The Children of Israel Their Promises and Prophecies of Their Future.

CHAPTER 2 NATIONAL GREATNESS WAS PROMISED TO ISRAEL

NOTICE CAREFULLY! UNDERSTAND THESE PROMISES that were promised to Abraham to be passed down to his descendants: Genesis 12:1-3. “Now ETERNAL had said to Abram: 'Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’" Genesis 17:1-5. “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, ETERNAL appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am Almighty SOVEREIGN; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My Covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.’ Then Abram fell on his face, and the SOVEREIGN talked with him, saying: ‘As for Me, behold, My Covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.’” Notice the promise is now conditional upon Abraham’s obedience and perfect living and the “great nation” now becomes many nations—more than one nation. ...17:6. “And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings (more than one) shall come out of thee.” Notice, these nations and kings shall come out of Abraham—physical generations—multiple seed. Moreover, note that scattered churches do not form NATIONS. ...17:7-8. “And I will establish My Covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting 1. Covenant, to be SOVEREIGN to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan [Palestine] as an everlasting 2. possession; and I will be their SOVEREIGN.” Notice the land—material possession—is promised to the plural seed, of whom ETERNAL is “their,” not “his,” SOVEREIGN. The plural pronoun “their” is used again in verse 9: “and thy seed after thee in their generations.” Now examine this PROMISE carefully!   The future of great nations rests on the promises ETERNAL CREATOR made unconditional to Abraham after his obedience. The only hope of life after death for anyone, regardless of race, color, or creed, is dependent on the spiritual phase of these promises to Abraham written and recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures. 3. How Much Land? What Size Nations? These are not casual, incidental, unimportant promises. These are basic—the foundation for the establishment of the greatest world powers; the basis for any personal salvation spiritually; for any hope of eternal life for humans. These are stupendous promises. The CREATOR, the SOVEREIGN bases the future of humankind, on them. These same promises were re-promised to Isaac, Abraham’s son, and to Jacob, the son of Isaac. After 430 years, the SOVEREIGN raised up his nation Israel—descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose name the SOVEREIGN changed to Israel. To lead these people out of Egyptian slavery and to the Promised Land, the SOVEREIGN called Moses. Moses was not seeking the SOVEREIGN. Nevertheless, the SOVEREIGN had caused Moses to be trained specifically for this commission by having him reared as a prince in the palace of the Egyptian pharaoh. So now again, after Moses had been specially trained for leadership, the SOVEREIGN called him out of the world to lead the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob out of Egyptian slavery. At the end of the 40 years Moses died. The Israelites were led across the Jordan River into the Promised Land under Joshua. After Joshua died, every man did what seemed right in his own mind. These people through disobedience to the SOVEREIGN would fall captive to surrounding kings. Then they would cry out to ETERNAL and He would send a leader to free them. This process was repeated many times. Israel Demanded Human King After a few generations, the SOVEREIGN gave them a prophet to lead and rule them, the prophet Samuel. Nevertheless, in due time the people demanded a human king to rule them, as other nations were ruled. ETERNAL told Samuel it was not he that they rejected, but the SOVEREIGN. Samuel had ruled only as ETERNAL’s servant and actually it had been the CREATOR’s sovereignly rule. The SOVEREIGN gave them what they wanted, King Saul, a tall and towering leader. However, Saul disobeyed the SOVEREIGN and ETERNAL replaced him with King David. David did sin, but each time he sinned, he repented and turned from the sin. David became “a man after the SOVEREIGN’s own heart.” The SOVEREIGN made an unconditional and unbreakable Covenant with David, assuring that his dynasty through Solomon,4.   ruling over Israelites, would continue unbroken forever. Finally, in the SOVEREIGN’s due time, that throne will be taken over by the promised Mashiach.5. Israel Split into Two Nations David’s son Solomon taxed the people very heavily and when he died his son Rehoboam became king. The people sent a delegation with an ultimatum to Rehoboam. If he would reduce their taxes, they would serve him. If not, they would reject him as king. On the advice of the younger men among his counselors, Rehoboam told the people he would lay even heavier taxes on them. Thereupon, the people of the Northern Tribes decided against the Royal House of David. They named as king, Jeroboam,6. who had occupied the office comparable to a Prime Minister under King Solomon. Since Rehoboam was seated on the throne in Jerusalem, the people of Israel (the northern ten-tribes) chose a new capital some distance north of Jerusalem. The tribes of Judah7.  