Chapter FOURTY — Part 1 of 6

THE STATE OF ISRAEL IS NOT A FULFILLMENT OF BIBLICAL PROPHECY

PREPOSTEROUS DECLARATIONS BY ZIONISTS, CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS AND MERCENARY ELECTRONIC EVANGELISTS

The Zionists have used all kinds of false and deceitful arguments to justify the crime of genocide they committed against the indigenous Muslim and Christian population of Palestine. They have falsely claimed that Palestine is "the land of Israel" (Eretz Yisrael). They have circulated slogans that the "people without a land wish to return to their historical homeland without a people." They claim that their historical homeland is "the promised land, which according to scriptures, God had guaranteed to the Jews in the most solemn covenants he entered with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and subsequently with Moses and with the Jewish people itself during the Theophany at Mount Sinai: The Land of Israel thus has for the Jews a holy and awesome significance." (1)

The Zionists circulated the false claim that "the Jews are the chosen people," and that God is fulfilling his promises to the Jews by "returning the chosen people to their promised homeland." The Zionists relied on Isaiah 61:6: "But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord," which was cited by Talmudic Rabbis to claim that Jews were morally superior and that God had chosen them as his favorites. "This pretty conceit evoked these commenis of self-praise: 'All Jews are holy ... only for Israel was the world created ... None but the Israelites are called the children of God...none but Israel is beloved to God.‘" (2)

Jewish Professor Michael Higger, in his book, The Jewish Utopia, states:

It should be pointed out that the terms redemption and salvation have a radically different connotation from that which they have in Christian theology ... Jewish redemption stands for the physical liberation and freedom of Israel. For the people of Israel will attain the height of their spiritual functions and potentialities only through their attainment of material freedom and liberty ...

In general, the peoples of the world will be divided into two main groups. the Israelitic and the non-Israelitic. The former will be righteous; they will live in accordance with the wishes of one, universal God ... All the other peoples, on the other hand, will be known for their detestable practices, idolatry and similar acts of wickedness. They will be destroyed and will disappear from earth before the ushering in of the ideal era." (3)

Nathan Ausubel, author of The Book of Jewish Knowledge, states:

Israel was filled with the mystic certainty that its career in history would end in a blaze of glory. It would be much admired and sought after by other nations because it had been elected by God to serve as his instrument of redemption of mankind. "In the days of the Messiah" jubilated the Mishnah sage, Yoseh Ben Chalafta, "the gentiles will flock to Israel as converts."4

Zionist leaders and lobbyists enlisted Christian mercenaries in the United States to propagate their false and deceitful historical and religious claims. In 1946 they formed the Palestine Christian Committee which comprised more than 1,000Protestant ministers to preach in their churches the theories of the chosen people and the alleged historical rights of the Jews, and that God is returning His chosen people to their promised land. The writer has debated many of these ministers who are more fanatical than the Zionists themselves. All these mercenary ministers parroted false Zionist claims without referring to, or taking into consideration the New Testament, which disproves Zionist claims.

During the last twenty years the Zionists have used, through financial contributions and other material benefits, Christian Zionists and electronic evangelists such as Jerry Falwell, Hal Lindsey, Pat Robertson, Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, Tim LaHaye, Kenneth Copeland, Oral Roberts, Herbert Armstrong, John Walvoord, Rex Humbard and Mike Evans. Mike Evans is a Jew, heart and soul. He pretends to be a Christian while he is a Zionist extremist.

Many of these televangelists obtain millions of dollars of contributions from Zionist organizations and businessmen. Some of them, such as Jerry Falwell, took tens of thousands of pilgrims by chartering airplanes to visit Israel. He made several million dollars from these trips. In consideration for his services, the pilgrims were allowed to meet the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Menahem Begin donated a private airplane for the use of Jerry Falwell.

Mike Evans wrote an Open Letter to President Reagan and solicited his fellow evangelists to write statements in support of Israel.

