Gerald E. Weston

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

God Designed Planet Earth to Support Life

We live on a dynamic and beautiful planet. Consider the majestic mountains, the sight and sounds of babbling brooks, and verdant valleys nestled between mountain peaks. There are beautiful glacier-fed lakes, tropical islands, prairies, and plains. Our planet is divided by terrain, temperature, and soil type for growing an amazing variety of foods—rice, wheat, and corn; citrus fruits, almond and walnut trees, mangos, papayas, coconuts, and so much more!

We are refreshed by afternoon showers that clean the air and give needed water for crops and flowering plants of all kinds. We’re intrigued, and sometimes frightened, when huge thunder and lightning storms pass over us, occasionally accompanied by tornados or powerful straight-line winds. Volcanic eruptions are beautiful and awe inspiring, but they can be destructive and deadly. Hurricanes rip apart homes and disrupt lives, as do floods and earthquakes.

How do we make sense of such a dynamic planet? If God is a loving God, how do we explain so-called, natural disasters? Why does He allow disruption, destruction, and desolation—often resulting in sorrow?

Water: A Powerful Force for Life—and Destruction

A warm welcome to all of you, from all of us here at Tomorrow’s World, where we bring you the good news of the coming Kingdom of God, explain end-time prophecies, and make sense of the world in which we live. On today’s program, I’m discussing natural disasters, why they occur, and what God reveals about some in our future.

As explained in the short introduction, we live on an amazing planet. So much so that we could have a thousand programs on the topography, the natural resources, and the diversity of life—the flora and fauna in the waters and on the land. But let us look at one thing we often take for granted, and that is water. It’s both the source for life and a destructive force.

Have you noticed how scientists and science writers look for evidence of water as they explore other planets—primarily Mars? They know that life as we know it is impossible without it. Many have swallowed the idea that if there is water, there may be life. Of course, this fails to take into account the complexity of life and how it is mathematically impossible to create life from non-living material.

Michael Denton pulls the cover off the idea of a “simple cell” when he wrote:

Although the tiniest bacterial cells are incredibly small… each is in effect a veritable micro-miniaturized factory containing thousands of exquisitely designed pieces of intricate molecular machinery… far more complicated than any machine built by man and absolutely without parallel in the non-living world…. The complexity of the simplest known type of cell is so great that it is impossible to accept that such an object could have been thrown together suddenly by some kind of freakish, vastly improbable, event. Such an occurrence would be indistinguishable from a miracle (Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, pp. 250, 264).

The creation of life needs more than water, but water is far more important to life than merely quenching our thirst. Perhaps you have wondered why so much of our planet is covered by oceans composed of salt water—which is not fit, as it is, for our drinking. The oceans make up approximately seventy percent of our planet, but do you realize how important these bodies of water are? The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also known as NOAA, informs us of their many benefits. Here are only a few:

Scientists estimate that roughly half of the oxygen production on Earth comes from the ocean. The majority of this production is from oceanic plankton—drifting plants, algae, and some bacteria that can photosynthesize. One particular species, Prochlorococcus, is the smallest photosynthetic organism on Earth. But this little bacteria produces up to 20% of the oxygen in our entire biosphere. That’s a higher percentage than all of the tropical rainforests on land combined (“How much oxygen comes from the ocean?” OceanService.noaa.gov, August 22, 2023).

Wow! Half our oxygen comes from the oceans and 20% of total oxygen comes from one tiny organism. In addition to pumping oxygen into the atmosphere, NOAA explains that our oceans moderate global temperatures by transporting “heat from the equator to the poles, regulating climate and weather patterns.”

The ocean’s water is constantly circulated by currents. Tidal currents occur close to shore and are influenced by the sun and moon. Surface currents are influenced by the wind. However, other, much slower currents that occur from the surface to the seafloor are driven by changes in the saltiness and ocean temperature, a process called thermohaline circulation. These currents are carried in a large “global conveyer belt...”

This circulation brings warmth to various parts of the globe and also carries nutrients necessary to sustain ocean life...

