The Migration of the Order of Melchizedek
I need to start this week’s teaching with a correction of a script error I made last which I then read over while recording… I just read through it and didn’t catch it. In speaking about Noah being drunk in his tent, I said it is not a sin to be drunkard. That has now been corrected but I want you to know that I know it is a sin to be a drunkard!
Now, moving on to this week’s Melchizedek teaching…
The purpose of teaching you about Melchizedek is so that you will understand the role of Israel on the earth, how Israel was selected by YHVH and why. It is a big deal to have the Creator of everything make such a selection as this, a people to rule and reign with Him once they learn to subject themselves properly to His authority. The roles of the Order of Melchizedek and Israel are exactly the same – to bring the world to Yeshua YHVH Elohim. If you understand this, you will understand your role in YHVH’s Kingdom (which is the Order of Melchizedek) and why it is so necessary for you to do His will by keeping His commandments that Israel keeps failing at. And you will know what kind of government is about to set foot on the earth again to destroy the current wicked world government.
This teaching is being presented as “real-world” information, as if we were there at that time, and not as commentary on ancient myths which have no verifiable answers and which no longer apply or as philosophies. The human Melchizedek King-Priests were real people facing real problems. We should put ourselves in their real-world shoes to get their perspective that the Bible is trying to tell us about from which we can get a better viewpoint about the Order of Melchizedek.
To understand Melchizedek, we must understand YHVH’s plan for Israel from the beginning. We must understand what Israel is.
Israel is King-people-land. The King issues laws; the people live by those laws so they can inherit the land which has a capital city, Jerusalem. This is not some future situation. The nation of Israel – not to be confused with the modern UN-created political State of Israel – is a nation of laws that governs her people worldwide and has done so for 6,000 years. They, we, have been ruled from Yeshua YHVH Elohim’s heavenly Melchizedek, Kingly, throne all this time. Yeshua said His Kingdom is at hand. What that means is that the very fact that there are people living like there is a King with authority to command their lives is what makes His Kingdom, Biblical Israel (not the current State of Israel) a reality on the earth. Biblical Israel and the State of Israel are not the same Israel at all.
In the first two parts of this series, I provided details about the line of the human Melchizedeks and their functions. If you have not listened to those, please do. I will now move forward with the next appearance of the Melchizedek in scripture.
Let me first provide a historical background for the conditions of Terah’s and Abram’s world. There are scant details about life in the following centuries after the flood. Genesis 10 provides only genealogies and Genesis 11 gives us two accounts of YHVH’s intervention on the earth because of how quickly things were sliding south.
There are three men to take note of from Genesis 10: Nimrod, Elam and Eber. Two of these men’s progeny will be faced by the sons of Eber in the end of days. We need to know who they are and their motivations for wanting to kill the descendants of Eber because they tried to kill Terah’s family from the beginning. (Terah was Abraham’s father and Eber was his 5th great grandfather).
This very small history will give us a clue of what and why we still are facing Nimrod and Elam today.
Within the first two generations after the flood, the family of Noah began to migrate south from the eastern Turkey mountains of Ararat to settle in the fertile delta between the two rivers of the Tigris and Euphrates that emptied into the Persian Gulf. Each descendant of Noah would have staked a claim of land and built a settlement that eventually became a city. Population growth brings with it the need for governance so these cities became “city-states”, governed by a King who led the people to worship the very same demons that had instigated the corruption before the flood.
This is why YHVH called them ‘goy’, Gentiles, nations. Out of the shoot, they returned to wickedness. So the word ‘goy’ or ‘Gentile’ carries with it the attribution of being automatically wicked until one decides to repent and return to YHVH.
One of the first city-states to grow into a small empire was Elam (the physical firstborn of Shem, (Genesis 10:22)). Another builder of city-states was Nimrod. One city was not enough. He built four: Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh (Genesis 10:10).
