"May the Lord give strength to his people!" (Ps. 29.11) His people are the remnant of believers in Israel. "The God of Israel he gives power and strength to his people" (68.35); "your house" (84.4). "God of Israel" (73.1) is for "His people" (91.14). The remnant have "God my refuge" (73.28), "whose hearts are set on"(84.5).
Caleb said, "9 And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's FOR EVER, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God [remnant of Israel]. 10 And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while [the children of] Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I [am] this day fourscore and five years old. 11 As yet I [am as] strong this day as [I was] in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength [was] then, even so [is] my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in" (Josh 14.9-11).
God said, "I have known only you out of all the clans of the earth" (Amos 3.2) which is speaking to the nation of Israel. "And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall 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" (Amos 9.14,15).
"So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel" (Ez. 39.7). "When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD" (Ez. 39.27-29).
"Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD" (Ez. 34.30). Muslims, like the Edomites, when Israel was out of the land, rushed in to claim the land for themselves, and said, "the ancient heights have become our possession" (Ez. 36.2). Then they plundered Judah and left the land desolate. "The desolate ruins and abandoned cities have become plunder and mockery to the rest of the nations all around" (Ez. 36.4). Muslims ridicule and scorn the people of Judah. "You have endured the insults of the nations.... Iwill no longer allow the insults of the nations to be heard against you, and you will not have to endure the reproach of the people anymore" (Ez. 36.6,15). Consequently, God gave four promises to the Judeans who would be returning. (1) The land again would be fruitful. "You, mountains of Israel, will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel, since their arrival is near. Look! I am on your side; I will turn toward you, and you will be tilled and sown" (Ez. 36.8,9; cf. 6.8-10). (2) All the people of Judah would ultimately return, multiply, and prosper in the land. "I will fill you with people with the whole house of Israel in its entirety. The cities will be inhabited and ruins rebuilt. I will fill you with people and animals, and they will increase and be fruitful. I will make you inhabited as you once were and make you better off than you were before. Then you will know I am the LORD" (Ez. 36.10,11). (3) Their return will be permanent. "I will cause my people to walk on you once again, and you will be their territory. You will never again rob them of their children. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The other nations taunt you, saying, 'Israel is a land that devours its own people and robs them of their children!' But you will never again devour your people or rob them of their children, says the Sovereign LORD" (Ez. 36.12-14). (4) "I will not let you hear those other nations insult you, and you will no longer be mocked by them. You will not be a land that causes its nation to fall, says the Sovereign LORD" (Ez. 36.15). "And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God..... Then you will remember your past sins and despise yourselves for all the detestable things you did" (Ez. 36.28,31).
"20 Then hold out the [two] pieces of wood you have inscribed, so the people can see them. 21 And give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: I will gather the people of Israel from among the nations. I will bring them home to their own land from the places where they have been scattered. 22 I will unify them into one nation on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule them all; no longer will they be divided into two nations or into two kingdoms. 23 They will never again pollute themselves with their idols and vile images and rebellion, for I will save them from their sinful backsliding. I will cleanse them. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God. 24 "My servant David will be their king, and they will have only one shepherd. They will obey my regulations and be careful to keep my decrees. 25 They will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren after them will live there forever, generation after generation. And my servant David will be their prince forever. 26 And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give them their land and increase their numbers, and I will put my Temple among them forever. 27 I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 And when my Temple is among them forever, the nations will know that I am the LORD, who makes Israel holy." (Ez. 37.20-28)
"28 And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make [them] afraid. 29 And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. 30 Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God [am] with them, and [that] they, [even] the house of Israel, [are] my people, saith the Lord GOD. 31 And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, [are] men, [and] I [am] your God, saith the Lord GOD." (Ez. 34.28-31)
"24 And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor [any] grieving thorn of all [that are] round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I [am] the Lord GOD. 25 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. 26 And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I [am] the LORD their God." (Ez. 28.24-26)
"And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I [am] the LORD your God; 6 In the day [that] I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which [is] the glory of all lands: ... 11 And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which [if] a man do, he shall even live in them. 12 Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I [am] the LORD that sanctify them ... And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers" (Ez. 20.5-6,11-12,42).
"Announcing in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of for His temple...the Holy One of Israel" (Jer. 50.28,29). " The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Jehovah of hosts is his name.... With you I will smash nations;with you I will bring kingdoms to ruin. And I will render unto Babylon [Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Iran) and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD" (Jer. 51.19,20,24).
