Present-day troubles in the Middle East are nothing new. The troubles are due to man keeping God out of the peace process. Disobedience to God has always plagued the world. Satan makes the most of sinful man’s opposition to God’s perfect order. Satan’s angry disorder can be witnessed in hourly news accounts around the globe.
As discussed in the previous entry, Abraham fathered Ishmael contrary to the Lord’s will. Abraham and Sarah were then blessed with Isaac, the child God wanted born in the first place. Then, Abraham sired through Ketura, another handmaid, a huge family that has been in conflict with Isaac’s children ever since.
The Arabs and Jews have been in an ongoing clash since Isaac came into the world. Today, the fiery relationship grows hotter by the day. Satan continues to use these families against each other. The struggle will grow worse until Christ returns personally to stop the conflict at the end of Armageddon.
Neither Isaac’s family nor Ishmael’s has fully received the great blessings God promised. There must first come an era ruled by the Prince of Peace. Both families of Abraham will receive everything promised them. That will come to pass during the thousand-year reign of King Jesus upon David’s throne at Jerusalem.
Nonetheless, Abraham’s seed has already been a blessing to the entire world through Jesus Christ. He is the Jews’ Messiah and the Savior of the world who was born of Mary, a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. His birth is fulfillment of the prophecy in Genesis 3:15: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” The Bible says much about Christ’s birth. One of the earliest foreshadowings of that wonderful event is the story of Abraham and Isaac, who were told by God to take a little trip.
God Says, “Take a Hike”
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. (Genesis 22:1–2)
It’s impossible to grasp what the Lord was asking Abraham to do without understanding a little bit about sacrifices and offerings, a system very foreign to the thinking of twenty-first century Christians. When the sin of Adam and Eve—and, by birthright, their descendants—separated mankind from God, from that point on, “the only way for sin-tarnished people to approach a holy God was through the shedding of blood [remember the animals the Lord had slain to cover the first couple’s nakedness?]. This was accomplished through the ritual of sacrificing animals” and involved a complex code, outlined in great detail in the book of Leviticus, that was “at the very center and heart of Jewish national life.”[i]
So, the ritual of sacrifice itself would have been very familiar to a man as devoted to keeping the Lord’s laws as Abraham. In fact, a man who loved the Lord as much as he did would have cherished every opportunity to draw closer to God through the privilege of worship and sacrifice. Yet this burnt offering would be like no other. The Lord wasn’t asking Abraham to offer an unblemished bull, lamb, or goat; this was a radical instruction for a man to place his own long-awaited, beloved son on the altar.
“Abraham’s previous experience of God would certainly not have led him to suppose child-sacrifice would please him,” notes one commentary on Genesis. “Nor was this general practice in Abraham’s time.”[ii]
Are you close enough to your Heavenly Father that you could hear instructions like these from Him without losing it? We can’t know what doubts or fears began to rage inside Abraham’s head or heart when he heard those words, but, according to Scripture, he didn’t even question his Lord. He simply got right down to the business of obeying: He arose early and got his things together, then set out towards Moriah with his son as commanded on the three-day trip.
Although the King James Version of the Genesis passage states here that God “tempted” Abraham, we know that God doesn’t tempt us to do wrong (see James 1:13). Temptation is Satan’s territory. We saw that at its boldest manifestation during his temptation of Christ in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1–11). Instead, a word study reveals that the more accurate concept conveyed here would be “tested.” We know from many places throughout Scripture that God does test His followers, and that is the case here. God was testing His servant—and what a severe test it was! Life and death hung in the balance. However, this was so much more than God testing a man. This dramatic event was the foreshadowing of God sacrificing His own Son for the awful thing called sin.
Trip to Moriah
The destination for father and son was Mount Moriah, a site aptly described as God’s touchstone to humanity because of its great significance as a focal point of biblical history. More of an elongated ridge than a particular peak, it is clearly seen in many photos of Jerusalem. Stretching between Mount Zion on the west and the Mount of Olives on the east, Mount Moriah, often called the Temple Mount, is not only where this remarkable demonstration of Abraham’s faith took place, but it is also the exact spot where the Holy of Holies sat within the Temple King Solomon would build many years later, in the tenth century BC. The Holy of Holies is the sacred area within the magnificent structure that housed the Ark of the Covenant, which was indwelt by God’s glory until the moment of Christ’s death on the cross.
Because of its sacred history, it’s easy to see why this one spot on the globe is the focus of Satan’s hatred. That hatred will continue to be at the heart of Middle East war and peace until Christ’s return.
Mountaintop Experience
When Abraham arrived at the mountain as commanded by God, there seemed to be no weak-kneed wavering. He matter of factly told his servants to wait for Isaac and him to return after they had had a worship session: “I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you” (Genesis 22:5).
This offers a thrilling insight! There seemed no doubt in the old man’s mind or emotions that both he and the son he had been commanded to sacrifice would return together, and that they both would be perfectly well when they did so.