Let’s start with Shem’s son, Elam. Shem was the Melchizedek after Noah and Elam, being the physical firstborn of Shem, probably expected to become the next Melchizedek with all the blessings and authority given to the one holding the office. This wealth and authority requires the office holder to be humble and obedient to YHVH’s laws otherwise there will be a huge mishandling of resources, brethren won’t be cared for and the wicked Melchizedek, should there be one, would line his own pockets and wreak satanic havoc on the earth instead of bringing righteousness. Elam must have failed the character test because Shem would pass that office to a descendant in Arphaxad’s line, Abraham. Arphaxad was Shem’s third born son.
During the lifetimes of Terah and Abraham, wars were fought between Ur and the Elamites that greatly affected the entire region and shifted the axis of power from Sumeria and Babylon to Egypt.
Sumeria’s narrow width was divided between the borders of what today are Iran and Iraq. Notice on the map the red circles around the names “Elam” and “Ur”. Ancient Elam was in the southwest area of modern Iran. Elam, according to historians, put the finishing touches on the city of Ur from where Terah fled with his family. Elam later populated the Persian and Medea empires which later became Iran. Perhaps already you are beginning to see how what happened in the beginning will need to be finished in the end?
The ongoing battles between Elam and Ur were not accidental. There were descendants of Eber, from where the word “Hebrew” comes. From extra-biblical accounts, history and archaeology, we also know that Ur was a city of idolators. But there was one among them who was not – Abram.
Elam’s damage to Ur was such that Terah moved, or might I say “fled”, his family from their home in Ur to Haran (Genesis 11:27-32). Genesis 11:28 says Terah’s son, Haran, died before Terah.
When I was learning the history of this time period, the thought occurred to me that Haran may have died in battle with the Elamites. Did Haran die protecting Abram? Did Terah flee Ur to protect Abram? Genesis says nothing about this nor is it ever hinted at anywhere else in scripture. The point for us to realize from this story of Abraham’s family perhaps being chased out of Ur is that this pattern will repeat in the end of days as Iran chases Abraham’s children around the planet forcibly converting them to Islam. Remember, the patterns go backwards as well as forward. What will happen in the end, that we don’t have details about from the beginning, could be very similar. But this time, there will be nowhere for Abraham’s descendants to flee to except to the protected wilderness of the first Exodus in southern Jordan (Revelation 12:6).
In this coming Elamite-Iranian Islamic Shi’ite Caliphate is Abraham’s grandson and Jacob’s wicked twin brother, Esau. His descendants are well known to be part of modern Iran. Esau’s grandson, Amalek, was a population within the Persian empire and one of its members was Haman who tried to kill all the Jews.
Now, to Nimrod.
The Sumeria city-states built by Noah’s sons and grandsons existed before Nimrod built his own cities from which to rule and reign: Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh (Genesis 10:10). Akkad was the city-state that turned into the Akkadian empire. Its emperor was Sargon who many historians believe was Nimrod. Of special note was Sargon’s war against Ur.
The Akkadians were thought of in Ur as “hunters”. Nimrod is mentioned as a “mighty one” and “mighty hunter” (Genesis 10:8-9). He was said to be the first tyrant. As a “mighty (‘gibbor’) hunter, the suggestion is that he hunted people perhaps for sport but more likely as a great warrior. Being a “great warrior” is how Sargon is remembered.
Akkadia was not only interested in destroying Ur, it was interested in becoming an empire ruling over many subjugated city-states. Some historians says Akkadia was the first empire on earth. Some say Sumeria was the first empire and Akkadia the second. I agree with those who list Akkadia as the first empire because Sumeria was not ruled by one sovereign. Each city ruled itself and they each made war with each other over territory and wealth. Akkadia was the first to create among men the sovereign-vassal covenant structure that Yeshua YHVH Elohim used from the time of Adam.
Let me elaborate.
The Order of Melchizedek is a unique governing model created before the foundation of the earth was laid. The Order of Melchizedek is eternal. Its Founder, King and High Priest is Yeshua YHVH Elohim. This is the governing structure of the earth from the beginning with Adam, through all of his successors listed in Genesis 5 and Noah who went through the flood. It is this structure that Satan is imitating starting with Nimrod. Satan, in this wicked mimicry, is the sovereign. His vassal was Nimrod.
