 |
 |
 |
||
|
|
|
|
|
Israel in Prophecy
Part I
| John Hoole |
For the last two week we have introduced ourselves to what the Bible has to say about the End Times. We have looked at a timeline chart showing us an overview of the events mentioned in God's Word. Today, we begin filling in the details of each event and subject.
We begin our search of what God says with a subject that is one of the major keys to understanding the end times. In the study of End Times Prophecy, few areas have been more important than understanding the place Israel will play. Many of the various prophetic interpretations that are proposed, turn on what they believe the Bible says about Israel in the End Times.
If we fails to understand God's program for Israel, we will very probably be mislead in what we believe about …
o The role of the nations in the Middle East.o The purpose of the rapture,
o What part the church will play in God's future plans,
o The meaning of the millennium,
Many of the different interpretations of the End Times, stem largely from how they treat the Jews or the nation of Israel.
I am sure that all of you have at one time or other heard the phrase: Judeo-Christian ethics…….or Judeo-Christian faith. To describe our spiritual heritage in this manner is to recognize the place that Judaism played in the coming of Christ and to our present Christian life. Along with that, several other facts should be brought to mind.
1. The time span encompassing God's work in the world prior to the birth of Christ, is significantly greater than the 2,000 years since Christ.2. Our Bible is 76% Old Testament.
We generally tend to think of Jesus in non-racial terms, or in terms of whatever race we are. The fact remains, that Jesus was Jewish. He was born and lived his entire life in Israel. He spoke Hebrew. He attended the synagogue and the temple. All of this is to say that there is a strong and meaningful link between true Christians and the Jews.
I have always contended that the Jewish people and the nation of Israel collectively have no greater friend than those who fully love Jesus Christ. Not that we agree with or support everything the nation of Israel or Jewish people in particular do. There are times when we might radically disagree with them. Especially is this true in their non-acceptance of Christ as their Messiah.
In a few minutes we will look at the beginnings of the Jewish race and the nation of Israel. We will also look at the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Before we get into the details of these things, I would like to tell you, up front, what I believe about the Nation of Israel, as it relates to their history and their future.
When God made a covenant with Abraham, and later to the nation of Israel, I believe God made some promises that are unconditional and eternal.
When Isaiah 60:21 says, "They shall inherit the land forever." I believe this tells us that the promise made by God does not end.
Or, listen to what Isaiah says in Isaiah 11:11-12 NIV
11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.
12 He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.I take the position that when Israel, as a nation, was reestablished in 1948, it literally fulfilled prophecies like that which we just read in Isaiah. I believe the migration of millions of people, by boat, by plane and on foot, back to the Jewish homeland, was a fulfillment of what God said would happen in the last days. I do not take the position that when Israel rejected Christ as their Messiah, God withdrew all the promises He made to them, and transferred them to a new body, under a New Covenant, called the Church. I do not believe that God has set the Jews aside. God still has much in store for Israel.
God has made a covenant with the nation of Israel, some of which is yet to be fulfilled. God still has promises to keep with regards to this nation. Some of these have unfolded and are unfolding right before our eyes. What happens to Israel is important to all of us. Israel serves as one of the timepieces on our Christian prophetic mantel.. We do well, as Psalm 122:6 instructs us, to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and watch the Israeli clock closely.
Having made you aware of what my position is, up front, let's now get into the details about Israel and the Jewish people. In 1998, the State of Israel commemorated its 50th anniversary of it independence. --- A year of jubilee, if you will. After the Second World War ended, the Jews, emaciated as a people, and unwanted, were shunted from one refugee camp to another. They were truly a people without a country.
And then it happened! On May 14, 1948, after almost 2,600 years of successive gentile invasions and dominations, the newly-adopted Jewish declaration of Independence was proclaimed to the world.
This is how part of it read:
"The State of Israel….will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel….The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the ingathering of the exiles."The question asked today by many is: "Who owns the land today?" If you talk to any zealous Muslim, they would say, "the land belongs to us, and the Jews stole it from us." They point to the fact that they have lived in the land for centuries while the Jewish people were scattered across the globe. The Jews, however, say the land was promised to them by God Himself.