"For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it" (Jer. 30.3 KJV). The NLT reads, "For the time is coming when I will restore the fortunes of my people of Israel and Judah. I will bring them home to this land that I gave to their ancestors, and they will possess it again. I, the LORD, have spoken!” "You gave the people of Israel this land that you had promised their ancestors long before—a land flowing with milk and honey" (Jer. 32.22).
"Don’t move an ancient boundary marker that your fathers set up" (Prov. 22.28). "Listen to me, descendants of Jacob,
all you who remain in Israel. I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born. For I am ready to set things right, not in the distant future, but right now! I am ready to save Jerusalem [Zion] and show my glory to Israel" (Is. 46.3,13). "In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory" (Is. 45.25). This passage does not mean anyone who is Jewish is saved, but that the nation of Israel will be the center of all nations. Salvation is still by faith and there are many Jews who do not believe in Jesus. "Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever" (Jer. 7.7). "In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers" (Jer. 3.18).
"Thou shalt arise, have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory" (Ps. 102.13,16). "He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance" (Ps. 105.8-11). "When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion" (Ps. 114.1,2). "The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great" (Ps. 115.12,13). Israel will be the center of all nations. "For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home; 'This is my resting place forever; I will make My home here because I have desired it'." (Ps. 132.13,14) "For the Lord has chosen Jacob {Israel} for Himself. He gave their land as an inheritance, an inheritance to His people Israel. May the LORD praise from Zion; He dwells in Jerusalem. Hallelujah!" (Ps. 135.4,12,21) "I exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!" (Ps. 137.6), but "Remember what you said that day of Jerusalem: 'destroy it! Destroy it down to its foundation!'" (v.7) The Amillennialist, Preterist and Post-Millennialist, you are like Babylon in your attitude towards Jerusalem and the Jews, God's chosen people.
Who is promised the land? Israel or Christians? Obviously Israel. So Israel will be the center of all nations during the millennial kingdom, but such is not the case afterward in the New City and New Earth. "Why gaze with envy you mountain peaks, at the mountain, Mount Zion, that God desired for His dwelling? The Lord will live there FOREVER!" (Ps. 68.16). "For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. The seed also of His servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein" (Ps. 69.35,36). "May he rule from Mediterranean to the Dead Sea and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth" (Ps. 72.8). Israel did not know how large earth was so from their perspective "ends of the earth" would not be that much further beyond the Mediterranean and Euphrates.
"When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your fathers, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree" (Hos. 9.10). "After King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon exiled Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to Babylon along with the officials of Judah and all the craftsmen and artisans, the LORD gave me this vision. I saw two baskets of figs placed in front of the LORD’s Temple in Jerusalem. One basket was filled with fresh, ripe figs, while the other was filled with bad figs that were too rotten to eat. Then the LORD said to me, 'What do you see, Jeremiah?' I replied, 'Figs, some very good and some very bad, too rotten to eat.' Then the LORD gave me this message: 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: The good figs represent the exiles I sent from Judah to the land of the Babylonians. I will watch over and care for them, and I will bring them back here again. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them hearts that recognize me as the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly. But the bad figs, 'the LORD said, 'represent King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, all the people left in Jerusalem, and those who live in Egypt. I will treat them like bad figs, too rotten to eat. I will make them an object of horror and a symbol of evil to every nation on earth. They will be disgraced and mocked, taunted and cursed, wherever I scatter them. And I will send war, famine, and disease until they have vanished from the land of Israel, which I gave to them and their ancestors'" (Jer. 24.1-10).
"And Jehovah said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither" (Deut. 34.4). "From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast" (Joshua 1.4). "Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them" (v.6). "And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him" (Gen. 12.7). "Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them" (Deut. 1.8). The Lord promised Joshua great success; His divine presence would ensure victory. The territorial extent of the conquest was from the desert on the south to Lebanon on the north, and from the Euphrates River on the east to the Mediterranean Sea on the west (Numb. 13.17-25; 34.3-12).
"For this is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land. I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will be brought to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the LORD of Heaven's Armies, have spoken!" (Hag. 2.6-9) "This is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies says: Here is the man called the Branch. He will branch out from where he is and build the Temple of the LORD. Yes, he will build the Temple of the LORD. Then he will receive royal honor and will rule as king from his throne. He will also serve as priest from his throne, and there will be perfect harmony between his two roles" (Zech. 6.12-13). Who is this other than Jesus? The Temple will be completed with 2300 days left to the Tribulation period, but when Jesus returns He will make renovations to it for His accommodations.
