Genesis 15: 12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
It was God who made a covenant with Himself on behalf of Abraham. He was both the smoking furnace and the burning lamp passing between the halves of the carcasses.
Genesis 15: 17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
The Abrahamic Covenant is an unconditional covenant.
Genesis 15:18 In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: 19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, 20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, 21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
There were no conditions that Abraham or the Israelites had to keep in that covenant.
God promised to bring them back together as a nation in that land under one King and a combined nation once again.
Jeremiah 31: 8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. 9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. 10 Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
Ezekiel 37: 19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. 20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. 21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.
Paul told us that would happen after God had taken from the Gentiles a people.
Rom 11:25 "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in."
No where in scripture can you find a place to make the covenant where God made the land of Canaan the land for the Israelites either conditional on Israel keeping the covenant or that the land of Canaan meant something other than the physical land of Canaan.
Israel was NOT combined as a nation with the tribe of Judah in 70AD so those prophesies can not have been fulfilled.
You are ignoring the plain text of the scriptures. This is the scripture you posted.
"In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: (Genesis 15:18)
I believe it to be virtually impossible to understand that verse without the benefit of the new covenant: the New Testament; or, more specifically this verse where Paul explains that the promises were not made to 'SEEDS' as in plural or many, but to ONLY ONE SEED, which is Christ. That is where the Jews of old failed my people, and that is where the founders of dispensationalism have failed their followers:
"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)
Paul also said this:
"And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Gal 3:29 KJV)
Therefore, as a seed of Abraham through Christ, I am making my claim at this time to a share of all the promises to Abraham and his seed, as should every Christian.
>>>God promised to bring them back together as a nation in that land under one King and a combined nation once again<<<
They are back together under one King, whose name is Christ, whose throne is in heaven, which will forever be located in heaven. They serve Christ as priests in his holy temple. Those who came later: those not of the remnant from the days of Christ, such as myself, have only one route to Christ. You can find that route mentioned many times in the New Testament, and it is NOT achieved through animal sacrifices or Old Testament rituals.
Philip
Actually, they were bound together in Christ, and is explained in these verses:
"…I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment." (Eze 34:11-16 KJV)
Note the term, "high mountains of Israel." That is referring to the spiritual area of the heavenly mount Sion, where the holy city New Jerusalem is located. It is the same one John spoke of in the Revelation. The destruction of the fat and strong was the destruction of Jerusalem and other cities of Israel by the Roman Armies.
Here Jesus makes it clear that he came only for the lost sheep, as implied by Ezekiel:
"… I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Mat 15:24 KJV)
And to whom did he send his disciples? To the lost sheep:
"These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give." (Mat 10:5-8 KJV)
And Jesus promised to come back for them in their generation, which he did:
"And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come." (Mat 10:22-23 KJV)
Jesus' fold was the house of Judah. The other fold was the house of Israel. He bound them together (the remnant) into one fold:
"I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." (John 10:14-16 KJV)
Philip
Is that what this verse you quoted means?
Rom 11:25 "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in."
That verse you quoted is from the New International Version. The King James and most other translations read somewhat differently. This is the King James:
"For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." (Rom 11:25 KJV)
And this is the Greek:
(4138) play’-ro-mah; repletion or completion, i.e. (subject) what fills (as contents, supplement, copiousness, multitude), or (object) what is filled (as container, performance, period): — which is put in to fill up, piece that filled up, fulfilling, full, fulness.
Okay, what did Paul tell us? I, frankly, do not know anyone who knows what Romans 11:25 means. It is like asking 100 economists a question and getting 125 different answers. I am not implying they would not all pretend to know.
As a matter of fact, your interpretation leaves a lot to be desired. How can we, Jews and Gentiles, be fellowcitizens in the present tense in Paul's day, and yet be strangers until 2000 years later? That makes no sense. Take note in the following passage of the keyword "ARE", which denotes present tense in our language:
"Now therefore ye [Jews and Gentiles] are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." (Eph 2:19-22 KJV)
That "present tense" can only mean that Paul was referring to the Holy Temple that existed in his days, and the Jew and Gentile Christians of his day. The alternative is to spiritualize the scripture to make it mean some other time period.
I believe that no one, but the Lord and maybe his heavenly host, really knows what Romans 11:25 means: they can only speculate. Therefore, we are left with interpretation by means of context.
To put Romans 11:25 in context requires other verses from the chapter, such as the next verse:
"And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: (Rom 11:25)
And who was all Israel? Not many of those who would claim to be, according to Isaiah and Paul:
"Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. " (Rom 9:27-28 KJV)
"Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded." (Rom 11:5-7 KJV)
"Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel… That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." (Rom 9:6, 8 KJV)
So, after all that, we can now ask, "who are considered to be the children of Israel (Jacob) and Abraham, Israel's grandfather?" Well, it was not these that John the Baptist confronted:
"But when [John the Baptist] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." (Mat 3:7-9 KJV)
Nor, these that Jesus met in the Temple:
"They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham." (John 8:39 KJV)
So much for blood-lines and lineage. So who are the children of Israel (Jacob) and his grandfather, Abraham, and are, therefore, heirs to the promises? Paul makes not bones about it:
"And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Gal 3:29 KJV)
The remnant of old Israel (aka, the election of Israel (of Jacob) according to grace) were Christ's, and became heirs, as are all Christians. However, those "elect" are another matter altogether. I believe they are the "144, 000" serving Christ in his temple.
Philip