And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian whom she had borne to Abraham scoffing Genesis 21v9

God had promised much to Abraham but it all hinged on him having children so Sarah, being

barren offered him her servant Hagar to bear an heir.  At the age of 86 yrs Ishmael is born. Some 14 years later Isaac is born to Sarah and it was a happy day at the weaning ceremony until she noticed Abraham’s first born son’s reaction (9v18) and her reaction was strong and quick

Sibling rivalry is a given but when taken to extreme can have far reaching and long lasting effects upon a family  and if it be true Ishmael is the birthing of the Arab countries, then the impact can be far wider.  God said of Ishmael he would be a wild man and his hand would be against every other man and every other man would be against him! Gen 16v12.

Ishmael is seen by many as the forefather to Muhammad and today we are so aware of the enmity between Arab and Jew

Enmity is not only found between nations or siblings, but can also be found within ourselves!?

Enmity can mean anything from having a bad feeling towards another which grows into antagonism even hatred then open hostility

As followers of Christ scripture tells us we have 2 natures which are at war (enmity) against each other.  Our fallen nature versus the new nature which indwells us through God’s Holy Spirit (Galations5v17)

To be found scoffing is to express derision or scorn and Ishmael being the older had the upper hand over the younger Isaac.  Our sinful nature as embodied in Ishmael will be quick to ridicule our new nature (Isaac) and that is a fact of (fallen) life however we like Sarah need to move even quicker to stop ourselves being overwhelmed by our old nature so the Christ element within can grow into full maturity

Blessings

Bruce Docker