In an interesting study of the Torah provided by torahclass.com, specifically the book of Genesis, I have found some profoundly interesting details that can impact my prayers and petitions for our nation in this season of life in the USA.
To those who may already know these things, I am on a learning curve and so happy to be catching up with y'all. For me to anchor to life's lessons I need to share what I learn. So here's my share for today.
I have always understood the power of words and the blessing that the ancients spoke over their sons. Going back to Genesis to the account of Noah and his sons, Shem Ham and Japeth, I found that the words Noah spoke over these three sons, set in motion the destinies of their genealogies that stand over the nations of their descendants even today.
Genesis 9:26-27
Shem was the recipient of his father's Godly authority over humanity and vital relationship with God himself. Noah was the oldest and only surviving descendant of Adam, with all the blessing of God to continue life on earth after the flood. Through Shem would come the ultimate authority and Savior of humanity: Jesus the Christ.
Japeth was the recipient of his father's fruitfulness to enlarge and grow the population on earth, to prosper and enlarge territory and ultimately to carry the Godly message of salvation (initially from the flood) to all nations on earth.
Then there is Ham. Ham, due to his decision to gossip about his father's nakedness (sin) and show disrespect for him as a righteous authority, was the recipient of a curse and with it a destiny of servitude to Shem rather than an alliance for good. His reputation and name among the nations would be associated with ungodliness, evil and ultimately the spirit of anti-Christ.
As I look at the "table of nations" that came after the flood, it appears that the original colonists who came and established our One Nation Under God called America, are of the lineage of Japeth. Our destiny as a nation and as written in our constitution is to be fruitful and prosper in our freedoms with the liberty to share the good news of salvation with all the nations of the world.
The interesting word spoken over Japeth by Noah was that Japeth "might dwell in the tents of Shem" and therein would he fulfill his destiny and here is where the freedom to choose comes into play.
In the table of nations, Germany follows the lineage of Japeth. The blessing is there for the taking, but did Hitler choose to dwell in the tents of Shem? No decidedly not. Hitler chose to follow the evil of his heart in an attempt to destroy the lineage and destiny of Shem and so doing, became an enemy of God.
Another example is Arabs called "Palestinians". Ironically
they are of the lineage of Shem yet call themselves after the Philistines
whose ancestry tracks back to Ham. The descendants of Ham according to the curse will always be in servitude to Shem.
When God Himself spoke the blessing over Abraham, Shem's descendant, He repeated the blessing over Shem:
"I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you", signifying and confirming the destiny of Shem among the nations.
Over the course of our history in America we have had Presidents who have blessed Israel (Abraham and Shem's descendants) and Presidents who have cursed Israel through various foreign policy decisions and actions. Our prosperity and fruitfulness have always been connected to our leadership's treatment of Israel.
This little study of national destinies really helps me understand how to pray for our nation, our leaders and our fruitful evangelism. We must understand as citizens how vital it is for us to honor and support Israel as if "dwelling in the tents of Shem".
There is always a choice to be made and evil is a choice. There are other examples of people and nations in seasons of life and leadership who walk away from their God-ordained destinies. I pray we are not among them.
We must continue to elect leaders who will honor and support Israel, since the fruitfulness and prosperity of our destiny as a nation depends on it. I have long understood this to be true and now I know why.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
