|
I am an Apostolic Christian and according to the Bible the Abrahamic Covenant is unconditional and eternal. In the Genesis 17 passage, God changed Abram's name to Abraham and Sarai's name to Sarah. The sign of the covenant, circumcision, was established. God gave this sign as a reminder of his promise. God explicitly stated that the land he promised Abraham and his descendants was an everlasting possession. God also explicitly stated that the covenant went through Isaac (v. 21) not Ishmael. (Genesis 17:2-9 and Deuteronomy 1:7-8).
While several of the Arab peoples descend from Abraham through Ishmael, they are not in the line of promise which is the line of Isaac and Jacob. Therefore, they have no Scriptural claim to the land promised to Abraham and his seed.
The boundaries are given for the title deed (v. 18, cf. Exodus 23:31 "I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River. I will hand over to you the people who live in the land and you will drive them out before you.)" At the present time the Arabs have deep bitterness and conflict over Israel's place in the Middle East and her present borders. Most Arabs refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist in the Middle East and many will not rest until the nation is destroyed. God, however, has declared that this will never happen. Indeed, God has promised that in a future day he will fulfill his covenant to Abraham and establish Israel's borders from Egypt to the Euphrates River. The new boundaries will be vastly more extensive than Israel's current borders. They will include the lands from Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, western Iraq, and northern Saudi Arabia. These countries would do well to be good neighbors to Israel in anticipation of the day when God will fulfill his covenants and Jesus of Nazareth, the son of David, will reign as King from Jerusalem.
gaits
|