Falwell stated: "Right at the very top of our priorities must be an unswerving commitment and devotion to the State of Israel ... I firmly believe that a part of the Christian faith is praying for and supporting the peace of Israel." (5)

On another occasion, Falwell stated:

Anyone who truly believes in the Bible sees Christianity and the new State of Israel as inseparably connected. The reformation of the State of Israel in 1948 is, for every Bible believing Christian, a fulfillment of Old Testament and New Testament prophecy. (6)

Pat Robertson stated: "The future of this Nation may be at stake, because God will bless those that bless Israel. And God will curse those that curse Israel," (7)

Oral Roberts stated: "What a fulfillment of prophecy! What a testimony of faith in God! What a future Israel has!" (8)

Hal Lindsey said: "God has sworn He will bring them back in the last days. He made a promise to Abraham and to all of his descendanta." (9)

Jimmy Swaggart told a meeting in Washington, D.C. "Men seeking peace and men carrying out the affairs of high government, would gather in Jerusalem, D.C .... Jerusalem, D.C ..., David's Capital ... the future of this nation may be at stake, because God will bless those that bless Israel, and God will curse them that curse Israel." (10)

Rex Humbard stated: "We're seeing fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament, daily, in all of the things that have taken place in Israel." (11)

Mike Evans stated: "We believe one of the reasons America has been blessed over the years is because we have stood with Israel. This promise is taken from Genesis 12:3, 'I will bless them that bless thee.' For Biblical reasons first and foremost, we support the State of Israel." (12)

Christian Zionists held the First International Christian Zionist Congress at Basel, Switzerland, from 27-29 August, 1985. They issued a Declaration which stated, inter alia, the following:

We delegates, gathered here from many different nations and church backgrounds, in the very same hall where, 88 years ago, Dr. Theodor Herzl and the assembled delegates of the first Zionist Congress, laid the foundation for the rebirth of the State of Israel, have come together to pray and seek the Lord, to acknowledge our tremendous debt to Israel (the People, the Land and the Faith) and to show solidarity with her ....

First, we speak to our fellow Christians: Let us divest ourselves of any pride or anti-semitism, hidden or open, toward the Jews. Then let us support the Jewish People with heartfelt love, faith and action, in light of what the Bible teaches of God's eternal covenant with His People and His Land.

Second, we congratulate the State of Israel and her citizens for their many achievements in the short span of less than four decades ... We also lovingly implore you: please try to realize more clearly and to acknowledge more openly that it's the hand of God, as prophesied in your Holy Scriptures, which has restored the Land and gathered in the Exiles, not just the strength of your own hands. Finally, we call upon every Jew throughout the world to consider making aliyah to Israel, and upon every Christian to encourage and support their Jewish friends in this freely-taken but God-inspired step ...

The Congress declares that Judca and Samaria (inaccurately termed "the West Bank") are and by Biblical right, as well as international law and practice, ought to be a part of Israel; that Israel should so declare them to be; that the nations and peoples of the world should so recognize them to be. de facto and de jure ...

The Congress condemns anti-semitism in every form and shape and requests all individuals, governments and nongovernmental organizations to refrain from, to condemn, and by every legal means, to expose, censure and punish any incidents of anti-semitism (anti-Jewishness) in any form including anti-Zionism and anti-Israel activity, whether by word or by deed ...

The Congress respectfully asks the World Council of Churches in Geneva to recognize the Biblical link between the Jewish People and their Promised Land as well as the deep Biblical and prophetical dimension of the State of Israel ... (13)

The Second International Christian Zionist Congress was held in Jerusalem, April 10-15, 1989. It issued a declaration which stated. inter alia:

Christian Zionism is Biblical Zionism, faithful to the holy scriptures, and declares the fulfillment of His prophetic purposes, culminating in the return of the Messiah to Jerusalem.

Therefore, we understand from the scriptures that God loves His people and has vested in them the responsibility and right to possess and build up the promised land, and to govern the inhabitants thereof in accordance with His word ... (14)

The Christian evangelists have dedicated thousands of hours of television air-time and published and circulated millions of books to support the Zionist misinterpretation of the Bible and to propagate deceitful historical and religious claims.

