Genesis 12:1-3 “The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’”
The inaugurating promise of God to Abraham and his future family, Israel:
- They would be a great nation.
- Those who oppose them (the Jews/Israel) would face God’s judgment.
- They would be a blessing to all people (through Messiah’s redemption work).
The land of Israel has been forever deeded to the Jewish people by God…
Genesis 13:14-15 “The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, ‘Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.’”
The land of Israel has been given by God to Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, as well as their descendants…
Genesis 35:10-12 “’God said to him, ‘Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.’ So he named him Israel. And God said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.’”
Deuteronomy 30:4-5 “Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.”
Israel has been given by the Lord exact and specific boundaries that have become their possession…
Genesis 15:18-21 “On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.’”
The boundaries of Israel are clearly delineated Biblically…
Joshua 1:4 “Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates —all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.”
Deuteronomy 11:24 “Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea.”
Through Abraham’s obedience, the Lord confirmed and greatly blessed His covenant with him and his offspring, the Jewish people…
Genesis 22:15-18 “Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: ‘By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.’”
The blessings of the Jew, which has covered this whole earth, is the salvation brought to us through the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ…
Genesis 28:13-14 “And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: ‘I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Deuteronomy 4:40 “You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”
- The promises of God to Israel are for “all time” and include both as a people group, as well as regarding the land He has given them!
God reaffirms His unbreakable covenant promises to Israel…
Deuteronomy 29:12-13 “You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the LORD your God, a covenant the LORD is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, to confirm you this day as his people, that he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
The covenant of the Lord to Israel will never be broken…
Jeremiah 31:35-37 “This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar — the LORD Almighty is his name: ‘Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,’ declares the LORD, ‘will Israel ever cease being a nation before me.’ This is what the LORD says: ‘Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,’ declares the LORD.”
The covenant of God with Israel is unconditional and cannot be thwarted!
Amos 9:14-15 “’I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them,’ Says the LORD your God.”
- God will bring Israel back to the land in the last days.
- They will prosper greatly in their land at that time.
- Once they return, they will never be removed again.
For more information on Bible prophecy, go to PerspectiveInProphecy.com.
The post Israel and the Covenant Promises of God :: By James Pannafino appeared first on Rapture Ready.
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