Signs Of The End Times: Did The Pope's Meeting With Abbas Fulfill Ishmael And Esau's Alliance Prophecy?

The Biblical prophecy of the alliance between the descendants of Ishmael and Esau -- an indicating sign of the End of Days -- may have been fulfilled.

Breaking Israel News reported that Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas visited Pope Francis in the Vatican to talk about the opening of the "State of Palestine" embassy in Rome. Commentaries have linked Abbas to the descendants of Ishmael (Muslims) and the Pope to the descendants of Esau (Romans) -- a partnership that reportedly precedes the final judgment.

"During the End of Days, Ishmael and Esau will join forces to seek the destruction of the Jewish people," Rabbi Yechiel Weitzman wrote in his book The Ishmaelite Exile, containing the medieval Jewish Bible commentary, Yalkut Shimoni.

According to the Bible, Ishmael is the son of Abraham through Hagar, his wife's Egyptian maid. As he was waiting for God's promise -- the birth of his son, Isaac, through his barren wife, Sarah -- she asked him to make a family through Hagar, which she eventually regretted when Ishmael did not treat Isaac kindly.

"Do not be troubled about Ishmael and his mother," God told Abraham in the Book of Genesis. "Do as Sarah has asked you to do, and send them away. It is best that Isaac should be left alone in your tent, for he is to receive everything that is yours. I the Lord will take care of Ishmael, and will make a great people of his descendants, those who shall come from him."

Meanwhile, Isaac had two sons: Esau and his younger brother Jacob, whom God later named Israel. Esau sold his birthright to Jacob so he ended up with a bitter fate of not receiving their father's inheritance.

Both Ishmael and Esau's descendants, the Amalekites and Edomites respectively, have become enemies of the Israelites in the Old Testament.

"At the very outset of their history, Ishmael and Esau forged a bond through marriage [Genesis 18:9]. And so it shall be at the End of Days," Rabbi Weitzman wrote in his commentary. "This alliance between them will bring history to its culmination in the redemption."