|
I Will Plant Her For Myself In The
Land
Nehemiah 4:1-9 -- When Sanballat
heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly
incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his
associates and the army of Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews
doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices?
Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life
from those heaps of rubble -- burned as they are?" Tobiah the
Ammorite, who was at his
side, said, "What they are building -- if even a fox climbed up on it,
he would break down their wall of stones!" Hear us, O our God, for we are despised.
Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder
in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their
sins from Your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders. So we rebuilt the wall till all of it
reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart. But when
Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs,
the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's
walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very
angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem
and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted
a guard day and night to meet this threat. (NIV)
They all plotted together to come
and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it.
It's difficult to leaf through a newspaper or view a television news broadcast
today without hearing something about Israel. For the most part,
the news, as filtered through a secular, godless media, tends to lean against
the Jews, while siding with those who deliberately oppress them.
"What are those feeble Jews doing?
Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will
they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from
those heaps of rubble -- burned as they are?"
Although these words were voiced two and a half millennia ago, they could
have very well been uttered today. While anti-Semitism is hardly
a modern plight, today the foes of God's chosen are manifold, massively
armed, and sponsored via their governments and the radical, false religions
of this world -- many wishing to exterminate the Jews as a people, and
drive them from their land into the sea.
Their land -- Israel.
It has been one of the most hotly-debated topics this century. To
whom does the land belong? Should they have less? Should they
have more? Should they have any at all? Coherence or division?
Conflict or accord? Destruction or survival? To
whom does the land belong? What does the Bible say?
Genesis 15:18-20 -- On that day the LORD made a covenant
with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from
the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates -- the land of the Kenites,
Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites,
Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites." (NIV)
Genesis 13:14-17 -- The LORD
said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where
you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that
you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make
your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count
the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through
the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you." (NIV)
Deuteronomy 1:6-8 -- The LORD our God said to us at
Horeb,
"You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance
into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring
peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the
Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon,
as far as the great river, the Euphrates. See, I have given you this
land. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore He
would give to your fathers -- to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob -- and to their
descendants after them." (NIV)
"Alright, so according to the Bible, God did give Abraham some
land. But which land? And just who are these Kenites, Perizzites,
Girgashites and company, anyhow? How are we supposed to know where
they used to live? Are we dependent solely on the word of some book-toting,
scholarly types as to exactly where these people resided
all those millennia ago? After all, we're talking about people who
haven't existed as nations for nearly four thousand years. Where
exactly is this land the Bible speaks of God giving to Abraham? Can't
we be somewhat more specific?"
Exodus 23:31 -- (the LORD speaking to Israel) "I will establish your borders from
the Sea of Reeds [the Red Sea]
to the Sea of the Philistines [the Mediterranean],
and from the desert to the River [the
Euphrates]." (NIV)
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 western sea [the Mediterranean]. (NIV)
Joshua 1:3-4 -- (the LORD speaking to Joshua) "I will give you every place where you
set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from
the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates -- all the
Hittite country -- to the Great Sea on the west [the Mediterranean]."
(NIV)
"That's a bit better, but still somewhat vague. Can't the
Bible do any better than this? I mean, how about some real, unquestionably-precise,
exacting detail?"
Numbers 34:1-12 -- The LORD said to Moses, "Command the
Israelites and say to them: 'When you enter Canaan, the land that
will be allotted to you as an inheritance will have these boundaries:'" "'Your southern side will include some
of the Desert of Zin along the border of Edom. On the east, your
southern boundary will start from the end of the Salt Sea, cross south
of Scorpion Pass, continue on to Zin and go south of Kadesh Barnea.
Then it will go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon, where it will turn, join
the Wadi of Egypt and end at the Sea.'" "'Your western boundary will be the
coast of the Great Sea. This will be your boundary on the west.'" "'For your northern boundary, run a line
from the Great Sea to Mount Hor and from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath.
Then the boundary will go to Zedad, continue to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your boundary on the north.'"
"'For your eastern boundary, run a line
from Hazar Enan to Shepham. The boundary will go down from Shepham
to Riblah on the east side of Ain and continue along the slopes east of
the Sea of Kinnereth. Then the boundary will go down along the Jordan
and end at the Salt Sea.'" "'This will be your land, with its boundaries
on every side.'" (NIV)
One has to admit that's some impressive detail for a book written
over thirty-five hundred years ago (more or less). But, in case there
are those out there who are still not satisfied, the book of Joshua contains
five chapters of detail so exacting and precise, the most oppugnant skeptic
will be unable to deny the verity of the claim that the borders of the
land God gave to Israel exceed even its present configuration, so-called
"occupied territories" included (chiefly Joshua 15:1 through 19:48).
"All the land that you see I will
give to you and your offspring forever." Lest there be any
detractors who claim the land given to Abraham in Genesis thirteen was
somehow intended as a mere temporary apportionment, verse fifteen should
end all such debate. "To you and your
offspring forever." The Hebrew word here translated
as ever is the word 'olam, meaning always, eternal, everlasting, perpetual.
Certainly no implications of impermanence can be found here. The
land grant was intended as an eternal inheritance, and in no way can be
misconstrued as temporary from a reading of God's holy word.
"All the land that you see I will
give to you and your offspring forever." Some contend
that this passage indicates the Arab people, who are descended from Abraham
through his first son, Ishmael (and who would thereby be included in term
offspring),
are the intended inheritors and not the Jews, who are descended from the
second son, Isaac. Is there any passage in God's word that might
clarify the intended offspring mentioned in Genesis thirteen?
Genesis 17:19-21 -- Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah
will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish
My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after
him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless
him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers.
He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him a great nation.