The point of all the wars from the time of the flood forward is to bring about this imitated Order of Melchizedek structure in Satan’s hands. Do you now see why it is so important that we Israelites understand this Order of our King’s making? There will be one covenant structure with a sovereign and vassal Kings ruling over people when this is all over. Satan wants himself to be the sovereign. We know, because we have read the end of the book, that Yeshua will be sovereign and we will be His King-Priests.
What Nimrod accomplished with Akkadia in Sumeria is returning to the earth right now. His Akkadian empire ruled across Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Anatolia (Turkey), sending military expeditions as far south as modern Bahrain and Oman. It is the Levant, the area from where Shem’s descendants will rule and reign, that Nimrod wants most.
The Sumerian language was supplanted by the Akkadian language. The Sumerian language disappeared into oblivion until a Sumerian tablet was discovered at the city of Ur ruins by Leonard Woolley in 1927. When the first academics in London saw the clay tablets Woolley brought to them, they didn’t even think it was a language but some sort of primitive method of counting inventory. Nimrod’s descendants won’t be satisfied with the destruction of the holy language, Hebrew. He wants the total destruction of all Shemites, all descendants of Shem. Unfortunately, there are Shemites on earth today who are cooperating with Nimrod’s agenda. They are now ruling from Jerusalem.
Nimrod’s Akkadian Empire is still with us today in the ancient empires of Assyria (which is now part of Iran) and Babylon (which is now in Iraq). Both of these are prophesied to do much destruction in the end of days. As in the beginning, so in the end.
Babylon will not rise from its ashes in southern Iraq. Rather it will return to the earth through Jerusalem because the Jews do not know who Israel is or what Israel is and their dogmas found in the Talmud and the Kabbalah come straight out of Babylon and Egypt.
The destruction wreaked by the Elamites and Akkadians finally collapsed all of Sumeria’s city-states. In the wake of that destruction arose Egypt. In the hands of Egyptian priests, the newly created demon worship was further developed into Egyptian mystery religions.
YHVH said throughout the prophets that the Israelites never forgot Egypt. The atrocities they committed against YHVH were perpetrated by their continuing to practice Egyptian mysteries along with the religious rites of the surrounding nations. Egypt will return as the “mystery” part of the Jewish Mystery Babylon in the end of days. The Jewish Kabbalah is based on the ancient Egyptian mysteries.
The fall of the West will be like the fall of Sumeria with invasions and destruction, famine followed by disease and death.
This short history was important because we Israelites must understand that coming full circle is what was on the earth in the beginning. If that destruction was so hideous in the beginning, imagine what it will be in the end. The Books of Daniel and Revelation, along with the other prophets who prophesy about the end of days, try to describe it for us but we really don’t understand the utter destruction we face. Perhaps getting a little understanding of what happened in the beginning, and then multiplying it by hundreds or thousands, will help us get it.
Now to Abraham who lived in what is now southern Syria in a city called Haran, the same name as his brother who died in Ur.
After Terah died, YHVH told Abram to leave Haran (Genesis 12:1). I can imagine that both Terah and Abram wrestled with where to go to improve their situation. I can also imagine that while Terah was guided by YHVH to leave Ur and head south, rather than follow the main migration patterns north and east, it was Abram who was commanded by YHVH to continue south to the Promised Land against the normal migration pattern of that time.
The 5th and 6th words in the scroll of Genesis 12:1 are “lek lek”. The word ‘lek’ means ‘walk’ in most instances. It is the root of the Hebrew word ‘halaka’ which means our “faith walk”, but its first use is in the description of the river Hiddekel which was one of the rivers flowing out of the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 2:14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which [lek] goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
So the first use of ‘lek’ is to “flow like a river”. Does living water come to mind? Does water covering the earth come to mind? We should understand that Abram is being associated with living water.
It was Abram’s job to go occupy Shem’s inherited territory that Canaan, Ham’s cursed son (Genesis 9:25), had usurped.
There is an important word in Genesis 12:3: Venivrechu. It is translated in English as “blessed”, but it is much more than “blessed”. It means “grafted in”.
Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (ונברכו venivrechu).
