms and things that were once considered abnormal and sinful.

We will have to pick this discussion up in our next Bible study.