12 Keys To Understanding Israel In The Bible
by Clarence H. Wagner Jr.
As I travel the world speaking on behalf of Bridges for
Peace, I often hear many of the same questions over and over again. Whether it
is in South Africa or Canada, Australia or Brazil, the UK or the USA, one thing
that Christians want to have is a summary of the key Scriptures about Israel and
the Jewish people. God has much to say about His Covenant people and His Land,
Israel.
The Land of Israel is the only place on earth which God says
He owns in terms of property ownership that can be transferred. (Of course, we
know the whole world is His, yet this one parcel of land on the earth has a
unique relationship to Him.) About Israel, He says, "The land, moreover, shall
not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine: for you are but aliens and
sojourners with Me" (Leviticus 25:23).
Exactly what does the Bible say about God's parcel of
land, and who has a right to it?
When we come to the modern-day Israel-Palestine issue,
people often ask the question, "Just what right do Israel and the Jewish people
have to this 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. But a basic question still remains in my mind as I
listen to the many conflicting viewpoints concerning this parcel of land: "Who
has the ultimate authority to determine rights concerning this special piece of
real estate?"
The biblical 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 human 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. And, Almighty God has already determined the rights of Israel and
the Jewish people to the land God owns and has deeded over to them.
Let's look together at what He has to say about the Land of
Israel, the people He chose to possess it, and why:
Key #1: The Land of Canaan, renamed Israel by the Lord,
was given by God to Abraham and his descendants as an everlasting
possession.
In Genesis 12:7a, we read: "The Lord appeared to Abram and
said, 'To your descendants I will give this land.'"
In Genesis 13:15, He repeated His promise when He said, "for
all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants
forever." He said the same thing in Genesis 15:18, "To your descendants I have
given this land."
Key #2: The gift of this Land to Abraham and his
descendants was based on an unconditional covenant from God
Himself.
Genesis 17:7-8 states: "And I will establish My covenant
between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations
for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.
And I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your
sojourning, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be
their God."
The sign of that covenant for Abraham and his descendants
was circumcision. Twice in this passage, God mentions the everlasting nature of
this covenant. There are some today who say that this covenant was conditional,
that it was based on Israel's faithfulness to God. The Bible teaches
otherwise.
In Psalm 89:30-37, we read: "If his sons forsake My law, and
do not walk in My judgments, if they violate My statues, and do not keep My
commandments, then I will visit their transgression with the rod, and their
iniquity with stripes. But I will not break off My loving kindness from him, nor
deal falsely in My faithfulness. My covenant I will not violate, nor will I
alter the utterance of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie
to David. His descendants shall endure forever like the moon, and the witness in
the sky is faithful."
Jeremiah 31:35-36 declares: "This is what the Lord says, 'He
who appoints the sun to shine by day, Who decrees the moon and stars to shine by
night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar -- the Lord Almighty is His
Name; Only if these ordinances vanish from My sight,' declares the Lord, 'will
the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before Me.'"
We agree that God promised to judge His people if they
disobeyed Him. That is true for all of us. However, we do not agree with those
who say that Israel's disobedience would forfeit their gift of the land and
their national status as a people. Deuteronomy 28 shows that God's pronouncement
of blessing and cursing only affected the quality of life of the Israelites,
which was conditional upon their faithfulness. However, the promise of the land
was not based upon Israel's performance, but upon God's oath and character -- He
will not lie.
Deuteronomy 30 shows that before they even entered the
Promised Land, He knew they would violate His statutes and be evicted in a
future day. Yet it also declares that He would bring them back into the land He
had given their forefathers (see #8).
Key #3: The Land was given to Abraham and his descendants
as part of God's redemptive blessing to the world.
In Genesis 12:1-3, we read, "The Lord has said to Abram,
'Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land
I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I
will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who
bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples on earth will
be blessed through you."
Israel was located in the center of the ancient world, and
all transportation and communication between the continents had to pass through
this territory to reach the other. In doing so, the travelers, merchants and
traders, and even the armies encountered the Children of Israel.
They were chosen for three purposes: to worship God in this
land and show the world the blessing of serving the one true God of the
Universe; to receive, record and transmit the Word of God (through them we have
our Bible); and finally, to be the human channel for the Messiah from whom we
have our salvation. In order for God to protect His purposes for the Children of
Israel in the Land of Israel, He promised to bless those who blessed Abraham and
his descendants and curse him who cursed them.