The American Christian Zionists do not uphold either Christian principles or American principles. They are allies of the extreme wing of the Likud Party composed of terrorists and war criminals. Contrary to United Nations Resolutions, United States policy and the opinion of more than 50% of the Israelis, the Christian Zionists are asking Israel to annex the West Bank and Gaza. They have the audacity to urge the nations of the world to recognize that criminal act de facto and de jure. The Christian Zionists repeat the same fallacies, and misrepresent and misinterpret the Biblical promises and prophecies. They claim that the Khazar war criminals, who are neither real Jews, Israelites, Semites, nor descendants of Abraham, who reject Christ, have the right to dispossess the indigenous Christian and Muslim Palestinians who are Semites, descendants of Abraham genetically and spiritually and believe in Jesus Christ.

WHAT WERE THE PROMISES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT?

The major Promises in the Old Testament were made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and King David. The Encyclopedia of the Jewish Religion calls the promises "Covenants" and states that "the Covenant God made with Abraham and subsequently confirmed to Isaac and Jacob is fundamental to the theological understanding of the development of Judaism." (15)

PROMISES TO ABRAHAM

Abraham's father, Terah, was a Prince who "commanded the royal armies" of King Nimrod. (16) The beginning of Nimrod's "kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." (17) Shinar was theUancient name of the great alluvial tract through which the Tigris and Euphrates pass before reaching the sea - the tract known in later times as Chaldaea or Babylonia." (18)

The majority of the population of this territory migrated from the Arabian Peninsula and were in fact Semitic Arabs. Professor Philip K. Hitti describes this migration northward from the Arabian Peninsula as follows:

A migration followed the eastern route northward and struck root in the Tigro-Euphrates valley, already populated by a highly civilized community, the Sumerians. The Semites entered the valley as barbarian nomads, but learned from the Sumerians, the originators of the Euphratean civilization, how to build and live in homes, how to irrigate the land and above all how to write. The Sumerians were a non-Semitic people. The admixture of the two races here gave us the Babylonians, who share with the Egyptians the honour of laying down the fundamentals of our cultural heritage. (19)

Abram (later called Abraham) "came originally from Ur of the Chaldees," (20) which was in Nimrod's kingdom.

With his father Terah, his wife Sarai (later Sarah) and his nephew Lot, he moved up the river till they came to rest in Haran, a trading center in northern Aram (as Syria was then called). The family settled in this area, and here Terah died.

At Haran the Lord appeared to Abram and told him to leave for "the land I will show you" where he would make of Abram "a great nation." (21)

Abraham was the first Patriarch to recognize the Unity of God. "Midrashic legend however provides accounts of his early years and tells how Abraham smashed his father Terah's idols after having arrived at a belief in one God through meditation on the orderliness of the universe. He and his wife Sarah converted others to the knowledge of the true God." (22) These converts included "the souls that they had gotten in Haran." (23)

Chapter 12 of Genesis records the migration of Abraham to the Land of Canaan. It states:

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 show thee:

And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abrarn was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

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.

And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will 1 give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.

And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Ha'i on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord.

And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. (24)

Abraham left Egypt and returned to the Land of Canaan with his nephew Lot. There was a strife between the herdsmen of Abraham's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle. Chapter 13 of Genesis records the divisions of the lands between Abraham and Lot, and how Abraham told Lot to choose either the lands to the right of the Jordan River or the lands to the left of the Jordan River. Lot chose the right side, namely Jordan, and Abraham took the land on the left side of the Jordan River, namely the Land of Canaan. The text follows:

And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be now strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.

Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest into Zoar.

Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed cast: and they separated themselves the one from the other.

Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.

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 1 give it, and to thy seed for ever.

And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

Then Abram removed his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord. (25)

In chapter 15 of Genesis it is also mentioned:

In that 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. (26)

In Chapter 17 of Genesis the Promise was repeated to Abraham as follows:

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

Neither shall thy name any more becalled Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

And I will make theeexceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

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.

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.

And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. (27)

The last promise to Abraham is stated in Chapter 22 of Genesis; when he obeyed God and wanted to sacrifice his "only son," and his son at that time was Ishmael:

15. And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

16. And said, By myself have 1 sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thy only son:

17. That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

18. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. (28)

PROMISE TO ISAAC

While Isaac, the second son of Abraham, was in Gerar, near Gaza in the land of the Philistines, the Lord appeared to him, and made a promise as follows:

2. And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:

3. Sojourn in this land. and I will be with thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which 1 sware unto Abraham thy father;

4. And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

5. Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. (29)

PROMISE TO JACOB

While Jacob, the second son of Isaac, was going from Beersheba toHaran to take a Syrian wife, he slept, near Bethel (today the village of Beitin between Jerusalem and Nablus) where he had a dream.

