The “hope of Israel” is a dual text taken from the writings of Luke in Acts chapters 26 and 28. The time element is at the close of the Apostle Paul’s career. We see Paul in the first text standing before king Agrippa urging the claims of Christ. In the second text Paul is in the presence of the chief Jews in Rome.
Let’s hear the apostle of God as he speaks to us:
The first text:
Acts 26:6-7
6 “And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.7 “To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. NKJV
The second text:
Acts 28:16-20
16 Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.
17 And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them: “Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,
18 “who, when they had examined me, wanted to let me go, because there was no cause for putting me to death.19 “But when the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation.
20 “For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.”
NKJV
We learn several things in these two passages.
1. To king Agrippa Paul said the Jews had accused him in the courts because of what he preached on the hope of Israel.
2. To the chief Jews, Paul said that he was bound with the chain because
of what he preached on the hope of Israel.
Therefore, we can conclude -- Paul was NOT preaching what the Jews believed and wanted him to preach on Israel’s hope.
What he preached antagonized the Jews! The hope of Israel was not what fleshly, national Israel was hoping for. They were hoping for an earthly Messiah. They were hoping for an earthly kingdom. They believed the Messiah would come to restore their kingdom and to rule and reign on the earth out of Jerusalem.
Paul preached “the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers . . . “
their hope in Christ!
This antagonized the Jews and caused them to bitterly persecute Paul and had him chained in the Roman prison.
What do most preachers teach today on the “hope of Israel?” What these preachers preach today does not antagonize the Jews. As a matter of fact, it’s what they’ve always wanted! They are preaching what the Jews want, that is, the restoration of their earthly nation. These preachers don’t have to worry like Paul did, for the Jews will never put the modern day preacher in prison for what they preach. The apostle Paul should have met the twenty-first century millennial preacher and they could have made life easier for Paul.
The effectiveness of these two passages in Acts is conclusive on two important points:
1. On the promise made of God unto the fathers, unto which the true Israel
hoped to come,
2. On the difference between the true hope of Israel and what Israel
falsely hoped for.
The hope of the promise was spiritual and was attained in Christ by the gospel.
What the Jews hoped for was fleshly and national and was no part of the promise of God made to the fathers. The hope of Israel is not the “millennial” hope. The true hope of Israel, based upon the promise that God made to the fathers, was foreign to their Jewish expectation. It had to be explained to them in the light of the fulfilled promise according to the gospel.
What was the “promise to the fathers?” We need to look at this promise in order to understand better.
THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM.
Paul could have asked this question to the Jews of his time. “Will you(Jews), national Israel, be restored to Palestine, and receive the kingdom of Old Testament prophecy, with Christ(Messiah) on earth as your king, to rule over the whole world for a thousand years?”
· The Jews answer, “YES!”
· Two thousand years later, today’s modern day millennial preacher cries, “YES!”
The “true answer” involves the Abrahamic promises. God promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his seed after him.
A lot of the modern day millennial preachers tell us today that the promise to Abraham has not been fulfilled. They say that in order for God to be faithful to His Word, He must at some future time give the land of Canaan to Abraham and to his seed.
These millennial preachers tell us that Abraham never possessed the land in person, therefore, he must be brought up from the dead, so that he, himself, may possess with his seed the land that God promised to give him.
Well? What does the Word of God say about this promise?
The original promise is seen in Genesis 12:
Genesis 12:1-7
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 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: 3 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.
4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 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. KJV
In Genesis 12:1-7 you will see a “twofold” promise:
1. As it related to Christ -- the spiritual seed of Abraham, through whom
all nations should be blessed,
2. As it connected with the land, -- the land grant promised in verse 7.
The land promise of Genesis 12 is repeated in several places.
1. Genesis 13:15; 15:18
Genesis 13:15
15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
KJV.
Genesis 15:18
18 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: KJV
And, also in Genesis 17:8
Genesis 17:8
8 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. KJV
Exodus 6:4-8
4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. 5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: 7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD. KJV
This group of passages shows the full scope of the land promises to Abraham.
(By the way, notice in the last sentence of Exodus 6:8, you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob mentioned. These three are referred to as the “fathers” by the Jew. I don’t want to start another subject, but look at Deut 5:1ff. Here you see the law given to Moses and those present on that day. Moses says the covenant was not given to “their fathers.” To see who “their fathers are, look at Deut 1:8
Deuteronomy 1:8
8 ‘See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.’)