"And if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments which I command you this day, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth" (Deut. 28.1). "Has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?" (v.34) "the LORD set his heart in love upon your fathers and chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as at this day" (10.15). "It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love upon you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples; but it is because the LORD loves you, and is keeping the oath which he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt" (7.7-8). "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son" (Hos. 11.1). "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 God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. Both he that is born in your house and he that is bought with your money, shall be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant." (Gen. 17.7,13). "The covenant which he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant" (Ps. 105.9,10).
"Now Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, "Keep all the commandment which I command you this day. And on the day you pass over the Jordan to the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall set up large stones, and plaster them with plaster; and you shall write upon them all the words of this law, when you pass over to enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you" (Deut. 27.1-3).
"O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls; they will pray to the LORD day and night for the fulfillment of his promises. Take no rest, all you who pray. Give the LORD no rest until he makes Jerusalem the object of praise throughout the earth" (Is. 62.6-7). "Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey" (Deut. 26.15). "And the LORD has declared this day concerning you that you are a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments" (v.18). "That he will set you high above all nations that he has made, in praise and in fame and in honor, and that you shall be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he has spoken" (v.19). Israel is to be the center of all nations from where Jesus will reign in the 3rd Temple for 1000 years.
"Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it and named the place Bethel. I am the the God of Bethel, where you you poured oil on the stone marker. So Jacob picked up the stone and set it up as a marker" (Gen. 28.18, 31.13,45). Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD [and] set up an altar and 12 pillars for the 12 tribes of Israel" (Ex. 24.4). "These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth" (Deut. 12.1). Israel was "not to sacrifice the Passover in any other towns the Lord is giving you [but] at the place where the Lord your God chooses to have His name dwell; in the place the LORD your God chooses, in the place where He chooses to have His name dwell. Appoint judges in all the towns the LORD your God is giving you. You will live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you [and] to the altar you will build for the Lord your God" (Deut. 16.5,6,7,11,18, 20, 21).
"That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves. Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. There shall no man be able to stand before you:f or the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you ... And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal. Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh? For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein" (Deut. 11.21-25, 29-31). "Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee" (Gen. 13.17). "Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, [even] to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast" (Joshua 1.2-4).
"Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey. For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year" (Deut. 11.8-12).
"And the LORD said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them" (Deut. 10.11). "In the same day the LORD 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. 15.18).
"Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly" (Deut. 6.14, 7.4). "And he brought us out from thence [Egypt], that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers" (Deut. 6.23). "And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee" (Deut. 7.13). God said Israel was a "stiff-necked people" (Deut. 9.6,14) that if they don't repent, the LORD "will destroy them and blot out their name under heaven. Then I will make you [Moses] into a nation stronger and more numerous than they" (v.14). But Moses pleaded with God (Deut. 9.15-29) and convinced Him to give Israel one more chance over 40 days, and Israel then did repent.
"For you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be His own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth" (Deut. 7.6). "But He directly pays back and destroys those who hate Him. He will not hesitate to directly pay back the one who hates Him. He will inflict them on all who hate you" (vv.10,15). "All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers" (Deut. 8.1). "For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any [thing] in it; a land whose stones [are] iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee (Deut. 8.7-11)
"And the LORD 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 for ever" (Gen. 13.14-15). "But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year" (17.21). "And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I [am] the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed" (28.13). What this says is Israel is the only nation on the planet that has a title deed to a particular land. No other nation can say that. The dispersion is prophesied in Deut. 28.64-67. Ezekiel 36 speaks of how the Arabs will come against Israel in the end-times. "For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land" (v.24). And God says He doesn't even do this for Israel, but He does it to prove His own glory: "Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake...and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes" (v.23,24). Amen.
"Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel" (Ez. 11.17). "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea" (Isaiah 11.10-11).
"Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut [the womb]? saith thy God" (Isaiah 66.7-9).
"When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory" (Ps. 102.16). "Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River. I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants.'" (Deut. 1.7c,8). "For the LORD will scatter you among the nations, where only a few of you will survive. When those bitter days have come upon you far in the future, you will finally return to the LORD your God and listen to what he tells you. For the LORD your God is merciful--he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors. Search all of history, from the time God created people on the earth until now. Then search from one end of the heavens to the other. See if anything as great as this has ever happened before. Has any nation ever heard the voice of God speaking from fire--as you did--and survived? Has any other god taken one nation for himself by rescuing it from another by means of trials, miraculous signs, wonders, war, awesome power, and terrifying acts? Yet that is what the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, right before your very eyes. He showed you these things so you would realize that the LORD is God and that there is no other god. He drove out nations far greater than you, so he could bring you in and give you their land as a special possession, as it is today" (Deut. 4.27,30-35,38).
