Replies

WERE GOD’S PROMISES TO ISRAEL UNCONDITIONAL AND FOREVER?

“And I will establish my covenant between you and Me, and you and your offspring after you, through their generations for an everlasting covenant. . . and I will give to you and your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.” (Genesis 17:7-8; cf. Genesis 13:14-15; 48:4; Isaiah 60:21)

“The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as He has sworn to you, IF you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. . . But IF you will not obey. . . the LORD will send on you curses. . . until you are destroyed.” (Deuteronomy 28:9, 15, 20. See also Deuteronomy 29-32; Leviticus 18:28; 26:14-46; Joshua 23:15-16; 1 Kings 9:6-9, and Zechariah 11:10.)

Errors of biblical interpretation arise for several reasons, including:

1. Failure to reconcile all passages on the same topic, especially when they seem to be different.
2. Erroneous presuppositions from errors arising from one’s denominational echo chamber (“mass formation hypnosis”).
3. Confusing new covenant things with old covenant things.

The two passages above from Genesis and Deuteronomy appear to be contradictory. On the one hand, God’s promises to Israel are everlasting. On the other hand, they are contingent on obedience. How do we reconcile these? Here’s how:

“God’s promises to Israel were forever so long as they were obedient. If they fail the obedience test, the promises are null and void. There is a limit to God’s patience.”

Was Israel obedient? NO. Because of this disobedience, God took the blessings of the covenant away from the Jews as we see in such passages as this from the Parable of the Tenants (Matthew 21:33-45):

“Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. . . When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that He was speaking about them.” (Matthew 21:43, 45)― leaving a remnant of faithful Jews to be saved along with believers in Christ―the new Israel of God (Romans 11).

The Old Testament declared that the land promises to Israel had been fulfilled (Joshua 21:43-45; 23:14-15; 1 Kings 8:56; Nehemiah 9:7-8). The New Testament declares that all God’s covenant promises were fulfilled in Jesus (Matthew 5:17; Luke 1:68-73; Acts 13:32-33; Romans 15:8-9; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Galatians 3;16; Hebrews 8:6-13).

Further, according to Kenneth Gentry, “First, lexically, the Hebrew word translated ‘forever’ is olam. It does not necessarily indicate unending perpetuity, but may represent a long period of time. For instance, it applies to the Old Testament sacrificial system, as in the practice of the Passover (which was fulfilled in Christ, Exo. 12:14, 17, 24), the continuation of offerings for the Aaronic priesthood (which has long since vanished, Exo. 29:28; cp. Exo. 40:15; Num. 25:13), and the permanence of the temple (which was fulfilled in Christ and destroyed in AD 70, 2 Chron. 7:16). Clearly these samples of ‘forever’ do not speak of unending duration, not even until the end of temporal history. This is further confirmed when ‘forever’ speaks of the permanent status in Israel of a slave who wants to remain with his master’s house (Exo. 21:6) and the memorial stones set up by Joshua (Josh. 4:7).”

It was necessary that the old covenant and what was connected to it should be fulfilled and vanish away, in order that a place might be found for the new and everlasting covenant, the “BETTER covenant, which was established upon BETTER PROMISES” (Hebrews 8:6-13).

“In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” (Hebrews 8:13)

The new covenant began at the cross, being announced at the Last Supper when Jesus declared “This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20). The New Covenant is eternal (Hebrews 13:20). There is no third covenant and no backpedaling to the first.

The old covenant was ready to VANISH AWAY. It was imminent. That is completely clear. You just cannot whitewash that without doing violence to the text! The ceremonial aspects of the old covenant (especially the sacrificial system) went away when the temple was destroyed in AD 70. Only the moral aspects of the Law remained, as the New Testament re-affirmed at least nine of the Ten Commandments as valid.
For in Romans 4:9-25 Paul shows what was in God’s sight for Abraham’s children was to be not only of a natural line of posterity, but also “the father of ALL them that believe, though they are not circumcised.” And in that connection, he refers to the promise we are considering, and says: “For the promise that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the LAW, but through the righteousness of FAITH” (v. 13).
Here we get a view of the vast extent and the TRUE character of this promise; and we see also that the heirs of the promise are, not Abraham’s natural descendants, but his SPIRITUAL children. And this is confirmed by what is written in Galatians 3:7 and 3:29. “Understand, then, that (all) those who believe ARE children of Abraham… And if you belong to Christ, then YOU ARE Abraham’s seed, and HEIRS according to the PROMISE.”