Now, these promises had a definite meaning. They were the promises of God to a chosen race of people. The fulfillment of these promises involves the integrity of God, and the import of the promises, couched in the Words of God, cannot be changed nor His promises altered to fit the modern day millennial preachers theories.
I can remember sitting in a bible study (1970) and a “millennial” preacher was teaching the class. When we got to one of God passages where the scripture says that the promise was fulfilled, the preacher said, “this passage is not true!”
Let’s look at the passage.
Joshua 21:43-45
43 So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it.44 The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand.45 Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass. NKJV
I was stunned! I didn’t know what to think when the millennial preacher told us that Joshua 21:43-45 was “not true.” I was very young in the Lord at that time and it almost crushed me. The millennial preacher went on to say that “they haven’t received the ‘larger land’ yet.”
Were these promises fulfilled, or did they fail? Well, Joshua, by inspiration, wrote and said “all came to pass.”
Well, millennial preacher, what about the “larger land?”
When Israel crossed the Jordan with Joshua and possessed Cannaan, did they occupy the whole land of Canaan -- the “larger land,” extending from the river Euphrates to the river of Egypt, or did they posses only a fractional part of it?
Fortunately, Joshua answers this question. Joshua said they possessed “all the land “ that God “swore unto their fathers” to give them. They not only possessed it, but they dwelt therein; and nothing failed. All came to pass!
The promised land of Canaan described in these verses was the larger land of Canaan, and was the land possessed by Israel.
God gives a second witness in Nehemiah.
Nehemiah 9:7-8
7 Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham; 8 And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous: KJV
Here in Nehemiah the borders of the whole land promised is mentioned in Genesis chapters 15, and 17. Nehemiah, the prophet of God, says that God is righteous and has performed His Words. But, the millennial preachers say God has not performed His Words, who do we believe God or these millennial preachers?
God did the thing He promised, but the heathen nations were not driven out at the time Israel possessed the land. Their idolatrous altars were left standing. For that reason Israel lost control of a portion of the larger possession. David later recovered the land, as recorded in second Samuel:
David recovered it:
2 Samuel 8:3
3 David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates. KJV
And Salomon reigned over it:
1 Kings 4:25
25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. KJV
David could not have “recovered” it if he did not once “possess” it. And, Solomon, David’s son, could not have reigned over it if they had not possessed it.
Therefore, all these “millennial” preachers are shot in the foot if they say God failed in His promise to Abraham. God sent two prophets, Joshua and Nehemiah, and said that all came to pass, nothing failed. God then sent David to recover what Israel had lost and later let David’s son, Solomon, reign over it.
Another thought, if the promises to Abraham concerning the land of Canaan are yet future, when the posterity of Abraham left Egypt and entered Canaan, that event fulfilled nothing! If the return of Israel to their land is yet future, when they left Babylon and returned to the land, that event fulfilled nothing.
The Old Testament can be better understood in the light of the New Testament. So, let’s look at a reference to the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham concerning the land of Israel.
In Acts 7 we see the record of Stephen’s inspired speech to the Jews of Jerusalem, -- the speech that cost him his life. In the third verse of Acts 7, Stephen makes reference to the original promise to Abraham of Genesis 12:
Acts 7:3
3 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
Acts 7:5
5 And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.
Acts 7:17
17 But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, KJV
In Acts 7 we find Peter preaching to the Jews. (Read this whole chapter)
1. He related how that Abraham obeyed the call of God:
a. He left “the land of the Chaldeans,”
b. He dwelt in Charran, and then,
c. And, from there(Charran) “into this land wherein ye now dwell.”
2. He reminded the Jews that before the time of the promise:
a. The seed of Abraham “should sojourn in a strange land,”
b. His seed would be brought into bondage for 400 years.
c. And then relating the experience of Israel in Egypt, in the
seventeenth verse Stephen said:
“BUT WHEN THE TIME OF THE PROMISE DREW NIGH, which
God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt.” (Acts 7:17)
Here is an inspired interpretation of the time for the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham. Stephen said when the people of Israel “multiplied in Egypt” that the “time” of the promise was “near.”
If that promise is still future now, how could it have been “near” when the children of Israel were in Egypt? This statement of Stephen shows clearly the promise to Abraham was to be fulfilled in the exodus of Israel from Egypt and their inheritance of Canaan.
