Ishmael and Isaac, Palestine and Israel: Are we living in the last days and what should we do?

Good Evening, Shakad.

With a heavy heart, we mourn the attack on Israel this weekend. This, a day after Sukkot completes. We pray for those under attack around the world. May Hashem guard His people and fight.

The Bible has a lot to say about the current events. Here is where we started today.

Abram and Sarai were promised by God that they would be the Father and Mother of Many Nations. But when would that promise come to pass? Year after year, Sarai's womb remained barren. Perhaps, Sarai doubted, right man, but wrong woman. In desperation, she offers her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar. But why did she have an Egyptian handmaiden at all? Because when drought afflicted the Promise Land, Abram didn't trust in the Lord and stay put, he wandered off to Egypt until this drought subsided. Strike 1.

When Abram was offered Hagar by his wife, a temptation likened to Eve and Adam, but corrected by Job and his wife, he readily accepted. Strike 2. Ishmael was conceived. The moment Hagar was pregnant, a contempt for Sarai was born in Hagar's heart. Was it a demonic foothold, an unclean spirit, just human nature? It isn't revealed in the Bible, but I want you to remember it.

Hagar mistreats Sarai; and, Abram gives Sarai the greenlight to punish her as she sees fit. When this happens, Hagar runs away and an angel tells her that her son will carry the blessing of Abraham, he will father many nations, and to return and SUBMIT. She returns, but does she submit?

Flash forward fourteen years, and the Lord visits Abraham and Sarah now. Sarah will be pregnant. The line of blessing will run through her and Isaac. She gives birth and at about age three, Isaac is weaned. At this party, Sarah catches Ishmael mocking Isaac. That same contemptuous spirit, the Hagar Spirit if you will, that immediately filled Hagar during pregnancy roots itself in Ishmael. Sarah tells Abraham he must send them away. This time and unlike the time of the conception of Ishmael, he asks the Lord who confirms Sarah is right. Abraham loves Ishmael, but obeys. Seventeen years, Ishmael dwelled in the camp. The angel of the Lord tried to saved Ishmael and Hagar during the pregnancy. He told her, the blessing will follow BUT YOU MUST RETURN AND SUBMIT.

Ishmael and Hagar almost die in the desert, but again the Lord heard Ishmael and intervened. An angel responded from heaven. Hagar took her son to miraculous water. Ishmael grew, married an Egyptian women and had children. Those children are 75% Egyptian and 25% Hebrew.

Ishmael and Hagar never had to leave. They could have remained in the house of Abraham for the rest of their life, but at what cost, at the cost of submission. Just like Jacob and Esau, we see the youngest raised above the oldest. Ishmael still carried the Abrahamic Seed Covenant, but must submit under Isaac. The Hagar Spirit prevailed.

Palestine is descendant of Ishmael, and Israel is descendant of Isaac. This contemptuous spirit and battle still remains. Was Ishmael ever supposed to exist? No. But did he have to leave? Again, no.

Just as Ishmael and Isaac could have remained in the house of Abraham together, so can Palestine and Israel remain in the Land of Israel. In the Book of Jeremiah, we see the Lord firmly warn that no one may divide Israel. But there is a divine order, Ishmael under Isaac, that is Palestine under Israel. Palestine does not have to leave nor should they, but they do have to submit.

We hear of the prophecy within the Book of Daniel that 70 x 7 years (490) will pass before the Second Coming. Prophecy has fulfilled exactly 483. Scholars believe the last 7 to be the 7 years of the Antichrist. What does the Bible say?

The stage is set. The Bible says that within one lifetime (70-80 years) of Israel becoming a nation again (1948), the End Times will play out. What I am about to say is very important! According to Biblical Prophecy, after the war and strife and havoc has torn apart the Middle East, a PEACEMAKER will arise. He will do an excellent job and peace will come upon the Middle East, upon Israel. The whole world will love this person. He will become a savior of sorts. Halfway through the seven years (3.5), he will erect a graven image in the Third Temple of Jerusalem and have all worship it. What will this image be? Who knows. Maybe even an image of himself. At that point it will be revealed that he is the ANTICHRIST, the ANTIMESSIAH. And for three and a half more years, he will attempt to destroy all that is good. Then, JESUS will return as a JUDGE.

But the world will be fooled! How can a peacemaker be bad? The Holy Spirit in you will testify the truth. You will know this man if you forsake your flesh and listen to the Spirit. Let the Lord discern this in your spiritual mind.

So what do you do to prepare! Be filled with the Spirit. Repent of all your sins. Search the Scripture for the Prophecies. Scour the current events, especially the Middle East. Prepare your hearts and your household. Spread the Gospel and the Prophecy. Let no man be deceived. Be unafraid. Walk in the full power and authority of the Kingdom of Heaven. Reject the system of the AntiChrist and the Mark of the Beast. Be holy and separate from this world. Be in it, but not of it. But most desperately, get to know your Creator. The most precious thing you will ever seek to do is TO KNOW GOD AND BE KNOWN BY GOD.

I pray peace and joy and the blood of Christ over you all, now and until the end of the earth.

Selah