What about those Forever promises to Israel

Last modified 2016-01-29 Total: 10 pages 6017 words



In brief:
Those Forever promises to Israel were all fulfilled by giving them to Israels spiritual offspring, the Church.
But even if one does not hold with this view, it will be shown that most of these promises were conditional upon Israels obedience. Even if the church never came along, (1) God would have been justified in cutting Israel off from most of His Forever Promises.
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(1) forgive me for speaking as a Dispensationalist, we covenant theologians know the church existed since Adam, God didn't send all non Israelites to hell in the old Testament, they were called God Fearers, we call them part of the church of all ages, or part of the church universal

Genesis 12:1,2 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: Genesis 12:3 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. Genesis 48:3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, Genesis 48:4 And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

God did, in fact, give the promised land to Abrahamic bloodline Jews (and non-bloodline Jews, rather Jews by covenant ((faith)) e.g. Caleb, Rahab the harlot, the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt). These Jews we have to assume ended up pagan as the book of Joshua portrays, they preferred the Canaanite religions to the true worship of Yahweh. What was Yahweh to do?
He did the same thing with these "forever" promises that He did with that faithless generation that came out of Egypt. He made the inheritors of His "forever" promises their children and COUNTED IT AS BEING FAITHFUL TO HIS COVENANT with the parents. Their children got to inherit, while the parents carcasses fell in the wilderness. The Church is the spiritual child of unfaithful Jewry. Paul even says that one of the purposes of his ministry was to make the Jews jealous via the church to try to win some Jews back to Christ. The Land Promises, and the promise that through Abrahams' seed would all the families of the earth be blessed, pertains to the true spiritual seed, i.e. Christ first, then His new temple made up of living stones, i.e. the church universal (which is the same as) the elect, (which is the same as) those in Christ (which is the same as) the true circumcision (which is the same as) he who is a Jew inwardly (which is the same as) the bride of Christ, the New Jerusalem.

Romans 9:6-8 But it is not as though the Word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel (elect holy nation), who are descended from Israel (sons of Isaac son Israel who bore the 12 tribes). 7) Nor are they all children (of God), because they are Abrahams' descendants. That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise(1) are counted as the seed.

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1) And who are the children of the promise?

Galatians 3:29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Another way to look at this is: The seed started out as fleshly Israel, with its' bloodline back to Abraham, a.k.a. the old covenant people-of-God. The Gen 48:4 promise of

“I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

was indeed to fleshly Israel, i.e. non-elect Israelites, but if they wanted to STAY IN THE LAND, TO KEEP POSSESSION OF IT, they had to remain faithful. It was an everlasting covenant whose rules stated that, just like an academic scholarship of today, their tuition would be free FOREVER as long as they kept their grades up. It was not unconditional covenant. The proof of this is found in Deut.28 and 1 Kings 9:6-9, and Jeremiah 18, Is 50:1, Jer 3:8, all to be examined below. But the offer was everlasting. Just like Gods offer to David to have one of his sons sit on the throne FOREVER, if his sons followed the covenant. And like an academic scholarship, if they ever once lost it, it was lost forever, unless the Lord made another promise to them after that. But that same academic scholarship that the Jews-in-the-flesh had just lost, could be given to the next college freshman who took their place, the Jews-in-the-spirit, i.e. the church (which contains some first century elect blood Jews, like Paul, for instance, and the 144,000 of Revelation.)

What verses support the conditional-ness of the covenant?

Deuteronomy 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

Deuteronomy 28:2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

Deuteronomy 28:3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

The blessings continue on for 10 more verses, until you get to verse 15.

Deuteronomy 28:15 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:

Deuteronomy 28:16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

Deuteronomy 28:17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.



The curses continue for 53 more verses

And in the middle of this, we see more conditional-ness:

Deuteronomy 28:45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:

Obviously this is a highly conditional covenant. Does it look like Israel could lose the land, because of her disobedience?

Deuteronomy 28:63 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.

Deuteronomy 28:64 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.

Deuteronomy 28:65 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:

Is the rule "I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee" or does no one want to bless thee because thou has become an astonishment and a byword among all the nations.

Deuteronomy 28:37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.

And, how long could the curses last, based on you breaking the conditional covenant?

Deuteronomy 28:46 And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.

Alright, the first college freshman blew it, repeatedly during the book of Judges, and lost his scholarship. But now a new freshman came to college, so the scholarship was given to him "forever", if he would just keep it.

I Kings 9:2 That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.

I Kings 9:3 And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

I Kings 9:4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:

I Kings 9:5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

I Kings 9:6 But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:

I Kings 9:7 Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:

I Kings 9:8 And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?

I Kings 9:9 And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.

We all know how Solomon blew it, and split the country into North and South, Israel and Judah. The long slow decline of both sections until they got carried away into captivity by Babylon 586 BC. The scholarship was lost once again. There are those who say GOD CAN NEVER FORSAKE ISRAEL, has He not said IF I FORGET THEE O ISRAEL, ... THOU ARE INSCRIBED ON THE PALMS OF MY HANDS. Of course this refers to the church, whom Christ died for. The elect whom He paid the sins for on the cross, where those inscriptions on His hands came from. Consider:

Jeremiah 18 Jeremiah 18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

Jeremiah 18:2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

Jeremiah 18:3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

Jeremiah 18:4 And the vessel 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.

Jeremiah 18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Jeremiah 18:6 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.

Jeremiah 18:7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

Jeremiah 18:8 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.

Jeremiah 18:9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;

Jeremiah 18:10 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.

Jeremiah 18:11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

Jeremiah 18:12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

Jeremiah 18:13 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.

Jeremiah 18:14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?

Jeremiah 18:15 Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;

Jeremiah 18:16 To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.

Jeremiah 18:17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

Jeremiah 18:18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.

Jeremiah 18:19 Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.

Jeremiah 18:20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.

Jeremiah 18:21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

Jeremiah 18:22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.

Jeremiah 18:23 Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

As we shall see, God DID finally forsake Israel-Judah in 70 AD, but only after much warning, and even writs of Divorcement. He truely is long suffering.

Isaiah 50:1 Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

Jeremiah 3:14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

Jeremiah 3:15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Jeremiah 3:16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD:(1) neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.

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When has Israel EVER said no more "the ark of the covenant" nor came it to mind nor did they remember it, neither shall they visit it ... The answer is NEVER, as long as a temple was standing, as long as the ark existed somewhere. These are basic to the ceremonial law, i.e. to Judaism. But these will be done away in 70 AD permanently, when the old world creation is done away and the new heavens and new earth (the church) are left standing.