Millennial preachers say that God promised to give the land to Abraham, to Abraham in person, and even if his seed did get it, Abraham himself never had an inheritance in it. And, according to Acts 7:5, “No, not so much as to set his foot on,”
The contention is that Abraham must be raised from the dead to enter that millennial kingdom, at which time he will have his inheritance in the land; that he will then posses it and dwell in it, as God promised him.
But the text says that God promised to give it Abraham and his seed “after him.”
How long would Abraham have to possess it and dwell in it before his seed could receive it after him?
If God is going to raise Abraham up and put him in the millennium so that he can possess the land in person, then his seed will have to possess it “after him.”
The phrase “after him” means “posterity,” and it was said to be given “to Abraham” because it was given to his descendants.
In Acts 7 Stephen said that the time of the promise “which God had sworn to Abraham” was near when the people “grew and multiplied” in Egypt.
1. What time? ...the time of the promise.
2. What promise? ...the promise that God had “sworn to Abraham.”
3. What about the promise? The time of it “drew near.”
The developments in Egypt when God ws ready to deliver Israel from Egypt and take them back to Canaan is what the Holy Spirit in Stephen call “the time of the promise.”
The millennial preachers say that God has not fulfilled the promise and will not until the millennium!!
Who will you believe?
Let’s look at Acts 7:5 again:
Acts 7:5
5 And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. KJV
Notice:
1. Stephen said God gave Abraham “none inheritance in it . . .”
“. . . no, not so much as to set his foot on . . .”
2. Stephen said that God made this promise to Abraham even though
he was childless! The promise, therefore, referred to Abraham’s seed and not to himself. Having “no child” would nullify the promise, but
Abraham believed the promise and knew that it would be fulfilled in his
seed “after him” through his descendants.
3. The exodus from Egypt and the entrance into Canaan was, therefore,
the fulfillment of the promise (Acts 7:17).
An example of receiving a promise through posterity:
1 Samuel 15:28
28 And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.
KJV
That “neighbor” of Saul’s was David, and God was speaking to Saul when he said it, but the kingdom was never taken from Saul until after this death. Saul remained king of Israel until he died; yet God said the kingdom had been rent from h im and given to David, his neighbor. Saul remained king as long as he lived and David did not become king until Saul died. The kingdom was taken from Saul when it was taken from his posterity, or seed.
In the same way the promise was fulfilled to Abraham when it was fulfilled to his posterity.
In order to be consistent, the premillennial preacher must say that Saul must be raised from the dead to come into possession of the kingdom of Israel so that the threat could be executed to take it from him, and give it to David. Bull!
When the children of Israel entered the land of Canaan, Joshua said they possessed all of the land that God promised to give to them(Joshua 21:43-45)
and that is the fulfillment of all promises in that connection.
Some “conditions” -- “if you do” and “if you do not.”
In the prophetic warning to Moses to Israel was the “if you do” and “If you do not” condition to the promised blessings and the threatened curses. The entire twenty-ninth and thirtieth chapters of Deuteronomy abound in this policy of God’s dealing with Israel. Verse 1 of chapter twenty-nine says:
Deuteronomy 29:1
These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. KJV
Then in verse 9:
Deuteronomy 29:9
9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do. KJV
But if Israel failed to keep the words of the covenant the fact that they failed to do so would become known even to the nations around them, and they would talk about it as in verse 24 to 28:
Deuteronomy 29:24-28
24 Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? 25 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: 26 For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them: 27 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: 28 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. KJV
Here in Deut. 29 is the “if you do” and “if you do not” policy of dealing with Israel plainly stated. Israel “did not,” and it was fulfilled as God said. In chapter 30 Moses said that Israel would call these things to mind “among the nations whither God hath driven thee,” but if they would obey His voice he would “turn thy captivity” and “gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee” even though they had been “driven out unto the uttermost 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.” In the first chapter of Nehemiah, the captive in Babylon quoted these words of Moses in his prayer to God for the deliverance of Israel from Babylon and applied their fulfillment to that event. Thus the “if you do” and “if you do not” conditionlity was enforced and fulfilled.
Later in the history of Israel, Jeremiah the prophet commented upon this very policy which God had established in dealing with Israel and used the parable of the potter and the clay.
