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Does Israel Have A Divine Right To Their land?
By Rabbi Ed Rothman
It has become popular to media-bash Israel for being the root cause
of terrorism in the world today. Many American and European Christians
criticize Israel for not giving up its land to a terrorist government
that they cannot trust. If only they would accept a treaty to create
a Palestinian state, then the world could live in peace. This type
of naive thinking is not based on knowledge of all the facts, but
by carefully crafted biased sound bites on the news-talk shows.
Some Christian theologians have postulated that since the Jewish
people as a whole are not keeping the Mosaic Law, they have no right
to claim divine right to the land of Israel. I believe it is imperative
that an opposing view be shared in support of Israel's right to
its land based solely from the sacred Scriptures rather than the
ebbs and flows of political correctness. To establish the truth
in this matter I will endeavor to express my thoughts with a consistent
interpretation of the Biblical texts relevant to this issue.
I believe that the key to this issue, is that the pre-eminent,
prevailing, and unconditional promises to Abraham & his offspring
that gave them divine right to the land of Israel, are found in
G-d's covenants to Abraham, not in His covenant with Israel through
Moses (Gal.3: 17-18). As I hope to demonstrate in the following
verses, G-d's covenants to Abraham were eternal and unconditional
[Gal. 3:17-18]. The New Covenant reveals to us that G-d intended
the Mosaic covenant to lead us to Y'shua (Jesus) the Messiah [Gal.
3:24] and that Y'shua would fulfill all of G-d's covenants to His
patriarchs, ultimately bringing eternal benefit to the world [Mat.
5:17 & Rom. 11:12].
God's Eternal Covenant with Abraham
G-d's covenants to Abraham are found in the Book of Genesis, The
Book of Beginnings. Here we find G-d laying out His eternal strategy
for the redemption of mankind. The essential, initial seed for the
eternal purpose of G-d was planted in a middle-eastern Gentile named
Abram [Deut. 7:7 & 1 Cor. 1:27-28]. G-d's covenants to Abraham
are foundational to the fulfilling the New Covenant and providing
it's blessings to all who would believe in the vicarious saving
work of Y'shua the Messiah [Rom. 4:16-17 & Gal. 3:6-9 &
14-16].
Gen. 12:1-3 Now the L-RD had said unto Abram, Get thee out thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto
a land that I will shew thee. And I will make of thee a great
nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou
shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and
I will curse him that curseth thee: and in thee, shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed.
Gen. 13:14-15 And the L-RD said unto Abram, after that Lot was
separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the
place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and
westward. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give
it, and to thy seed forever.
In Genesis 15 G-d speaks to Abram in a vision and instructed him
to prepare a covenant initiation ceremony for Him. After Abram does,
G-d puts him into a deep sleep and He alone walked between the covenant
pieces, declaring the future of Abram and His descendants. In doing
this, G-d Himself made the covenant with Abram, and the keeping
of it was dependent upon G-d alone [Heb. 6:13-19]. Since Abram was
asleep and could not participate by walking through the covenant
parts, he was not a volitional partner. Therefore this was an unconditional
covenant of grace, with no requirements upon Abram or his descendants
to be recipients of its benefits.
Gen. 15:18 In the same day the L-RD made a covenant with Abram,
saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of
Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
Gen. 17:7-8 And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee
and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting
covenant, to be a G-d unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 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; & I will be their G-d.
Can An Eternal, Everlasting Covenant Be Broken?
G-d once again initiated an eternal covenant with Abraham and his
offspring. The sign of this covenant was to be circumcision of the
male foreskin on the 8th day of their life. To violate this covenant
meant to be cut off from the people of Israel and their covenant
with G-d. An individual person could be cut off, but not the whole
nation, since multitudes of Israelites continued to receive the
sign of circumcision throughout their generations. Therefore this
covenant was never disannulled. It is still in force today and we
are blessed to be witnessing its fulfillment right before our eyes!
Israel does not exist by human ingenuity, but by sovereign divine
providence!
Continued
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