12. And he 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.

13. And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, 1 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;

14. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

15. And, behold, 1 am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which 1 have spoken to thee of. (30)

The same promise to Jacob is recorded in Chapter 35 of Genesis:

And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God. (31)

At Bethel God again appeared to Jacob:

11. And God said unto him, 1 am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;

12. And the land which 1 gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. 13. And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.

14. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even apillar of stone: and he poured adrink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.

15. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel. (32)

Jacob had twelve sons, namely Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph and Benjamin. (33)

Eleven of these sons were born in Haran. (34) Only Benjamin, the youngest son and progenitor of the smallest of the future Israelite tribes, was born in the land of Canaan. (35)

Joseph emigrated to Egypt, where he was joined by his brothers. Joseph's wife, the mother of his two sons. Manasseh and Ephraim, was Asaneth, daughter of the high priest of the Egyptian temple of On.

INTERPRETATION OF THE PROMISES TO THE PATRIARCHS

The Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were neither Jews nor Israelites, but Semites of the tribes which lived in Babylonia and whose ancestors migrated from the Arabian Peninsula.

Although promises were given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for possession of the land of Canaan, yet the three of them considered themselves strangers in the land of Canaan.

Abraham did not permanently settle in the land of Canaan but went to Egypt, and then came back to the land of Canaan. Abraham considered himself a stranger in the land of Canaan. When his wife Sarah died and he wanted to bury her, Abraham bought a piece of land for that purpose from the indigenous Canaanites. calling himself a stranger and a sojourner (temporary resident) in the land of Canaan:

3. And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,

4. I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.

5. And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,

6. Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.

7. And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. (36)

Abraham wanted his son Isaac to marry from his own people in Haran and Mesopotamia, rather than an indigenous Canaanite, and sent his servant to fetch a wife for Isaac:

2. And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, 1 pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:

3. And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:

4. But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.37

Therefore Abraham's servant "went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor," (38) to search for a wife for Isaac. Isaac had the same attitude as his father in regarding himself a stranger in the land of Canaan. This is evidenced in Genesis 28:1-5, as follows:

And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

2. Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.

3. And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;

4. And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

5. And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah. Jacob's and Esau's mother. (39)

Isaac told Jacob that it is important that:

Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan,

2. Arise, go to Padanavam, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father: and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother. (40)

Jacob went to Laban's country and married two of his daughters. He had twelve sons by his two wives and two concubines. Eleven of them were born outside the land of Canaan.

The above facts prove that neither Abraham, Isaac or Jacob had any attachment to the land of Canaan.

The promises to Abraham contained three elements. First, the promise of the land, namely the land of Canaan, which we will show later was fulfilled and then forfeited. The second was the promise of the seed, which, as we will show later, is Jesus Christ. The third was the promise of the future blessing to all the world because of the promise that "in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." (41)

THE PROMISES TO MOSES

According to Exodus Moses was adescendant of Levi, and he was found by a servant of an Egyptian princess who adopted him. He was raised as an Egyptian and held high position in the Pharaoh's government. Falling into disfavor, he left Egypt and was given asylum by "the Midianite tribe known as Kenites."He married Zipporah, whose father Jethro was a pagan priest and leader of the Midianite tribe. (42)

Returning to Egypt, according to Exodus, Moses and his brother Aaron led the Israelite descendants of Jacob and a mixed multitude with them out of Egypt. They wandered about the Sinai Peninsula for forty years, and Moses never set foot in the land of Canaan.

During the first period in the Sinai, Moses was given various promises. The first promises made to Moses are made in Exodus 19:

5. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:

6. 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. (43)

The conditions of the promise were spelled out in Chapter 20 of Exodus in the Ten Commandments, the first of which is "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (44)

The land of Canaan is referred to in a promise in Chapter 23 of Exodus:

31. And I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.

32. Thou shalt make nocovenant with them, nor with their gods. (45)

The land was specifically defined by Moses as being west of the Jordan River, consistent with the above and with the division previously made between Abraham and Lot. It is stated in Deuteronomy, Chapter 11, verses 31 and 32, that Moses said:

31. 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.