So, who is right? The answer to this controversial question is found in the Word of God. If you have bought a house recently, you know that a title search is made which must trace ownership from the very first owner to the present owner, making sure that there is no liens or other claims on the property.
WHO WAS THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF THE LAND WE CALL PALESTINE?
The answer is recorded many times in the Bible. Here are two of them.
Psalms 24:1 NIV
1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;Leviticus 25:23 NAS
23 'The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me.Today in Israel, citizens can't own the land. Instead they lease it from the government of Israel. If I was a farmer in Israel, I could lease land for 49 years, and then my son could lease it when my term was done. But neither of us could own it. The land is under stewardship of the children of Israel, but it ultimately belongs to the Lord.
The story actually begins way back in the Book of Genesis. This is also where the Israeli-Arab conflict begins, for the Arabs and the Jews claim to be descendants of the same man.
WHO WAS THAT MAN?
Abraham.
This may be one of the few things the Arabs and Jews agree on. And the Bible corroborates the fact that they are both right. The history of both the Jews and Arabs began more than 3,800 years ago, when according to Genesis 12, a divine call was extended to a man. His name was Abram…..later to be called Abraham. Understanding God's promises to Abraham is key to understanding the rest of the Bible and the End Times. Genesis, chapter 11 shows some genealogies leading up to Abraham but the call and promises God made to Abraham being with chapter 12.
Genesis 12:1 NIV
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
WHERE WAS ABRAM FROM?
Ur. In the land of the Chaldeans.
WHAT COUNTRY IS THAT TODAY?
Iraq.
Can you imagine how he broke the news to his father? How do you explain to your father, who was a maker of idols in a very pagan society, that you have been visited by a Being that seemed to just appear out of nowhere? And this Being communicated with you…..asking you to leave home in fact, to leave the whole country. If that were you, would your father have believed you? Assuming that he believes you to this point……imagine the father asking: "Where are you going, son?" And all you have to answer is: "Well, I'm not really sure. This Being just said "go!". "He told me that He would show me the land when I got there." If that was you, what would your father have said?
Let's continue reading:
Genesis 12:2-3 NIV
2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
When God called Abram, He made several promises to him, all of which was contingent on Abram leaving his country and family and going to a land that God would show him.
FROM THE VERSES WE JUST READ, WHAT WERE THE PROMISES GIVEN TO ABRAM AT THIS TIME?
1. From Abraham would come a great nation.2. God would bless him.
3. His name would be great.
4. Abraham himself would be a blessing.
5. Special circumstances would occur where He (God) would bless those who blessed
Abraham and would curse those who cursed him.6. These blessings would extend to all the families of the earth.
From these, we can see three categories of promises.
o Promises directly to Abraham.o Promises of a nation
Keep this statement in your mind for a few minutes. Here, the promise of that a nation (singular) would come from Abraham. If both the Jews and the Arabs are descendants of Abraham, then, in fact, multiple nations have come from him.
o Promises of blessing to all nations - the gentiles.
To say it another way:
o Personal promises were made specifically to Abraham.o National promises were given to Abraham's seed.
o And universal promises were given to all the families of the earth.
The personal promises included God's special blessing upon Abraham in temporal things. These are later defined in his acquisition of land, servants, cattle, silver and gold. (Gen 13:14-15, 17; 15:7; 24:34-35) He was also blessed spiritually, and was a channel of blessing to others. He enjoyed very intimate communion with God and was called "the friend of God."(James 2:23)
Concerning all peoples of the earth, God promised that He would bless those who blessed Abraham and his descendants, and He would curse those who cursed them. Throughout history, people have been blessed or cursed depending on their treatment of the Jews. I believe Hitler's downfall was for this reason, as much as it may have been due to the military superiority of other nations.
Following this initial visitation to Abraham, God often spoke to Him and his descendants. When He did, He would often reiterate his promises made to Abraham and sometimes adding more details. As time went on, there occurred further revelation concerning his promises to the nation of Israel. As to the question of who owns the land, or who has the right to occupy the land, it is interesting to notice that Abraham's descendants were promised a parcel of land.
For instance,……Genesis 12:7 states, "Unto thy seed will I give this land." At the beginning, Abraham didn't have a clue as to what land was being promised to him and his family. He only knew that God would tell him when he got there.
