The Land of Promise

There are many today who believe that the current land over in Israel holds a biblical mandate or a “divine right” belonging to those who identify as Jews. The current ideology, influenced by the Scofield reference bible, holds to the belief that Yahweh did not uphold or fulfill His promise given to Abraham, and the Israelites did not conquer all the land. Because of such, those who claim to be physical descendants today, can claim the promise of Abraham pertaining to the land, along with the political state of Israel, created in 1948. This is known as Zionism. However, I am going to examine this today and propose to you that there is currently no covenant that governs the right for the political state of Israel to lay claim to land, and that the old covenant that governed the Israelites access to the land ended with the ratification of the new covenant. 

I. INHERITANCE

Matthew 23:38Look, your house is left to you desolate.

When Yeshua spoke these words, He was lamenting over Jerusalem in which He yearned  to gather them as His own, yet they were unwilling. When a hen gathers her chicks under her wing, it is for their protection and comfort. Without the protection of the hen, the chicks are laid bare in the elements of the world. What a thought in which Yeshua spoke such words knowing that without His protection, and being gathered under His wing, they shall become desolate.

♦Psalm 91:4He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart

Yeshua was clear in warning them that such calamity would come upon them in their generation, in which they rejected Him.

♦Matthew 23:33Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, HOW CAN YE ESCAPE THE DAMNATION OF HELL34Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 36Verily I say unto you, ALL THESE THINGS SHALL COME UPON THIS GENERATION.

Those who would not listen to the Prophet that which came from his “brethren” would be completely destroyed. Peter makes reference to such prophesy from Deut 18:15-18, in the book of Acts, roughly a year after Yeshua/Jesus was crucified.

♦Acts 3:22For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. 23AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, THAT EVERY SOUL, WHICH WILL NOT HEAR THAT PROPHET, SHALL BE DESTROYED FROM AMONG THE PEOPLE.

The Greek word for “destroyed” here means: annihilate, exterminate, root out; referring to a complete loss of inheritance

Did you catch that? A COMPLETE LOSS OF INHERITANCE. The possession of the promised land is part of the inheritance. 

♦Deut 12:9For you have not yet come to the resting place and the inheritance that the LORD(YHWH) your God is giving you.10When you cross the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD(YHWH) your God IS GIVING YOU AS AN INHERITANCE, and He gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you dwell securely

So, those who would come to reject the Messiah, would also lose the inheritance of the land. Think of it as once the Messiah died, as the heir, we then can become co-heirs with Him, through His “Last will and TESTAMENT”. This is how you inherit property though a family member who has died, and why Peter was given the “keys” to the kingdom.

In 70AD Yah’s wrath was poured out on Israel, as it was a not only a curse for rejecting such Prophet, but also the New Covenant shed in His blood. They rejected the true inheritance.

Before I continue, I also want to point out another important prophesy fulfillment that Peter makes mention of just a couple of verses later:

♦Acts 3:25And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ 26 When God raised up His Servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.

Peter is making a direct reference to Genesis 12:3, in which Yeshua/Jesus was the promised seed in which they shall be blessed:

“I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”

This is extremely important to point out, because ALL THE COVENANTS AND PROMISES MADE TO ABRAHAM, were to be fulfilled through Yeshua/Jesus, to include the inheritance to the land.

♦Rom 15:8For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to CONFIRM the promises (covenant) made to the patriarchs,

The land promise that was made with Abraham, was fulfilled, first in the physical, then in the spirit. 

Gen 12:7And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, UNTO THY SEED WILL I GIVE THIS LAND: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

♦Galatians 3:16THE PROMISES WERE SPOKEN TO ABRAHAM AND HIS SEED. The Scripture does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your seed,” MEANING ONE WHO IS CHRIST.

♦Galatians 3:18For if the INHERITANCE depends on the Law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God freely granted it to Abraham through a promise.19Why then was the Law given? It was added because of transgressions, UNTIL THE ARRIVAL OF THE SEED TO WHOM THE PROMISE REFERRED. It was administered through angels by a mediator.