and Benjamin decided to remain loyal to Rehoboam and they became the nation of Judah with their capital still in Jerusalem. Upon ascending the throne, Jeroboam caused Israel to sin (1 Kings 10). He deposed the Levites from the office of priesthood, changed the set-apart festivals of the seventh month to the eighth month, set up two golden calves to be worshipped, and changed the seventh day Sabbath to Sunday the first day of the week.8. The Sabbath had been made an everlasting Covenant by the SOVEREIGN between Him and Israel, by which they would be identified from all other people (Exodus 31:12-18) as the SOVEREIGN’s nation Israel and by which they would be brought into weekly remembrance that ETERNAL was their CREATOR. For in six days the SOVEREIGN renewed or re-created the earth (creation is the proof of the SOVEREIGN) and He rested on the Sabbath (Genesis 2:2-3). The Ten Lost Tribes The ten-tribed kingdom of Israel continued in sin, rejecting the pleadings of prophets that the SOVEREIGN sent to them. In a siege of war, about 721 to 718 BCE, Assyria conquered the House of Israel. They were moved from their homes, farms, and villages and transported as a captive people to Assyria on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. Within a hundred years, they migrated northwest and became known as the Lost Ten-Tribes. To their hurt, they had lost the Covenant Sign identifying them as Israel. They had lost the knowledge of the SOVEREIGN their Creator. They soon lost even the Hebrew language. The world has never known what became of them. The world in general, mistakenly, has considered that all Israelites were Jews. In Scripture the term Jew applies to the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi. The Levites had joined the kingdom of Judah when they were expelled by Jeroboam.9. In the 19th and 20th centuries, these nations became the wealthiest and the most powerful nations on the face of the earth and remain so into the beginning of the 21st century. They have possessed, at their height of power, almost three fourths of all the wealth and resources of the world. All other nations combined had little more than a fourth of wealth divided among them. Never has there been anything like it in history. Never did a people spread out and grow so rapidly to wealth and power. Never were a people so rich. Do you know why? Could Prophecy Ignore the Greatest Powers on Earth? The understanding of the magnitude of the promises given to the Patriarch Abraham is based on the astonishing identity of the American and British peoples in Scriptural prophecies. This identity is very eye opening and astounding. In addition, it is the strongest proof of the inspiration and authority of the Hebrew Scriptures. It is, at the same time, the strongest proof of the very active existence of the living Almighty SOVEREIGN! If the people of the United States, the British nations, and the Northwestern European nations such as Belgium, Holland, France, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark are mentioned in the Scriptures, where are they mentioned? Consider, too, our peoples today base their laws on basic Scriptural principles. Manasseh and Ephraim have sent missionaries into every land on earth and have printed and distributed Bibles by many millions of copies in all languages. It is important to note that these millions of bibles contain two divisions. However, it is sad to realize that the false New Testament has been widely distributed worldwide with the Hebrew Scriptures sort of as a tag along, but at least now everybody has access to the Hebrew Scriptures. We know the prophecies definitely refer to Russia, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Ethiopia, Libya, and Egypt of today. Could these prophecies then ignore modern kingdoms like Britain and America? Is it reasonable? Assuredly, it is reasonable that Britain and The U.S. are not ignored. The fact is, we are mentioned more often in Scripture than any other people. Yet, our identity has remained hidden to the many as one of the Mysteries of the Ages. Only in a few cases are modern nations mentioned by their ancient names that they have kept until today, nations such as Ethiopia, Libya, and Egypt. Usually nations are referred to by the names of their ancient ancestor from whom they sprang and in a few cases; the names are the same. Therefore, Turkey is referred to in prophecy as Esau or Edom because the Turks are some of the descendants of Esau. In like manner, the Arabs are spoken of as Ishmael, the Russians as Magog. The Scriptural story of the ancestry of the peoples of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel and their modern prophetic identity is the most amazing, astounding, fascinating, and interesting story ever told. That story is the binding story-thread that runs throughout the Scriptures binding it together. From the time of Jamestown, the first permanent British colony in America, the British people HAVE BEEN A FREE PEOPLE! Although America was a colony of the British and gained its independence later, both peoples are of the same general bloodline and NEITHER WERE SLAVES TO A FOREIGN NATION.10. Britain and the United States became great world powers in the nineteenth century. These