He would also have to explain how Nero desolated the Temple in 70AD when he had already died two years earlier in 68AD.
Then they have to explain how God doesn’t keep His promises to the nation of Israel.
Genesis 17: 7And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 8And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
The land of Canaan had specific dimensions and covered a specific area of land as described in Numbers 34.
God has once again established the nation of Israel on part of that land but will soon give them the entire area promised them for an “everlasting possession”.
>>>Then they have to explain how God doesn’t keep His promises to the nation of Israel. (Genesis 17: 7)<<<
Israel didn’t' keep its promise, but God kept his promise. Christ inherited all the promises:
"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." (Gal 3:16 KJV)
All the promises went to the single seed of Christ. Two verses after the verse you quoted, God said:
"And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations." (Genesis 17:9)
Who kept the covenant? Certainly not the nation of Israel. They broke it in every way imaginable. They even broke the land covenant!
"Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it." (Num 33:51-53 KJV)
Did Israel follow those commands? No. And this was their punishment:
"But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them." (Num 33:55-56 KJV)
And what had God thought to do unto those nations that Israel was supposed to drive out?
"And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God." (Deu 8:19-20 KJV)
That is history. Besides, Abraham received his "promised land," in heaven, where he desired it to be. If the land of Canaan was Abraham's "promised land," then why was he a stranger in it? This is Abraham's promised land:
"Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city." (Heb 11:12-16 KJV)
One final point that I rarely hear: God was so angry at Israel that he threatened to destroy the lot of them and give the promises to Moses, and Moses' seed:
"And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee [Moses] a great nation. And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?" (Exo 32:9-11 KJV)
Moses intervened on Israel's behalf; otherwise we would have been talking about Moses like we talk about Jacob. But Moses also prophesied that it was just a matter of time for Israel to remain in God's good grace:
"For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my death? Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them. For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended." (Deu 31:27-30 KJV)
In Deut 28 Moses prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, in remarkable detail. He also prophesied this:
"For 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. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people." (Acts 3:22-23 KJV)
Therefore, anyone who teaches that Israel has an alternate route to salvation is doing a great disservice to Israel, and frankly is a false prophet or teacher.
Philip
What does that statement have anything to do with what is written? Did you make up that requirement, or did someone else make it up?
>>>Then they have to explain how God doesn’t keep His promises to the nation of Israel.<<<
God kept his promises to Abraham and his seed, which was in Christ. The fact that you do not understand the New Testament does not change the scripture. The nation of Israel, on the other hand, did not keep its promises to God. I challenge you to prove otherwise.
>>>God has once again established the nation of Israel on part of that land but will soon give them the entire area promised them for an “everlasting possession”.<<<
Are you certain that is not the word of the devil. Even some Jewish scholars do not believe it is the work of God.
Who is the "nation of Israel?" Are they those who worship a strange, anti-Christian God found in Talmudic Judaism. Are they the blood kin of the old nation of Israel? Who exactly is the "nation of Israel?" How do you define a Jew? Are they the true bloods of old Israel who descendents never married outside their race?
One other point: has God became a respector of persons in this age, when he said many times that he was not, and warned us not to be? Frankly, I don't think so.
Therefore, I will assume all Christians are the children of Abraham, and all Christians have the sole right to the promised land above any non-Christian, regardless of race.
Philip