Posted on 02/01/2011 12:08:29 PM PST by GiovannaNicoletta
Preachers and theologians are often fond of saying that History is “His story,” meaning that God plans and determines the details and events that make up human history ruling over the process from beginning to end to fulfill His great purpose for Mankind. Nothing could be truer of Israel. The history of the Jewish people is “His story” played out within human history, which has been revealed, foretold, and written in the Bible.
Israel’s history is supernatural from beginning to end. It began with the Patriarch Abraham some 4,000 years ago when God called this nomadic wanderer from Ur of the Chaldeans (Modern day Iraq) to leave his homeland and go into the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:1-3). Abraham obeyed that call and became the father of the nation Israel and the Jewish people. Though Abraham, and Sarah his wife, were well beyond the age of having children (Genesis 18:11), God miraculously rejuvenated the ninety-year old body of Sarah to bear them a son; Isaac through whom God would raise up the people and nation the Messiah would come through (Genesis 21:12).
With the promised child came the Promised Land — the land that is called Israel - where Abraham and his descendants would live. In Genesis 13:15 and 17:7-8, God promised to give the land to Abraham and his descendants (the Jews) for an “everlasting possession” under the unconditional terms of an “everlasting covenant”:
“For all the land which you see I have given it to you and your descendants forever. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. And I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.”
Here we observe from Israel’s inception that the history of the Jewish people and their divine destiny is inextricably bound up with the land God promised them. The covenant referred to in Genesis 17:7-8 is formally called the Abrahamic Covenant. It is an eternal covenant made between God to Abraham and his descendants forever. God essentially established through this Covenant with Abraham a people from him (the Jewish people), a place for them (the land of Israel), so that the purpose of blessing all the nations of the world could occur in perpetuity, that is forever. Thus God gave the land of Israel to the Jews forever and to no other ethnic group or nation, protestations from the Arabs, Palestinians, and international community notwithstanding.
One of the basic laws of Bible interpretation is the law of first mention. The law of first mention states that when a thing is mentioned for the first time in the Bible it carries the same meaning all throughout the Scriptures. It establishes the Bible as consistent in its meaning from beginning to end as it applies to persons, places, events, and things.
In Genesis 13:15 we have the first mention in Scripture stating that God gave the land of Israel to Abraham and the Jewish people forever. This truth is reiterated throughout the rest of Scripture and establishes the rightful owners of the land to be the Jews granted by divine right. There is no deviation or alteration by God from this covenant. It stands for all time. The ongoing struggle for Israel’s right to live in the Land of Promise has already been settled once and for all by the eternal counsel of God as codified and enacted in the Abrahamic Covenant. God has spoken and His Word on this matter is settled forever (Psalm 119:89); thus all the political wrangling about who the land belongs to is quite simply moot and in the end irrelevant and inconsequential.
The current Middle East crisis centers around who owns the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. But unbelief coming from the world disputes and dismisses the whole issue being settled by the inerrant Word of God. One cannot begin to understand the current Middle East crisis and how it relates to Israel’s past, present and future without knowing and understanding the fundamental importance of this divine covenant. Author Richard Booker wisely wrote:
“Indeed the key to understanding today’s headlines and tomorrow’s news lies in the past within the sacred covenant God made with Abraham.” (Richard Booker, Blow the Trumpet in Zion, p.17).
In the series of articles to come, we will explore how this is true throughout the divine panoramic plan God has for Israel in the past, present, and future as revealed through Bible prophecy.
See post 13.
I welcome the end-times if only to stop your endless end-times posts.
Unlike you, I love reading the end times posts. Does your lamp have oil?
Spells it all out very clearly, with all the supporting Scripture.
I beg to differ.
The current Middle East crisis centers around the Jewish people existing.
The WOP wants everybody but themselves dead, especially the Jews.
They are just the first to be totally eliminated and the land is the excuse.
It's all about God, religion and man, not land.