But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you
by this time next year." (NIV)
"But My covenant I will establish
with Isaac...." It seems more than apparent which
offspring
was to be the recipient of God's covenant with Abraham -- Isaac, not Ishmael,
was the son through whom God would bless the earth.
Genesis 12:2-3 - (the LORD speaking to Abram) "I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses
you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
"In you all the families of the earth
shall be blessed" is a reference to the coming Messiah,
who, two thousand years later, was born through the seed of Isaac.
Genesis twenty-one (which is quoted directly in Hebrews 11:18) and twenty-five
also confirm the covenant blessing and inheritance through Isaac, not Ishmael.
Genesis 21:12 -- (the LORD speaking)
"...for in Isaac your seed shall be
called."
Genesis 25:5 -- And Abraham gave all that he had to
Isaac.
The thirty-fifth chapter of Genesis further underscores this in
that here God tells Isaac's son, Jacob, that the land He'd given to Abraham
and Isaac would also be his and his descendants after him: 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 come from your body. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac
I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after
you." (Genesis 35:11-12)(NIV)
From these passages only an imbecile could still claim the land
promised to Abraham's offspring was intended for Ishmael's
rather than Isaac's seed. Nor from these passages can anyone rightly
argue the grant was temporary, rather than permanent. It can also
be determined from holy Scripture that Israel was not to establish treaties
with their neighbors, but rather resist any and all such attempts to turn
them away from a worship of the one, true God.
Exodus 34:12-16 -- (the LORD speaking) "Be careful not to make a treaty with
those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare
among you. Break down their altars, smash their Asherah poles.
Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a
jealous God." "Be careful not to make a treaty with
those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to
their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat
their sacrifices. And when you choose some of their daughters as
wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their
gods, they will lead your sons to do the same." (NIV)
"Be careful not to make a treaty with
those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare
among you." These
are the words of God, not man. They are not politically, militarily,
socially, or economically motivated, but holy and true.
Isaiah 30:1-5 -- "Woe to the rebellious children," says
the LORD, "Who take counsel, but not of Me, And who devise plans,
but not of My Spirit, That they may add sin to sin; Who walk to go
down to Egypt, And have not asked My advise, To strengthen themselves in
the strength of Pharaoh, And to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore
the strength of Pharaoh Shall be your shame, And trust in the shadow of
Egypt Shall be your humiliation. For his princes were at Zoan, And
his ambassadors came to Hanes. They were all ashamed of a people
who could not benefit them, Or be help or benefit, But a shame and also
a reproach."
Clearly, the LORD God did not approve of
His people's reliance on any but Him. Whether these words were specified
merely for a time and people long past, or eternally as a timeless, interminable
precept, (and, as the word of God is not clear to me in this respect, I
will argue neither way) there is no record of the LORD God ever encouraging
His people to enter into a treaty with others. The first six verses
of the seventh chapter of Deuteronomy similarly instruct the Israelites
to drive out and make no treaty
with those who would turn their sons away from following God and to serve
other gods, for you are a people holy to
the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the
peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession. (Deuteronomy
7:6)(NIV) And to those who maliciously maligned His people, the LORD
promised punishment.
Ezekiel 28:24-26 -- (the LORD speaking)
"'"And there shall no longer be a pricking
brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are
around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the
Lord GOD."'" "'Thus says the Lord GOD: "When
I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are
scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles,
then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob.
And they will dwell safely there, build houses, and plant vineyards;
yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around
them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the LORD their
God."'"
Similarly in Genesis 12:3, the LORD God
promises Abram: "I will bless those
who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse." (NIV)
Isaiah 41:8-14 -- (the LORD speaking) "But you,
O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham
My friend, I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners
I called you. I said, 'You are My servant'; I have chosen you
and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and
help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." "All who rage against you will surely
be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing
and perish. Though you search for your enemies, you will not find
them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says
to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Do not be afraid, O worm
Jacob, O little Israel, for I Myself will help you," declares the LORD,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
(NIV)
Isaiah 43:1-3 -- But now,
this is what the LORD says -- He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed
you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned
you by name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not
sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your stead." (NIV)
"All who rage against you will surely
be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing
and perish." Even in view of
such a magnificent proclamation of love and salvation from the LORD God
Almighty, there are some who still say that Israel has fallen from favor
and forfeited God's covenant promises to Abraham, Moses and David.
I direct such as these to the thirty-first and thirty-third chapters of
Jeremiah, where all such nonsense should be forever silenced.
Jeremiah 31:33-37 -- (the LORD speaking)
"This is
the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares
the LORD. "I will put My law in their minds and write it on their
hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. No
longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know
the LORD,' because they will all know Me, from the least of them
to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more." "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 the descendants of Israel ever cease to be 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. (NIV)
Jeremiah 33:19-26 -- The word
of the LORD came to Jeremiah: "This is what the LORD says:
'If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night
so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, then My covenant
with David My servant -- and My covenant with the Levites who are priests
ministering before Me -- can be broken and David will no longer have a
descendant to reign on his throne. I will make the descendants of
David My servant and the Levites who minister before Me as countless as
the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand of the seashore.'" The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
"Have you not noticed that these people are saying, 'The LORD has rejected
the two kingdoms He chose'? So they despise My people and no longer
regard them as a nation. This is what the LORD says: 'If I
have not established My covenant with day and night and the fixed laws
of heaven and earth, then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David
My servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and
have compassion on them.'"
(NIV)
God has not forsaken His chosen Israel.
The word of God makes this plain. All who oppose them, will themselves
be opposed by their God, the LORD God Almighty, the one true God and Father
of our Savior -- Himself born as a Jew, a son of David -- the Messiah and
Redeemer of Israel and all who believe, Jesus Christ our Lord.
|
