What religion was Abraham?

What religion was Abraham? After all, he is claimed as the father of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Two of those religions took one path to get from Abraham to their religions that exist today. However, the other one took a different path to get from the man who used to be Abraham to that religion today. Notice, I worded that very carefully. Let’s find out why. And learn what those two paths are.

I wrote the first version of this more than twelve years ago. It’s been updated a few times over the years. Now it’s time for another one. Rearrange a few things.

And, of course, “fix” the things that are no longer acceptable to Google. After all, if I don’t do that, it’s harder for you to find this!

I really hope you find it useful. It’s one of the first things I ever wrote, so it has a special place for me.

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Originally, Abraham lived in a pagan land.

Here’s the first we hear of him in the Bible, in Genesis, in a section titled From Shem to Abram. Wait! Abram? Not Abraham? Yes, Abram. No, not Abraham. And so, the first step on our journey to determine the paths taken by three religions begins. Not with the title character Abraham. But with Abram.

It’s only two little letters. “ha”. Oddly, the joke’s on us if we don’t pay attention to the importance of “ha”. And it’s not a funny joke, It’s a sad one. A life or death one. So let’s try to follow closely and see what’s going on.

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Step 1 – Abram – on the path to What religion was Abraham?

Let’s try that opening again.

Originally, Abram lived in a pagan land. Here’s the first we hear of him in the Bible, in Genesis, in a section titled From Shem to Abram.

From Shem to Abram

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Ge 11:27 This is the account of Terah.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28 While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. 29 Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30 Now Sarai was barren; she had no children.

Ge 11:31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.

Ge 11:32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.

Notice: we’re talking about Abram here. As many of you probably already know, Abram will “become” Abraham. God’s going to change his name alter in Genesis. However, the original name of the man we know as Abraham was Abram.

After writing the original article, I was asked why I made such a big deal out of the name change – from Abram to Abraham. The reason is because God saw fit to change his name. The same is true for Sarai. Her name was changed to Sarah at the same time as Abram was changed to Abraham. There are events that took place and promises that were made by God to Abram. After the name change, there were additional events that took place and promises that were made by God to Abraham.

In order to keep track of how those events and promises track to us today, it’s important to know about the name change. And to be able to trace the descendants of Abram (by way of Hagar). And also through the descendants of Abraham (by way of Sarai). Further, there are the promises made to Abram only (regardless of whether the descendants were from Hagar or Sarai).

We’re getting ahead a bit here, but I want to include this for those of you who already know about the name changes. If all this gave you a feeling of “what the heck is he talking about?”, don’t worry. The full explanation and the step-by-step walk down the two paths is coming.

Abram among the people of pagan gods

About the pagan thing. The account of Terah, Abram’s father, shows that he was from Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram and Sarai were on their way to Canaan, but ended up in Haran. Given that the originsal destination was Canaan, let’s look at what was going on there as far as religion at the time. We see the following in the New Bible Dictionary.

The Canaanites had an extensive pantheon, headed by El. More prominent in practice were *BAAL (lord’), i.e. Hadad the storm-god, and *DAGON, with temples in Ugarit and elsewhere. The goddesses *ASHERAH, Astarte (*ASHTAROTH) and Anath—like Baal—had multi-coloured personalities and violent characters; they were goddesses of sex and war. Kothar-and-Hasis was artificer-god (cf. Vulcan), and other and lesser deities abounded.

Actual temples in Palestine include remains at Beth-shan, Megiddo, Lachish, Shechem and especially Hazor (which had at least three), besides those in Syria at Qatna, Alalah̬ or Ugarit. The Ugaritic texts mention a variety of animals sacrificed to the gods: cattle, sheep (rams and lambs) and birds (including doves)—plus, of course, libations. Animal bones excavated in several Palestinian sites support this picture.  ¹New Bible Dictionary, (Kitchen, K. A. (1996). c. Religion. In D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman (Eds.), New Bible dictionary (3rd ed., p. 164). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press)

So, there were all sorts of “gods” at that time. However, we know that none of the Canaanite gods were the God of the Bible. How? Because the Canaanites had an extensive pantheon. A pantheon is, by definition, a collective reference to all the gods worshiped by a particular group. ²Mangum, D. (2014). The Lexham Glossary of Theology. Lexham Press.

