If you have never read Chapters 15 through 17 in Genesis, you should do so now."And He said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it. He said O Lord God, how may I know that I will possess it? So He said to him, Bring Me a three year heifer, and a three year old goat, a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. God said to Abram, know for certain that your decendents will be strangers in a Land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years." (Genesis 15:7-13) Verse 17;"It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces."

Notice God is the only one who made this covenant. Who are these decendents? We know this is Israel. Why? Because Israel is the only nation to spend four hundred years in Egypt as slaves. We also have Ishmael as well as Isaac as the sons of Abraham. We know Ishmael was the first born. So what made these two brothers different? Ishmael was born before Abram's name was changed. Issac was born after Abram's name was changed to Abraham. Remember scripture will always interpret itself!

We will first start with Ishmael, the first born of Abram. In Genesis Chapter 16, Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to Abram as his wife.This was the start of a great conflict between Sarai, Abram and Hagar. We know Hagar fled from Sarai then the angel of the Lord came to her. She was told to return to Sarai and to submit to her authority. Verses 10-12;"Moreover, the angel of the Lord said to her, I will greatly multiply your decendents so that they will be too many to count. The angel of the Lord said to her further, Behold, you are with child, and you will bear a son; and you shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has given heed to your afflication. He will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and everyones's hand will be against him; and he will live to the east of all his brothers."

In Genesis Chapter 21, we know Hagar and Ishmael are being sent away. What did God say to Abram? Verses; 12-13;"Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarai tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your decendents shall be named. And to the son of the maid I will make a nation also, because he is your decendent." We will also look at what God told Abram in Genesis 17:20; "As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold , I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great Nation." Genesis 25:16;"These are the sons of Ishmael and these are thier names, by their villages, and by their camps; twelve princes according to their tribes."

We know God has kept His promise to Abram, just as we have seen in the last two chapters. We also know Ishmael is the father of the Arab nation. There will never be peace between Israel and the Arab nations. There are over 20 Arab/Muslim countries surrounding Israel. We know the nation of Israel is no bigger than the state of New Jersey. People seem to forget God has always protected Israel. The God of today is the same God that we find in the Old Testament. He does not change!

In Genesis 15:18;"On that day God made a covenant with Abram saying, to your decendents I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates." We know these decendents are the nation of Israel. How do we know this? Because verses 13-16 tells us it was Israel. In Genesis 15 God made His Covenant. In Genesis 17 God established His covenant. As you read these three chapters, you can see how confused Abram is at this time.

Genesis 17:2-8;"I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly. Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, As for Me, behold My covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. I will establish My covenant between me and you and your decendents after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your decendents after you. I will give to you and to your decendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." In verses 9-14, God's covenant is sealed with the circumcision of every male. Any uncircumcised male would be cut off from his people.

Genesis 17:15-21;"Then God said to Abraham, as for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people will come from her. Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child? And Abraham said to God, oh that Ishmael might live before you! But God said, No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac, and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his decendents after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year."

Next we will look at Genesis 18-18;"Since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed." Next we will look at Genesis 22: 1-14; we have Abraham being tested by God. Abraham is to take Isaac to the land of Moriah, and offer him as a burnt offering. Isaac asks his father Abraham, Where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham replied, God will provide for Himself, the lamb, for the burnt offering. We know the angel of the Lord stopped Abraham from offering Isaac, instead he offered a ram in his place. Abraham called this place The Lord Will Provide, in the mount of the Lord it will be provided. Abraham had passed the test, he did not hold back his only son. The angel of the Lord said, in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice. All through the Old Testament we find Yeshua. How blessed we are that God loved us so much.

Scriptue so far has told us God's everlasting covenant went first to Abraham. After the death of Abraham this covenant was passed on to Isaac. Then after the death of Isaac this covenant was given to Jacob. Genesis 32:24-32; Jacob was told your name is no longer Jacob, but Israel. Here in Genesis 35:9-12; we have our second witness given by God to Jacob. Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him. God said to him, Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name. Thus He called him Israel. God also said to him, I am God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come forth from you."

Here is the everlasting covenant, made with Abraham, and renewed again with Jacob. The Church will never replace Israel. God gave this covenant to Isreal, not to the Church! True believers follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! Not man made doctrines, that hold no truth! "God, furthermore, said to Moses,Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel,The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you, This is my name forever, and this is My memorial name to all generations." (Exodus 3:15)

Next we will look at the prophesy for the nation of Israel. This chapter is so important for Israel and the last days. We will break this into four parts to make sure you read this chapter. Ezekiel 37:1-6:"The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass among them around about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. He said to me, son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, You know. Again He said to me, Prophesy over these bones and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones, behold I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know I am the Lord.

Ezekiel 37:7-14; So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, thus says the Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, son of man, these bones are the whole of Israel; behold they say, our bones are dried up and our hope has perished . We are completely cut off. Therefore prophesy and say to them, thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. I will put my Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it, declares the Lord."