The Hebrew word “nivrechu” is the niphal conjugation of the root word “barak which is the way that Strong’s translates it. It is more than just “blessing” but rather means “mixing” or “grafting”. In Hebrew, Genesis 12:3 literally reads: “Ve’nivrechu bekah kol mishpachot haadamah”. In English, “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you and in you all the nations of the earth shall be mixed!
YHVH’s method of overcoming the damage done to the earth in just the first few generations after the flood was to put all the nations of the earth with Abraham’s family! They, the nations, will be mixed in with Abraham’s family by the process of grafting like grafting tree branches onto one trunk. This is why Abraham was selected! He rejected idolatry, according to the Book of Jasher, which made him a proper successor to be the next Melchizedek after Shem, his ancestor going back 8 generations (Genesis 11:10-26). Genesis 11:10-26 ends with Abram because he was the next in line to be Melchizedek.
The first order of activity upon hearing YHVH’s words is obedience. Abram moved taking with him a large entourage of people some of whom he likely evangelized while others were from his own family. Abram’s wife and his nephew, Lot, were among those who moved into the land (Genesis 12:5).
Genesis 12:10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
Abram was familiar with famine having left Ur during a mass migration of people moving north and east out of Ur and the other city-states of the collapsed region of Sumeria under the failed rule of Akkadia.
There was another reason for the famine besides all the wars. The soil had become saline. Wheat crops that once grew plentifully in Sumeria no longer grew at all. Even the barley that once tolerated saline soil also became scarce as the salt content continued to rise. Today, nothing at all grows in this region. Call it nature or divine intervention, either way, Abram was forced to move to the Promised Land where he could have succeeded the King of Salem. But it wasn’t that YHVH wanted Abraham to succeed Shem as the Melchizedek. Rather, YHVH was now in the process of selecting a special people, a Hebrew nation of Israelites who would come from Abram and would, for a time, emphasize the patriarchs and their children.
Noah’s other progeny had risen through Nimrod. Now, Mitsrayim (Egypt) had succeeded the Sumerians and Akkadians as the regional power. Mitsrayim (Egypt) was now following in Nimrod’s sovereign-vassal model stolen from the Order of Melchizedek. Canaan had become a vassal of Egypt and possibly tribes living in the Negev close to Egypt. There were unfettered tribes in the north, 4 of which would create an alliance of their own to raid the Promised Land.
Genesis 14:1 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;
Genesis 14:2 That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.
These Kings were from the “hangers on” of the fallen Akkadian empire. Note that one king was from Shinar, the other from Elam. These are the same areas that still trouble the region today.
The ancient Sumerian-Akkadian region, poor as it was, saw that the Jordan Valley plain was rich. The Elamite King had subjugated the 5 city-states of the Jordan Valley for 12 years (Genesis 14:4). The 4 kings of Sumeria-Akkadia attacked the 5 kings of the Jordan Valley when they rose up against their overlords (Genesis 14:5). The Elamite King, Chedorlaomer, led his coalition against the city-states of the Jordan Valley. In the process, Lot was captured.
The Elamites have fallen and risen in history and will rise again. They are adept at making coalitions. Amraphel, the King of Shinar, in the region of Iraq was in Chedorlaomer’s coalition. Iran has made a coalition today – the 4+2 coalition – which includes Iraq. You see, the patterns do not change. Daniel 11:40-45 describes another such incursion of the Iranian Elamites into Jordan and Israel in the near future.
The Elamite King of the North destroyed the Jordanian King of the South and plundered the city-states of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 14:11).
Abram heard about it.
Genesis 14:13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.
Abram, the descendant of Eber and bearing Eber’s reputation as “Eber-like”, finally had enough of Shinar and Elam. He went after them and won the battle in a type and shadow prophecy about Yeshua doing the same in the end of days.
Genesis 14:14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
Genesis 14:15 And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.
Genesis 14:16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.
The servant of YHVH prophesies of those whose hands are trained for war by YHVH in Psalms 144:1. Abram’s hands were trained for war. He chased the wicked Kings of the North all the way to Damascus. This city will play a major role in the end of days. Actually, the current war around Damascus will become the West’s defeat.
