App
Fred R. Coulter—August 12, 2006
- PDF | Audio | [Up]
Just when everyone was watching the middle East and wondering what was going to happen with the war of 2006. All of a sudden we had the huge thing in London, supposedly involving ten plane flying from England to America where they had devised an explosive that was non-detectable—either a liquid or gel.
I guess they had been working on it for quite a while, so they had picked up a whole gang of British citizens of Pakistani extract, third generation, who have been taught in Mosques their hateful diatribe!
Notice how the news has shifted from 'radical' Muslims to Muslims in general. What they are finding is what we have understood, that it's in the nature of the people, and the people have a religion suited to their nature. That's quite an interesting way to look at it, and quite a thing that is happening.
They were planning to time the blowup of these planes to be as near simultaneous as possible over the middle of the Atlantic. Of course, had that happened, it would have been something greater than '9/11/2001.' I think that people do not understand:
- the nature of those instigating these kinds of attacks
- why God allows it
- why God does it
Let's examine that today! I want to focus in on three or four of the descendants of Esau. Let's see the enemy that we are up against. Not only the Jews, but also us. Isn't it interesting that it is happening to the white 'Christian'—so called—western civilization?
Psalm 83:1: "Keep not silent, O God; do not be quiet, and do not be still, O God, for lo, Your enemies are in an uproar; and those who hate You have lifted up their head" (vs 1-2). It's all involved in hatred!
Verse 3: "They take crafty counsel against Your people, and plot together against Your hidden ones. They have said, 'Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation…'"
Doesn't that sound like Ahmadinejad of Iran? I wonder if he is Persian or not, because the Iranians descended from Persia, but I don't' think all in Iran are Persians. He doesn't look like some of the other people.
"'…so that the name Israel may be remembered no more.' For with one heart they have plotted together; they have made a covenant against You" (vs 4-5).
Notice the ones named first, v 6: The tabernacles of Edom… [we're going to examine some of the descendants of Edom] …and the Ishmaelites…"—the Arabs.
Let's understand that Edom, who is Esau, had 12 dukes, so they ended up with 12 tribes or nations, but not nations in the sense that we know, because of what God did to them. We will see that some of their descendants, especially the meanest ones, are scattered throughout what we would call the Muslim world.
"…of Moab, and the Hagrites; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek…" (vs 6-7). It's very interesting that Amalek is one of the descendants of Edom. So, we have two from Edom.
"…the Philistines…" (v 7). The Jews today say that the Palestinians are the Philistines. So, we are looking at enemies that are absolutely implacable.
- Why have we fallen into such a situation that that's the way that it is?
- Why is the world so impotent in trying to handle it and do it?
"…with the people of Tyre" (v 7). It's interesting, we've heard about the city of Tyre and how the Jews have bombed it.
Verse 8: "And Assyria…" Not the Germans, but the Assyrians who live up in the north-northwestern part of what is Iraq to day. They are some of the fiercest fighters.
"…has joined with them; they have helped the children of Lot. Selah" (v 8). The children of Lot are Moab and Ammon, which is basically today Jordan and Kuwait.
The Ishmaelites are all the tribes of the Arabs, and they are basically in the area of Saudi Arabia and then the United Arab Emirates and so forth, probably includes Yemen and so on.
Another thing that's important that you're going to notice with this sermon. We are not going to cover one single New Testament Scripture, unless I add it in later. Think about that for a minute.
Since we're dealing with the Old Testament and we have to know where these nations are today, if you belong to a Protestant church or Catholic church and they tell you that the Old Testament is no relevant, which means that you won't be able to understand what's going on. You won't be able to understand the people that we're dealing with that are causing all the problems in the world.
This is review of Ishmael; Genesis 16:11: "And the angel of the LORD said to her, 'Behold, you are with child, and shall bear a son. And you shall call his name Ishmael because the LORD has heard your affliction. And he will be a wild man. His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him. And he shall live in the presence of all his brothers'" (vs 11-12). That shows the nature of it.
Jacob and Esau are twins but two different nations! You can look at the pattern in the Bible.
- When did all of this family strife and killing begin? When Cain killed Abel!
- What did that result in? Until the Flood you had the line of Cain against the line of Seth!
They had warring continuously, and finally the line of Cain and the way of Cain overcame the descendants of Seth. So, this family feud between them ended up with the destruction of the human race. When we get to the end, we find it again, another family feud, only this time grown great into nations. What did Jesus say? If He didn't cut short the time, there would be no flesh left!
