COMMON GROUND

     Is there common ground for Muslims, Christians and Jews?  Yes, because we all believe in one Supreme Being, our Creator, and we all look to Abraham as our spiritual forefather.  If Abraham were alive today, what would he say regarding our three separate faiths?  A careful review of his life and faith might reveal something that he can say to us today.

     Who was Abraham?

     His lineage is important because he is a major figure in  God's plan for the ages.  The first fifteen hundred years of his genealogy are recorded in Genesis, Chapters Five and Six.  It begins with Adam and ends with Noah and the flood.

     The Biblical record proceeds from Adam to Seth, from Seth to Enos, from Enos to Cainan, from Cainan to Mahalaleel, from Mahalaleel to Jared, from Jared to Enoch, from Enoch to Methuselah, from Methuselah to Lamech and from Lamech to Noah.

     Even though each one of these men fathered both sons and daughters, only one son from each generation is mentioned by name.  Noah's three sons are mentioned because they were with Noah in the ark; they survived the flood.

     By Noah's day Adam's descendants had drifted so far away from their Creator that God was ready to destroy them all, but "Noah found grace in the eyes of God...Noah walked with God"  (Genesis 6:8,9).

     Noah's spiritual heritage came from his fathers.  We read that his great-grandfather Enoch "walked with God". His father Lamech spoke of the ground being cursed, showing his knowledge of the judgment of God.  Lamech died about five years before the flood.  He may have helped Noah build the ark! (Genesis 5:22, 28-29).

     After the flood waters receded Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives departed from the ark and the first thing Noah did was build an altar to offer a sacrifice to God.

     The sacrificing of animals as a sin offering to God began in the Garden of Eden.  Whatever holy covering Adam and Eve may have had before they sinned, after sinning they saw themselves as naked before God.  They remembered that the penalty for sin was death.  In fear and trembling they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves.  That could be called a do-it-yourself religion.  It did not work!  It never does.

     Adam and Eve did not die physically that day but their relationship with God was broken.  An animal was slain and its blood was shed in place of their own.  The skin of that animal was used to make coats to cover them and their sin. That covering suggests the word atonement, the at-one-ment with God.  This was a preview of the death of Jesus for the sins of the world.  Jesus is called, "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Revelation 13:8).  

    Adam's and Eve's relationship with God could not be restored by anything they could do; someone else must die in their place, someone who had never sinned.  All those millions of animals that have been sacrificed as sin offerings to God had absolutely no meaning or purpose unless they represented the death of that perfect sacrifice which God gave to the world.  "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself" (II Corinthians 5:19).

     Those early saints of God must have understood that they needed someone to die in their place in order to receive the forgiveness of sin.  Abel, Adam's second son, understood a great deal, because he offered up a first-born lamb to God.  Jesus was the virgin Mary's first-born son (Genesis 4:2-4, Luke 2:7).

    After Noah offered up his sacrifice to God, the Lord's response was to speak of an everlasting covenant (Genesis 9:16).  The word "everlasting" is the key that unlocks the mysteries of the kingdom.  The word "everlasting" is an important element in God's promises to Abraham; it transforms earthly dreams into eternal realities.

     The tree of life in the garden of Eden was the first revelation that God had an everlasting future in mind for His creation.  After Adam and Eve took of the forbidden fruit they were "driven" out of Eden and away from the tree of life, "lest they eat of that tree also and live forever" (Genesis 3:22-24).

     The genealogy of Abraham continues on through Noah's son Shem, from Shem to Arphaxad, from Arphaxad to Salah, from Salah to Eber, from Eber to Peleg, from Peleg to Reu, from Reu to Serug, from Serug to Nahor, from Nahor to Terah, and from Terah to Abram, who would later be called Abraham (Genesis 11:10-26).

     Again we find in this last part of Abraham's genealogy that each one of these men fathered both sons and daughters, yet only one son from each generation is mentioned by name. This careful record which began with Adam led directly to Abraham, the one millions of people look up to as their spiritual forefather.

     Abraham followed in the footsteps of his fathers.  Like Enoch and Noah, Abraham walked with God.  When his father died in Haran, Abraham was called by God to a new and better place.  He was seventy-five years old when he left Haran with his wife Sarai, who would later be called Sarah, and his nephew Lot.