Key #4: This land was not given to the descendants of
Ishmael (one ancestor of the Arab peoples), but rather to the descendants of
Isaac.
I have no bitterness toward the descendants of Ishmael, nor
do I wish to be unkind to our Arab friends. However, I must be faithful to what
I know the Bible teaches. Abraham himself considered Ishmael as a possible
descendant to whom God would give this land. In Genesis 17:18, Abraham said to
God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before Thee." But God's answer was, and is,
very clear. In Genesis 17:19, God answered Abraham, "No, but Sarah your wife
shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My
covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after
him."
God promised to bless Ishmael and to make him a great
nation: "And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will
make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father
of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation" (Genesis 17:20).
However, the bloodline of the covenant promise concerning the Land would go
through Isaac, not Ishmael: "...In Isaac your descendants shall be called"
(Hebrews 11:18).
Key #5: This Land was not given to the other sons of
Abraham, but only to Isaac.
After Sarah died, Abraham had six more sons by Keturah, as
well as others by his concubines, who are ancestors of many of the Arab peoples
today. However, the covenant of the Land was not for them: "Now Abraham gave all
he had to Isaac; but to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he
was still living and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of
the east" (Genesis 25:5-6). Note that Abraham even sent these sons away from the
Land of Canaan.
Key #6: This Land and covenant were given only to Isaac's
son, Jacob, and his descendants, not Esau and his descendants.
Jacob received the birthright from his father, Isaac. In
Genesis 28:4, Isaac said to Jacob: "May He (God) also give you the blessing of
Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you: that you may possess the land
of your sojourning, which God gave to Abraham."
But it wasn't simply the words of his father Isaac that
guided the future of Jacob. It was a direct revelation from God Himself that
convinced Jacob of his destiny. The Lord God revealed to Jacob His message about
this land. In Genesis 28:13-15, we read:
"I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God
of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your
descendants. Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you
shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south;
and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be
blessed. And 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 promised you."
According to Genesis 36:6-9, Esau took his descendants and
all his possessions and went to another land away from his brother Jacob. Esau
lived in the hill country of Seir. The Bible tells us that Esau is Edom. It
specifically tells us that the descendants of Esau are the Edomites, and Israel
was not their land. The book of Obadiah is a proclamation of doom upon the sons
of Esau (Edom) for their constant persecution of the descendants of Jacob
(Israel): "Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be
covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever" (Obadiah 1:10).
Key #7: God told Israel to conquer the Land which He had
given to them.
In Deuteronomy 1:8, we read: "See, I have placed the land
before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your
fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and their descendants after
them." On the east side of the Jordan River as the Israelites were about to
enter into the Promised land, the Lord said to Joshua: "Moses My servant is
dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan river
into the land I am about to give to them -- to the Israelites. I will give you
every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will
extend from the desert and from Lebanon to the great river, the Euphrates - all
the Hittite country -- and to the Great Sea on the west. Be strong and
courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to
their forefathers to give them" (Joshua 1:2-4,6).
Joshua then told his people with these words: "This is how
you will know that the living God is among you, and that He will certainly drive
out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites,
Amorites and Jebusites"(Joshua 3:10). He then told them how the Lord would part
the flood waters of the Jordan River so they could cross over to the other side.
This is what happened and then the people knew that God was with them, and they
conquered the land, region by region, starting with Jericho.
The reality of conflict over the land of Israel is nothing
new and in no way indicates that God is not with the Jewish people concerning
the land issue today. I have heard Christians say that Israel today could not be
part of God's plan, because there is so much war and strife that it can't be of
God. However, since when has it been any different? All through the Older
Testament, nations rose up to fight against the Jewish people, the descendants
of Abraham, in the Land of Israel. From the moment Joshua brought the Children
of Israel into the Promised Land, it was a fight to possess the Land. King David
was seemingly at constant war with his neighbors, the Philistines. Why should it
be surprising that conflict is still happening today? The enemies of God have
always fought against His plans.
The prophet Zechariah makes it quite clear that at the end
of days, God Himself will make Jerusalem a stumbling block for the nations and
will judge them by whether or not they understand and support God's plans for
Jerusalem and Israel. If they do, they will be blessed; if they don't, they will
be destroyed: "I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding
peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when
all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an
immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure
themselves. On that day, I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack
Jerusalem" (Zechariah 12:1-2,9).