Ezekiel 37:15-23;"The word of the Lord came again to me saying, and you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, for Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions; then take another stick and write on it, for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions. Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. When the sons of your people speak to you saying, will you not declare to us what you mean by these? Say to them, thus says the Lord God, behold I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in my hand. The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. Say to them, thus says the Lord God, behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themseles with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them, and they will be My people, and I will be their God."

Ezekiel 37:24-28; "My servent David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in my ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob my servent, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons sons, forever, and David My servant will be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be my people. And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever." The nation of Israel will never cease to be a nation before God!

Next we will look at Hosea 3:4-5; "For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred piller and without ephod or household idols. Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days." What did Ezekiel and Hosea tell us? We know this is a future prophecy. How do we know this? Ezekiel and Hosea both tell us this will be in the last days. Notice Ezekiel tells us these bones are the whole house of Israel.

Joel 3:1-2: "For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, then I will enter into my judgement with them there on behalf of my people and my inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My Land." Who owns the Land of Israel? The land of Israel belongs to God. This should be a warning to all who say we should divied Jerusalem.

Isaiah has always been one of my favorite books in the Old Tesament. In Isiah 66:7-10:"Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy, Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery? Says the Lord. Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb? Says your God. Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her."

On May 14, 1948, the nation of Israel was born, in one day. We see here the fulfillment of Isaiah, a nation born in one day. Now we will look for our witnesses since God, always gives more than one witness. Jeremiah 23:3;"Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply." Our next witness will be Zechariah 8:13"It will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, o house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be strong."

Our next witness will be Ezekiel 36:24-28;"For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God."

Palestine is a word all Christians today need to understand. In the Old Testament we have the Philistines who were the enemies of Isreal. This word was never used for the nation of Israel. This word was never used within the New Testament. Before 135 A.D., the Romans called the land of Israel, Judea and Galilee. In 135 A.D., the Emperor Hadrian named the land of Israel Palestine. When you study history you see the Philistines had nothing to do with any Arabs.

Why did Hadrian change the name of Israel? He took the name Palestine from the Philistines who were enemies of Israel. His intention was to erase the name of Israel from all memory. The use of this name is biblicaly inaccurate and wrong throughout Church History. This word is the cornerstone of the war against Israel! In the New Testament the gospel writers used the land of Israel. Why not use that instead of Palestine? We should make every effort as Christians to stop using the word Palestine.

We have thrown out the Old Testament, along with the baby's bath water. We pick and choose what we want to believe, yet never coming to the full understanding of God's word. When we allow the whole Bible, Old and New Testament to speak to us we find truth! We have taken Jesus and the Apostles, mainly Paul, and have made another gospel! Jesus taught from the Old Testament, He quoted it even in the Lord's prayer. If the Old Testament was good enough for the Messiah, would you not want to know what He was quoting from? This is why we do not understand prophesy for Israel and the last days. We are now living in a world that is broken, where everything is ok. Read what Paul said in Romans 11:23-36; then tell me who has truth. The word of God or the Church Fathers!

Think about this for a moment. If you were Jewish and lived in Israel, would it be fair to ask you to give up your home and land to a group of people who already have over 20 countries to choose from? Arafat who called himself a Palestinian was nothing more than a terrorist. He was born in Cairo, Egypt. He formed a group of people who called themselves Palestinians with no other purpose than to destroy Israel. Then we invite him to the White House. Then we give him a Nobel Prize Medal for killing, americans as well as others. When you continue to tell lies long enough others will believe.

Now we ask Israel to give even more land. Now tell me does that sound fair to you? I want to ask three questions to those in the Church who stand with the Palestinians agaist Israel. Are you so blinded by false doctrine that you cannot see truth? What part of everlasting do you not understand? How can you as Christians become God and judge a whole nation? Anyone who holds on to this false doctrine, needs to make a mind change and repent. I will not set judgement on you, that is God's place. I will say if I was you I would be trembling in my shoes. It is a terrible thing to come under God's wrath. If He will not spare the nations who come against Israel, then I ask will He spare you.

Not all who call themselves Palestinians want to destroy Israel. Many of them are friends to Israel and want only peace, yet they can find no peace. Israel has always opened their doors to those who want peace. I do not believe peace will come until the Messiah comes back. Yes we should love these people and pray for them, even for those who hate us. Do I hate those who call themselves Palestinians? No, I hate what they do. All life regardless of who you are is precious to God. They teach their children to hate and kill, they send them out with bombs strapped to them. Yet knowing these children will die and yet some say that is ok. How sad for these children who only know how to hate. Their parents who live each day in hate themselves and then teach it to their children. My heart breaks for these children and their mothers who have no rights. Even with all the hate among these people, we see the Holy Spirit at work. Just in the last few years we see many coming to Yeshua as their Messiah.