Introduction
   Wars and rumors of war currently attend the sliver of land called Israel today ... oh, not all the land promised Abraham, but that will change when the Messiah returns and a complete restoration occurs. Yahweh, Who declares the end from the beginning, will save Israel. Yahweh, Who made a covenant through Abraham to Isaac, will fulfill His promise.
   Elohim is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Numbers 23:19. (The New American Standard Bible used throughout.)
   But why is Israel surrounded by so many enemies, and who are these people? They cannot be anti-Semitic, because they are a Semitic people.

Abraham’s Other Son
    Abram, having received promise that through his seed, a great nation would spring forth, Sarai, his wife being barren, struggled understanding how, at her age, she could conceive. As so often occurs with human nature, she was impatient.
   So, Sarai gave her husband Abram, her Egyptian handmaid, Hagar, to provide him a son. (Later, Yahweh changed their names to Abraham and Sarah.) Hagar conceived and brought forth Ishmael.
   The angel of Yahweh said to her further, “Behold you are with child, and you will bear a son; and you shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has given heed to your affliction. He will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; and he will live to the east of all his brothers,” Genesis 16:11-12.
   Moreover, Scripture tells us that his posterity would be multiplied (Gen. 16:10).
   The Ishmaelites, known for their untamed and wild nature, often stir up trouble and frustration, particularly for their neighbor, Israel. Today, they stand as a sizable and recognizable people, surrounding Israel on the north, south and especially, to the east.
   The Book of Revelation speaks of a two-hundred million army proceeding from the east (Rev. 9:16). Of these 200 million, the Arab (Muslim) peoples number approximately 25.3 million in Iraq; 67.3 million in Iran; 26.4 million in Saudi Arabia; 29.6 million in Afghanistan; 157.5 million in Pakistan. The sum of these total more than 300 million.
   Counting the Muslim demographic of India, China where 1 out of 10 inhabitants is Mohammedan, and Indonesia, and that number is swollen to more than 500 million.
   These people are poised to contribute to the friction we see today in the Middle East.

Jacob’s Brother, Esau
   Isaac married Rebekah, and to them were born twin sons: Esau (hairy), also called Edom (red) and Jacob, from whom came the people called Israel.
   But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it be so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of Yahweh. Yahweh said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; and two people will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger.” When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. Now the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them, Genesis 25:22-26.
   When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents, Genesis 25:27.
   Esau, Ishmael’s nephew, married one of his daughters (Gen. 28:9) making Esau and Ishmael also related by marriage, and by their similar character.
   As a hunter, Esau was skilled in the use of sword and spear. Ishmael, too, was adept at archery (Gen. 21:20). Considering the latter’s wild nature, and the both of them possessing an aptitude with field ‘artillery’, what do you have, but a prowess in making war?
   As we noted earlier, from the womb, Esau was contending with his brother Jacob – a rivalry that has marked their relationship throughout history to today.

Esau/Edom against Israel
   Today, we are witnessing terrorist attacks involving stabbings with knives (swords and spears) targeting Israelis and American tourists, together with continuing barrages of rockets (arrows) into Israel.
   But while Israel prefers peace, it is not going to lay idly by and be walked upon by its neighbors. Of Judah. is it particularly written:
   He couches, he lies down as a lion, who dares rouse him? Blessed is everyone who blesses you, and cursed is everyone who curses you, Numbers 24:9. (See also, Genesis 12:3, 27:29.)
   Edom and Ishmael are offensive and aggressive by nature, positioning Israel having to be defensive in posture. (Esau became known as Edom, not only because of the redness of skin attending his birth, but perhaps more because of the redness of the pottage for which he exchanged his birthright to his brother, Jacob.)
   And Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” And Jacob said, “First swear to me;” so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright, Genesis 25:30-34.
   This passage also manifests his character as a fleshly man, not one who is spiritually-inclined. His nature then is what we see today of his descendants – in the current war … crimes against humanity, Israeli girls and women being violated, tortured, and murdered, and giving place to the foretelling of the Psalmist,
   Remember, O Yahweh, against the sons of Edom the day of Jerusalem, who said, “Raze it, raze it to its very foundation, Psalm 137:7.
   The Hebrew wording for “raze” means to leave naked, in the sense of ‘indecency’.

Psalm 83
   Psalm 83, written by Asaph, while reminding the reader of past occurrences, speaks also of future events:
   O Elohim, do not remain quiet; do not be silent and, O Elohim, do not be still. For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, and those who hate You have exalted themselves. They make shrewd plans against Your people, and conspire together against Your treasured ones. They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.” For they have conspired together with one mind; against You they make a covenant; the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; they have become a help to the children of Lot, Psalm 83:1-8.
   Notice that Edom and Ishmael are at the top of the list of these ten “nations” whom scholars note, currently surround Israel, and which exclaim, “Let’s push Israel into the Sea” and, “Death to Israel.”
   The Psalmist in reply, summons Yahweh to action, saying,
   Fill their faces with dishonor, that they may seek Your Name, O Yahweh. Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever, and let them be humiliated and perish, that they may know that You alone, Whose Name is Yahweh, are the Most High over all the earth, Psalm 83:16-18.
   Yahweh will answer this call. Obadiah prophesies the end of the Edomites who neither know, nor care to seek, His Name.
   “For the day of Yahweh draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head. Because just as you drank on My holy mountain, all the nations will drink continually. They will drink and swallow and become as if they had never existed. But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, and it will be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions. Then the house of Jacob will be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame; but the house of Esau will be as stubble. And they will set them on fire and consume them, so that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau,” for Yahweh has spoken, Obadiah 1:15-18. (See also 2 Timothy 2:20; Romans 9:13-15, 22-23.)

Ten Nations, Ten Toes?
   The Book of Daniel speaks about a ten-nation government at the end of the age. Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a statue of a man with ten toes, and Daniel, inspired by Yahweh, tells what it means.
   You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them … In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery. In the days of those kings the Elohim of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever, Daniel 2:34, 41-44.
   These, this ten-nation government, will be strong in certain respects – world Islamic dominion with Allah worship, Muhammad, and the Quran unifying them – united in mission, yet different by nature (agenda) in reaching that objective.

Conclusion
   So, how can we identify Esau and Ishmael?
      1. They are a large identifiable people, unruly and wild, causing problems and producing frustration for others.
      2. They are aggressive and offensive by nature.
      3. They will say things like, “Let’s push Israel into the Sea” and, “Death to Israel.”
      4. They neither know Yahweh, nor seek, Yahweh’s Name.
      5. They will be united in mission, seeking world Islamic dominion but characterized different by nature (agenda) in reaching that objective.
   Nevertheless, Yahweh will have the final Word:
   Remember this, and be assured; recall it to mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things long past, for I am El, and there is no other; I am Elohim, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, “My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.” Calling a bird of prey from the east, that man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it. Listen to Me, you stubborn-minded, who are far from righteousness. I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off; and My salvation will not delay. And I will grant salvation in Zion, and My glory for Israel, Isaiah 46:8-13.