Messianic Perspectives

Liz Aiello: With media attention focused on Israel and the people of the Gaza Strip, hope for a peaceful solution to the Middle East situation seems almost hopeless. Yet the ancient prophets told us thousands of years ago how everything will turn out. Stay tuned as we talk about Bible prophecy today right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinct first-century Jewish point of view. This is Liz Aiello. Today, Dr. Gary Hedrick is talking about Bible prophecy. His subject is Egypt and the Arab Nations in Prophecy.

Here on Messianic Perspectives, we usually focus on prophecy as it relates to Israel, but today we'll be looking at the future of the Middle East from the viewpoint of the Arab nations because, believe it or not, Israel is not the only nation in the Middle East that God has a plan for. I'll be back a little later with information about a special offer, so have your pen and paper ready. And now with today's installment, here's Gary.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: Thank you and welcome listening friend to this edition of the program. It's good to have you with us today as we continue this series of studies dealing with Egypt and the Arab nations in prophecy. If you were with us last time, you know that we were looking at these five specific prophecies in the book of Genesis, predictions that have to do with Ishmael and his descendants, the Arab people.

We said the first of the prophecies was that Ishmael's descendants would not be numbered for multitude. Number two, we said they will be nomads or desert people. Number three, their hand will be against every man. They will be hostile people, people of violence. Number four, every man's hand will be against them. And number five, they will dwell over and against their brethren.

That is, they will live in close proximity to their brethren, but in a state of hostility. And we spent a great deal of time talking about the fulfillment of those prophecies that had to do with Ishmael. Ishmael, of course, was the first of the patriarchs of the Arab nations. Most Arab people today trace their lineage back to Ishmael.

And now today, I'd like to move on to the second of these Arab patriarchs, and that's Esau. If you have a Bible handy, why don't you turn with me to Genesis chapter 25, and I'm going to begin reading here in verse 19. Genesis 25:19: "And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham begat Isaac. And Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan-aram, the sister to Laban the Syrian."

Verse 21: "And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren. And the Lord was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children," verse 22 says, "the children struggled together within her. And she said, 'If it be so, why am I thus? Why is this happening to me?' And she went to inquire of the Lord."

She knew where to get some answers, didn't she? She wanted to know why these two babies were struggling together in her womb, so she went to the temple or to the tabernacle to inquire of the Lord. Now listen to what he tells her. Verse 23: "And the Lord said unto her, 'Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels. And the one people shall be stronger than the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger.'"

"And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red," verse 25 says, "all over like a hairy garment, and they called his name Esau." The word Esau means hairy. "And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel. And his name was called Jacob."

The word Jacob means he grasps the heel. "And Isaac was three-score years old," 60 years old, "when Rebekah bore them." Now remember, the Lord had already told Rebekah that there were two nations growing in her womb, that one would be stronger than the other, and that one would serve the other. Now watch what happens next.

Verse 27: "And the boys grew. And Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field. And Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents." These two boys were as different as night and day. Esau was the outdoorsman, the hunter, the rough and rugged athletic type. But it says Jacob was a plain man, literally a quiet man, a man who stayed inside most of the time with his mother.

Verse 28 says, "And Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison." In other words, Isaac enjoyed eating the wild game that Esau would bring in from the field. But it says, "Rebekah loved Jacob." So Esau was a daddy's boy. Jacob was a mama's boy.

Now watch this. Verse 29: "And Jacob sod pottage." That is, Jacob was boiling some stew, some pottage. "And Esau came in from the field and he was faint. And Esau said to Jacob, 'Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage for I am faint.' Therefore was his name called Edom." Edom means red.

Now what's about to happen here is free enterprise in action. Watch this. It's the law of supply and demand. Esau has something Jacob wants, and Jacob has something Esau wants. So this is Jacob's opportunity and he seizes it. It says in verse 31, "And Jacob said, 'Sell me this day thy birthright.'"

Now let's stop there. The birthright in ancient times was the right of the first-born son. In the Middle East in Bible times, there was a law of primogeniture, the law of the firstborn, which said that the firstborn son received a double portion of the father's blessing and a double inheritance. But in this case, the birthright meant even more than that because Isaac was the son of Abraham.

