Israel’s Right to the Land!

Dr. David L. Hocking

Hope for Today Ministries

P.O. Box 3927

Tustin, CA 92781

www.davidhocking.org

Introduction by Zola Levitt

Copyright © 2001 HFT Publications

Originally published in English under the title What The Bible Says About Israel And Its Land by David Hocking

Published by HFT Publications

14032 Enderle Center Drive, Suite 105

Tustin, CA 92781 USA

Tel. 1-800-75-BIBLE

All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-930749-82-5

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the publisher.

Table of Contents

Introduction

“What rights does Israel have to its land?”

1 This Land belongs to God!

2 The Land was given by God to the Descendants of Abraham!

3 The Gift of this Land to Abraham and his Descendants was based on an Unconditional Covenant from God Himself!

4 This Land was not given to the Descendants of Ishmael, but rather to the Descendants of Isaac!

5 This Land was not given to the other Sons of Abraham, but only to Isaac!

6 This Land was not given to the Descendants of Esau, but only to Jacob!

7 God continued to remind the Children of Israel of this Covenant during their bondage in Egypt and wilderness wanderings!

8 God told Israel to conquer the Land which He had given them!

9 Israel’s sin and captivity did not change their divine right to this Land!

10 God’s Promise to Israel is as certain as the existence and order of the universe!

11 The Name of this Land is not Palestine, but Israel!

12 The full restoration of Israel to its Land with complete peace and security will require the coming of the Messiah!

Introduction

The brief biblical study that comprises this small book is one of the most compelling, relevant and important commentaries on current events I have ever read. Although it was written years in advance of the present uprising on the West Bank and Gaza in Israel, it very much speaks to that situation. It seems—if the Bible is to be believed—that this uprising, the Intifada, is misguided and doomed. It runs completely counter to Scripture and to the announced plan of God for Israel in the End Times.

For Christian people anywhere to be carried along with the idea that pagan sojourners in the Promised Land have any claim to that land whatever, shows a lack of biblical grasp. One of the central pillars of Old and New Testament revelation is the presence of the Chosen People in the land God gave them. The ultimate destiny of the land of Israel in Scripture is that it will host the Millennium, the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom of the Church and the King of the Jews. For any other people to control this particular land after Jewish restoration is biblically impossible (Amos 9:14–15). This booklet is one of the very few products by an outside writer that this ministry handles.

Dr. Hocking’s study is so accurate, so fair, and so scripturally authoritative that it simply must be passed on. I would not try to write it in some other style or to hype it in any way. It says what it says in the simplest and most straight-forward way. Our ministry, dedicated as it is to providing the truth about Israel in a time when so much propaganda is issued about this vital nation, could not resist distributing this study.

We hope you will read this booklet in the spirit in which it was written—the honest seeking of biblical truth. It is not intended as “counter-propaganda” to neutralize some political message. Certainly its purpose and scope lie far above that. Those unfamiliar with scriptural revelation may think that some points taken in this writing are partisan or debatable. But the author gives biblical citations of the utmost clarity and force to back up his thesis.

By the time you finish this short study, you will have no scriptural doubt whatever concerning “Israel’s Right to the Land.”

Yours in Christ,

“WHAT RIGHTS DOES ISRAEL HAVE TO ITS LAND?”

The great crisis in the world today that underlies most of its international problems is the issue of authority. This current generation speaks continually about “rights.” We discuss the “rights” of individual human beings on this planet, the “rights” of nations, the “rights” of various minority groups within those nations, and the “rights” of various political religious views as they relate to life, liberty, wealth, human dignity, and of course, property. But a basic question still remains: “Who has a ‘right’ to say what our ‘rights’ should be or not be?” Does that “right” or “authority” belong to the one with the most money, the most people, the greatest need, or the most powerful military machine? Are questions of authority based on who is the strongest?

Closely related to the problem of authority is the problem of morality. Can we have morality without authority? What makes anything right or wrong? Who has the authority to determine that? When we ask the question, “What is the right thing to do?”—who can give the answer? Secular humanism and its relative standards of morality have not given us any help. Man left to himself provides no solutions but rather places us in a moral vacuum with little or no authority or leadership.

