The Book of Genesis tells
of the covenant between Abraham and God, in which God promised Abraham that he
would have multitudes of descendants, and they would receive the land of Israel
as an inheritance, in perpetuity.
Christians and Jews who trust that the scriptures are the truth - the
inspired Word of God - believe that these verses give the Children of Israel
title deed to the land that is now called Israel.
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, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the
Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites,
the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.” (Genesis 15:18-21 NLT)
Abram’s father Terah and
his family left their home in Ur (Mesopotamia) to move to Canaan. However, they settled in Haran.
One
day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram’s wife),
and his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the
Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and
settled there. (Genesis 11:31 NLT)
After Terah died, God
called Abram to go to Canaan, and Abram obeyed God.
The
LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your
father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you
into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a
blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who
treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through
you.”
So
Abram departed as the LORD had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was
seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his
nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken
into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they
arrived in Canaan, Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem.
There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was
inhabited by Canaanites.
Then
the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your
descendants.” (Genesis 12:1-7 NLT)
One of the reasons some
Christians in the United States steadfastly support Israel today is that God
said He would bless those who bless the Children of Israel and curse those who oppose
them. God’s statement that all will be
blessed through Abram is believed by many Christians to indicate that
Messiah would be Abram’s descendant. Jesus of Nazareth was a descendant of
Abram (later Abraham). (Matthew 1:1-16, Luke 3:23-38)
Abram’s nephew Lot settled
on the plain of the Jordan River, and Abram settled in Canaan.
Lot,
who was traveling with Abram, had also become very wealthy with flocks of sheep
and goats, herds of cattle, and many tents. But the land could not support
both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close
together. So disputes broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot.
(At that time Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land.)
Finally
Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not allow this conflict to come between us or our
herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives! The whole countryside is
open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will
separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the
right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.”
Lot
took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of
Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the LORD
or the beautiful land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah.) Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of
them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his
uncle Abram. So Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot moved his
tents to a place near Sodom and settled among the cities of the plain. But
the people of this area were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against the
LORD.
After
Lot had gone, the LORD said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every
direction—north and south, east and west. I am giving all this land, as
far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent
possession. And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust
of the earth, they cannot be counted! Go and walk through the land in
every direction, for I am giving it to you.” (Genesis 13:5-17 NLT)
Abram’s wife, Sarai, was
barren, but God promised Abram that he would have a son, and that his
descendants would be as numerous as the stars.
Then the Lord promised Abram’s offspring a homeland, and He described
its boundaries.
So
the LORD made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land
to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great
Euphrates River— the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites,
Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites,
Girgashites, and Jebusites.” (Genesis 15:18-21 NLT)
Now Abram’s wife Sarai
became impatient because she did not conceive.
She gave Abram her Egyptian slave Hagar to be his wife, so that she
could give Abram children by her slave.
After Hagar got pregnant, she lorded it over Sarai. So, Sarai mistreated Hagar, and she ran away. Hagar met an angel near a spring in the
desert, and the angel told her to return and submit to Sarai’s authority. Then the angel prophesied that Hagar would
have so many descendants they could not be counted. The angel told Hagar she would have a son,
and to name her son Ismael. The angel
told Hagar what her son would be like.
And
the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You
are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the LORD has heard your
cry of distress. This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a
wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be
against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.”
Thereafter,
Hagar used another name to refer to the LORD, who had spoken to her. She said,
“You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One
who sees me?” So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of
the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered.
So
Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named him Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six
years old when Ishmael was born. (Genesis 16:11-15 NLT)
God spoke with Abram
again, and He renewed His covenant (agreement, contract, pledge, pact) with
him, promising him many descendants. God
promised that He would be the God of Abraham and his offspring, and that He
would give them the land of Canaan as an “everlasting possession.” God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and
Sarai’s name to Sarah. Then God
established male circumcision as a sign of the covenant between God, Abraham,
and his descendants. (Genesis 17: 1-15)
God promised that Sarah
would have Abraham’s son, and that his name would be Isaac. God established that Isaac would be the heir
of the covenant. The promises of the
covenant apply to Isaac and his progeny, not to Ismael.
Then
God said to Abraham, “Regarding Sarai, your wife—her name will no longer be
Sarai. From now on her name will be Sarah. And I will bless her and give
you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the
mother of many nations. Kings of nations will be among her descendants.”
Then
Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. “How
could I become a father at the age of 100?” he thought. “And how can Sarah have
a baby when she is ninety years old?” So Abraham said to God, “May
Ishmael live under your special blessing!”
But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for
you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and
his descendants as an everlasting covenant. As for Ishmael, I will bless him also, just as
you have asked. I will make him extremely fruitful and multiply his
descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a
great nation. But my covenant will be confirmed with Isaac, who
will be born to you and Sarah about this time next year.” When God had finished speaking, he left
Abraham. (Genesis 17:15-22 NLT) (emphasis added)
Just as God had promised,
Isaac was born to Sarah and Abraham.