two—until then small, minor countries—spurted to power and greatness among nations, as no previous nation(s) had ever grown and multiplied in wealth, resources and power before. While in Egypt, Joseph became the father of two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim (Genesis 41:50-52), who were counted as sons of Jacob (48:5-6) and whose tribes dominated the northern nation of Israel. The name Joseph is used later in the Old Testament as a reference to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (Numbers 1:32; 36:1,5; 1 Kings 11:28) or as a designation for the whole Northern Kingdom (Psalm 78:67; Ezekiel 37:16,19; Amos 5:6,15; 6:6; Obadiah 18; Zechariah 10:6).11. The title Children of Israel applied to all thirteen tribes until the death of Jacob (Israel) and he blessed the two sons of Joseph with the name Israel. Genesis 48:15-17. “And he [Jacob/Israel] blessed Joseph, and said: ‘SOVEREIGN, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The SOVEREIGN who has fed me all my life long to this day, The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name [Israel] be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.’ Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim...” “...Joseph protested but Jacob told him ‘I know it, but the younger Ephraim shall be greater sooner than the older.’” Jacob adopted these two grandsons to be his sons on his deathbed. Therefore, the Ten Tribes have two leading tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph. Since Ephraim received the blessing of the firstborn, the tribe of Ephraim was the chief tribe and in any combination with other tribes, the lot was called “Israel.” The firstborn son replaced Reuben who had forfeited the birthright because of incest.   Ephraim became the Royal Tribe. These two Tribes have received the unconditional material blessings promised to Abraham by our ETERNAL SOVEREIGN! These blessings were finally given after a long period delay because of their constant rebellious disobedient attitude. This delay brought these magnificent blessings into play in order for them to culminate in the latter-day Times of Jacob's Trouble, with the older son Manasseh being the mightiest on earth at the beginning of the 21st Century. By the early 1800’s, London had become the financial hub of the world. The United States had exploded out of its swaddling clothes of the 13 original states and had acquired the expansive Louisiana Purchase. It was sprouting up to become the mightiest nation of all time. However, Britain first burst forth into greatness and, until the two World Wars, had become the greatest empire or Commonwealth of Nations in all history. The British and American peoples bearing the name Israel between them had acquired the lion’s share of all the cultivated physical resources and wealth of the world. All other nations combined possessed barely more than a fourth.   Britannia ruled the waves and the world’s commerce was carried on by water. The sun never set on British possessions. Our Wealth Promised Abraham Centuries ago this same wealth, power, and national greatness was promised by the Almighty to Abraham. Yet, few have ever noticed this astonishing fact of Scripture. The promise of the Mashiach (Messiah or Anointed One) and of his kingdom rule is well known by the most superficial student of Scripture. They know that ETERNAL gave the spectacular promise to Abraham of the Mashiach to be born as Abraham’s descendant. However, the Mighty One also made another entirely different and amazing promise to Abraham. Notice how CREATOR called Abraham and the twofold nature of His promise:12. Genesis 12:1-3. “Now ETERNAL had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that ill show you. I will make you “a Great Nation”... and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” Notice the twofold promise: “I will make of you a ‘Great Nation.’” This is a national, material promise that his flesh-born children should become a great nation—a promise of national prominence. “IN YOU ALL FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.” That statement could have two meanings: a) The greatness of this promised nation would be so great that the other nations would be blessed by it. b) If you believe it to mean the promise of the Mashiach, then the same promise is repeated in: Genesis 22:18. “And in your seed13.  shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” Greatness as Well as Blessing The “great nation” promise refers alone to national greatness—not to the one seed, the Mashiach, but the plural, multiple seed of natural birth is made certain by ETERNAL’s repetition of His promise in detail later. Genesis 17:1-5. “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, ETERNAL appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am Almighty SOVEREIGN; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My Covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly...  and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.’” Note that the promise as given is now conditional upon Abraham’s obedience and perfect living. In addition, the “great nation” now becomes many nations. This cannot refer to the “one seed,” the Mashiach. The following verses prove this. Genesis 