Aug 23, 2006

The Israeli state is the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. It is fulfilling all the prophecies of Edom in the violent manner that the Bible portrays. Yet most evangelical Christians have been tricked into thinking that the Zionists are fulfilling the prophecies of the regathering of the House of Israel. This case of "identity theft" is also prophesied in the Bible.

Jacob stole Esau's identity in order to steal the blessing from Isaac. Gen. 27:15-19 says,

" (15) Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. . . (19) And Jacob said to his father, 'I am Esau your first-born'."

When Isaac and Esau discovered the ruse later, they were quite upset. Esau asked for a blessing also. Isaac did give him some consolation, saying in verse 40,

"And by your sword you shall live, and your brother you shall serve; but it shall come about when you become restless [Heb. rood, "to rule, tread down, have dominion, fight"], that you shall break his yoke from your neck." (NASB)

This tells us that Esau would ultimately have the dominion, or would rule, by his sword, by violence, treading down, and fighting. Because Jacob had stolen the dominion mandate (blessing) from him, Jacob would have to give it back at some point in history in order to reconcile the offense. This is what happened in 1948 when Britain gave up Palestine to the Zionists.

The word British means "covenant people." In Hebrew, Brith means "covenant" and ish means "man." They represented Jacob giving Esau that which he had taken by identity theft in Genesis 27. Yet Esau took it by the sword [terrorism in the 1940's], for that was consistent with his character.

Esau was able to do this, because they had convinced enough evangelicals that they were actually Jacob-Israel. It was another classic case of "identity theft," equal to that which Jacob had perpetrated upon Esau in Genesis 27.

Yes, the Zionists are fulfilling Bible prophecy, but it is not as most people think. Although evangelicals, like Isaac, were blind enough to be fooled by the identity switch, until 1948 they generally understood that the Jews would have to repent and turn to Christ before they could return to Palestine. But in 1948 that teaching ceased, because this did not happen. It was lost in the euphoria, and was replaced by the teaching that the war in 1948 was the beginning of the Great Tribulation, that the Antichrist would now arise by 1952, and that Christ would now come by 1955.

Of course, none of this happened. They say, everyone stumbles on the truth at some point. But they pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and continue on as if nothing had happened.

According to biblical law, when Israel would come into judgment and be removed from the land for rebellion against God, they could not return until they had repented. So although the evangelicals misapplied prophecy in their blindness, they were actually correct in their earlier teaching that Israel could not return without first repenting. We read of this law in Lev. 26:40-42,

" (40) If they confess the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me-- (41) I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies--or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, (42) then I will remember My covenant with Jacob . . . Isaac, and . . . Abraham as well, and I will remember the land."

Thus, if the Zionists had truly been returning as Judah, they would have had to repent first of their hostility against Jesus Christ, who is the "Me" in this passage. [See How a Rabbi Found Peace, in my "Articles and Poetry" section of the web site. Former Rabbi Dr. Max Wertheimer explains how he discovered that Jesus was the Yahweh of the Old Testament.]

Since the Jews did not want to repent, they could not return as Judahites. They had to find another identity that would allow them to return without accepting Christ. So they claimed the land as Edomites, lived by the sword, and stole Jacob's identity, according to the Scriptures.

In this way, God is reconciled with Esau. Esau can no longer claim that he was defrauded of his birthright and blessing that rightfully belonged to the oldest son. God saw to it that Esau would have opportunity to have it at the end of the age, even though God said in Malachi 1:3, "I have hated [Heb. sawney] Esau." God said that in order to let us know that Esau was protected under the law of the hated son in Deut. 21:15-17,

" (15) If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved [Heb. sawney, "hated"],and both the loved and the unloved have borne him sons, if the first-born son belongs to the unloved, (16) then it shall be in the day he wills what he has to his sons, he cannot make the son of the loved the first-born before the son of the unloved, who is the first-born. (17) But he shall acknowledge the first-born, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; to him belongs the right of the first-born."

Thus, the divine intent behind His statement, "I have hated Esau," is to put Esau under the protection of the divine law. It shows God's intention to give the birthright back to Esau in order to reconcile Jacob's offense in Gen. 27. However, the next verse in the law also reveals God's manner of judging Esau after he has proved himself to be an unworthy, rebellious son. Deut. 21:18-21 says,

" (18) If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother; and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them . . . (21) Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death. . ."

The Edomites have had over 50 years in which to prove themselves worthy of the birthright. It has come at the expense of the Ishmaelites, who, in the long run, have been given that land as their inheritance. When Edom's Zionists reach the end of their time, and God proves to all nations that Esau is an unworthy son, then they will turn against him and "stone him."

Right now, America is the last hold-out among the nations who still believes that Esau will repent. But the Israeli invasion of Lebanon has once again proven otherwise. Their blatant disregard for civilians in that war, their saturation of 200 or more towns with cluster bombs, and their immediate violation of the terms of the cease-fire agreement continues to turn all nations against them. If it were not for the blindness of Isaac (the Church), who still thinks Esau is Jacob, the age would have come to a close years ago.

Yet this will happen at some point in history. Such stubbornness and rebellion will not continue forever. They will be "stoned" by divine hailstones (Rev. 16:21), and "then hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies" (Isaiah 28:17). Esau will be judged once Jacob's sin against him has been paid, and the identity theft deception has been exposed.

Meanwhile, God is also using Esau to humble Ishmael, so that He can give them an earthly land inheritance suitable to Ishmael as a son of Abram. They will receive it when "God hears," for that is the meaning of the name Ishmael. The Bible indicates that they will be corrected, but not destroyed.

This is the final part of a series titled "Ishmael and Esau." To view all parts, click the link below.

Ishmael and Esau