Children of Israel

Once more there was a famine in the Promised Land.  God used this famine to move Israel’s entire family into Egypt in 1876 BC (seventy people in all) to literally fulfill the prophecy previously given to Abraham.  This probably occurred during the reign of Senusert III (12th Dynasty, Middle Kingdom) who reigned 1878--1841 BC and broke the power of the landed nobility in Egypt.  30 years after entering Egypt they were enslaved; they remained so for the next 400 years.

Exodus 2:24-25 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

Exodus 6:4  And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.

Exodus 6:5  And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.

At the end of God’s predetermined time, God “remembered” his promise to Abraham, which he had later confirmed with Isaac and Jacob.  He sent a deliverer to retrieve Israel's physical descendants (now possibly numbering in the millions) and return them once again to the Promised Land.  Over a period of about a year and a half God, through Moses, attacked all the major gods of Egypt, and Israel was freed in 1446 B.C. with abundant material wealth provided gladly by the Egyptians. 

These physical descendants were beneficiaries of promises made long before their birth.  They had no contract with God; God didn't owe them a dime!  In fact, in spite of how piously they are portrayed in movies and stories, there's not much evidence in Exodus to establish very many even remembered who he was.  If they did, they certainly didn't trust him--they seem to have continually resisted Moses all the way, and later totally rebelled against Moses and God's authority.  After over 400 years living in Egyptian polytheistic society, what they knew of the real God was what had been handed down to them by their grandparents who learned it from their grandparents.  It had been so long ago that God had to identify himself to them:

Exodus 3:15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you:

God repeatedly identified himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; but he didn't tell them he was their God, because he actually wasn't.  Later on, he would refer to himself as "thy God," but not yet.  Yes, the midwives "feared God," but God even had to tell Moses who he was and then prove himself at the burning bush.  God became their God and led them into the desert where he would establish another covenant—this time directly with them (the nation of Israel, corporately) but this time it would be on a conditional basis.

Mosaic Covenant

The Mosaic Covenant was a conditional covenant in three parts.  Each part was essential to the whole:  The Commandments expressed the righteous will of God, the Judgments governed the Israelites’ social life, and the Ordinances governed their religious life [Scofield Reference Bible 1917].  The associated blessings and cursing were dependent both upon God’s faithfulness, and upon Israel’s obedience.  This contract was not only conditional, but “works” based.

Exodus 19:4-6 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

Exodus 24:7-8 and he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.  And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.

Four things are pretty obvious from reading the related passages in Exodus: 

First, this is a contract between two specific consenting parties—God, and Israel’s physical descendants.  The Egyptians, Akkadians, the entire Gentile world (including us) were not party to this agreement, did not consent to it, and are therefore not bound by the terms of this agreement.  The only nation obligating themselves to this contract is Israel--the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob..

Second, “the Law” as referred to in the New Testament (i.e., Matthew 5:17,18) did NOT refer to just the first ten commandments.  It encompassed the entire covenant—commandments, judgments, and ordinances.  The three components formed the whole “Law,” and formed one complete religious system.  Any sect that today would require keeping particular parts as a basis of salvation (i.e., the first ten commandments) but ignore the rest violate the integrity of the whole.

Third, Israel never even came close to keeping their end of the bargain, so why should anyone else expect to?  Less than three days after the most famous miracle in the Old Testament (parting the Red Sea) they were complaining and wanting to go back to Egypt.  They were so faithless by the time they arrived at the Promised Land that God wiped out an entire generation over the next forty years (according to the terms of the contract they had agreed to) as they marched around and around Mount Siani.  Even Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land; he was only allowed to see the land God had promised Abraham:

Deuteronomy 34: 1-4 ¶ And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.  And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.

