Abraham’s Family Feud – Part 1-3

Abraham’s Family Feud – Part 1 – Randy Nettles - https://www.rev310.net/post/abraham-s-family-feud-part-1 Who are the modern-day Palestinians? What are the historical origins of the Palestinians, and why are they in constant conflict with the nation of Israel? What does the Biblehave to say about this conflict and how it will end? We will try and answer these questions, and others, in this article. FROM WHOM ARE MODERN-DAY PALESTINIANS DESCENDED The Palestinians are a group of people descended from different kingdoms and nations who have inhabited the region of the Southern Levant over the millennia, and who are todayculturally and linguistically Arab. The Southern Levant is a geographical region encompassing the southern half of the Levant (a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of West Asia). It corresponds approximately to modern-day Israel, Palestine (WestBank and Gaza Strip), Jordan, southern Lebanon, southern Syria, and the Sinai Peninsula. “Prior to the mid-20th century, the term Palestinian was used as a regional term, much like referring to residents of parts of the United States as ‘Southerners.’ This usagedates back to several centuries before Christ. The word Palestinian has its roots in a Hebrew word meaning ‘Philistine.’ Until Israel was re-established as a nation in 1948, Palestine was the term for the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the JordanRiver. The word Palestinian was applied to anyone living in that area. As one of the longest continually inhabited places on earth, this region has changed political ownership numerous times and has been a nexus of migration for many differentcultures. The modern-day ‘Palestinians’ represent a mixture of local inhabitants and many other groups of Muslims brought from Bosnia, the Balkans, and the Caucasus by the Turks in the 16th to 19th centuries; and from the Sudan, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon bythe British in the 20th century. In common use today, the term Palestinian is primarily applied to non-Jewish, Arabic-speaking residents of this region. This usage is highly controversial, however, sincefor most of human history a ‘Palestinian’ was simply a person born or living in that land. When used in reference only to non-Jews, it implies a historical claim to the territory in opposition to Israel. In reality, the concept of Palestine as a nation-statein opposition to Israel or as a racial group predating the presence of Jewish inhabitants is historically false. Recent genetic studies have confirmed that the ancestries of Jewish and Arabic inhabitants of Palestine are extremely similar. Geneticists have concluded that the people livingin these regions share a common ancestry, through people groups continually living in the Palestine territory. This directly contradicts the claim that certain inhabitants, particularly Jewish inhabitants of Israel, have no ancestral claim to the land. Atthe same time, there is no evidence suggesting that modern Palestinians are direct descendants of either the Canaanites or the Philistines of the Old Testament. Many Arabs are descendants of Ishmael; but, since the land of Canaan was promised to the sons ofJacob, Arabs have no biblical claim to the land of Palestine.” {1} From whom are the modern Palestinians descended? | GotQuestions.org The term Palestinian did not take on its current popular meaning until the mid-20th century. The ‘Palestinians’ of today do not descend from, and bear no relation to, theancient Philistines who dwelled along Israel’s coast in Biblical times. Many scholars believe the Philistines weren’t descendants of Shem or Ham but of Japheth. It was only on May 28, 1964, the date on which the PLO was established, that the Arabs in Israelbegan using the name ‘Palestinian.’ THE LAND OF CANAAN IN THE TIME OF THE HEBREW PATRIARCHS According to the Torah, the land God promised to Abraham was originally called Canaan. “And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-lawSarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there” (Genesis 11:31). After Terah died in Haran, Abram departed and traveled to the Promised Land. “So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventyand five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; andinto the land of Canaan they came”(Genesis 12:4-5). It was at this time that the LORD appeared unto Abram and made a promise (an unconditional covenant) to him. “And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto your seed willI give this land: and there built an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.” Abram and his family entered the land of Canaan in 2084 AM (1876 BC according to my reckoning). Abram was 75 years old at this time. The land of Canaan got its name from one of the sons of Ham, the son of Noah. Canaan was one of four sons born to Ham after the great flood. The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim,Put, and Canaan. “Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth; the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite” (Genesis 10:15-18). In Genesis 15, the LORD confirmed His covenant with Abram, saying “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites” (Genesis 15:18-21). Out of the eleven descendants of Canaan, the namesof four only are given here; the others are included in the common name of the Canaanites. On the other hand, four tribes are given, whose descent from Canaan is very improbable. The antisemitic slogan often chanted by Hamas and their followers, “From the River to the Sea, Palestinians will be free,” implies a desire for Israel to be exterminated andthe ‘Palestinians’ to then inherit the land between the Jordan River, which borders eastern Israel, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. However, the LORD told Abram that his descendants (through Isaac and Jacob/Israel) would inherit the land from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River that flows frommodern-day Syria through Iraq per Genesis 15:18-21 and Exodus 23:29-31. The land would include Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, part of Saudi Arabia, a portion of Egypt, and about half of Iraq per Numbers 34:2-12 and Ezekiel 47:13-20. See a map of the land God gaveAbram in Genesis 15 - Bing images. Today Israel only possesses a small portion of the Promised Land. After Abram had been in the land of Canaan for ten years, Sarai gave him Hagar, her Egyptian handmaid, as a surrogate wife. When Abram was 86 years old they had Ishmael. WhenAbram was 99 years old, the LORD appeared unto him and told him Sarai, who was 90 years old, would conceive and have a child the next year. At this point, God changed her name to Sarah. “And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, andwith his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.But my covenant will I establish withIsaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year“ (Genesis 17:19-21). When Isaac was old enough to be weaned, Sarah had Abraham exile Ishmael and Hagar because of their lack of respect for her and Isaac. God promised Hagar that Ishmael, as ason of Abraham, would become a great nation (Genesis 21:17-18). The beginning of this prophecy is recorded in Genesis 25:12-18. Ishmael had twelve sons (with an Egyptian wife) who became great rulers and eventually a nation of people. Ishmael’s descendantslived in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula. Also settling in this area were the descendants of Keturah’s (Abraham’s second wife) sons and some of Esau’s descendants, among them the Amalekites. The descendants of Ishmael became known as Arabs, which basically means “nomads.” From the beginning, the descendants of Ishmael were a warlike people, as “they lived in hostilitytoward all the tribes related to them” (Genesis 25:18). This fulfilled God’s earlier word that Ishmael would 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” (Genesis 16:12). When Isaac was forty years old he married Rebekah, his second cousin. According to the Book of Genesis, the patriarchal family line is a self-contained unit, originating solelyin Abraham’s father, Terah. