Lets take a look at Genesis 15:5. God promised Abram that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. (At that time, Abram was about 75 years old.) Genesis 16:2 - Sarai told Abram to go sleep with her maidservant, Hagar, because perhaps a family could be built through her. (Sarai didn't believe that Abram and her would conceive a child together, since Sarai was barren. In other words, she wasn't taking what God said literally.) v. 5-6 Hagar and Abram conceived a child and Hagar began to despise Sarai. Sarai then started to mistreat her maidservant and Hagar fled. v. 8-12 An angel of the Lord found Hagar near a well and told her to go back to Sarah because she was to have a child and the child's name would be Ishmael who "will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand will be against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers." Genesis 17 God establishes a covenant (circumcision) with Abram and Abraham became known as Abraham because he would be the "father of many nations." (v. 5) God then promises Abraham: "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 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." (v. 15-16) Abraham then laughs and asks God if a man of 100 and a woman of 90 could conceive a child together. God tells him that Sarah will have a child named Isaac. (v. 19)
Now that we have studied that, let's go to the fact on why we should be taking Bible prophecy literally. The Jews trace their ancestry back to Isaac, while the Arabs trace their ancestry back to Ishmael - the roots of Middle East turmoil. (Now remember, Isaac was the son of Abraham and Sarah... the one promised to them while Ishmael was a result of Sarah telling Abraham to sleep with the maidservant... the result of Sarah not believing God's word literally.) On September 11, 2001, the deadliest terrorst attack in modern day history took place. Nineteen "sons of Ishmael" killed almost 3,000 innocent people. Their associates have declared war on the West and, by use of the most advanced means possible, try to force the world to submit to their acts of hate.* What did the angel of the Lord tell Hagar...? "...his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand will be against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers." What might have happened if Abraham and Sarah had taken what God said literally instead of in a metaphorical sense? They can teach us to proceed very slowly before deciding that, in order to avoid a highly rediculous scenario, we must interpret Bible prophecy symbolically or metaphorically.**
There will be more examples of Biblical prophecy that happened literally. If you get a chance, pick up that book at the top of this entry. It's very interesting... Bye for now and God Bless...
