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Edward D. Andrews — EDWARD D. ANDREWS (AS in Criminal Justice, BS in Religion, MA in Biblical Studies, and MDiv in Theology) is CEO and President of Christian Publishing House. He has authored ninety-two books. Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV).

Genesis 22:2 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)

²He said, “Please take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”

The Qur’an states:

“And remember that Abraham was tried by his Lord with certain commands, which he fulfilled: He said: “I will make thee an Imam to the Nations.” He pleaded: “And also (Imams) from my offspring!” He answered: “But My Promise is not within the reach of evil-doers.” (Surah Al-Baqara, 124)

The Book of Genesis and Islamic traditions consider Ishmael to be the ancestor of the Ishmaelites and patriarch of Qaydār. According to Muslim tradition, Ishmael the Patriarch and his mother Hagar are said to be buried next to the Kaaba in Mecca. (Wikipedia) This is where the similarities of the three religions end: Jewish, Christian, and Islam. Islamic scholarship warns that the Muslims of the momentous and calamitous event where the ancient Jewish people supposedly rewrote the Hebrew Old Testament Scriptures to make Isaac the chosen seed of the covenant promise, instead of Ishmael. Islam has long argued that the seed of promise for a covenant promise was made with Ishmael, for which they argue Ishmael was clearly the older son.

Judaism and Christianity, of course, would beg to differ with this wishful thinking on the part of Islam. The Hebrew Scriptures and the Greek New Testament Scriptures show that the covenant promise Abraham and Sarah, wherein Isaac is the firstborn son. It is from this Seed alone that we get the Jewish nation and the long awaited Messiah, the Seed of Genesis 3:15, “‘And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.'” From the beginning, the identity of the promised “seed” was a secret of God, until the apostle Paul revealed it to be the Christ. (Gal. 3:16) What line of descent was to produce the promised Seed, Isaac or Ishmael, and how do we know that it was Jesus Christ who came through that family line? Why is it impossible for anyone living after 70 C.E. to prove a claim to be the long-awaited promised seed?

It is Jesus’ genealogy that lays the foundation for identifying him as the promised Seed of the covenant that was made with Abraham and Sarah. God had told Abraham that the promised Seed would come through their son, Isaac. The prophecy continued as Abraham’s son Isaac, Isaac’s son Jacob, and Jacob’s son Judah each received a similar promise. (Genesis 22:18; 26:2-5; 28:12-15; 49:10) Then, there was a narrowing of the prophecy centuries later when King King David was told that the promised Seed would come through his lineage alone. (Psalm 132:11; Isaiah 11:1, 10) The Gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke affirm that Jesus, in fact, came through that family line. (Matthew 1:1-16; Luke 3:23-38) Secular history and the Gospels reveal that Jesus had many enemies, which would eventually lead to his execution. However, not one of those ever challenged his well-known line of family descent. (Matthew 21:9, 15) Clearly, then, his family genealogy is beyond all question. However, the Jewish people’s family records were destroyed when the Romans destroyed, plundered, and ravaged Jerusalem in 70 C.E. Some 600 years later, Islam could never prove any claim to being descendants of the promised Seed.

So Which Is the Authentic Seed of Promise, Isaac or Ishmael?

Ishmael was born first but to a concubine. He was not the heir to the inheritance, as Jehovah can choose who he wishes. We will see this with Solomon as well. Moreover, ‘only son’ can be an equivalent to a ‘beloved son.’ Emphasizing that God chose Isaac over Ishmael, throughout the Bible, Isaac is mentioned dozens of times in the familiar expression “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (e.g., Ex 3:6, 16; 4:5; Matt. 22:32; Ac 3:13) Isaac was the seed of Abraham, which was pictorial of Christ, through whom eternal blessings were to come. As it is written: “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to one, ‘And to your seed,’ that is, Christ.” And in reality, Isaac was also pictorial of those who “… are of Christ, then you are of Abraham’s seed,[26] heirs according to promise.” (Gal. 3:16, 29) Isaac is also named among the “so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,” for he too was among those “looking for the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Heb. 12:1; 11:9-10, 13-16, 20) Ishmael receives no other mention in a favored way in the Old or New Testament Scriptures.