Israel’s land – an ‘everlasting possession’

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Lost in the daily impeachment news is the story of Tuesday’s announcement by President Trump’s and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s peace plan for Israel.

Praise for the plan is coming in from many corners. Qanta Ahmed, in a Fox News editorial, said the plan was “an offer too good to turn down.”

In Israel, Friday’s edition of the Jerusalem Post had the headline, “Peace Plan is Biggest Diplomatic Gift US Ever gave Israel” on its editorial page.

Also endorsing the plan is Benny Gantz, the primary opponent against Prime Minister Netanyahu in the Israeli elections coming in early March.

However, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is rejecting the offer. The Arab League in an emergency session in Cairo, Egypt also rejected the plan.

The full details are too numerous to mention here. Still, as far as the land goes, the Trump plan is offering the Palestinians a state, a future State of Palestine, which will exist if the Palestinians meet specific criteria. The proposal will give the Palestinians roughly seventy percent of the West Bank. Gaza will also become part of the new Palestinian State. The two sections, the West Bank and Gaza, will be connected by a tunnel, with Israel in the middle. The capital of the State of Palestine will be on the outskirts of East Jerusalem. Jerusalem would sit as Israel’s capital, and Israel will have sovereignty over the Temple Mount.

Although not the exact borders of the pre-1967 territory, the amount of land is comparable to the pre-1967 conditions.

Should the land of Israel be split into two separate sovereign nations?

Around 1920 BC, God told Abram to get up and go. God would show Abe a land where his descendants would become a great nation. Through Abraham’s descendants, the entire world would receive a blessing. Genesis 12:1-3, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

Once Abraham arrives in the land, God establishes with him “an everlasting covenant” with Abraham and the generations that follow him, to give them “all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:1-8).

God reiterates the promise to Abraham’s son Isaac (Genesis 26:2-5), and grandson Jacob (Genesis 28:13-14).

An “everlasting possession” promised to three separate generations; it appears God wants Israel to own the land, not anyone else.

The land that God gave Israel runs from the Nile River to the River Euphrates. Genesis 15:18, “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:”

Under the boundaries of Genesis 15:18, the nation of Israel would contain all of Lebanon and Jordan, half or more of Iraq and Syria, most of eastern Egypt, a quarter of Saudi Arabia, and small pieces of Turkey and Kuwait.

God has given Israel a good portion more area in the “everlasting covenant” than what she currently owns. Even if Israel agrees, dividing up the land is against God’s plan. Notice how

the giving of the property and a curse to those that curse Israel is in the same sentence (see Genesis 12:1-3 above).

Some will say it doesn’t matter because the Palestinians won’t agree to any plan that allows Israel to exist.

America is not judged by what the Palestinians do or don’t do. We are the ones proposing to divide Israel into two states. God will deal with us accordingly.

Don’t say that because Israel agrees to this, less of the blame is on us. Again, God won’t judge us on what Israel does or doesn’t do.

It appears America has convinced Israel to back away from the promises of the land that God gave to Abraham. We are treading on very thin ice.

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By Timothy Johnson

Preacher’s Point

Preacher Johnson is pastor of Countryside Baptist Church in Parke County Indiana. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.preacherjohnson.com. E-book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TUJTV2A If you email, inform me where you have seen Preacher’s Point. Viewpoints expressed in the article are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.

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