To whom did God give the land of Canaan (Palestine)?
A. God gave the land of Canaan to Abraham and
his descendents (the Jewish people)
"And the Lord said unto Abram...Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place (Abraham was in Canaan) where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever." Genesis 13:14-15. (emphasis mine).
"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. (emphasis mine).
"The Holy City"
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B. God tells Abraham He will establish the covenant with Abraham's son Isaac, who will carry on God's promises to Abraham
"And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him." Genesis 17:19
C. God then continues His covenant agreement with Abraham
through Isaac and his son Jacob.
"And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed:" Genesis 28:13.
D. In Psalm 105:6-11, the LORD carries forth His covenant agreement with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel), to the twelve tribes of Jacob:
O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth. He hath remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance.
Palestine
God gave the land of Canaan (Palestine) to the Jewish people for an everlasting possession, but Israel rebelled against God, and He led them captive to Babylon between 606 and 586 B.C. God then drove them out of the land again in what we know today as the Diaspora into the nations of the earth.
Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: And I scattered them among the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said of them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land. Ezekiel 36:16-20.
For almost 2,000 years Israel was outside the land of Palestine. Then, in November, 1947, United Nations ratified Israel being a nation again. On May 14, 1948 it was done. It was a modern day miracle. God had promised to bring His people back to their own land in the last days before Jesus Christ returns to establish His throne in Jerusalem, Israel, and kingdom rule over the earth.
Prophecy therefore concerning the land of Israel. But ye, O mountains of Israel (Judea and Samaria - West Bank), ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown: And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded. Ezekiel 36:6, 8-10.
For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you...and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes...and ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. Ezekiel 36:24-25, 27-28.
Jeremiah 31:4-10, Matthew 24:32-33 (Israel, depicted as the fig tree), along with many other scriptures, tell us that God will bring His Chosen People back to their own land in these last days. Israel is the key to end time prophecy. What the nations do with Israel will greatly affect their destinies.
Today there is a great debate over who owns the land of Palestine, the city of Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount. According to God's Word, Israel owns it all. God chose Palestine as His covenant land, to give to Israel, His covenant people. He chose Jerusalem as His covenant city where king David and the kings of Judah ruled, sitting upon, not their throne, but God's. I Chronicles 29:23 says, "Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him." They were God's mouthpieces until Jesus Christ would come the second time to rule the earth. He came the first time to rule in the hearts of men.
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is God's, and He gave it to the Jewish people to build Him a place of habitation and offer sacrifices to be in covenant oneness with Him. God destroyed both temples (Solomon's Temple in 586 B.C. by the Babylonians, and the Second Temple in 70 A.D by the Roman army under Titus.) due to Israel's disobedience, but it is still Israel's temple mount. Another temple will be built there soon. Revelation 11:1-2. |