You see, there was no covenant yet. The significant events preceding the time of Abram were “the flood” and the Tower of Babel, both of which can be checked out in either the Bible or the Qur’an. I’m not going to do that here, since it would raise other questions not related to the topic. Feel free to Google it if you want to verify (although the reference The Tower of Babel in the Qur’an is disputed depending on which Muslim scholar you read.)

Anyway, we have Abram (not renamed at this point) settled in Haran. Right now, Abram’s the father of nothing. No Kids. No descendants. No promises from God yet. No future religions. Nothing.

Also, notice that our first step on the way to even reaching Abraham is an introduction to his earlier self, named Abram. It might seem trivial to point this out. It’s not at all trivial. It’s of the utmost importance. So just hold onto this little nugget of information. If you’re into playing those video games where you pick up things that end up unlocking secrets later in the game, just think of this as a really important key. Don’t lose it or forget it.

Let’s see what happens after this.

God’s covenant with – Abram?

Oh yeah. We still haven’t made it to Abraham yet, and God’s already making a covenant. With Abram!

We’re going to skip ahead for a moment. Not a flashback. More like a flashforward.

Remember our title: What religion was Abraham? Today, he’s claimed as the father of three religions. Judaism. Christianity. And Islam. As pointed out earlier, one of these three took a different path than the other two. Given that reality, what happens to the claim that Abraham was the father of all three?

Well, based on that claim, some would say that we all believe in the same “god”. Since the Jewish religion appears first in the Bible, it may make sense to claim that Abraham was a Jew.

But – Abram was the father of Ishmael, who the Muslims claim to be descended from. They say that gives them a claim to Abraham as their father. Even though Islam came last in terms of when it arrived on the earth, they still claim Abraham for their own.

And then there’s the Christians, who come in the middle. Sort of. The thing is, Jesus came to the earth as a Jew, from the house of David, ultimately traced back to Abraham.

Simple, isn’t it? Not!

And that’s how this whole article got started. Mike Mason’s book, The Gospel According To Job, asks the question like this:

Was Noah a Jew? Was Abraham a Jew? It was the patriarchs who spawned the Jewish nation, not the other way around.

Not the other way around! Another clue. Another key. One that opens up some of what I’ve already written to some pretty serious questions. Questions that won’t hold up to scrutiny. We’ll return to them in a bit.

So, let’s go back to Noah and see what happened.

The first instance of God making a covenant with someone is Noah, as we see in Genesis.

The Flood

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Ge 6:17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”

Ge 6:22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

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The first 8 times the word covenant is used all relate to God’s covenant with Noah. They tell us that God will save Noah and his family and the animals that they take on the ark. But everything else on the earth will perish.

From that, we are all descendants of both Adam and Noah. It doesn’t matter what religion we are. Everyone is descended from both men. And remember, at this time there are no Jews and certainly no Christians or Muslims.

The next instance of the word covenant is the one we’re looking for to come back to Abram.

God’s Covenant With Abram

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Ge 15:17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

At this time, Abraham was still known by his original name – Abram.
His wife, later known as Sarah – was known as Sarai at this time.
So, God tells Abram that He is making a covenant to give the land to Abram’s descendants. If we go to the Hebrew words, it would be more like the King James Version, which says “unto thy seed”, as in:

^{Ge 15:18} In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: ¹⁹ The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, ²⁰ And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, ²¹ And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.  ³The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ge 15:18–21). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

So, the land wasn’t to go to Abram (later to be known as Abraham). Rather, it was Abram’s descendants that were to receive it.