He was the recipient of the covenant promises that were made to Abraham. Isaac was the son of promise. It would be through one of Isaac's sons that all of the Messianic promises would be fulfilled. So what was at stake here was not only the father's blessing, not only the inheritance, but all of the promises God had made to Abraham in the Abrahamic Covenant.

You can say whatever you want to about Jacob, my friend. He was a schemer, yes he was. He was a deceiver, yes. But never forget one thing about this man Jacob: he knew something of value when he saw it, and Esau didn't. That was the difference. No doubt Jacob knew the prophecy that had been given even before he was born, that one brother would be greater than the other and one would serve the other.

And he wanted to be the greater one. He wanted to be the one who would inherit the covenant promises of Almighty God. And you see that quality in Jacob for the rest of his life, that quality of wanting God's best, of yearning and hoping and striving for God's blessing.

You remember Jacob's the one who wrestled the angel all night long, and even when he was totally exhausted and could hardly stand up, he said, "Lord, I'm going to hold on until you bless me. I'm not going to let you go until you bless me." What tenacity! What a heart for God! More than anything else in this world, more than anything else in this life, Jacob wanted God's blessing.

But Esau wasn't like that as we'll see in just a moment. He was more interested in getting food for his stomach than he was in the promises of God. No wonder the writer of Hebrews says, "Lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright" (Hebrews 12:16). Who traded the promises of Almighty God for one mess of stew.

That's Esau. You see, Jacob knew what was important. Jacob wanted the promises. He wanted the birthright. He wanted the inheritance. He knew it didn't mean anything to Esau. He wanted God's blessing. So he said to Esau, "Sell me this day thy birthright."

Now watch Esau's response. Verse 32: "And Esau said, 'Behold, I am at the point to die. And what profit shall this birthright do to me?'" He's saying, what good will this birthright do if I die? Well, it doesn't take a Phi Beta Kappa to figure out that trading a birthright for a bowl of stew is a very bad deal, for at least one of them.

You see, he wasn't really going to die. He's just rationalizing this decision in order to justify what he's about to do. The human mind has almost unlimited powers of rationalization. If you really want to do something badly enough, you can figure out some reason why it's okay.

I've seen people rationalize the most utterly absurd, irresponsible, stupid decisions imaginable. But no amount of rationalization can change the inherent foolishness of some things, and this happens to be one of those things. Here's a man who's about to trade his entire future and his whole life for a bowl of vegetable soup.

Verse 33: "And Jacob said, 'Swear to me this day.' And he swore unto him, and he sold his birthright unto Jacob." The deal was done. Verse 34: "Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils. And he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright."

That's Esau, the second patriarch of the modern Arab world. His descendants were the Edomites, who settled in the area that would now be just north of the Gulf of Aqaba. The ancient Edomite Kingdom included parts of modern-day Egypt, Israel, and Jordan.

The ancient city of Petra, the ruins of which can still be seen in southern Jordan, was part of ancient Edom. And today, almost 4,000 years later, the descendants of Jacob and the descendants of Esau are still at odds. And on the next program, I'll show you a prophecy in the Psalms written some 3,000 years ago.

It was a prophecy that predicted the Arab alliance that would be arrayed against Israel in our generation. Join us then, won't you? I hope you will. Bye-bye.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary, and thank you listening friend for tuning in today. Gary Hedrick's subject today has been Egypt and the Arab Nations in Prophecy. Now on a program like ours with Messianic emphasis, you might think it's rather odd to be talking about Egypt and the Arab nations.

However, it's important to understand that God has a prophetic plan for the Arab people, just like he has a plan for Israel and the Jewish people. He has not forgotten the sons of Ishmael, and the prophetic scriptures tell us that Arab believers will have a prominent place in the coming Millennial Kingdom.

If you enjoyed today's presentation on Egypt and the Arab Nations in Prophecy by Gary Hedrick, you'll be glad to know we've placed the entire series on one convenient CD. It's available for a gift of just six dollars or more to the ministry of Messianic Perspectives. Just visit our secure online store at MessianicSpecialties.com to place your order.

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This is Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series on Egypt and the Arab Nations in Prophecy, right here on Messianic Perspectives. Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries of San Antonio, Texas, and is made possible on this station by the free-will contributions of our listeners in this area.