     Before leaving Haran Abraham was told by God that he would become a blessing to "all the families on earth". This promise has international and interracial implications.  It even looks beyond the years of his earthly sojourn to future generations yet unborn.  God's promises to Abraham were promises to the world!  Speaking in the spiritual realm we all have the right to call Abraham our father (Genesis 12:1-5).

     Abraham's first stop after leaving Haran was at Sichem where he built an altar and called upon the name of the Lord (Genesis 12:6-7). Next he moved to Bethel where he also built an altar and called upon the name of the Lord (Genesis 12:8).  When a famine came he left for Egypt and when he returned it was to the altar he had built at Bethel (Genesis 13:3,4).  After he and his nephew Lot separated he moved to Hebron and once more he built an altar unto the Lord (Genesis 13:18).  Abraham traveled from altar to altar; Abraham walked with God!

     As Abraham moved about God spoke to him concerning the land.  He was told to walk through it and examine it, for he and his descendants would possess that land "forever". Furthermore his descendants would outnumber the stars and even the grains of sand on the earth (Genesis 13:14-17)

     Abraham was included in this promise!  He would also possess the land, not just for a hundred years, or even a thousand years, but "forever".  This promise requires the resurrection of the dead!  Not one of Abraham's descendants will inherit the land "forever" until they do so with the one to whom the promise was given.  Both the land and its people must endure forever for this promise to be realized. This promise looks beyond temporal blessings to that which is eternal.

     Ten years after leaving Haran Abraham had a vision in which God encouraged Abraham to trust Him.  Abraham had been worried about the fact that he and Sarah were childless. Who would be his heir?  How could God's promises come to pass? God reminded him of the promise that his descendants would outnumber the stars!  We read that Abraham believed God and because of his faith Abraham was reckoned to be a "righteous" man (Genesis 15:1-6). God's promise of an everlasting future was given to a righteous man, and only those who will also be reckoned righteous will ever see the fulfillment of that promise.

     Sarah, like Abraham, was concerned about the fact that she was childless, so she encouraged Abraham to take her handmaid Hagar as his wife.  She assumed that she would be able to call Hagar's children her own (Genesis 16:1,2).

     Abraham did take Hagar to be his wife, but when she became pregnant she looked down upon Sarah who was offended at this unpleasant result.  After complaining to Abraham Sarah was given the liberty to treat Hagar as she pleased. When she began to treat Hagar harshly Hagar ran away to a spring of water in the wilderness (Genesis 16:4-7).

     God spoke to Hagar telling her to return and submit herself to Sarah, for God would bless her and her child who was to be called Ishmael. Through Ishmael she would have many descendants.  Hagar was comforted knowing that God was watching over her (Genesis 16:7-13).

    Abraham was eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born (Genesis 16:16)..When he was ninety-nine years old God spoke to him concerning an everlasting future in greater detail. We find this revelation in Genesis, Chapter Seventeen, one of the most important chapters in the Bible.  The following excerpts from that chapter contain the basic elements upon which our common ground rests.

   First:  Abraham would have many descendants.  He would become "a father of nations and kings" (Verses 2-6). As a father of nations his descendants would include those from other racial backgrounds whose faith would make them a part of his extended family.

   Second:  God promised Abraham and his descendants all the land of Canaan for an "everlasting possession' (Verses 7-8). Neither Abraham nor any of his descendants has yet inherited the land as an everlasting possession.  Only the righteous will inherit the land "forever".  David wrote, "The righteous will inherit the land and live in it forever" (Psalm 37:29).

      Guns and bombs will never bring to pass God's wonderful future.  First there must be a resurrection of the dead and a transformation of the living before the heirs receive their inheritance.  The earthly must give way to the heavenly.  God said, "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth and the former will not be remembered nor come to mind" (Isaiah 65:17).

     Those who expect an earthly kingdom should keep in mind that this earth will pass away.  God sent a flood to destroy the wicked and the world in Noah's day (II Peter 3:6).  This time things are much worse; now God will destroy it all by fire.

     "The heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat, the earth and the works in it will be burned up...We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth"  (II Peter 3:10,13).

   Third:  Every male in Abraham's entourage was to be circumcised as a sign and a reminder of God's covenant promises to Abraham and his descendants (Verses 10-14). Their obedient faith in this matter was part of the process which made them God's people.  It was a seal of ownership; they would now belong to God.  We read that Abraham followed the Lord's instructions that "same day"!  Among those circumcised was thirteen-year-old Ishmael, Abraham's only son (Genesis 17:23-26).

