Israel in Her Promised Land

The question whether or not Palestine has a place in God’s redemptive program for Israel, and in relation to the other nations of the earth, in our age and particularly at the end of the age is interwoven with other questions. Indeed, one’s attitude toward Palestine as a future Land of Promise will be determined, primarily, by his attitude toward two eschatological themes: will there be a millennial reign of Christ on this earth, and is there a special place for Israel as a nation at the end of this age? If there is to be no millennial reign of Christ and, consequently, no place from which his rule will be directed, there is little need to discuss the prophecies regarding the future of Palestine, for it certainly will have no role apart from the Messiah. Furthermore, if there is no future for Israel as a nation, apart from the participation of converted Jews in the promised privileges of the Christian Church, Palestine will have no more meaning than any other national territory, except for its holy places.

We cannot determine if Palestine is still the Land of Promise, and gloriously so at the end of the age, except from the inspired records of the Hebrew Scriptures. I shall divorce the subject as far as possible from any discussion of the millennium and messianic reign of Christ and confine this article to the teaching of the Old Testament.

Palestine a Divine Gift

In the Old Testament—and many Bible students seem unaware of this—God’s giving of Palestine to Israel is more frequently referred to than any other act of God toward Israel, even than the deliverance from Egypt or the promise of a Messiah. In 141 passages of the Old Testament (57 in Deuteronomy alone) God is said to give the land of Canaan, the Land of Promise, to His people Israel—a truth declared from the call of Abraham (Gen. 12:7) to the exilic prophecy of Ezekiel 11:17. Of these references to Palestine as a gift of God to Israel, quite a number are portions of prayers to God, or of God’s answers to prayer (Exod. 6:4, 8; 32:13; Neh. 9:15, 35, 36). Some state that Palestine is to be a gift of God to Israel forever, a truth enunciated as early as Abraham’s day and reiterated down through the prophets. Turn to some of these passages:

For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever (Gen. 13:15; also 17:8; italics added).

And thou shalt keep his statues, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, for ever (Deut. 4:40; italics added).

Israel’s Restoration Predicted

Even when Israel’s future rebelliousness is spoken of, Scripture clearly predicts that after a period of judgment Israel shall be permanently restored:

And Jehovah will scatter you among the peoples, and ye shall be left few in number among the nations, whither Jehovah shall lead you away. And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But from thence ye shall seek Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt find him, when thou searchest after him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, in the latter days thou shalt return to Jehovah thy God, and hearken unto his voice: for Jehovah thy God is a merciful God; he will not fail thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them (Deut. 4:27–31).

Centuries later, Amos even more specifically emphasized this hope:

And I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, saith Jehovah thy God (Amos 9:14, 15).

A Permanent Possession

That such a restoration should be permanent and not followed by another dispersion is clear from passages in the prophets, particularly Jeremiah:

Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them; and I will make an everlasting convenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart, and with my whole soul (Jer. 32:37–41; cf. 24:6).

A century after the Mosaic period Jeremiah exhorted apostate Jerusalem:

At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubborness of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers (3:17,18; cf. 25:5).

Ezekiel echoes the theme in the following context:

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh; that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God (11:17–20).

Although the word give is not used, Isaiah also stresses that Palestine is to be an abiding possession of Israel:

The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but Jehovah will be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for Jehovah will be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified (60:19–21).

Joel likewise promises, “But Judah shall abide for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation” (3:20).

The Promise Is Uncanceled

This promise to Israel of Palestine as a permanent possession, often repeated in the Old Testament, is at no time canceled. Not only has the idea of Israel’s permanent occupation remained unfulfilled, but other aspects of these promises are as yet unrealized. When has Israel ever enjoyed the permanent, uninterrupted peace and prosperity here promised? Rather, her history has been among the saddest in the annals of ancient peoples. Except for Solomon’s glorious reign, her records reveal not one century without Israel’s defeat by one of her enemies. Even during Solomon’s day, taxes were so burdensome that upon his death this problem was presented to the new king by these distressed people. Because this complaint was not properly resolved Israel and Judah were separated and have remained so ever since. At no period has all Israel served the Lord in faithfulness and sincerity. That day is yet to come or scores of prophecies will never be fulfilled.

If we take the unauthorized liberty of canceling these prophecies, why may we not with equal liberty cancel any other prophecy with which a particular theory would lead us to disagree? The promises regarding Canaan were made to one nation, Israel, and to no other; if this land is ever to enjoy the prophesied blessings, it will be only as believing Israel again inhabits that sacred territory.