The circulation process begins as warm water near the surface moves toward the poles (such as the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic), where it cools and forms sea ice. As this ice forms, salt is left behind in the ocean water. Due to the large amount of salt in the water, it becomes denser, sinks down, and is carried southwards in the depths below. Eventually, the water gets pulled back up towards the surface and warms up in a process called upwelling, completing the cycle (“What Is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)?” OceanService.noaa.gov, January 1, 2023).

There are many more critical life-sustaining benefits provided by our oceans. Huge amounts of water evaporate, forming clouds that drift over land and provide needed rain. And consider the massive amount of food that comes from our oceans.

But our oceans are not always so benevolent.

They sometimes produce storms that cause great destruction in the form of hurricanes and cyclones. And when undersea earthquakes occur, they can produce devastation on a grand scale. In less than ten years, the world experienced two tsunamis. The first in 2004 killed more than a quarter million people along coastal Indian Ocean areas. The second was in Japan, which took as many as 20,000 lives in 2011. Why, if God is a god of love, does He allow such powerful forces on this planet? Can He not prevent them? Or is all this a matter of chance?

When Does God Control the Weather—Including Natural Disasters?

So far, we’ve noted that our home here on earth is beautiful and diverse. How different it is from any other celestial object we’ve been able to observe.

Its oceans, its temperature range, its 24-hour day divided into light and darkness, all shout the message that this planet was made for life—not life as a result of chance, but life by design. But, as we have also noted, there are powerful forces that bring devastation and disaster: volcanos, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and cyclones, droughts and floods, fires and tornados.

The question is, if God is a loving Creator, why do we see such contrast on earth between the beautiful and the ugly, the beneficial and the destructive? To answer that question, we must go back to the beginning.

God Gives Us the Ability to Make Choices

The Bible tells us that our first parents were placed in a beautiful garden filled with wonderful foods of all sorts. Man was made in God’s likeness and image for a grand purpose. He was given a mind to think, to reason, to invent and innovate, to make decisions far above what any animal kind can do. But these decisions go beyond how to make and construct. Mankind must make decisions on how to relate to others—in other words, moral decisions. Adam and Eve were thus tested to see whether they would trust God’s judgment as to what is good and what is evil, or whether to strike out on their own and determine good and evil for themselves. Adam, who was not deceived by the serpent, chose the latter and mankind has been doing the same ever since.

As a result, God said, in effect, “If you want to do it your own way, have at it, but don’t expect me to bail you out of every jam you get yourself into.”

However, despite our rebellion, God does care for all of His potential children. Note what Jesus said as recorded by Matthew:

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He [that is God] makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:44–45).

Yes, God even gives rain to the unjust. He has not left our environment totally to chance. But notice also that God does manipulate our weather from time to time based on our behavior. To Israel He said,

If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely (Leviticus 26:3–5).

God Promises Blessings for Obedience and Curses for Disobedience

Can we not see that the God who created the entire universe, can change weather patterns for the good—that is, if we obey Him—but also withhold the good if we despise Him? Here is the result of the latter:

But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant, I also will do this to you… (Leviticus 26:14–16).

Now the first thing He said would happen is that He would give His people over to terrorism and disease epidemics. But also:

I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit (Leviticus 26:19–20).

Or, as we read in Deuteronomy 28:24:

The Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed (Deuteronomy 28:24).

We see that God makes it possible for the righteous and the unrighteous to survive on earth—giving sun and rain to produce food for man and beast alike.

Expect Worsening Natural Disasters in the End Times

Our home is teeming with life forms of every sort—soaring birds, fleet-footed animals, and creatures that live in our waters. Then there is plant life coming in all shapes and sizes. We’re overwhelmed by the natural process of mountains and islands being formed by volcanic activity. We’re awed by lightning and thunderstorms. But volcanos, severe storms, earthquakes, floods, and droughts can be frightening and devastating. So, I have asked the question, if God is a god of love, why does He allow such destructive forces to plague mankind?

