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God’s promises to
Abraham and Israel.
Did God fulfill
His promises to Abraham or
should we look to the
future for their fulfillment?
What do the
scriptures teach?
God promised the land of Canaan to Abraham
and his descendants (Gen. 12:5-7; 13:14-15; 15:18;
Gen. 26:1-4; 28).
God fulfilled
his promises to Abraham through the nation of
Israel (Num. 35:13; Deut. 19:1-2; Deut. 19:8-9;
Josh. 20:1-7; 21:43-45; Judges 2:20-23; Ne. 9:8-9;
1 Kings 4:21).
Were the
prophecies given through Israel conditional or absolute?
While
we have noted that the prophets spoke with
confidence, it is also important to observe that
some prophecies were obviously conditional. This
is especially true with reference to predictions
that contained warnings of impending judgment
upon wicked peoples. The doom prophetically
announced was dependent upon whether or not that
nation would turn from its evil. For example,
when Jonah went to the city of Nineveh, he
announced: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be
overthrown.” (Jonah 3:4)
However, that warning
was obviously conditional as evidenced by the
fact that when the people of Nineveh repented,
and “God saw their works that they turned from
their evil way,” he withdrew the judgment and
did not destroy them (Jonah 3:10). Similarly,
when God promised the Israelites that the land
of Canaan would be their inheritance, that
pledge was contingent upon their fidelity to
their covenant with Yahweh (Deut. 28-30; Lev. 26; Josh. 23:14-15; Jer. 12:14-17; 18:7-11; 26:1-6).
Look at how these other passages describe God
fulfilling His promises to Israel:
Genesis 15:18 says, “On that day the LORD
made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To
your offspring I give this land,
from the river of
Egypt to the great river,
the river Euphrates,”
Joshua 21:43-45 says, “Thus the LORD gave to
Israel all the land that he swore to give to
their fathers. And they took possession of it,
and they settled there. 44 And the LORD gave
them rest on every side just as he had sworn to
their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had
withstood them, for the LORD had given all their
enemies into their hands. 45
Not one word of all
the good promises that the LORD had made to the
house of Israel had failed;
all came to pass.”
Joshua 24:28 says, “So Joshua sent the
people away, every man to his inheritance.”
2 Samuel 8:3 says, “David also defeated
Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he
went to restore his power at the river
Euphrates.”
1 Kings 4:21 says, “Solomon
ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates
to the land of the Philistines and to the border
of Egypt. They brought tribute and served
Solomon all the days of his life.”
2 Chronicles 9:26 says, “And he ruled over all the
kings from the Euphrates to the land of the
Philistines and to the border of Egypt.”
Nehemiah 9:8 says, “You found his heart faithful
before you, and made with him the covenant to
give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite,
the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the
Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept
your promise, for you are righteous.”
Jeremiah 11:5 says, “that I may confirm the oath
that I swore to your fathers, to give them a
land flowing with milk and honey, as at this
day.” Then I answered, “So be it, LORD.”
So, to say that God did not give Israel
all the land promised to Abraham is unbiblical.
Sadly, the Hebrew nation apostatized and lost
its special privileges with God (Lev. 26; Deut. 28-29; cf. Matt. 21:42-44; 23:37-39). Those
people who argue for Israel’s
intrinsic right to the land of Palestine
today overlook this very critical element of Bible
prophecy.
On the other hand, some
of the prophecies were absolute. Predictions concerning
the coming Messiah were not predicated upon
human response; they were fulfilled with amazing
accuracy. The Messiah was to be: the seed of
woman (Gen. 3:15), the offspring of Abraham
(Gen. 22:18), from the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10), born to a virgin (Isa. 7:14),
in the town of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), etc. There
was nothing conditional about these statements.
The Lord God kept His Word long before Jesus was ever
born. God kept His promise that He made to Abraham. The scriptures clearly
reveal that the promises were fulfilled shortly after the Lord made them. To
believe that these promises were not fulfilled until the 20th century does not
make sense based on the clear teaching of scripture. God is a faithful God that
keeps his covenants. So, the land promises that God made with Abraham were
fulfilled over 3,000 years ago! [1]
God’s promises to Abraham were ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.
“These are the inheritances that the people of
Israel received in the land of Canaan... (Josh. 14:1)
God made three major promises to Abraham.
He promised him a great
nation. God promised his descendants would be as the sand of the seashore and
the stars of the heavens (Gen. 22:17).
God promised Abraham that his family would possess
the Land where he lived as a stranger (Gen. 12:7).
Finally, God promised Abraham that his seed or
descendant after him would bless all nations (Gen. 22:18).
When were these promises fulfilled?
God fulfilled the promise of a nation when Abraham’s
family grew rapidly in Egypt and then entered into a covenant with them at Mount Sinai
(Gen. 46:3; Exod. 1:7; 19:3-6; Deut. 1:10; 10:22). He fulfilled the land promise when Joshua led the people
on the conquest of Canaan and then divided up the land (Josh. 21:43-45; 23:14-15; Num. 35:9-15). And
then God fulfilled the seed promise through his Son, Jesus Christ (Acts 3:25-26; Gal. 3:7-9; 3:29).
All this being said, there is a sense in which all
the promises made to Abraham either were fulfilled, or will be fulfilled in
Jesus, the promised Messiah. The promise of a nation to Abraham is not just the physical nation that came
from him but all of those who are Abraham’s spiritual descendants (Gal. 3:7-9; 3:29). Jesus was the
“seed” promised to Abraham (Gal. 3:16-17).
And just as Joshua brought the nation of Israel into
take possession of the Promised Land, our Joshua
(Jesus) is bringing us into the promised rest in
the land God has prepared for his people (Heb. 4:1-11).”
[2]
Conclusion:
The scriptures teach
that the Mosaic Covenant was conditional upon
Israel’s faithful response to the covenant given
at Mount Sinai (Lev. 26;
Deut. 28:15, 63, 64; 30:17-18).
The
continued inheritance of the physical land by Israel
was always conditional and could be revoked.
Joshua 23:12-16 says, “For if you turn back
and cling to the remnant of these nations
remaining among you and make marriages with
them, so that you associate with them and they
with you, 13 know for certain that the LORD your
God will no longer drive out these nations
before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap
for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your
eyes, until you perish from off this good ground
that the LORD your God has given you. 14 “And
now I am about to go the way of all the earth,
and you know in your hearts and souls, all of
you, that not one
word has failed of all the good things that the
LORD your God promised concerning you.
All have come to pass for you; not one of them
has failed. 15 But
just as all the good things that the LORD your
God promised concerning you have been fulfilled
for you, so
the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things,
until he has
destroyed you from off this good land that the
LORD your God has given you, 16
if you transgress the
covenant of the LORD your God, which
he commanded you, and go and serve other gods
and bow down to them.
Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled
against you,
and you shall perish quickly from off the good
land that he has given to you.”
(cf. Deut. 6:10, 15, 18, 19; 8:19-20; Deut. 9:5; 30:17-18;
Jer. 18:1-10; 19:10-11).
Israel
forfeited their national rights to the Kingdom by
rejecting their
Messiah!
“When the appointed time
came His people “received him not.” (John 1:11)
Three days before his crucifixion, Jesus
pronounced Heaven’s verdict on the Jewish
nation (Matt. 21:43-45; 23:27-39;
Luke 21:1-28).
When the Jews rejected the
Messiah, God brought the Old Covenant to a
complete end (Jer. 12:14-17; 18; 26:1-6; Dan. 9:26-27).
God would still have a remnant of Jews who
would be faithful to the New Covenant of Jesus
Christ (Rom. 9-11)
And God would still fulfill his
promise to bring the Gentiles into a saving
relationship with him (Isa. 60:1-5; Zech. 8:20-23; 14:9; Rom. 11:26-29).
The New Testament describes the spiritual
fulfillment of the land promises in the New
Covenant (Rom. 4:13-14;
Gal. 3:18; 4:23-28; Eph. 1:10-14; Heb. 4:3).
Nowhere in the New Testament does it say that
literal Israel will be restored to covenant
privileges outside of the New Covenant promises
given to the Church.
Galatians 3:26-29 says,
“for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God,
through faith. 27 For as many of you as were
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither
slave nor free, there is no male and female, for
you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you
are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring,
heirs according to promise.”
Many of the
Old Testament promises made with Israel were
conditional upon their faithfulness to the
Mosaic Covenant and will never be fulfilled
through Israel as a nation. The promises such as
those affirming Israel’s worldwide mission, the
ingathering of the Gentiles and those pointing
forward to the eternal rest in Canaan can never
be fulfilled. They were conditional upon
Israel’s faithfulness to their covenant with God
which they repeatedly broke.
The other promises that will be fulfilled
through the New Covenant Church as the new
people of God, will be done so in principle -
but not necessarily in detail because of the
fact that many details of those prophecies were
made with respect to Israel as a literal nation,
situated in the land of Palestine, whereas the
Christian Church is a spiritual “nation”
scattered all over the world. Those details
cannot be reapplied to the church in any literal
sense.
The authors of the New
Testament often reinterpret Old
Testament prophecies regarding Israel in
light of the new historical setting,
applying them to the church (Matt. 1:22-23; 2:15; 21:2;
Mark 1:2-3; 12:35-37; Luke 1:16-17; 20:16-17; 23:28-31;
John 10:34-35; 13:18; Acts 2:17-21; 15:15-17; Rom. 9:25-29; 1 Cor. 9:9-10;
Gal. 3:11, 16; 4:22-31; Heb. 4:1-10; 8:8-12;
1 Pet. 2:9-10).
Details that
depended upon the Jews continuing as God’s
chosen people in the land of Palestine have
lapsed by default. To lift selected passages out
of their literary and historical context in the
Old Testament and apply them arbitrarily to our day is
not a valid exegesis.
According to Romans 9-11, God still has a plan
for Israel as a people. God loves Israel and
desires the best for them, but just like the
Gentiles, their salvation will be based
on the new
covenant promises of Jesus Christ
and not on the promises made with the nation of
Israel under the terms of the Old Covenant.
References:
1. See:
God’s Land Promise to Abraham – Fulfilled?
2. See:
God’s Promises to Abraham Fulfilled in Jesus
&
The Fulfillment of God’s Promises to Abraham.
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