Sons of Sacrifice
As discussed in the previous entry, Abraham fathered Ishmael contrary to the Lord’s will. Abraham and Sarah were then blessed with Isaac, the child God wanted born in the first place. Then, Abraham sired through Ketura, another handmaid, a huge family that has been in conflict with Isaac’s children ever since.
The Arabs and Jews have been in an ongoing clash since Isaac came into the world. Today, the fiery relationship grows hotter by the day. Satan continues to use these families against each other. The struggle will grow worse until Christ returns personally to stop the conflict at the end of Armageddon.
Neither Isaac’s family nor Ishmael’s has fully received the great blessings God promised. There must first come an era ruled by the Prince of Peace. Both families of Abraham will receive everything promised them. That will come to pass during the thousand-year reign of King Jesus upon David’s throne at Jerusalem.
Nonetheless, Abraham’s seed has already been a blessing to the entire world through Jesus Christ. He is the Jews’ Messiah and the Savior of the world who was born of Mary, a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. His birth is fulfillment of the prophecy in Genesis 3:15: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” The Bible says much about Christ’s birth. One of the earliest foreshadowings of that wonderful event is the story of Abraham and Isaac, who were told by God to take a little trip.
God Says, “Take a Hike”
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. (Genesis 22:1–2)
It’s impossible to grasp what the Lord was asking Abraham to do without understanding a little bit about sacrifices and offerings, a system very foreign to the thinking of twenty-first century Christians. When the sin of Adam and Eve—and, by birthright, their descendants—separated mankind from God, from that point on, “the only way for sin-tarnished people to approach a holy God was through the shedding of blood [remember the animals the Lord had slain to cover the first couple’s nakedness?]. This was accomplished through the ritual of sacrificing animals” and involved a complex code, outlined in great detail in the book of Leviticus, that was “at the very center and heart of Jewish national life.”[i]
So, the ritual of sacrifice itself would have been very familiar to a man as devoted to keeping the Lord’s laws as Abraham. In fact, a man who loved the Lord as much as he did would have cherished every opportunity to draw closer to God through the privilege of worship and sacrifice. Yet this burnt offering would be like no other. The Lord wasn’t asking Abraham to offer an unblemished bull, lamb, or goat; this was a radical instruction for a man to place his own long-awaited, beloved son on the altar.
“Abraham’s previous experience of God would certainly not have led him to suppose child-sacrifice would please him,” notes one commentary on Genesis. “Nor was this general practice in Abraham’s time.”[ii]
Are you close enough to your Heavenly Father that you could hear instructions like these from Him without losing it? We can’t know what doubts or fears began to rage inside Abraham’s head or heart when he heard those words, but, according to Scripture, he didn’t even question his Lord. He simply got right down to the business of obeying: He arose early and got his things together, then set out towards Moriah with his son as commanded on the three-day trip.
Although the King James Version of the Genesis passage states here that God “tempted” Abraham, we know that God doesn’t tempt us to do wrong (see James 1:13). Temptation is Satan’s territory. We saw that at its boldest manifestation during his temptation of Christ in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1–11). Instead, a word study reveals that the more accurate concept conveyed here would be “tested.” We know from many places throughout Scripture that God does test His followers, and that is the case here. God was testing His servant—and what a severe test it was! Life and death hung in the balance. However, this was so much more than God testing a man. This dramatic event was the foreshadowing of God sacrificing His own Son for the awful thing called sin.
Trip to Moriah
The destination for father and son was Mount Moriah, a site aptly described as God’s touchstone to humanity because of its great significance as a focal point of biblical history. More of an elongated ridge than a particular peak, it is clearly seen in many photos of Jerusalem. Stretching between Mount Zion on the west and the Mount of Olives on the east, Mount Moriah, often called the Temple Mount, is not only where this remarkable demonstration of Abraham’s faith took place, but it is also the exact spot where the Holy of Holies sat within the Temple King Solomon would build many years later, in the tenth century BC. The Holy of Holies is the sacred area within the magnificent structure that housed the Ark of the Covenant, which was indwelt by God’s glory until the moment of Christ’s death on the cross.
Because of its sacred history, it’s easy to see why this one spot on the globe is the focus of Satan’s hatred. That hatred will continue to be at the heart of Middle East war and peace until Christ’s return.
Mountaintop Experience
When Abraham arrived at the mountain as commanded by God, there seemed to be no weak-kneed wavering. He matter of factly told his servants to wait for Isaac and him to return after they had had a worship session: “I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you” (Genesis 22:5).
This offers a thrilling insight! There seemed no doubt in the old man’s mind or emotions that both he and the son he had been commanded to sacrifice would return together, and that they both would be perfectly well when they did so.