32. And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day. (46)

The statutes and judgments which Moses referred to are the Ten Commandments and explanations of their application in Deuteronomy. Moses exhorted the Israelites in Deuteronomy, Chapter 11:

8. 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;

9. 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. (47)

Moses continued:

26. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:

27. A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:

28. And a curse. if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out ef the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods which ye have not known. (48)

The next chapters, 12 through 27, enumerate the ten commandments given to Moses and all the conditions which the Israelites must observe to obtain the blessing of God and keep the land.

Chapter 28 enumerates blessing for obedience of the word of God and punishment for disobedience of his commandments. Verse 15 states:

But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee. (49)

Chapter 28 then enumerates all the curses, of which verse 63 expressly refers to the land. It states:

63. And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you: so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.

64. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods. which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. (50)

In Joshua, Chapter 23, it is recorded that the Israelites will be punished by losing the land if they do not obey the Lord and keep his commandments. Verses 14, 15, and 16 state that all the promises given by God were fulfilled and that if the Israelites do not continue to keep God's commandments he will punish them by "perishing from the good land which he hath given them":

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 failedof 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. (51)

It must be noted that Verse 14 above expressly states that all the promises, without exception, made by God were fulfilled, "and not one thing hath failed thereof."

PROMISES TO DAVID

The Prophet Nathan was used to make a promise by God to King David, as recorded in II Samuel 7:4- 17.

4. And it came to pass that night that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying,

5. Go and tell my servant David,Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me a house for me to dwell in?

6. Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and a tabernacle.

7. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake Ia word with any of the tribesof Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me a house of cedar?

8. Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:

9. And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.

10. Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,

11. And as since the time that commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thineenemies. Also the lord telleth thee that he will make thee a house.

12. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with they fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

13. He shall build a house formy name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

14. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

15. But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

16. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

17. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. (52)

The above promise is explained by the testament of King David to his son, Solomon, which was recorded in I Kings 2:1-4 as follows:

Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

2. I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man;

3. And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou tumest thyself:

4. That the Lord may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel." (53)

David had not been allowed to build the temple, as he himself admits:

But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build a house for my name, because thou hast been aman of war, and hast shed blood. (54)

Verse 16 of Chapter 7 of II Samuel quoted above promising David that his kingdom shall be established forever and his throne established for ever was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The Gospel of St. Luke records that the Lord God shall give unto Christ "The throne of his father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." (55)

THE PROMISE TO SOLOMON

II Chronicles, Chapter 7, records the promises to Solomon as follows:

11. Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and the king's house: and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of the Lord, and in his own house, he prosperously effected.

12. And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.

13. If I shut up heaven that there be norain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

14. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

15. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place.

16. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

17. And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments;

18. Then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.

19. But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which 1 have set before you, and shall goand serve other gods, and worship them;

20. Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.

21. And this house, which is high, shall bean astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and unto this house?

22. And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the landof Egypt, and laid holdon other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them. (56)

SOLOMON DISOBEYED THE LAW OF GOD AND WORSHIPPED FALSE GODS

Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh. and had many other wives, from the people who lived in and around Canaan. In marrying them, Solomon offended God. But he did worse. He built temples for images of the gods which these women had brought with them from their countries. "To please his wives, Solomon even worshipped these gods himself. He offered sacrifice to them. In this way he was guilty of a great crime." (57)

Chapter 2 of I Kings records:

9. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice.

10. And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded.

11. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou has not kept my covenant and my statutes, which 1 have commanded thee, 1 will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.

12. Notwithstanding, in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake, but I will rend it out of the hand of they son.

13. Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake: and for Jerusalem's sake which 1 have chosen. (58)

FULFILLMENT OF OLD TESTAMENT PROMISES

The aforementioned promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and David refer to three matters:

1. The promise for the possession of the land of Canaan;

2. The promise of future blessings to all nations; and

3. The promise for the seed of Abraham.

 

Go to part 2