   Fourth:  God promised to bless Sarah with many descendants.  She would have a son whose name was to be called Isaac.  Through a descendant of Isaac God's promise of an everlasting covenant would be fulfilled (Verses 15-19).

     Both Abraham who was ninety-nine years old, and Sarah who was eighty-nine years old, were of the opinion, and rightly so, that they were now too old to have children. God purposely withheld children from Sarah so that her son's birth would be a miraculous event, comparable to the birth of that One who would fulfill God's everlasting covenant promises.

     Abraham laughed within himself at this promise which seemed an impossibility.  Later, when that promise was repeated, Sarah overheard it and she also laughed within herself at what she, too, considered impossible.  God, who knows our thoughts, asked Abraham why Sarah laughed, saying, "Is anything too hard for God?"  (Genesis 17:17,18:10-14).

     Although Sarah denied having laughed, after the birth of Isaac she admitted it, saying, "God made me laugh and now those who hear of it will laugh with me" (Genesis 21:1-6).

      Many years later when the angel Gabriel appeared to tell Mary that she would have a son whose name was to be Jesus, she, like Sarah, could not see how this could be possible, for she had never known a man sexually.  Mary received the same message God had given Sarah, "Nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:26-37).

     Through Abraham, Isaac and Isaac's son Jacob, God was establishing a line which would lead to Jesus, God's sacrificial Lamb who would die for the sins of the world. In God's eyes those who by faithful obedience shed the blood of animal sacrifices were really shedding the blood of Jesus, that One whose blood can wash away all our sins.

     Many of Isaac's descendants turned away from God to worship idols.  Once, when the prophet Elijah thought he was the only faithful one left in Israel, God showed him that there were seven-thousand who had not yet bowed the knee to Baal (I Kings 19:10-18).

     Most of Ishmael's descendants turned from God to idols. It would be 2500 years later before God used Mohammed to lead Ishmael's people back from idols to their Creator.

     Righteousness, rather than race, makes one an heir with Abraham of an everlasting future.  Neither Isaac's nor Ishmael's descendants have a privileged position with God because of their physical relationship to Abraham.  Abraham was to become a blessing to every family on earth by being a spiritual father, to all those on earth who would live by his faith.

     How did Abraham become a righteous man?  By faith!  When God told Abraham to move, he moved.  When God promised him that he would become a blessing to the world, he believed it!  And most important of all, he realized that building altars and offering up animal sacrifices was crucial to his relationship with God.  His obedient faith was counted as righteousness!.

     The shedding of the blood of animals as a sin offering to God was an acknowledgement of sin and the need of forgiveness.  It was the recognition that we need someone to die in our place.  As the children of Israel prepared to leave Egypt, each family was instructed to kill a lamb and sprinkle its blood around the doors of their homes.  A terrible judgment was coming upon Egypt, but God said, "When I see the blood I will pass over you" (Exodus 12:1-13).

     It is blood which makes an atonement for the soul (Leviticus 17:11). Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22).  Those whose obedient faith caused them to kill a lamb and sprinkle its blood about their doors, escaped God's judgment.  They were saved by the blood!

     Jesus is God's sacrificial Lamb.  His blood, his death his sacrifice is  our only hope of escaping the far greater judgment which will come, not only upon Egypt, but upon the entire world.

     The Jewish missionary Paul explained to his Gentile converts that they had become "children of God by faith". He went on to say, "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus. And if we belong to Him then we are Abraham's seed and heirs of the promise"  (Galatians 3:26-29).

     Heirs of what promise?  The promise of an everlasting future in a kingdom which will never pass away!  The following three examples which speak of an everlasting kingdom, have the added emphasis of terms such as "will never end".  God wants us to realize that his promise of an everlasting future really does mean forever!

I-   "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall rest on his shoulders.  His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  His peaceful kingdom will never end...He will rule on David's throne...forever" (Isaiah 9:6-7).

II-   "I saw a vision in the night of one like the Son of man who came in the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of days...and there was given to him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve him.  His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall never pass away, his kingdom will never be destroyed" (Daniel 7:13-14).

III-   The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary saying, "You will conceive and bring forth a Son whose name is Jesus.  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. The Lord God shall give him the throne of David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom shall never end" (Luke 1:26-33). 