Sons of Sacrifice
The biblical account of what happened next offers striking parallels to the last days of Christ’s life on earth. First, Abraham put the wood for the fire upon Isaac, his son, for the boy to carry to the place of sacrifice, foreshadowing the way Jesus carried His own wood to Calvary for the cross upon which He was to be sacrificed. Next, Isaac called out to his father about the sacrifice that was to be made. Didn’t Jesus call to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane about the sacrifice He knew must be made for sin? Then, Isaac saw that there was no lamb. Have you ever considered that God saw no lamb that could adequately cover humanity’s sin? Further, Abraham told Isaac that God would provide a lamb for what had to be done. Indeed, in His Son that day on Calvary, God did provide the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).
Finally, there is no record of Isaac protesting about what was going on; he went upon the altar willingly. He was bound by his father, but obviously he had obediently let the elderly Abraham tie him. In the same way, Jesus willingly and obediently laid down His life on the cross, led like a lamb to slaughter. He allowed His limitless power as God to be bound by and for God, His Father. He let Himself leave the power and the glory of heaven in order to die for our sin.
God’s Great Intervention
As Abraham was about to plunge the knife into Isaac’s heart, he was urgently interrupted:
The angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said…. Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. (Genesis 22:11–12)
This was the same angel of the Lord who would later be born through Isaac’s bloodline. It was Jesus Christ who, before He ever came into the world to provide a once-and-for-all sacrifice, stopped Abraham from killing his son. We know this voice was of Jesus, not a created angel from among the many, because He spoke in the first person when commending Abraham for not withholding his son “from me.” God honored faithful Abraham’s absolute obedience to Him, and Abraham now trusted and obeyed His Heavenly Father completely. Imagine the overwhelming emotions Abraham must have felt as he then continued the mountaintop worship service with a ram that the Lord Himself provided (Genesis 22:13).
Covenant Includes Isaac and Kids
Isaac then began his own journey through life apart from his father and mother. God assured Isaac that He would be with him, and would give him the blessings He had promised faithful Abraham. True to God’s Word, Isaac was indeed blessed. He became far richer than any of the people in the land he entered. But the Philistines, the nomadic people who roamed the land, were jealous of Isaac’s great wealth. Isaac was forced to move from area to area looking for a well that could sustain his family, servants, and flocks. The Philistines threatened every time he and his people stopped to dig wells for water. Rather than fight them, Isaac picked up and moved along. He and his people moved three times. When he dug the third well, the Philistines stopped bothering him. Finally, he found a good water supply and settled near there.
Even the people who hated and harassed Isaac and his people finally admitted that he was blessed. In Genesis 26, we read of Abimilech, the Philistine king who came to Isaac wanting to make a peace agreement. Isaac at first asked why Abimilech came, considering that the Philistines had run them out of every place they had tried to settle. Abimilech insisted on a peace arrangement, most likely because of superstitious fear of a man as blessed as Isaac. Isaac made the agreement and the Philistines left in peace—for the time being.
We know the peace didn’t last. Remember Goliath and that bunch? They were Philistines. So it has been in the Middle East in more recent times. Modern Israel in the land today faces constant envy, hatred, and harassment. There is no real peace between God’s chosen people and the modern-day equivalent of the Philistines.
Battling Brothers
God’s blessings upon Isaac were awesome. But with the blessings came a terrific increase in troubles. Satan worked overtime on him.
Genesis 25:19–26 tells us that when he was forty, Isaac married a woman named Rebekah who, like her mother-in-law, appeared to be childless. Isaac asked the Lord to do something about the problem, and his wife did become pregnant—with twins. The two children moved around uncomfortably within Rebekah’s womb, prompting her to worry and then ask God about it. He told her the movement she was feeling was a battle for dominance; that is, she was sensing the wrangling of each baby pursuing his desire to be on top. The Lord said the children represented two nations to come that would be completely different from each other: one child would be stronger than the other. Also, He said that the first one born would someday serve the second born.
Even with the Lord’s explanation of her discomfort, it is still very unlikely that Rebekah knew at this point what it would mean for generations to come. This battle she felt within would rage until the end of human history.
When the twins arrived, the first child was born with a ruddy complexion. Isaac and Rebekah named him Esau. The second child had his hand clamped on the heel of the first baby as they emerged in birth, as if he were trying to hold his big brother back. His parents named him Jacob.
If we were to pinpoint almost exactly the time the Mideast war began, we would see that the conflict started as a skirmish most wouldn’t recognize as possible: Twin brothers seem to have started the fighting the moment when they began to battle it out in their mother’s womb.
(Modern thinkers, scientists, politicians, and others would say this is not possible, because the unborn “are not people”—the fetus is merely a blob of flesh until the first breath. This is their justification, of course, for murdering children in the womb. They call it the right of the mother to choose whether to have the baby or to have an abortion. The claim that the unborn child is not yet a human being with rights is a false one—if one believes God’s Word is true. Christians who believe that the Bible doesn’t have anything to say about the fetus being a real person must face the account of this mother and her twin babies within her womb.)