When we come to the issue of Israel and its land, people ask the question, “What rights does Israel have to its land? Arguments are continually brought forth concerning the rights of the Palestinians and the rights of the Israelis that seem logical to the people who present them and to the people who want to listen. But a basic question still remains in my mind as I listen to the many conflicting viewpoints concerning Israel’s right to its land: “Who has the ultimate authority to determine what rights Israel has to its land?” The Christian answer to that question is that God alone determines the “rights” that any of us have. Something is right or wrong because of Divine decree, not human feeling or reason. The existence of God previous to the creation of the universe and mankind gives Him the right to determine our “rights.” Morality exists because God exists. Authority exists because God exists. The Apostle Paul wrote in the New Testament book of Romans, chapter 13, verse 1:

Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

The Bible does not try to prove the existence of God. It rather assumes it. The thesis of the Bible is that “God has spoken.” The Old Testament rings with authority as the prophets of old proclaimed over 5,000 times, “Thus saith the Lord.” The writers of Scripture claimed Divine revelation. Often they said, “And the word of the Lord came unto me.” Israel’s history was bathed in Divine authority and direction. There were no great debates over the existence of God. On the contrary, the psalmist David said, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God,’” in describing the response of pagans to the knowledge of God that is found in the universe. Paul wrote in Romans 1:25, “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever. Amen.”

Almighty God has already determined the rights of Israel to its land. Lest you think God is a passive observer to all that takes place in the land of Israel, listen to the words of Deuteronomy 11:12, “a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year.”

Before we examine what God says about the land of Israel, let’s define what we mean by the word “land.” What “land” are we talking about? In Genesis 15:18, it gives us some dimensions:

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.”

On many occasions, God refers to this land by calling it “the land of Canaan.” When the Lord spoke to Moses about this land in Numbers 34:1–15, He gave some additional insight as to its dimensions. He specifically laid out the southern, western, northern, and eastern borders of the land. There are many interesting details in that Scripture affecting several disputed territories in Israel’s present situation.

In order to answer the question, “What rights does Israel have to its land?” I would like you to consider the following biblical facts:

1 Fact Number One:

This Land belongs to God!

Leviticus 25:23 states:

“The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me.”

2 Fact Number Two:

The Land was given by God to the Descendants of Abraham!

In Genesis 12:7, we read:

The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.”

In Genesis 13:15, He repeated His promise when He said, “for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.” He said the same thing in Genesis 15:18, “To your descendants I have given this land.”

3 Fact Number Three:

The Gift of this Land to Abraham and his Descendants was based on an Unconditional Covenant from God Himself!

Genesis 17:7–8 states:

“And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. And I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojourning, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

The sign of that covenant for Abraham and his descendants was circumcision. Twice in this passage, God mentioned the everlasting nature of this covenant. There are some today who say that this covenant was conditional, that it was based on Israel’s faithfulness to God. The Bible teaches otherwise. In Psalm 89:30–37 we read:

“If his sons forsake My law, and do not walk in My judgments, if they violate My statues, and do not keep My commandments, then I will visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. But I will not break off My loving-kindness from him, nor deal falsely in My faithfulness. My covenant I will not violate, nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. His descendants shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever like the moon, and the witness in the sky is faithful.”

We agree that God promised to judge His people if they disobeyed Him. We do not agree that Israel’s disobedience would forfeit their right to that land. The promise of the land was not based upon Israel’s performance but upon God’s oath and character— He will not lie! Deuteronomy 7:7–9 reminds us:

“The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefather, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments.”

4 Fact Number Four:

This Land was not given to the Descendants of Ishmael, but rather to the Descendants of Isaac!

I have no bitterness toward the descendants of Ishmael, nor do I wish to be unkind to our Arab friends. However, I must be faithful to what I know the Bible teaches. Abraham himself considered Ishmael as a possible descendant to whom God would give this land. In Genesis 17:18, Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before Thee!” But God’s answer was and is very clear. In verse 19 of that 17th chapter, God said: “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.” God promised to bless Ishmael and to make him a great nation, but His covenant to Abraham and his descendants was to be accomplished through his son Isaac, not Ishmael. The New Testament agrees with this in Hebrews 11:18 when it says, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.”

5 Fact Number Five:

This Land was not given to the other Sons of Abraham, but only to Isaac!

Abraham had another wife besides Sarah and the Egyptian concubine, Hagar. Her name was Keturah, and she bore him six sons, ancestors of many Arab peoples today. Genesis 25:5–6 tells us this fact: Now Abraham gave all he had to Isaac; but to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.

The Bible is quite clear about the giving of this land to Isaac, the unique son of Abraham. In Genesis 26:3, God said:

“Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.”

6 Fact Number Six:

This Land was not given to the Descendants of Esau, but only to Jacob!