2233 זֶרַע [zeraʿ /zeh·rah/] n m. From 2232; TWOT 582a; GK 2446; 229 occurrences; AV translates as “seed” 221 times, “child” twice, “carnally + 7902” twice, “carnally” once, “fruitful” once, “seedtime” once, and “sowing time” once. 1 seed, sowing, offspring. 1A a sowing. 1B seed. 1C semen virile. 1D offspring, descendants, posterity, children. 1E of moral quality. 1E1 a practitioner of righteousness (fig.). 1F sowing time (by meton).  ⁴Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.

Now it gets interesting. Which descendants?

Step 2 – Abram, Sarai, and Hagar – on the path to What religion was Abraham?

We’re ready for step two now. But did you notice, it’s Abram, Sarai, and Hagar? Step 2 still has no trace of Abraham. What’s going on here?

Here, things get messy. It’s like watching a modern-day soap opera.

To be sure, there’s a lot in Genesis that seems like we’re reading a soap opera script. Lies, sex, violence, and all sorts of stuff like that.

So let’s look in on the goings-on here. If you didn’t know already, Abram and Sarai were married. As for Hagar, she’s Sarai’s maidservant. Moving on to Genesis 16, we read this.

Hagar and Ishmael

Ge 16:1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me.”

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Good grief! Was this really what God intended? Or did Abram and Sarai just really mess things up?
Do you see what I mean about the soap opera thing?

I guess we should keep in mind here, some will say this must be what God intended, because God literally controls every little detail of everything that happens. On the other hand, for those like me, we believe that God has plans for us. However, because He gives us free will, sometimes we can mess things up.  But, even with that, we also believe that in the end, God’s will is what will be done.

Before we see how this worked out for Abram, Sarai, and Hagar, let’s do a flashback to an earlier instance of a time when things looked like they were going to go horribly wrong.

Flashback to Joseph

Let’s look at Joseph in the Old Testament as an example of this.  Remember, some of his brothers wanted to kill him.  Instead, they sold him into slavery.  Joseph ended up as the number two person in all of Egypt after being a slave there!  This is the scene when Joseph is finally reconciled with his brothers.

Joseph Reassures His Brothers

Ge 50:15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

Ge 50:18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.

Ge 50:19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

We see Joseph tell his brothers that even though they intended to do harm to him, God turned that into something good.

You may ask why I think this distinction is important.  God wants us to love Him.  True love, real feelings, they must be a choice.  If there’s no choice on our part, if we have no free will, there cannot really be love.  

However, there are certain things that God will make sure they occur.  His ultimate plan cannot be thwarted.  We saw that with Joseph.  And we’ll see the same with Abram/Abraham, Sarai/Sarah, and Hagar.  They sure tried hard to mess things up.  But what God wanted to happen did in fact end up happening, in spite of their efforts to “speed things up” and, in the process, mess things up.

Return to Abram, Sarai, and Hagar

With the events surrounding Joseph in mind, let’s return to the soap opera that was Abram, Sarai, and Hagar. Continuing from their story in Genesis 16, we read:

Hagar and Ishmael

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Ge 16:6 “Your servant is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

Ge 16:7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

Ge 16:9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.”

OK – so where are we now with Abram, Sarai, and Hagar?

God made a covenant with Abram, not specifying who the mother would be. Abram. Sarai, and Hagar manage to produce a child, although likely not via the way God intended. But they did it. Then Hagar and the unborn child are kicked out. The angel of The LORD tells Hagar to go back to Sarai. The angel also to Hagar “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.” Now there’s a covenant with Abram, a promise to Hagar, and Sarai seemingly still has nothing.

Let’s make things a little more complex, because this is way too simple, right? (just kidding.) Christians generally consider the “Angel of The LORD” here to be – are you sitting down – pre-incarnate Jesus. Think about what that means now, for Christians at least. Jesus, our Messiah, has promised to make Hagar’s descendants too numerous to count!