The Birthright and the Blessing
The contrast between the twins born to Isaac and Rebekah couldn’t have been starker. The Bible characterizes Esau as “a skillful hunter, a man of the field”—a “man’s man,” as we might say—and Jacob as “a quiet man, dwelling in tents” (Genesis 25:27). And, whereas the rough and ruddy Esau is many centuries later singled out as an example of ungodliness (Hebrews 12:16), Jacob is described in various translations of Scripture as “plain” (King James Version), “quiet” (New International Version), and “peaceful” (New American Standard Bible). He even earns the description “blameless and upright” from some biblical scholars who have studied the original translation of his story in its full context.
We learn of two key conflicts in the lives of the twins, once grown. The conflicts center on a birthright and a blessing.
The Birthright
As firstborn son, Esau possessed a special honor within the family, a double portion of his father’s inheritance. This was his birthright. However, Esau apparently didn’t value the importance of such a privilege; Genesis 25:27–35 tells of a time when, famished after an unsuccessful hunt, he sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup. In essence, he made this life-altering decision without a thought given to God or to his father…and all just to meet a temporary desire. Esau and all of his children for generations to come would pay the price for his sinful carelessness.
The Blessing
Sometime later, when her husband was very old, Rebekah hatched a plan to deceive Isaac so that her favored son Jacob, rather than Esau, would receive his father’s blessing. In our day and time, to “bless” someone is a term of endearment or an expression of a desire for God’s favor upon a person. We can all “bless” anyone at anytime, as often as we wish—even for a simple sneeze. However, the meaning of “blessing” in this account bears much more weight. For the ancient Hebrews, blessings (and curses) were “special categories of expression that were believed to have the power to determine reality. Once spoken, they could not be changed or repudiated.”[iv] This means that, once Isaac bestowed his blessing, he would not be able to amend it, retract it, or transfer it to anyone else. Jacob, whose name means “supplanter” or “one who takes the place of another,” was so eager to receive the valuable gift of his father’s blessing that he willingly joined Rebekah’s plan of deception. She and her son arranged for Jacob to disguise himself, easily tricking the nearly blind Isaac into giving the blessing to Jacob rather than Esau.
Hate-Plagued History
The treacherous act of fooling Isaac and taking his blessing sent Esau into a rage against Jacob (Genesis 27:41). Knowing his aged father’s remaining days were few in number, he vowed he would kill his brother as soon as he finished mourning his father. This was a threat Rebekah and Jacob took seriously; after all, Esau was a mighty hunter. They knew he had the ability to carry out his warning. Jacob’s mother urgently talked to her favorite son and instructed him to take refuge at the home of her brother, Laban, in Haran. So Jacob did as his mother told him, and the brothers were separated.
About twenty years later, Jacob and Esau met again. All seemed forgiven, although Jacob was very afraid as he approached his brother. To Esau’s credit, he held no grudge against his brother. He hugged Jacob enthusiastically and welcomed all of Jacob’s family, which had grown enormous by that time.
Despite Esau’s forgive-and-forget attitude, however, his many offspring through the centuries—the people called in the Old Testament the Edomites—have neither forgotten nor forgiven. Satan will not allow them to do so. It is a supernatural hatred that rages within the most fanatical of the Arabs.
And, Esau’s bloodline became mixed with that of Ishmael in the eastern parts of the Middle East. The families intermarried, producing many generations of people who made up many great nations of the vast region. Theirs has been a hate-haunted history of vengeance against the Jews. That history is prophesied to get worse before it gets better.
Jacob’s Ladder
After Isaac’s death, when Jacob was escaping Esau’s murderous rage by fleeing to the home of his uncle, Laban, he stopped to rest along the way and soon fell asleep. This is where we come to the familiar story of “Jacob’s Ladder” that you might have heard in Sunday school. This isn’t just a good story, however, and it wasn’t just a dream Jacob had. It was a mighty vision of things to come.
As he was sleeping, Jacob saw a gigantic, escalator-like ladder, with many angels ascending and descending. They went up and came down between heaven and earth. Scripture says the Lord was standing above this ladder, and records His words:
I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. (Genesis 28:13–15)
Jacob named the place where he had the dream “Bethel,” marking the spot with rocks for future travelers because he now considered this place the gateway to heaven. Indeed, the things the Lord spoke of to Jacob have come to pass; his descendants have been in the forefront of history.
Jacob vs. Jehovah
Finally, there is no record of Isaac protesting about what was going on; he went upon the altar willingly. He was bound by his father, but obviously he had obediently let the elderly Abraham tie him. In the same way, Jesus willingly and obediently laid down His life on the cross, led like a lamb to slaughter. He allowed His limitless power as God to be bound by and for God, His Father. He let Himself leave the power and the glory of heaven in order to die for our sin.
God’s Great Intervention
As Abraham was about to plunge the knife into Isaac’s heart, he was urgently interrupted:
The angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said…. Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. (Genesis 22:11–12)
This was the same angel of the Lord who would later be born through Isaac’s bloodline. It was Jesus Christ who, before He ever came into the world to provide a once-and-for-all sacrifice, stopped Abraham from killing his son. We know this voice was of Jesus, not a created angel from among the many, because He spoke in the first person when commending Abraham for not withholding his son “from me.” God honored faithful Abraham’s absolute obedience to Him, and Abraham now trusted and obeyed His Heavenly Father completely. Imagine the overwhelming emotions Abraham must have felt as he then continued the mountaintop worship service with a ram that the Lord Himself provided (Genesis 22:13).