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and even Joseph were all descended on both sides from Terah. Sarai was Abram's half-sister (Genesis 20:12) and therefore not only Isaac's mother but also his aunt. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel, Isaac's own cousin through Nahor(Abram’s brother). Bethuel was also the son of Isaac's own cousin, Milcah (Nahor’s niece through his other brother Haran). Jacob, in turn, married his cousins, Rachel and Leah (daughters of Laban, son of Bethuel). Rebekah and Isaac were closely related, assecond cousins on both sides, separated by one generation through Nahor and Bethuel, or two generations through Haran, Milcah and Bethuel. Confused yet? See Abraham'sfamily tree - Wikipedia for a better picture. Isaac and Rebekah had two sons (twins), Esau, the elder, and Jacob. Before she conceived, the LORD told her, “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separatedfrom your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). Their birth is told in Genesis 25:24-26: “And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. Afterward,his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob.” Esau’s name means ‘red’ and Jacob’s name means ‘supplanter,’ ‘deceitful,’ or “one who takes the heel.” Esau’s name appears to be prophetic (as well as Jacob’s), as we allknow the story of how he sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of red stew (Genesis 25:29-34). Verse 34 says, “Thus Esau despised his birthright.” Genesis 27 tells the story of how Rebekah and Jacob deceived Isaac into giving the blessing (usually reservedfor the eldest son) to Jacob. Verse 29 gives the last part of the blessing, “Let people serve you, and nations bow down to you: be lord over your brethren, and let your mother's sons bow down to you: cursed be everyone that curses you, and blessed be he thatblesses you.” Esau, seeing that the daughters of Canaan didn’t please their father, Isaac, married a daughter of Ishmael, the son of Abraham. Many years later, after Isaac died, Esau marriedtwo Canaanite women, one a Hittite and the other a Hivite. “ And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance, which he had got in the land of Canaan; andwent into the country from the face of his brother Jacob. For their riches were more than that they might dwell together; and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle. Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom” (Genesis36:6-9). The Bible mentions that the descendants of Esau grew and became a nation, the Edomites, while Israel and his sons eventually moved to Egypt and exploded in numbers. The ancientkingdoms of Edom, Moab, and Ammon were located in what is today called Jordan. Moab and Ammon were children of Lot’s incestuous relationships with his two daughters after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:30-38). After the children of Israel left Egypt after centuries of slavery, and the Angel of the LORD destroyed the armies of Pharaoh at the Red Sea crossing, Moses and the peoplesang a song to the LORD. It was also a song of prophecy for when the Israelites would eventually enter the Promised Land. And they sang unto the LORD: “The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina. Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mightymen of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of your arm they shall be as still as a stone; till your people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over,which you have purchased. You shall bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which you have made for you to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. The LORD shall reign foreverand ever” (KJV - Genesis 15:14-18). 40 YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS After a few months in the wilderness, the first battle that the children of Israel fought was against the descendants of Amalek. Amalek was a grandson of Esau and ruled aclan or territory in the Negev desert region. Joshua leads Israel in battle, and Moses watches from a hillside. When Moses' hand is raised, Israel prevails, but when it is lowered, Israel falters. So he keeps his hand raised through the entire battle, evenhaving assistants hold him up so that the battle will go to Israel. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. “And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner; for he said, Because the LORD has sworn: the Lordwill have war with Amalek from generation to generation” (Exodus 17:15-16). In Deuteronomy 25:17–19, the Israelites are specifically commanded to blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven once they have taken possession of the promisedland in retribution for what Amalek did to them as they were coming out of Egypt. “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when youwere tired and weary; and he did not fear God. Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembranceof Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.” Later that year, after the 12 spies of Israel gave their mostly bad report of the inhabitants of Canaan, the Israelites tried to enter Canaan without the LORD’s blessing andpermission. The LORD had actually told them to turn around and go back by the way of the Red Sea but they disobeyed Him once again. “Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far asHormah” (Numbers 14:45). The children of Israel would spend the next 39 years wandering in the desert for their lack of faith and disobedience. During the last year of the Exodus, Israel “came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there” (Numbers 20:1). This was the place where Moses and Aaron disobeyed the LORD and struck the rock to bring water out of it instead of speaking to the rock. Also, Moses spoke as if it was by his and Aaron’s power and not the Lord’s that water would come out ofthe rock. “And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, you rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock” (Numbers 20:10). For their disobedience, they would not enter the Promised Land. After this, Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom asking for permission to pass through their land to get to Canaan. The message began by calling the Edomites “brothers” (as Esau and Jacob were brothers). The message stipulated “We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells; we will go along the King’s Highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we havepassed through your territory” (Numbers 20:17). Edom responded with, “You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword.” Israel asked permission again stipulating they would simply pass throughdisturbing nothing, but once again Edom said “You shall not pass through.” So Israel turned away and went around Edom. The LORD did not want Israel to wage war against Edom at this time because God had given the land of Edom to Esau and his descendants (Deuteronomy2:5). From Kadesh, the children of Israel traveled to Mount Hor where Aaron died. All the house of Israel mourned him for thirty days. The Israelites then fought and won againstthe king of Arad, the Canaanite, and utterly destroyed their cities. They then camped in the wilderness east of Moab and fought and won against the Amorites. The king of the Amorites was King Sihon, who was similar to the king of Edom in that he would