We can see by the promise that this wasn’t any “ordinary” angel. Not even an Archangel can say, “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count”. That’s a promise from God Himself.

Well, let’s keep going and see if this thing gets cleared up.

Step 3 – Abram, Hagar, and Ismael – on the path to What religion was Abraham?

We’re now on step three. Ishmael is born. Bot not to Abraham. Rather, Ishmael was born to Abram. And Ishmael was from Hagar, not Sarai. But to keep this soap opera on the edge, look what happens next.

Ge 16:11 The angel of the LORD also said to her:
“You are now with child
and you will have a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the LORD has heard of your misery.

Ge 16:12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers. ”

Ge 16:13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi ; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

Ge 16:15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Wow. God steps in and tells what Ishmael’s life is going to be like. And it’s not good.

Hagar’s descendants are to be the seed of Ishmael. This is the path from which the Muslims descend. But at this point, we still don’t know where things stand as far as whether or not the Jewish people will also come from this part of the family tree.

Those were the easy/obvious points of this passage. But did you notice that Jesus named Ishmael! There are very few instances of God naming someone before birth. This has got to be a very significant happening. Jesus telling Hagar to name her unborn infant Ishmael is a big deal. More on that later.

Now, remember what we saw earlier about Muslims tracing the lineage of their religion from Ishmael. And, they claim, from Abraham. But clearly, this claim is a problem. Abram is still named Abram. In God’s eyes, Abraham doesn’t yet exist. Therefore, the true lineage for Islam is Abram and Ishmael. And Hagar.

So far, the only promises made are the ones we’ve read. Furthermore, there’s no specific covenant. I say specific, because the one covenant made was with Abram’s seed. Abram’s descendants. With no mention of Sarai. This may very well explain how and why we got to the present situation in the Middle East, where both religions claim the same territories.

However, we must keep in mind, this soap opera isn’t over yet. This is only how things stand at the moment. This is like the season-ending cliff-hanger. But the first episode of the next season is upon us. Let’s keep going.

Step 4 – Abram, a name change, and another(?) covenant – on the path to What religion was Abraham?

The Covenant of Circumcision

Ge 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

We see right away that this is not a new covenant. Rather, it’s a confirmation of the previous one. And not only a confirmation, but further details on that covenant.

But is that really true? Other translations say “make my covenant” as opposed to confirm my covenant. Which one is it? After all, the difference between the two can be huge.

Actually, both are correct. Here are the principle elements of a covenant in Old Testament times.

Principal Elements

The covenant in the OT shows considerable modification from the early idea. Yet it will doubtless help in understanding the OT covenant to keep in mind the early idea and form. Combining statements made in different accounts, the following seem to be the principal elements in a covenant between men. Some of the details, it is to be noted, are not explicitly stated in reference to these covenants, but may be inferred from those between God and men.

(1) A statement of the terms agreed upon (Gen 26:29; 31:50, 52). This was a modification of the earlier idea, which has been noted, in which a covenant was all-inclusive.

(2) An oath by each party to observe the terms, God being witness of the oath (Gen 26:31; 31:48–53). The oath was such a characteristic feature that sometimes the term “oath” is used as the equivalent of covenant (see Ezk 17:13).

(3) A curse invoked by each one upon himself in case of disregard of the agreement. In a sense this may be considered a part of the oath, adding emphasis to it. This curse is not explicitly stated in the case of human covenants, but may be inferred from the covenant with God (Dt 27:15–26).

(4) The formal ratification of the covenant by some solemn external act.  ⁵Berry, G. R. (1915). Covenant, in the OT. In J. Orr, J. L. Nuelsen, E. Y. Mullins, & M. O. Evans (Eds.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (Vols. 1–5, pp. 727–728). The Howard-Severance Company.

Given those elements, here’s what we have between God and Abram/Abraham.