Covenant Includes Isaac and Kids
Isaac then began his own journey through life apart from his father and mother. God assured Isaac that He would be with him, and would give him the blessings He had promised faithful Abraham. True to God’s Word, Isaac was indeed blessed. He became far richer than any of the people in the land he entered. But the Philistines, the nomadic people who roamed the land, were jealous of Isaac’s great wealth. Isaac was forced to move from area to area looking for a well that could sustain his family, servants, and flocks. The Philistines threatened every time he and his people stopped to dig wells for water. Rather than fight them, Isaac picked up and moved along. He and his people moved three times. When he dug the third well, the Philistines stopped bothering him. Finally, he found a good water supply and settled near there.
Even the people who hated and harassed Isaac and his people finally admitted that he was blessed. In Genesis 26, we read of Abimilech, the Philistine king who came to Isaac wanting to make a peace agreement. Isaac at first asked why Abimilech came, considering that the Philistines had run them out of every place they had tried to settle. Abimilech insisted on a peace arrangement, most likely because of superstitious fear of a man as blessed as Isaac. Isaac made the agreement and the Philistines left in peace—for the time being.
We know the peace didn’t last. Remember Goliath and that bunch? They were Philistines. So it has been in the Middle East in more recent times. Modern Israel in the land today faces constant envy, hatred, and harassment. There is no real peace between God’s chosen people and the modern-day equivalent of the Philistines.
Battling Brothers
God’s blessings upon Isaac were awesome. But with the blessings came a terrific increase in troubles. Satan worked overtime on him.
Genesis 25:19–26 tells us that when he was forty, Isaac married a woman named Rebekah who, like her mother-in-law, appeared to be childless. Isaac asked the Lord to do something about the problem, and his wife did become pregnant—with twins. The two children moved around uncomfortably within Rebekah’s womb, prompting her to worry and then ask God about it. He told her the movement she was feeling was a battle for dominance; that is, she was sensing the wrangling of each baby pursuing his desire to be on top. The Lord said the children represented two nations to come that would be completely different from each other: one child would be stronger than the other. Also, He said that the first one born would someday serve the second born.
Even with the Lord’s explanation of her discomfort, it is still very unlikely that Rebekah knew at this point what it would mean for generations to come. This battle she felt within would rage until the end of human history.
When the twins arrived, the first child was born with a ruddy complexion. Isaac and Rebekah named him Esau. The second child had his hand clamped on the heel of the first baby as they emerged in birth, as if he were trying to hold his big brother back. His parents named him Jacob.
If we were to pinpoint almost exactly the time the Mideast war began, we would see that the conflict started as a skirmish most wouldn’t recognize as possible: Twin brothers seem to have started the fighting the moment when they began to battle it out in their mother’s womb.
(Modern thinkers, scientists, politicians, and others would say this is not possible, because the unborn “are not people”—the fetus is merely a blob of flesh until the first breath. This is their justification, of course, for murdering children in the womb. They call it the right of the mother to choose whether to have the baby or to have an abortion. The claim that the unborn child is not yet a human being with rights is a false one—if one believes God’s Word is true. Christians who believe that the Bible doesn’t have anything to say about the fetus being a real person must face the account of this mother and her twin babies within her womb.)
The Birthright and the Blessing
The contrast between the twins born to Isaac and Rebekah couldn’t have been starker. The Bible characterizes Esau as “a skillful hunter, a man of the field”—a “man’s man,” as we might say—and Jacob as “a quiet man, dwelling in tents” (Genesis 25:27). And, whereas the rough and ruddy Esau is many centuries later singled out as an example of ungodliness (Hebrews 12:16), Jacob is described in various translations of Scripture as “plain” (King James Version), “quiet” (New International Version), and “peaceful” (New American Standard Bible). He even earns the description “blameless and upright” from some biblical scholars who have studied the original translation of his story in its full context.
We learn of two key conflicts in the lives of the twins, once grown. The conflicts center on a birthright and a blessing.
The Birthright
As firstborn son, Esau possessed a special honor within the family, a double portion of his father’s inheritance. This was his birthright. However, Esau apparently didn’t value the importance of such a privilege; Genesis 25:27–35 tells of a time when, famished after an unsuccessful hunt, he sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup. In essence, he made this life-altering decision without a thought given to God or to his father…and all just to meet a temporary desire. Esau and all of his children for generations to come would pay the price for his sinful carelessness.