notallow the Israelites to cross through his country to Canaan. The Israelites took possession of all their lands and lived in their cities for a brief period. Sihon’s territory was next to Ammon, however, the Israelites did not possess the lands of Ammon asthe LORD had given that land to Lot’s descendants (Deuteronomy 2:9). Next on the list were the Amorites of Jazer and Og, king of Bashan. They defeated him, his sons, and all his people, until there was no survivor left him; and they took possessionof his land. Then the children of Israel moved and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho. They did not take the lands of Ammon as the LORD had given that land to Lot’s descendants (Deuteronomy 2:19). In Numbers 22-24, we see the story of Balak, king of Moab, hiring Balaam the seer to curse Israel. However, the Angel of the LORD intervenes and puts words in the mouth ofBalaam that bless Israel instead. This occurs four times. On the fourth time, Balaam prophesies that Israel will eventually conquer Edom, Moab, and the Amalekites. While Israel was in Moab, the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab and Midian.They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel. The LORD sent a plague that killed 24,000 people before Hestopped It because of the righteous act of Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest (Numbers 25:6-7). Israel went to war against the Midianites and killed all their males, including five kings of Midian and Balaam the Seer. The slaughter and the dividing up of the spoil andbooty, both of man and beast, is mentioned in Numbers 31. Two and a half tribes of Israel (Gad, Reuben, and half of Manasseh) decided to settle on the lands east of the Jordan River (Jazer and Gilead) as an inheritance with the promise to help the other tribeswhen they went to war against the tribes of the inhabitants of Canaan. Before Moses died on Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, the LORD told Moses,“ Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from beforeyou, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places; you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in yoursides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell. Moreover, it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them” (Numbers 33:50-53,55-56). This was a prophecy that was fulfilled about seven centuries later for the kingdom of Israel and then another century later for the kingdom of Judah. Randy Nettles ------------------------------ Abraham’s Family Feud – Part II – Randy Nettles - https://www.rev310.net/post/abraham-s-family-feud-part-ii Before Moses died, the LORD took Moses up the mountain of Nebo in Moab and showed him the land that He had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as an inheritance forever. “AndMoses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah,unto the utmost sea, And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and Jacob, saying, I will give it unto your seed: I have caused you to see it with yourown eyes, but you shall not go over there. So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knows of his sepulcher untothis day” (Deuteronomy 34:1-6). Even though Moses wasn’t allowed to enter the Promised Land, the LORD allowed him to see it from a distance. Verse 6 says the LORD personally buried Moses. That is quite atribute to Moses, the man of God. Moses was the first true prophet of God and he was unique in that he saw and talked with the LORD (as the Angel of the LORD) in person. Most of the prophets in Israel who came after Moses saw and communicated with Him in visionsor dreams. “But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the landof Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel” (Deuteronomy 34: 10-12). Joshua, Moses’ assistant, took over Moses’ role as the leader of Israel after his death. Before they crossed over the Jordan River to enter Canaan (the Promised Land) in theyear 1406 BC, the LORD spoke to Joshua and gave him his marching orders. “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel. Every place thatthe sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be yourterritory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land whichI swore to their fathers to give them.” (Joshua 1: 1-6). Just as God supernaturally intervened when He parted the Red Sea during the time of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt, so He did 40 years later when He parted the Jordan River,and Joshua and the Israelites crossed over into the Promised Land. “Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossedcompletely over the Jordan” (Joshua 3:17). The Israelites began the conquest of the Promised Land by destroying Jericho, with God’s supernatural help of course. The city of Jericho, built thousands of years beforeJoshua was born, was one of the oldest cities in the world. In some places, it had fortified walls up to 25 feet high and 20 feet thick. Jericho was a symbol of military power and strength, and the Canaanites considered it invincible. The destruction of Jerichois recorded in Joshua 6. The number 7 represents perfection and completion. By employing this number in His unique battle plan, the Man of War (the Angel of the Lord) made sure the Israelites knewwhere the victory came from. The LORD had told Moses and Joshua He would be with them, and He certainly was at Jericho. “And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into your hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor. And you shall compass the city, all you men ofwar, and go round about the city once. This shall you do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day you shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shallcome to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straightbefore him” (Joshua 6:2-5). These instructions were repeated by Joshua to the priests, and they were carried out daily for six days and then fulfilled on the 7th day. The seven priests blew their trumpetsone time for 6 days in a row. This would be 42 (6×7) times the trumpets sounded in six days. 6 is man’s number and is incomplete (not perfect), so the walls of Jericho did not come down at this time. On the seventh day, the seven priests (and all the childrenof Israel) made seven laps around the walls of Jericho, blowing their horns each time; for a total of 49 (7 x 7) times. 7 is God’s number and is perfect and complete. On this day, after the 91st (13 x 7) time that the trumpets sounded, the walls fell. The13th seven was indeed a very unlucky number for the inhabitants of Jericho. From Joshua 6 verse 3 to verse 16, there are 14 (7 x 2) mentions of the number 7, a double dose of completeness. The walls fell after the last trumpet sounded, and all the people shouted as one. I think the Lord also shouted with them at this time, as He will do at the Rapture. The resultswere exactly as the Lord had described them to Joshua. It was a great victory for the newly formed nation of Israel and struck terror into the inhabitants of the remaining kingdoms of Canaan. Jericho’s destruction was perfectly complete. The conquest of the Promised Land continued after Jericho. A summary of all the kings and kingdoms the Israelites conquered is given in Joshua 12. Thirty-one kings were defeatedby Joshua and the Israelites at this time (Joshua 12:24). However, there was still much land remaining to be possessed according to Joshua 13:1-6. In approximately 1399 BC, Joshua assigned, by lot, a specific territory in the Promised Land to nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh, as Reuben and Gad and half thetribe of Manasseh had already received their inheritance east of the Jordan River. Joshua divided up the land even though there remained much of the