FATHER ABRAHAM CALLED

When Abraham, the father of Israel, was called of God to be holy (separated unto Him), Abraham obeyed, so manifesting true faith in God.

This holiness involved separating himself from the heathen of his day - that which is unholy, ungodly, sinful.

On these grounds God made a covenant with Abraham, that, as he continued this special relationship with Him, He would bless him, and the same would apply to his children. (A covenant is an agreement between two or more people which is dependent on the fulfilment of certain terms by all parties.)

Conversely, the agreement-included a curse (already on the world in general), in short, judgment, if he or his children returned to disobedience and broke their devotion to God.


THE PROMISED LAND
God's first promised blessing to Abraham was to give him the Palestine land.


THE PROMISED SON
The second blessing was to give him a son.

If the son was to be by his current wife, Sarah, he would have to be miracle-born as Sarah was old and childless.

However, God kept Abraham waiting 25 years for that son while his faith matured in keeping with the covenant, for Abraham's faith did faulter. For contrary to God's intention Abraham 'took the law into his own hands' (on Sarah's advice), and broke the covenant, and married a heathen, an Egyptian called Hagar, and produced a mixed-blood child called Ishmael.

But 13 years later when Sarah's son arrived, Isaac, it became evident that Ishmael did not fit in and was sent off with his mother, and became an archer of the wilderness, and finally, in effect a father of the Arab people (thanks to Abraham!)

After this change, normality returned to Abraham’s household, and the true-faith covenant back in tact again.

Then in due time Abraham's offspring, Israel, displaced the. Palestinian heathen and settled there. God said that this displacement was in fact an act of His judgment against the heathen.


THE SKELETON RETURNS

However, the interesting thing Is (and true to God's word), whenever God's professed people, Israel (Abraham's offspring), broke the covenant of trueness to God, the heathen including the offspring of Ishmael - the skeleton from Abraham's cupboard) came back to haunt them with vengeance, and there was no way Israel could win.

This sad situation was as much promised by covenant as was the blessing - as history invariably proved, though they adamantly denied that God would do such a thing to 'His people!' (And we are no different today!)

For, for them to turn from God meant that war was at the gates, and many other evils beside.

For example: When the Philistine (‘Palistini’) giant Goliath from the Gaza Strip turned up with his army and terrorised Israel, Israel could do nothing but retreat... till David appeared, ‘a man after God's own heart.’ (David lived in the Abrahamic covenant.) And he alone saved the day! as we all well know, for God was with Him.

And so it was, right through Israel's history. The blessings were mighty, but the judgments were frightful! 'It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God - for vengeance is mine!' the Old and New Testament, of the Bible say.

So 'the rod of God's indignation' was in fact the ‘Ishmaeli’ and Palestinian nations - the Arabs of today! (then finally, greater nations still, to deal with both Palestinians and Israelis, e.g. the Chaldeans and Romans etc).


THE PROMISED NEW TESTAMENT ‘ISAAC’ ARRIVES

However with the coming of the miracle-born Christ, the plot widens, indeed is strengthened. For through Christ, God extended the same offer of blessing by true-faith covenant to all people, no nationality excluded (including my Arab mother!) - except hypocrites. (Ephesians 2:12-22).

The Bible clearly states:
‘For God so loved the world, He gave His Son that whosoever (individually) believes/accepts His new covenant in Christ, shall not perish (come under the original curse ending in death), but have everlasting life!’

What an offer! - called ‘the Gospel’, ‘salvation’, ‘conversion’, ‘born from above’, into God’s family, the New Testament Israel (not to be confused with today’s half-cast ‘Christianity’!), that is, separated to God, committed.....

‘Take my life and let it be,
Consecrated Lord to Thee.
Take my moments and my days;
Let them flow with ceaseless
Praise’ etc through Christ!

‘No other was good enough
to pay the price of sin.
He only could unlock the gates
Of heaven and let us in’,
As we accept the covenant!

At certain times in history, there has been a resurgence back to ‘the (Biblical) covenant’ (though never in affluent times) and God’s blessing has always followed. Indeed, it was largely on this Biblical covenant (including the moral code) that the West was founded, originally to quite a degree free from ‘Christian’ paganism!


'CHRISTIAN' DEGENERATION

But as with Israel of old, its degeneration has so largely left us as 'Christian' in name only, a shallow profession, buried in- pagan-like ceremonies or high-flying unholy hype, and a heap of sin-producing doctrines of devils sure to sear the conscience; mixed up with some well-meaning charity and elements of God-bless-me faith. The Bible is not accepted .as fundamental - except where it suits .... with a twist!

AND THE RESULTS?

God fulfils His covenant - of judgment, principally, of war! (Of course there are also the natural consequences of moral breakdown, with which we are all too familiar!) And not only war, but famine, disease and 'act of-God' disasters. (No, the church will not tell you that – ‘God is love, and we are all His people!’)

Furthermore, the world we were meant to have Christianised, we colonised, selfishly! ..... and behold the mesa!

And now we export every 'covenant-breaking' evil known to the West to every corner of the globe, and drug, companies withhold their know-how from the 'developing' nations for profit!

Can you wonder that, exactly on prophetic target, despite our best hypocritical diplomacy, Ishmael rises again with all his cohorts, invincible, to deliver perhaps the final blow to ‘the strongest nations on earth’, as well the most hypocritical peoples on earth, bearing Christ's name in vain the supposed New Testament Christian 'Israel of God'; plus their antitype, the generic historical Israel of Palestine?

God promised such judgment. Watch it being fulfilled!

'God bless America' or whoever, scares or saves no one! indeed is a sure recipe for damnation (regardless of the 'hybrid' church's denial of such a truth) to a nation who refuses to REPENT!

But REPENTANCE does make the difference .... for you and me, through Christ! REPENTANCE restores the covenant for you and me in Christ. Say 'Yes' to God today! and take your covenant blessing!


FOOT-NOTES

Regarding skeletons
It is interesting to note what we can also learn from the Abraham-Ishmael conflict of history and today, namely: that current sin opens the door for us to be visited by the consequences of past failings, which, though at the time they were repented of and forgiveness as claimed, are now remembered against us, and that with interest!).

Regarding 'hybridisation'
Also we learn that spiritual/moral hybridising (half-casting) is a dangerous thing with God – like ‘putting a piece of new cloth to an old garment’; ‘new wine into old wine-skins’; adding hot to cold, making for the 'bug'-breeding conditions of lukewarmness'; a piece of leaven In a quantity of dough - leavening the whole lump; one foot professedly on God's side and one any old where else!

It is also interesting that 'Arab' means 'ambush'! and 'Arabia' means 'mixed'!

Being whole-hearted
God's word to Abraham after his Ishmael blunder was, "Walk before me and be thou whole-hearted, and I will (then) perform my covenant with you."

The last world conflict
Palestine is still the Biblical focal point of the last world conflict! the trigger point for the conflict of all conflicts affecting all nations on earth! The Good Book says, ‘When they say "Peace and safety," then sudden destruction comes upon them, and they shall not escape!’ (1 Thessalonians 5:3)

Watch for it ... either that or REPENTANCE!

August 2002