The Blessing
Sometime later, when her husband was very old, Rebekah hatched a plan to deceive Isaac so that her favored son Jacob, rather than Esau, would receive his father’s blessing. In our day and time, to “bless” someone is a term of endearment or an expression of a desire for God’s favor upon a person. We can all “bless” anyone at anytime, as often as we wish—even for a simple sneeze. However, the meaning of “blessing” in this account bears much more weight. For the ancient Hebrews, blessings (and curses) were “special categories of expression that were believed to have the power to determine reality. Once spoken, they could not be changed or repudiated.”[iv] This means that, once Isaac bestowed his blessing, he would not be able to amend it, retract it, or transfer it to anyone else. Jacob, whose name means “supplanter” or “one who takes the place of another,” was so eager to receive the valuable gift of his father’s blessing that he willingly joined Rebekah’s plan of deception. She and her son arranged for Jacob to disguise himself, easily tricking the nearly blind Isaac into giving the blessing to Jacob rather than Esau.
Hate-Plagued History
The treacherous act of fooling Isaac and taking his blessing sent Esau into a rage against Jacob (Genesis 27:41). Knowing his aged father’s remaining days were few in number, he vowed he would kill his brother as soon as he finished mourning his father. This was a threat Rebekah and Jacob took seriously; after all, Esau was a mighty hunter. They knew he had the ability to carry out his warning. Jacob’s mother urgently talked to her favorite son and instructed him to take refuge at the home of her brother, Laban, in Haran. So Jacob did as his mother told him, and the brothers were separated.
About twenty years later, Jacob and Esau met again. All seemed forgiven, although Jacob was very afraid as he approached his brother. To Esau’s credit, he held no grudge against his brother. He hugged Jacob enthusiastically and welcomed all of Jacob’s family, which had grown enormous by that time.
Despite Esau’s forgive-and-forget attitude, however, his many offspring through the centuries—the people called in the Old Testament the Edomites—have neither forgotten nor forgiven. Satan will not allow them to do so. It is a supernatural hatred that rages within the most fanatical of the Arabs.
And, Esau’s bloodline became mixed with that of Ishmael in the eastern parts of the Middle East. The families intermarried, producing many generations of people who made up many great nations of the vast region. Theirs has been a hate-haunted history of vengeance against the Jews. That history is prophesied to get worse before it gets better.
Jacob’s Ladder
After Isaac’s death, when Jacob was escaping Esau’s murderous rage by fleeing to the home of his uncle, Laban, he stopped to rest along the way and soon fell asleep. This is where we come to the familiar story of “Jacob’s Ladder” that you might have heard in Sunday school. This isn’t just a good story, however, and it wasn’t just a dream Jacob had. It was a mighty vision of things to come.
As he was sleeping, Jacob saw a gigantic, escalator-like ladder, with many angels ascending and descending. They went up and came down between heaven and earth. Scripture says the Lord was standing above this ladder, and records His words:
I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. (Genesis 28:13–15)
Jacob named the place where he had the dream “Bethel,” marking the spot with rocks for future travelers because he now considered this place the gateway to heaven. Indeed, the things the Lord spoke of to Jacob have come to pass; his descendants have been in the forefront of history.
Jacob vs. Jehovah
Many years later, after Jacob reached Haran, had married, and had become a father many times over, the Lord told Jacob to return to Bethel. A strange thing happened to the “supplanter” on his way: He got into a wrestling match with the Creator of all things (see Genesis 32:24–30). And here’s the strangest part of all: Jacob won! Jacob wouldn’t let go of his opponent, even after God had injured him. The Lord seemed impressed with Jacob’s persistence and staying power, and He gave Jacob a new name. He went from being Jacob, the “supplanter,” to “Israel,” which means “he fights or persists with God” or “a prince who has power with God and with men.” Thus, “Jacob and Sons” became “Israel”—a new name for a new business. The nation Israel is destined to be the head of all nations during Christ’s millennial reign on the throne of David atop Mount Moriah in the Temple at Jerusalem.
Israel’s Powerful Presence
One glorious day, when all things are made new by Jesus Christ, Israel will be at the head of all the nations. Until that time, the world continues to think of the tiny country as standing in the way of world peace.
A diminishing number of nations, including the United States, defend Israel today as a peaceful state wanting to get along with neighbors who only desire to drive it into the Mediterranean. The defenders are few and far between, however. Thankfully, America, despite the obvious dislike for the Jewish state by some at the highest levels of U.S. government, still seems, for the time being at least, determined to stick by Israel.
Israel is small, it is true. But, its presence is still commanding. It has one of the most potent nuclear forces on earth. That alone gives it a powerful influence. But it is Israel’s sitting in the middle of the Middle-East powder keg that makes the nation the truly intimidating entity it is.
We will explore these modern-day facts later in the book. For now, let us consider how Israel is already beginning to fulfill the prophet Zechariah’s forewarning:
The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. (Zechariah 12:1–3)
Jerusalem is already a trouble spot, which is what’s meant by the phrase, “a cup of trembling unto all the people round about.” The following news reports on tensions over the Temple Mount bear that out. (More about plans for the Third Temple atop Moriah is dealt with in chapter 15.) The cauldron is about to boil over in the matter of Mideast war and peace. The turmoil is sweeping the whole world toward man’s final war, Armageddon.