"Fear not; for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west" (Is. 43.5). "He will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven, but after half this time, he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings. Then as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration, until the end that has been decreed is poured out on this defiler" (Dan. 9.27). For the sacrifices to cease there must be a Third Temple for them to be in. To set up an idol in the Temple there must be a a physical temple. "And the court which is outside the temple leave without, and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months" (Rev. 11.2). "And" speaks of another court and temple, the Third Temple on Earth, not the Temple in Heaven that is measured and protected (v.1). The Third Temple will be built before the midpoint of the Tribulation. "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and
then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
stand in the holy place [the temple], (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains" (Matt. 24.14-16).
"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped;
so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know that which
restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only
[there is] one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way [Satan moves out of the way to let the Antichrist take hold]. And then shall that Wicked be revealed [Antichrist], whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him [Antichrist], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion [including the mark of the beast], that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thess. 2.1-14).
"Who has ever seen or heard of anything as strange as this? Has a nation ever been born in a single day? Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment? But by the time Jerusalem's birth pains begin, the baby will be born; the nation will come forth" (Is. 66.8). This occurred in 1948. "And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken [it], and performed [it], saith the LORD" (Ez. 37.14; 1-14). "For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land" (Ez. 36.24).
This Land Belongs to Israel
Do you believe Israel-the elect (Matt. 24.22,24,31)-is the chosen nation (the first nation that God revealed Himself to) in which it has a covenant with God that awaits fulfillment (to be the
center of all nations to the Euphrates River-Gen. 15.18), and the new covenant has been given to the Church-the elect (Rom. 8.33, 2 Tim. 2.10, 1 Pet. 1.2)-beforehand? "Whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and eastern peoples came and attacked them. They encamped against them and destroyed the produce of the land, even as far as Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to eat, as well as no sheep, ox or donkey. For the Midiantes came with their cattle and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were without number, and they entered the land to waste it" (Judges 6.3-5). "I will drive them out little by little ahead of you until you have become numerous and take possession of the land. I will set your borders from the Red Sea [Gulf of Aqaba], and from the wilderness to the Mediterranean Sea [the Sea of the Philistines], and from the wilderness to the Euphrates River. I will place the inhabitants of the land under your control, and you will drive them out ahead of you. You must not make a covenant with them or their gods [e.g. amillennialists]. They must not remain in your land, or else they will make you sin against Me. If you worship their gods it will be a snare for you" (Ex. 23.30-33).
"He [Jacob] dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it! The LORD stood above it and said, 'I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you are sleeping on I will give to you and your descendants....I will bring you back to this land'....Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, 'Surely the LORD is in this place....This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven'" (Gen. 28.12-22). Jacob said to Joseph, "When I rest with my fathers, carry me...and bury me where they are buried" (Gen. 47.30), for "God Almighty appeared unto me...in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me, 'I will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession'" (Gen. 48.3,4; see Ex. 6.8). "He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God saw the Israelites, and He took notice" (Ex. 2.24,25). "I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from the land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey-the territory of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites" (Ex. 3.8,17; 24.23,28; Deut. 20.17; Gen. 15.19-21, Deut. 7.1). "The law, which came 430 years later, does not revoke a covenant that was previously ratified with God, so as to cancel the promise" (Gal. 3.17) either to Israel, or to the seed of Abraham, referring to Christ (v.16). "LORD, You have prepared the place for Your dwelling" (Ex. 15.17) in Israel for "the people whom You purchased" (v.16). Israel was "few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed" (Gen. 34.30) before going to Egypt, but "Jacob said to his family and all who were with him, 'Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves..." (Gen. 35.2). Abraham was small in number when "he assembled his 318 trained men born in his household" (Gen. 14.14). "In the fourth generation they [Israel] will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure" (Gen. 15.16).
The Ethical Conquest of Canaan
The prevailing prejudice against Scripture is that the Old Testament portrays a violent God of a violent people and is filled with narratives recounting horrendous events with disreputable people playing major roles. Is the Old Testament ethical? Here are some reasons why it is.
