Welcome to Prophecy Q & A with Jimmy DeYoung!
Many people believe that Ishmael is the father of the Arab world. Genesis 16 tells us of the birth of Ishmael. Ishmael’s mother was Hagar, an Egyptian handmaiden. This fact destroys the idea that Ishmael could have fathered the Arab world. Egypt is the largest, most populated Arab country in the world with over 88 million people. Genesis 10:6 talks about the descendants of Ham, a son of Noah, one of the eight survivors of the worldwide flood. One of Ham’s children was named Cush, which is Hebrew for Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan. Another one was named Mizraim, which is Hebrew for Egypt. Phut is Hebrew for Libya. These five countries are Arab nations today. Abraham doesn’t come on the scene until chapter 12, about 265 years later. It’s a number of years after that until Ishmael comes on the scene in Genesis 16. Therefore, Ishmael did not father the Arab world.
Ishmael fathered one nation. This is what the Lord told Abraham. Genesis 17:20 says that Ishmael would be the father of a great nation (one nation). Genesis 25:18 says that Ishmael went to live in a place geographically described in the Scripture as the nation we knew then as Arabia. Today, it is known as Saudi Arabia. Ishmael fathered only one Arab nation. Arab means Bedouin or nomad. Bedouins and nomads are the major people who live in Saudi Arabia. This is where Ishmael went to live. The text tells us that Ishmael was a wild man (Genesis 16) who raised his hand against every man and every man’s hand will be raised against him. He fathered 12 sons who became chiefs of tribes. They tried to take over their brother’s tribe as well. When they went in to attack, and if they won, they were called an Islamic warrior.
The word Islam means submission. Before it was ever used as a title for a religion, it was used to talk about bringing somebody under submission. When Muhammad stood up as one of the tribal leaders, those tribes originally of Ishmael who went to Arabia to establish that one nation, Muhammad said that he was a direct descendant of Ishmael. What Ishmael fathered was not the Arab world but the Islamic world. Islam came out of Saudi Arabia.
Jimmy DeYoung was a prophecy teacher and journalist who travelled the country and the world educating the Body of Christ of the future events foretold in God’s prophetic Word. His goal was to equip Christians with the knowledge and understanding of what God’s Word says will happen someday soon, so that they can make better decisions today. Dr. DeYoung went home to be with his Savior on August 15, 2021.
