This is a follow up to my blog “Why the Descendants of Abraham fight over Jerusalem”.  I explained that God allowed Abraham and Sarai to have a son by Sarai’s maidservant, Hagar.  As a result Ishmael was Abraham’s first born son which gave him the “birthright”.  A “birthright” carries a strong element.  The first-born son receives fully double the portion of inheritance than his younger brothers receive.  The first born male child is designated the spiritual leader and has special responsibilities and privileges as part of his birthright (this does not apply if the first born child is a female). Judaism tradition requires younger siblings to show a measure of respect for older siblings. The “birthright” made that son special financially and spiritually.

Isaac was Abraham and Sarai’s second son and he was given the “birthright” according to the Judeo-Christian Bible.  Isaac had two sons Esau and Jacob.  Esau sold his “birthright” to Jacob according to Scripture.  If the heirs of Abraham’s first son and Isaac’s first son do not believe in the Judeo-Christian Bible they could believe that their heritage gives them the “birthright” to the city of Jerusalem and the land of Canaan.

Some believe that the Temple Mount is the most dangerous square mile in the world.  It is tightly guarded and secured to prevent extremists from blowing up the Muslim’s Dome of the Rock.  If this were to happen you would have a billion Muslims invading Israel.  Revelation says that before the end-times the Israelites will rebuild their temple on the original spot.  If Scripture says it will happen, it will. We just don’t know how or when that will come about.

We have a God who knows everything that will ever happen.  Why did He wait for so long before Sarai became pregnant?  He knew if Abraham and Sarai waited and she did not get pregnant they would take matters into their own hand as they did.  God knew that Esau would be born first.  He could have made Jacob the oldest.  He also knew that when Israel became a nation again in 1948 that they would be continually harassed by the heirs of Ishmael and Esau.  God knew that Muhammad would write the Qur’an and Ishmael and Esau’s heirs would become Muslims completely opposed to Isaac and Jacob’s heir’s beliefs.  God told Abraham he would be the father of many nations.  Many Muslim nations are descendants of Abraham as a result of Ishmael and Esau.

Here is what many Palestinian leaders believe: The Jews never had a temple in Jerusalem, it was in Nablus.  The Jews never lived in ancient Israel.  “Jewish leaders” believe from Scripture that the land of Israel was given to them by God and no one can take it from them.  The Bible promises the Jewish people that they will have a third Temple.  The Jews do not believe the Messiah will return until the Temple is built.  The Muslims do not believe the 12^th Imam, their messiah the Mahdi, will not return until the Jews are destroyed.  Both sides believe that we are now in the last days.  As a result the Mahdi has appointed an Iranian to form an army to defeat Islam’s enemies.  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president believes he is the chosen one to carry out that order and amass an army for jihad.

If God would have made Ishmael and Esau second sons it is possible that the political troubles of today could have been avoided.  Why did God allow Jerusalem to become so controversial? In Scripture He tells us that there will be a one world-government and a one-world religion, why?  Why did God allow Abraham’s heirs to continually fight each other when He could have stopped it?  To answer that question requires a lot of assumptions.

I believe that it has something to do with Lucifer and the defection of 1/3 of the angels.  He was one of the most important angels in heaven.  He had all of the luxuries of life.  He could have had anything he wanted from a loving God.  Why did he rebel and the others rebel? Could it be that he wanted to be God?  Scripture tells us that he wants to take over the rebuilt Jewish Temple and rule as God.

God has used the nation of Israel to point out the carnal nature of man.  He has shown us some of the decisions self-centered men will make when given free moral agency.  When the Jews would completely obey the laws of God He would bless them with abundant prosperity. They would take advantage of it and He would withdraw and they would be enslaved and savagely treated.  They would repent and He would again bless them.  This cycle continually occurred.  He is planning to give us a Heaven on earth.  This time He wants people to know what a world can be like when they ignore the laws God has provided. I have always believed this is God’s laboratory and He allows us to witness the difference between good and evil, light and darkness and then choose which we prefer.   The life we live is a continual test to see what we will choose: the ways of the world (Satan’s ways), or live in obedience to the ways of Christ. God wants those who live with Him through eternity to be able to live like Christ in the world that we live in today.  In eternity the opportunities will be so great and the surroundings so terrific we will not want to rebel as Lucifer and the angels did, knowing what could again happen.  As the angels in Heaven followed Lucifer and rebelled against God, the same things were happening but this time it is humans on hearth.  And probably for the same reasons that the angels fell, to follow the great deceiver.  They believed they did not need God and they wanted to become their own god.

Genesis 15:4 & 5 – “Then the word of the LORD came to him: ‘This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.’  He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’”

Genesis 16:1 & 2 –  “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, ‘The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.’  Abram agreed to what Sarai said.”

Eve convinced Adam to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree.  Sarai convinced Abraham to have a child with Hagar.  In each case, we believe Satan convinced the two women not to trust God.  Look at the consequences of lacking trust and making the incorrect decision.  Was God showing to man what may happen when we don’t trust Him?  What is the difference between the angels that followed Satan and those on earth today that are deceived by him?  Adam and Eve’s rebellion resulted in God destroying unbelievers by water.  Abraham and Sarai’s untrusting decision will probably cause the earth to be destroyed by fire the second time.  Who do you trust?  Wake up America before it’s too late!  We had better start making decisions per Scripture and stop being deceived by Satan.  But do we learn from history?  Probably not!