It was ethical enough for Jesus. Jesus accepted the truth and the ethical validity of the OT ("the Scriptures") in His own life, mission and teaching. He noted "you have heard it was said . . . but I tell you" (see Matt 6-7) sayings don't contradict or criticize the OT but either deepen its demands or correct distorted popular inferences "Love your neighbor" meant "Hate your enemy" to many in Jesus' day, even though the OT never says such things. Jesus reminded His hearers that the same chapter (Lev. 19) also says, "Love the alien as yourself," extending this to include "Love your enemy." Jesus thus affirmed and strengthened the OT ethic.
Narratives describe what happened, not what was necessarily approved. We assume wrongly that if a story is in Scripture it must be "what God wanted." But biblical narrators dealt with the real world and described it as it was, with all its corrupt and fallen ambiguity. We shouldn't mistaken realism for ethical approval. Old Testament stories often challenge us to wonder at God's amazing grace and patience in continually working out His purpose through such morally compromised people and to be discerning in evaluating their conduct according to standards the OT itself provides.
The conquest of Canaan must be understood for what it was. This event, rightly, is troubling to sensitive readers. We cannot ignore its horror, but some perspectives can help us evaluate it ethically.
1. It was a limited event. The conquest narratives describe one particular period of Israel's long history. Many of the other wars that occur in the OT narrative had no divine sanction, and some were clearly condemned as the actions of proud, greedy kings or military leaders.
2. We must allow for the exaggerated language of warfare. Israel, like other ancient Near East nations whose documents we possess, had rhetoric of war that often exceeded reality.
3. It was an act of God's justice and punishment on a morally degraded society. The conquest shouldn't be portrayed as random genocide or ethnic cleansing. The wickedness of Canaanite society was anticipated (Gen. 15.16) and described in moral and social terms. "Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you" (Lev. 18.24; see 20.23; Deut. 9.5, 12.29-31). This interpretation is accepted in the NT (e.g., Heb. 11.31 speaks of the Canaanites as "those who disobeyed," implying awareness of choosing to persist in sin-as the Bible affirms of all human beings). There is a huge moral difference between violence that's arbitrary and violence inflicted with the moral framework of punishment (this is true in human society as much as in divine perspective). It doesn't make it "nice," but it changes the ethical valuation significantly.
4. God threatened to do the same to Israel-and He did. In the conquest God used Israel as the agent of punishment on the Canaanites. God warned Israel that if they behaved like the Canaanites, He would treat them as His enemy the same way and inflict the same punishment on them using other nations (Lev. 26.17; Deut. 28.25-68). In the course of Israel's long history in OT times, God repeatedly did so, demonstrating His moral consistency in international justice. It wasn't a matter of favoritism. If anything, Israel's status as God's chosen people, the OT argues, exposed them more to God's judgment and historical punishment than the Canaanites who experienced the conquest. Those choosing to live as God's enemies eventually face God's judgment.
5. The conquest anticipated the final judgment. Like the stories of Sodom and Gomorrah and the flood, the story of Canaan's conquest stands in Scripture as a prototypical narrative, or one that foreshadows what is to come. Scripture affirms that ultimately, in the final judgment, the wicked will face the awful reality of God's wrath through exclusion, punishment, and destruction. Then God's ethical justice will finally be vindicated. But at certain points in history, such as during the conquest period, God demonstrates the power of His judgment. Rahab's story, set in the midst of the conquest narrative, also demonstrates the power of repentance, faith, and God's willingness to spare His enemies when they choose to identify with God's people. Rahab thus enters the NT hall of fame-and faith (Heb. 11.31; James 2.25).
An eye for an eye is remarkably humane. Unfortunately this phrase sums up for many what OT law and ethics is all about. Even then they misunderstood this expression-almost certainly metaphorical, not literal, wasn't a license for unlimited vengeance but precisely the opposite: it established the fundamental legal principle of proportionality; that is, punishment mustn't exceed the gravity of the offense. The rest of the OT law, when compared to the law codes from contemporary societies (e.g. Babylonian, Assyrian, Hittite), shows a remarkable classic trio of "the widow, the orphan, and the alien"). Israel's laws operated with ethical priorities of human life above material property and human needs over legal rights. Not surprisingly, then, Jesus (who clearly endorsed the same priorities) could affirm that He had no intention of abolishing the Law and Prophets but rather fulfilled them.