In Genesis 13:14-17 NIV, after Abraham and Lot had separated their ways:
4 The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west.
15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.
16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.
17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you."
But we still don't know the size and exact location of where Abraham was and the length and breadth of where Abraham could walk. A couple of chapters later, God adds some more information.
Genesis 15:18-21 NIV
18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates--
19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."
Even with this information, we don't have all that is needed to identify the land that is promised to Abraham and his descendants. At best, we might now have a western and eastern boundaries. "….From the river in Egypt to the Euphrates River…." And if we identify the location of these other peoples that are mentioned, the borders of the territory begin to take shape. But, keep in mind that even if we have difficulty understanding where the Hittites, the Perizzites and Gergashites, etc., were located, undoubtedly Abraham knew where they lived, and thus knew the boundaries.
The final form of the exact borders is not given until some time later and is stated in Numbers 34. But I don't want to leave Abraham and his family yet so we will visit the details of the land later.
God adds further details in His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17:1-8 (NIV)
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.
2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers."
3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,
4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.
5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.
7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."
In this conversation, God adds much more information concerning the eventual descendants of Abraham. He also adds another piece of information about the land but this time nothing is added about the size and boundaries.
In verse 2, God promises that his descendants will greatly increase in number.In Verse 4, He also promises that Abraham would be the father of many nations. His name is here changed to Abraham.
(vs. 5) Abram means "Exalted Father." Abraham means: "Father of a multitude."
And in verse 6, God not only says that many nations will descend from Abraham, He says that "kings will come from you."
In verse 7, God says that the covenant He has made with Abraham is an "everlasting covenant."
And then in Verse 8, God says the land He has previously promised to Abraham and his descendants, is to be an everlasting possession. This land was promised to them FOREVER!
At this point, we still don't know who among his descendants would reap the benefit of this land, or whether it was being promised to all of them. Earlier in our lesson, I asked you to make a mental note of the fact that in Genesis 12, God's promise to Abraham, at that time, was that a single nation would come from him. Now, we have God expanding the sphere of his descendants.
WHAT IS PART OF THE REASON GOD MAKES THIS CHANGE?
Part of the reason has to be because Abraham and Sarah tried to help God with his plan. Let's back up just a few years.
HOW OLD WAS ABRAM AND SARAI WHEN GOD FIRST CALLED THEM AND MADE THE INITIAL PROMISE?
Abram was 75-years old. Sarai was 65. For the next 10 years, nothing happens. Abraham has a mid-life crisis and Sarah has gone through menopause. She is totally past child-bearing age. So Sarah tries to help God's plan, and suggested Abraham have a child by her handmaid, Hagar. Abraham agrees, and at age 86, he become a father.
WHAT WAS THE CHILD'S NAME?
His name was Ishmael. And because of strife in the family, Sarah sends Hagar and her child away. God hears Hagar's cries, and makes several promises to her.
Gen 16:11-12 NIV
11 The angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."
Now we get a picture of what it will be like for Ishmael and his descendants. As I will show in just a few minutes, Ishmael will end up with many brothers - not just Isaac. Many other Arabs will come from these brothers, as well as from Ishmael. This prophecy sure has been true. The many shoots off the Arabic family tree have never gotten along. Each Arab tribe is suspicious of all other Arab tribes. So, one of the reasons God makes a change in His promise to Abraham about nations coming from him, and not just a nation (singular) is because he and Sarah try to help God out.
13 years more pass and they are still without a child from Sarah. Abraham prays that God would take Ishmael as the promised child. Abraham is now 99 years old and Sarah 89. God's response begins to narrow the lineage of Abraham as to who would be the actual beneficiary of the promises made by God. But in doing so, God adds some more information about the descendants of Ishmael.
Genesis 17:15-21 NIV
15 God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.
16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her."
17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?"
18 And Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!"
19 Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.
21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year."
We learn here that not only will there be 12 tribes of Israel, as we will see later, there will also be 12 tribes of Ishmael. God does in fact, in the later chapters of Genesis, begin to further narrow the family tree, and tell us the specific limb of the tree to which His covenant with Abraham does apply. We probably will not look at the details of this until our next lesson.
WHAT NATIONS, OTHER THAN ISRAEL, HAVE DESCENDED FROM ABRAHAM?