Israelis who believe the Temple Mount should remain in Israeli hands must take urgent action, Likud MK [Member of Knesset] Moshe Feiglin warned Thursday.
Feiglin, who heads the Jewish Leadership faction of the Likud party, visited the Temple Mount on Thursday despite knowing he would find it locked to Jews, as a display of protest.
In an “unprecedented” move, police on Wednesday informed Jewish groups that the Temple Mount will be closed to all non-Muslims until at least the end of Ramadan, on 11th August. The announcement has provoked renewed anger over anti-Jewish discrimination on the Temple Mount, and sparked calls by activists for a mass-protest on 7th August, at the start of the Hebrew month of Elul.
Temple Mount activists had complained that for the past three days the Temple Mount—the holiest place in Judaism—remained inexplicably closed to non-Muslim visitors. The only “explanation” offered was a bland sign which simply read “Today the Temple Mount will be closed to visitors.” Those restrictions did not, however, apply to Muslim visitors, who continue to receive unrestricted access.…
The political right must realize that unless it is willing to sacrifice for the sake of Jewish access to the holy site, nothing will happen, he added. “I call for everyone who hears us to come here, to understand that they are giving the very heart of Jerusalem to foreigners, to Islam,” he called.
Taking a conservative approach will not help, he said. “This isn’t a matter of policy, of authorizations—we’ve already tried all the accepted routes. We need to understand that there needs to be sacrifice here, that one thousand people show up ready to make sacrifices, ready to be arrested,” he explained.[v]
A Jewish website that aims to teach Israelis about the Temple has been met with an angry backlash from the Arab Muslim community.
The Har Hakodesh (lit. “The Holy Mountain”) website includes educational material about the history of the Temple Mount, which was the site of the First Temple and Second Temple. The Temples were the focus of divine service for the Jewish nation.
The site also includes stunning photographs of the Temple Mount, including pictures taken by a non-Jewish photographer from parts of the Mount which Jews may not enter.
What has caused upset in the Muslim world is a representation of the Temple Mount as it would appear with a rebuilt Jewish Temple atop it rather than Al-Aqsa Mosque that currently stands there.
The site has been repeatedly targeted by hackers, and has been the focus of criticism in the Arab media. Sheikh Raed Salah, who heads the hardline northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, has called for an “Islamic awakening” in response to the website.…
The desire to see a rebuilt Temple is central to traditional Judaism, and the Amidah prayer, which religious Jews recite three times daily, calls for the Temple to be rebuilt.[vi]
Judgment at Jezreel
The Bible says that the nation will be back in the Promised Land at the time of the world’s final battle:
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. (Zechariah 14:2–3)
Israel will be the trouble spot of the world, with Jerusalem at the center of the whole problem. More than that, the Temple of the Jews will be the one place Antichrist claims as his own as he declares himself to be God.
For hundreds of years, this idea was scoffed at by theologians and scholars. Israel was finished as a nation, they declared. The Jews would never return to the Middle East in large numbers. As a matter of fact, they questioned whether there was such a thing as a Jew left. The Jews were scattered and were lost, the great thinkers believed.
But the Jews did come back into the land. Modern Israel was born on May 14, 1948!
The Temple hasn’t yet been rebuilt. But there are rumblings of a foundation stone possibly being laid at any time (read more about the subject in chapters 11 and 15 of the upcoming book Cauldron). I personally don’t think this will happen until a peace covenant is backed up by the power of the so-called international community we hear so much about these days. I believe it will take Antichrist to bring this about. He will do so because he will want to be like God, just as did his father, Lucifer. He will want people to worship him as God there on top of Mount Moriah.
Antichrist will first try to murder every Jewish person he can get his devilish hands on. It will be the time of “Jacob’s trouble” referred to in Jeremiah 30:7. Jacob and Sons—Israel, the nation—will be at the heart of the most terrible time in human history. All nations opposed to Israel and Israel’s God will gather to battle at a place called Armageddon, located north of Jerusalem near an ancient town named Megiddo. The battlefield will be on a large land mass called Esdraleon in a valley called Jezreel (which means “God sows”) in northern Israel. That’s coming sooner than most understand . . . and it is where and when God’s judgment will devastate the armies of the world.
Credit to RaidersNewsupdate.com
Israel’s Powerful Presence
One glorious day, when all things are made new by Jesus Christ, Israel will be at the head of all the nations. Until that time, the world continues to think of the tiny country as standing in the way of world peace.
A diminishing number of nations, including the United States, defend Israel today as a peaceful state wanting to get along with neighbors who only desire to drive it into the Mediterranean. The defenders are few and far between, however. Thankfully, America, despite the obvious dislike for the Jewish state by some at the highest levels of U.S. government, still seems, for the time being at least, determined to stick by Israel.