1. Statement of terms – the original covenant passage in Genesis 15.
2. An oath by each party – coming in the next several verses.
3. Curse if agreement isn’t followed – coming in Gen 17:9.
4. Formal ratification – coming at the end of Gen 17.

To that end, one commentary reads:

2. I will make my covenant—The formal and symbolical cutting of the covenant was described in chap. 15; here Jehovah gives Abram the sign and seal of the covenant. Accordingly we note that in chap. 15:18, the Hebrew expression is cut (כרת) a covenant; here it is give (נתן) a covenant. “The freedom of the covenant of promise is expressed in this latter phrase. It was a gift from a superior, rather than a bargain between equals; and as it was accompanied by the rite of circumcision, it was typical of the freedom of that covenant made afterwards to Christians, and sealed to them in the sacred rite of baptism.”—Speaker’s Commentary.  ⁶Terry, M. S., & Newhall, F. H. (1889). Genesis and Exodus: Vol. I (D. D. Whedon, Ed.; p. 196). Eaton & Mains; Jennings & Pye.

Stated more simply:

Relationship. The phrase “My covenant” is used nine times in this chapter and defines God’s relationship with Abraham. This was not another covenant, different from the one God had already established with Abraham (Gen. 12:1–3; 15:1–21). It was a reaffirmation of that covenant, with the important addition of circumcision, the sign and seal of the covenant.  ⁷Wiersbe, W. W. (1991). Be Obedient (p. 65). Victor Books.

Continuing then with the second portion of the statement of terms:

Ge 17:3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram ; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

Abram gets his new name. That’s a name change that, pardon the pun, changes everything.

The parties to the covenant are now defined as God, Abraham, and Abraham’s descendants.

It’s more specific. Why? Quite possibly because of what happened with Abram, Sarai, and Hagar. The introduction of Hagar and Ishmael into the picture meant the original wording couldn’t stand. Of course, God knew this was coming. But really, what’s He supposed to do about it beforehand?

Was God going to tell Abram ahead of time that his attempt to have a son by way of Hagar was going to work, but that son wasn’t the one who was going to be the heir to the covenant? What exactly would we want God to have done, ahead of time? If anything, this two-step approach, with a broad definition followed by a specific naming of the parties, including the new names, was about the ooperanly way to go.

Now the covenant is between God, Abraham (no longer called Abram) and Abraham’s descendants.

Oops.

Sounds like the covenant leaves out Ishmael.

Should there be any doubt, the next portion of Genesis makes it more clear.

^{Ge 17:15} God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. ¹⁶ I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

It’s really looking like the covenant is not with Ishmael.

BTW, hopefully you noticed that Ishmael is actually not a descendant of “Abraham”. He’s a descendant of “Abram”. The same person, but different. God changed Abram’s name for a reason. It’s the “death” of Abram and the “birth” of Abraham. It’s like a foretelling of the Christian baptism. The name change is a huge thing.

And – just to make sure this is perfectly clear – God continues. And we take another step on the path to find out, what religion was Abraham?

Step 5 – Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac – on the path to What religion was Abraham?

Ge 17:19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

Clearly – the covenant is to be made not with Ishmael – but with Isaac.

If you’ve read carefully – you noticed that verse 19 starts with God saying “Yes, but…”. What was the question? It was:

^{Ge 17:18} And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

Abraham wants God to bless Ishmael as well as the unborn Isaac. God says no. Looks like Ishmael is out in the cold.

But wait! What about the promise Jesus made to Hagar? What about Jesus telling Hagar that her descendants would be too numerous to count? Did God, the Father just overrule God, The Son? No. There’s something going on here that’s not explained. At least not yet. In fact, we don’t even know if Abraham is aware of the promise that Jesus made. Remember, Hagar had been kicked out. The angel of The LORD (Jesus) appeared to Hagar while she was away from Abram & Sarai. There’s no reference to Hagar ever telling Abram or Sarai about the visit from the angel of The LORD.