When Isaac and Rebecca finally had children, the first twin to come out of her womb was Esau, rather than Jacob. According to the Bible, Esau sold his birthright as the firstborn son to Jacob. Later on, the blessing of Isaac, which should have gone to the firstborn son, Esau, was placed upon Jacob. Esau lost the birthright and the blessing.

Some people have tried to say that the birthright and blessing still belong to the descendants of Esau, rather than Jacob, because of the unusual circumstances involved, and because Esau was the firstborn son. But as you know, it is not always the firstborn son who is chosen by God. In the New Testament book of Romans, chapter 9, verses 10–13, we read these words:

And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of works, but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Make no mistake about this—God did not choose Jacob because he had done many things to deserve it! He did not choose him because he was better than Esau! He did not even evaluate the deeds of his life—He made the decision before he was born! Who has the right to say whose land this is? God Almighty!

In Genesis 28:4, Isaac said to Jacob:

“May He (God) also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.”

But it wasn’t simply the words of his father Isaac that guided the future of Jacob. It was a direct revelation from God Himself that convinced Jacob of his destiny. In Genesis 28, verses 10–17, Jacob had a dream one night of a ladder reaching up to heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon it. The Lord God revealed to Jacob His message about this land. In verses 13–15, we read:

“I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

In Genesis 35:9–15, God again appeared to Jacob, changed his name to Israel—the name of this land—and made this promise to him (verses 11–12):

“I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings come forth from you. And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will give the land to your descendants after you.”

According to Genesis 36:6–9, Esau took his descendants and all his possessions and went to another land away from his brother, Jacob. Esau lived in the hill country of Seir. The Bible tells us that Esau is Edom. It specifically tells us that the descendants of Esau are the Edomites, and that this land was not their land.

In Genesis 46:4, when Jacob was considering the move to Egypt during the days of famine, God once again appeared in a vision, and said these comforting words: “I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again.” That this truth was clearly in the heart of Jacob is evident even when he was old and near death. In Genesis 48:3–4, Jacob said to Joseph, his son: “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and He said to me, ‘Behold I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’” The word “everlasting” is obviously a long time!

The fact that this land belongs to the children of Jacob was clearly pointed out by Joseph himself, who died in Egypt, but wanted his bones to be taken to this land. He said to his brothers in Genesis 50:24: “I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land (Egypt) to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” God’s oath is behind God’s promise!

7 Fact Number Seven:

God continued to remind the Children of Israel of this Covenant during their bondage in Egypt and wilderness wanderings!

In the midst of their intense affliction in Egypt, Exodus 2:24 says: “So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” The purpose of the exodus from Egypt was to take them to their promised land. Exodus 3:8 says this clearly when God speaks to Moses:

“So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.”

The Lord repeated these words to Moses in Exodus 3:15–17. In Exodus 6:1–8, God again spoke to Moses and reminded him of His covenant. In verse 4, He said, “And I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned.” In verse 8, God said, “And I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to you for a possession; I am the Lord.”

In giving instructions concerning the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, God said in Exodus 13:5, “And it shall be when the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall observe this rite in this month.” In verse 11, He said, “Now it shall come about when the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you…” In the Song of Moses in Exodus 15:17, Moses said, “Thou wilt bring them and plant them in the mountain of Thine inheritance, The Place, O Lord, which Thou hast made for Thy dwelling, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established.” Moses had his theology right! It was God’s land and His place of dwelling!

Moses repeated God’s promise back to God in Exodus 32:13. While on the mountain receiving God’s laws and commandments, the children of Israel were worshipping the golden calf. Moses pleaded with God to spare their lives, and said this: “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants to whom Thou didst swear by Thyself, and didst say to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’”

In Leviticus 20:24, God said, “You are to possess their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” In Leviticus 25:38 we read, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God,” Constantly, throughout the wilderness wanderings, God was reminding them of His covenant—His promise to give them their land.

8 Fact Number Eight:

God told Israel to conquer the Land which He had given them!

In Deuteronomy 1:8 we read:

“See, I have placed the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and their descendants after them.”

God told Moses that Joshua would be in charge of this project. In Deuteronomy 3:27–28, God says:

“Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west and north and south and east, and see it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. But charge Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go across at the head of this people, and he shall give them as an inheritance the land which you will see.”

It was not because Israel was righteous that God had them drive out the nations living in the land. It was because of the wickedness of those nations and the oath that God had made to give that land to Israel. Deuteronomy 9:3–5 says:

“Know therefore today that it is the Lord your God who is crossing over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you, so that you may drive them out and destroy them quickly, just as the Lord has spoken to you. Do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them out before you, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess the land,’ but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you. It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

God said to Joshua, “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun, will be your territory” (Joshua 1:3,4). God promised to be with him in this effort, and promised him success.

