Qualifying to Receive Grace—and Salvation
The Rise of Ephraim and Manasseh
Back to 1The Bible’s Greatest Prophecies Unlocked!
When a young rich man approached Jesus, inquiring how he might receive eternal life, we saw Jesus said, “If you will enter into [eternal] life, keep the commandments” (Matt. 19:17). While this would not earn the young man salvation, it was a qualifier—a precondition—to receiving it. Millions today ignore this requirement, set forth so plainly by Christ. They listen to twisted arguments from law-hating, rebellious ministers and theologians falsely telling them that obedience to God earns salvation, making it no longer of grace, God’s gift.
But if there are no preconditions to salvation, all could demand it of God! The rich young ruler might have told God, “I demand you give me salvation—it is my right!” Speaking of the Holy Spirit, Peter said, “God has given to them that obey Him” (Acts 5:32). Indeed, God’s Spirit is a gift (“God has given”), but only those who obey Him can receive it. Only Christ’s sacrifice makes this gift possible!
Make no mistake. Salvation cannot be earned—it is a free gift!
Now get this point straight! We must remove all doubt about what brings salvation. It is a free gift from God. There is absolutely nothing that a Christian can do to merit or earn it. The only wage that human beings can earn is death (Rom. 6:23). Recognize that no one can earn eternal life through works.
Salvation is by God’s grace. But what is grace? It is completely unmerited pardon of one’s sin. Salvation means that one is saved from death. Unless God intervenes to apply the blood of Jesus Christ to cover the repentant sinner’s past, there can be no salvation.
What scriptures directly state this? Ephesians 1:5, 7 says, “Jesus Christ…In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:14 states the same thing, verbatim. God gives grace—forgiveness—through Christ’s blood.
But also think of salvation in the following way: A wealthy father approaches his 18-year-old son, heading off to college, with this offer. He states, “Son, upon graduation in four years, I will give you one million dollars if you (1) maintain a B average, (2) abstain from drunkenness, (3) impregnate no girls, and (4) never cut classes.”
Ask these questions: If the young man meets these conditions, will he receive the million dollars? Yes! Has his conduct earned him the million dollars? No! Of course not. He merely did what all young men should do when they go to college. Yet, he would not receive the million dollars if he did not meet the preconditions—the qualifiers!
It is the same with salvation. Of course, God offers far more than a million dollars, but only those who obey Him may receive what He offers. Why cannot millions of Christians understand such basic logic, applicable in every contract and agreement entered into by men?
We saw the Bible so plainly says that Satan has “deceived the whole world” (Rev. 12:9), and this matter of how salvation is achieved may be his greatest deception. Do not fall for it!
Salvation is through Christ’s free gift of grace. Yes, it is a gift—but it is one that God only gives to those who meet His biblically prescribed standards. In this way, God ensures that no future member of His Family will misuse and abuse such enormous power, conferred on him at the time of salvation.
Take a moment to reflect on this basic knowledge of how the scepter promise of salvation is achieved “of the Jews” (John 4:22) through Christ. While the world has understood that the promises to Abraham involve salvation through Christ, almost complete ignorance reigns within modern, orthodox Christianity regarding when, where and how this happens. These are subjects for other books.
We now fast-forward thousands of years…
The Birthright Blessing—at Its Peak and After
The blessings of birthright, prophesied millennia ago to arrive, have been most obvious in the modern nations descended from ancient Israel!
For two centuries, America and Britain have led the world in agriculture, manufacturing, production, technology, trade, and acquiring key sea gates and strategic defensive strongholds. Also, the United States, Britain and Israel (Judah) still have the three most elite armies, with the most sophisticated weaponry, that the world has ever seen! Even in decline, the Royal Navy still today evokes a certain awe.
Jumping from virtual obscurity to great prominence, and dominance, the rise of Great Britain and the United States to global supremacy came suddenly—and relatively recently. Up until 1800, America and Britain were small in strength, resources and power. This marked the end of the 2,520 years of the withholding of their birthright blessings (carefully explained in my book).
Certain events, meticulously timed (particularly Napoleon’s need of additional funds for his war with England, leading to the American purchase of key French territories), added to their surge in power. Just the Louisiana Purchase propelled America toward becoming the world’s single richest nation.