God will send terrible calamities on those who repeatedly reject Him

As we’ve already seen, it’s man that has rejected God, and essentially said, “God leave us alone. Don’t tell us what to do.” And so, He has. But we’ve also seen that He hasn’t left us entirely alone. He makes the sun shine and the rain to come upon both the just and the unjust.

We have also seen that He blesses those who strive to obey Him with rain in due season, but He directs unfavorable weather patterns upon those who despise His commandments. In this portion of today’s program, we’ll see that God will use disasters of unimaginable proportions in the very near future to get our attention. The book of Revelation describes a number of so-called natural disasters.

The Seven Trumpets of Revelation

Revelation describes a scroll sealed with seven seals, and when the seventh seal is opened, seven angels are given seven trumpet plagues to blow upon the earth. Now let’s look at three of them. We read of the first disaster in chapter 8, and verse 7:

The first angel sounded: and hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up (Revelation 8:7).

Now it’s difficult for us to know the precise means of this disaster, but it will be of God, and will be devastating beyond what the world has ever known. The second disaster may be more easily defined.

Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed (Revelation 8:8–9).

This would appear to be a super-volcano, a mountain exploding and tossed into the sea. We may even speculate, that it will be one of the known, or currently unrecognized, super-volcanoes in or around the geologically volatile South China Sea, as it would have to be near busy shipping lanes.

Now note this:

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that roughly 80 percent of global trade by volume and 70 percent by value is transported by sea. Of that volume, 60 percent of maritime trade passes through Asia, with the South China Sea carrying an estimated one-third of global shipping. Its waters are particularly critical for China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, all of which rely on the Strait of Malacca, which connects the South China Sea and, by extension, the Pacific Ocean with the Indian Ocean (“How Much Trade Transits the South China Sea?” ChinaPower.csis.org, August 2, 2017).

The next natural disaster is described in verse 10:

Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water (Revelation 8:10).

We often refer to a meteor as a “shooting star.” Scientists know that many large meteors and asteroids cross Earth’s path on a regular basis. A few have struck the earth with devastating effect in the past, but God has protected our planet for our sake. However, according to this passage of scripture, a large asteroid striking the earth appears to be in our future.

The Bible has much more to contribute to our understanding of natural disasters, and that is the reason we are offering a free resource that explains why a loving God allows, and at times even causes, terrible disasters to occur on earth. Yes, there are powerful natural forces that affect our planet, but there is a God who controls whether and when they strike mankind. They remind us that we are not nearly as much in control of our lives as we sometimes think we are.

God Will Get Our Attention Before He Gives Us a Safer World

So-called natural disasters have been a part of mankind’s experience from the beginning. Some of these are the result of a dynamically changing planet. Some are the result of time and chance upon humanity—the result of our rejection of God. But, as shown in the previous segment of this program, there are great calamities in our future, and those disasters will not be so “natural.” However, there is good news regarding the future. There is coming a time when rain will come in due season, when God will protect His creation from devastating floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornados.

Quoting from Acts of God: Why Natural Disasters?:

Could God stop natural disasters? Could He give adequate warnings so people could get out of the way while He builds a new island or mountain? Could He direct the wind to take a course away from His children? (p. 22).

The obvious answer to anyone who truly knows God is:

Of course He could! Who created the dirt under our feet? Who created the law of gravity, the strong force and the weak force? Cannot the God who created the universe and life on this planet protect us? (p. 22).

So why do these things happen now? Our resource continues:

Scientists understand that our universe did not always exist. So how did it come to be? We are so arrogant we conclude that it all happened by chance—so God is allowing us to live in a world of chance. The disasters that “time and chance” throw at us should get our attention (p. 22).

Sadly, our attention span is short. But God will get our attention. When we come to the end of our rope, Jesus Christ will return to save us from ourselves, as explained in Zechariah 14, verse 4.

And in that day His feet [the Messiah—Jesus Christ] will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south (Zechariah 14:4).

After Jesus Christ returns, a river of living waters will heal the earth.

