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Are the Messianic Promises
Still in Effect? Who are the Israel of God? This question would be
meaningless if there were not some doubt or a possibility of one
being mistaken about who is heir to the promises of God. To make
sure that we should not err regarding this important truth Paul
declared, "They which are the children of the flesh,
(natural descendants of Abraham) these are not the children of
God; but the children of the promise (faith) are counted for the
seed." Rom. 9:8. The purpose of this enquiry is to examine
the Word of God briefly and see what promises God made to the
Jews and what became of them.
Let us turn our attention to the land God promised to
Abraham. The borders and extent of this land are first defined
in Gen. 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." This promise was fulfilled during the reign of
Solomon as recorded in 2 Chron. 9:26, "And he, reigned over
all the kings from the river, (Euphrates, marg.) even unto the
land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt."
The terms of God's Covenant Concerning the Promised Land.
God gave the Jews very definite conditions for them to
observe in order for them to remain in the land. This was part
of His covenant. In Deut. 8:19, 20 we read, "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 destroyed before your face, SO shall ye perish; because
ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your
God." The conditions are defined at greater length and more
emphatically in Deut. 30:17-20, "But IF thine heart turn
away…and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto
you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not
prolong your days upon the land whither thou passest over Jordan
to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day
against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing
and cursing; therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed
may live…that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord
sware unto thy fathers , to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob to
give them."
Herein lies the sternest warning to the Jews. It sets forth
the conditions imposed on them in order for them to remain in
the land, and the penalty for their disobedience. "Heaven
and earth" does bear witness to the fact that they broke
their covenant and that they were expelled from Palestine.
Accordingly we read the very nature of their punishment in Deut.
28:25, "The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before
thine enemies; thou shalt go out one way against them and flee
seven ways before them; and shalt be removed into all the
kingdoms of the earth." God fulfilled His obligation, when
He gave them the land; it was their duty to obey God in order to
remain there. God did not promise to give it to them a second or
third time if they, through their disobedience, lost the
blessing. When they willfully broke the covenant they became
heirs to the curses thereof. History abundantly attests the fact
that they have reaped the consequences of their choice. Proof
that God fulfilled His pledge to them is given in 1 Kings 8:56.
"Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest to Israel,
according to all that He promised; there hath not failed one
word of all His good promises which He promised by the hand of
Moses His servant." This same statement is made at least
three times, the other two being found in Joshua 21:45 and
23:14.
We have seen how God fulfilled His promises to the natural
Israel in giving them the land, and the conditions set forth in
order that they might claim the blessing He promised. It remains
for us now to show the result of their disobeying God. Turning
to Ezek. 16:55, 59, we read, "When thy sisters, Sodom and
her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou
(Jerusalem) and thy daughters shall return to your former
estate…for thus saith the Lord God: I will even deal with thee
as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the
covenant." When the Jews broke their covenant with God they
brought upon themselves and their nation utter and irretrievable
judgment for they forfeited all the benefits of the promises and
condemned themselves on a scale comparable in it finality to the
ruin of Sodom.
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