17:6. “I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.” Notice, these nations and kings (plural) shall come out of Abraham—physical generations—multiple seed, not just one descendent, the Mashiach. This is strictly speaking of national greatness. Genesis 17:7-9. “And I will establish My Covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting Covenant, to be SOVEREIGN to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan [Palestine], as an everlasting possession; and I will be their SOVEREIGN... As for you, you shall keep My Covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.” Notice the land (material possession) is promised to the plural seed, of which ETERNAL is “their,” not “his,” SOVEREIGN. The plural noun “descendants” is in all three verses. Abraham’s nephew, Lot, had moved to Canaan with him and there was quarreling between Lot’s herdsmen and Abraham’s herdsman. Abraham gave Lot first choice on where he wanted to go and Lot chose the watered plains. Then after Lot departed, ETERNAL spoke to Abraham and said... Genesis 13:14-16. “...Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are; northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.” Again, notice the twofold nature of the promise: “A Great Nation” all the land in all directions that he could see from the mountains, and in addition, his seed would be as numerous as the grains of dust. “Families of the earth be blessed” the land was to be his and his descendants forever. Forever requires eternal life, which ties into the promised Mashiach. Furthermore, Abraham’s descendants were to receive all of the land between the Nile and the Euphrates Rivers (Genesis 15:7,18). Notice carefully, the JEWS have never been more than one nation. They are not, and never have been, MANY nations. The Jews were given other promises that we will cover in the next chapter. Following is an amazing prophecy, a solemn promise from our Almighty CREATOR that could not be fulfilled in the Mashiach, in the Jews, in the “Christian” Church, or in any other church. We must look for a number of NATIONS apart from either the church or the Jews. Amazing as it is, that is exactly what we must do or deny our Almighty CREATOR’s promise! The Mighty One put Abraham to the test, and Abraham, through faith14.   obeyed, even to being willing to sacrifice his only son, if need be. Moreover, after Abraham’s test, the Covenant no longer was conditional. The Covenant had become UNCONDITIONAL. Genesis 22:16-18. “By Myself I have sworn,” says ETERNAL, “because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son; blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My Voice.” The promise had become UNconditional. ETERNAL had sworn to make it good. ETERNAL does not promise these blessings depending on whether Abraham or his children do certain things. ETERNAL promised them to Abraham because Abraham has already performed his part of the agreement. If these promises could be broken or annulled, then no promise in Scripture is sure! Since Abraham has already performed his part of the agreement, now the Mighty One must perform His part without fail. Notice an additional detail of the promise. The nations that are made up of Abraham and Sarah’s family descendants are to POSSESS THE GATES of their enemies. A gate is a narrow passage of entrance or exit. When speaking nationally, a “gate” would be a passage such as the Panama Canal, the Suez Canal, and the Strait of Gibraltar. This promise is repeated in Genesis 24:60. Now we will cover the promises to the Jews. Will be Continued in Chapter 3 [ Chapter 3 ] [ The Promises to Abraham - Introduction Index Page ] [The Hope of Israel Main Page ] Footnotes [1] An everlasting covenant is without end; thus, this promise carries a promise of eternal life. [2] An everlasting covenant is without end; thus, this promise carries a promise of eternal life. [3] Since there is only one SOVEREIGN, He only has one set of Scriptures--the Hebrew Scriptures. [4] The ruling kings come only through Solomon; see I Chronicles 22:7-10; 28:6-7; 2 Samuel 7:12-13,16 [5] See our booklet “New Proof of the Messiah.” [6] Jeroboam was also an Ephraimite; see 1 Kings 11:26. [7] The English word “Judah” comes from the Hebrew word “Yehuwdah” (Strong's #H3063) and “is the tribal name of Judah a son of Jacob.” After the death of Solomon the nation of Israel split into the two separate nations of Israel and Judah. Due to its location the tribe of Benjamin remained with the tribe of Judah to make the new nation of “Judah.” The citizens of the newly enlarged Judah are called in Hebrew “Yehuwdiy” (Strong's #H3064), which in English is Judaite or Jew due to these people are now a mixture of the old tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi. [8] Mystery of the Ages, by Herbert W. Armstrong, p. 149. [9] Ibid., p. 150. [10] This is an important point that we will tie together with the Prophet Ezekiel later. [11] Holman's Dictionary Electronic Versions article on “Joseph.” [12] To get the full meaning of any topic read all Scripture in context in your own set of Scriptures. [13] To see who this one seed is read our article “New Proof of the Messiah.” [14] Genesis 22:5,8. Abraham knew he could trust the Mighty One’s Promise of a multitude of many children.