One of the most hotly debated topics concerning Israel is the question of Israel’s claim to the land it currently occupies. Specifically, “Does Israel have a legitimate claim to the Promised Land?” To answer this question, we are going to turn to the most authoritative source for the answer, the inspired, inerrant Word of God, the Holy Bible.
We’re told in Genesis 12:1-3, that God promised three things to Abram: a son, land, and a blessing. But when we come to Genesis 15, God’s promise was still unfulfilled, Abram had no son and he was troubled by the prospect of having someone other than his own flesh and blood be his heir.
God’s response to Abram’s concern is nothing short of amazing. To reassure Abram that He would give him a son and the land upon which his foot had trodden, the Lord enacted a covenant with Abram.
Genesis 15:7-10, 12-18 states, “He said to him, ‘I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.’ He said, ‘O Lord God, how may I know that I will possess it?’ So He said to him, ‘Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. . . .
Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. God said to Abram, ‘Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.’
It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. . .’”
Let’s breakdown the elements of this covenant to help us answer the question regarding Israel’s claim to the land.
In that day there were three types of Covenants:
- Suzerain-Vassal Covenant
- Grant Covenant
- Parity Covenant
For our purposes, we will focus on the first two types of covenants, the Suzerain-Vassal Covenant and the Grant Covenant.
Suzerain-Vassal Covenant
The Suzerain-Vassal Covenant was imposed by a king upon his subjects, the vassal(s), usually individuals who had been defeated in war. The covenant oath was taken by the inferior party, the vassal. It was a unilateral covenant which means the inferior party was bound to keep the terms of the covenant. It was also a conditional covenant which means the vassal was blessed for obedience and cursed for disobedience according to the terms of the covenant.
Grant Covenant
Unlike the Suzerain-Vassal Covenant, with a Grant Covenant the king promised to give land and/or privileges to his subject, the vassal. The king took an oath, not the vassal. The Grant Covenant was unilateral, meaning the superior party, the king, bound himself to the terms of the covenant. And the Grant Covenant was unconditional which means the fulfillment of the covenant’s terms was not dependent upon the vassal’s obedience.
Suzerain-Vassal Covenant or Grant Covenant?
Question: Was the covenant that the Lord made with Abram in Genesis 15 a Suzerain-Vassal or a Grant Covenant?
Answer: The Abrahamic Covenant was a Grant Covenant.
Why? Because it was God who determined and declared the covenant’s terms and then bound Himself by an oath to keep the terms of the covenant. Genesis 15:18 states, “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. . .’”
This also means that the Abrahamic Covenant is unilateral because only God was bound to the terms of the covenant, not Abram. Please notice that Abram did not recite the terms of the covenant nor did God decree that Abram was obligated to keep any term of the covenant in order to receive an heir or the Promised Land. In fact, according to verse 12, Abram had fallen into a deep sleep which means he was the passive recipient of the blessings promised by God through this covenant.
What About Israel’s Failure to Keep the Mosaic Covenant?
When Israel failed to keep the Law of Moses and was sent into exile, did Israel lose its claim to the Promised Land? To answer this question, we need to determine the type of covenant that God established with Israel on Mount Sinai in Exodus 20 and then compare it to the covenant that God established with Abram in Genesis 15.
Question: Is the Mosaic Covenant a Grant or Suzerain-Vassal Covenant?
Answer: The Mosaic Covenant is a Suzerain-Vassal Covenant.
Why? Because Israel was bound by the terms of the covenant. For confirmation, please look at the terms of the covenant in Exodus 20:
- “You shall have no other gods before Me” (3)
- “You shall not make for yourself an idol” (4)
- “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” (7)
- “Remember the sabbath day” (8)
- “Honor your father and your mother” (12)
- “You shall not murder” (13)
- “You shall not commit adultery” (14)
- “You shall not steal” (15)
- “You shall not bear false witness” (16)
- “You shall not covet” (17)
Question: Did Israel know it was a Suzerain-vassal Covenant and agree to its terms?
Answer: Yes.
In Exodus 24:3-4 we read, “Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!’”
Question: When Israel failed to keep the Mosaic Covenant, did their failure nullify the Grant Covenant that God established with Abram?
Answer: No.
Remember that God bound Himself by an oath to keep the terms of the Grant Covenant that He established with Abram in Genesis 15. Therefore, the terms of the Abrahamic Covenant remain intact even though Israel failed to keep the terms of the Mosaic Covenant.
This point is confirmed by the fact that God promised to restore Israel back to the Promised Land even after they have been sent into exile according to Deuteronomy 30:1-3, “So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you, and you return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, then the Lord your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.”
Did Israel Lose Its Claim to the Promised Land When the Jews Rejected Jesus Christ?
When it comes to the Promised Land, it’s been suggested that Israel forfeited or lost its claim to the Promised Land when the Jews rejected Jesus Christ. Is that so?
Question: Did Israel lose its claim to the Promised Land because the Jewish leaders at that time rejected Jesus Christ?
Answer: No.
Why? Because the covenant that God established with Abram in Genesis 15 is a Grant Covenant.
While it’s true that the Jewish leaders rejected Jesus Christ as Israel’s Messiah, it’s also true that their rejection of Jesus did not negate the oath that God took when He swore to give the Promised Land to Abram and his descendants forever.
It’s also important to note that Jesus pronounced judgment upon the generation that rejected Him, a judgment that was fulfilled when Jerusalem fell in AD 70. Jesus prophesied about the fall of Jerusalem when He lamented, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Jesus came out from the temple and was going away. . . And He said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down’” (Matthew 23:37-Matthew 24:1-2).
Please notice that when Jesus pronounced the future fall of Jerusalem, He also promised to return because a remnant of Jews will one day confess Jesus as their Messiah saying, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” This will take place at the end of the Great Tribulation when Jesus Christ returns to deliver the remnant of Messianic Jews from the anti-Christ.
Question: Why will there be a remnant of Messianic Jews at the end of the Great Tribulation?
Answer: Because God swore to give Abram and his descendants the Promised Land in Genesis 15. Descendants and the Promised Land; God swore to give Abram both, and God cannot lie.
The Bible makes it clear that the Abrahamic Covenant is immutable. Hebrews 6 declares, “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you’. . . For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:13-14, 16-18).
So, even though the Jews failed to keep the Mosaic Covenant and rejected Jesus, Israel has not lost its claim to the Promised Land because the Abrahamic Covenant is still intact.
Dr. Matthew Dodd
July 6, 2023