In Gen. 25 the two were struggling and Rebekah didn't know what was happening:
Genesis 25:23: "And the LORD said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb, and two kinds of people shall be separated from your belly….'" It's in the genes! That's why assuming that all people are freedom-loving and just give them freedom and they'll be 'nice little patty-cake' children is not so!
"…And the one people shall be stronger than the other people, the older shall serve the younger" (v 23). That always, always gripes them! Then Esau sold his birthright to Jacob.
What about Gen. 25:1-6? That is the other children of Abraham, so there is from Keturah he had, v 2: "…Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And Jokshan begat Sheba and Dedan…." (vs 2-3).
Then it lists the rest of offspring. These are not described as enemies, but these are described as descendants from Abraham, not counted in the blessing. These are the ones who have been left out of the national greatness that was promised to the descendants of Jacob.
So, you also have some jealousy with them, but you don't have the perpetual hatred and hostility. They took their possessions and moved on into the east, and I think a lot of them are like Azervaijan, Kazajastan, Uzbekistan, etc.; those nations, though they're Muslim, don't have the hostility and hatred that you see from the descendants of Esau and, as we'll see later, Amalek.
This gives you a broad overview. Jacob got the birthright blessing, and here's all that Isaac could bless Esau with, when he said:
Genesis 27:38: "And Esau said to his father, 'Have you but one blessing, my father?….' [v 39]: And Isaac his father answered and said to him, 'Behold, your dwelling shall be far from the fatness of the earth and far from the dew of heaven from above. And you shall live by your sword…'" (vs 38-40). 'Every hand against his neighbor'; very, very bloody people.
Then it talks about that in the end they will 'break the yoke' and so forth. This is what the descendants of Esau are trying to do now.
Let's see where some of the descendants of Esau are. Gen. 36 gives the genealogy and the tables of the generations of Esau.
Genesis 36:1: "And these are the generations of Esau, that is Edom." You will notice that they're all intermixed with the Canaanites.
Let's see where one of the descendants of Esau/Edom is particularly singled out. Then we'll follow this through.
Verse 12: "And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz, Esau's son. And she bore to Eliphaz, Amalek…"
We're going to see that Amalek is listed in the Bible as one that God would have war with in every generation. We're also going to see that Amalek is no longer a nation, but scattered in the different Muslim populations of the world, especially in the Middle East.
What we are dealing with, with Amalek, is one of the cruelest, bloodiest of the descendants of Esau. If we know them by their fruits, then we can probably understand where these extreme hateful militants come from. Probably some of the descendants of Amalek are scattered within the rest of Esau, Edom and the Ishmaelites.
Exodus 17:8: "Then Amalek came and made war against Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, 'Choose men for us, and go out to fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.'" (vs 8-9).
As long as Moses' hands were up in the air, Israel prevailed and Joshua and Aaron held up his hands so that the children of Israel won the battle.
Verse 14: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Write this as a memorial in a book… [the book of Exodus] …and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly wipe out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.'" That's not going to be accomplished until Christ returns.
Verse 15: "And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it The LORD My Banner. And he said, 'Because the LORD has sworn that the LORD will have war against Amalek from generation to generation'" (vs 15-16).
So here we have a warring people against the children of Israel, against the ten tribes and the Jews that would be in every generation! That's what's so hard for people to grasp today. If you go back and look at the history of these people and what has happened, it is just drenched in blood from one end to the other! That's not to say that the other nations haven't gotten involved in warring and killing, they certainly have.
Why would God do this? God uses Amalek, because of its nature, as rod of correction against the children of Israel when they sin! What we are going to see is that most people don't understand the cause of war that goes on in the Middle East, and all of the terrorist activities that are going on, and why they are so dedicated against the Jews and America and Britain.
Isn't it interesting where some of the most devastating things that have happened have been in England and America, and then the things in France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden. Not too much in Germany, because the Germans won't put up with too much, they'll put a cap on it.
But you don't see this happening in China. You see a little bit happening in southern Russia. You don't see this happening very much in India, except in the disputed territory of Cashmere. It's all directed at the western civilizations. We'll see why:
Num. 14—the children of Israel rebelled against God and didn't want to go into the 'promised land.' So, God told them not to go in, but 'you're going to wander for 40 years:
Numbers 14:34: "According to the number of the days in which you searched the land…"
Verse 40: "And they… [the people] …rose up early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, 'Behold we are here, and will go up to the place which the LORD has promised, for we have sinned.'"