Jeremiah 18:1-10
The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 4 And the vessel(ISRAEL) that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. 7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; 8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. 9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; 10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. KJV
This does not teach that Israel was helpless, to be molded at the will of another, but rather that Israel was responsible for the kind of clay furnished to the potter, whether she would be the kind of clay for molding, if she would, but if shd did not, then the faulty clay woudl mar in the potter’s hand. Israel marred in the potter’s hand, and forfeited the inheritance.
This fact is clearly shown in the next chapter of Jeremiah’s prophecy. Standing before the elders of Israel in the city of Jerusalem, Jeremiah took an earthen vessel and broke it into so many pieces that it could not be mended. Casting that broken potter’s vessel at the feet of Israel’s elders, he said to them:
Jeremiah 19:1-12
Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests; 2 And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee, 3 And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle. 4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents; 5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind: 6 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter. 7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. 8 And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof. 9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.
10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee, 11 And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people (NATION) and this city (JERUSALEM), as one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury. 12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet: KJV
Here in these verses of Scripture, Jeremiah is speaking to the nation of Israel; he was talking to the officials of that nation; he was talking to them in their city, the seat of their nation. He told them in threatening words that their nation would be broken --- broken --- and could never be made whole again. (Jer. 19:1-12)
Cosider the sum of these facts concerning the destiny of the nation of Israel based on these related passages:
1. Moses told them plainly that they would perish. “As those nations perished before you, so shall ye perish.”
Deuteronomy 8:19-20
19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God. KJV
“and perish uttely . . .”
Deuteronomy 4:26
26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. KJV
Deuteronomy 30:18
18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. KJV
2. Joshua told them plainly that they would lose their inheritance.
Joshua 23:13
13 Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. KJV
Joshua says “this is not speculation” . . . “know for a certainty!”
3. Jeremiah told them plainly that they would be a broken vessel -- never to be made whole again. The clay would mar in the potter’s hand. The broken vessel could not me mended. It pronounced the doom of Israel -- the end of their nation.
So said Moses. So said Joshua. So said Jeremiah.
ISRAEL UNDER THE OLD COVENANT.
After Joshua told the people that God had fulfilled the land promise to Abraham, he reminded Israel that God had also said they would perish if they should “not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God:”
Deuteronomy 8:20
20 As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God. KJV
Israel’s inheritance of Canaan was strictly conditional:
(1). Joshua 23:13-16:
Joshua 23:13-16
13 Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. 14 And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. 15 Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. 16 When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you. KJV
From Joshua 23:13ff you can see that Israel’s occupation of the land
was conditional upon obedience. If they disobey, they would “perish quickly
off the land which He hath given you.”
(2). The Mosaic prophecy - Detu 29-30. (Read these two chapters)
Moses positively declared that the nation of Israel would perish; “as the
nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish.”
(Again, Deut 8:20)
Moses further told Israel in Detu 28, 29, 30, that their scattering
would be permanent -- a final dispersion; to forever and utterly perish;
to be destroyed from the face of the earth as a nation; scattered, yet
not consumed.” “I will not make a full end of thee” -- that is, their nation
would perish, but their race would survive. If their nation should be
restored in the end, then God did not make any end of them at all. he said
He would not make “a full end” because, though their nation ended, their
race survived.
(We all know that there is a nation today called Israel. This is not the
Israel of the Old Covenant. In order for this Israel to exist and be entitiled
to Canaan, they would have to be obedient to the law of Moses. Their
Levitical Priesthood was destroyed by God in 70 A.D. when He used Titus.
The Levitical Priesthood will never be established again. Christ changed the Priesthood FOREVER!! (Heb 7:12ff)
Read Deut 30:1-10, then read Neh 1:7-10)
(3). The Millennial Preacher’s theory is destroyed. -- Deut 8:19,20.
Deuteronomy 8:19-20
19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God. KJV
The future restoration of Israel theory would make it impossible for God
to execute these threats, and thus to fulfill these prophecies, “to utterly
destroy the nation of Israel from the face of the earth” unless such a thing could happen to the Jews during the millennium. Some questions:
a. Have these prophecies concerning Israel been fulfilled?
-if yes ...then the nation has been destroyed, dispersed,
scattered to be gathered no more again.
-if no ... if the prophecies haven’t been fulfilled:
b. When will they be fulfilled?
-If they are to be fulfilled before the millennium, it destroys
the theory. (if true, this upsets
-if they are to be fulfilled during the millennium, it destroys
the theory.
-if they have already been fulfilled, it destroys the theory.