Let's look at a chart showing all the descendants of Abraham.
We have already discussed Abraham's wife, Sarah, and her handmaid, Hagar.
HOW MANY CHILDREN DO WE KNOW HAGAR HAD?
Only one, Ishmael. He becomes the primary father to most of the Arab nations.
HOW MANY CHILDREN DO WE KNOW SARAH HAD?
Only one, Isaac. Doesn't seem the likely way to start a family that is promised to number as the "sands of the seas."
We have one other arm of the Abraham family tree. After Sarah died, Abraham married again. One of his concubines is promoted to be his wife. Sarah was 127 years old when she died (Gen. 23:1) Abraham would live another 38 years.
DO YOU REMEMBER THE NAME OF ABRAHAM'S SECOND WIFE?
Keturah (Gen. 25:1)
HOW MANY SONS DID ABRAHAM HAVE THROUGH HER?
Six
Genesis 25:1-4 NIV
1 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.
2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah.
3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites and the Leummites.
4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.
These also became part of the many Arab tribes.
Now lets go to the Descendants of Isaac. Isaac only had one wife.
WHAT WAS HER NAME? Rebekah
At 60 years of age, Isaac, who we now know is the title holder to what is called the Holy Land, discovered that his wife, Rebecca, was expecting. God performed a sonogram and told Rebecca the results:
In Genesis 25:23 (NIV), God speaks to Rebecca, Isaac's wife.
23 The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger."
WHO WERE HER TWO SONS?
Jacob and Esau.
THOUGH THEY WERE TWINS, WHO WAS CONSIDERED THE OLDER?
Esau emerged from the womb first. But even though Esau was older, the promised blessings passed on to Jacob. Immediately, Esau started warring against Jacob, feeling he had been swindled out of his birthright and inheritance. And it has been going on ever since.
Let's review what we know thus far.
We have some ARABS, through his son Ishmael. Ishmael married an Egyptian……(Gen. 21:21). His mother Hagar was an Egyptian. Here is a list of present-day countries that most likely came from Ishmael.
Algeria, Bahrain, Southern Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Samili, Sudan, Tunisia, Qatar, Yemen
DID ESAU ALSO HAVE ANOTHER NAME?
Yes, EDOM.
Esau married the daughter of Ishmael……(Gen. 28:6-9) Through this small bit of information, you begin to see the linkage between these two families.
So, we have the EDOMITES: through Esau. Today we know that as Southern Jordan.
We have some more ARABS, through the six sons of Keturah. A moment ago we read about these 6 sons in Genesis 25:1-4. Let's now read the next two verses.
Genesis 25:5-6 NIV
5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.
6 But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.
Some of these migrated eastward into what is today, Iraq and Iran, with some, in time, going north into the southern provinces of the former Russia. (i.e., Kazakstan, Tajikastan, Uzbekastan, etc.)
We have two more groups of people that plays a part in this array of nations. First we have the descendants of Lot. (Abraham's nephew) Genesis 19:37-38 tells us that the Moabites descended from Lot. This would constitute modern day No. Jordan. They lived directly east of the Dead Sea.
The last group we need to mention are the descendants of Nahor.
DO YOU REMEMBER WHO NAHOR WAS?
That is Abraham's brother. He traveled with Abraham as far as Haran, after they left Ur. He then migrated into the land north and east of Palestine. It is known by Syria today.
*** LET'S LOOK AT THIS ON THE MAP.
Let's now return to the descendants of Jacob. One night, Jacob had a dream, where he saw a ladder up to heaven, with angels going up and down.
Genesis 28:13-14 NIV says,
13 There above it [above the ladder] stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.
14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
So once again we find God narrowing the scope of his covenant made to Abraham, and the promises would be upon the descendants of Jacob.
TO WHAT WAS JACOB'S NAME EVENTUALLY CHANGE?
It was changed to Israel.
WHO ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF JACOB?
He had 12 sons.
HOW MANY OF THEM CAN YOU NAME?
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph and Benjamin.
Let's look at these 12 differently. There were 12 sons by 4 mothers.
o 6 by Leah
o 2 by Zilpah
o 2 by Bilhah
o 2 by Rachel
 |
|