After God has already executed His judgment, it's too late for repentance!
Verse 41: "And Moses said, 'Why do you now go beyond the command of the LORD, when it shall not succeed?…. [you're not going up] …Do not go up, for the LORD is not among you. And shall you not be struck down by your enemies? For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the LORD, therefore, the LORD will not be with you.'" (vs 41-43).
This is important for us to understand. We'll confirm it when we get to the account of Solomon. Whenever the descendants of Israel sin, God raises up Edom, Esau and the Philistines. Not that there aren't other enemies, but these are three most vicious primary ones that want to kill, destroy and behead.
- Why would God do that?
- Is it because God is hateful? No!
It's because the people don't realize—and they've had plenty of warnings—that when you reject God and leave Him, these things are bound to happen! If you never read the Old Testament, and you never read the examples here… Remember what Paul said, 'All these things happened as examples for us so that we don't do like they did' (1-Cor. 10).
So, when you don't read the Old Testament, and you don't understand who these people have descended from, you don't know what's going on. What I want you to do is just watch the news and keep this in mind and see how things work out.
Verse 44: "But they presumed to go up to the hilltop. However, the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD and Moses did not leave the camp. And the Amalekites and the Canaanites who were living in that mountain came down, and struck them down… [slaughtered them] …and beat them back to Hormah" (vs 44-45).
Let's see how Edom treated the children of Israel; Numbers 20:14: "And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, 'Thus says your brother Israel, "You know all the trouble that has happened to us, How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have lived in Egypt a long time. And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers"'" (vs 14-15).
Verse 17: "'Let us pass, I pray you, through your country….'" [v 18]: And Edom said to him, 'You shall not pass by me, lest I come out against you with the sword.'"
Their first solution is killing, even when peace would be preferable. Isn't that a little bit like what's happening today? Yes! Then God said to remember that.
Now, here's part of a parable given by Balaam, hired by Balak; Numbers 24:20: "And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable and said, 'Amalek was the first of the nations. But his latter end is to destruction.'" That's all in God's hands to handle in the ways that He's going to handle.
Let's look at why God said that He would have 'war with Amalek in every generation.' It might be interesting if you can get Langer's Encyclopedia of World History and follow along with the nations in the Middle East and see how they behaved. We have the same kind of mentality today, and that is kill the children and the weak ones! Isn't that what they do with terrorist bombings and so forth. You throw in the Philistines in there and the Palestinians. They're both in there because we're going to see that the Philistines, Edom and Amalek.
Deuteronomy 25:17: "Remember what Amalek did to you by the way when you came forth out of Egypt, how he met you by the way and struck those of you who lagged behind… [the back of the column] …and all the feeble behind you when you were faint and weary. And he did not fear God. And it shall be when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies all around in the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget" (vs 17-19).
Quite an indictment—isn't it? Let's see how this was carried out. When He says to 'blot them out as a nation' that doesn't mean to get rid of all of the Amalekites, because He said in the prophecy in Exo. 17 that He would have 'war with Amalek from generation to generation.' I want you to notice the enemies that Saul—as the first king of Israel—fought against.
Remember where we began in Psa. 83, because what we're going to see is that these people have been perpetual enemies of the children of Israel and the Jews.
1-Samuel 14:47: "And Saul took over the kingdom of Israel and fought against all his enemies on every side, with Moab, and with the sons of Ammon, and with Edom, and with the kings of Zobah, and with the Philistines. And wherever he turned himself, he troubled them." In other words they were all around him all the time.
Read Judges and you will find that God used the Amalekites, the Edomites, the Philistines, and the Canaanites as hands of punishment against Israel for going against God. That's what we're really dealing with in today's world.
Verse 48: "And he gathered an army and struck the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who spoiled them." Then it lists all the sons and so forth.
Verse 52: "And the war was heavy against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man, or any brave man, he took him to himself"—drafted him into the army!
1-Sam. 15 becomes a very key portion of the Bible to understand what is going on.
1-Samuel 15:1: "And Samuel said to Saul, 'The LORD sent me to anoint you to be king over His people, over Israel. And now listen to the voice of the words of the LORD.'"
