Among the many promises God made to the Israelites, the promise of the land may be the least understood and most misrepresented, especially among those who believe that the Church has replaced Israel (aka, Replacement Theology or Supersessionism). Understanding this particular promise requires an overall understanding of God’s plan, which starts with the opening chapters of Scripture. In the beginning, God created everything, and it was good (Genesis 1). Only two chapters later, we read that sin entered the world and contaminated everything (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12), which will ultimately be set right again through the promised Messiah (Genesis 3:15). We also read in Genesis 12 that God chose one man, Abram/Abraham and his descendants for a purpose and for promises. (Genesis 12:1).
God made promises (Genesis 12:1-3) to Abraham which were reiterated to his son Isaac, and then again to Isaac’s son (Genesis 26:1-5), Jacob/Israel (Genesis 28:13-15). Jacob’s 12 sons from which came the 12 tribes of Israel, also received these promises (Genesis 50:24; Exodus 32:13; Exodus 33:1; Hebrews 11:9). The Old Testament (OT) narrative is the story of the Children of Israel, God’s Chosen People. All people, not just the Israelites, were to be blessed through the Nation of Israel. The reason God chose a people for Himself was so that ultimately, ALL nations would choose Him! The God of Abraham is concerned for every one of us and all nations are called to honor and praise Him.
In Genesis 15: 9-17, an unconditional covenant was made by God with Abraham. This was unconditional because, after the animals were cut in two (a long-standing covenant tradition among numerous cultures in ancient times), only God passed through the two halves, because He had placed Abraham into a deep sleep. Therefore, the covenant was not contingent on the response of Abraham and his descendants; God would make sure that it was carried out, knowing full well that the people were not capable of holding up their end of the agreement. There are three basic aspects of God’s Covenant with Abraham which can be summarized with the following words: Land, Seed, and Blessing.
After the covenant with Abraham, God also made a covenant with the Jewish people, through Moses. The Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 19 -24) does not in any way negate His covenant with Abraham. To the contrary, the covenant with Moses was conditional. Under Moses, God gave them the Law, but the Israelites rebelled. Much of the OT consists of God’s warning for disobedience and the consequences that ensued (Numbers 32:11; Deuteronomy 30:1; Deuteronomy 28:63-68; Deuteronomy 29:22-28) . Disobedience resulted in the Nation of Israel being torn in two: the Northern 10 tribes of Israel and the Southern 2 tribes of Judah (1 Kings 12). Because of further disobedience, the 10 Northern tribes were crushed by Assyria in 722 BC (2 Kings 17:6). Less than 150 years later, around 586 BC, the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, which began the 70-year captivity of the Southern tribes of Judah in Babylon (2 Kings 25; Jeremiah 52). All 12 tribes were repeatedly warned by God of the consequences for failing to uphold His Law, yet due to man’s fallen and sinful nature, all 12 tribes failed.
The ancient prophets delivered God’s message of hope, including the news of a New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34), which was to be written on the people’s hearts. This Covenant was made in response to the Children of Israel breaking the Mosaic Covenant. The New Covenant looked ahead to something greater. God makes several distinct promises: He would give them the ability and desire to follow Him; He will be their God and they His people; He will forgive the sins of His people. Several hundred years later, in Jerusalem, the New Covenant found its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ (Luke 22:20). During a meal shared with His disciples (the best things happen at the family dinner table), Jesus inaugurated the New Covenant (Luke 22:14-22). God’s covenant with Abraham and his descendants still stands and the Jewish people continue to have a role in God’s plan. The Covenant with Moses, in its modified form through the New Covenant, continues in the light and fulfillment in Jesus.
God chose the Jewish people, Abraham and his descendants, for a special purpose: They were called to be a ‘kingdom of priests and a holy nation’ (Exodus 19:6). In ancient Israel, priests ministered to the people on behalf of God and interceded before God on behalf of the people. In the same way, the Jewish people were called to be a special people, a kingdom of priests to all the nations of the world. They were to be a light to the nations (Isaiah 42: 6). God has been using the Jewish people as a witness even when they have not been following His plan. Amid their disobedient and tormented history, God’s promise of making the Jewish people a great nation is witnessed in their survival and inexplicable successes against astronomical odds.
Many of the greatest nations in history such as the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medo-Persians, Greek and Roman Empires, and European powers of Spain and Germany, and many more, have given their best effort to destroy the Jewish people. Even today, Israel is surrounded by hostile nations who claim they will push the Jews into the Mediterranean. People groups, like the Palestinian Authority make no attempts to hide their desire to exterminate the Jewish people…..but God! The Jewish people are still here and are thriving in bounteous levels. Who is that lucky? Nobody. God is keeping His promises. In Jeremiah 31:35-36, God proclaimed that, unless the laws of nature stop, the Jewish people will always be here.
Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s plan for Jews and Gentiles. Although in the Messiah, there is no Jew or Gentile (Galatians 3:28), God does have a unique role for each group. The Abrahamic Covenant is still intact regardless of whether all Jews have recognized the Messiah or not. God is still using the Jewish people to be witnesses, which is why all eyes around the world are focused on the land, especially Jerusalem.
Approximately 40 years after the death and resurrection of the Messiah, the Second Temple was destroyed (70 AD), just as Jesus prophesied (Mark 13:1-2). This diaspora of the Jewish people was much longer than the Babylonian exile. This exile was over 1900 years, but God is true to His word. He promised in Ezekiel 36 and elsewhere that there would be a great return to the land. That, I believe, started just before the miraculous proclamation of the State of Israel in 1948. There are now approximately 7 million Jewish people living in Israel of the 15.2 million worldwide. Prior to the Holocaust there were 16.6 million worldwide, so we see this number steadily climbing despite heinous efforts to eradicate.
Jesus’s promised return is also related to the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 30:3-6; Amos 9:14; Matthew 24:31). The land boundaries promised to Abraham incorporated much more than the sliver of land of Israel (which is about the size of New Jersey). According to Genesis 15:18 and Joshua 1:4, the land God gave to Israel included everything from the Nile River in Egypt to Lebanon (south to north) and everything from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River (west to east). Translated today, God gave Abraham and his descendants all of the land modern Israel currently possesses, all of the land of the Palestinians (the West Bank and Gaza), all of Jordan, some of Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Israel currently possesses only a fraction of the land God promised. Since it wasn’t fully attained when Joshua led them into Canaan and has not been attained any time since, including the present time, it is likely that the rest of their inheritance awaits the return of the Savior, Yeshua HaMaschiach (Jesus the Messiah), at His second coming.
With the establishment of modern Israel, the time of the Gentiles (Church age) is ending. How much longer will it be? Only God knows. In the interim, we know that God has kept His promise and that we need to be ready. While we are waiting, we need to be working diligently to spread the Good News of salvation offered through Jesus Christ because God is still using the Gentiles. As branches grafted into the olive tree (Romans 11:17), Gentiles are to be a light to the nations and a light to Israel to make them envious and to provoke them to jealousy (Romans 11:11). Both groups, Jewish people and Christians, have failed to be the light that God intended them to be…but that does not mean either group should surrender their efforts.
The Promised Land is instrumental in world history, and more importantly, in God’s plan. Just as Moses led the Israelites out of bondage and into the land of Canaan, so too has Jesus freed us from the bondage of sin. He will bring us into the Promised Land of the Millennial Kingdom to give us rest from the hardship of this current life. During this time, the Promised Land will be finally realized in its fullest extent as foretold (Daniel 7:13-14; Micah 7:12; Joel 3:18-21; Isaiah 60-1:22). For all who believe in Him, He will do this. His promise is His Word.
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