Promise, Power, Covenant & the War of Worldviews That Never Ended
THE ABRAHAMIC DIVIDE
This article was inspired by my brother-in-law: a 30-year Sheriff veteran, 12-year Navy Intelligence officer specializing in radical Islamic terrorism, and our current Pastor. In the spirit of Christmas, there are no in-line ads in today’s special article, but I have extended a 40% discount on annual GUARDIAN subscriptions through midnight. ~ Chris
The modern world cannot be understood without Abraham
Not geopolitics.
Not the Middle East.
Not jihadist ideology.
Not Christianity.
Not Islam.
All of it traces back to a single man — and to promises God made that were enormous, unsettling, and civilization-shaping.
Abraham was not promised a quiet lineage or a small religious tradition. He was promised legions, nations, kings, power, and global influence. The consequences of that promise are still unfolding.
GOD PROMISED ABRAHAM NUMBERS, POWER, AND DOMINION
From the beginning, God’s promise to Abraham was explicit and expansive.
“I will make of you a great nation… and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2–3)
This was not poetic language. It was a declaration of historical impact.
God intensified the promise repeatedly:
“I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth.” (Genesis 13:16)
“So shall your offspring be.” (Genesis 15:5)
“I have made you the father of a multitude of nations… kings shall come from you.” (Genesis 17:4–6)
Abraham’s descendants were promised scale, authority, and the ability to shape history itself.
That promise was real.
And it was never limited to a single biological outcome.
THE PROMISE HAD STRUCTURE
Here is where modern interpretations collapse Scripture.
God’s promise was multi-layered:
• Multiplication
• Power
• Nations and rulers
• And a distinct, named covenant
These are not interchangeable.
Scripture treats them differently — deliberately.
HAGAR: THE MOMENT FAITH GAVE WAY TO FEAR
The defining fracture in this story is not Isaac’s birth.
It is Hagar.
Sarah, barren and advanced in age, lost confidence in the timing of God’s promise. Instead of waiting, she intervened. She gave her Egyptian handmaid Hagar to Abraham in an attempt to produce the promised offspring by human means.
This arrangement was not commanded by God.
It was not covenant obedience.
It was fear stepping into divine territory.
Hagar conceived immediately, and the consequences were immediate as well: contempt, jealousy, humiliation, and a fractured household. Scripture slows down to record this tension because it matters. What was meant to “help” God fulfill His promise instead created a permanent fault line.
Ishmael’s origin cannot be separated from this moment. He exists because human impatience replaced trust in God’s timing.
ISHMAEL: BLESSED WITH POWER, NOT APPOINTED TO THE COVENANT
God does not curse Ishmael.
God does not abandon him.
God does not deny him a future.
God explicitly blesses him:
“As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.” (Genesis 17:20)
That is not a minor blessing.
It is nation-level scale.
It is political authority.
It is enduring influence.
History confirms it.
But Scripture also defines the character of this lineage:
“He shall be a wild man; his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him.” (Genesis 16:12)
This is not a slur.
It is a description of a pattern — a lineage born outside covenant order, marked by conflict from the beginning.
Ishmael is blessed.
But he is not appointed.
Blessing and covenant are not the same thing.
ISAAC: THE CHILD OF PROMISE
Then God does what human effort could not.
Sarah conceives after fertility is gone.
Isaac is born after hope has expired.
This was intentional.
“Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him.” (Genesis 17:19)
God immediately clarifies the distinction:
“I will establish my covenant with Isaac… not with Ishmael.” (Genesis 17:21)
Both sons are real.
Both lines become nations.
Both inherit Abraham’s numerical promise.
But only one carries the covenant.
TWO LINES, TWO APPROACHES TO POWER
From Abraham forward, history divides into two expressions of the same original promise.
The Ishmaelite Line
• Large populations
• Princes, rulers, empires
• Political and military power
• Authority asserted and defended through force
Islamic tradition explicitly traces Muhammad’s lineage through Ishmael. This is not a Christian accusation — it is a foundational Islamic claim.
Modern jihadist movements consciously frame themselves as:
• Heirs of Abraham through Ishmael
• Restorers of rightful inheritance
• Enforcers of divine order through submission
This is theology expressed as domination.
The Isaac Line
• Isaac → Jacob (Israel)
• Israel → Judah
• Judah → David
• David → Jesus Christ
This lineage emphasizes:
• Covenant over coercion
• Promise over power
• Redemption over conquest
Christian theology holds that Jesus fulfills the Abrahamic covenant not by force, but by sacrifice — extending it beyond bloodline into faith.
SCRIPTURE ITSELF REFUSES TO ERASE HAGAR
The New Testament addresses this divide directly.
“These women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: this is Hagar.” (Galatians 4:24)
Paul contrasts:
• Hagar — flesh, compulsion, bondage
• Sarah — promise, freedom, divine action
Hagar is not incidental.
She is the fork in the road.
Removing her removes Scripture’s own explanatory framework.
JIHADISM IS A THEOLOGICAL PROJECT
Groups such as ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah do not see themselves as criminals.
They see themselves as participants in sacred history.
Their rhetoric repeatedly invokes:
• Abraham
• Ishmael
• Inheritance
• Holy violence
• Rejection of the Isaac-covenant claim
This is not accidental.
It is not modern.
It is ancient theology weaponized.
NECESSARY CLARITY
Not all Muslims believe this.
Not all descendants of Ishmael embrace violence.
People are not reducible to ideology.
But every jihadist movement grounds its legitimacy in this inheritance narrative.
Ignoring that reality has not produced peace. It has produced blindness.
WHY THIS STILL MATTERS
God promised Abraham offspring who would be:
• Numerous
• Powerful
• World-shaping
That promise has been fulfilled.
The unresolved question is how that power is exercised:
• Covenant or coercion
• Faith or force
• Redemption or domination
That question did not die in Genesis.
It defines the modern world.
THE SDN BOTTOM LINE
This is not about race.
It is not about hatred.
It is about which worldview governs power.
One line trusts promise.
The other repeatedly turns to force.
Those paths cannot be reconciled.
FINAL WORD
God promised Abraham legions.
He promised him kings.
He promised him nations that would shape history.
But He also named the covenant.
Understanding that distinction is not bigotry — it is clarity.
And clarity is necessary if the world is going to survive what comes next.
Godspeed,
Chris Heaven, CEO
Survival Dispatch
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Finest bullet-point summary of a Scripture spanning topic I have encountered. Knew Abraham’s relationship to Ishmael /Isaac/Islam and their relationship to the inheritance and the rights of primogeniture out ahead etc. but this article, Chris is superb. Highlighted/copied and printed 3, 7-page copies.
Amen and so many miss these points from God