Muslim, Jewish and Christian Family Feud.

As an attorney, I have witnessed intense family battles. Whether because of a bitter divorce, bitterness over a Last Will and Testament, or criminal accusations, the fights that occur among relatives can be the most brutal of all battles.

The struggle between Musims, Jews and Christians is not new. The daily news coverage may be relatively new, but this is a struggle that has lasted approximately 4000 years. Actually, the Christians are the newcomers to all of this. Christianity has only existed half as long as this family fight. It's no wonder most have difficulty understanding or relating to this conflict, Christians included.

Christians, Jews and Muslims all claim Abraham as the patriarch of their faith. Abraham is not only the spiritual head of these three major religions, he is the biological head of many in two. It is here, with the birth of Abraham's first two children that the family history begins.

According to scripture, God called Abraham (still Abram at this point) at the ripe young age of 75 to leave his homeland and be led into a new land. After many, many miles, a family split, and a war of kings (imagine Abraham's frustration: "This is the reward for obedience?"), God promises Abraham a son.

By age 86, Abraham and his barren wife, Sarai, are getting impatient. Sarai, feeling a bit blue, offers her maid, Hagar, to her husband. Hagar conceived, Sarai is ticked, and the war was on.

Thirteen years later, God, undeterred by Abraham's haste, promises Abraham a son by Sarai. God changes Sarai's name to Sarah and Abram's name Abraham, and at the age of 100 years, Isaac is born. Sarah becomes increasingly bothered by Hagar and Ishmael, and Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael on their way.

It is hard for us in the modern world to put this seemingly never-ending battle into some, any context. This difficulty is uniquely ours, not God's. In fact, it was when Ishmael was first born to Hagar that God foretold this conflict.

I mentioned above that when Hagar became pregnant, Sarai became peeved. So peeved that she drove the pregnant Hagar to run away. An angel of the Lord finds Hagar in the wilderness and tells her to return. He also clues her in on the family fight that will last for over 4000 years.

The angel of the Lord says, "Behold you are with child...And you shall call his name Ishmael...His hand will be against everyone, And everyone's hand will be against him..." Gen. 16:11-12. Hagar replies, "You are a God who sees." Gen. 16:13.

The name Ishmael in Hebrew means "God hears me" or "my God hears." It is a composition of the Hebrew words "shema" (hear) and "El" (God). The "EE" sound at the beginning of the word Ishmael is made by the Hebrew letter Yod, the equivalent of our "Y" or "I". When the letter Yod is included at the end or beginning of a word, it most often means "my." Thus, Ishmael is literally "my hearing God." When the angel of the Lord told Hagar to name her child Ishmael, he explained this.

The beauty and symbolism of "Ishmael" goes much deeper, however. The ancient Hebrew alphabet was comprised of pictographs, and each pictograph represented a letter, a number, and a symbolic meaning. In essence, the pictures of the alphabet told stories, and the words made up by those letters are stories in themselves. "Ishmael" is no exception.

"Ishmael" is comprised of the Hebrew letters Yod (our "Y" or "I"), which was pictured by an arm from the elbow to the fist, meaning my hand, or my efforts; Shin (Sh), pictured as two teeth, meaning to consume or destroy; Mem (M), pictured as waves of water, meaning waters, nations or peoples; Ayin (a vowel similar to our "E", "I", or "U"), pictured as an eye, meaning to see divinely; Aleph (A), pictured as an ox head, meaning strength or God; and Lamed (L), pictured as a shepherd's staff, meaning to lead or shepherd.

The story told by the ancient Hebrew pictographs in "Ishmael" is the story of this very conflict. "His HAND will be AGAINST EVERYONE, And EVERYONE'S HAND will be AGAINST him...You are a GOD who SEES."

I have provided a visual representation of this prophecy below.

Many Arabs trace their ancestry to Ishmael. Moreover, Muslims trace their spiritual heritage directly to Abraham and Ishmael. In contrast to the Biblical account of Isaac being the sacrificial son, Muslims believe this to have been Ishmael. Whether the Arabs who claim their ancestry directly to Ishmael are the Ishmaelites, it is almost impossible to say. However, many claim this lineage, and I have no evidence to contradict this claim.

God promised Hagar that her descendants would be greatly multiplied, so I have little doubt that many Arabs are, in fact, descendants of Ishmael.

The Jewish people trace their biological and spiritual ancestry directly to Abraham, Isaac, and Isaac's son Jacob. I do not believe this heritage is in question.

Christians trace their spiritual heritage through the same Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob line, and view themselves as descendants of Abraham through faith. The Apostle Paul explains this concept to the Romans, "For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith." Romans 4:13.

This family battle was foretold over 4000 years ago, and it continues today. With such a rich spiritual heritage to claim, it's no wonder there has been such fighting among those claiming to be heirs. Everyone wants their share. Relationships were destroyed, lives have been lost, and the feuding over the family's real estate is ongoing. This was never God's intent, but He knew it would happen.

The saddest part of this 4000 year long family feud is that there is more than enough of the God of Abraham to go around. The future is not all bleak, though. Just as God foretold this 4000 year struggle, He also tells of the family's ultimate reunion.

• Isaiah 19:22 And the Lord will strike Egypt, He will strike and heal it; they will return to the Lord, and He will be entreated by them and heal them. 23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. 24 In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria-a blessing in the midst of the land, 25 whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, "Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance."

I anxiously await that day.