Key #8: Israel's sin and subsequent exile from the Land
did not change their divine right to this Land given to them by the Lord in
covenant.
Many people have said that God's promise to give Israel this
land was based upon Israel's faithfulness to God's laws, and that when they were
disobedient and sent into captivity, this nullified God's promise. The Bible
teaches otherwise. In Leviticus 26:40-45, we read that God would punish Israel
for its disobedience and send them into captivity. But, according to verses
44-45, God will bring them back:
"Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their
enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them,
breaking My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. But I will remember
for them the covenant with 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." In
Deuteronomy 30:3-5, God promises: "Then the Lord your God will restore you from
captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the
peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are at the
ends of the earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there
He will bring you back. And the Lord; your God will bring you into the land
which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you
and multiply you more than your fathers."
Amos 9:14-15 thunders forth these remarkable words: "'Also I
will restore the captivity of My people Israel, and they will rebuild the ruined
cities and live in them. They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and make gardens and eat their fruit. I will also plant them on their land, and
they will not again be rooted out from their land which I have given them,' says
the Lord your God."
Some opponents to Israel's right to the land say that these
verses were fulfilled when the Jewish people returned from the Babylonian
captivity. However, we know that there were other exiles and in-gatherings, as
well. Yet, Amos speaks of a return to their ancient homeland, Israel, once and
for all, when he says, "'. and they will not again be rooted out from their land
which I have given them,' says the Lord your God" (Amos 9:15). That has never
happened in history and many believe that this return to Israel is that final
return that will culminate in the coming of Messiah.
Key #9: The name of this Land is not Palestine, but
Israel.
Twenty-five hundred years ago, the prophet Ezekiel spoke of
the restoration of Israel to its land in the last days. Ezekiel spoke of dry
bones coming to life. Never before in history has a nation been destroyed and
scattered all over the world, and then been brought back to life. It is a
miracle and a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. We read in Ezekiel
37:11-12:
"Then He said to me, 'Son of man, these bones are the whole
house of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope has
perished. We are completely cut off.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, 'thus
says the Lord God, Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out
of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of
ISRAEL.'"
Notice that the name of that land is ISRAEL, the land that
so often is called the "land of Canaan" in the Bible. God says that in the last
days it will be called ISRAEL.
The name, Palestine, was a regional name that was imposed on
the area by the Roman Emperor, Hadrian, who suppressed the Second Jewish Revolt
in AD 135. He was so angry with the Jews that he wanted to humiliate them and
emphasize that the Jewish nation had lost its right to a homeland under Roman
rule. The name Palaestina was originally an adjective derived from Philistia,
the arch-enemies of the Israelites 1000 years earlier. Hadrian also changed the
name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina after his own family name, Aelia. He also
forbade Jews from entering the city, except on the 9th of the Hebrew month, Av,
to mourn its destruction. Since he was considered a god in the Roman Empire,
this was his attempt to break God's covenant between the Jewish people and their
land. This effectively declared his pagan authority over Jerusalem, which had
been the place of the presence of the God of Israel. To this day, the name
Palestine flies in the face of Israel and the entire issue can be boiled down to
a religious (spiritual) battle over a land whose fate will be decided by the God
of the Bible, since it is His land (Leviticus 25:23).
Yeshua (Jesus), in describing the signs of the end of the
age, said: "Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the
Gentiles are fulfilled" (Luke 21:24b). From the time of Hadrian until 1967,
Jerusalem was controlled by Gentiles. It is now back in the hands of the Jewish
people, which is one sign that Messiah is soon to come to Zion.
Key #10: The stranger (those outside the Covenant) will
live among you and be treated with respect.
"They (God's covenant people) will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated: they will renew the ruined cities that
have been devastated for generations. The stranger will shepherd your flock;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards" (Isaiah 61:4,5). "If you
(Israel) really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other
justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not
shed innocent blood in this place and if you do not follow other gods to your
own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave to your
forefathers for ever and ever" (Jeremiah 7:5-7).
The "alien" or "foreigner" in these verses would include the
Palestinian Arabs and other non-Jewish people who live in the land. They would
receive a blessing by living and working in the Land of Israel, not the Land of
Palestine. On the one hand, Israel should treat them with respect. On the other
hand, they have the responsibility to live at peace, abiding by the laws of the
Land, recognizing under whose sovereignty it belongs.
