Article adapted from his teaching at the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem
For Release: January 2014
I am intensely interested in what God is doing in Israel. I have visited the Holy Land more than 20 times. Recently, the Lord led me to study the life of Abraham. The Jews say Abraham was born 1,948 years after Adam was created. 1948 is an interesting number. Israel became a nation in 1948 - 1,948 years after the birth of Jesus, the second Adam.
Another interesting parallel is that the Tower of Babel was built in 1996 - 1,996 years from the beginning of creation. In 1996 A.D., The European Union made the Tower of Babel its insignia. I don’t think that’s an accident.
The Tower of Babel was in Ur which is where Abraham is from. God called him to the land of Canaan. Lot went with him and God blessed them. Their flocks multiplied. Soon, there wasn’t enough grassland to feed both of their families. So, they separated. Lot went to the valley of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham stayed in the northern part of Canaan.
During that time, God brought in four kings from the east to Israel. One was the king of Babel, which is modern day Iraq. Another was the king over Persia, which is modern day Iran. There were two other kings with them as well.
There were five other kings. These were vassal kings. They were the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. There were three other kings with them as well. But, these five vassal kings stopped paying their taxes to the other four kings.
The four kings didn’t want to lose all that tax money. So, they came to Israel to fight the five kings who didn’t want to pay their taxes.
The four kings conquered the five vassal kings and seized everything in Sodom and Gomorrah including Lot and his family who were taken back to Ur the land they originally came from.
Abraham heard about it and took 318 men with him and conquered the four kings who overpowered the five kings that didn’t pay their taxes. That was a staggering victory, not only by the numbers but by the right of conquest. Abraham now had the rights to all of the land of Israel.
After that, a strange individual visited Abraham. It was Melchizedek. If you really believe Melchizedek had no beginning and no end; then, you would have to admit, He wasn’t human. He’s without father, without mother, without beginning, without end.
And He was the King of Salem, the King of Righteousness. He’s described in many ways as Yeshua Himself. Whoever He was, He was very powerful. And, He blessed Abraham.
Right after that, Abraham had an encounter with God. God gave Abraham a vision of a burning oven. A torch passed between pieces of animals that were cut in half. And God made a covenant with Abraham. He told Abraham, “I will give you every place your foot has trod.” That, literally, goes back to where Abraham came from — the land of Ur.
Abraham has a right to the land because God gave it to him and because Abraham conquered it. Parallels also show how God has watched over Israel from the beginning. He is watching over them now.