Israel is small, it is true. But, its presence is still commanding. It has one of the most potent nuclear forces on earth. That alone gives it a powerful influence. But it is Israel’s sitting in the middle of the Middle-East powder keg that makes the nation the truly intimidating entity it is.
We will explore these modern-day facts later in the book. For now, let us consider how Israel is already beginning to fulfill the prophet Zechariah’s forewarning:
The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. (Zechariah 12:1–3)
Jerusalem is already a trouble spot, which is what’s meant by the phrase, “a cup of trembling unto all the people round about.” The following news reports on tensions over the Temple Mount bear that out. (More about plans for the Third Temple atop Moriah is dealt with in chapter 15.) The cauldron is about to boil over in the matter of Mideast war and peace. The turmoil is sweeping the whole world toward man’s final war, Armageddon.
Israelis who believe the Temple Mount should remain in Israeli hands must take urgent action, Likud MK [Member of Knesset] Moshe Feiglin warned Thursday.
Feiglin, who heads the Jewish Leadership faction of the Likud party, visited the Temple Mount on Thursday despite knowing he would find it locked to Jews, as a display of protest.
In an “unprecedented” move, police on Wednesday informed Jewish groups that the Temple Mount will be closed to all non-Muslims until at least the end of Ramadan, on 11th August. The announcement has provoked renewed anger over anti-Jewish discrimination on the Temple Mount, and sparked calls by activists for a mass-protest on 7th August, at the start of the Hebrew month of Elul.
Temple Mount activists had complained that for the past three days the Temple Mount—the holiest place in Judaism—remained inexplicably closed to non-Muslim visitors. The only “explanation” offered was a bland sign which simply read “Today the Temple Mount will be closed to visitors.” Those restrictions did not, however, apply to Muslim visitors, who continue to receive unrestricted access.…
The political right must realize that unless it is willing to sacrifice for the sake of Jewish access to the holy site, nothing will happen, he added. “I call for everyone who hears us to come here, to understand that they are giving the very heart of Jerusalem to foreigners, to Islam,” he called.
Taking a conservative approach will not help, he said. “This isn’t a matter of policy, of authorizations—we’ve already tried all the accepted routes. We need to understand that there needs to be sacrifice here, that one thousand people show up ready to make sacrifices, ready to be arrested,” he explained.[v]
A Jewish website that aims to teach Israelis about the Temple has been met with an angry backlash from the Arab Muslim community.
The Har Hakodesh (lit. “The Holy Mountain”) website includes educational material about the history of the Temple Mount, which was the site of the First Temple and Second Temple. The Temples were the focus of divine service for the Jewish nation.
The site also includes stunning photographs of the Temple Mount, including pictures taken by a non-Jewish photographer from parts of the Mount which Jews may not enter.
What has caused upset in the Muslim world is a representation of the Temple Mount as it would appear with a rebuilt Jewish Temple atop it rather than Al-Aqsa Mosque that currently stands there.
The site has been repeatedly targeted by hackers, and has been the focus of criticism in the Arab media. Sheikh Raed Salah, who heads the hardline northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, has called for an “Islamic awakening” in response to the website.…
The desire to see a rebuilt Temple is central to traditional Judaism, and the Amidah prayer, which religious Jews recite three times daily, calls for the Temple to be rebuilt.[vi]
Judgment at Jezreel
The Bible says that the nation will be back in the Promised Land at the time of the world’s final battle:
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. (Zechariah 14:2–3)
Israel will be the trouble spot of the world, with Jerusalem at the center of the whole problem. More than that, the Temple of the Jews will be the one place Antichrist claims as his own as he declares himself to be God.
For hundreds of years, this idea was scoffed at by theologians and scholars. Israel was finished as a nation, they declared. The Jews would never return to the Middle East in large numbers. As a matter of fact, they questioned whether there was such a thing as a Jew left. The Jews were scattered and were lost, the great thinkers believed.
But the Jews did come back into the land. Modern Israel was born on May 14, 1948!
The Temple hasn’t yet been rebuilt. But there are rumblings of a foundation stone possibly being laid at any time (read more about the subject in chapters 11 and 15 of the upcoming book Cauldron). I personally don’t think this will happen until a peace covenant is backed up by the power of the so-called international community we hear so much about these days. I believe it will take Antichrist to bring this about. He will do so because he will want to be like God, just as did his father, Lucifer. He will want people to worship him as God there on top of Mount Moriah.
Antichrist will first try to murder every Jewish person he can get his devilish hands on. It will be the time of “Jacob’s trouble” referred to in Jeremiah 30:7. Jacob and Sons—Israel, the nation—will be at the heart of the most terrible time in human history. All nations opposed to Israel and Israel’s God will gather to battle at a place called Armageddon, located north of Jerusalem near an ancient town named Megiddo. The battlefield will be on a large land mass called Esdraleon in a valley called Jezreel (which means “God sows”) in northern Israel. That’s coming sooner than most understand . . . and it is where and when God’s judgment will devastate the armies of the world.
Credit to RaidersNewsupdate.com
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