Your servant in Messiah, Jesus the Christ,
Charles Jemeyson
[email protected]
San Antonio, Texas
Let’s hear the apostle of God as he speaks to us:
The first text:
Acts 26:6-7
6 “And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.7 “To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. NKJV
The second text:
Acts 28:16-20
16 Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.
17 And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them: “Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,
18 “who, when they had examined me, wanted to let me go, because there was no cause for putting me to death.19 “But when the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation.
20 “For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.”
NKJV
We learn several things in these two passages.
1. To king Agrippa Paul said the Jews had accused him in the courts because of what he preached on the hope of Israel.
2. To the chief Jews, Paul said that he was bound with the chain because
of what he preached on the hope of Israel.
Therefore, we can conclude -- Paul was NOT preaching what the Jews believed and wanted him to preach on Israel’s hope.
What he preached antagonized the Jews! The hope of Israel was not what fleshly, national Israel was hoping for. They were hoping for an earthly Messiah. They were hoping for an earthly kingdom. They believed the Messiah would come to restore their kingdom and to rule and reign on the earth out of Jerusalem.
Paul preached “the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers . . . “
their hope in Christ!
This antagonized the Jews and caused them to bitterly persecute Paul and had him chained in the Roman prison.
What do most preachers teach today on the “hope of Israel?” What these preachers preach today does not antagonize the Jews. As a matter of fact, it’s what they’ve always wanted! They are preaching what the Jews want, that is, the restoration of their earthly nation. These preachers don’t have to worry like Paul did, for the Jews will never put the modern day preacher in prison for what they preach. The apostle Paul should have met the twenty-first century millennial preacher and they could have made life easier for Paul.
The effectiveness of these two passages in Acts is conclusive on two important points:
1. On the promise made of God unto the fathers, unto which the true Israel
hoped to come,
2. On the difference between the true hope of Israel and what Israel
falsely hoped for.
The hope of the promise was spiritual and was attained in Christ by the gospel.
What the Jews hoped for was fleshly and national and was no part of the promise of God made to the fathers. The hope of Israel is not the “millennial” hope. The true hope of Israel, based upon the promise that God made to the fathers, was foreign to their Jewish expectation. It had to be explained to them in the light of the fulfilled promise according to the gospel.
What was the “promise to the fathers?” We need to look at this promise in order to understand better.
THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM.
Paul could have asked this question to the Jews of his time. “Will you(Jews), national Israel, be restored to Palestine, and receive the kingdom of Old Testament prophecy, with Christ(Messiah) on earth as your king, to rule over the whole world for a thousand years?”
· The Jews answer, “YES!”
· Two thousand years later, today’s modern day millennial preacher cries, “YES!”
The “true answer” involves the Abrahamic promises. God promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his seed after him.
A lot of the modern day millennial preachers tell us today that the promise to Abraham has not been fulfilled. They say that in order for God to be faithful to His Word, He must at some future time give the land of Canaan to Abraham and to his seed.
These millennial preachers tell us that Abraham never possessed the land in person, therefore, he must be brought up from the dead, so that he, himself, may possess with his seed the land that God promised to give him.
Well? What does the Word of God say about this promise?
The original promise is seen in Genesis 12:
Genesis 12:1-7
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 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: 3 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.
4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 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. KJV
In Genesis 12:1-7 you will see a “twofold” promise:
1. As it related to Christ -- the spiritual seed of Abraham, through whom
all nations should be blessed,
2. As it connected with the land, -- the land grant promised in verse 7.
The land promise of Genesis 12 is repeated in several places.
1. Genesis 13:15; 15:18
Genesis 13:15
15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
KJV.
Genesis 15:18
18 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: KJV
And, also in Genesis 17:8
Genesis 17:8
8 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. KJV
Exodus 6:4-8
4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. 5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: 7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD. KJV
This group of passages shows the full scope of the land promises to Abraham.
(By the way, notice in the last sentence of Exodus 6:8, you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob mentioned. These three are referred to as the “fathers” by the Jew. I don’t want to start another subject, but look at Deut 5:1ff. Here you see the law given to Moses and those present on that day. Moses says the covenant was not given to “their fathers.” To see who “their fathers are, look at Deut 1:8
Deuteronomy 1:8
8 ‘See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.’)
