Articles
Modern Palestine and the Land Promise to Abraham
Modern Palestine and the Land Promise to Abraham
Many American evangelicals are deeply invested in the modern state of Israel thanks to Premillennialism, a popular approach to understanding the end times. This doctrine was popularized by C. I. Scofield’s reference Bible, Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth, LaHaye and Jenkins’ Left Behind novels, among others.
Premillennialism teaches that when Jesus came, He planned to establish an earthly kingdom described by the Old Testament prophets (Isaiah 2, etc). Jesus was surprised, however, when His people rejected Him and sought to kill Him. In response, God paused the countdown clock of Daniel 9, concocted the church as a replacement “plan B,” and changed Jesus’ mission. Instead of conquering the world and establishing His kingdom, Jesus died upon the cross and established the church as a “historical parenthesis,” and turned to the Gentiles. In premillennial doctrine, no Old Testament prophet ever glimpsed the church.
Premillennialists believe that God has never delivered on His promise to Abraham, and that the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948 was the first step in granting the land that would set in motion these end-time events. (Nevermind the fact that the modern secular state of Israel has nothing in common with Biblical Israel.) Charles Ryrie stated, “Is the promise to Abraham relevant to the contemporary situation? Yes … something must be done with that promise… The Jewish people will possess that promised land completely someday” (“Perspective on Palestine,” Christianity Today, 23 May 1969). Premillennialists say that the Jews must occupy the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, that the Temple must be rebuilt, and that the Jews must possess all of Palestine, before God can pick up where He left off with Jesus, resume the Daniel 9 countdown clock, and bring about the last seven years of human history and the end of the world. Thus, the breathless attention premillennialists pay to the Middle East.
God gave Abraham a three-fold promise in Genesis 12:1-7. Every part was fulfilled. God said, “Go forth … to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation and I will bless you … and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed…. To your descendants I will give this land.” These are often called the nation promise, the land promise, the seed promise.
The Nation Promise. It was fulfilled at Sinai, when God called the children of Israel out of Egypt, gave them the Law, and entered into a covenant with them (read Exodus 19:4-6 and 24:1-8).
The Seed Promise. In Genesis 22:18, God said to Abraham, “in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” This promise was fulfilled in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and the shedding of His blood (Galatians 3:16).
Modern Palestine and the Land Promise to Abraham
Many American evangelicals are deeply invested in the modern state of Israel thanks to Premillennialism, a popular approach to understanding the end times. This doctrine was popularized by C. I. Scofield’s reference Bible, Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth, LaHaye and Jenkins’ Left Behind novels, among others.
Premillennialism teaches that when Jesus came, He planned to establish an earthly kingdom described by the Old Testament prophets (Isaiah 2, etc). Jesus was surprised, however, when His people rejected Him and sought to kill Him. In response, God paused the countdown clock of Daniel 9, concocted the church as a replacement “plan B,” and changed Jesus’ mission. Instead of conquering the world and establishing His kingdom, Jesus died upon the cross and established the church as a “historical parenthesis,” and turned to the Gentiles. In premillennial doctrine, no Old Testament prophet ever glimpsed the church.
Premillennialists believe that God has never delivered on His promise to Abraham, and that the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948 was the first step in granting the land that would set in motion these end-time events. (Nevermind the fact that the modern secular state of Israel has nothing in common with Biblical Israel.) Charles Ryrie stated, “Is the promise to Abraham relevant to the contemporary situation? Yes … something must be done with that promise… The Jewish people will possess that promised land completely someday” (“Perspective on Palestine,” Christianity Today, 23 May 1969). Premillennialists say that the Jews must occupy the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, that the Temple must be rebuilt, and that the Jews must possess all of Palestine, before God can pick up where He left off with Jesus, resume the Daniel 9 countdown clock, and bring about the last seven years of human history and the end of the world. Thus, the breathless attention premillennialists pay to the Middle East.
God gave Abraham a three-fold promise in Genesis 12:1-7. Every part was fulfilled. God said, “Go forth … to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation and I will bless you … and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed…. To your descendants I will give this land.” These are often called the nation promise, the land promise, the seed promise.
The Nation Promise. It was fulfilled at Sinai, when God called the children of Israel out of Egypt, gave them the Law, and entered into a covenant with them (read Exodus 19:4-6 and 24:1-8).
The Seed Promise. In Genesis 22:18, God said to Abraham, “in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” This promise was fulfilled in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and the shedding of His blood (Galatians 3:16).
The Land Promise. This promise is fleshed out in Genesis 15:1-21. The people would return in 400 years to take the land. The boundaries would be from the “river of Egypt as far as … the river Euphrates.” Like the other two parts of God’s promise, the land promise has been fulfilled!
The land promise was fulfilled in very specific terms in Joshua 21:43-45, “so the Lord gave Israel all the land which He has sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it… Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.” How much clearer could it be? Plus, Solomon possessed the full extent of the land: “Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River [Euphrates] to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt” (1 Kings 4:21, also Neh. 9:7-8).
But The Jews Don’t Possess the Land Today. Premillennialists contend that since the Jews were expelled from the land, God still must make good on His promise. But actually, God revealed that retaining the land would be a conditional promise based on their obedience. God promised the curse of defeat and captivity (Deut. 28:15-68). God also promised the preservation and eventual return of a faithful remnant (30:1-5). This is the story of the rest of the Old Testament.
All God’s promises to Abraham have been fulfilled! The nation and land promises have allowed the Messiah to come. In the church age, Jews and Gentiles alike are blessed through Christ and His gospel (Rom.1:16-17). God accepts Jew and Gentile (Isa. 49:5-6, Matt. 8:5-13, Luke 4:25-30, Acts 13:42-49, 15:13-19), and has broken down the barrier that once divided them (Eph. 2:11-3:6, Gal. 3:23-29). The church is the people of God (Gal. 3:29, Phil. 3:3, Rom. 9:8).
There’s so much more than an article allows in pointing out the problems with Premillennialism. But please understand that modern events in Palestine have no bearing on the unfolding of God’s plan. God kept the promises to Abraham. The “summing up of all things in Christ” (Ephesians 1:10) proceeds unfettered regardless of who lives in Jerusalem. The next major event will be the return of Jesus (2 Thessalonians 1:7-11).
--John Guzzetta
