I just wanted to do a quick post on Israel and literal interpretation of prophecy. The deeper we get in discussing this, the more space it takes up! So, my intent is a small post! Ha! But I also want to write out the scriptures, so it may be longer... hmm. we will see.
I want to list some of the scriptural supports for the modern day Jewish state. My question is - Do you take these promises and prophecies literally in their fulfillment, or allegorically?
God gave the land of Israel to Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob as an everlasting possession. This is the Abrahamic convenant: the title to the land.
Gen 17:8 "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."
Gen 26:2 Then the LORD appeared to him and said: "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. Gen 26:3 "Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. Gen 26:4 "And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; Gen 26:5 "because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."
Gen 28:1 THEN Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Gen 28:2 "Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother. Gen 28:3 "May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples; Gen 28:4 And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham."
Gen 28:13 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. Gen 28:14 "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. Gen 28:15 "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."
Scriptures which I believe support the fact that neither the cross nor the disobedience of the Jews cause the convenant to end (w/out repeating those above).
1Ch 16:17 And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel [for] an everlasting covenant, 1Ch 16:18 Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan As the allotment of your inheritance,"
Psa 105:8 He remembers His covenant forever, The word [which] He commanded, for a thousand generations, Psa 105:9 [The covenant] which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac, Psa 105:10 And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel [as] an everlasting covenant, Psa 105:11 Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan As the allotment of your inheritance,"
Rom 9:4 who are Israelites, to whom [pertain] the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service [of God,] and the promises;
Rom 3:1 WHAT advantage then has the Jew, or what [is] the profit of circumcision? Rom 3:2 Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. Rom 3:3 For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Rom 3:4 Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: ["That You may be justified in Your words,] [And may overcome when You are judged."]
Rom 11:29 For the gifts and the calling of God [are] irrevocable.
Rom 9:27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:"Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved.
Why can we consider the present day nation of Israel to be still under the promises and convenants of Biblical Israel? They have violated the Land Convenant (conditions for inhabiting and possessing the land), but God still promised to gather them up and return them to the land.
"The Land Covenant promised that Israel would become the prime nation of the world if the Jews were obedient to God (Deuteronomy 28:1,13). But the covenant warned that many curses would befall the people if they were disobedient (Deuteronomy 28:15-37), including exile from the land (Deuteronomy 28:38-57). The covenant warned further that if temporary exile did not restore the Jews to obedience, they would suffer worldwide dispersion and persecution (Deuteronomy 28:58-68). But nowhere are they told that their disobedience would lead to a loss of their title to the land. In fact, the Land Covenant ends in chapter 30 with a prophecy and a promise that a day will come — after the Jews have experienced the curses of the covenant — when the Lord will restore them to their land once again: "The Lord 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" (Deuteronomy 30:3-5).
For almost 1900 years the Jews wandered among the nations and suffered severe persecution, just as prophesied in Deuteronomy 28. During that time, their land became desolate as prophesied in Deuteronomy 29. But in this century, God has regathered them from the four corners of the earth, re-established them in their land, and transformed their land from wilderness to milk and honey — as prophesied in Deuteronomy 30.
The only prophecy left to be fulfilled in the Land Covenant is the spiritual salvation of the gathered remnant (Deuteronomy 30:6-8). That will occur soon when they repent and accept Yeshua as their Messiah.
The Abrahamic and Land Covenants make it clear that the Jewish people have both the right to the land of Israel and the right to be back in it today." (Dave Reagan, Lamb and Lion Ministries, to save on time :-)
Why we ought not be forcing or encouraging division of the land?
Amo 9:14 I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit [them;] They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. Amo 9:15 I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them," Says the LORD your God.
Joe 3:1 "FOR behold, in those days and at that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, Joe 3:2 I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land.
Forgive my brevity, but I am trying not to let blogging interfere with my more important priorities-- so trying to be quick! :-) I know I didn't answer all the questions here; my intent was to get a response to the scriptures. I also have another scripture coming which addresses why they have to be in the land before the remnant will believe (ie, why back in before they become obedient again), but I am having trouble finding it. Time...time... :-)
Thoughts?
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2 comments:
Great research, D – thanks for bringing together all those scriptures. Clearly, God has special things planned for Israel in the end times, whether those times occur in this century, or a thousand years from now.
What I’m still looking for, though, is your application of Genesis 12:3 “And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse…”
There’s no question that this promise was intended to be taken literally by Abraham. But the words themselves are extremely broad, and that’s led to a wide range of interpretations, even among us literalists.
The part that I think we all agree on is that we, as individuals, can secure a blessing for ourselves by blessing Abraham’s descendents, as we have the opportunity. That could include anything from being extra-nice to our Jewish neighbors, to being supportive of policies that protect and preserve groups of Jews, whether it’s the Israeli national government or the NYC city government, both of whom oversee about the same number of Jews.
But blessing someone doesn’t mean we give them a free ride. We’d criticize someone who failed to confront their kids’ misbehaviors, why would we not confront Israeli individual or national sins?
To use an extreme example - if I witnessed my Jewish neighbor committing a murder, God requires that I testify against him or her. If they steal, lie or extort, it would be a sin for me to help them cover it up. If one of these crimes was committed by a group, rather than an individual, then my responsibility would still be the same. And, if one of these crimes was committed by a government, ditto.
Bringing the guilty to justice is not cursing them, and looking the other way when they sin isn’t blessing them.
Again, I think there’s a lot we agree on, but maybe the key issue is where we draw the line on supporting actions that are clearly against God’s will. Some Christians seem to feel that any criticism at all of the Israeli government opens us up to God’s disfavor. But if that’s the case, then the Israelis themselves are in a world of hurt, because they have a multi-party system like ours, which pretty much guarantees plenty of very criticism from their citizens and mass media every single day.
I guess I am just not sure what kind of definition you are looking for. I've mentioned a few things in response that no, I don't think it's ok for them to do. Like dominate the Middle East, or slaughter all the Palestinians. (Even though, technically, it's gonna happen eventually...) But they aren't doing those, and it doesn't look like they will. They are just trying to survive and defend themselves against neighbors who want them gone. Am I missing something else? What are they doing that seems to be against God's will, other than giving up their land in hopes for a peace that will not come until an appointed time on God's calendar? I guess I am just saying that we should support them until they do go berserk, but I just don't think they will. :-) Naive? Maybe, but if you follow the scenario that I follow about the end times, they aren't going to be responsible for going against God's will- the world is. He will be the one doing the destroying and supernaturally protecting.
I certainly also think that supporting them means loving them and praying for them constantly, especially since so many of them are unorthodox, or atheist, or agnostic. It is exciting how the Messianic movement is growing though, isn't it?!
I don't think we are disagreeing on what support means; I am just a little more optimistic about their future actions? :-) So maybe I am applying it this way: "I will bless those who pray for my will for Israel, and curse those who go against ME." Because He has obviously used kingdoms in the past to punish Israel, and He has blessed those nations. But those who directly go against God's plan, He handles Himself!
YES! That is my application of Gen 12:3. You just had to force me to think it out! :=)
But one stray thought-- Theoretically - say Israel *were* instructed to wipe out the Muslim people like they were instructed to wipe out the Canaanites, if we went against them, we would be the ones going against God's will. And what would happen then?
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