Now, these promises had a definite meaning. They were the promises of God to a chosen race of people. The fulfillment of these promises involves the integrity of God, and the import of the promises, couched in the Words of God, cannot be changed nor His promises altered to fit the modern day millennial preachers theories.
I can remember sitting in a bible study (1970) and a “millennial” preacher was teaching the class. When we got to one of God passages where the scripture says that the promise was fulfilled, the preacher said, “this passage is not true!”
Let’s look at the passage.
Joshua 21:43-45
43 So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it.44 The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand.45 Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass. NKJV
I was stunned! I didn’t know what to think when the millennial preacher told us that Joshua 21:43-45 was “not true.” I was very young in the Lord at that time and it almost crushed me. The millennial preacher went on to say that “they haven’t received the ‘larger land’ yet.”
Were these promises fulfilled, or did they fail? Well, Joshua, by inspiration, wrote and said “all came to pass.”
Well, millennial preacher, what about the “larger land?”
When Israel crossed the Jordan with Joshua and possessed Cannaan, did they occupy the whole land of Canaan -- the “larger land,” extending from the river Euphrates to the river of Egypt, or did they posses only a fractional part of it?
Fortunately, Joshua answers this question. Joshua said they possessed “all the land “ that God “swore unto their fathers” to give them. They not only possessed it, but they dwelt therein; and nothing failed. All came to pass!
The promised land of Canaan described in these verses was the larger land of Canaan, and was the land possessed by Israel.
God gives a second witness in Nehemiah.
Nehemiah 9:7-8
7 Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham; 8 And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous: KJV
Here in Nehemiah the borders of the whole land promised is mentioned in Genesis chapters 15, and 17. Nehemiah, the prophet of God, says that God is righteous and has performed His Words. But, the millennial preachers say God has not performed His Words, who do we believe God or these millennial preachers?
God did the thing He promised, but the heathen nations were not driven out at the time Israel possessed the land. Their idolatrous altars were left standing. For that reason Israel lost control of a portion of the larger possession. David later recovered the land, as recorded in second Samuel:
David recovered it:
2 Samuel 8:3
3 David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates. KJV
And Salomon reigned over it:
1 Kings 4:25
25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. KJV
David could not have “recovered” it if he did not once “possess” it. And, Solomon, David’s son, could not have reigned over it if they had not possessed it.
Therefore, all these “millennial” preachers are shot in the foot if they say God failed in His promise to Abraham. God sent two prophets, Joshua and Nehemiah, and said that all came to pass, nothing failed. God then sent David to recover what Israel had lost and later let David’s son, Solomon, reign over it.
Another thought, if the promises to Abraham concerning the land of Canaan are yet future, when the posterity of Abraham left Egypt and entered Canaan, that event fulfilled nothing! If the return of Israel to their land is yet future, when they left Babylon and returned to the land, that event fulfilled nothing.
The Old Testament can be better understood in the light of the New Testament. So, let’s look at a reference to the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham concerning the land of Israel.
In Acts 7 we see the record of Stephen’s inspired speech to the Jews of Jerusalem, -- the speech that cost him his life. In the third verse of Acts 7, Stephen makes reference to the original promise to Abraham of Genesis 12:
Acts 7:3
3 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
Acts 7:5
5 And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.
Acts 7:17
17 But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, KJV
In Acts 7 we find Peter preaching to the Jews. (Read this whole chapter)
1. He related how that Abraham obeyed the call of God:
a. He left “the land of the Chaldeans,”
b. He dwelt in Charran, and then,
c. And, from there(Charran) “into this land wherein ye now dwell.”
2. He reminded the Jews that before the time of the promise:
a. The seed of Abraham “should sojourn in a strange land,”
b. His seed would be brought into bondage for 400 years.
c. And then relating the experience of Israel in Egypt, in the
seventeenth verse Stephen said:
“BUT WHEN THE TIME OF THE PROMISE DREW NIGH, which
God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt.” (Acts 7:17)
Here is an inspired interpretation of the time for the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham. Stephen said when the people of Israel “multiplied in Egypt” that the “time” of the promise was “near.”
If that promise is still future now, how could it have been “near” when the children of Israel were in Egypt? This statement of Stephen shows clearly the promise to Abraham was to be fulfilled in the exodus of Israel from Egypt and their inheritance of Canaan.