So Ishmael isn’t out in the cold. There’s something for His offspring. Jesus wouldn’t make a promise like that and then just have it disappear like a forgotten thread in a bad movie. Something’s up. Something’s going to be coming for the offspring of Ishmael.

Let’s add another clarification note here.

Islam does not recognize the name change for Abram, sort of.  Technically, the Qur’an doesn’t recognize the initial name of Abram. In that sense, they don’t acknowledge the name change, since they don’t even acknowledge the man’s original name – Abram. In the Qur’an, Abraham was always Abraham.  As such, Islam claims “Abraham’s” first son was Ishmael.  

However, in order to make it all “work”, Islam must also ignore everything else in Genesis that points to Isaac being the one to receive the blessing from God for Abraham’s first son. It’s not as simple as just claiming Abraham was never named Abram. That’s one source of difference between Christianity and Islam.

Another difference is in the treatment of “The Angel of The Lord” and Jesus.  In Islam, Jesus is not the Son of God.  In Islam, Jesus is just another prophet. An important one, to be sure. But still just a prophet.  As a prophet, and therefore a man (not the Son of God), Jesus could not have been the Angel of The Lord.  So what Christians view as an important promise from Jesus would not have that same impact to a Muslim.  Actually, in Islam, this promise was pretty much meaningless, since Islam considers the covenant promise to have been to Abraham & Ishmael – not to Abraham and Isaac – since Islam considers Isaac to be the second son of Abraham.

So you can already see issues stemming from ignoring the name change. Why is this passage even in the Bible if there was no issue over who was the first born referred to in God’s blessing?

Step 6 – Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, & Esau and Jacob – on the path to What religion was Abraham?

So let’s keep going. No more counting on it getting simplified or cleared up. Let’s see how it can get even messier!

From there, the soap opera continued with Jacob and Esau, Isaac’s children.

Jacob and Esau

Ge 25:19 This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac.

Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.

Ge 25:21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.

Ge 25:23 The LORD said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger. ”

Ge 25:24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

Yeah, it got worse. We already had the issue of Isaac and Ishmael. And now, add to that on Isaac’s side with the new issue of Jacob and Esau.

And as the soap opera of their lives went on, things ended up just as the Lord foretold. First, Esau gives up his birthright to Jacob, as we read below.

Ge 25:27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Ge 25:29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom. )

Ge 25:31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright. ”

Ge 25:32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

Ge 25:33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

Ge 25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.

Then, as Isaac was dying, he gave his blessing to Jacob instead of to Esau because he was tricked into believing it was being given to Esau. The result is seen below. It is rather long. But it’s just so soap-opera-like that I had to put it all in. If this was a movie script, no one would believe it. And yet, here it is in real life.

Jacob Gets Isaac’s Blessing

Ge 27:1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.”
“Here I am,” he answered.

Ge 27:2 Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. 3 Now then, get your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”

Ge 27:5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”

Ge 27:11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I’m a man with smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.”

Ge 27:13 His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.”
Ge 27:14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

Ge 27:18 He went to his father and said, “My father.”
“Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”

Ge 27:19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing.”

Ge 27:20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”
“The LORD your God gave me success,” he replied.

Ge 27:21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

Ge 27:22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. 24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.
“I am,” he replied.

Ge 27:25 Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”
Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”

Ge 27:27 So he went to him and kissed him . When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,
“Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the LORD has blessed.

Ge 27:28 May God give you of heaven’s dew
and of earth’s richness—
an abundance of grain and new wine.

Ge 27:29 May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed
and those who bless you be blessed.”

Ge 27:30 After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”

Ge 27:32 His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”
“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”

Ge 27:33 Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”

Ge 27:34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!”

Ge 27:35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

Ge 27:36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob ? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

Ge 27:37 Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

Ge 27:38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

Ge 27:39 His father Isaac answered him,
“Your dwelling will be
away from the earth’s richness,
away from the dew of heaven above.

Ge 27:40 You will live by the sword
and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,
you will throw his yoke
from off your neck.”

