Ismael and Isaac 

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”  And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!”  God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.  As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.  But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.” (Genesis 17: 17 to 20) 

After hearing from God that he and Sarah were getting a son, Abraham couldn't help but laugh.  God didn't get offended.  Instead, God blessed Ishmael the same as Isaac.  Why was that? 

It might seem that God gave His blessings casually.  God already sent an angel to Hagar as below. 

The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.”  And the angel of the Lord said to her, 

“Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son.  You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction.  He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” (Genesis 16: 10 to 12) 

So, the question is why did God make such a promise?  It seems that God made Ishmael big so that he could fight Isaac like a wild donkey.  It seems that's why there was such a big chaos in the mid-east all those years with no ending in sight since both of Abraham's sons' descendants are too numerous.   

In Galatians, Paul wrote as below. 

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman.  But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. (Galatians 4: 22 23) 

It's just like us.  We were all born according to the flesh.  Now, we are all saved by the grace of God through the blood of Jesus, a divine promise.  Yet even though we are saved, we are still living in this flesh.  So, there is a constant struggle between the flesh and the Spirit in us just like the struggle between the descendants of Ishmael and Isaac.  It might seem that the flesh was strong, and the Spirit was weak at first.  However, with the blood of Jesus, we can always cleanse our sins induced by the flesh.  Eventually, the blood can cleanse us as white as snow.   

So, the whole purpose for the struggle is to make us aware that we need to depend on the blood of Jesus in order to be freed from the bondage of the flesh.  It seems simple but it will lead us toward the heavenly New Jerusalem closer and closer because we are more and more like being born through a heavenly divine promise.  It's not only a promise but also a covenant.  Emmanuel.

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