However, Ismael mocked him, and Sarah asked Abraham to cast Hagar and
Ismael out. Abraham was upset about it,
but God gave him guidance.
But
God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your
slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through
Isaac shall your offspring be named. And I will make a nation of
the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” So
Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave
it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her
away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. (Genesis
21:12-14 NLT) (emphasis added)
Ismael fathered twelve tribes, just as Isaac’s son
Jacob did. His descendants settled near the border with Egypt, and they lived in
hostility toward their neighbors. (Genesis 25:12-18)
Isaac was the father of
Jacob. Jacob’s name was later changed to
Israel, (Genesis 32:28) and it is by that name that Jacob’s descendants are
known. They are called, “Israelites,”
and it is because they are descended from Abraham through Isaac and Jacob
(Israel) that they are the heirs of God’s covenant.
Jacob tricked Isaac into
giving him the blessing that was due to his brother Esau. To escape Esau’s vengeance, he had to flee to
avoid being killed. (Genesis 27) He
camped at Bethel, and while he was sleeping, God promised him the land.
Meanwhile,
Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. At sundown he arrived at
a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a
stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. As he slept, he
dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the
angels of God going up and down the stairway.
At
the top of the stairway stood the LORD, and he said, “I am the LORD, the God of
your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are
lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. Your
descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out
in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all
the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your
descendants. What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever
you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until
I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” (Genesis 28:10-15
NLT)
On his way back home years
later, God appeared to Jacob at Bethel and changed his name to Israel. Then, God gave Israel the same covenant
promises he had given to Abraham and Isaac.
Now
that Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again at Bethel.
God blessed him, saying, “Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called
Jacob any longer. From now on your name will be Israel.” So God renamed
him Israel.
Then
God said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Be fruitful and multiply. You will
become a great nation, even many nations. Kings will be among your
descendants! And I will give you the land I once gave to Abraham and
Isaac. Yes, I will give it to you and your descendants after you.” Then
God went up from the place where he had spoken to Jacob. (Genesis 35:9-13 NLT)
Later, when God led the
Children of Israel out of Egypt where they had been enslaved for 400 years, He
told Moses that they would inherit the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob.
And
I will fix your boundaries from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and
from the eastern wilderness to the Euphrates River. (Exodus 23:31 NLT)
The
LORD said to Moses, “Get going, you and the people you brought up from the land
of Egypt. Go up to the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I
told them, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ And I will send
an angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites,
Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Go up to this land that flows with
milk and honey. ... (Exodus 33:1-3 NLT)
Then
the LORD said to Moses, “Give these instructions to the Israelites: When
you come into the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your special
possession, these will be the boundaries. The southern portion of your
country will extend from the wilderness of Zin, along the edge of Edom. The
southern boundary will begin on the east at the Dead Sea. It will then
run south past Scorpion Pass in the direction of Zin. Its southernmost
point will be Kadesh-barnea, from which it will go to Hazar-addar, and on to
Azmon. From Azmon the boundary will turn toward the Brook of Egypt and
end at the Mediterranean Sea.
“Your
western boundary will be the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.
“Your
northern boundary will begin at the Mediterranean Sea and run east to Mount
Hor, then to Lebo-hamath, and on through Zedad and Ziphron to
Hazar-enan. This will be your northern boundary.
“The
eastern boundary will start at Hazar-enan and run south to Shepham, then
down to Riblah on the east side of Ain. From there the boundary will run down
along the eastern edge of the Sea of Galilee, and then along the Jordan
River to the Dead Sea. These are the boundaries of your land.”
Then
Moses told the Israelites, “This territory is the homeland you are to divide
among yourselves by sacred lot. The LORD has commanded that the land be divided
among the nine and a half remaining tribes. The families of the tribes of
Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have already received their grants
of land on the east side of the Jordan River, across from Jericho toward
the sunrise.” (Numbers 34:1-15 NLT)
On today’s map, the boundaries
given in Numbers 34 include Gaza and portions of Lebanon, and Syria. They also include the Golan Heights and the West Bank.
Although I think I have a
little understanding about the Muslim’s claim to the promised land, I try not
to explain the teachings of other faiths.
Therefore, I will not attempt to explain Islam’s claim to the lands now
known as Israel. It is clear that
Islamic Radicals and Jihadis believe strongly that the land belongs to the
Muslims.
I know that this post will
not settle this matter in the minds of many.
I hope that it will demonstrate why Christians like me believe that the land of Israel belongs to the Children of Israel, and why we support the struggle of
the Israelis for a national homeland.
Note: All of the Bible
verses quoted here were copied from https://biblehub.com/