Galatians 3: 15-18 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.  Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.  And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.  For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

Hebrews 8: 7-13 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.  For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith 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 when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.  In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

Fourth (and most important for this discussion), whether Abraham’s physical descendants ultimately do inherit the Promised Land is NOT contingent upon how well they perform at keeping that Mosaic covenant!  The Promised Land was promised BEFORE the Mosaic agreement.  Nowhere within it are the land promises tied to any aspect of this Mosaic covenant; quite the contrary, the land was promised on an unconditional basis—not a performance basis.  Therefore, this temporary conditional contract may postpone the fulfillment of the original promises, but it "cannot disannul" the prior contract.

Israel In the Promised Land

Numbers 34:1-15 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan with the coasts thereof:) Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward: And your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin: and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea, and shall go on to Hazaraddar, and pass on to Azmon: And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea.  And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west border.  And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall point out for you mount Hor: From mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath; and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad: And the border shall go on to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan: this shall be your north border.  And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham: And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward: And the border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea: this shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about. And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye shall inherit by lot, which the LORD commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe: For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance: The two tribes and the half tribe have received their inheritance on this side Jordan near Jericho eastward, toward the sunrising.

Moses described specific geographic boundaries of the land and assigned areas to specific tribes.  After he was gone, it was up to Joshua to lead Israel in appropriating this land.  He and Caleb were the only two adults remaining of the mass that left Egypt 40 years earlier!  They had been among the ten spies sent in to scout it out, but the only two to come back with a good report.  Now, however, there was a question on everyone’s mind.  These people had been wandering around in the wilderness for the past forty years—many of them had been born there.  Most who had witnessed their miraculous deliverance from Egypt had died in that wilderness!  Individuals who remained still had been pretty unfaithful and disobedient over that past 40 years.  Would God still keep his promises to give them this land even though this Mosaic covenant (that they’d already proven themselves unable to keep) was now in force?  In other words, does Israel’s failure at obeying the Law given through Moses negate God’s original promises given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?”  Well?

Deuteronomy 9:1-6 ¶ Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven, A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!  Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.  Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee.  Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.

Deuteronomy 30:1-10 ¶ And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.  If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee. And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day. And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

Joshua 1: 3-4  Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.  From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

Judges 2:1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

Israel is once again promised possession of the land, but it is NOT because they are righteous.  God specifically states they were not righteous--they are a stiff-necked people.  These promises are reaffirmed despite repeated disobedience and unbelief.  God is honoring his own promise to Abraham, as confirmed with Isaac and Jacob. 

A careful study of Deuteronomy 30 and the preceding chapters reveals particular features of God's plan for Israel:

Throughout the remainder of the Old Testament Israel possessed varying amounts of this land, but never fully attained control.  It was divided among the tribes, but whenever a generation strayed into disobedience he punished them—usually by bringing an enemy army against them to kill them, dominate them, or take their land away from them.  God frequently used hostile nations to administer his judgment against Israel.  During one period God completely removed them from the Promised Land.  When another generation repented, they once again saw peace, prosperity, freedom, blessings and return to the land.  After rejecting their Messiah, he removed them completely and dispersed them across the globe.  After all, that was the contract they had made with God at Mount Sinai!  But the nation's performance, regardless of immediate consequences, did not nullify God’s original promises to Abraham. God is still a person of his word—he will give the land to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their numerous physical descendants—just not necessarily any particular descendants.

2 Kings 13:23  And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.

1 Chronicles 16:15-18 Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; And hath confirmed the same to 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

Nehemiah 9:7-8 Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham; And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous

Psalms 105: 8-11 ¶ He hath remembered his covenant for ever, 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:

Isaiah 51:2-6 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.  For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.   ¶ Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.  My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.  Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

Ezekiel 20: 32-44 And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.  ¶ As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:  And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.  And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.  Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD.  And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:  And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.  As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.  For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.  I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.  And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.  And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.  And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 34: 11-16 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.  As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.  And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.  I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.  I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.  I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

Ezekiel 37: 11-28 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.  Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.  And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.  ¶ The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.  And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?  Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.  And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.  And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.  And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.  And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.  Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

Micah 7:18-20 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.  He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.  Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

Luke 1: 70-73 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:  That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

Acts 7:2-5   The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.  Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.  And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.