This is what Moses taught: "The community (of Israel) is to
have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you; this is a
lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the
same before the Lord; the same laws and regulations will apply to you and to the
alien living among you"(Numbers 15:15,16).
When this relationship is broken, as has happened today,
then crisis ensues. Scripture has much more to say about the Land in prophecy,
including the fact that Israel will go through many more trials before Messiah
comes to fully restore Israel as the head of all nations.
Key #11: The return of the Jewish people at the end of
days will be initiated by God, and their return will signal the restoration of a
barren and broken land.
The prophet Isaiah spoke of God's plan to bring His people
back to Israel, saying: "He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the
exiles of Israel, He will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four
quarters of the earth" (Isaiah 11:12).
When the Jews began to return from the nations of the world
at the end of the last century, the land was barren and sparsely inhabited. In
the 1860s, the author, Mark Twain, traveled in what was then a backward region
of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, called Palestine and described the land, thusly:
"Nowhere in all the waste around was there a foot of shade." He called the land
a "blistering, naked, treeless land." Of the Galilee, he said, "There is no dew,
nor flowers, nor birds, nor trees. There is a plain and an unshaded lake, and
beyond them some barren mountains." His summary of Palestine: "Of all the lands
there are for dismal scenery, I think Palestine must be the prince. The hills
are barren, they are dull of color, they are unpicturesque in shape. It is a
hopeless, dreary, heartbroken land."
This description matches the Ezekiel's prophecy of the
"barren mountains of Israel" in Ezekiel 36:1-7. However, Ezekiel goes on to say,
"But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for My people
Israel, for they will soon come home. I am concerned for you and will look on
you with favor; you will be plowed and sown, and I will multiply the number of
people upon you, even the whole house of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and
the ruins rebuilt. I will increase the number of men and animals upon you, and
they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the
past and will make you prosper more than before. Then, you will know that I am
the Lord. I will cause people, My people Israel, to walk upon you. They will
possess you, and you will be their inheritance; you will never again deprive
them of their children" (Ezekiel 36: 8-12).
Truly, the return of the Jews from over 100 nations of the
world is a modern-day miracle. Large waves of immigrants began to come in the
1880s. Since those early days, the deserts have been reforested, the rocky
fields made fertile, the swamps drained and planted, the ancient terraces
rebuilt, and the ruined cities of old re-established. Israel is now a nation of
over six million people that is a food exporting nation that boasts high levels
of literacy, health, education and welfare, high technology and agricultural
development.
Key #12: The nations will be part of the return of the
people and the restoration of the land.
The prophet Isaiah of Israel said: "Arise, shine, for your
light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. Surely the islands
look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your sons from afar,
with their silver and gold, to the honor of the Lord your God. Foreigners will
rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Your gates will always stand
open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that men may bring you the
wealth of the nations. For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will
perish; it will be utterly ruined" (Isaiah 60:1,9-12).
In Romans 11:11-14, Paul teaches us Christians that we are
grafted into the olive tree, which are the covenants, promises and hopes of
Israel. We do not hold up the tree, but it holds us up, so we should not boast
against His people, Israel. In verse 28, he tells us that they are beloved for
the sake of the patriarchs. Without the faithfulness of the Jewish people in
Israel, we would not have our example, our Bible, our Yeshua or our salvation.
Therefore, he concludes that "by our mercy, they will receive [God's] mercy."
(Romans 11:31).
Paul teaches us Christians that we have a debt to pay to the
Jewish people, by blessing them in tangible ways.
Romans 15:27 clearly states: "For if the Gentiles have
shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with
them their material blessings." How much more direct can God be regarding our
Christian relationship to Israel and the Jewish people.
What Does This Mean To Us?
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 to be God's Word and that every promise of God will come to pass, 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. Yet, 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.
Our commitment to Israel was penned by the Psalmist so long
ago in Psalm 102:13: "You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time
to show favor to her; the appointed time has come." This is that day.
Again the Psalmist exhorts us: "Pray for the peace of
Jerusalem; may they prosper who love you. May peace be within your walls, and
prosperity within your palaces. For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I
will now say, 'May peace be within you.' For the sake of the house of the Lord
our God, I will seek your good" (Psalm 122; 6-9).
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