This is the third of three presentations that I am giving with the goal of helping you to understand the day we live in. The first presentation focused on signs that are now being given that indicate we are entering that period of time when the earth must go through birth pangs as God seeks to bring forth mature sons and daughters after the image of Christ, who will be qualified to rule and reign with Him during the thousand year period known as the Millennial reign of Christ.

The second presentation focused on the topic of anointing as a symbol of power to accomplish either the will of God, or the will of man. We saw that God has an anointing portrayed in the oil of crushed olives being poured over the head of a man, and the world has its alternate anointing typified by black oil, or petroleum. We looked at the topic of walking in the power of the Spirit versus walking in the power of the natural man. And we saw that the power God bestows upon men and women comes only to those who have submitted themselves to God’s work of breaking the power of the flesh over their lives, while the power the world offers allows the flesh to remain un-dealt with, and consequently the world’s path to power leaves men and women in the bondage of sin.

This third presentation will look at one more topic that is critical to understanding what God is doing in this hour, and why we are seeing so much focus upon the Middle East, centered upon Israel and her Arab neighbors. We will also look at why it is difficult for nations like the U.S. to intervene in Israel’s affairs, and why nations invite judgment upon themselves if they act in an unrighteous way in their dealings with Israel. Understanding these things has tremendous bearing upon anyone who lives in the U.S., for we will certainly see consequences for those things being done even at this hour.

For thus says Yahweh of hosts..., "He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple (or pupil) of His eye... Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst," declares Yahweh.

There is one nation above all nations that Yahweh declares that He is watching most intently. It is the nation whose holy men wrote the Old Testament. It is the nation of Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob. It is the nation of King David and King Solomon. It is the nation of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, of Elijah and Elisha. It is the nation of Mary and Joseph, and the nation in which the Son of God was born. It is the nation from which the original twelve apostles, including Peter, James and John, all were born into. It is also the nation of the apostle Paul who wrote nearly half of the New Testament of the Bible.

For thousands of years God has had His eye upon this nation which we call Israel, and He still watches over this nation with great jealousy, to protect her and to fulfill every word of prophecy spoken of her. In this hour Yahweh is watching intently over Israel and He is weighing every action of the nations that touch her in any way

In the Old Testament we read of Yahweh calling forth a man by the name of Abraham from the land of Mesopotamia in about 2100 B.C.. God by His own sovereign election chose this man to be the father of a nation that would exist to make known His presence to the world. The descendants of Abraham would in effect be God’s ambassadors, and Yahweh would entrust to them His laws and call them to keep many observances that would be used as parables to reveal His character and His plan for the redemption of mankind. God made promises to Abraham and to his descendants, and one of these promises concerned the land that Yahweh would give to them as a perpetual dwelling place throughout their generations.

Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there.

These three presentations I am starting out with are part of a larger set of presentations that I have titled “PARABLES.” In these first presentations we have seen over and over how God uses natural occurrences to convey messages. He gives signs in sun and moon and stars and on the earth. He also has given us many parables through the pages of Scripture. My hope is that as you observe these things I am sharing with you that you will begin to start looking beyond the physical occurrences to discern the spiritual message that God is seeking to bring forth.

Even this story of God calling forth a family out of Ur of the Chaldees to inherit a land they had never seen, contains many deep spiritual truths. One parable contained here is observed in the life of Abraham’s father. God called Terah to follow Him to the land of Canaan. Yet Terah only went as far as Haran. We are not told why Terah stopped there, but we know that he fell short of following God completely. So after Terah died in Haran, God then appeared to Abraham and gave him the same call. Abraham followed God all the way, and because of his obedience and faith, he is the one honored today as the father of faith, and the father of the nation of Israel. Abraham is called the friend of God, and it is his name that is honored by billions of people today.

There is a message in the life of Terah. It is not sufficient to follow God half way. We must follow God all the way if we are to inherit the promises He has spoken to us. Today, most Christians cannot even name Abraham’s father. As I think of this event I am reminded of the words of Christ.

Before God, Abraham has received tremendous honor. This honor could have been Terah’s had he followed God all the way with a whole heart. In the same way I have seen many men and women fall short of the call God had on their lives. Many reasons could be given: they may have grown weary of following God, they may have been daunted by the fears to be faced, they could have become discouraged by the difficulty of the journey God was leading them on, they might have given into doubts and unbelief. Whatever the reason, all who fail to follow God to the end of the journey He has called them unto will forfeit tremendous reward, and the crown that could have been theirs will be offered to another.

Yahweh said to Abram..., "Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you."

It is important that we understand how Israel came to be in the land in which they now dwell. They did not choose the land for themselves. They did not capture it by their own strength. The land has become theirs due to a promise that Yahweh gave to Abraham. It was God’s will that the descendants of Abraham should occupy this land, and God chose its location and its borders.

Abraham did not immediately take possession of the land. God was not ready to dispossess the people of the land, for their sin had not yet come to its fulness where God would bring a final judgment on them. Abraham lived there as a stranger in the land, as did his son Isaac, and Isaac’s son Jacob. Jacob, whose name was changed by God to Israel then had 12 sons, and God led them to travel to Egypt where they became slaves to the Egyptians while at the same time growing into a great multitude of people. 430 years later God brought the descendants of Abraham up out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses and Moses led them to the edge of the land promised to Abraham. Yahweh told Moses precisely what the borders of their land would be.