The well-known journalist John O’Sullivan was the first to enunciate the concept of Manifest Destiny. This is what he wrote in promotion of this idea: “the right…to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us” (Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy, vol. 2, p. 68).
Within 50 years of the Louisiana Purchase, additions from the British Cession, acquisition of Florida, Texas Annexation, Oregon Territory, Mexican Cession and the Gadsden Purchase provided this budding nation with the world’s richest, most fertile lands.
Meanwhile, Great Britain’s population was exploding, jumping from 7.7 million to 20.7 million, from the 1750s to the 1850s. In addition, London became the financial capital of the world. These factors set the stage for the Industrial Revolution.
With these changes, these nations also acquired most of the world’s wealth. After World War II, the United States emerged as the world’s top economic and military power, taking the role of “leader of the free world.” In September 1949, they were in possession of nearly two-thirds of all gold under governmental control—nearly 24 billion dollars in reserve!
This quick rise to national dominance is unmatched in history. No other nation has experienced such advancements in so short a time. In fact, outside these lands, the incredible prosperity taken for granted by so many here is non-existent. Devastating famine, crippling disease, raging war, disastrous natural calamities, outright ignorance and oppressive governments are a reality to almost all but the modern children of Jacob. Yet so few seem to truly recognize this.
But the people of America, Britain and the other descendants of Israel have ignored the Provider of these great blessings. They have disregarded biblical accounts as “myths,” “fables” or “fairy tales,” and have credited their dominance to their own ingenuity and cleverness, ignoring clear prophecies recorded in the Bible!
“And Your Seed Shall Possess the Gates of His Enemies”
The birthright nations would own the gates of their enemies. Historians have been able to observe the extraordinary acquisition and developing control of crucial trade routes and military strongholds: “By tracing the rise and decline of past maritime powers,” acclaimed historian David McCullough explains, “national greatness and commercial supremacy were directly related to supremacy at sea” (The Path Between the Seas, The Creation of the Panama Canal: 1870-1914).
For over 200 years, Great Britain—and later America—dominated the seas by possessing vital points of passage. By controlling most of the world’s strategic sea gates, their economic expanse and military capability flourished. These ports of passage directly affected British and U.S. victories in the First and Second World Wars.
These included the Suez Canal, the Strait of Gibraltar, Cape of Good Hope, Cape Horn, the Straits of Hormuz and Singapore, the Panama Canal, Malta and Hong Kong. Although these sea gates fell under the control of the children of Abraham through conquest or purchase, they were destined to be in their control long ago!
Remember God’s promise to Abraham: “In blessing I will bless you…in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore…your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies…in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because you have obeyed My voice” (Gen. 22:17-18). The Fenton translation reads, “I will increase your race as the stars of the skies, and like the sand upon the sea-shore; and your race shall possess the gates [plural] of its enemies; and I will benefit all the nations of the earth through your heir, because you have listened to My voice.”
Abraham’s heirs were to be: (1) A great people, in tremendous strength and numbers—“as the stars of the skies”; (2) they were to be a source of help to other nations—they would “benefit all the nations of the earth”; and (3) they were to possess the “gates of their enemies”—key strategic sea “gates,” which would help establish and fortify world dominance! Through identifying the people receiving these blessings—the descendants of Abraham are discovered!
We saw God’s promise was then also passed to Abraham’s daughter-in-law Rebekah. Let’s read again with a different emphasis on the same verse: “…and [Rebekah’s relatives] said unto her, You are our sister, be you the mother of thousands of millions, and let your seed possess the gate of those which hate them” (Gen. 24:60). This is billions!
How ironic that, beginning in the 1800s, these key “gates” began to fall into the hands of Great Britain and America while, soon after, the first steam engine came into existence, allowing great ships to reach them quickly, thus accelerating and expanding world trade!
Which nations have fulfilled these prophecies? Which have claimed these promises? Certainly not the Jewish people!
The following scripture further reveals the identity of the recipients of these blessings: “And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that couches beneath, and for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon, and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof…let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph [Ephraim—Britain and other countries; Manasseh—America]…His glory is like the firstling [the birthright holder] of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns [the national seal of Britain]: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh” (Deut. 33:13-17).
These scriptures, with history, confirm who claimed these promises, and fulfilled great prophecies.
The Rise of Ephraim and Manasseh