land of Canaan yet to be conquered. The priestly Levites were not allotted a portion of land but were givenforty-eight cities scattered throughout Canaan. The Tabernacle of Meeting was set up in Shiloh. It was within the tribal territorial allotment of the tribe of Ephraim (Joshua’s tribe). Before Joshua died, he assembled all the tribes to Shechem, an important city in Ephraim’s territory, where he gave a speech much like Moses did before he passed. It was aspeech that reviewed the history of the land of Canaan since Abraham entered it in approximately 1876 BC, until the time of Moses and Joshua and the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites (with the LORD’s help of course). Joshua’s famous line (below) was givenin this speech. “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve theLord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for meand my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14-15). The people responded that they would obey and serve the LORD God of Israel and only His voice would they obey. “So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and madefor them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. Then Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said to all the people, Behold, thisstone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.” So Joshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance.” (Joshua 24:25-26). Shechem is the place Abram first came to when he entered the land of Canaan. This is where God appeared to Abram and promised him, “To your descendants, I will give this land” (Genesis 12:7). Afterwards, Abram built his first altar there. Just as God had originally made a covenant with Abram in Shechem, Joshua made a covenant with the children of Israel 477 years later (in the same place) that they would obey the LORD God of Israeland only Him. The number 477 is interesting. In Shavuot, Pentecost, and the Rapture (rev310.net), I wrote about the gap period between Pentecost (high watch day for the Rapture) and YomKippur 2026 (possible beginning of the Tribulation) over the next three years, 2024, 2025, 2026. I mostly wrote about the 120 days between 2026 Pentecost and 2026 Yom Kippur, as 120 is a very significant number. The gap period between 2025 Pentecost and 2026Yom Kippur is 477 days. The gap period between 2024 Pentecost and 2026 Yom Kippur is 856 days. I didn’t see anything significant in the number 477 at the time, but as I researched it more the number is somewhat significant. From 1406 BC (the year the children of Israelentered the Promised Land of Canaan) to 2025 AD (the possible year the Church enters the heavenly Promised Land) is 3430 years. 3430 divided by 7 = 490 (70 x 7). There are 477 days between Pentecost 2025 and Yom Kippur 2026. As I said in The Day of the Deadand the Great Flood (rev310.net), 1908 years is the time between Abram entering the Promised Land (1876 BC) of Canaan and the crucifixion of Jesus (AD 33). 1908 divided by 4 = 477. From 1876 BC to 1399 BC is 477 years. 1399 BC was when Joshua divided up the land of Canaan between the 12 tribes of Israel. From 1399 BC to 922 BC is 477 years. 922 BC wasthe eighth year of Rehoboam’s (son of Solomon and Naamah, an Ammonitess) reign. It was during his reign that Israel was divided into two kingdoms. He was obedient to the LORD for three years and then turned to pagan gods after that. It was during his fifthyear, that the LORD allowed the king of Egypt to sack Jerusalem and take the treasures from the house of the LORD and the king’s house. Something significant probably occurred during his 8th year. From 922 BC to 445 BC is 477 years. 445 or 444 BC (scholars are divided on the exact year) was the last decree of the Persian king Artaxerxes regarding the Jews. This decreewas given to Nehemiah and the Jews to rebuild the walls and city of Jerusalem. In my opinion, it was the beginning of Daniel’s prophecy of 70 weeks. From 445 BC to 33 AD is 477 years (with 69 Shemitah years). Of course, we know all the great events of 33 AD. Now, back to 1399 BC. Joshua recorded the children of Israel’s decision to obey the LORD and His word in the Book of the Law of God, and he then erected a memorial stone “underthe oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.” This oak tree is associated with the ‘terebinth’ or oak tree where Abram had set up camp in Genesis 12:6. “ And Joshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard allthe words of the LORD which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God. So Joshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance” (Joshua 24:27-28). The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor,the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph. (Joshua 24:32) Shortly after this, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred and ten years old, and they buried him within the border of his inheritance atTimnath Serah which is in the mountains of Ephraim. The exact year of Joshua’s death is not known, but he judged Israel for approximately 25 years according to Josephus. That would put his death in about 1381 BC. Israel was without an effective God-fearingleader after Joshua’s death. Eleazar the son of Aaron died about this same time. The people buried him in a hill belonging to Phinehas his son, which was given to him in the mountains of Ephraim. “Sothe people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel” (Joshua 24:31). Judah and Simeon were the first tribes of Israel to conquer their territory (mostly) and drive out the Canaanites who dwelt there. They took Bezek, Jerusalem, Hebron, Debir,Zephath, Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron. “So the Lord was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron. And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said. Then heexpelled from there the three sons of Anak. But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem” (Judges 1:19-21). However, Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan did not drive out all of the Canaanites that dwelt in their allotted territories. “Then the Angel of the Lordcame up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: ‘I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, I will never break My covenant with you. And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shalltear down their altars. But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?’ Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you, but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’ So it was, when the Angel of theLord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept” (Judges 2:14). When all the generation of Joshua had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. “Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths; and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of thepeople who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies allaround, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed” (Judges 2:11-15). Just as Moses (and Joshua) had predicted, the children of Israel started worshipping the gods of the heathens that still occupied the land of Canaan. “For I know your rebellionand your stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord, then how much more after my death? Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and callheaven and earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And evil will befall you in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord,to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands” (Deuteronomy 31:27-29). However, the Lord did not completely abandon His chosen people. The Lord raised up judges (military leaders) which delivered them out of the hands of those who spoiled them.The people would repent, worship the Lord, and follow his commandments for a while, but when the judge died, the people would corrupt themselves more than their fathers in following other gods. This cycle continued for several centuries. The total time ofthe judges was about 326 years, from 1376 BC to 1050 BC when Saul became king of Israel. Samuel was the next prophet of God after Moses. He gave his first prophecy as a young child as recorded in 1 Samuel 3 against the judge, Eli, and his family. “So Samuel grew,and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord. Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel inShiloh by the word of the Lord” (1 Samuel 3:19-21). In 1 Samuel 4, we see the inhabitants of Canaan are still entrenched in their territories, as Israel goes to war against the Philistines. Initially, the Philistines routedthe Israelites, so the elders of Israel decided to bring out their ultimate weapon, the ark of the covenant. So, the people sent for the ark of the covenant in Shiloh. The sons of Eli, Phinehas and Hophni, brought the ark to the battle, but because of theapostasy of Phinehas, Hophni, and all the people, Israel was defeated and the ark was captured by the Philistines. When Eli heard the news he fell and broke his neck and died. Samuel takes over at this point as the last of the judges of Israel. Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, andprepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines. So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only” (1 Samuel 7:3-4). The Israelites gathered at Mizpah and confessed their sins before the LORD. Samuel offered a lamb as a burnt offering sacrifice. “Then Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel,and the LORD answered him. Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistinesthat day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car” (1 Samuel 7:9-11). “So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines. Also, there was peace between Israel and the Amorites” (1 Samuel 7:13:14). When Samuel was old, he made his two sons judges of Israel. Like Eli’s sons, they did not walk in the ways of the LORD. They went after dishonest gain, took bribes, and pervertedjustice. The elders of Israel came to Samuel and told him they didn’t want his sons as judges but wanted a king to judge them like all the other nations. Saul was the first king of Israel. He was tall, powerful, and good-looking. He started well but endedbadly, as he had a bad habit of disobeying the word of God (usually delivered to him by Samuel). The proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back” was when Samuel relayed God’s message to Saul concerning the Amalek people. The original Amalek was the grandson of Esau. “Thus says the Lord of hosts: I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infantand nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey” (1 Samuel 15:2-3). Saul attacked the Amalekites and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword except for their king, Agag. He also spared “the best of the sheep, the oxen,the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.” King Saul disobeyed the word of the LORD in that he did not kill all the people (he spared Agag) and all the animals. He kept the best of the animals and killed the rest ofthem. The word of the Lord came to Samuel and said, “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” When confronted by Samuel for his disobedience, Saul didn’t take responsibility,for he was the king, but instead tried to blame it on the people. Samuel then told Saul, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, andto hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king” (1 Samuel 15:22-23). Saul was replaced with David, a man after God’s heart (1 Samuel 13:14). Many years before he was officially made king, the LORD sent Samuel to the house of Jesse in Bethlehemto anoint one of his eight sons as a future replacement for Saul. The LORD told Samuel “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). The LORD does not judge a person by his outward appearance but by the contents of his heart and if that person is willing to obey the word of God. Samuel rejected the first seven sons that were presented to him. When David stood before him, the LORD told Samuel, Arise, anoint him; for this is the one! Then Samuel tookthe horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:12-13). This was rare in the Old Testament, as usually the Spirit of the LORD only came upon men temporarily to accomplisha particular objective of the LORD’s. About this time, the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him. After 40 years as king of Israel, Saul died in battle at the hands of the Philistines. His son Jonathan also died in the same battle. David was made king of Judah at thistime, while Saul’s son, Ishbosheth, was made king of the other 11 tribes of Israel. He reigned for only two years. Ishbosheth was murdered and then David became king over all 12 tribes of Israel. The first thing he did militarily was defeat the Jebusites thatinhabited Jerusalem. He then defeated the Philistines that lived on the western coast of Canaan. David built a house in Jerusalem, establishing his rule from there. He also brought the Ark of the Covenant there. It was at this time that the LORD made a covenant with David.Nathan the prophet had a vision and the LORD spoke these words to him to give to David, “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shallbuild a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not departfrom him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:12-16). David defeated most of the enemies of Israel. He subdued the Philistines, Moabites, Zobah, Amalekites, Ammonites, and the Syrians of Damascus. He placed garrisons in Damascus.He also put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. “And the LORD preserved David wherever he went. So David reigned over all Israel, and David administered judgment and justice to all his people” (2 Samuel 8:14-15). The Israelites were not supposed to intermarry with foreign women from Canaan. Here is what the LORD told Moses and the children of Israel. “When the Lord your God bringsyou into the land which you go to possess and has cast out many nations before you and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriageswith them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly” (Deuteronomy7:1-4). Of course, the children of Israel were disobedient in this matter and it started immediately upon entering Canaan (during the time of the judges of Israel). “Thus the childrenof Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and they served their gods (Judges 3:5-6). This becamea generational problem throughout the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. King David took foreign wives from Jerusalem and they gave him many children. He also had many horses and much wealth. These were prohibitions outlined in the book of theLaw, Deuteronomy. “But he (the king) shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said You shall not return that way again. Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turnaway; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself” (Deuteronomy 17:16-17). King David started the practice of having many wives, and even foreign wives, but his son, Solomon, perfected the practice. “But King Solomon loved many foreign women, aswell as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites – from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away yourhearts after their gods. Solomon clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abominationof the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abominationof Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods” (1 Kings 11:1-8). One of Solomon’s wives was from Ammon.Her name was Naamah and she was (king) Rehoboam’s mother. Solomon had been warned twice by God to not go after other gods but he did not keep what the LORD commanded. Therefore, the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this,and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the handof your son. However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen” (1 Kings 11:11-13). This was the beginning of the end for the United Kingdomof Israel. Solomon, the wisest man of the ages, had played the fool. More to come in part III. Randy Nettles ----------------------------------- Abraham’s Family Feud – Part III – Randy Nettles - https://www.rev310.net/post/abraham-s-family-feud-part-iii Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor from the tribe of Ephraim. Solomon made him the officer of all the labor force of the house of Joseph. During the latter years of Solomon’sreign, the prophet Ahijah, from Shiloh, met Jeroboam and told him that the LORD, the God of Israel, would tear ten tribes out of the hand of Solomon due to his apostasy and give them to Jeroboam. Out of respect for David, the LORD would wait until Solomonwas dead before he gave Jeroboam the ten tribes of Israel. Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, would retain the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Jeroboam reigned from Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim. One of his first acts was to make two calf idols out of gold, reminiscent of the molded golden calf Aaron made forthe children of Israel in the wilderness. Jeroboam set one up in Bethel and the other one in Dan. This was done so the ten tribes wouldn’t return to Jerusalem to worship there. He also made shrines in the high places and made priests from every class of people,who were not of the sons of Levi. Jeroboam told the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” He also ordained a feast on the 15th day of the eighth month and offered sacrifices on the altar to the calves he had made. This was an imitation of the Feast of Tabernacleswhich was held on the 15th day of the seventh month in Jerusalem. A man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD to give Jeroboam a prophetic message. He was burning incense on the altar when the prophet cried out, “O altar,altar! Thus says the Lord: Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you. And he gave a sign the same day,saying, This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out” (1 Kings 13:2-3). Of course, the altar was split apart, and the ashes on it were poured out. “After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he made priests from everyclass of people for the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth” (1 Kings 13:33-34). Later, Ahijah was sent again to Jeroboam with this message. “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you ruler over My peopleIsrael, and tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you; and yet you have not been as My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes. But you have done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behindyour back— therefore behold! I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone. The dogsshall eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field; for the Lord has spoken! Moreover, the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam; this is the day. What? Even now! For the Lord will strike Israel,as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their wooden images, provoking the Lord to anger. And He will give Israel up becauseof the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned and who made Israel sin” (1 Kings 14:7-16). The short-term prophecy was fulfilled after Jeroboam died and his son Nadab reigned. He ruled Israel for only 2 years. “And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walkedin the way of his father, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin” (1 Kings 15:26). All 20 kings of Israel were evil and the phrase “and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he had made Israel sin” is used 14 times in the books of Kings.Baasha, of the house of Issachar, killed Nadab and all the house of Jeroboam, just as Ahijah prophesied. Baasha became king of Israel after Nadab’s death. Of course, he walked in the way of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin. Regarding the prophecy of I Kings 13:2 and the burning of bones on the bones of Jeroboam, it took approximately 300 years before it was fulfilled. Josiah was the King of Judahat the time and was one of the greatest and righteous kings after David. Israel had been conquered and exiled by the Assyrians for about 100 years when this prophecy was fulfilled. King Josiah restored true Yahweh worship to Judah and destroyed the many idols and altars that the two kingdoms had set up. Here is the fulfillment of 1 Kings 13:2: “Moreoverthe altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and burned the wooden image. As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs that were there on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar, and defiled it accordingto the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. Then he said, What gravestone is this that I see? So the men of the city told him, It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which youhave done against the altar of Bethel. And he said, Let him alone; let no one move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria” (2 Kings 23:15-18). Josiah killed the priests who were burning incense on the altar and burned their bones on the bones of the wicked kings and priests of Israel, including Jeroboam’s bones.God’s word always comes true, no matter how long it takes. Regarding some of the other descendants of Abraham, the kingdom of Edom (descendants of Esau) was a thorn in Israel’s side ever since the Israelites entered the Promised Land.During the time of David, the commander of the army of Israel, Joab, thought he had killed every male Edomite in the land. However, there was a child descendant of the king of Edom, named Hadad, who escaped to Egypt with some of his father’s Edomite servants.He caused much trouble for Solomon during his latter years. Hadad’s descendants would eventually repopulate and reclaim the land of Edom, which was located in what is now southwestern Jordan. They went to war against both Israel andJudah throughout the reigns of different kings. The Greeks called the Edomites “Idumeans.” King Herod was half Idumean and part Jew, as Herod’s father, Antipater, was an Idumaean and Herod’s mother was a Nabatean Arab princess from Petra. Antipater was bydescent an Edomite with a Jewish mother. His ancestors had converted to Judaism. Herod was raised as a Jew. During the waning days of Judah, when the kingdom was a vassal state of Babylon, the kingdoms of Moab and Ammon (descendants of Abraham’s family) took advantage of Judah’sweakness and sent raiders to pillage the land. In the days of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, he came up, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. And the Lord sentagainst him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servants the prophets. Surely at the commandmentof the Lord this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord wouldnot pardon. After 20 kings of Israel and approximately 207 years, Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in about 723 BC and the people were exported to different regions throughout theAssyrian kingdom. The kingdom of Judah had a combination of good and bad kings (a total of 19 kings and 1 queen). Their kingdom survived for approximately 344 years (from the reign of Rehoboam) before they were conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babyloniansin 586 BC. Jeremiah the prophet prophesied against kingdoms other than Judah, in which Babylon would be the instrument that God used to bring about their downfall. Egypt, the land ofPhilistine, Moab (descendants of Lot’s elder daughter), Ammon (descendants of Lot’s younger daughter), Edom (descendants of Esau, the city of Damascus, the cities of Kedar and Hazor (descendants of Ishmael) and Elam (Iran). He then prophesied about Babylon’sdestruction. Moab and Ammon helped Babylon (non-militarily) and made plans to carve up the Promised Land for themselves after the Babylonians carried Israel into captivity. This displeasedthe Lord and He had the Babylonians destroy them as well. Moab and Ammon ceased to exist as nations at that time. Edom did likewise. So Edom, Moab, and Ammon ceased to be nations at about the same time that Judah was carried off to Babylon. After 70 years of captivity, Israel was restored. In Jeremiah 48:47,the Lord promised one day to restore the fortunes of Moab as well. In Jeremiah 49:6, He made the same promise to Ammon, but He made no such promise to Edom. Obadiah also prophesied against the Edomites who were eventually driven out of their capital (Petra)by the Nabateans, a Bedouin people descended from Ishmael, in fulfillment of Obadiah’s prophecy. The Roman Empire conquered much of what is now Jordan, even the powerful trading kingdom of the Nabateans in 103 AD, whose capital was the fortress city of Petra. Of course,we know Israel’s history, with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD and the destruction of Judah in 135 AD. The entire Jewish population of Judah was deported and replaced with Gentiles. The province’s name was changed from Judah (or Judea)to Syria-Palestine. Thus began the centuries-old Jewish diaspora throughout the Gentile nations. Many modern-day Bereans see Psalm 83 as a future war between Israel and her long-time enemies described in Psalm 83:4-8. “They have said, Come, and let us cut them off frombeing a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek;the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have helped the children of Lot. Selah.” The modern-day version of these kingdoms and peoples would be, Edom (Palestinians and southern Jordan), Moab (Palestinians and central Jordan), Ammon (Palestinians and CentralJordan), Ishmaelites (Saudi Arabia), Gebal (Hezbollah and northern Lebanon), Tyre (Hezbollah and southern Lebanon, Amalek (Arabs of the Sinai area), Hagarenes (nomadic Egyptians), and Assyria (Syria and northern Iraq). I don’t believe this is a future war because I can’t see Jordan, Egypt, or Saudi Arabia getting into another war with Israel after Israel’s victories in 1948, 1967, and 1973,and the current war against Hamas. You better believe they are afraid of the military power of Israel. I believe this imprecatory prayer/psalm by Asaph was a short-term prophecy in which the seer saw the invasion of many peoples against Judah in the futuretime of King Jehoshaphat, or it could have been written by a son of Asaph during the time of Jehoshaphat. “It happened after this that the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat. Then some came andtold Jehoshaphat, saying, A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar” (which is En Gedi). And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—whom You would not let Israel invade when theycame out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them— here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit. O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power againstthis great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You” (2 Chronicles 20:1-2, 10-12). Mount Seir is in Edom (Jordan). Regarding this bad news, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, who stood up and said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants ofJerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you willfind them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem! The outcome was exactly how Jahaziel prophesied. The Jews did not even have to fight, for the LORD used one of his favorite war tactics against their enemies. He confusedthem so that they fought against each other, and so they helped to destroy one another. “So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped.And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. Then the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around” (2Chronicles 20: 24,29-30). In the near future, God will use this same tactic against Israel’s enemies who form a confederacy during the Gog/Magog War. After centuries of occupation by different kingdoms and peoples, the descendants of Abraham and Lot returned once again to the lands adjacent to the Jordan River. Here isa brief history of how Israel and Jordan (Edom, Ammon, Moab) became nations again. “Since the start of World War II, the British had been very strict about the immigration of Jews into Palestine, even turning boats loaded with refugees back to sea. In 1945,Britain, appointed by the League of Nations to rule Palestine, outlawed the immigration of Jews into the region. On May 22, 1946, the United Nations abolished the mandate for Transjordan and it became a sovereign state. In 1947, Britain ceased efforts to reconcile Arabs and Jews in Palestine, deferring to the General Assembly of the United Nations. On November 29, 1947, the U.N. voted topartition Palestine into two states. The Negev Desert (in southern Palestine), and the coastal region and easter Galilee (in northern Palestine) were set aside for the Jews, while Arabs were given the Gaza Strip (the southern coast) and the remaining areasof Palestine. Jerusalem was designated as an international city. The motion, which the United States and the Soviet Union supported, was denounced by the League of Arab States, which supported the cause of the Palestinian Arabs. The British mandate over Palestine was scheduled to end on May 15, 1948, at which time the English troops would be leaving. The day before, David Ben Gurion called to ordera historic meeting on May 14, 1948, and read Israel’s Declaration of Independence. For the first time in more than 2000 years, there was an independent Jewish state of Israel. The next day, Israel was attacked by five Arab nations: Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria,and Jordan. By the end of 1948, they had defeated the Arab nations and in so doing had conquered half of the territory the U.N. had planned for the new Arab nation (Palestine). The other half was divided between Jordan and Egypt. Israel controlled the westernhalf of Jerusalem and Jordan the eastern half, including the Old City and the Temple Mount. Israel was recognized as a sovereign state by the U.N, and was admitted as a member of the General Assembly.” {1} Israel’s neighbors continued to wage war against Israel in the decades that followed, including the Six-Day War in 1967, the Yom Kippur War in 1973, and the war in Lebanonin 1982. However, in 1978, peace talks between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin began. The talks were organized by Jimmy Carter at Camp David, Maryland. This led to an agreement in which Israel surrendered the Sinairegion to Egypt, in exchange for Egypt’s political recognition of Israel. Then on October 26, 1994, at Wadi Araba on the border between Israel and Jordan, King Hussein and Yitzhak Rabin signed a peace treaty that established a solid framework for future relations. There are several end-time prophecies concerning the kingdoms of Edom, Ammon, and Moab (descendants of Abraham or his relatives). One of them is found in Daniel 11 and concernsthe Antichrist and his many wars. “He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon” (Daniel 