The Arab Israeli Conflict, Student Notes, 8/25/26

The Israel-Arab Conflict

Part 2 – The Beginning and the History

The Beginning of the Conflict:

1. Sarah’s disastrous scheme led to the birth of Ismael (Gen. 16:1-3, 13-16).

2. When Hagar conceived, she despised Sarah (Gen. 16:4).

    The word despised is the same word found in Gen. 12:3, where it is translated as “curse.”

3. Afterwards, Sarah treated Hagar harshly, and she fled (Gen. 16:5-6).

4. The angel of the Lord found Hagar and told her to return and submit to Sarah (Gen. 16:7-

    10).

5. Before departing, the angel of the Lord prophesied regarding Ismael (Gen. 16:11-12).

    A. Ismael would be a wild donkey of a man (Gen. 16:11).

    B. Ishmael’s hand would be against every man and every man’s hand against him (Gen.

         16:12).

    C. Ismael would live to the east of all his brothers.

6. After Isaac’s birth, Sarah saw Ishmael mockingIsaac(Gen. 21:9).

The text of Gen. 21:9 does not say that she saw him mocking Ismael. However, what Sarah says in verse 10 and Gal. 4:29 indicates that he was mocking Isaac. Gal. 4:29 also makes it clear that this wasn’t playful mocking. Ishmael was continually persecuting Isaac based on the meaning of the participle used in Gen. 21:9 and the verb tense in Gal. 4:29. Ishmael’s mocking attitude was a grievous evil that revealed Ishmael’s character and echoes what was prophesied about him in Gen. 16:11-12. This was more than a rivalry, but an indication of Ishmael’s spiritual disposition and his hatred of Isaac.

7. After Sarah brought this before Abraham, Hagar and Ismael were sent away (Gen; 21:10-21).

The History of the Conflict:

1. God gave the land of Israel to the descendants of Abraham approximately 4,000 years ago (Gen. 15:18).

2. The nation of Israel took possession of the land in 1406 B.C. after the Exodus from Egypt in 1446 B.C. (Deut. 30:5).

3. The Assyrians took the northern tribes of Israel captive in 722 B.C., and they never returned.

4. The Babylonians took Judah captive in 586 B.C., but they returned 70 years later.

5. Upon returning to the land of Israel, Judah existed as a vassal state under the domination of Persia, Greece, and finally Rome.

6. Judea lost its national identity when it rebelled against Roman rule in 70 A.D.

7. Afterwards, Roman Emperor Hadrian went about completely Romanizing the Province of Judea and renamed the province Syria Palestina in 135 A.D., the southern part coming to be known as Palestine.

8. Palestine was the name Greek writers gave to the land of the Philistines, an ancient enemy of Israel.

9. Islam had become a religion by the time Mohammad died in 632 A.D., which was over 2000 years after Israel possessed the land.

10. After the Roman Empire collapsed, Palestine was controlled by various Arab/Islamic empires the last being the Ottoman Empire.

11. The Islamic Ottoman Empire was allied with Germany in WWI, and after the war, Palestine was placed under British control in 1920 and was approved by the League of Nations in 1922.

12. After the British Mandate expired, Israel once again became a nation for the first time in over 1800 years on May 14, 1948.