Millennial preachers say that God promised to give the land to Abraham, to Abraham in person, and even if his seed did get it, Abraham himself never had an inheritance in it. And, according to Acts 7:5, “No, not so much as to set his foot on,”
The contention is that Abraham must be raised from the dead to enter that millennial kingdom, at which time he will have his inheritance in the land; that he will then posses it and dwell in it, as God promised him.
But the text says that God promised to give it Abraham and his seed “after him.”
How long would Abraham have to possess it and dwell in it before his seed could receive it after him?
If God is going to raise Abraham up and put him in the millennium so that he can possess the land in person, then his seed will have to possess it “after him.”
The phrase “after him” means “posterity,” and it was said to be given “to Abraham” because it was given to his descendants.
In Acts 7 Stephen said that the time of the promise “which God had sworn to Abraham” was near when the people “grew and multiplied” in Egypt.
1. What time? ...the time of the promise.
2. What promise? ...the promise that God had “sworn to Abraham.”
3. What about the promise? The time of it “drew near.”
The developments in Egypt when God ws ready to deliver Israel from Egypt and take them back to Canaan is what the Holy Spirit in Stephen call “the time of the promise.”
The millennial preachers say that God has not fulfilled the promise and will not until the millennium!!
Who will you believe?
Let’s look at Acts 7:5 again:
Acts 7:5
5 And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. KJV
Notice:
1. Stephen said God gave Abraham “none inheritance in it . . .”
“. . . no, not so much as to set his foot on . . .”
2. Stephen said that God made this promise to Abraham even though
he was childless! The promise, therefore, referred to Abraham’s seed and not to himself. Having “no child” would nullify the promise, but
Abraham believed the promise and knew that it would be fulfilled in his
seed “after him” through his descendants.
3. The exodus from Egypt and the entrance into Canaan was, therefore,
the fulfillment of the promise (Acts 7:17).
An example of receiving a promise through posterity:
1 Samuel 15:28
28 And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.
KJV
That “neighbor” of Saul’s was David, and God was speaking to Saul when he said it, but the kingdom was never taken from Saul until after this death. Saul remained king of Israel until he died; yet God said the kingdom had been rent from h im and given to David, his neighbor. Saul remained king as long as he lived and David did not become king until Saul died. The kingdom was taken from Saul when it was taken from his posterity, or seed.
In the same way the promise was fulfilled to Abraham when it was fulfilled to his posterity.
In order to be consistent, the premillennial preacher must say that Saul must be raised from the dead to come into possession of the kingdom of Israel so that the threat could be executed to take it from him, and give it to David. Bull!
When the children of Israel entered the land of Canaan, Joshua said they possessed all of the land that God promised to give to them(Joshua 21:43-45)
and that is the fulfillment of all promises in that connection.
Some “conditions” -- “if you do” and “if you do not.”
In the prophetic warning to Moses to Israel was the “if you do” and “If you do not” condition to the promised blessings and the threatened curses. The entire twenty-ninth and thirtieth chapters of Deuteronomy abound in this policy of God’s dealing with Israel. Verse 1 of chapter twenty-nine says:
Deuteronomy 29:1
These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. KJV
Then in verse 9:
Deuteronomy 29:9
9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do. KJV
But if Israel failed to keep the words of the covenant the fact that they failed to do so would become known even to the nations around them, and they would talk about it as in verse 24 to 28:
Deuteronomy 29:24-28
24 Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? 25 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: 26 For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them: 27 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: 28 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. KJV
Here in Deut. 29 is the “if you do” and “if you do not” policy of dealing with Israel plainly stated. Israel “did not,” and it was fulfilled as God said. In chapter 30 Moses said that Israel would call these things to mind “among the nations whither God hath driven thee,” but if they would obey His voice he would “turn thy captivity” and “gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee” even though they had been “driven out unto the uttermost 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.” In the first chapter of Nehemiah, the captive in Babylon quoted these words of Moses in his prayer to God for the deliverance of Israel from Babylon and applied their fulfillment to that event. Thus the “if you do” and “if you do not” conditionlity was enforced and fulfilled.
Later in the history of Israel, Jeremiah the prophet commented upon this very policy which God had established in dealing with Israel and used the parable of the potter and the clay.
Jeremiah 18:1-10
The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 4 And the vessel(ISRAEL) that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. 7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; 8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. 9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; 10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. KJV
This does not teach that Israel was helpless, to be molded at the will of another, but rather that Israel was responsible for the kind of clay furnished to the potter, whether she would be the kind of clay for molding, if she would, but if shd did not, then the faulty clay woudl mar in the potter’s hand. Israel marred in the potter’s hand, and forfeited the inheritance.
