Page 51 - The Divine Unfolding of God's Plan of Redemption

to the church in Pergamos (Rev. 2:14), and is just another phase of the serpent‟s
attempt to mix God‟s people when he cannot destroy them.

Another illustration of the disastrous repercussions in later generations of any
lapse in faith and obedience on the part of the called-out people, and probably the
most outstanding, is found in the case of Abraham‟s great mistake in marrying Hagar,
the Egyptian (Gen. 16:1-4). In the previous chapter Jehovah had given Abram the

promise that his seed should be as the stars of the heaven and Abram had “believed in
the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). Now, at the urging
of his wife, Sarai, he formed an alliance with an Egyptian woman, an act entirely
unordained of God and in complete disregard of God‟s promise to give him seed

through his own wife. He felt that he must assist God in the carrying out of His
promises, and indeed must hurry Him along a little. Many of the spiritual seed of
Abram have done likewise, also with unfortunate results. This is just another proof of
the fact that there was only One who practiced full and complete obedience to God.

The fruit of this ill-conceived marriage was Ishmael, whose seed today remain as
the greatest thorn in the side of God‟s testimony people, against the earthly seed of
Abram as evidenced by the perpetual hatred between Jews and Arabs and against the
spiritual seeds of Abram by the adherents of the faith of Isalm. It is the unanimous

opinion of all Christian missionaries who have tried to preach Christ among the
Mohammedan people that they are the most implacable foes of the saving faith that is
in Christ of any of the followers of the ethnic religions. Converts to Christianity from
among the Moslems are few and far between. We are trying to show in this connection

that such failures on the part of God‟s people produce the results in posterity of greater
opposition to God‟s people and purposes than the ordinary seed of the serpent.

In his later years Abraham married Keturah. Of this union there was produced

Midian (Gen. 25:1-2) of whom came Balaam, referred to previously and Jethro,
Moses‟ own father-in-law, who advocated a human form of government for the host of
Israel not intended by the Lord (Exod. 18:17-23). It will be remembered that the
people of Midian fought against and for a time subdued Israel in the days of the

Judges, and Gideon was raised up to throw off their yoke.

The same principle is seen at work in the case of Amalek, the grandson of Esau.

Esau was in the line of the seed by right of birth. He was the natural heir to the
spiritual promises given to Abraham and Isaac, because he was the elder brother. He
should have been the ancestor according to the flesh of the Son of God, but he
despised it all for the momentary gratification of the fleshly desire and sold his
wonderful birthright for a mess of pottage made of red beans! He chose for himself to

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