I agree we must honor and respect the Bible in full. The OT foreshadows and warns us. It sets the foundations and rules. Today we feel lost in a world that has so wavered and feels so unsteady.
I remembered reading about Ishmael and its connection to Islam but I overlooked the part about the twins in the womb.
Very enlightening.
Ishmael and the connection to Islam was added by Muslim writers only in the 8th century.
Prior to that, when they conquered Jerusalem and the Sassanid empire and North Africa they were just termed Saracens and considered by many as an offshoot of Judaism. They also first bowed in worship to Jerusalem, changing it to Mecca only in the 700s.
The usurpation of Ishmael was only in the 8th century when they sought to create their religion as distinct from Judaism and from Christianity.
Prior to that there is no, zero, nada, zilch, nothing, no mention of Ishmael in Arabic or Yemenite writing.
There was a Jewish king of Yemen - the Himyarite kingdom in Yemen in the 500s called Dhu Niwas who converted to Judaism and persecuted the Christians in his kingdom before being smacked down by the Christian Axumite (Ethiopian) empire.