A Promise is a Promise!

In the midst of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and certain West Bank settlements, some Christians want to know what this has to do with them. They wonder if God may be finally finished with Israel after all their years of stiff necked defiance and refusal to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. What they fail to consider is the fact that if God is finished with Israel then maybe He might be finished with them as well. Impossible you say, then read on.

Ludwig Schneider wrote “Christians note the veil over the eyes of Jews that binds them from seeing the Messiah, but when non Jews don’t believe that God’s promises to Israel are still valid today, there is a veil over their hearts which encompasses all the nations. Whether Jew or Gentile, these veils must be removed.”

The Abrahamic Covenant gave ownership of the land of Canaan unconditionally to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was an everlasting possession (Genesis 17:7-8). That means forever. This was reiterated when an Angel of the Lord said; “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers and I said I will never break my covenant” (Judges 2:1). God keeps His promises that He confirmed to Israel as an everlasting covenant (Psalm105:6-11) and He says that the offspring of Israel will cease from being a nation when the fixed order of the sun, the moon and the stars departs (Jeremiah 31:35-37).

If Israel ceases to be a nation on that land, then what was Paul speaking of when he said of the Jews that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29)? Jesus Himself said that all the things talked about in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. It means the Temple must be rebuilt (Daniel 9:27). The House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem must recognize Him that they have pierced (Zechariah 12:10). That will never happen if Jerusalem is ceded to the Palestinians. Paul in his Second Letter to the church at Thessalonica said that the antichrist will reign from the Temple (2Thess.2:4). The Temple will not be rebuilt under Palestinian control. And finally Paul wrote that someday all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26). This will not happen if Israel no longer exists.

What does all of this mean to Christians? If God promised Israel that land and reneges on His promise, then He might renege on your promise of salvation. Paul wrote to Titus about “the hope of eternal life which God promised ages ago” (Titus 1:2). God cannot lie and His promises are faithful (Hebrews 10:23). Thus if God keeps his promises to Israel and the land, then he will keep his promises to you about eternal salvation. Watch God working with Israel and rest assured that He will keep working with you because a promise is a promise!

About the Author:

Stephen M. Yulish, born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1947, received his BA from Case Western Reserve University in 1969, his MA in 1972, and his PhD in 1975 from the University of Illinois. His first book, The Search for a Civic Religion, was published in 1980. He was an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona in Tucson and then became a Jewish Community Professional in Phoenix. Currently disabled with Multiple Sclerosis, the author is co-leader of Chayim Chadashim Messianic Fellowship and is on the Board of Reference for Jewish Voice Prophetic Magazine. He lives in Flagstaff, AZ, with his wife Paula and daughter Andrea.