November 1 – God’s Promise to Abraham. Genesis 17:17-21 “Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? 18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! 19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.”
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Christians are well aware the promises God made to Abraham were specific, and always included his son Isaac. This name is so vitally important that to imagine anyone but Isaac being the recipient of God’s intended covenant blessings, would be preposterous!
The God of the Bible is always referred to as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, meaning Israel. It goes without saying, there’s simply no option in entertaining the idea one of God’s promises came through Hagar.
It seems as if one of Joseph Smith’s objectives was to incorporate polygamy into his new religion. He erroneously prophesied Abraham was commanded to practice polygamy and take Hagar as a wife, thereby fulfilling God’s promise.
Today you’ll want to ask the Mormon why their canon claims God’s promise came through Hagar, which could only mean one thing; Ishmael.
God promised Ishmael would have many offspring, but this doesn’t mean he was part of God’s covenant people.
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D&C 132:34 “God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law; and from Hagar sprang many people. This, therefore, was fulfilling, among other things, the promises.”
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