Archive for Genesis 12:3

Trend Update: Land for Peace/Abrahamic Covenant, December 2014

Posted in Prophecy with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 10, 2014 by paulthepoke

Genesis 15:18-21 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.”

This is the original land grant from God to Abram (later renamed Abraham by God). These are the land boundaries of Israel’s future. This configuration has never been realized. This calls for the geography of Israel to stretch from the Nile River to Euphrates River. One could argue rather this implies the Arabian Peninsula or not. Now this sounds impossible in today’s world and geo-political climate. Can you imagine the uproar if this was proposed at the United Nations? But, there will be a land for peace deal when Jesus returns. It will look something like this. Two maps are included as possibilities.

israels_borders_future FutureIsrael

In today’s world (December 2014), there are all kinds of discussion for a two state solution. Israel will achieve peace when they give land to the Palestinians, so the template goes. Turning over the Gaza Strip (2005) to the Palestinians has not resulted in peace. But we move forward any way.

According to Scripture, the division of the land is a foregone conclusion in the book of Joel. Israel’s people were scattered in 70 AD with the diaspora at the hands of the Roman Empire. Israel’s land will be divided. The process has begun with the Gaza Strip. Are we on the verge of seeing this prophecy fulfilled in our time? Joel 3:2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My land.

The United States, along with the rest of the world, continues to pressure Israel. The concern is building Israeli settlements in West Bank is only adding to the tension. The Obama Administration has even gone to the lengths of considering sanctions on Israel. The consideration reached press outlets on 12/6/14. This policy position is at odds with God’s proclamation in the Abrahamic Covenant. Genesis 12:3 “…And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

This would appear to be bad personal and foreign policy towards God’s chosen people when compared to Genesis 12:3. Incidentally, President Obama went to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a sore throat. The President was diagnosed with acid reflux the same day 12/6/14…

http://www.wnd.com/2014/12/obama-makes-1st-move-toward-sanctions-on-israel/

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/us/obama-visits-military-hospital-for-sore-throat.html?_r=0

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Isaiah 17:12-14 Burden of Damascus: Raging Waters

Posted in Burden of Damascus, Isaiah, Prophecy with tags , , , , , , , , , , on January 27, 2013 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 17:12 Alas, the uproar of many peoples who roar like the roaring of the seas, and the rumbling of nations who rush on like the rumbling of mighty waters!

The verse starts with a comment in the original Hebrew that should gain attention. “Hey, you are as good as dead!” Others have taken this to be a funeral cry. Either way, our translators have obviously softened this. This point is emphasized twice in the verse. Essentially God is telling them they can make all the noise they want, they are still going down. The nations can shout louder and longer, but it does not matter.

At this point, many people from many nations are now involved. There is irony and symmetry to these events in the future. People are acting like rushing and rumbling waters. God gives them rushing and rumbling waters.

Luke 21:25 “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves…” These are the words of Jesus. He is referring to a time coming where people will be freaking out because of the physical waves of the ocean. We can think of the possibilities: hurricanes, tsunamis, Noreaster. Do people freak out in today’s world when these events happen? Just watch the news. We have reporters on site to show you “Live!” These are not your garden variety events. The events appear to be global in nature. The text says nations, plural. The description in the Greek indicates the nations responses to the magnitude of the events: dire straits, anguish, dismay, anxiousness, and perplexity. The MSG translates this verse as “It will seem like all hell has broken loose–sun, moon, stars, earth, sea…”

Isaiah 17:13 The nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters, but He will rebuke them and they will flee far away, and be chased like chaff in the mountains before the wind, or like whirling dust before a gale.

Chaff is the husk, stalk, and other light weighted material that is separated from the grain. In those days grain and chaff were separated on a threshing floor. A person would beat and whip the stalks of the plant to separate out the grain. The wind would blow away the lighter material and the heavier grain would fall to the floor for collection.

Whirling dust, sounds like a tornado. This is how God will address them. They will be beaten to the point of separation and blown away by a powerful and destructive wind.

Isaiah 17:14 At evening time, behold, there is terror! Before morning they are no more. Such will be the portion of those who plunder us and the lot of those who pillage us.

These events will take place suddenly and within the scope of a few hours. The anxiety happens as the sun is setting. There is a period of darkness and calamity over the night. When the sun comes up, it is over and they are gone. A reminder that Genesis 12:3 still applies, “And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

There is good news after all of this destruction.

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