This is the second in a series of articles demonstrating that the church is distinct from Israel, Israel still holds an important place in God’s program, and they have the right to exist in the land God gave them.
Article 1: Distinctives Between Israel and the Church
The Covenant with Abraham was unconditional and has elements that are still unfulfilled. They have never been cancelled, contradicted, allegorized, or transferred. So, it holds that ethnic Israel still have a future.
I want to focus on the land element of the covenant.
Abram calls begins in Genesis 12 when God calls him out of Ur. God made promises to Abram in distinct categories of personal, national (pertaining to Israel alone), and global (pertaining to all the world).
God initiated the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12, but the ceremony is not detailed until Genesis 15. In the ceremony God alone acted, making the commitment based upon His own character, not Abraham’s worthiness or actions. Repeatedly in Genesis 12, five times in fact, God says “I will”. It emphasizes His responsibility, not Abraham’s.
The promise is repeated to Isaac and Jacob.
The unconditional aspect of the covenant is also emphasized by the repeated use of the word “everlasting” in relation to the covenant in Genesis 17:7, 13, 19; Psalm 105:10; and Ezekiel 16:60-63; and numerous other passages.
The exact territory was not specified to Abraham, but as the Old Testament unfolds more detail is given. In Deuteronomy 30:1-10 there is an expansion, often referred to, somewhat confusingly, as the Palestinian Covenant.
The land promised to Israel has never been fully realized. Portions were conquered by Joshua, but Joshua 13:1 and Judges 1 make it clear not all the land was conquered. Even more land was conquered during the reign of Solomon, but foreign leaders remained and paid tribute. The land was not wholly Israel’s and more land remained. In Ezekiel 47:13 the borders of Israel extend far beyond anything they’ve ever owned, even going as far as the Euphrates in Iraq.
Many passages that speak of ethnic Israel point to a time when they, the physical descendants of Abraham, will receive the land (Zechariah 12:10-14 and Romans 11:25-27).
So, do we abandon Israel today and say that though one day the land will be theirs, they are currently out of fellowship with God and so they are due nothing?
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The land was theirs, gifted to Abraham by God. The land was occupied by them from the times of Joshua. Even when many were exiled during the times of various Gentile occupiers, a remnant remained. Though Emperor Hadrian and many others up to and including the British Empire persecuted and oppressed them, a remnant remained.
The land is theirs past, present, and future, by promise of God and by right of their presence. This says nothing of their legal right by modern nation’s votes in the League of Nations and the United Nations.
Further to the argument that they are out of fellowship with God. When God delivered Israel during the times of Esther, Israel was out of fellowship with God, but He protected them anyway.
In a separate article I’ll use the fact they simply exist as evidence that they are still God’s people. Granted, this is not proof alone, but in conjunction with other arguments it has bearing.
For now, I reiterate, the land belongs to Israel.
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