We're also going to learn another lesson here: Israel did not listen to God. They want all the blessings of God… And there's another thing we need to consider in it: the modern day descendants of Abraham, especially the sons of Joseph—Ephraim and Manasseh, Britain and America—have received the things that were prophesied that they would receive. Not because they were righteous, but when their sins reach a certain level then God uses these people to correct them.
God gives them a chance here in this particular case to rid the world of most of them!
Verse 2: "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I will punish Amalek for that which he did to Israel, how he set against him in the way when he came up from Egypt. Now, go and strike Amalek, and completely destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey'" (vs 2-3).
The children grow up! This is God, the One Who became Jesus Christ, so He's not that sweet-looking long-haired sycophant that you see on most pictures of Jesus. God is going to execute His correction!
He uses them to correct Israel, and when He's done correcting Israel, He uses Israel to correct them! We will see this going back and forth down through the history of the Old Testament. You know what happened, they went down there and they didn't do as God said.
Verse 6: "And Saul said to the Kenites, 'Go! Depart! Get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them, for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.' So, the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. And Saul struck the Amalekites from Havilah, as you come to Shur, which is over across from Egypt. And he took Agag… [note that name] …the king of the Amalekites alive. And he completely destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fatlings and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not completely destroy them. But everything that was vile and feeble they completely destroyed. And the Word of the LORD came to Samuel saying, 'It repents Me that I have set up Saul to be king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not performed My commandments.'…." (vs 6-11).
Verse 15: "And Saul said, 'They… [the people] …have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God. And the rest we have completely destroyed.'"
So, they did the thing that most people do. 'If we give it to God, He's got to honor it.' Well, God doesn't honor it! So then, He told them:
Verse 17: "And Samuel said, 'When you were little in your own sight…'"—you were doing find and were anointed king.
Verse 18: "And the LORD sent you on the way and said, 'Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until you destroy them.' Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD?…." (vs 18-19).
In every case that we've examined here, what happens? They didn't obey the voice of the Lord! They didn't obey the words of God!
Verse 20: "And Saul said to Samuel, 'Yes, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD… [v 21]: But the people took from the spoil… [v 22]: And Samuel said, 'Does the LORD have as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice! To hearken is better 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!'" (vs 20-23).
Then the rest of the story is that Saul wanted to have a public display of worshipping with Samuel, so Samuel finally gave into it. What happened was:
Verse 32: "And Samuel said, 'Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.' And Agag came to him cautiously. And Agag said, 'Surely the bitterness of death is at hand.' And Samuel said, 'As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.' And Samuel… [a priests of God, prophet of God] …cut Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal" (vs 32-33)—viciousness against viciousness!
1-Samuel 22:9: "And answered Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said, 'I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.'…. [Ahimelech at that time was the priest.] …And he asked of the LORD for him and gave him food and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. And the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests in Nob. And they came, all of them, to the king. And Saul said, 'Hear now, you son of Ahitub.' And he answered, 'Here I am, my lord.' And Saul said to him, 'Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword, and have asked of God for him, that he should rise against me to lie in wait, as at this day?'" (vs 9-13).
Verse 17: "And the king said to the guards that stood around him, 'Turn and kill the priests of the LORD because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled and did not reveal it to me.' But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD. And the king said to Doeg, 'You turn and fall upon the priests.' And Doeg the Edomite turned and fell upon the priests. And on that day he killed eighty-five persons who wore a linen ephod" (vs 17-18). Willing to do the dirty work!
1-Kings 11 is very instructive. This is after Solomon built the temple. It was dedicated, everything was all set. He was doing well, God was blessing him and he had rest from all of his enemies round about. So, who were some of the enemies round about? Edomites, Amalekites, Moab, Ammon and the Philistines!
Not only did Solomon sin, but all the children of Israel sinned. They said that if the king does it 'we can do it.' If he worships all these other gods, 'it's okay for us to do it.' So then, God sent a warning to Solomon and told him that He was going to split the nation after his death.
1-Kings 11:14: "And it came to pass the LORD stirred up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was of the king's seed in Edom."
Then it tells what happened, that Hadad fled to Egypt and when he heard that David had died he came back and joined himself with the Syrians.
Verse 23: "And God stirred up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah. And he gathered men to himself and became head over a marauding band…" (vs 23-24).
