COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 36 - SOME HIDDEN MODERN DAY PROPHECIES IN THE STORY OF ABRAM AND LOT

I love the Old Testament!

One thing a lot of people overlook while studying the book of Genesis is how much prophecy is in this  very first book of the bible.  

When we come to the story of Abram rescuing Lot from those who battled against the Jordanian Kings in The War of Nine Kings we can’t help but pause and look at the prophetic significance of the story.  There is much more than I will say today - but I have chosen to chew on these passages for a bit and ponder them over several more lessons.  I keep feeling like there is a message of prophecy for today hiding here.  There is definitely more prophecy than I will discuss immediately.  There will be a few more lessons after this one to expand on these thoughts.  

So excuse me for getting sidetracked from the chronological order of our study, but let’s look first at the Hebrew meanings for the names of the kings that were involved in this war.

Here is a brief list that summarizes the facts about each king on both sides of the battle that will help us to grasp a few more interesting facts about them.  

FOUR KINGS THAT FOUGHT FIVE KINGS:

       Amraphel – King of Shinar:  His Hebrew name means:  “sayer of darkness.”  Shinar was the area called Babylon and it exists today as modern Iraq and Syria.  This king represents Satan and The Spirit of Antichrist in prophecy.

            Arioch – King of Ellasar.  His Hebrew name means “lion-like.”  Ellasar was a city located in Babylon.  The word Ellasar in Hebrew means:  “God is chastener.”  (We read of another interesting Arioch later in the book of Daniel who was the Captain and executioner of King Nebuchadnezzar’s army.  He persecuted the wise men of Babylon.   These two are not the same person. King Arioch was born first, the other Captain Arioch came much later.)  King Arioch represents Antichrist in prophecy.

      Chedorlaomer-King of Elam.  We have mentioned in a previous lesson that his Hebrew names means “handful of sheaves.”  This was a very pagan king serving a female goddess named Lagamar who was the head goddess of the Elamite pantheon.    Elam was what is now know as modern day Iran.

      Tidal – King of Nations.  This king was an ally to Chedorlaomer.  The “nations” he ruled over were the Arab nations.  His Hebrew name means “great son.”

FIVE KINGS OF THE JORDAN PLAIN THAT FOUGHT THE FOUR KINGS (ALSO KNOWN AS THE MONARCHS OF PENTAPOLIS):

      Bera-King of Sodom.  His Hebrew name means “son of evil.”  He ruled over the city of Sodom in the Jordanian Plain.  The name Jordan in Hebrew means “burning.”  The King of Sodom also represents The Antichrist in prophecy.

      Birsha – King of Gomorrah.  His Hebrew name means “with iniquity.”  Gomorrah was another city located in the Jordanian plain.  The Hebrew translation for Gomorrah is “submersion.”  In prophecy Birsha represents The Man of Sin.

      Shinab – King of Admah.  His Hebrew name translates as “splendor of the father.”    The city of Admah wa s located in the Siddim Valley south of The Dead Sea. The word Amdah in Hebrew translates to mean “red earth.”  The prophetic  Shinab represents, The Son, The Messiah, The King of The Earth.

         Shemeber-King of Zeboiim.  His Hebrew name means “lofty flight.”  He was an ally to The King of Sodom.  Zeboiim was another city in The Jordanian plain south of The Dead Sea. Zeboiim translates in Hebrew to mean “gazelles.”  In prophecy King Shemeber represents one who is “strong and fast” like a gazelle.

           Bela – King of Zoar.  In Hebrew his name means “destruction.”  He was the king of the city of Zoar.  Zoar in Hebrew means “insignificant”  or “smallness.”  or "the little one."   Zoar was the area that is now modern day Saudi Arabia.   It is said that two generations before Abraham lived a man named Armonius who had two sons named Sodom and Gomorrah.  This man formed three cities and named two of them after his sons.  The third city he named Zoar - after the mother of his two sons.  Later in our study we will find that Zoar is the place where Lot and his daughters fled and hid in a cave while Sodom and Gomorrah were being destroyed.  This city was like a tropical oasis full of palm trees that flourished from the waters that flowed from the mountains of Moab.  It was known to be popular on the trade route for balsam, indigo and very sweet dates.

Taking all the Hebraic names of these last five kings that fought in this war and won the victory, we can come up with a prophetic meaning for a similar war that will most likely happen in the last days:

Here is the paraphrase:

The son of evil with iniquity will come, but the splendor of the Father who is the King of the earth and strong and fast like a gazelle will destroy him who is insignificant and small.