Do you believe all that? Unreal!

So, Jacob gets Esau’s blessing and birthright.

Talk about messed up.

First we had Ishmael and Isaac. If we disregard the name change, as Muslims do, Ishmael is the first son and Isaac is the second. Normally, the first son gets the blessing. However, since God changes Abram’s name to Abraham (and Sarai to Sarah), then Isaac is born to Abraham and Sarah, Isaac is the first born of Abraham (according to Jews & Christians, at least). And, in reality, given the name change, Isaac really was the first born son of Abraham. Messy.

Now, Esau is the first born (by seconds) and Jacob was second. No name changes here. It was a straight out case of the second born getting the birthright and blessing that would normally have gone to the first born. Very messy.

Guess what? It’s going to get even messier!
What’s this got to do with Ishmael?

Step 7 – Abram, Sarai, Hagar, Ishmael, and Esau – on the path to What religion was Abraham?

Let’s pick up this real-life soap opera in Genesis 28.

Jacob Flees to Laban

…

Ge 28:1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 2 Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Ge 28:6 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 9 so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.

You maybe noticed the beginning of that passage: So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman…”. You can use the link in the passage to go back and read the reasoning behind Isaac’s command.

The wives that Esau already had were Canaanite. Oops.

So he goes to Ishmael to take another wife.
That may be pleasing to Isaac – but it still puts Esau on the wrong side of the family tree for God’s blessing.

Eaton’s Bible Dictionary ⁸(Easton’s Bible Dictionary, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved) concludes its section on Esau with this:

At the age of forty years, to the great grief of his parents, he married (Gen 26:34Open in Logos Bible Software (if available),35Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)) two Canaanitish maidens, Judith, the daughter of Beeri, and Bashemath, the daughter of Elon. When Jacob was sent away to Padan-aram, Esau tried to conciliate his parents (Gen 28:8,9) by marrying his cousin Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael. This led him to cast in his lot with the Ishmaelite tribes; and driving the Horites out of Mount Seir, he settled in that region. After some thirty years’ sojourn in Padan-aram Jacob returned to Canaan, and was reconciled to Esau, who went forth to meet him (33:4). Twenty years after this, Isaac their father died, when the two brothers met, probably for the last time, beside his grave (35:29). Esau now permanently left Canaan, and established himself as a powerful and wealthy chief in the land of Edom (q.v.). 

Long after this, when the descendants of Jacob came out of Egypt, the Edomites remembered the old quarrel between the brothers, and with fierce hatred they warred against Israel.

Where are we now – Abram/Abraham, Sarai/Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael & Isaac, and Esau & Jacob – on the path to What religion was Abraham?

So now we have the link between Ishmael, who didn’t get the covenant with God – and Esau, who didn’t get Jacob’s blessing. Then, as time goes on in the Bible, the descendants of these two are always at odds with God’s chosen people. The people who are ultimately identified as the Jewish nation.

There’s one thing to remember though, because it gets to be important later, some of Ishmael’s descendants come through Esau. But most don’t. We’ll get into why this is important in the Islam section. In the meantime, just try to keep it in mind. It may also stir something in you with this, as we proceed.

OK. What’s next?

So far we have Sarai giving her servant to Abram and having Ishmael as a son from them.
Then God changes their names to Abraham and Sarah.
Then Abraham and Sarah have Isaac.
Isaac has two sons, but the second one (Jacob) gets the birthright and blessing that would normally have gone to the first (Esau).
Esau goes to Ishmael to get another wife, trying to smooth things a bit with Isaac.
And there have been problems related to all this ever since.

Conclusion – What religion was Abraham?

Well, we’ve been through a lot. A whole lot.

