Category: Palestine / land of Canaan / Holy Land

Go into Your Land, Israel

Saturday, February 25, 2012

“And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers” (Deuteronomy 30:5 KJV).

In 1948 Israel became a nation in modern times. Was that the “budding of the fig tree” of Matthew 24:32-34 and Luke 21:29-32? Is God supernaturally guiding dispersed Jews back to the land of Palestine today? Many people answer both questions in the affirmative, but according to the Bible, this is simply denominational hype and tripe. The above passages refer to Israel’s program, not events in our Dispensation of Grace.

Today, in the Dispensation of Grace, God says that Israel’s prophetic program is suspended and Israel is blinded nationally (Romans 11:11,12,15,25). But, Israel’s blindness is only temporary. Once our program is terminated (at the rapture), Israel’s program will resume. Only then will Israel inherit her land. If prophecy were being fulfilled today, we are forced to conclude that the rapture already took place, and that would mean we Christians are living in the seven-year Tribulation, which is impossible. Thus, no Bible prophecy is being fulfilled today.

At Christ’s Second Coming, He will establish His earthly kingdom. Israel will be restored to God and she will inherit the Promised Land (Acts 3:19-26; Romans 11:26-29; Hebrews 8:8-13). In that day, the LORD will say to Israel (Isaiah 62:4): “Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.”

“Hephzi-bah” means “My delight is in her;” “Beulah” means “married man; husband.” Israel’s land will no longer be “Desolate” and she will no longer be “Forsaken.” Restored Israel will inherit her land one day, without our help, our funding, and our prayer, because God Himself will accomplish it (Deuteronomy 30:1-5 [today’s Scripture]; Jeremiah 23:1-6; Jeremiah 30:3; Ezekiel 34:11-16; Ezekiel 36:24-38; Ezekiel 37:21-23).

After our dispensation concludes, then God will declare, “Go into your land, Israel!”

I Will Be Their God

Sunday, February 5, 2012

“And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:8 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is part of the Abrahamic Covenant, the basis for God creating the nation Israel. The LORD promised Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 that he would have a son Isaac, who would give birth to the Jewish race. God would also give a geographic area to Abraham and his “seed:” this is the “Promised Land” or Palestine (“all the land of Canaan”).

God formed Israel in order to use her as the vessel to restore His authority in the earth. Israel was to be a “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:5,6), but before Israel could bring God to the Gentiles, God first had to be her God. The LORD repeatedly says in the Old Testament: “Israel will be my people, and I will be their God” (Exodus 29:45; Jeremiah 24:7; Jeremiah 31:33; Jeremiah 32:38; Ezekiel 11:20; Ezekiel 34:24; Ezekiel 37:23, 27; Zechariah 8:8).

But, Israel rejected and crucified her King Jesus, and refused to bring salvation to the Gentiles. Thus, Israel’s kingdom is currently and temporarily postponed. Salvation is coming to us Gentiles through Paul’s Gospel, the Gospel of Grace of 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, without Israel’s kingdom (Romans 11:11-13). Israel is not God’s people today (Hosea 1:9; Romans 10:1-3); who is? WE ARE, the Church the Body of Christ!

Paul quotes the Old Testament when God spoke to Israel, and writes about us members of the Body of Christ: “…For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16).

Today, Israel is spiritually blinded and lost (Romans 11:7,25), but at Christ’s Second Coming, Israel will finally be saved and forgiven (verses 26-29). In that day, God will establish the New Covenant, and our God will be Israel’s God too (note Hebrews 8:10 cf. Hosea 1:10).

Saints, never forget—God has not forgotten Israel.

A King Shall Reign and Prosper

Thursday, November 3, 2011

“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:5,6 KJV).

Today’s Scripture, written over 2,600 years ago, still awaits fulfillment. The nation Israel, and the world, has yet to experience the reign of this King.