The Law Has a Higher Conscience
Does the Bible teach that people should retaliate, or that they should "turn the other cheek" (Matt. 5.38-39; Luke 6.27-29)? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasted a popular interpretation of the law of Moses with His own teachings. In doing this He was not saying that the OT was wrong, only that his adversaries' way of applying it to situations was wrong; by emphasizing the letter of law they had missed its true intent. The "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" passage (Ex. 21.24) did not require people to pay someone back for a wrong done to them. Its purpose was to establish limits for retaliation. The most one could do in response to knocking out a tooth was to knock out the other person's tooth; a person could not be killed for injuring someone's eye. As Jesus pointed out, a person who was wronged by another could choose not to retaliate for what had been done to him. Often such a response would be the best way to deal with the problem. In every case, it should be the first option considered.
"Do not commit murder" (Ex. 20.13). Should we never kill people, or simply not commit murder? According to the Bible, death was not part of God's original plan for humanity, but became part of the human experience as a result of humanity's sin (Gen. 2.17, 3.19; Rom. 5.12; Heb. 9.27). All human beings are made in God's image (Gen. 1.26-27) and therefore all human life is sacred and to be treated with special respect. At the same time, the law of Moses sanctions taking of human life as a penalty for certain serious crimes committed against persons or God (Gen. 9.6; Ex. 21.12-17; 31.14-15; 35.2; Lev. 20.2,9-16,27; 24.16-17,21; 27.29; Num. 35.33; Deut. 13.5-9; 21.21; 22.21). The NT implicitly affirms the right of governmental authorities to impose the death penalty (Rom. 13.4). The Bible's prescription of the death penalty in certain circumstances is aimed at preventing greater evils from occurring, and thus preserves the principle of sacredness of human life. Murder, the unauthorized taking of human life, is clearly what this command prohibits.
"Stay away from false accusation. Do not kill the innocent and the just, because I will not justify the guilty" (Ex. 23.7). If the Israelites were not to kill the innocent, why were they ordered to kill Canaanite children (see Deut 7.1-2; 20.16-17)? This verse is part of a larger section that provides guidance to judges when trying cases in Israel: in courts of law the innocent were not to be punished. But the elimination of entire cultural groups as punishment for long-term institutionalized sin was not considered a legal matter. It was an issue of divine judgment following centuries of unacceptable conduct. God ordered the Israelites to eliminate cultures that had institutionalized despicable sin. Canaanite cultures were steeped in a religion that was polytheistic, idolatrous, and highly immoral. As part of their religious corruption, those cultures permitted human sacrifices and practiced cultic prostitution (worship of their "gods" involved intercourse with women attached to their temples). All of this cultural perversity was offensive to God and was to be brought to a complete end when the iniquity of the inhabitants of Canaan was complete (Gen. 15.16).
"When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it" (Deut. 12.29-32).
"And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel" (Ex. 19.6). This simply means God will usher in the Messiah through Israel, for God needs a holy nation to enter in through. It does not mean Israel is going to rule the world or even receive the reward of reigning with Christ during the 1000 years; though it does mean the promise is for Israel to be the center of all nations from which Christ will reign in Jerusalem in the Temple. The kings and priests in Rev. 20.4,6 are overcomer believers from all dispensations.
Faithfulness to the Lord's intention involves a threefold process: drive out (dispossess) the sinful Canaanites, destroy their centers of idolatry, and divide the land proportionately among their ancestral tribes. "And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan [near] Jericho, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: And ye shall dispossess [the inhabitants] of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it. And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: [and] to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man's [inheritance] shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit. But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them [shall be] pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Moreover it shall come to pass, [that] I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them" (Numb. 33.50-56). These words echo the message of judgment in Lev. 26.14-33 and Deut. 28.45-68. How the story of the victory march from Egypt to the promise land would be completed was in the hands of the people.
"And those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away" (Is. 35.10). "Raise the signal to go to Zion! Flee for safety without delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, even terrible destruction" (Jer. 4.6). "They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD— the grain, the new wine and the olive oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more" (Jer. 31.12). "And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls" (Joel 2.32). "Then you will know that I, the LORD your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her" (Joel 3.17). "The rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain that filled the whole earth" (Dan. 2.35).
"It has destroyed my grapevines and ruined my fig trees, stripping their bark and destroying it, leaving the branches white and bare" (Joel 1.7). "He spake also this parable; A certain [man] had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung [it]: And if it bear fruit, [well]: and if not, [then] after that thou shalt cut it down" (Luke 13.6-9). Israel is the fig tree.