Part Four
WHO ARE THE WORLD’S SEMITES?
 

After the flood the world was repopulated by Noah’s family. His three sons were named Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Genesis 10:1) Shem’s sons were named Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. (Genesis 10:22) Elam and Asshur founded the nations of Elam and Assyria.
Aram’s descendants were the Aramaean people of ancient Syria whose name was attached to the Semitic language known as Aramaic. (Jesus spoke Aramaic) Lud’s descendants became the Lydians of Asia Minor. Assyria called these people “Luddi.”

All the Israelite tribes were Semites descended from Arphaxad through Abram (Gen 10:22-11:26) whose name was changed to Abraham. Abraham became the patriarch of the Hebrew’s through Isaac and Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. Israel was the father of twelve sons whose descendants became the twelve tribes of Israel.

THE ISHMAELITES
Abraham also fathered the Ishmaelites, named after Ishmael, the first born son of Abraham through his wife Hagar. (Gen 16:15-16) The Israelites descended from Isaac whose mother was Sarah.

God promised Abraham that Ishmael would father twelve princes who would become a great nation of twelve tribes. (Gen 17:20) Ishmael’s twelve sons are named in Gen 25:12-16 Ishmael’s first son Nebajoth, was likely the namesake of the Nabatean kingdom that was centered on the ancient city of Petra.

The Ishmaelites have long been identified with the Arabian Peninsula, and they remained south of the reborn Persian Empire when the Israelites and allied Semites fled northwest from Parthia toward Armenia circa 227 AD. To this day, Arabs have a strong tradition of being descended from Shem and Ishmael. The Encyclopedia Britannica says:

“…Arab tradition insists that the Arab race is derived from two stocks--the pure Arabs of Qahtan, a descendant of Shem…and the…naturalized Arabs descended from Ishmael. Both stocks are presumably of Semitic origin.”

The Arabs number over 100 million people and inhabit over 4.5 million square miles of land. God said He would make them a great nation. Gen 17:20-21 …And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.”

Although the “birthright” promise of the Abrahamic Covenant was with Isaac, God had not forsaken Ishmael. God promised to multiply and bless the Ishmaelites. The Arab Ishmaelites in northern Arabian regions, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the Arab Emirates, have been uniquely blessed with an abundant supply of oil! God promised Abraham that his descendants would become as the sand of the sea, and this blessing was upon all his seed, not just the birthright tribes of Israel.

If Ishmael’s descendants, who aren’t even the birthright descendants of Abraham through Isaac, number over 100 million and have abundant oil wealth, how much more will be the numbers, wealth, and power of Abraham’s birthright descendants: the Israelite tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh? We will have to look for nations larger, wealthier, more numerous, and more powerful in the modern world than even the Arabs!

Abraham’s nephew, Lot, also had two sons named Moab and Ammon. (Gen 12:5, 19:36-38) Ammon has been perpetuated into modern times as the name of Amman, the capitol city of Jordan. Abraham also had sons with his last wife, Keturah, who were sent away eastward into Asia. The Bible also mentions the Edomites, who were the descendants of Esau, the brother of Isaac. The Edomites subdivided into over a dozen different clans who developed into nations of their own (Gen 36). The Edomites are generally located north of the modern Ishmaelites.

All of these ancient Arab nations still seek to destroy Israel in our modern era.

All of the above peoples are Semitic. In modern times Semitic has become a synonym for the word “Jew.” The term anti-Semitic is understood to mean “anti-Jewish.” This obscures the fact that many modern nations are descended from Shem and are Semitic in nature. The majority of Semites in the world are not Jewish. The Jews are just one small branch of the Semitic tree.

Tomorrow: A Summary of First 4 Parts