Notice that Abram came back with his rewards like Yeshua will come with His rewards (Isa_40:10, 62:11). Most assuredly, Abram’s defeat of the last vestiges of the Sumerian-Akkadian city-state was both supernatural and immensely satisfying! In a sense, Abram avenged his brother, Haran’s, death in Ur whether or not Haran died in a battle there.
This act of valor and upholding one of the elements most dear to the Order of Melchizedek with the possibility of laying down his own life for Lot got the attention of the Melchizedek. It was the right thing to do and Abram’s reward was that he received a blessing from the Melchizedek.
Faithfulness to family is a major component of our faith. But not to just any family. Faithfulness to our family who are also in covenant with Yeshua YHVH Elohim as Lot undoubtedly was, according to Peter (2 Peter 2:7-8).
The definition of family will be expanded as time goes on to include everyone faithful to YHVH in the congregation as “mishpochah” and then as the “body of Messiah”. Both of these include people we do not know but whose testimony is their faithfulness to the covenant. Yeshua would later explain that family and friends who are against our walk do not receive our loyalty (Deuteronomy 13 and 18).
Genesis 14:17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.
Genesis 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
Genesis 14:19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
Genesis 14:20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
Abram was greeted by the defeated King of Sodom but the more important meeting was with Melchizedek, King of Salem. This was Shem, the human Melchizedek counterpart to Yeshua YHVH Elohim at the time. People confuse Shem with Yeshua and Yeshua with Shem when they look into Melchizedek. Today, the focus is on Shem, the King of Salem. The human Melchizedek line began with Adam, came down to Noah then to Shem. And now, Shem will bless Abram as the next intended successor to the office of Melchizedek.
The Melchizedek’s blessing was not a regular blessing. Abram was greeted by the Priest of the Most High God with an offering of bread and wine. These are always elements associated with Yeshua YHVH Elohim, the heavenly Melchizedek at that time and who has now obtained also the human mantle of Melchizedek through His life, death and resurrection in a human body. I hope that clears up some things for you about the identity of Melchizedek in the past, in the present and in the future.
Melchizedek recited that the Most High God is the possessor of the heaven and earth and stated that the Most High God had delivered Abram’s enemies from Shinar and Elam into his hands. This was divine intervention and Shem’s signal that “now is the time” to make the selection and name the intended successor. Abraham would die before taking office but Shem would likely have passed the Melchizedek torch to Isaac who would have passed it to Jacob. We don’t have record of this. But the passing of the Melchizedek office to Jacob is hinted to us in the tithe he promised to YHVH just as Abram did tithing to Shem.
Abram paid tithe from the spoils of war to Melchizedek. This was a reciprocity with important significance. It meant that Abram recognized Shem not merely as an ancestor but as the earthly Melchizedek and by extension the heavenly Order of Melchizedek and his place in it.
The tithe, at that moment, became symbolic of a transaction between the earthly Melchizedek and the heavenly one. Thus, Jacob’s promise to pay tithe to YHVH for bringing him back to the land as he escaped from Esau’s clutches carries the same connotation (Genesis 28:22).
Abram confirmed his oath to YHVH to the King of Sodom who asked for the return of the people and told Abram that he could keep the spoils of battle. Abram replied that he would take nothing except what his men had eaten during that time because he had sworn to “the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth” (Genesis 14:22). If Abram had kept the spoils of battle, he would have been subjugating himself to the King of Sodom. It would have been like Abram saying that he won the battle, not YHVH winning it for him, and the spoils were his. The remaining spoils were to be returned to the King of Salem so he would come to know the God of Abram instead of the other way around. The role of the Order of Melchizedek is to bring people to Yeshua YHVH Elohim and Abram was adept at making this clear.
This event precipitated YHVH, in Genesis 15, expounding on His former promise (Genesis 12:2) to Abram to make him into a great nation.
Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
YHVH spoke to Abram in warrior terminology – shields and spoils or rewards – suggesting that a greater reward than the spoils of the battle to recover Lot was in store for him. For the first time in scripture, Abram speaks to YHVH asking how it can be that he will be a “father” of a nation when he has no sons. The idea is that there needs to be a successor and, more importantly, there needs to be a successor from Abram to pass the Melchizedek office to.