But, why did God take the blessings of the kingdom away from the Jews? ANSWER:

1. They were exceeding sinful (Matthew 12:38-39; 16:4; 23:13-38; Luke 9:41).

2. They broke the old covenant (Hebrews 8:8-9).

3. They persecuted and killed Jesus’ followers (Matthew 21:34-36; 22:5-6; 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16; Revelation 18:20-24). Indeed, according to Jesus, the first century Jews would suffer the penalty for all the righteous blood ever shed (Matthew 23:35-36).

4. They refused to accept Jesus as Messiah (Matthew 23:37).

5. They participated with Rome in Jesus’ crucifixion (Matthew 21:37-39; 27:24-26; John 19:15.)

Can we be certain that the warnings to Israel in Deuteronomy 28-32 were fulfilled in the first century? Yes! Jesus tied the fulfillment of Deuteronomy 28-32 to his own generation multiple times. For example, the time of VENGEANCE from Deuteronomy 32:35, 41, 43 was the first-century generation. Jesus said, “THESE are the days of VENGEANCE to fulfill all that is written” (Luke 21:22, 32). Jesus also echoed the Deuteronomy prophecy about a “perverse generation” (Deuteronomy 32:20), and told the Jews of his day that THEY were that generation (Matthew 12:38-39, 42; Luke 11:29-32).

The New Testament writers affirmed their own generation as the “perverse/crooked” one (Acts 2:40; Romans 10:19; Philippians 2:13-15). In Matthew 3:1-12, John the Baptist introduced Jesus to the world―not concerning the good news of the gospel―but rather concerning the wrath which was “about to come” (Matthew 3:7, Julia Smith Literal Translation). Indeed, Jesus would baptize them (the Pharisees and Sadducees) with fire (Matthew 3:11). The axe was already laid at the root of the tree (Matthew 3:10), teaching that the judgment prophesied in Malachi 3-4 was imminent. The judgment was indeed imminent and ties perfectly with the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple in AD 70.

In Matthew 23:29-39 Jesus told the Jews of his day that THEY were the target of his wrath, upon whom judgment for the blood of all the prophets EVER IN HISTORY would befall, fulfilling the prophecy from Deuteronomy 32:43! Of further note, Revelation echoes this condemnation against “the great city Babylon” (Revelation 18:21-24) which is clearly identified as the “city where the Lord was slain” (Revelation 11:8-9), again confirming that the Great Judgment was against Jerusalem—an event which would “shortly take place” (Revelation 1:1-3; 18:10; 22:6-20).

Is God finished with Israel? Yes, but only old-covenant Israel, not new-covenant spiritual Israel. It’s not about land, but about the spread of Christianity over the whole world.

The truly everlasting covenant would be the New Covenant in Christ (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 37:26-27; Hebrews 13:20)―a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28).

But wait. What about 1948? Doesn’t that prove the Jews were in God’s favor forever? Well, a nineteen-hundred-year gap is not exactly forever. Further, there are passages that confirm that the judgment of God against the Jews in AD 70 was indefinite. For example: In Matthew 21:18-19, Jesus curses the fig tree, an Old Testament symbol for Old Covenant Israel (Jeremiah 24; Hosea 9:10; Luke 13:6-9). And the fig tree withered away permanently. Then, consider Matthew 21:33-45, the Parable of the Tenants. Jesus tells the Jews that the kingdom is being taken away from them and given to another group, obviously the church. (cf. Isaiah 65:16) And in Matthew 23:34-36, Jesus himself condemns the Jews of his day, telling them that THEY would suffer the penalty for all the righteous blood ever shed on earth.

In Romans 11:5, 11-32, Israel is all Christ-believing Jews and Gentiles. Jews who reject Christ are broken branches (11:19-21). Gentiles are grafted in by faith in the Hebrew Messiah, along with a remnant of faithful Jews (11:5). “All Israel will be saved” (v. 26) does not mean all genetic Jews will be saved, which would be nonsense and contrary to everything taught in the New Testament. Further, a genetic link of modern Jews to Abraham cannot be verified anyway. In Revelation 21:22, At the AD 70 final judgment of old covenant Israel, the temple was destroyed, to be replaced by Jesus as the permanent focus of our worship.

1948 has nothing to do with biblical Israel or prophecy. The modern state of Israel is not even a religious state. And Jesus said that his kingdom is not of this world. That declaration alone eliminates modern Israel as belonging to God’s kingdom (John 18:36). Further, the genetic line from Abraham cannot be proven. We can only conclude that that national Israel today has nothing to do with the Bible or biblical prophecy.

For more about this, see my article about the everlasting Israel of God in the new covenant―and the fundamental change to God’s covenant community:

https://prophecyquestions.com/who-is-the-israel-of-god-in-the-new-covenant