Knowing Christianity

  The Palestinian (Land) Covenant      Four crucial aspects of the covenant amplify the land aspect of the Abrahamic covenant. First, from the beginning of the covenant relationship, God promised Abraham land (e.g., Genesis 12:1; 13:14-17; 15:7; 17:7-8). The land covenant not only reaffirms God’s commitment to give Israel the promised land, but it develops and adds important truths related to the land (e.g., Numbers 34:1-12; Deuteronomy 30:1-10). Second, the land covenant is an unconditional covenant since it is an elaboration of the land aspect of the Abrahamic covenant. Nothing, not even Israel’s rebellion and disobedience could nullify the covenant. Yes, Israel’s sin caused them to lose the right to live on the land, but the covenant has not been set aside. Any conditions were connected to the receiving or losing of blessing, not the fulfillment of the covenant promise.      Some argue that Deuteronomy 30:1-3 makes the covenant conditi...

Israel’s Past        To understand Israel’s importance in the prophetic future, we must first understand the unconditional covenants God made with Israel. These covenants govern our understanding of the Jewish people and govern our understanding of Bible prophecy. The Abrahamic Covenant      Prior to the rebellion of the nations at Babel, God had dealt with mankind in general. After Babel, God’s attention was turned to Abraham (Genesis 11). God went from dealing with all the nations to the nation that would come from the seed of Abraham, a nation He would call His own. It started with God calling Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans , a pagan nation (Genesis 11:28) and instructed him to go to Canaan (Genesis 12:1-4) where God would make His covenant with him.      Genesis 12:1-3 records God’s call of Abraham out of Ur and the specific promises He made to him, The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, you...

  Israel’s Return      The Zionist movement had already begun prior to World War I.   Re-establishment efforts were already in the works as early as 1871. In 1881 the modern Zionist resettlement began in earnest, at that time there were about 25,000 Jews living in that entire area.   The Zionist idea as stated in “The Basle Programme” was adopted by the first Zionist Congress called by Theodor Herzl in 1897.   It sought to reclaim the land of Palestine for the Jewish people.   By the start of World War I, the number of Jews had grown to 80,000.      The movement gained momentum during World War I when British Foreign Secretary Arthur J. Balfour instituted the Balfour Declaration on November 2, 1917, in which he stated: “His Majesty’s Government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people…” This declaration was well received by the Jews but not by the Arabs in the region, whi...

       As God’s chosen people, Israel is placed squarely in the center of history and prophecy.      How is it that such a small nation with about a quarter of one percent of the world’s population play such an important role in world events with global coverage of its daily activities? We must turn to the Scriptures to understand what is happening in the world today and what will take place in the future. The best place to start is by looking at the past—when God first called Israel to be His chosen People. A Brief History of Israel In the Old Testament      Israel’s history began more than 3,500 years ago when Abraham received a divine call to leave Ur and go to a land which God would show him.   After some delay, Abraham finally entered the land, and there Isaac, the son God had promised him, was born.      Even after God had fulfilled His promise to Abraham regarding Isaac, Abraham himself...

Interpretive  Approach I will approach this study from a futurist approach, from a premillennial, dispensational perspective. More will be said in a later chapter about the differing methods of interpretation. Dispensational premillennialism can be identified by two basic features:  First, a literal hermeneutic. In other words, the words and statements in Scripture should be interpreted in their normal way, in the same way we would customarily interpret any other literature unless, of course, the text demands that it be interpreted in some other way. For example, concerning Christ’s first coming, those prophesies that were made about it were fulfilled literally. Why then would we not interpret prophesies concerning His second coming in the same way? Why would we interpret the Bible literally except when it comes to prophecy, particularly when already fulfilled prophecy was fulfilled literally? Second, dispensational premillennialism maintains a clear distinction between Isra...