YHVH explains that Abram will have a successor. Abram, at that moment, believed YHVH and YHVH counted his belief as righteousness (Genesis 15:6).
Why did Abram believe so willingly? First, he had just been through a supernatural battle against the mighty Kings of Shinar and Elam. Second, after Abram believed YHVH, it was further explained to him that it had been YHVH who had brought Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees. This would have been proof enough to Abram that YHVH’s hand was always on him. The escape from Ur had likely not been a small event or an easy one!
Abram again replies back to YHVH asking how he will know for certain that YHVH will keep His promise? This is not a lack of faith but a real act of faith such as we take today when we ask someone to “seal the deal” in writing. We believe them and want to have proof that we can carry with us.
This is where the foundation of Yeshua’s gospel message began.
Genesis 15:9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
Genesis 15:10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.
Genesis 15:11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
Genesis 15:12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
Genesis 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
Genesis 15:14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
Genesis 15:15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
Genesis 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
Genesis 15:17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
Genesis 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
Genesis 15:19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
Genesis 15:20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
Genesis 15:21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
The smoking furnace and the burning lamp are YHVH the Father and YHVH the Son walking through the pieces while Abram was in a dark trance state (Genesis 15:12). This ritual would have been well known to Abram as to its meaning. The odd thing was that Abram did not take part. The smoking furnace and the flaming lamp made the covenant between themselves on behalf of Abram and his seed. It is here that YHVH promises a seed that will be the one who makes Abram into a great nation.
Abram the father will have a son who will fulfill all the promises. YHVH the father will have a son who will fulfill all the promises. What promises? The implied promises made when two Kings walk through the split and bloody animals.
This is the covenant of the pieces. It was the most important and binding kind of covenant anyone could make with someone. Kings going into battle would make this kind of covenant so they would know the other would not turn on them in the fight. And if one of them did turn, then he would die this kind of bloody death. It may be that the covenant of the pieces foreshadowed drawing and quartering in old Europe. It was extremely serious to make this covenant and not uphold it.
Abram didn’t make this covenant. YHVH made it with YHVH. The meaning of it is that YHVH Himself will die if Abram’s descendants, his seed that will populate Israel, breaks the covenant. Abraham’s seed, Israel, did break the covenant and Yeshua came to die for that. The gospel message – death for restoration – began here. Yeshua YHVH Elohim promised His Father, the sovereign King, that He will die for Israel. The heavenly King, the King and High Priest of the Order of Melchizedek made that promise.
We have already seen that the human Melchizedek counterparts fall short starting with Adam. It will be that the heavenly Melchizedek will also need to become human in order to take on Himself the human role, as well. He did that!
In this covenant on behalf of Abram in Genesis 15, there is a King (Genesis 15:17 (the burning lamp)), the land (Genesis 15:18-21), and the people (Genesis 15:13 (the seed)). Israel is King-people land. This is prophesying about Israel and all that the King will go through to create a righteous people to populate His holy nation to be a Kingdom of Priests (Exodus 19:6, 1 Peter 2:9).
Genesis 15 is the crux of the character of Melchizedek, Yeshua YHVH Elohim. He is the only King to ever rule on earth who was willing to die to restore His people. No other earthly King ever died for his people. Some have died in battles trying to get more people to rule over but none ever loved his people so much that he died to save them. That is our Melchizedek from the Order of Melchizedek. This is why Yeshua is the priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek (Psalms 110:4) in the chapter where YHVH spoke to Adonai where we have another picture of the two as echad Elohim. The smoking furnace and the burning lamp are the same as the two, one speaking to the other, in Psalms 110:4.
The next event came in chapter 16 when Sarai gave Abram her concubine, Hagar, the Egyptian. This union resulted in Abram’s son, Ishmael, being born. It turns out, though, that YHVH doesn’t need our help and sometimes our help seems like it makes things worse.
Every year during the Torah cycle, Sarai is castigated for her part. All kinds of negative things are said of her. Let me give you a different perspective.