11:41). It appears the Antichristwill be unable to conquer Jordan during the time of the Great Tribulation. Israel is the “glorious land” mentioned in verse 41. “Rev. 12:13-17 tells us that after Satan is confined to Earth he will go after “the woman,” symbolic of Israel. But the woman will be given the wings of a great eagle, enablingher to flee into the desert to a place prepared for her, where she will be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, which is 3 ½ years, the duration of the Great Tribulation. This agrees with Matt. 24:15-21 where the Lord warned the believing remnantof Israel to flee to the mountains to escape the Great Tribulation. The closest mountains to Jerusalem are in Moab and Edom. Most scholars think the believing remnant of Israel will flee to the area of Bozrah, which was once the capital city of Edom. The abandoned fortress city of Petra is onlytwenty miles from Bozrah. This is where the remnant of the children of Israel will make their getaway with assistance from the LORD. The phrase “wings of a great eagle” in Rev. 12:14 is reminiscent of Exodus 19:4 where the Lord used the same phrase to describe the way he delivered Israel from the Egyptians.This implies the same kind of supernatural assistance, such as when Satan spews out a river of water to sweep the woman away. But the Lord will open the earth to swallow the river and save the woman. This will enrage Satan, but he will leave the woman andgo after other followers of Jesus (Rev. 12:15-17). These prophecies help us understand how Edom, Moab, and Ammon could escape the clutches of the anti-Christ. The Lord has chosen Petra as the city of refuge where He will protectHis people throughout the Great Tribulation. In doing so, He will make sure the whole area stays out of the hands of His enemy. It also explains why, when He returns, He will first go to Edom to clear the way for His people to return to Jerusalem (Isaiah 63:1-6).” {2} Before the Antichrist’s forces can destroy the remnant Israelis in Bozrah, Jesus will return to the earth with his angelic and redeemed mankind’s armies to save his peoplefrom annihilation. His return to Bozrah and His slaughter of the Antichrist’s forces is found in the prophecy of Isaiah 63:1-6. His garments are so stained with blood, that Isaiah describes Jesus’ apparel as looking like one who has been treading grapes ina winepress. It won’t be out of any consideration for Edom, Moab, and Ammon that God will protect them from the anti-Christ, but out of a need to preserve the believing remnant of Israel. However, after the Second Coming, the homelands of these three antagonists of Israel will become desolate wastelands. Ammon (northern Jordan), will suffer partial destructionand become a possession of Israel according to Jeremiah 49:1-2. Those who survive will turn to the Lord and a remnant of Ammon will be found in the Kingdom of Christ according to Jeremiah 49:6. Moab (central Jordan) will also suffer destruction, but it will not be total. Moab and Ammon’s lands are compared to Sodom and Gomorrah in Zephaniah 2:8-9. “I have heard theinsults of Moab and the taunts of the Ammonites, who insulted my people and made threats against their land. Therefore, as surely as I live, declares the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, Surely Moab will become like Sodom, the Ammonites like Gomorrah—a placeof weeds and salt pits, a wasteland forever. The remnant of my people will plunder them; the survivors of my nation will inherit their land.” It is believed Sodom and Gomorrah were located at the southern end of the Dead Sea. As with Ammon, the survivors in Moab will turn to the Lord and will be found in the Kingdom of Christ according to Jeremiah 48:47. It is Edom, however, that will receive an extra portion of God’s wrath. At the end of the age, Edom had been given ample opportunity to trust in the Lord but failed to respond.This results in the land of Edom becoming nothing but an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse according to Jeremiah 49:7-13 and Ezekiel 35:6-9. The smallest book of the Old Testament, Obadiah, concentrates its entire attention on Edom’s destruction.Obadiah says the destruction of Edom will be so total that nothing will remain of Esau’s descendants, while the descendants of his brother Jacob will own and possess the mountain of Edom. The Lord will use Israel to bring about the final destruction of Edom as described in Ezekiel 25:12-14. In the Kingdom of Christ, there will not be a nation called Edom. Likewise,the same can be said of Lebanon, as Israel’s boundaries will encompass all of modern-day Lebanon, according to Ezekiel 47:13-48:29. In the Millennium, Egypt will also be punished for their mistreatment of the Jews. Unlike Edom, Egypt’s desolation is to last for only the first forty years of the MillenniumKingdom. They will be dispersed all over the world, as recorded in Ezekiel 29:1-16. But afterward, the Egyptians will be regathered, becoming a kingdom again, although it will never be a powerful one again. In fact, it will be a lowly kingdom. “It shall bethe basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations” (Ezekiel 29:15). However, the LORD will deliver Egypt, and they will return to the LORD. Not only will Egypt undergo a conversion experience, but so will the ancient area of Assyria (northernIraq). In the Kingdom, when peace is restored, all borders will be open between Egypt, Iraq, and Israel. There will be economic, political, and religious unity between these kingdoms because they will all worship the same God, Yahweh. “In that day there willbe a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed is Egypt My people,and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance” (Isaiah 19:23-24). The land of Saudi Arabia (Kedar and Hazor) will be a perpetual desolation throughout the Millennial Kingdom, and the inhabitants will be dispersed worldwide. “I will scatterinto all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the Lord. And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation forever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it” (Jeremiah 49:32-33). Persia or Iran (Elam) will suffer destruction in the millennium and its inhabitants will be dispersed throughout the world according to Jeremiah 49:34-38. However, the destructionof Iran will only be partial and temporary. “And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from there the king and the princes, says the Lord. But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 49:38-39). Throughout the Millennial Kingdom, the earth will be transformed into a place of beauty reminiscent of the Garden of Eden. Crops, animals, and humans will flourish like neverbefore in the history of mankind. However, there will be two desolate areas of burning pitch and brimstone that will last throughout the millennium. The first area will be Babylon, according to Isaiah 13:20-22, Jeremiah 50:39-43, Revelation 18:1-2, 19:3. The second area of perpetual desolation will be Edom or southern Jordan, according to Isaiah 34:8-15, Ezekiel 35:10-15, and Jeremiah 49:17-18. It is thought that the animalsmentioned in these verses regarding Babylon and Edom are demons, for no animal can live in such an environment. While Satan is confined to the Abyss for 1000 years, his demons will be confined in the burning hell of Babylon and Edom. Regarding the remnant of the children of Israel, “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house ofJudah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that Iwill make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother,saying, Know the Lord, for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Randy Nettles -------------------------------------