This fact is clearly shown in the next chapter of Jeremiah’s prophecy. Standing before the elders of Israel in the city of Jerusalem, Jeremiah took an earthen vessel and broke it into so many pieces that it could not be mended. Casting that broken potter’s vessel at the feet of Israel’s elders, he said to them:
Jeremiah 19:1-12
Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests; 2 And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee, 3 And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle. 4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents; 5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind: 6 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter. 7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. 8 And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof. 9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.
10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee, 11 And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people (NATION) and this city (JERUSALEM), as one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury. 12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet: KJV
Here in these verses of Scripture, Jeremiah is speaking to the nation of Israel; he was talking to the officials of that nation; he was talking to them in their city, the seat of their nation. He told them in threatening words that their nation would be broken --- broken --- and could never be made whole again. (Jer. 19:1-12)
Cosider the sum of these facts concerning the destiny of the nation of Israel based on these related passages:
1. Moses told them plainly that they would perish. “As those nations perished before you, so shall ye perish.”
Deuteronomy 8:19-20
19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God. KJV
“and perish uttely . . .”
Deuteronomy 4:26
26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. KJV
Deuteronomy 30:18
18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. KJV
2. Joshua told them plainly that they would lose their inheritance.
Joshua 23:13
13 Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. KJV
Joshua says “this is not speculation” . . . “know for a certainty!”
3. Jeremiah told them plainly that they would be a broken vessel -- never to be made whole again. The clay would mar in the potter’s hand. The broken vessel could not me mended. It pronounced the doom of Israel -- the end of their nation.
So said Moses. So said Joshua. So said Jeremiah.
ISRAEL UNDER THE OLD COVENANT.
After Joshua told the people that God had fulfilled the land promise to Abraham, he reminded Israel that God had also said they would perish if they should “not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God:”
Deuteronomy 8:20
20 As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God. KJV
Israel’s inheritance of Canaan was strictly conditional:
(1). Joshua 23:13-16:
Joshua 23:13-16
13 Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. 14 And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. 15 Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. 16 When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you. KJV
From Joshua 23:13ff you can see that Israel’s occupation of the land
was conditional upon obedience. If they disobey, they would “perish quickly
off the land which He hath given you.”
(2). The Mosaic prophecy - Detu 29-30. (Read these two chapters)
Moses positively declared that the nation of Israel would perish; “as the
nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish.”
(Again, Deut 8:20)
Moses further told Israel in Detu 28, 29, 30, that their scattering
would be permanent -- a final dispersion; to forever and utterly perish;
to be destroyed from the face of the earth as a nation; scattered, yet
not consumed.” “I will not make a full end of thee” -- that is, their nation
would perish, but their race would survive. If their nation should be
restored in the end, then God did not make any end of them at all. he said
He would not make “a full end” because, though their nation ended, their
race survived.
(We all know that there is a nation today called Israel. This is not the
Israel of the Old Covenant. In order for this Israel to exist and be entitiled
to Canaan, they would have to be obedient to the law of Moses. Their
Levitical Priesthood was destroyed by God in 70 A.D. when He used Titus.
The Levitical Priesthood will never be established again. Christ changed the Priesthood FOREVER!! (Heb 7:12ff)
Read Deut 30:1-10, then read Neh 1:7-10)
(3). The Millennial Preacher’s theory is destroyed. -- Deut 8:19,20.
Deuteronomy 8:19-20
19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God. KJV
The future restoration of Israel theory would make it impossible for God
to execute these threats, and thus to fulfill these prophecies, “to utterly
destroy the nation of Israel from the face of the earth” unless such a thing could happen to the Jews during the millennium. Some questions:
a. Have these prophecies concerning Israel been fulfilled?
-if yes ...then the nation has been destroyed, dispersed,
scattered to be gathered no more again.
-if no ... if the prophecies haven’t been fulfilled:
b. When will they be fulfilled?
-If they are to be fulfilled before the millennium, it destroys
the theory. (if true, this upsets
-if they are to be fulfilled during the millennium, it destroys
the theory.
-if they have already been fulfilled, it destroys the theory.
Your servant in Messiah, Jesus the Christ,
Charles Jemeyson
[email protected]
San Antonio, Texas
