The Promised Land
Israel Has Not Yet Received the Promised Land
The LORD, the Creator of the earth, gave the land of Israel to Abram and to his descendants. No man has the authority, nor the power, to change that which the LORD has decreed. All the land between Egypt and the Euphrates river belongs to the descendants of Abram.
Gen 17:19-21 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
God told Abraham that He would establish His covenant with Isaac and His descendants, not Ishmael and his descendants. The covenant with Isaac gave all the land between Egypt and the Euphrates river to the descendants of Isaac forever.
1 Chr 16:13-18 O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance;
God does not change His mind as men do. God’s covenant with Israel is an everlasting covenant; the land that God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob belongs to Israel forever. All the powers of the universe cannot nullify the promise of the Lord God Almighty.
Deut 29:25-28 Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt: For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them: And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.
The unbelief of Israel has resulted in the judgment of God upon the nation. Israel has suffered much for their unbelief throughout their history. The LORD is still angry at Israel because of their continuing unbelief, and as a result Israel is still experiencing the wrath of God, even though they have been partially restored to their land.
Deut 30:1-6 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: 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. And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
Israel has not yet been fully restored to their land from Egypt to the Euphrates river because Israel has not yet returned to the LORD. The time will soon come when Israel will fully return to the LORD and the LORD will fully restore them to their land. Furthermore, when Israel finally returns to the LORD their God with all their heart and soul the LORD will cause them to prosper and multiply more than their ancestors.
Jer 29:11-14 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
God has a plan for the future restoration of Israel. Israel will someday search for the LORD with all their heart and when they do, the LORD will restore them to their land from Egypt to the Euphrates river. All the descendants of Israel will be restored to all their land.
Jer 31:35-37 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
To sum up these three verses, the LORD says that Israel will be a nation forever. No matter how much Israel sins by their unbelief, the LORD will never cast them away from Himself; they will always be His chosen people. As sure as we can depend on God to keep the universe in its fixed order, we can depend on Him to keep Israel forever.
Jer 32:38-41 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
God’s word is sure, He does not lie. God has promised to restore Israel and to keep them forever. After Israel has been restored they will never again turn away from God because He will give them a heart to fear Him. We can be sure that God will keep Israel and do good for them forever, because it is His eternal purpose to do so.
Zech 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Israel will someday recognize their true Messiah and will mourn because they pierced Him. Even though they have rejected Him for so long, the Lord will bring them back into fellowship with Himself as a demonstration of His redeeming grace.
Zech 13:8-9 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
Two thirds of Israel will be destroyed during the time of Jacob’s trouble, but one third will survive and will finally come to know the LORD.
Isa 9:6-7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
When God finally fully restores Israel they will have a King on the throne of David forever and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Their true Messiah will someday return to this earth as King of Kings and LORD of LORDS and will reign on the throne of David, in the city of Jerusalem. The LORD Himself will be King in Israel forever.
Isa 53:5-6 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
The true Messiah, Jesus Christ, took all our sins upon Himself and died in our place so that the LORD could forgive us and receive us as sinless sons forever.
Gen 12:2-3 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 curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
All the families of the earth have been blessed and will continue to be blessed through the descendant of Abraham, Jesus Christ.
All Scripture taken from King James Bible
* Bible Studies by Max Swan
Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD. (NAS) Jer 9:23-24