What we have here is the same thing we see today: groups of men coming against the children of Israel when they sin and leave God. So, God raises them up. While we say today that what we need to do is 'have better intelligence and infiltrate the mosques and find out what these people are doing and nail them and kill them.' That's not the solution! It won't work because the problem is not the attacks; the attacks are the effects of sin!
Verse 31—Ahijah the prophet was talking to Jeroboam and described what they were doing: "And he said to Jeroboam, 'Take ten pieces for yourself. For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, "Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you.'"'"
Verse 33: "Because they… [the children of Israel] …have forsaken Me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the goddess of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways, to do what is right in My eyes, and to keep My statutes and My judgments, as David his father did."
That's the cause! Sin is the cause!
Now let's see another prophecy concerning Edom, which has to do with our day today. God remembers this a long time.
Ezekiel 25:12: "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because Edom has dealt against the house of Judah…" How did they do it? When Nebuchadnezzar came to conquer the city, the Edomites assisted them and stood by and cheered that they were being killed. They also joint he forces of Nebuchadnezzar to do it; Nebuchadnezzar was the one God had chosen to do it.
"…by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended and revenged himself on them.' Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'I will also stretch out My hand on Edom, and will cut man and beast off from it…'" (vs 12-13). That's why wars in the Middle East are so vicious!
"'…and I will make it a waste from Teman, even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword. And I will lay My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel. And they shall do in Edom according to My anger and according to My fury. And they shall know My vengeance,' says the Lord GOD. Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because the Philistines have taken vengeance; yes, have taken vengeance with spite in their heart…" (vs 13-15).
If that doesn't describe the Palestinians and Hamas today, I don't know what does. You can't deal with them, you can't negotiate with them; they don't want peace. They want blood, extinction and the Jews removed from the face of the Middle East completely!
"'…to destroy it with never ending hatred.' Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I will stretch out My hand on the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and will destroy the rest of the sea coast'" (vs 15-16).
Where are the Palestinians today in relationship to Israel? They're right on the coast in Gaza!
Verse 17: "And I will execute great vengeance on them with rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay My vengeance upon them."
So, we have it going back and forth. God uses Amalek, Esau and the Philistines to correct the children of Judah. Then when the correction has gone too far, then He raises up the Jews to come back on them again. This tells you that they will never build the temple where the Mosque of Omar is, because that's not the place where the temple should be. That's very important to understand!
Ezekiel 35:1: "And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir… [the territory that God gave to Edom and Esau] …and prophesy against it. And say unto it, "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you, and I will stretch out My hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a waste. I will raze your cities, and you shall be desolate, and you shall know that I am the LORD'" (vs 1-4).
Because of all of these battles, the Edomites, Esauites and Amalek were scattered into the other nations. I believe that what we're looking at today, when we see all of this viciousness and these small groups of just ultra hateful people, we're dealing with the Amalekites, the Edomites and the Philistines. She had this back and forth going on.
Verse 5: "Because you have had a perpetual hatred…" That's what we're dealing with! That's why those people believe in a culture of death and glorify suicide bombings!
"…and have delivered the children of Israel unto the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment" (v 5). In other words, when God was ready to forgive them, they came in and did it.
Verse 6: "'Therefore, as I live,' says the Lord GOD… [if this doesn't describe what's going on in M East today, I don't know what else it would be] …'I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you. Since you have not hated blood, even blood shall pursue you.'"
Just think about what is described in the news as 'the radical extremist terrorists' that do beheading, that kill people—women and children.
Verse 7: "Thus I will make Mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it the one passing through, and the one returning. And I will fill his mountains with his slain. In your hills, and your valleys, and all your rivers, those slain with the sword shall fall in them. I will make you a perpetual desolation forever, and your cities shall not be inhabited. And you shall know that I am the LORD. Because you have said, 'These two nations and these two lands shall be mine…'" (vs 7-10)—Judah and Israel, and that's what they want to do.
"'"…and we shall possess it." Yet, the LORD was there; therefore, as I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'I will even do according to your anger and according to your envy, which you have shown out of your hatred against them. And I will make Myself known among them when I have judged you. And you shall know that I am the LORD. I have heard all your blasphemies which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, 'Because they are laid desolate… [during God's correction] …they are given to us to consume. So, with your mouth you have boasted yourself against Me, and have multiplied your words against Me. I have heard them'"'" (vs 10-13).
