Page 7 - Eschatology - Student Ebook

But in the conditional Mosaic Covenant God promised them they would be able to live in and enjoy the
land only if they met the condition of obedience to God’s laws.

The fact that the Abrahamic Covenant is unconditional is very important in the discussion of Israel’s
future concerning the promise of this land. All agree that many of these promises made to Abraham in
this covenant have already been literally fulfilled. Abraham’s name is remembered and revered today in
three large religions (Christianity, Islam and Judaism). The nation of Israel has had a long history,
including sometimes when they were a dominant nation in the Middle East. Most agree that Jesus Christ
and His offer of salvation to the world based on a personal faith in His death on the cross in their place
has fulfilled the promise that all nations would be blessed through Abraham.

However, it is obvious to all of us, that the nation of Israel is in the news a great deal today specifically
because of their claim to the land God promised them. Palestinians want this land as their homeland.
Muslims want Jerusalem because they once ruled over it and because their third most important
mosque is located on the temple mount.

Unfortunately, many Christian believers also disagree about the future of this land. The key question is
“Will God yet literally fulfill the promise of the land with these specific boundaries to the nation of
Israel?”

Some answer “yes”. They believe there is a coming earthly kingdom of one thousand years during which
Jesus Christ will rule on earth from Jerusalem. The nation of Israel will occupy the land with the specific
boundaries God promised in Genesis 15. This view is called the Premillennial view because they believe
Jesus’ Second Coming will occur before His millennial reign here on earth. We will be discussing this
viewpoint in more detail later.

Some Christian believers answer the question of whether the nation of Israel will yet occupy the land as
promised in Genesis 15 with a “no” answer.

Some believe this land promise was fulfilled under King David and King Solomon and therefore there will
not be any future fulfillment. However, it is important to note that the nation of Israel has never
occupied the amount of land defined by the boundaries given in Genesis 15:18-21.

Some believe there is no more prophetic history for the nation of Israel. There is no more blessing of
God on the people of Israel. They believe God is finished with the nation of Israel because they rejected
Jesus Christ as their Messiah in 33 AD. They believe the promise of the land was conditional upon the
nation’s obedience and that their rejection of Jesus was the act of disobedience which denied them any
future blessing of covenant fulfillment. Therefore, the promise of this specific land to the nation of Israel
will not be fulfilled due to their disobedience.

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