Israel is now being gathered from the nations in preparation for the last seven years. What we feel about Israel or how they act at this time is immaterial. God promised to bring them out of the nations which He is doing. We are also watching the setup of the nations that will come against Israel. We are in for a very interesting time ahead. Biblical prophecy is happening in our lifetime.
The nations which are listed to attack Israel in the Psalm 83 prophecy appear to be ridding themselves of any Israel-friendly leadership and replacing that leadership with Islamic, Israel-hating crazies. The Muslim Brotherhood, which, it looks like, will be a major element in whatever government replaces the Mubarak regime, has already declared that it will be going to war with Israel. Iran has basically taken over Lebanon, Jordan is teetering on the edge.
These nations are among the ten God tells us in the Psalm 83 prophecy which will go to war with Israel.
As far as how one may feel about Israel, the Jews are God's affair and we know, because we have read the last chapter, how things work out for God's chosen people. The fact that Israel is currently in a state of unbelief is indeed immaterial. God tells us in His word that they would return to the land in unbelief and God also said that He will bring them back to Himself and He will do exactly that, in His own way and in His own time. It is not for any man to judge God's methods, or how things may look at this moment in time. All Israel will be saved, God said all Israel will be saved, that promise will be kept, and we are witnessing tremendous stage-setting for many Biblical prophecies to be fulfilled.
We are the generation which will see the return of Christ. That I am part of this and have lived to see this day is mind-boggling.
Isaiah 19 is happening now.
I know.
THX THX.
THANKS.
GOOD ARTICLE.
I see the clueless & ignorant naysayers have already descended.
As watchmen before God, Our duty TO GOD
is to sound the alarm, the alert.
Otherwise y’all’s blood would be on OUR hands before God.
No thanks!
Reset your preferences at each login to avoid the Rel Forum, if you wish.
Or enjoy the page down button.
Or close your eyes.
Or pick your nose.
Or return your head to the sand.
BTW,
Which word do you NOT understand
“Dispensational”
or
“Caucus?”
God withdraws some of His blessings and protection depending on Israel’s closeness to Him.
He NEVER WITHDRAWS NOR WITHDREW HIS EVERLASTING PROMISES TO THE CHILDREN OF JACOB.
ISRAEL
IS PRIMARILY 2 THINGS:
1. A PROMISE TO GOD’S BEST BUD ABRAHAM
AND
2. FOR GOD’S GLORY TO BE DEMONSTRATED THROUGH AND IN THE RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL.
In those regards, Isreal is merely a tool.
Why did you post to GiovannaNicoletta and take his name out and put in none, and then make stealth snarky comments about ignorance?
Isaiah 19
1An oracle concerning Egypt.
Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud
and comes to Egypt;
and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
2And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
and they will fight, each against another
and each against his neighbor,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom;
3and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,
and I will confound their counsel;
and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,
and the mediums and the necromancers;
4and I will give over the Egyptians
into the hand of a hard master,
and a fierce king will rule over them,
declares the Lord GOD of hosts......
And in the end......
Isaiah 19
16In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the LORD of hosts shakes over them. 17And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the LORD of hosts has purposed against them.
18 In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.
19In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. 20 It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. 21 And the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them. 22 And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.
23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
24In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”
In reality, currently, Israel is still an enemy of the Gospel (Revelation 11:28). If you preach Christ on the street in Israel and spend much time distributing literature, you will discover that.
But at some point in the very near future, there will be a turning to Christ in Israel (more likely after the Body of Christ is translated from the earth), and Israel will be graffed in again to the natural olive tree. All Israel will be saved (vv. 25, 26).
I keep wondering...If the land was covenanted to Israel, how does one explain the loss of Israel after the Roman sacking of 70 AD? From 70 AD until 1948, the land did not belong to Israel...but God promised it...a lapse in the promise???
Amen!
?????
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
Quix said, bears repeating here,
BTW,
Which word do you NOT understand
“Dispensational”
or
“Caucus?”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.