     The Son of whom all three of these examples refer to, is Jesus, who was born of Mary, suffered and died for us on the cross, and rose again from the dead. Some day he will return to reign on David's throne as King of kings and Lord of lords. When the people came to ask Samuel the prophet for a king, he was dismayed, but God said, "Give them what they want, they have not rejected you they they have rejected me that I should not reign over them....I wanted to be their King!" (I Samuel 8:7 & 12:12). David's throne really belonged to God!  When Jesus sits on that throne it will be God coming in Jesus to reclaim His throne!

      God is preparing an everlasting future for those He knew would sin. God's solution for sin was not an afterthought. In His eyes, the perfect sacrifice had already been offered before Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac and their descendants, including Mary the mother of Jesus, all needed a Savior.

    When the virgin Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was already with child, Elizabeth, being filled with the Spirit, said, "How is it that the mother of my Lord should visit me?  The babe in my womb leaped for joy at the good news which you gave to us."  Mary replied, "My soul exalts in the Lord and rejoices in God my Savior"  (Luke 1:39-48).

     Elizabeth and Mary both called her son "Lord".  Mary also called Him "God my Savior".  She knew she needed a Savior too!  The important thing for the rest of us to realize is that we also need a Savior.

     God, who decreed the penalty of death for sin, is the only one who can provide the means of escaping that penalty. The prophet Isaiah foresaw this truth long ago.  "He was wounded for our transgression, He was bruised for our iniquities...and with His stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray, we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquities of us all"  (Isaiah 53:5-6).

     Now that the sacrifice of that One to whom all those animal sacrifices pointed has been offered up, there remains no other sacrifice that will do.  Any other effort to restore ones relationship to God is only a fig leaf. To reject God's provision for our forgiveness, is to reject God.

     As Abraham  traveled from altar to altar, he was testifying to his faith in the sacrifice of another for his sins.  A true follower of Abraham and his faith will put their trust in the sacrifice that Abraham's animal sacrifices represented, which is Jesus.

     This study would not be complete unless we compare God's promises to Abraham with His promises to the children of Israel at Mount Sinai after their deliverance from Egypt.

     As the Israelites camped by Mount Sinai the remainder of the world's people lived in spiritual darkness.  They did not know the One who created the world and everything in it. Instead of worshipping their Creator they worshipped creation itself.  Their gods were made of wood, stone or metal.  Kings and other earthly leaders often became their gods.  Even the sun, moon and stars became objects of their devotion.

     God needed a nation whose laws and culture would separate them from the rest of the world and their false gods; a nation which would preserve the knowledge of the true and living God, Creator of heaven and earth; a nation God could use to bring a Savior into the world, a perfect Sacrifice for everyone in the world.

     The descendants of Isaac's son Jacob become that nation.  Although they inherited a great deal of knowledge about God from their forefathers, the influence of those around them who worshipped idols infiltrated their minds and hearts.  They were not all subject to the God of Abraham. Many were certainly not counted among the righteous.  They were not all heirs of Abraham's everlasting future.

      God's covenant promises to Israel at Mount Sinai contained a qualifier, it was that little word "If"!  A covenant which begins with the word "if" is not an unconditional promise.

     God said to them, "If you will obey my voice and keep My covenant with its laws and statutes, then you will be a special treasure to me, then you will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation"  ( Exodus 19:5-6).

     The people answered, "We will do all that the Lord has commanded"  (Exodus 19:8).

     Moses was instructed to come apart from the people that God might reveal more to him about the covenant and its laws which would govern that nation ; a nation which was to be dedicated to Himself, a special holy nation.

     Among the many laws and statutes which God gave Moses were the Ten Commandments which were engraved on two tablets of stone.  The first and most important commandment was, "I am the Lord your God which brought you out of Egypt, you shall have no other gods " (Exodus 20:1-17, 24:12, 31:18, 32:15,16).

     What happened as Moses was on the mountain with God shows just how narrow the gap is between worshipping idols and worshipping the true and living God.  Moses was on the mountain many days and the people began to wonder if he was ever coming back, so they came to Aaron, Moses' brother, and asked him to make a god for them.

     Golden earrings taken from the women and from their sons and daughters were melted down and made into an image of a calf.  Then Aaron said to the people, "Here is your god, the one who brought you out of Egypt"! (Exodus 32:1-6).

     God was aware of all this and was prepared to destroy them all and form a new nation through Moses.  However, Moses pled with God, reminding Him of His covenant with Abraham, that he would become a great multitude which would inherit the land forever  (Exodus 32:7-14).