Romans 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

Romans 11: 25-29 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.  As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.  For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

Hebrews 6:13-15  13  For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

Galatians 4:22-5:1 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.  But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.  Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.  …But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.  …Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.  Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.  So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.  ¶ Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

A Coming Ruler Over the House of Israel

Just as God made specific land promises to Abraham and his physical descendants, God also promised spiritual blessing to both the physical descendants, and to the Gentiles.    You will recall God specifically stated on several occasions, “I will be their God, and they [the physical descendants of Abraham] will be my people.”  Like the rest of the promises made to Abraham, this is not conditional.  The promised Messiah was sent for this very purpose—first to the Jew, then (after being rejected by the Jews) to the Gentile.  There’s many Old Testament promises regarding the coming Messiah, but among these are specific promises to King David regarding his physical descendant who would eventually rule over the whole house of Israel:

2 Samuel 7:11-17 And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

2 Chronicles 21:7  Howbeit the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a light to him and to his sons for ever.

Psalms 89: 3,4,34-37 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.... My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.  Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.  His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.  It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.

Jeremiah 33:14-17 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.  In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.  In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.  ¶ For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

Jeremiah 33: 23-26 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.  Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.  

God's covenant with David establishes that David would have a child to succeed him on the throne, that son (Solomon) would build the temple David wanted to build, the throne (his sovereign right to rule) would be established forever and not taken away from Solomon even though he might deserve it, and that David's house, throne, and kingdom would exist forever.  The Millennial Kingdom will be the time when Messiah--David's physical descendant and legal heir to the throne--will indeed rule over the whole house of Israel from Jerusalem.  This is certain because these promises are extensions of God's original promises to Abraham which have been shown to be both unconditional and eternal.  Therefore, the implications of these promises to David are that Israel must be preserved as a corporate entity, that this entity must have a national existence and be restored to the land God promised her, that David's ultimate son, Jesus the Messiah, must reign on David's throne over Israel, and that his kingdom must become an eternal kingdom.

Israel Gets a Heart Transplant

Jeremiah 31:31-33 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that 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 bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Jeremiah 32:40  And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

This “new covenant” is (once again) a continuation and expansion of the original promises of Spiritual blessings made to Abraham and his descendants.  God promised to put his laws in the hearts of Israel’s physical descendants and make them his people.  They will not "depart", because this is an everlasting, unconditional covenant. 

Who is this promised to?  Some would claim that this is the church—us, not them.  But the obvious context of the above passage shows beyond doubt that this "new" covenant was made with the same people God made the "old" covenant with—the nation Israel!  Israel is promised a new heart, an everlasting relationship with God, forgiveness of sins, a Messiah to righteously rule over her as King on the throne of David in Jerusalem.  The fact that Gentiles are Spiritually blessed in the process—that the church has been saved and given a new heart during this present age—diminishes nothing from the force of these promises.  They must come to pass before the world can end.

Anyone who reads Israel's history throughout the Old Testament will easily find that the nation frequently wandered away from God, envied neighboring nations, and worshiped other gods.  They were more frequently unfaithful than faithful, and the Old Testament is filled with examples of backsliding Israel being severely punished until she repented and returned to the one true God.  The final week of Daniel's prophecy of 70 weeks will be that time when God makes Israel willing.  

Just as God used 400 years of slavery in Egypt to transform Abraham's tribal family into a nation of descendants, just as he used the torture and inhumanity of the Hitler's holocaust to change world opinion and reestablish that nation almost 2,000 years later in the land he promised Abraham, the coming Great Tribulation is the stick that God will use to cause Israel to once again repent and return to her God.  The church (who has already repented, and is now clothed in the righteousness of Christ) doesn't need seven years of tribulation. 

As in the prior examples, many individuals will not survive to enter the Millennial Kingdom and receive those promises made so long ago.  But at the time of Israel's greatest need Israel's children will repent and cry out to God as they have so many times in the past—and their deliverer will come.

Originally written November 29, 2001 by George Lazzell III

Revised January 16, 2002

Revised November 9, 2003