It's interesting that when God punishes His people, woe to those who He uses to punish them if they go beyond what God intended. So, that's what's going to happen!
Obadiah 1 is a prophecy against Esau: "The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom…"
When you go through the Old Testament, there's an awful lot against Edom and Esau.
"…for we have heard a message from the LORD, and a messenger is sent among the nations saying, 'Rise up, even let us rise up against her for battle.' 'Behold, I have given you to be small among the nations; you are greatly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you—you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is up high, who says in his heart, "Who shall bring me down to the ground?"'" (vs 1-3).
This is what they've been doing against the children of Israel and Judah! 'We are going to take over.'
Verse 4: "'Though you rise high like the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there,' says the LORD. 'If thieves came to you, if robbers by night (how you have been cut off!), would they not have stolen until they had enough? If the grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? How are the things of Esau searched out! His hidden things are sought out! All the men of your confederacy went with you only to the border… [surrounding Israel] …the men who were at peace with you have deceived you…'" (vs 4-7).
The agreement that they're going to try to come by, that they are working out in the United Nations today, they're going to be deceived and prevail against them.
"'…and have defeated you. They are setting your bread as a snare under you; there is no understanding in them. Shall I not in that day even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau,' says the LORD? 'And your mighty ones, O Teman, shall be afraid, so that each man from the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter'" (vs 7-9).
Why? Verse 10: "Shame shall cover you for the violence against your brother Jacob, and you shall be cut off forever."
What's happening here is that even though God uses Edom and Esau for punishment, when they get in there and just try an absolute destruction of Israel, because of their perpetual hatred, then God raises up the children of Israel and the Jews to go after them.
Then God told them, leading up to v 17, when the Babylonians came, you should never have sided with them to bring about a great slaughter. They should never have done that! It goes back to war in every generation.
Verse 17: "'But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance; and there shall be Holiness. And the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame. And the house of Esau shall be for stubble. And they shall kindle in them and burn them up. And no survivor shall be of the house of Esau,' for the LORD has spoken it." (vs 17-18).
That's the eventual thing that's going to happen to them. Now, when it comes time for the enemies of the Jews that they want to annihilate the Jews… Remember what Iran says, what Ahmadinejad says, the problem was sending the Jews there in 1948. 'What we have to do is destroy them and get rid of them.'
Good ole Mike Wallace interviewed Ahmadinejad and he was kind, nice and said, 'Oh, we shouldn't have these differences, we need to learn to love each other.' So, Wallace comes back and says that this man is intelligent and reasonable man. Just exactly what Ahmadinejad wanted him to believe, and knew the Wallace would fall for it 'hook, line and sinker,' just like Israelites do. They try and think the best, just like we are trying to do today. Just give them freedom and everything will be wonderful.
No! They live by the sword, 'every man's hand against his neighbor.' Who are the ones killing whom most of all?
We're going to see where Agag's descendant Haman the Agagite raised his hand against the Jews. The book of Esther is very interesting in how that Esther became the queen of Ahasuerus, the king of Persia. Persia today is modern Iran. Here we have a repeat of what happened in the book of Ester repeated again.
Ahmadinejad says that 'we need to destroy the Jews from off the face of the earth.' And they think they're serving Allah! But God has heard it, and He's not going to allow the Jews to be exterminated, even a sinful as they have been. The battle is not against the Jews, but against God!
Mordecai had saved the king from an assassination attempt. The king didn't know about. The one behind it were the allies of the Agagite Haman.
Esther 3:1: "After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite…" Remember Agag (1-Sam. 15). Here's one of the descendants of Agag that got away. Now it comes down to this time:
"…and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes who were with him" (v 1). If we could just look at it this way: Let's substitute the name Ahmadinejad and then we can look and see what's probably going to happen to Iran. God is going to do something: use the Jews maybe even the sons of Joseph—America and Britain—to do something about it.
In all of these areas that we're talking about in the Middle East, most of them were part of the British Empire! The French were also involved and so forth, but you have all of North Africa, and you come into the area of Egypt, you have Palestine and come up into Turkey—the Ottoman Empire, the descendants of Edom—and you go down into Saudi Arabia and come over to Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. All of those nations were under the thumb of the British Empire. They resented it, so now they have a chance to get back at them and exterminate them. So, here's the Agagite:
Verse 2: "And all the king's servants in the king's gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down nor prostrate himself before him"—nor did he reverence him, because a Jew is not going to bow and reverence a man anyway.
