Lo, there came oilmen from the West
By Ian MacKinnon
Biblical prophecies led an evangelical American to start drilling
in northern Israel
WHEN oilmen go prospecting they usually put their faith in
geologists to help their risky ventures. John Brown prefers to
trust God and the Bible to make him and the State of Israel
rich.
Later this week his company, Zion Oil, will begin drilling in a
patch of dusty earth of northern Israel pinpointed by ancient
biblical prophecies.
For the 65-year-old Michigan businessman the moment will mark the
culmination of a two-decade journey that started when the
evangelical Christian first came to Israel and read passages from
the Old Testament suggesting great wealth lay below the Israeli
landscape.
No matter that little oil had been discovered there. Mr Brown has
persuaded hundreds of other American evangelical Christians to help
him to raise the £3.6 million required for Project Joseph. He
believes it is his lifes mission to unearth Israels oil wealth,
secure the future of Gods covenanted people, and lay the ground
for the Messiahs return.
I know in my heart that what God told me was true, he said. Ive
no doubt we will find oil. Its not a matter of if, but when. I
believe its my purpose in life. Were going to help the people of
the nation of Israel.
Mr Browns reliance on biblical prophecies may seem far-fetched but
he may yet have the last laugh. Recent scientific studies have
shown a high probability of a commercial oil find of up to 500
million barrels enough for 15 years production and there was a
big oil find further south last year.
Zion Oils 54-metre drilling derrick is in place and is due to
start drilling. Over the next two months the team will drill to
4,500 metres, with the work expected to cost £1.4 million.
Mr Brown, who made his money in the tool business, first visited
Israel in 1983 as a newly born again Christian, and he says that
over the years he was guided to biblical passages that pointed to
riches beneath the Holy Land.
Tracts from the Old Testament books of Genesis and Deuteronomy
foretold wealth in the ancient lands of the tribes of Josephs
sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and Jacobs son, Asher. Moses says in
Deuteronomy xxxiii, 24: Most blessed of sons be Asher. Let him be
favoured by his brothers and let him dip his foot in oil.
When Mr Brown superimposed a map of the 12 tribes of Israel on the
modern-day Holy Land, he decided that the most likely spot was the
site near Maanit kibbutz, near Nazareth.
In what Mr Brown describes as another miracle, the oil
exploration licence for the area became available in 1999 when an
Israeli company ran out of cash after drilling down 2,300 metres
and finding nothing.
Mr Brown formed Zion Oil and Gas, based in the Texas oil hub of
Dallas, in 2000 to explore the Maanit site. He found old geological
surveys that showed any oil could be much deeper, at 4,500
metres.
Established US oil companies were not interested in joining the
project because of Israels pariah status in the Arab world.
They werent willing to risk their wells in the likes of Libya by
drilling in Israel, he said. Initially Mr Brown struggled to raise
the finance, but since an evangelist named Hal Lindsey enthused
about Zion on American television last autumn £1.9 million has
rolled in from hundreds of evangelical Christians.
The one source of the kind of wealth that would achieve the
conditions of the prophecies is oil, Mr Lindsey told viewers. A
major oil discovery would not only deliver Israel from the tyranny
of Muslim oil weapons, but also provide great wealth demanded by
the Prophet Ezekiel. If Israel had a major oil discovery it would
change the entire balance of power in the Middle East, and also the
world.
For that reason Mr Brown will not rest until he succeeds. This is
Gods promise to the people of Israel. In my journey I have a
desire, a purpose, a destiny to help the people of Israel with
their oil requirements, he said. When we discover oil it will be
huge politically for the Israeli people.
