Genesis chapters 16 to 21 in the Old Testament recount the escapades of Abraham and Sarah, who, though promised a child by God though Sarah would already be ninety, still had no children. Sarah, beyond childbearing age, laughed at God’s angel who promised she would conceive.

Sarah, being human, grew tired of waiting for God to do his magic so she persuaded Abraham to lay with her maidservant Hagar to produce a child.

Lo and behold, the unthinkable happened, and by the time young Ishmael was about twelve, Sarah gave birth to Isaac. Not surprisingly, Sarah became jealous of Ishmael as Abraham was partial to his first-born son, resulting in Sarah demanding that Ishmael be exiled from the household along with his mother Hagar.

Hagar was disconsolate as she wandered away but God’s angel assured her that Ishmael would also become the father of many nations, as would Isaac’s second-born twin son Jacob who was later renamed Israel. Ishmael had twelve sons and his tribes form the Arab countries while Israel’s twelve sons form the Jewish nation Israel.

Ishmael’s descendants have been at odds with Abraham’s second son Isaac, and second-born twin grandson Jacob, from the beginning and the deep-seated hatred has not diminished but grown and magnified in intensity over the millenniums.

Jealousy begat hate by Ishmael for being deprived of traditional benefits befitting the first-born son of Abraham and the Arab World has never forgotten, nor are they about to forget it. History repeated itself in the next generation when a famished Esau sold his birthright to his younger twin brother Jacob for a meal of stew – a transaction Abraham refused to invalidate.

Curiously, both Ishmael and Esau were firstborn sons who were in a real sense deprived of their traditional inheritance. The real meaning of that duplicate scenario is intriguing. In revenge, the angry and frustrated Esau married Malhalath, a daughter of Ishmael, setting up a Hatfield-McCoy type feud to end all feuds, one that has persisted to this day with no sign of letup until the proverbial Armageddon.

Family feuds are the worst and they never seem to end as each new generation takes up the cudgel and in this case continuing the unforeseen consequences of going against direct commands of God. For those not believing in the Bible, where else can these wonderful stories be found as not even Hollywood can make them up?

God’s promise to Hagar that her son Ishmael would also be the father of many nations has come to pass and into world dominance as Muhammad was inspired to bring about the origin of Islam and its Quran, and now 57 Islamic nations across the world have one thing in common – their inborn hatred for Israel, Jews, and now the US.

So why is there shock and disbelief that Islamic radicals in fact are in control, push all the buttons, and literally call the shots? Islam has been at war with Christianity in particular for some 1400 years so the conflict is not a new phenomenon. Islam ultimately has deep roots dating back to Abraham as do the other two major religions.

Pundits like haughty and proud cable #1 Bill O'Reilly doubt and belittle the Bible, claiming it is not literal in the sense presented by stories like those of Abraham, Sarah, Ishmael, Isaac, and Jacob are concerned. Parts of the Bible are certainly literal reflecting actual truth while others are allegorical, parables, etc. That is not to say that there are not legitimate differences of opinion as to human interpretations, but one news pundit is not the biblical expert du jour.

At any rate, can there be any doubt that history is dramatically altered when humans refuse subservience to the will of the Creator, and place themselves not only on the same plane but a higher level than the Deity, attempting to force God’s hand by more-knowing humans. Abraham and Sarah have inexplicably altered the course of history, the question being, was that really the intent of God?

And had Ishmael received his first-born inheritance, would there still be Muhammad, Islam and its Islamic Arab nations, and would there have been 9/11, related violence and terror, and the Boston Marathon Massacre?