Verse 3: "And the king's servants in the king's gate said to Mordecai, 'Why do you transgress the king's command?' Now it came to pass when they spoke daily to him, and he did not hearken to them, they told Haman, to see if Mordecai's words would stand. For he had told them that he was a Jew. And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not kneel down nor pay honor to him, then Haman was full of wrath. But it seemed contemptible to lay hands only on Mordecai, for they had revealed to him the people of Mordecai" (vs 3-6).
That is, he understood that the Jews in captivity in Persia were the people of Mordecai; now he's going out after all of them.
Verse 7: "So, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai."
So, what they did was cast lots, set a date, Haman got the king to sign an order for the execution of the Jews. It went out into all the kingdom.
Verse 12: "Then the king's scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded to the king's lieutenants, and to the governors who were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province, according to the writing of it, and to every people according to their language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's ring. And the letters were sent by postal riders into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their goods" (vs 12-13). So, this went out everywhere!
The moral of the story is that when the enemies of God—the Amalekites, the Agagites, the Edomites, the Esauites and the Philistines—come to the point that they want to destroy all the Jews, it's no longer a matter of God using them as a hand of correction against His people to try and bring them to repentance. Then God turns the tables on the them!
What happened? Esther 6:1: "On that night the king could not sleep…" It shows you how God will intervene when He's going to do something.
The point that I want to make here is that IF the people of America and Britain especially, led by the leaders, would all repent and turn to God with heartfelt prayer and repentance, and do like they did during the days of Josiah, the king of Judah, God will hold back His hand of correction upon them, and He would confound the enemy! 'Every man's sword is against his neighbor.' God could just let them fight each other.
- No! Israel won't do it!
- No! We've got to have better intelligence!
- No! We've go to hunt them down!
- No! We've got to kill them!
No repentance! The book of Esther shows how God can work.
Verse 1: "On that night the king could not sleep and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles. And they were read before the king. And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's officers, the guards of the door who sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus" (vs 1-2)—to kill him! Assassinate him!
Of course, that was stopped. Now, the king didn't know how this came about until he read the chronicle.
Verse 3: "And the king said, 'What honor and dignity has been done to Mordecai for this?' And the king's servants who served him said, 'Nothing has been done for him.' And the king said, 'Who is in the court?' And Haman had come into the outer court of the king's palace to speak to the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows which he had prepared for him…." (vs 3-5)—and to kill all the Jews throughout the whole empire.
This also tells us that God will rescue and redeem at the last minute, too!
"…And the king's servants said to him, 'Behold, Haman stands in the court.' And the king said, 'Let him come in.' So, Haman came in…. [the Agagite; Amalek] …And the king said to him, 'What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?'" (vs 5-6). Remember: your heart will deceive you!
"…And Haman thought in his heart, 'To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself?'" (v 6).
In all this treachery, God also has a sense of humor and He metes out justice in a time and way that most people wouldn't think of.
Verse 7: "And Haman answered the king, 'For the man whom the king delights to honor, let the royal clothing be brought, which the king wears, and the horse that the king rides upon, and the royal crown, which is set upon his head. And let this clothing and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes so that they may dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and bring him on horseback through the streets of the city, and proclaim before him, "This is what shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor."' And the king said to Haman, 'Make haste! Take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do so even to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Do not fail to do any of all the things you have spoken'" (vs 7-10).
A lot of things here! Out of your own mouth you're going to be judged! Your own heart is going to deceive you. So, God can take care of these enemies. Just imagine of the George Bush and Tony Blair would have called a day of fasting and national prayer and repentance, and determined to have the people of God keep the commandments of God, cease their murders, adulteries, worshipping of a false gods and all this sort of thing, you would see the Middle East fall into such chaos and killing each other. All they would have to do is just go in and pick up the pieces. But they're not willing to do it.
This is almost like having Margaret Schmele of the NOW gang stand with a poster and proclaim: I abhor all abortions; all abortions are murder; I repent to God.' If she said that, imagine what would happen.
Haman had to do this, v 11: "And Haman took the clothing and the horse and dressed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, 'This is what shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!'" I don't think he was shouting very loudly!
Then Mordecai came back and was spared, and all the Jews were spared. Here is a little more true justice.
