YISHMA’EL

“This is how long Yishma’el lived: 137 years. Then he breathed his last, died and was gathered to his people.”
Genesis 25:17

In Genesis 21, following the birth of Yitz’chak, Avraham sent out Hagar and Yishma’el from his camp. Traveling through the desert with her son, Hagar came to a point where she could take no more. Placing her son under a bush, she walked a little further so that she could cry out to Adonai. He heard her pray in regards to her son and comforted her, giving her promise concerning his future as well. As we read of the end of Yishma’el’s last days we read of the promise come true.
Yishma’el is recorded to have had twelve sons (Gen 25:13-15). We should not be confused with the twelve tribes of Israel which were birthed out of promise as opposed to intervention, however, but we should not forget the relationship in Adonai’s promise. As Avraham prayed for Hagar and his son in Genesis 17, Adonai declared that this line too would also be great. Although no king would stem from Yishma’el’s line, twelve princes were declared. Here we see the provision for those princes as we read of the sons of Yishma’el.
If Yishma’el was not the promised child, why then would we concern ourselves with his legacy following Avraham sending him out? I can see three reasons off hand. The first is that Yishma’el was his son. The second I see is because it is Yishma’el’s line that we read of in Isaiah 60:7 where N’vayot and Kedar are named specifically. But the third reason I see, and maybe the most important for us, is that once again we see Adonai as a promise keeper. In securing to Avraham that He indeed would watch over his son, Adonai once again kept His promise. This should only prove to us that Adonai keeps his word.