The Import Of The Names

The very names given this land are predictions, especially Zechariah’s term, “the holy land” (2:12). It is called by Isaiah “Immanuel’s land” (8:8), land of Immanuel’s birth, where He died and, as an earlier writer once said, “the scene of His labors and sorrows, of His shame and triumphs and the land where He will again plant His kingdom and reign with accumulated glory” (J. T. Bannerman, A survey of the Holy Land, Its Geography, History and Destiny, London, 1844, p. 12). Repeatedly the Lord refers to Palestine as “my land” (2 Chron. 7:20; Isa. 14:25; Jer. 2:7; 16:18; Ezek. 36:5; 38:16; Joel 1:6; 3:2); once it is called “the Lord’s land” (Hosea 9:3). It is sometimes said that the New Testament practically ignores the significance of Palestine. This is contradicted by many passages. Only in the New Testament does the frequently used title for Palestine, “the land of promise,” occur (Heb. 11:9).

In the four thousand years since the call of Abraham. Palestine has never fulfilled the implications of these divinely bestowed titles. In the books of Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles and even Ezra and Nehemiah, is there any period in which this land displayed, from Dan to Beersheba, the holiness of God? When was God recognized by all Israelites living in that land as a holy and true God? In what reign did this land have abiding peace, its people walking in uncompromising righteousness? If the implications and promise of these names are fulfilled, it must be in a future day of “Holiness unto the Lord” (Zech. 14:20), when the laws of the Lord will be written on the fleshy tables of the hearts of God’s chosen people (Jer. 31:31–34).

The Sacred City

The divinely given names of Palestine’s capital likewise embrace promises and prophecies as yet unfulfilled. Isaiah, for example, multiplies sacred titles for this city: “the city of Jehovah” (60:14), “the city of righteousness” (1:26), “the daughter of Zion” (1:8; 4:4; 62:11, etc.), “the faithful city” (1:21,26), “Hepzibah” (62:4), “the holy city” (48:2; 52:1; 64:10), “the holy mountain of Jehovah” (27:13; 66:20), “my city” (45:13), “my holy mountain” (11:9; 56:7; 57:13), and “Zion of the Holy One of Israel” (60:14). Never has Jerusalem known as many as forty successive years in which these names accurately express the prevailing conditions. Some day the nations of the world will go up to that city to learn the law. If Jerusalem is to be so central in the redemptive program of God at the end of this age, surely the land in which it is located will have equal significance.

For centuries the scattered and persecuted people of Israel have looked toward Palestine with hope and expectation and with a prayer that God would restore them to the land promised to the patriarchs for a perpetual possession.

No other people in history but the Hebrews have carried in their hearts, century after century, a love for the land of their fathers which they themselves have never seen; And they have derived this hope of return not from Midrashic and fantastic interpretations, from Targums written long after the close of the canon of the Old Testament or from some obscure Talmudic tradition, but directly from the Word of God. Even before a powerful league of nations or royal commissions, the Jewish people plead not a mere hope or imaginary right but these prophetic Scriptures. In 1937, David Ben-Gurion, chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, was testifying before the British Royal Commission. Lord Peel, chairman of the Commission, had remarked, “The mandate is your Bible.” To this Mr. Ben-Gurion replied: “The Bible is our mandate. The mandate of the League is only a recognition of this right and did not establish new things.”

The proclamation of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948, began with these stirring words: “The land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and national identity was formed. Here they achieved independence and created a culture of national and universal significance. Here they wrote and gave the Bible to the world. Exiled from Palestine, the Jewish people remained faithful to it in all the countries of their dispersion, never ceasing to pray and hope for their return and the restoration of their national freedom.”

Finally, the last eight years testify that Palestine needed the Jews for prosperity and plenty. Anyone who saw the pitiful barrenness and poverty of that land even thirty years ago, and has seen the land more recently, recognizes that the Arab was a curse to the land, showing no advancement in agricultural methods for two thousand years. Today not only are nearly two million Jews feeding that land, but there is such a surplus of some products that Israel must now find an outlet for the sale of excess food. There has been a greater advance in prosperity and culture in Israel in the last decade than was evidenced in the eighteen hundred years preceding it.

The Glory To Come

The names of Palestine, the prophecies regarding Palestine, the disappointing history of the Jews in Palestine in ancient times and events in the newly created state of Israel bear a united, indisputable testimony to the fact that the greatest glory this land has ever seen will yet be unfolded. Jerusalem shall truly become a city of peace, and the people of God will dwell in unwalled villages, each man sitting in quietness and confidence under his own tree. This will be God’s victory for that portion of the earth which He has called His own land. No anti-Semitism, no wars, no unbelief, no pogroms, not Antichrist himself will be able to prevent the fulfillment of these divinely given promises.

The Rev. Wilbur M. Smith, D.D., is author of more than a dozen books, and is editor of Peloubet’s Select Notes on the International Sunday School Lessons. Since 1947 he has been Professor of English Bible at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is a frequent contributor to religious magazines and a writer on prophetic themes.

See also the article that ran next to this one: “Israel’s Transgression in Palestine.”

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