Just as we look to the covenant made with David and “his seed” it initially pointed to Solomon, however, it was pointing ultimately to Yeshua, just as David himself was a type and shadow to the reality fulfilled through Yeshua.

2 Samuel 7:12And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, AND I WILL ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM. 13He will build a house for My Name, and I WILL ESTABLISH THE THRONE OF HIS KINDOM FOREVER.

Luke 1:31And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto HIM THE THRONE OF HIS FATHER DAVID:33AND HE SHALL REIGN OVER THE HOUSE OF JACOB FOREVER; AND OF HIS KINGDOM THERE SHALL BE NO END.

Solomon declared that such promise that was made to his father David was fulfilled, however, Solomon’s kingdom was not “forever” and the last legit descendent to sit on the throne was Jeconiah(Jer 22:30). 

1 Kings 8:20Now the LORD(YHWH) HAS FULFILLED THE WORD THAT HE SPOKE. I have succeeded my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD(YHWH) promised. I HAVE BUILT THE HOUSE FOR THE NAME OF THE LORD(YHWH), the God of Israel.

YHWH has been faithful to His promises, however all covenants that were made, were first fulfilled in the flesh, then the spirit, with the ultimate goal pointing to Yeshua. The image that comes to mind to easily explain this, is like one of those dolls(Babushka) with many individual dolls all inside. If you take them all out, they are individual dolls, yet when you put them all back into the one, you just have one big doll. Well, likewise, Yeshua is what all those covenants fit into and are complete in Him. This is the One New Man, of which we also become part of.

So, just as we see the promise fulfilled with Solomon, such was the physical land promise made with Abraham.

♦Joshua 21:43THUS THE LORD(YHWH) GAVE ALL THE LAND HE HAD SWORN TO GIVE THEIR FATHERS, AND THEY TOOK POSSESSION OF IT AND SETTLED IN IT. 44And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45NOT ONE OF ALL THE LORD’s(YHWH) GOOD PROMISES TO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL HAD FAILED; EVERYTHING WAS FULFILLED.

♦1 Kings 8:56″Blessed be the LORD(YHWH), who has given rest to His people Israel according to all that He promised. NOT ONE WORD HAS FAILED OF ALL THE GOOD PROMISES HE MADE THROUGH HIS SERVENT MOSES.

♦Jeremiah 32:21And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;22AND HAST GIVEN THEM THIS LAND, WHICH THOU DIST SWEAR TO THEIR FATHERS TO GIVE THEM, a land flowing with milk and honey;23AND THEY CAME IN, AND POSSESSED IT; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them:

♦Nehemiah 9:8You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites and Hittites, of the Amorites and Perizzites, of the Jebusites and Girgashites, to give it to his descendants. YOU HAVE KEPT YOUR PROMISE, BECAUSE YOU ARE RIGHTEOUS.

However, just as we see the kingdom did not stay with Solomon, neither did the land stay with the Israelites. There was always a conditional agreement based upon covenant terms. This is why when Yeshua(Shiloh) came, as the rightful heir, they sought to kill him and TAKE His inheritance:

♦Matthew 21:38But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, THIS IS THE HEIR; COME LET US KILL HIM, AND LET US SEIZE ON HIS INHERITANCE. 39AND THEY CAUGHT HIM, AND CAST HIM OUT OF THE VINEYARD, AND SLEW HIM.

♦Genesis 49:10The SCEPTER WILL NOT DEPART FROM JUDAH, nor the staff from between his feet, UNTIL SHILOH COMES and the allegiance of the nations is his.

The term “Shiloh” is making reference to the coming Messiah Yeshua/Jesus and is translated in the LXX (Septuagint-Greek Translation of Hebrew Bible) as “He for who it is laid up” which is speaking of the proper heir of inheritance, “Of to whom the inheritance belongs”.

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II. CURSES

There are several passages given in Deuteronomy that warned the people that if they transgressed their covenant, that they would be removed from the land. 

