Israel’s Promised Land
Note: This article is based on the Bible, but much of
its format was influenced by the booklet entitled Israel’s
Right to the Land! by Dr. David L. Hocking, Senior Pastor of Calvary
Church of Santa Ana, California, Multnomah Press, 1987.
Preface
Since May 14, 1948, when the Israelis reclaimed the land
God promised to them, there has been continued conflict between the Israelis and
the Palestinians over the land. This conflict has involved all of the Islamic
nations in the Middle East, many nations around the world, and especially the
United States of America. A study of the Bible clearly indicates that the
Promised Land was given to only the Israelis (Jews), not to the people now known
as Palestinians.
The first description of the Promised Land is made in
Genesis 15:18-21, as “this land, from the river of Egypt, to the great
river, the Euphrates—the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Hittites, Perizzites,
Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.” It is a piece
of property that God often referred to as the “land of Canaan,” and its
dimensions are best depicted in Numbers 34:1-12, as follows:
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the children of Israel, and say
to them: ‘When you come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall
fall to you as an inheritance-the land of Canaan to its boundaries. Your
southern border shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom;
then your southern border shall extend eastward to the end of the Salt Sea; your
border shall turn from the southern side of the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to
Zin, and be on the south of Kadesh Barnea; then it shall go on to Hazar Addar,
and continue to Azmon; the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt,
and it shall end at the Sea. As for the western border, you shall have the
Great Sea for a border; this shall be your western border. And this shall be
your northern border: From the Great Sea you shall mark out your border line to
Mount Hor; from Mount Hor you shall mark out your border to the entrance of
Hamath; then the direction of the border shall be toward Zedad; the border shall
proceed to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar Enan. This shall be your northern
border. You shall mark out your eastern border from Hazar Enan to Shepham; the
border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; the border
shall go down and reach to the eastern side of the Sea of Chinnereth; the border
shall go down along the Jordan, and it shall end at the Salt Sea. This shall be
your land with its surrounding boundaries.’”
Although the Israelis only have a foothold in their land at
this time, the Bible is clear that the “land of Israel” will eventually all
be in the hands of the Israelis and its destiny will be that of host to the
Millennium Kingdom, the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom of the
Church and the King of the Jews.
Today’s Israel is a land that borders the Mediterranean Sea
from Egypt to Lebanon; encompassing 20,770 square kilometers, of which 440
square kilometers are water, an area slightly smaller than the State of New
Jersey. Its borders run a length of 1,017 km, including Egypt-266 km, Gaza
Strip-51 km, Jordan-238 km, Lebanon-79 km, Syria-76 km, and the West Bank-307
km. Its lowest point is the Dead Sea, 408 meters below sea level; and its
highest point is Har Meron, 1,208 meters above sea level. It presently has
between six and seven million residents.*
* all facts taken from
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/is.html
Ultimate Ownership of the Land
By order of the Creation (Genesis 1:1) and
declaration, all of Earth belongs to God.
So Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out
my hands to the LORD; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail,
that you may know that the earth is the LORD'S.”
(Exodus 9:29)
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you
shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
(Exodus 19:5)
The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are
strangers and sojourners with Me. (Leviticus
25:23)
Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the
earth with all that is in it. (Deuteronomy
10:14)
The earth is the LORD'S, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell
therein. (Psalm 24:1)
Yet, God has chosen to give it to the “children of men.”
The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD'S; but the earth He has given to the
children of men. (Psalm 125:16)
This study will not divulge God’s transfer of His land to
the “children of men,” save the particular property called Israel (Ezekiel
37:12, 12) to His chosen people the Israelis.
Title Transfer
Because God owns all the earth, He alone has authority to
transfer title of any portion of it to whomever He selects.
When we come to the issue of Israel and its land, people ask the question,” What
rights does Israel have to its land?” Arguments are continually brought forth
concerning the rights of the Palestinians and the rights of the Israelis that
seem logical to the people who present them and to the people who want to
listen. But a basic question still remains in my mind as I listen to the many
conflicting viewpoints concerning Israel’s right to its land: “Who has the
ultimate authority to determine what rights Israel has to its land?” The
Christian answer to that question is that God alone determines the “rights” that
any of us have. Something is right or wrong because of Divine decree, not human
feeling or reason. The existence of God previous to the creation of the
universe and mankind gives Him the right to determine our “rights.” Morality
exists because God exists. Authority exists because God exists.