     As Moses came down the mountain carrying the two stone tablets which contained the Ten Commandments, he found the people dancing naked around that golden calf.  In righteous anger Moses threw down the two tablets of stone and broke both of them.  When you have broken one commandment it is as though you have broken them all! (Exodus 32:19-25).  It takes only one sin to make one a sinner and it takes only one sinner to make a nation less than holy.  Israel had many sinners!

     Moses, standing at the entrance to their camp, called out to the people saying, "Who is on the Lord's side?  Come, stand with me."  And we read that the children of the tribe of Levi came and stood with him  (Exodus 32:26).

     Moses sought forgiveness for the people by saying, "Punish me, blot me out of Your book" (the Book of Life).  God said, "When the time comes I will blot the sinners out of my book but for now lead this people to the land I have promised them".  A plague did come upon the people but they were not destroyed - yet! (Exodus 32:31-35).

     After Joshua, Moses' successor, led the people into Canaan, the land was divided among the various tribes.  Now they were spread out and separated from each other.  Also after Joshua died they lost that strong spiritual leadership of a central authority.  Many years would pass before they had a king.  During this time (called "the time of the Judges") "everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6, 21:25).

     When Saul, the first king, was presented to the people, God said, "If you and your king will serve me and obey my voice and keep the commandments, then I will bless you and your king...but if you turn away from me, both you and your king will be consumed"  (I Samuel 12:12-25).

     Saul failed spiritually so David was chosen to replace him.  David committed a great sin, but his repentance was real.  God blessed David; and during his reign Israel's borders were extended and made secure.  David was a prophet as well as a king; his spiritual songs and prophetic insights have been a blessing to this day.

     David had two special sons: Solomon who would be Israel's next king, and Jesus the future eternal King who will reign in righteousness forever.  Jesus is called the son of Abraham and the son of David in Matthew 1:1.

     Prophecies regarding these two sons are at times intermingled.  We see this when David spoke to Nathan the Prophet concerning his desire to build a royal house for God.  What God told Nathan reveals important truths regarding the future.  Instead of David building a house for God, God was going to build one for David; also God was going to provide David and his people a place where their enemies will never be able afflict them again  (II Samuel 7:10,11).

     Now David already lived in kingly splendor and his people already possessed more land than they have had since that time to this present day.  Clearly, this prophecy had to do with a greater land and a greater blessing beyond this life and beyond this present earth.

     God promised that after David's death He would establish his Seed on a throne in a kingdom which would never end.  God would be His Father and He would be God's Son.  Through this Son, David's throne and David's kingdom would continue forever (II Samuel 7:12-16).

     David is dead.  His royal house is gone.  Solomon is also dead and Solomon's temple is gone.  The kingdom that Solomon inherited from his father David is also gone.  But David's other Son who came to make an atonement for sin for all time, was crucified, buried and rose from the dead to live forever.  That Son is building a house for David and for all the righteous people: past, present and future.  He is preparing a place beyond imagination.  His name is Jesus.
(John 14:1-2).

     Unconditional covenant promises are reserved for the righteous.  There were righteous people in Israel but they were in the minority.  The nation of Israel had no guarantee that their kingdom would continue forever.  The covenant promise was a conditional agreement, it contained the word "if".  The covenant with that nation could be called an "if and then" covenant.

     When Solomon had finished building the temple God said to him, "If you will walk before me as your father David did, to do all that I have commanded you, then I will establish your throne and your kingdom forever.  But if you or your people do not keep my commandments and turn to other gods, then I will remove Israel out of the land which I have given them"  (I Kings 9:4-7).

     We read that when Solomon was old he became enamored with the gods of his many foreign wives. When he built places of worship for those gods, God told him that He would take the kingdom from him and place it in the hands of one of his servants.  However, out of respect for David, that would not happen until after Solomon's death (I Kings 11:1-13).

     After the death of Solomon, ten of the tribes of Israel broke away to form their own kingdom with Jeroboam as their king. They were known as the kingdom of Israel or the Northern Kingdom.  Those remaining were called the kingdom of Judah or Judah.  Their king was Rehaboam, Solomon's son.

     The Northern Kingdom lasted a little over two-hundred years.  The king of Assyria destroyed that kingdom and took most of the people into captivity as the booty of war, "Because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God"(II Kings 18:11-12).