Esther 7:5: "And King Ahasuerus answered and said to Esther the queen, 'Who is he, and where is the one who dares presume in his heart to do so?'" That is having the authority to kill all these people.
Verse 6: "And Esther said, 'The man who is our adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman.' And Haman was terrified before the king and the queen…. [he wouldn't come in] …And the king, arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath, went into the palace garden. But Haman stood up to beg for his life from Esther the queen, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king" (vs 6-7)—here's God's judgment!
Verse 8: "And the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine. And Haman had fallen on the couch on which Esther was. And the king said, 'Will he also force the queen before me in the house?' As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. And Harbonah, one of the officers, said before the king, 'Also look! The gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, stands at the house of Haman.' Then the king said, 'Hang him on it!' And they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. And the king's wrath was assuaged" (vs 8-10). They got the order reversed!
Who is one whom they would love to get, two of the distinct enemies of the Jews that they would love to get more than anyone else today? Ahmadinejad the prime minister of Iran and Nazarali the head of Hezbollah.
Just think of how much money they would spend going to war to try and get them, when repentance—costing nothing—would solve the same thing! This is a problem we're confronted with today with all these wars and goings on in the Middle East.
Even though God uses them as a hand of correction against His people, He will not allow them to have the power or force to exterminate them!
Let's look what happen to Hitler in exterminating as many Jews as he did. What happened to him and all the German people?
I actually fear for Iran at this time and for Nazarali, that if the Jews, Americans and Brits all conduct themselves even in a semi-repentant manner, that God would take care of them. What could happen?
- Could the people of Iran raise up and get rid of this man? Of course they could!
- Could God cause it to be done? Of course He could!
Same way with Nazarali; God could work it out where there could be a squad of commandos that could sneak in and get him and take care of him.
Also in this mix that you can see in other prophecies is that Syria is always kind of like the fulcrum between Iran and dealing with the children of Israel that way. I want you to watch the news and look at what is happening, and understand the ones who are involved.
Realize that we are seeing family feud that began with Isaac and Ishmael, and Jacob and Esau, now grow great with not just families but nations. Scattered among them are the worst of the Edomites, the Amalekites. They are the most vicious and ruthless.
Let's see what happens, because you know for sure, that unless there is repentance, they will succeed with their plans that they want to do. Sooner or later they are going to succeed. Think about the borders in America. They know that there are 'sleeper cells' of Al Qaeda and Hamas and Hezbollah in America. They don't know arms are in the various mosques.
Unless there's repentance, it is bound to happen! There's no way to turn it back. Look at Britain! What did they do when they had the British Empire? They allowed free passage of these people to come into their country and become citizens! Could they become citizens and become like Brits? No! They do not have the nature! It's in the genes. They have a different nature. So, they're just bewildered.
Those that tried to blow the ten planes simultaneously over the Atlantic Ocean, flying from the United Kingdom to America, were third-generation Pakistanis. Why were they not like the Brits? 'We're good and kind people.' No, because it's in the genes and it's in the religion, and it is in the hand of God to use them to correct us!
Maybe they stopped this one thing, but remember that the Edomites and the Philistines were always against Solomon and Israel at that time, because of their sins!
If you see the sins that are going on, you'll understand why it's happening the way that it is. There are many other factors to it, but this is the heart and core of the most vicious and hateful and terrorist aspect of what is happening against America and Britain today.
All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version
Scriptural References:
- Psalm 83:1-8
- Genesis 16:11-12
- Genesis 25:23, 2-3
- Genesis 27:38-40
- Genesis 36:1, 12
- Exodus 17:8-9, 14-16
- Numbers 14:34, 40-45
- Numbers 20:14-15, 17-18
- Numbers 24:20
- Deuteronomy 25:17-19
- 1 Samuel 14:47-48, 52
- 1 Samuel 15:1-3, 6-11, 15, 17-23, 32-33
- 1 Samuel 22:9-13, 17-18
- 1 Kings 11:14, 23-24, 31, 33
- Ezekiel 25:12-17
- Ezekiel 35:1-13
- Obadiah 1-10, 17-18
- Esther 3:1-7, 12-13
- Esther 6:1-11
- Esther 7:5-10
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Genesis 25:1-6
- 1 Corinthians 10
Also referenced: Book:
Langer's Encyclopedia of World History (https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.234117 {pdf or digital versions}
FRC: bo
Transcribed: 3/16/18
