Page 16 - Why Israel?

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What does this mean? It signifies that God alone took responsibility for fulfilling the covenant. It was as if God made a contract in which He promised certain benefits to Abraham – namely, a land, blessing, and descendants – without any stipu- lations to be upheld by Abraham. In other words, God made an unconditional and irrevocable covenant with Himself concern- ing the Jewish people. The author of Hebrews puts it this way:
“For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had
no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself: I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply you. And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirm- ing oath ends every dispute. Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.” (HEBREWS 6:13-18, CSB)
It is no wonder, then, that God calls His covenant “everlast- ing.” When God confirms His covenant with Abraham a third time, He reiterates that His covenant includes land, specifically the land known today as Israel. God calls this land an “ever- lasting possession” twice, and declares His covenant to be an “everlasting” one three times (see Genesis17:1-21).
GOD’S CHARACTER
Why is it so important that Christians believe God is faith- ful to His covenant with Israel?
The answer is simple: if God is not faithful to His promise to the Jewish people, He will not be faithful to His promises to us.
WHY ISRAEL