Following that earthquake, a river of living waters will flow both east and west from Jerusalem and bring healing to today’s polluted seas and rivers. Ezekiel describes this river, obviously also a type of God’s healing spirit, flowing out to heal our damaged planet.

Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes” (Ezekiel 47:8–9).

Isaiah describes a future time of climate change when today’s deserts and wildernesses will be transformed. Notice it in Isaiah 35:6.

For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals, where each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes (Isaiah 35:6–7).

Isaiah continues a few chapters later:

I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together, that they may see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it (Isaiah 41:18–20).

The God who created the universe and our tiny planet in it, is more than capable of controlling the forces that shape this earth. He has given us time to prove to ourselves that our ways do not work. He’s allowed us to live by time and chance to remind us that we are not as high and mighty as we think, but once He gets our attention, He will show us how things could have been from the beginning if we had chosen to trust in Him.

Be sure to order your free copy of Acts of God: Why Natural Disasters?, and be sure to come back next week, when Richard Ames, Wallace Smith, Rod McNair, and I explain the prophecies of the Bible, proclaim the good news of Christ’s coming Kingdom, and help you understand the world in which you live today. See you next time.

I hope you profited from this video.

If you found it helpful and want to learn more, be sure to get your free copy of our booklet “Acts of God: Why Natural Disasters?” by going to TWTV.ORG/Disasters.

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Thanks for watching! See you next time.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Abraham: The Father of Many Nations

The well-known hymn, Standing on the Promises, by Russell Carter is familiar to most church-goers. But what are those promises? Do you know? If you guess, “Salvation through Jesus Christ,” that is certainly one of the promises. But do you know to whom that promise was given, and what other promise accompanied it? And do you realize that this other promise explains what is happening geopolitically in our world today?

We read in Genesis 12, and verses 2–3, that a man named Abram was told to leave his country and go to a place that God had chosen for him, and he would be blessed mightily if he did so. Notice these promises:

I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Genesis 12:2–3).

It’s generally understood that, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed,” is a reference to the Messiah—Jesus Christ.

But what about the blessing of national greatness? Is this fulfilled by the tiny state we now call Israel? Or was it the kingdom of Israel under Kings David or Solomon? Or does it mean far more than that?

The promise of a Savior is general knowledge, but we’ll see on today’s program, one of the most remarkable truths of scripture. It is a truth so plain a child can understand, but one that theologians fail to explain. That truth is the promise of national greatness to Abraham, and it explains what we see in our world today. Stay with me now, as we’ll look at the promises of God to Abraham—promises that God cannot, and has not, broken.

Abraham’s Place in World History

A warm welcome to all of you from all of us here at Tomorrow’s World, where we fearlessly explain, from the pages of the Bible, promises and prophecies others don’t understand, or simply ignore. Do you realize, dear friends, that God gave two major promises to the patriarch Abraham, passed those along to his descendants, and has brought them to pass thousands of years later?

Most church-goers are familiar with one of them, but they are woefully ignorant of the other. Why? And why should this be important to you? When people sing “Standing on the Promises,” do they know what those promises are? The promises of God are found in the book of Genesis, so let’s begin with chapter 12, verses 1–3, where we are introduced to a man named Abram.

Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1–3).

Then in verse 7 we read the following:

Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land” (Genesis 12:7).

How is it that a promise made nearly 4,000 years ago could affect us in the 21^st century? Today we see a struggle in the Middle East over the land promised to Abram and his descendants. But there is far more significance to the promises made to Abraham. Notice in chapter 13 of Genesis that God promised this man, who was childless at the time, that he would be a father of millions, and that his descendants would spread out in all directions.

And the Lord said to Abram… “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered” (Genesis 13:14–16).

People often think of the promised land as only that area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, as we hear angry chants today, “From the river to the sea.” But the promise included much more, as we see from the fifteenth chapter, verse 18, where God told Abram:

“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18).

