The Land Covenant

 

STATEMENT OF USE: This blog contains condensed material from manuscripts owned and copyrighted by Ariel Ministries USA and is used with permission. The material referenced within is from Ariel’s Come and See series, and is available, along with fifty other texts, free of charge to anyone who desires to use them. If you haven’t already, please check them out here: https://www.ariel.org/resources/come-and-see/studies?navid=2390956

It is my fervent hope that you will not stop with my blog but that you will take full advantage of the wealth of wisdom offered through the faithfulness of Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, who is a teacher to the best of Biblical teachers! Please go to ariel.org for the complete and full teaching on the 8 Covenants of God.

Oh Lord, this one is so very close to my heart. Help me present it well. Dr. Fruchtenbaum is a such a marvelous teacher, but your people are so confused about the Land Covenant and why it is so important today. Holy Spirit, I pray, quicken truth and draw those with ears to hear. Amen.

THE LAND COVENANT

For the lack of a better name, this covenant is commonly known as the Palestinian Covenant because it concerns the land known for centuries as Palestine. This is a faulty term for two reasons. These are important to understand:

1.  It was a name given to the land by the Roman Emperor Hadrian after the Second Jewish Revolt under Bar Cochba in AD 132, 135. Emperor Hadrian’s purpose was to erase any Jewish remembrance of the Land as part of his policy to “de Judaize” the Land.

2.  Due to the historical events in the Middle East in the history of modern Israel, the name is associated more with Arabs than Jews.  Perhaps a better title for this covenant would have been the “Land Covenant” since “Palestine” is not nor has it ever been a biblical designation anyway.

For these reasons, this study will refer to it as the Land Covenant, but the reader should note that this is the same covenant called the “Palestinian Covenant” in many books.

Scripture: Deuteronomy 29:1-30:1-20

While this covenant is contained within the fifth book of Torah, Deuteronomy 29:1 clearly shows that the Land Covenant is distinct from the Mosaic Covenant: These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He had made with them at Horeb.

Deuteronomy 30:1-10 describes some of the provisions of the Land Covenant:  “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, 2 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, 3 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. 4 If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back. 5 The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.

6 “Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live. 7 The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. 8 And you shall again obey the Lord and observe all His commandments which I command you today. 9 Then the Lord your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your  body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for the Lord will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers; 10 if you  obey the Lord your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.

The Participants in the Covenant

This covenant is between God and Israel.

The Provisions of the Covenant

Eight provisions can be gleaned from this passage.

1. Moses spoke prophetically of Israel’s coming disobedience to the Mosaic Law and her subsequent scattering over all the world (29:2-30:1) All remaining provisions speak of various facets of Israel’s final restoration.
2. Israel will repent (30:2)
3. Messiah will return (v.3a)
4. Israel will be regathered (vv.3b-4)
5. Israel will possess the Promised Land (v.5)
6. Israel will be regenerated (v.6)
7. The enemies of Israel will be judges (v.7)
8. Israel will receive full blessing; specifically, the blessings of the Messianic Age (vv. 8-20)

The Importance of the Covenant

The special importance of the Land Covenant is that it reaffirms the title deed to the Land as belonging to Israel. Although she would prove unfaithful and disobedient, the right to the Land would never be taken from her. Furthermore, it shows that the conditional Mosaic Covenant did not lay aside the unconditional Abrahamic Covenant.  Some may think that the Mosaic Covenant displaced the Abrahamic Covenant, but the Land Covenant shows that this is not true. The Land Covenant is an enlargement of the original Abrahamic Covenant. It amplifies the Land aspect and emphasized the promise of the Land to God’s earthly Jewish people in spite of their unbelief. The Abrahamic Covenant teaches that ownership for the Land is unconditional while the Land Covenant teaches that the enjoyment of the Land is conditioned on obedience.

The Confirmation of the Covenant

The Land Covenant received its confirmation centuries later in Ezekiel 16:1-63. In this very important passage concerning God's relationship to Israel, God recounts His love of Israel in her infancy (vv. 1-7). Later, Israel was chosen by God and became related to Jehovah by marriage and hence became the Wife of Jehovah (vv. 8- 14). However, Israel played the harlot and was guilty of spiritual adultery by means of idolatry (vv. 15-34); therefore, it was necessary to punish her by means of dispersion (vv.  35-52). However, this dispersion is not final, for there would be a future restoration on the basis of the Land Covenant (vv. 53-63). They were guilty of violating the Mosaic Covenant (vv. 53-59), but God will remember the covenant made with Israel in her youth (v. 60a) and will establish an everlasting covenant, the New Covenant (v. 60b) and this will result in Israel's salvation (vv. 61-63).

The Status of the Covenant

The Land Covenant, being an unconditional covenant, is still very much in effect.

My friends, we are living in amazing prophetic times.  To see what time it is on God’s prophetic clock, we simply need to look at the City of Jerusalem, the nation of Israel.  My heart is saddened beyond words by the movement within the American Church today, specifically the World Council of Churches, to go against Israel to the point of even boycotting her products while we welcome foreign gods into our presence under the name of tolerance and coexistence. There are in fact, many churches/programs today that come against God in covenant with Israel.

These things are doctrines of demons. God has not nor will He ever abandon Israel. This is clear throughout His Word. The specifics of these unconditional covenants are firmly still in place. 

As the great pastor, Jack Hayford says, “We are living in a sobering moment in history that calls us, as believers in Jesus Christ, to take a stand with Israel. We could be people of the last hour. We are not to be passive in the face of prophecy; we are called to pray with passion, to intercede, and to minister according to the words of the Savior who said it is not our task to speculate when the end will be. It is our responsibility to do Kingdom business until He comes (Luke 19:13). This is not about politics; this is about the Word of God, but the political ramifications are extremely dramatic. Scripture declares there will come a time when all the nations of the world will turn against Israel. It is so highly conceivable this could happen in our time that it is critical to outline why we should stand with Israel today”.

Where do you stand with Israel today?  Do you know what's going on today? Do you care? Do you pray for her peace?  Do you stand in the midst of the anti-Semitic ugliness that is once again raising its ugly head?  Do you support a two-state solution, not realizing that is an abomination to God? Has the lie of the enemy of God penetrated into your church which says, “Israel has been replaced by the Church”?

We are hearing much talk today about a peace treaty … Donald Trump, Immanuel Macron both intent on making it happen. Always an antichrist spirit in the wings. Do not be deceived. It is this simple act to divide Israel that will usher in the Great Tribulation.

This is a time to be in fervent prayer. For Israel and for America. If we looked though worldly eyes, it would appear that the god of this world, Ha Satan is winning the cosmic battle we’re in. Some things simply must happen. But you can be assured that soon and very soon Yeshua is returning with the Title Deed to the Earth and will be taking back all that is rightfully His!! His Kingdom shall most certainly be established here on earth for 1000 years!!  He wins!! And so do those of us who stand with Him by faith, and prayerfully intercede on Israel’s behalf.

God bless you! K