(Israel’s Right to the Land! by Dr. David L. Hocking, 1987)
Regarding the land of Israel, as described in Scripture
above, it was God that gave (transferred title of) it unconditionally to
the “descendants of Abraham.” The transfer of the title to the land of Israel
was part of God’s promise of blessing to Abram (later to be renamed Abraham)
when God called him out of the country of Haran, a promise that includes a
blessing for anyone (or nation) who supports the Israelis and/or the nation
Israel, as well as a curse for anyone who does not. Additionally, the promise
assured Abram that all the peoples on earth would be blessed through him, a
prophetic look forward to the incarnation, sacrificial death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ (Genesis 12:1-7).
This covenant (promise) of God with Abram was
unconditional, as seen by its confirmation ceremony where only God walked
between the divided pieces of the sacrificial animals. By excluding Abram from
the ceremony (contrary to custom) , God guaranteed that His covenant with Abram
regarding the Promised Land was contingent only upon the nature
(character) and Word of God, totally apart from the nature and performance of
Abram or his descendants.
Then He said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans,
to give you this land to inherit it.” And he said, “Lord GOD, how shall I know
that I will inherit it?” So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer,
a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young
pigeon.” Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle,
and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. Now
when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror
and great darkness fell upon him. Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that
your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve
them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom
they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a
good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the
iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” And it came to pass, when the
sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a
burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day the LORD made a
covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from
the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—the Kenites, the
Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the
Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
(Genesis 15:7-21)
Confirmations
- God described His covenant with Abram, at his
name-change to Abraham in Genesis 17, as an everlasting
covenant. In fact, God twice mentions the everlasting nature of the
covenant in Genesis 17:7, 8:
And I will establish My covenant between Me and
you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting
covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you
and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the
land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
The sign of the covenant for
Abraham and his descendants was circumcision (Genesis 17:12). Although
there are those who assert that God’s covenant with Abraham was conditional upon
Israel’s faithfulness to God, the Bible teaches otherwise.
If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My
judgments, if they break My statutes and do not keep My commandments, then I
will punish their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, nor allow My
faithfulness to fail. My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My
lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David: His seed
shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me; it shall be
established forever like the moon, even like the faithful witness in the sky.
(Psalm 89:30-37)
Although God will judge His chosen
people if they disobey Him, their disobedience will not forfeit their right to
the Promised Land. The promise of the land is based only upon God’s oath
and character.
The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose
you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the
least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep
the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a
mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of
Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deuteronomy
7:7, 8)
- The Promised Land was again promised to the descendants
of Isaac (Israelis), not to the descendants of Ishmael (Palestinians). Even
though Abraham suggested that Ishmael might be the recipient of God’s covenant
blessings and even though God promised to bless Ishmael and his progeny, God
made it crystal clear to Abraham that His covenant to Abraham and his
descendants would only be accomplished through his son Isaac.
And Abraham said to God, "Oh, that Ishmael might
live before You!" Then God said: "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and
you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an
everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I
have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will
multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a
great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall
bear to you at this set time next year."
(Genesis 17:18-21)
But God said to Abraham, "Do not let it be
displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman.
Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed
[descendants] shall be called.
(Genesis 21:12)
Of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be
called.” (Hebrews 12:18)
Even though Abraham had other sons
by his concubines, ancestors of many Arab peoples today, and gave them gifts as
he sent them away to the “land of the east,” the Bible is clear about assigning
His covenant-promise (including the land) solely to Isaac (Genesis 25:5, 6;
26:3)
- The Promised Land was again avowed to the descendants of
Jacob (Israelis), not to the descendants of Esau (Palestinians). Even though
Esau was Isaac’s firstborn son, God selected Jacob as the son through whom the
covenant blessings and promises would come.
And not only this, but when Rebecca also had
conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being
born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to
election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her,
"The older shall serve the younger." As it is written, "Jacob I have loved, but
Esau I have hated." (Romans 9:10-13)
In a dream one night God made it
very clear to Jacob that He was to be the conduit of the covenant blessings and
promises that were pledged to Abraham.
And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: "I
am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which
you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be
as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to
the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the
earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you
go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have
done what I have spoken to you." (Genesis
28:13-15)
Again in Genesis 35:9-15,
God appeared to Jacob, changed his name to “Israel,” the name of the Promised
Land, and reaffirmed His covenant blessings and promises to him.
Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be
fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you,
and kings shall come from your body. The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I
give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land."
(vss. 12, 12)
- God continued to remind the children of Israel of His
covenant blessings and promises during their captivity in Egypt and wilderness
wanderings (Exodus 2:24; 3:8, 15-17; 6:1-8; 13:5, 12; 15:17; 32:13;
Leviticus 20:24; 25:38).
- God instructed Israel to conquer the Promised Land (Deuteronomy
1:8; 3:27, 28; 9:3-5).
- God assured Israel that He would keep His Word of giving
the Promised Land to the Israelis regardless of their lack of faithfulness or
obedience. Although God would punish Israel for its disobedience and send
them into captivity, he promised to bring them back and keep His covenant with
them.
Yet for all that, when they are in the land of
their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly
destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God. But
for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought
out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God:
I am the LORD. (Leviticus 26:44, 45)
- God made multiple promises throughout His Word that the
day would come that He would gather back His chosen people (Israel) and
restore them to the Promised Land, the realization of Israel’s statehood in
1948 and which continues today (Deuteronomy 30:1-5; Jeremiah 16:15; 31:10;
Isaiah 43:5-7; Amos 9:14, 15).
- God affirms that His covenant blessings and promises to
His chosen people (Israel) are as certain as the existence and order of the
universe.
Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for a light
by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, who
disturbs the sea, and its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): "If those
ordinances depart from before Me, says the LORD, then the seed of Israel shall
also cease from being a nation before Me forever." Thus says the LORD: "If
heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out
beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have
done, says the LORD. (Jeremiah
31:35-37)
Conclusion
This writer agrees with the following point ably expressed
by Dr. David L. Hocking in his booklet entitled Israel’s Right to the Land!
Many people want to know why Bible-believing Christians all over the world have
such a heart for Israel and its land. What brings the Jews and Christians
together? How can their hearts beat as one? Have they not disagreed sharply
over the Person of Jesus of Nazareth? Have not the Jews suffered terribly at
the hands of so-called Christians throughout the history of the Christian
Church? What draws the Bible-believing Christian to the support of the people
of Israel during this difficult hour in the history of the world? What makes
these Christians stand by the nation of Israel when most of the nations of the
world refuse to stand by her? There is only one answer! It is because of the
Bible itself. If you believe the Bible, then you know, whether you are a Jew or
a Christian, that it is through the promise given long ago to Abraham that even
the Gentiles of the world will be blessed. Gentile Christians believe that they
are spiritual sons of Abraham. They have come to believe that the only hope of
the world is the coming of the Jewish Messiah promised by the writers of
Scripture.
Zechariah tells us that the Lord will come and place His feet on the Mount of
Olives. He will fight for His people Israel against all the nations of the
world. All the land of Israel will dwell in safety and peace when the Messiah
comes. He will rule and reign from Jerusalem, the Son of David, sitting on His
throne. Regardless of Israel’s sins of the past, the Lord will forgive,
cleanse, and restore.
A review of Jeremiah 31:31-34; Zechariah 13:1; Isaiah
59:20, 21 and Ezekiel 39:25-29 depicts the final coming of the
Messiah to earth to set up His kingdom in the Promised Land with His chosen
people Israel. Although today’s “replacement theology” would deny Jews as God’s
chosen people, to be substituted by Christians, the New Testament does not
support this position. The New Testament recognizes three classes—Jews,
Gentiles and Christians (Jewish and Gentile). The day is coming when the nation
Israel will repent by recognizing Jesus Christ as its Messiah (Romans
12:25-27). In that day God’s covenant blessings and promises to Abraham
will be totally fulfilled.
As Dr. David L. Hocking states in closing out his booklet:
Yes, the day of Israel’s full restoration is near! Messiah will make it
possible and we shall all live in peace. Until He comes, we, who believe the
Bible is God’s Word, and that every promise of God will come to pass, we must
stand and support Israel’s right to its land. It is a Divine right! We are
patient with those who do not believe the Bible, nor accept Israel’s right to
the land, but with love for all, we must strongly support Israel’s right. We
cannot do otherwise and have clear consciences. We cannot say on the one hand
that we believe there is a God who has revealed His perfect will in His Holy
Scriptures, and on the other hand, deny Israel its right to the land God
promised to her!
Amen!!