The River Euphrates starts in Turkey, flows through Syria and modern Iraq and empties into the Persian Gulf. This may not mean that all territory south and west of the Euphrates was given to Israel. But clearly much more than most people realize. And even anciently, Israel possessed land on the east side of the Jordan. When Abram was 99 years old and before the birth of Isaac, in chapter 17, beginning in verse 4, God told him the following:

“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you” (Genesis 17:4–6).

Notice that the very name Abraham means “father of many nations.” And his wife Sarah was prophesied to be [notice verse 16]:

… a mother of nations; [and that] kings of peoples shall be from her (Genesis 17:16).

As we go through the book of Genesis, we find that God expanded the promises far beyond a tiny land on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.

However, Sarah was barren, and in the course of time, Abraham and Sarah became impatient. Sarah suggested that Abraham could produce a child by a surrogate. The result was the birth of Ishmael.

God’s Promises Revealed

Dear friends, you cannot understand our world today without understanding the promises of national greatness made to Abraham and his descendants. Yes, the promises made to him include the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, but that’s not the whole story. These promises include kings (plural!), nations (plural!), and as we will see, great agricultural and mineral wealth, and great military power.

We read that God tested Abraham to know who he would put first—God, or his son? He passed that test and God responded by making the promises unconditional and giving greater detail. Notice it in Genesis 22:16–18:

“By Myself I have sworn,” says the Lord, “because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Genesis 22:16–18).

So far, we have seen that God promised the following:

1. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.

2. God would give great national blessings to Abraham and his descendants.

3. His descendants would be in number as the sands of the seashore.

and,

4. They would possess the gate of their enemies.

The Apostle Paul explains that point number 1—“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed”—refers to the Messiah.

Notice it in Galatians 3:16:

Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “AND TO YOUR SEED,” who is Christ (Galatians 3:16).

That single seed that would bring a blessing to the whole world is the promise of Jesus Christ, who gave His life for the sins of the world and offered salvation and eternal life to mankind. This promise is generally understood, but what about other aspects of the promise made to Abraham? What about:

• Kings?
• Territory?
• Descendants in the millions?
• Possessing gates of their enemies?

Genesis 24:60 shows how these promises were conferred upon Abraham’s daughter-in-law:

And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands [that’s tens of millions]; and may your descendants possess the gates [plural] of those who hate them” (Genesis 24:60).

My friends, these are remarkable promises, if they are true! And we are going to see that they ARE true, that they HAVE been, and ARE being fulfilled right before our very eyes! Furthermore, these promises affect your life!

Now we come to a part of the story that affects what is happening in the Middle East even as I speak. We find that Abraham’s daughter-in-law, Rebekah was pregnant with twin boys who struggled in her womb. When she inquired of God as to why there was such a struggle within her, He answered [Genesis 25:23]:

Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger (Genesis 25:23).

The two sons were named Jacob and Esau. Do you realize that what is happening in that part of the world all began with what we are reading here in the book of Genesis? The struggles that began between Jacob and Esau were foretold nearly 4,000 years in advance, but what remains of this story is even more remarkable.

Esau was the older of the two and was in line to receive a double portion of the inheritance as a right of birth. But Jacob was a crafty man and induced Esau to sell him his birthright—Genesis 25, beginning in verse 29:

Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary” … But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.” And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” (Genesis 25:29–32).

Now it’s evident by what followed that he was not really ready to die:

Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright (Genesis 25:33–34).

Ephraim and Manasseh—Who Are They?

In the course of time, Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, and the promises became his. And as we will see, those promises, given thousands of years ago, are coming alive before our very eyes. Let’s pick up the story in Genesis 35 where God appeared to Abraham’s grandson, Jacob [we’ll begin in verse 10]:

And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name”…. Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land” (Genesis 35:10–12).

