Is the Modern Nation of Israel the Fulfillment of Prophecy? Do they own the land by right of God’s promise?

The Land Promise God promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants and kept His promise during Joshua’s lifetime. God warned the Jews not be unfaithful to the covenant, or He would cast them out of the land because of their sin. God did cast Israel out of the land, and foretold that those who were not His people would become His people. God promised to bring back to the land a penitent Jewish remnant in 70 years and kept His promise. God promised a new covenant not like the old one. Jesus prophesied that the unfaithful Jewish nation would be destroyed because of their rejection of Him. Under the New Covenant the true Israel of God is the church, all who obey Jesus, both Jew and Gentile.

The Land Promise To Abraham Genesis 15:18-21 The Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

The Land Promise Was Fulfilled! Joshua 21:43-45 The Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. 44 The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers… 45 Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

The Land Promise Was Fulfilled! 1 Kings 4:21 So Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

Keeping The Land Was Conditioned On Obedience Leviticus 26:27-33 And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me… I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins... I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation… I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.

Keeping The Land Was Conditioned On Obedience Deuteronomy 28:58, If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book… it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other…

Keeping The Land Was Conditioned On Obedience Deuteronomy 29:24-28 Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt… And the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.

Keeping The Land Was Conditioned On Obedience Joshua 23:15-16 The Lord will bring upon you all harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good land which the Lord your God has given you. When you have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God… then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.

Restoration To The Land Was Conditioned On Repentance 30:1-3 Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, 2 and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul. The Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. Deuteronomy 30:1-3 Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, 2 and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul. The Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you.

God Promised To Bring A Remnant Back To The Land Jeremiah 3:12-14 Return, backsliding Israel,’ says the Lord… For I am merciful,’ says the Lord; ‘I will not remain angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God… I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

When Would Israel Return To The Land? 1.The captivity would last 70 years. Jeremiah 29:10-14 After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place… Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you…

When Would Israel Return To The Land? 2.Daniel understood the significance of 70 years. Daniel 9:1-3 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes… I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications…

When Would Israel Return To The Land? 3.The return was led by Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra 1:1-4 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation…, the Lord God… has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel…

The Land Promise Had Already Been Fulfilled! Nehemiah 9:7-8 You are the Lord God, Who chose Abram, and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and gave him the name Abraham; You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites— to give it to his descendants. You have performed Your words, for You are righteous.

God’s New Covenant With Israel Jeremiah 31:31-34 Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt… they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” This Was Fulfilled in the Church! Hebrews 8:7-13, 10:15-18

The Land Promise God promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants and kept His promise during Joshua’s lifetime. God warned the Jews not be unfaithful to the covenant, or He would cast them out of the land because of their sin. God did cast Israel out of the land, and foretold that those who were not His people would become His people. God promised to bring back to the land a penitent Jewish remnant in 70 years and kept His promise. God promised a new covenant not like the old one. Jesus prophesied that the unfaithful Jewish nation would be destroyed because of their rejection of Him. Under the New Covenant the true Israel of God is the church, all who obey Jesus, both Jew and Gentile.

God’s Rejection of Physical Israel

Warnings While Jesus Was Traveling To Jerusalem Luke 11:46-51 “Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers… 49 Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ 50 that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.”

Warnings While Jesus Was Traveling To Jerusalem Luke 13:34-35 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

Warnings As Jesus Approached Jerusalem Luke 19:41-44 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Warnings While Jesus Was In Jerusalem The Parable of the Landowner Matthew 21:33-37 There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard… And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. 34 Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. 35 And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. 37 Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

Warnings While Jesus Was In Jerusalem The Parable of the Landowner Matthew 21: But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?” 41 They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.”

Warnings While Jesus Was In Jerusalem The Parable of the Landowner Matthew 21:42-43 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’? [Ps. 118:22- 23] 43 Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.

Warnings While Jesus Was In Jerusalem Parable of the Marriage Feast Matthew 22:2-4 The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’

Warnings While Jesus Was In Jerusalem Parable of the Marriage Feast Matthew 22:5-7 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. 7 But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

Warnings While Jesus Was In Jerusalem Spoken to Jews in the Temple Matthew 23:33-36 Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? 34 Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth… 36 Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Warnings While Jesus Was In Jerusalem Spoken to Jews in the Temple Matthew 23:37-38 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left to you desolate. “See! Your house is left to you desolate…” Luke 13:35

Warnings While Jesus Was In Jerusalem When Jesus left the Temple Matthew 24:1-2 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

Warnings While Jesus Was In Jerusalem When Jesus left the Temple Luke 21:5-6 Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, “These things which you see - the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down.” “This generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.” (Matthew 24:34)

Warnings While Jesus Was In Jerusalem Luke 21:20-22 But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

The Jews At The Trial of Jesus Matthew 27:24-25 When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.” 25 And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.”

God’s Wrath On The Unbelieving Jews 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16 For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, 16 forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.

Anyone who claims the modern nation of Israel is the special, chosen people of God are defending what God has rejected.

Romans 9:6 …for they are not all Israel who are of Israel…” Both Jews And Gentiles Who Obey Jesus Are His Chosen People

1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. Spoken first to physical Israel in Exodus 19, then to spiritual Israel, the church.

Will You Become A Christian? Hear The Gospel (Rom. 10:17) Believe in Jesus as the Son of God (John 8:24) Repent of Your Sins (Acts 17:30-31) Confess Jesus as Lord (Rom 10:9-10) Be Baptized for Forgiveness of Sins (Acts 2:38) Live Faithfully Until You Die (Rev. 2:10)