The Middle East has been plagued with turmoil and animosity for millennia. Israel in her 4,000-year existence has never dwelt peacefully in her land. She has never enjoyed her earthly kingdom. Israel’s sinful disobedience caused God to righteously punish her using exiles. Gentile armies repeatedly invaded and overran Israel, carrying the Jews off to foreign lands (Leviticus 26:27-35; Deuteronomy 28:25; et al.).

Consequently, the Jewish race is far from its homeland. It is scattered all over the world today. “The days come, saith the Lord,” when that will change. As soon as our Dispensation of Grace expires, and the Church the Body of Christ is raptured into heaven, Israel’s prophetic program will resume. The Jews will experience seven years of God’s wrath, the Tribulation.

One-third of Israel will become believers during the Tribulation, and this remnant of Israel will become the nation Israel in the subsequent kingdom (Zechariah 13:8,9). “And so all Israel [the believing remnant] shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob [Israel]: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins” (Romans 11:26,27).

After Christ’s Second Coming, He will make the New Covenant with Israel, cleansing her of her national sins (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Acts 3:19; Hebrews 8:8-13). Finally, Christ’s earthly kingdom will be established, and today’s Scripture will be fulfilled. Israel will safely dwell in her land (Jeremiah 23:7,8). “And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one” (Zechariah 14:9).

A glorious future awaits the world and Israel!

A Land Flowing With Milk and Honey #2

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

“And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey” (Numbers 14:7,8 KJV).

God had been faithful in delivering Israel from Egypt. Now, He would bring her into an “exceeding good land.” But, Israel doubted God, and wanted to send 12 spies to explore that land. After 40 days of exploring Canaan, the spies return to Israel’s camp. Today’s Scripture records their confession before Moses and Israel.

Canaan, the Promised Land, was abounding with food and water, high agricultural productivity (“a land flowing with milk and honey”—the presence of milk-producing animals implied grasses and other vegetation; honey indicated pollinating creatures like bees). The spies showed Israel the large grape cluster, the pomegranates, and the figs they had collected in Canaan (Numbers 13:21-27). The 12 spies confirmed that God had indeed given them a very great land, but 10 spies feared military defeat by the Gentiles dwelling therein, so Israel refused to enter (Numbers 13:28–14:11). Thus, God, in His righteous anger, punished them via the 40-year wilderness wandering (Deuteronomy 1:21-ff.).

Today, the Promised Land does not exhibit the beauty it had in Moses’ day. It is desolate and barren. But, that will change at Christ’s Second Coming and the following earthly kingdom. The Promised Land will be restored, and the curse of sin will be broken (Isaiah 51:3; Joel 3:17-21, Micah 4:1-3; et al.).

According to Amos 9:11-15, “[Israel will] build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God” (verses 14,15).

One day, Israel will eternally dwell in her land, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”

A Land Flowing With Milk and Honey #1

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

“And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey…” (Exodus 3:8 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, the LORD in the burning bush tells Moses that He will deliver the nation Israel from Egyptian slavery and bring them into the Promised Land, “a land flowing with milk and honey.” The Bible uses this expression 20 times to describe Israel’s land (Palestine). What does it mean?

By the time of Numbers chapter 13, Israel has been delivered from Egypt and is sending 12 spies to explore Palestine. Moses instructs these spies: “And [see] what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes” (verse 20).

In verse 23, the spies arrive at the brook of Eshcol, and cut down a grape cluster (“Eshcol” is Hebrew for “grape cluster;” verse 24). This one cluster of grapes is so enormous that two men must carry it on a pole! The spies also collect figs and pomegranates.

After 40 days of scouting, the spies return to Moses and Israel’s camp and show them Canaan’s fruit: “And they told him [Moses], and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it” (verse 27). “And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey” (Numbers 14:7,8).

Deuteronomy 11:10-12 and Deuteronomy 31:20 also confirm that “flowing with milk and honey” indicated Canaan was a land of high agricultural productivity (pollination, green grass, flowering trees, water resources, abundant food, et cetera). Just think…rebellious Israel refused to go in!