Notice this additional detail given here. Abram’s name was changed to Abraham, meaning a father of many, or a multitude, of nations. But here we see that the promise to his grandson explains the promise included a single nation and a company of nations. So what are we to think of this? And should this matter to you? Absolutely it should! Let’s go to the end of Genesis and read some remarkable prophecies. Bible students know the story of Jacob’s [that is, Israel’s] twelve sons and how they all ended up in Egypt. One of Jacob’s [or Israel’s] sons was Judah—the father of the Jews. Another was Joseph. As Israel came to the end of his life, he adopted Joseph’s two sons—Manasseh and Ephraim. We read of this in chapter 48 of Genesis. After confirming what God had promised him, Israel then said something almost no one understands, yet there’s nothing difficult here. Let’s notice this in Genesis 48:

“And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. Your offspring whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance” (Genesis 48:5–6).

This adoption by Israel of Joseph’s sons was confirmed in verse 16:

“Let my name [that is, the name Israel] be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth” (Genesis 48:16).

This is vitally important. The name of Israel was placed, not on the sons of Judah, the Jews, but on the sons of his brother, Joseph. Let that sink in. I repeat, the name of Israel was placed, not on the sons of Judah—not on the Jews—but on the sons of his brother Joseph. And as the verses that follow demonstrate, the birthright blessings, of a single nation, and a multitude of nations, go to Joseph’s sons—Manasseh and Ephraim. The verses that follow prove that! Jacob, that is Israel, commanded Joseph to bring his sons forward to him, that the birthright blessing could be passed to them. Joseph then placed the oldest, that is Manasseh, before his father so that Israel’s right hand would be on his head; and the younger Ephraim in front of Israel’s left hand. However, Israel crossed his hands and conferred the greater blessing on the younger brother. Joseph protested here in Genesis 48:18:

“Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations” (Genesis 48:18–19).

Notice it! The older son would become a great nation, but his younger brother would become a multitude or company of nations. This should be proof enough that these birthright blessings never went to the Jews. But if you have your Bible, turn now to 1 Chronicles 5, or write this down and look it up later. Here we see a clear statement that the birthright went to neither the firstborn [Reuben] of Israel, nor to the Jews. Begin in verse 1:

Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel—he was indeed the firstborn, but because he defiled [by sexual misconduct] his father's bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph [Ephraim and Manasseh], the son of Israel, so that the genealogy is not listed according to the birthright; yet Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came a ruler [that is, the Messiah—Christ Jesus], although the birthright [the national blessings] was Joseph’s (1 Chronicles 5:1–2).

Understand. Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, had twelve sons. Among the twelve are Judah, the father of the Jews, but also Joseph, whose descendants, through Ephraim and Manasseh, were destined to become a single great nation and a company of nations. From the Jews would come the Messiah, but the promise of national greatness was given to his brother Joseph and his sons. Not only is this what Scripture tells us, so does history! When have the Jews ever been a great nation and a company of nations possessing the bounties of the earth? Some think the split between the house of Judah and the house of Israel fulfilled this, but that cannot be, because the house of Israel was not made up of Jews. The Jews were only a single nation—never a multitude of nations.

American and Great Britain…In Prophecy?

Prior to his death, Jacob [that is, Israel] called all twelve of his sons and foretold what would come of them at the time of the end. Here it is in Genesis 49:1:

And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days” (Genesis 49:1).

To Judah [that is the Jews] we read of the promise of a line of kings culminating in the returning Messiah in verse 10:

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people (Genesis 49:10).

We also see from verses 8 and 9 that the Jews will be a powerful military force at the time of the end, and is that not exactly what we see in our news?

Judah… Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies…. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; and as a lion, who shall rouse him? (Genesis 49:8–9).

This is confirmed in a prophecy about the Jews and Jerusalem, found in Zechariah 12:6:

In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left… (Zechariah 12:6).

But what about the birthright descendants of Joseph during the time of the end—these very days that we’re living in today? Back in Genesis 49:22:

Joseph is a fruitful bough… His branches run over the wall. The archers have bitterly grieved him, shot at him and hated him. But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob… by the God of your father who will help you, and by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. The blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers (Genesis 49:22–26).

Dear friends, there is so much more to this story that involves the British-descended and American peoples. Only when you understand the prophecies of the Bible can you understand what we see in today’s news, and what the outcome will be.

I hope you profited from this video.

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