♦Deut 4:22But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and POSSESS THAT GOOD LAND. 23TAKE HEED UNTO YOURSELVES, LEST YE FORGET THE COVENANT OF THE LORD(YHWH) your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD(YHWH) thy God hath forbidden thee. 24For the LORD(YHWH) thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. 25When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, AND MAKE A GRAVEN IMAGE, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger: 26I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that YE SHALL SOON UTTERLY PERISH FROM OFF THE LAND whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, BUT SHALL BE UTTERLY DESTROYED.

♦Deut 30:16in that I am commanding you today to love יהוה your Elohim, TO WALK IN HIS WAYS, AND GUARD HIS COMMANDS, and His laws, and His right-rulings. And you shall live and increase, and יהוה your Elohim SHALL BLESS YOU IN THE LAND which you go to possess. 17“BUT IF YOUR HEART TURNS AWAY, AND YOU DO NOT OBEY, and shall be drawn away, and shall bow down to other mighty ones and serve them, 18“I have declared to you today that YOU SHALL CERTAINTY PERISH, YOU SHALL NOT PROLONG YOUR DAYS IN THE LAND which you are passing over the Yardĕn to enter and possess.(ISR 98)

There was never an unconditional agreement to the land:

♦Joshua 23:16If you transgress the covenant of the LORD(YHWH) your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from this good land He has given you.”

♦Jeremiah 25:5 The prophets told you, ‘Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and evil deeds, and you can dwell in the land that the LORD(YHWH) has given to you and to your fathers forever and ever.

When the Israelites were drawing near completion of their 40 years of wandering, and coming to inherit the land that was promised, Moses gives them instruction and warning upon entering the land.  Blessings if they obey, curses if they disobey, because the terms for entering the land were conditional based upon their covenant. YHWH knew that the Israelites would disobey Him and would again harden their hearts toward Him as they did so in the wilderness. So, basically a breakdown of the book of Deuteronomy is that YHWH knows the Israelites will not harken to His voice or obey His commands, and many curses would be bestowed upon them, including exile from the land.

♦Deut 4:26I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

The Hebrew word here to be “utterly destroyed” is the primitive root of “to desolate”

Joshua even reiterated this point several times as he was even about to die: 

♦Josh 23:15Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD(YHWH) your God promised you; so shall the LORD(YHWH) bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD(YHWH) your God hath given you. 

Further on in Deuteronomy, coming to chapter 28, is a prophesy of those who would come against Israel, to include the Assyrians, Babylonians/Chaldeans and eventually the Romans. The prophesy details the horrors they would experience to include eating of their own children, also detailed in Leviticus 26. 

♦Deut 28:49The LORD(YHWH) shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; 50A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: 51And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. 52And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD(YHWH) thy God hath given thee. 53And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD(YHWH) thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:

Pulpit Commentary:

Verses 49, 50. – The description here given of the enemy to whom Israel was to be subjected, applies more or less closely to all the nations whom God raised up from time to time, to invade Israel and chastise the people for their rebellion – the Chaldeans (cf. Jeremiah 48:40; Jeremiah 49:22; Ezekiel 17:5-7; Habakkuk 1:6, etc.), the Assyrians (cf. Isaiah 5:26; Isaiah 38:11; 23:19), the Medes (Isaiah 13:17, 18); but there are features in the description which apply especially to the Romans; and the horrors delineated in the latter part of the section (vers. 52-57) carry one’s thoughts immediately to the terrible scenes which transpired during the wars of Vespasian and Titus with the Jews as narrated by Josephus (‘De Bell. Jud.,’ 6; see Milman, ‘ Hist. of the Jews,’ bk. 16.). Verse 49. – As the eagle flieth. The eagle was the common ensign of the legion in the Roman army; and by the Latin writers aquila (eagle) is sometimes used for a legion (Caes., ‘Hisp.,’ 30; cf. Matthew 24:28).