     The kingdom of Judah lasted about three-hundred and fifty years.  God said, "I will remove Judah out of my sight as I did Israel, and I will abandon Jerusalem and the temple because of the sins of Manassah, who did more evil than those nations I have destroyed to give them this land"  (II Kings 21:9, 23:27, 24:1-4, 24:17-25:12).

    God said,  "From the time I brought your forefathers out of Egypt to this day, I warned them again and again that they must obey me, but they did not listen...instead they followed other gods...both the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant...therefore, I will bring upon them affliction and suffering from which there is no escape" (Jeremiah 11:7-11).

     "Behold, the day will come that I will make a new covenant with the house of Judah and with the house of Israel.  It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers in that day I led them out of Egypt, which covenant they broke" (Jeremiah 31:31-32).

     The new covenant states more clearly what had already been implied in God's promises to Abraham, everyone is invited to be a part of it:

     "Let the barren one sing...make your tents bigger, stretch out the curtains of your habitations, for you shall be enlarged, your seed will include the Gentiles and your empty cities will be inhabited...your Creator, your Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts will be called the God of the entire world" (Isaiah 54:1-5).

     "Everyone listen to me, you that are thirsty, come and drink...come to me and you shall live and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David"  (Isaiah 55:1-3).

     "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.  The Lord God who gathers the exiles of Israel will gather others also"   (Isaiah 56:7-8).

     Everyone is invited, no one is excluded.  Ishmael's children, Isaac's children (Jew or Gentile), every race, every nationality is welcome.  The only barrier is one's lack of faith in the God of Abraham and in His promise of an everlasting future.  All those who respond to His invitation will become a branch in Abraham's family tree!

       The Apostle John had a vision of their future bliss, "I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away...a loud voice from heaven said, "Behold the tabernacle of God is with men.  God will live with them.  He will be their God and they will be His people.  God will wipe away their tears and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor pain, for the former things will be gone forever". (Revelation 21:1-5).

     Some 3000 years ago an eighty-nine-year old man and a seventy-five-year old man came together to bury their father.  Their names were Ishmael and Isaac! (Genesis 25:7-9).  In spite of all that transpired in those early years, Ismael and Isaac still had a common heritage, there was still a bond between them, it was Abraham.  There needs to be another funeral today in which Ishmael and Isaac's children bury their differences.  They must both see that God's provision for an everlasting future had always been available to anyone who lived by the obedient faith of their father Abraham.

     Why fight over land which will be consumed in the flames of God's anger over sin?  Only those who live in hope, as Abraham did, will become heirs of the land which is eternal.

     The Christian community must rethink the role it is meant to play in the world today.  We must all re-examine Abraham's faith.  We must get a fresh glimpse of the everlasting future kingdom land.  It is not up for grabs. God will fulfill His promise in His own good time and by His own almighty power.  We have no business fanning the flames of war in the Middle East.  Jesus has called us to be peace makers, witnesses of the resurrection, proclaimers of an everlasting future for all those who put their trust in Him.

     May the Spirit of the Living God open our eyes to see beyond this present world and beyond this present life to the New Jerusalem, whose gates are open wide to all who will enter in.

In conclusion:
     Common ground for Muslims, Christians and Jews, based upon our present-day doctrinal and theological differences, is not possible.  Consider, for instance, just the dispute over the land.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to prevent the establishing of a Palestinian state, to expand Jewish settlements and never share sovereignty over Jerusalem.  Meanwhile Yasser Arafat challenges such vows by saying that the Palestinian people's desire for statehood is so strong that no one can stop it  (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 7, 1996).

     The conflict over the land can be resolved only by all sides recognizing that God's promises to Abraham were of an everlasting nature; promises which can never be fulfilled in this present life and on this present earth.

     Remember, neither Abraham nor any of his descendants through Isaac or Ishmael, has yet inherited the land as an everlasting possession.  The resurrection from the dead and the transformation of the living must come first. Only eternal beings can inherit everlasting things.

     The upper echelons of all three groups still cling to the very ideas which divide us.  But individually, those who see beyond earthly things to that kingdom land which will never pass away, can share a common hope, standing together on common ground.

     Human effort will never bring God's promises to pass. What God intends to do, only God can do.  He will perform and fulfill His word by His own almighty power and in His own good time.  Our duty is to get ourselves ready to be a part of that glorious future and to do what we can to tell others the good news.  God is going to come in Christ, and through Christ bring all the heirs of the promise into their eternal inheritance. See you there!

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