In the ancient Near East, wives were required to provide children for the husband. Abram loved Sarai and did not cast her out because she didn’t provide him children. Upon hearing that YHVH said Abram would have a son, Sarai’s first thought would likely have been that she needed to get busy! I call this obedience, not interference. She was past child-bearing but had a handmaid who was still in child-bearing years. Logically, this was her best option. She had not given a concubine to Abram for child-bearing all through her life. Perhaps that was because she wanted Abram all to herself. You see, Sarai probably loved Abram as much as he loved her. But knowing the will of YHVH would have spurred Sarai into obedient action.
People say – and even I have said – we are still dealing with Sarai’s mess to this day in the form of Ishmael. However, I now think those words are misplaced. Let me tell you why. It is because Ishmael will enlarge Yeshua’s Kingdom in the end. He knew what Sarai would do and after it was done and Sarai kicked Hagar and Ishmael out of their home, He promised Hagar and Ishmael that he would be a great nation. Is it a coincidence that Ishmael had 12 sons like Jacob?
You see, YHVH could have told Abram right then, in Genesis 15, that Sarai would bear him a son. Abram would have told Sarai and she probably would have still laughed at the notion, but this information may have helped her to not give Hagar to Abram. Could it be that YHVH wants this son and his progeny? The answer is yes or YHVH would not have promised Ishmael to be in His Kingdom.
The Genesis 15 covenant now requires a sign (Genesis 17). All covenants require some kind of token of reciprocity. The nature of contracts is that there is a list of things the seller agrees to do in exchange for money or services or products. The basic and most important difference between a Biblical covenant and modern contract is the expiration date. Covenants have no expiration. Contracts designate an expiration date. The token or sign back to YHVH for all of YHVH’s promises made to Abram and his seed is the cutting of the foreskin.
The circumcision is required for the promised son, which Abram has not yet fathered, to come through. The seed of Abram must pass through the cutting to qualify as the promised son. This formalizes Abram’s seed as being like Abram – a Hebrew, “Eberu-like”.
We will later learn that circumcision is only complete when the heart follows the physical sign. Physical circumcision makes you a Hebrew. Heart circumcision makes you an Israelite. Both circumcisions are required and will be enforced in the coming Kingdom.
Genesis 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
Abram must follow in the footsteps of the character of Noah who was ‘tamim’, perfect. Noah was the Melchizedek at the time of the flood. Shem is now in that office. No doubt Shem’s character was also ‘tamim’, perfect. This is another way we know Abraham was to be the next Melchizedek.
But unlike the previous Melchizedeks, Abram would be the father of many nations. He first would be the grandfather of the man whose name would be changed from ‘Jacob’ to ‘Israel’, the name of the nation from before the foundation of the earth. But the other nations would be grafted into Israel through YHVH’s ingenious immigration program. That program includes physical and heart circumcision.
And here’s the brilliant part. The native citizens of Israel who are natural born sons of Israel will get circumcised on the 8th day of their lives. They will come in physically and later in life be required to circumcise their hearts. The nations, however, will be required to circumcise their hearts first and then later circumcise their flesh. This latter pattern is the way Abram entered into relationship with YHVH – heart first, flesh second.
Genesis 17:4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
In Genesis 15, the covenant was not with Abram, it was on behalf of Abram and his seed. This covenant is with Abram and his seed and now he will no longer be called Abram but Abraham because he will be the father of many nations (Genesis 17:5).
Genesis 17:6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
Genesis 17:7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
Genesis 17:8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
Sarai will no longer be ‘Sarai’ but Sarah because she will be the mother of many nations through her one and only son. His seed will beget One almost 2,000 years later who will become the eternal Melchizedek, Yeshua YHVH Elohim.
Abraham obeyed and all the men of his house were circumcised, including Ishmael (Genesis 17:25-27). That’s right, Ishmael is a Hebrew. In the end of days, his descendants will circumcise their hearts and be accepted on YHVH’s altar (Isaiah 60:7). They, too, will be saved!
Be Blessed!
Kimberly Roger-Brown
admin@themessianicmessage.com
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