The short recap is this:

1. We start with Abram and Sarai
2. God initiates a covenant with Abram
3. Ishmael is born to Abram and Hagar
4. God changes Abram’s and Sarai’s names
   • Abram became Abraham
   • Sarai became Sarah
5. God finalizes the covenant, specifying that it will run through Isaac
   1. Isaac is born to Abraham and Sarah
   2. God’s covenant runs through Abraham and Isaac
6. Isaac has two sons
   • Esau is born first
   • Jacob is born second
   • Jacob gets both birthright and blessing that would normally go to Esau
7. God’s covenant with Abraham now runs through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Therefore, we can conclude:

• The Jewish claim to Abraham as the father of their religion is reasonable.
• Because Jesus was Jewish and gave us God’s New Covenant, the Christian claim that Abraham is the father of our religion is reasonable.
• However, the Islamic claim to Abraham as the father of their religion doesn’t match the scriptures that the Qur’an relies on. In fact, Islam claims that both Jewish and Christian scriptures are wrong and/or corrupted.
  But, history doesn’t bear that out. Islam relies very much on corrections/restatements of Biblical events and texts that have no basis. Scriptures that are verifiable and existing in Muhammad’s time clearly show that even if a claim to the person known as Abram-then-Abraham is warranted, it’s Abram, not Abraham, that would be the father of Islam.
  As we saw, that difference is of the utmost importance. Even the Qur’an runs the lineage through Ishmael, not Isaac. As such, the covenant from God does not run through Ishmael – and Ishmael’s father was Abram.

But still – what religion was Abraham?

Ultimately, what religion was Abraham? Would you believe, none of the above?

Everything we looked at in Genesis was about getting things started. At various steps along the way, God’s picture for us became more and more complete. And that includes, seemingly, refinements needed because of our lack of patience. Our need to try to make things happen faster. You know, like having a baby with Hagar because it wasn’t happening fast enough with Sarai? And then it wasn’t until the Exodus that even things like the ten commandments were given to us.

By the time the covenant became more solidified, Abraham already passed away. So, while he was the father of the Jewish religion, Abraham wasn’t actually Jewish. Not in the sense of the laws that came after his death at least. Yes, Abraham was circumcised. However, The Law wasn’t given yet during Abraham’s lifetime.

Then, when Jesus came to earth, He brought a New Covenant. Clearly, Abraham wasn’t Christian. Although, the lineage from Abraham to Jesus is intact, so he certainly can be claimed as the father of Christianity. However, let’s not forget, there are marked changes from Judaism to Christianity. Further, while Abraham is claimed as the “father” of Christianity, the “Father” in Christianity is God, the Father. And, of course, the namesake of Christian is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Finally, as we saw above, there’s no basis in the texts of Jewish or Christian scriptures to indicate a valid claim that Abraham is the father of Islam. Those texts do indicate that the claimed lineage through Ishmael could show Abram as the potential father of Islam. However, even here, there’s nothing in any of the texts to clearly indicate a future religion of Islam. However, having said that, it does say that Ishmael will become a great nation. But – the blessing and the covenant flow through Isaac, not Ishmael.

Those things are why I say “none of the above” to the question of what religion was Abraham.

Footnotes

• 1
  New Bible Dictionary, (Kitchen, K. A. (1996). c. Religion. In D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman (Eds.), New Bible dictionary (3rd ed., p. 164). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press)
• 2
  Mangum, D. (2014). The Lexham Glossary of Theology. Lexham Press.
• 3
  The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ge 15:18–21). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
• 4
  Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.
• 5
  Berry, G. R. (1915). Covenant, in the OT. In J. Orr, J. L. Nuelsen, E. Y. Mullins, & M. O. Evans (Eds.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (Vols. 1–5, pp. 727–728). The Howard-Severance Company.
• 6
  Terry, M. S., & Newhall, F. H. (1889). Genesis and Exodus: Vol. I (D. D. Whedon, Ed.; p. 196). Eaton & Mains; Jennings & Pye.
• 7
  Wiersbe, W. W. (1991). Be Obedient (p. 65). Victor Books.
• 8
  (Easton’s Bible Dictionary, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved)