For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle (Zechariah 14:2a)
Does this recent Middle East War surprise anyone? You see, right now there is an appearance of world support for Israel. But as plain is the nose on my face, I see where this is leading. As of now the mass media drumbeat is starting to shine its eyes on Gaza and civilians getting killed. When the IDF does what it must, there will be casualties, and the global media will be all but happy to magnify that reality thusly to turn world opinion against Israel. It is only a matter of time before the media will treat Israel like a pariah despite the IDF going out of their way to mitigate civilian loss of life. As appalling as it is to see innocent civilians killed, it nevertheless is a necessary evil of war, one I do not like to see.
I hear a lot of “This response needs to be proportional…” Well, proportional isn’t how war works. War is not about being fair and equal. It is about destroying what wants to destroy you.
We all agree that World War II was a righteous fight for the allies, yes? Let’s just look at one small part. The struggle against the US and Imperial Japan. The Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. The US was totally caught off guard just as Israel was on October 7th, 2023. When the US was attacked 2,403 Americans were killed, 68 of which were civilians. This pulled America into a global war, and as Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto claimed: “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” By the end of the war the Japanese lost over half a million civilians most killed by the US in bombing raids. Well, that doesn’t seem very “proportional” does it?
“What a murderous America”… WAIT! Indeed, those numbers seem cruel and unfair and disproportional. And if the current media was reporting back then, they would have sold it as how evil of the US to do this, How America committed atrocities, and bla bla bla.. Again, war is NOT fair. And to save lives you must wage war with such overwhelming brutal force to bring it to a conclusion as FAST as possible.
Had the US not bombed Japan as overwhelmingly as it did, MOST assuredly the Allies would have had to invade mainland Japan. This would have undoubtedly cost the lives of hundreds of thousands, if not nearing a million allied men killed. Not to mention the Japanese would have nearly ALL fought to the death as well as mass suicides. Like the images of Okinawan mothers holding their infants and plunging themselves off cliffs to their death.
It was because of those mass casualties inflicted that lives were saved. Not only those of the allies but those of the Japanese. Had the mainland been invaded, one of the world’s greatest cultures, the Japanese people, would have effectively ceased to exist. And that would have been WAY MORE tragic/costly than what the actual casualties were.
Hamas is pure evil and must be destroyed. For Israel not to do so now will result in more Israeli and many more Arab civilians killed.
Now to the issue. The war is a result of Israel being an occupier. Truth be told, just about every culture occupied or has conquered its current homeland. But, with regards to the Holy Land, GOD Himself has decided who will live there and when they shall live there. There is an actual deed issued by the LORD himself.
Let’s see just who owns that land.
Jerusalem is one of the most fascinating places I have ever walked. It is a city of gold when the sun rests upon her at its rising or setting. It is Holy to Jewish people, Christians, and Muslims alike. It has an enormous history dating back to Abraham. In fact, it is the epicenter of the earth. Many people of many faiths all lay claim to her (Zion).
“It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it” (Zechariah 12:3).
There is perhaps no more hotly debated issue than the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, how Israel is an “Apartheid state that stole the land from the rightful owners, the Palestinians.” Well, let us allow for truth to permeate this topic, shall we?
I got this legal book here called “The Bible.” When I opened it to search for a deed to the Holy Land, guess what? Yes, I found it. Not surprisingly, in multiple places. Can you say, “Replete”? Good! It is today’s word of the day. SO Almighty God, the creator of ALL things, ruler of ALL rulers – He is the One that has the final say in this matter. He has spoken, not in some obscure passage you must cryptically cipher, but He has stated repeatedly and quite clearly. So then let us check off all the boxes and see just who has the deed to the Holy Land.
So, who is the owner?
“The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it” (Psalm 24:1).
Righto, that scripture tells us that everything there is in existence is rightfully belongs to the LORD. Therefore, if God wished to give something to someone, He jolly well can. He is, after all, sovereign. Interestingly, in the Word of God, He in his infinite wisdom gave a specific place, to a specific man and his family (a specific people group):
“The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, ‘Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever’” (Genesis 13:14-15).
So then, The Owner of everything just gave a land to a man and his descendants, forever! Aha! You object, saying the Palestinians (Arabs) are descendants of Abraham. In fact, Abraham fathered MANY nations, so there! Ok, granted that is true:
“Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, ‘As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations’” (Genesis 17:3-5).
However, do you recall the word for today? Yes, replete. God has a lot to say concerning this, and unless you are steeped in the erroneous doctrine of replacement theology, whereas you need to twist plain scripture into a pretzel, it will become evidently clear.
Everlasting Covenant
Concisely, a covenant was when two parties would enter an agreement by cutting animals in half, then by walking between the cut parts, vowing “May this happen to us” if they violate their agreement. The Hebrew word for covenant literally means to cut.
“The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him” (Genesis 15:11-12).
God sent birds of prey down upon the carcasses, and thus Abraham likely wore himself out fending them away. We see here that Abraham fell into a deep sleep. Then something interesting happens:
“It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite” (Genesis 15:17-21).
Notice in those passages, only one party passed between the pieces. God Himself. Therefore, if God cannot lie, cannot fail, and cannot deny Himself, can he violate his agreement with Abraham? Absolutely not! Thus, the LORD gave the Land to Abraham’s descendants. He also laid out the geographic area so there can be NO discrepancy of what area we are talking about.
But which descendants? Right, let us go there!
“But God said, ‘No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation’” (Genesis 17:19-20).
Righto, that crosses Ishmael and his descendants off the list. Ismael is largely believed to be the father of the Arab peoples.
Thus, God established the Everlasting Covenant with Abraham’s son Isaac and his descendants after him. Indeed, Isaac had two sons, (fraternal twins) Esau born first, and then Jacob second. Therefore, by birthright, Esau is the heir to this promise, right? Well, yes but… “Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, ‘If it is so, why then am I this way?’ So she went to inquire of the LORD. The LORD said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger’” (Genesis 25:21-23).
The LORD God, in His omniscience, knew that a meddling mother would plot to have her favorite son steal the birthright through deception. “Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob” (Genesis 25:28).
Please read Genesis chapter 27 to learn about this plot and deception. Sadly, for Rebecca, her meddling cost her from seeing her son Jacob ever again.
So then, the blessing of birthright passed to Jacob. Jacob, while fleeing for his life from Esau’s anger, encountered GOD on the way to Haran. God re-affirmed the Everlasting Covenant to Jacob:
“And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, ‘I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed’” (Genesis 28:13-14).
It seems quite clear to me that Jacob and His descendants were given this land forever. God must have REALLY wanted us to know this fact. Since the word for the day is replete…
“then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land” (Leviticus 26:42).
“He has remembered His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations, The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac. Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, Saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan As the portion of your inheritance’” (Psalm 105:8-11).
“He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth. Remember His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations, The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac. He also confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, Saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan, As the portion of your inheritance’” (1 Chronicles 16:14-18).
Everlasting Covenant. When, pray tell, does that end exactly? Everlasting means without end maybe? So then, the Holy Land today still belongs to the Jewish people, the descendants of Jacob. It did not expire, nor was it given to other people. These are literal words commanded from Almighty God, stating QUITE clearly who the land belongs to.
No, the Jewish people were not cast off and the promises given to the church. In fact, God Himself answers the question of the Jewish people being cast out and cast away:
“Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: ‘If this fixed order departs From before Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.’ Thus says the LORD, ‘If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,’ declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 31:35-37).
Well then, that seals that. I am certain all those calamities have not happened. I am no genius, but I think I can tell that the sun and stars are still there. Therefore, God has not forgotten His Covenant, His People, or His land.
Long before May 14th, 1948, God said the Jewish people shall return to their own land. The modern State of Israel was born in a single day, before the pains and trials of birth. Most nations are born or after a struggle for independence. Israel was an exception, being born with no pain; then the struggle came afterwards. Just as Isaiah foretold:
“Before she travailed, she brought forth; Before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy, Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?’ says the LORD. ‘Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?’ says your God” (Isaiah 66:7-9).
“Then it will happen on that day that the Lord Will again recover the second time with His hand The remnant of His people, who will remain, From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, And from the islands of the sea. And He will lift up a standard for the nations And assemble the banished ones of Israel, And will gather the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:11-12).
For a second time. That rules out this prophecy being attributed to Babylonian exile. What other time were the Jewish people uprooted? Indeed so, I believe this refers to the scattering by the Roman empire after The Bar Kokhba revolt. Oh, yes… “Replete”:
“Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, And gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar And My daughters from the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 43:5-6).
“Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, And make gardens and eat their fruit. I will also plant them on their land, And they will not again be rooted out from their land Which I have given them,’ Says the LORD your God” (Amos 9:14-15).
These prophecies have been and are currently being fulfilled to this day. The scattered remnant is going home. I also believe it is a matter of time before God even pries His people out of America and back home to the land given them by God.
Brethren, I know this has been a concise treatment on the subject. I hope this sheds some light on just who has the deed to the Holy Land. God’s word is quite clear on the Jewish people being the rightful owners of the land. I earnestly challenge that you examine all the scriptures I quoted in totality. Knowing these scriptures will help arm yourself against those who try to assert the Jewish people have no right to the Land they inhabit. I highly recommend a good reading of Jeremiah chapter 31 as it will summarize this EVERLASTING COVENANT.
Also, I challenge you to think on these questions:
- If God changed His mind about His promise to the Jewish people, what is to stop Him from changing His mind about the church and salvation through Jesus Christ?
- Where is your eternal security if God can lie, fail, and deny Himself?
Food for thought…
Shalom,
Brian