In the above pulpit commentary, it mentions of the events that transpired through the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans between 64-70AD. The severe famine and distress of the war brought upon the act of cannibalism. The warnings that Yeshua warned within Matthew 24/Luke 21 were in regards to the coming famine as well as those who would resort to such horrific acts upon their own children. I speak on this within my blog, “In Their Generation“:

“She then attempted a most unnatural thing: and snatching up her son, which was a child sucking at her breast, she said, “O thou miserable infant! for whom shall I preserve thee, in this war, this famine, and this sedition? As to the war with the Romans, if they preserve our lives, we must be slaves. This famine also will destroy us, even before that slavery comes upon us. Yet are these seditious rogues more terrible than both the other. Come on. Be thou my food: and be thou a fury to these seditious varlets, and a by-word to the world. Which is all that is now wanting to compleat the calamities of us Jews.” As soon as she had said this, she slew her son; and then roasted him; and eat the one half of him; and kept the other half by her concealed. Upon this the seditious came in presently; and smelling the horrid scent of this food, they threatened her, that they would cut her throat immediately, if she did not shew them what food she had gotten ready. She replied, that “She had saved a very fine portion of it for them:” and withal uncovered what was left of her son.”

Something that had caught my eye while also reading within the pulpit commentary was the reference of the eagle mentioned within Deut 28:49, and the reference to Matthew 24:28. 

 28For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

Some translations have “vulture” instead of eagle, however, the passage illustrates that God uses the nations to enact His righteous judgement. The symbol of the Roman legion was the eagle, and as we continue to see as an eagle goes after its prey, or a vulture circles the dying and decaying flesh of an animal, so does the judgement of God come upon the rebellious and wicked:

Isaiah 46:11Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.

The warnings that Yeshua gave to the House of Judah were in exact alignment of judgement that would be bestowed upon them as it had been written and carried out previously. When we look back on the judgement that was enacted upon both the House of Israel and the House of Judah, we can see a direct pattern.

Several years prior to the final siege of Samaria and the Northern Kingdom, the people suffered a terrible famine caused by the king of Syria, Benhadadad, and such acts of depravity are recorded in 2 Kings 6:26-31.  Eventually, in 721 BC the Assyrians captured the capital of Samaria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel existed no more.

♦2 Kings 17:5Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. 6In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

♦2 Kings 17:23Finally, the LORD removed Israel from His presence, as He had declared through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their homeland into Assyria, where they are to this day.

After Yahweh issued them a bill of divorce, He sent the Assyrians to enact His judgement upon them removing them from the land and casting them out of covenant.

♦Hosea 5:9Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.

Not long after the Northern Kingdom was completely destroyed, the Southern Kingdom was sieged by the Chaldeans/Babylonians with King Nebuchadnezzar which began in 597BC and culminated with a complete destruction of the temple in 586BC.

Just as Yahweh had warned the Israelites through Moses, after Solomon had completed building the temple to Yahweh, a similar foreshadowed decree was made in that as a result of Israel’s disobedience Yahweh would remove them from the land, and would destroy the temple.

♦1 Kings 9:6But if indeed you or your sons turn away from following Me and do not keep the commandments and statutes I have set before you, and if you go off to serve and worship other gods, 7THEN I WILL CUT OF ISRAEL FROM THE LAND THAT I HAVE GIVEN THEM, AND I WILL BANISH FROM MY PRESENCE THIS TEMPLE I HAVE SANCTIFIED FOR MY NAME. Then Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all peoples.

8AND WHEN THIS TEMPLE HAS BECOME A HEAP OF RUBBLE, all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘WHY HAS THE LORD(YHWH) DONE SUCH A THING TO THIS LAND AND THIS TEMPLE?’9And others will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD(YHWH) their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—because of this, the LORD(YHWH) has brought all this disaster upon them.’”

The only reason that the House of Judah was able to come back into the land through the prophesy of Daniel(9:25) and the decree to rebuild (Ezra 1:1-11,Nehemiah 2:1-8) was due to the promise that the scepter would not pass until the Messiah came.    

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III. DESOLATION

The passage mentioned above from Hosea 5:9, the word “desolate” is the same root word that is used within Daniel 9:26-27, of what many refer to as the “abomination of desolation”. The context within both Hosea 5:9 and Daniel 9:26-27, are very similar in that it pertains to judgement and such cities will lay in ruin/waste, becoming desolate.

♦Daniel 9:26 And after the sixty-two weeks, the anointed one shall be destroyed, and there is no judgment in him: and HE SHALL DESTROY THE CITY (OLD COVENANT JERUSALEM) AND THE SANCTUARY (TEMPLE) with the prince that is coming: they shall be cut off with a flood, and to the end of the war which is rapidly completed he SHALL APPOINT THE CITY TO DESOLATIONS.(LXX) (THIS HAPPENED IN 70 AD)

♦Daniel 9:27 And one week shall establish the covenant with many: and in the midst of the week My sacrifice and drink-offering shall be taken away: AND ON THE TEMPLE SHALL BE THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATIONS; AND AT THE END OF TIME AND END SHALL BE PUT TO THE DESOLATION.(LXX)

The prophesies surrounding Daniel 9:26-27 had to do with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. The temple and the physical sacrifices had become an abomination especially after the fulfillment came through Jesus/Yeshua; and Him building the TRUE tabernacle with living stones. Also remember the prophesy above about Solomon building a temple for the Lord, well, he did, but The Spirit of God does not dwell in temples made of stone, but the temples of men built up by Christ.

♦Mark 14:58“We heard Him saying, ‘I shall destroy this Dwelling Place that is made with hands, and within three days I SHALL BUILD ANOTHER MADE WITHOUT HANDS.’ ”(ISR 98)

♦1 Peter 2:4Drawing near to Him, A LIVING STONE – rejected indeed by men, but chosen by Elohim and precious –5YOU ALSO, AS LIVING STONES, are being built up, a spiritual house, a set-apart priesthood, to offer up spiritual slaughter offerings acceptable to Elohim through יהושע Messiah.(ISR 98)

Daniel predicted that after the appearance of Messiah, Daniel 9“…the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary”(v.26). This occurred when Titus’ Roman legions marched on Jerusalem in 70 AD, destroying both the city and the Temple.

Reading Daniel 9, in the Septuagint(LXX) makes it easier to understand, and why Jesus mentions this multiple times within the gospels, and why He prophesied that not only the House of Judah, and Israel as a whole would be left desolate, meaning utterly destroyed, laid waste, but also encompassed the destruction of the temple, which came to fulfillment in 70AD.

♦Matthew 24:1As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, His disciples came up to Him to point out its buildings. 2“Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be toppled.”

♦Luke 19:43For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side.

♦Luke 21:20But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that her desolation is near. 21Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country stay out of the city.

I have mentioned this before in previous blogs, however, Matthew 24 and Luke 21 are detailing the same events. So, in the above passage from Luke 21:20-21, this matches up with Matthew 24:15-16. Luke makes it clear what Matthew is speaking about as when the armies surround Jerusalem, you will know her desolation is near. 

♦Matthew 24:15When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains

I want to bring attention to what “stand in the holy place” actually means, as it has to do with land, or a geographical location, just as Luke clarifies.  

• Holy Place=Jerusalem, where YHWH caused His Name to Dwell
• Strongs Greek “Place” ◄ 5117. topos ►
• Definition: a place
  Usage: a place, region
• Properly, any portion of space marked off, as it were, from surrounding, space; used of an inhabited place, as a city, village, district
• Region, country, parcel of land 

Yeshua/Jesus warning the disciples ahead of time to flee to the mountains while the Roman army had already sieged the city and made claim to the temple, would not make much sense, however warning them of the Roman armies encroaching Jerusalem would.  

Church historian Eusebius (340 AD):

“BUT THE PEOPLE OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM HAD BEEN COMMANDED BY A REVELATION, vouchsafed to approved men there before the war, to leave the city and to dwell in a certain town of Perea called Pella. And when those that believed in Christ had come thither from Jerusalem, then, as if the royal city of the Jews and the whole land of Judea were entirely destitute of holy men, the judgment of God at length overtook those who had committed such outrages against Christ and his apostles, and totally destroyed that generation of impious men. (Church History, Book 3, Ch 5)