9 Fact Number Nine:

Israel’s sin and captivity did not change their divine right to this Land!

Many people have said that God’s promise to give Israel this land was based upon Israel’s faithfulness to God’s laws, and that when they were disobedient and sent into captivity, this nullified God’s promise. The Bible teaches otherwise. In Leviticus 26:40–45 we read that God would punish Israel for their disobedience and send them into captivity. But, according to verses 44–45, God will bring them back!

“Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the Lord.”

In Deuteronomy 30:1–5, God promises:

“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. 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. And 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.”

Jeremiah 16:15 gives this promise from the Lord, “For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers.” Jeremiah 31:10 says, “He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.” Isaiah 43:5–7 tells us that God will bring Israel’s “offspring from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the South, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth.” Amos 9:14–15 thunders forth these remarkable words:

“Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, and they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, and make gardens and eat their fruit. I will also plant them on their land, and they will not again be rooted out from their land which I have given them,” says the Lord your God.

10 Fact Number Ten:

God’s Promise to Israel is as certain as the existence and order of the universe!

Jeremiah 31:35–37 leaves no doubt in our minds on this fact.

Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The Lord of hosts is His name: “If this fixed order departs from before Me,” declares the Lord, “then the offspring of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the Lord, “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out below, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done,” declares the Lord.

What a wonderful and faithful God we have! Praise the Lord!

11 Fact Number Eleven:

The Name of this Land is not Palestine, but Israel!

2,500 years ago, the prophet Ezekiel spoke of the restoration of Israel to their land in the Last Days. Ezekiel spoke of dry bones coming to life. Never before in history has a nation been destroyed and scattered all over the world, and then brought back to life. It is a miracle, and a fulfillment of Bible prophecy! We read in Ezekiel 37:11–12:

Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of ISRAEL.” ’ ”

Notice that the name of that land is ISRAEL—the land that so often is called the “land of Canaan” in the Bible. God says that in the Last Days it will be called “ISRAEL”—praise the Lord!

12 Fact Number Twelve:

The full restoration of Israel to its Land with complete peace and security will require the coming of the Messiah!

Many people want to know why Bible-believing Christians all over the world have such a heart for Israel and its land. What brings the Jews and Christians together?

How can their hearts beat as one? Have they not disagreed sharply over the Person of Jesus of Nazareth? Have not the Jews suffered terribly at the hands of so-called Christians throughout the history of the Christian Church? What draws the Bible-believing Christian to the support of the people of Israel during this difficult hour in the history of the world? What makes these Christians stand by the nation of Israel when most of the nations of the world refuse to stand by her? There is only one answer! It is because of the Bible itself. If you believe the Bible, then you know—whether you are a Jew or a Christian—that it is through the promise given long ago to Abraham that even the gentiles of the world will be blessed. Gentile Christians believe that they are spiritual sons of Abraham. They have come to believe that the only hope of the world is the coming of the Jewish Messiah, promised by the writers of Scripture.

Zechariah tells us that the Lord will come and place His feet on the Mount of Olives. He will fight for His people Israel against all the nations of the world. All the land of Israel will dwell in safety and peace when the Messiah comes. He will rule and reign from Jerusalem, the Son of David, sitting on His throne. Regardless of Israel’s sins of the past, the Lord will forgive, cleanse, and restore. Jeremiah 31:31–34 says:

“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Zechariah 13:1 says, “In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and or impurity.” The prophet Isaiah said in chapter 59, verses 20–21:

“And a Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord. “And as for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

Ezekiel 39:25–29 speaks of this great day of restoration:

Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Now I shall restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I shall be jealous for My holy name. And they shall forget their disgrace and all their treachery which they perpetrated against Me, when they live securely on their own land with no one to make them afraid. When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer. And I will not hide my face from them any longer, for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,” declares the Lord God.

Yes, the day of Israel’s full restoration is near! Messiah will make it possible and we shall all live in peace. Until He comes, we, who believe that the Bible is God’s Word and that every promise of God will come to pass, must stand and support Israel’s right to its land. It is a Divine right! We are patient with those who do not believe the Bible or accept Israel’s right to the land; but with love for all, we must strongly support Israel’s right. We cannot do otherwise and have clear consciences. We cannot say on the one hand that we believe there is a God Who has revealed His perfect will in His Holy Scriptures, and on the other hand deny Israel its rights to the land God promised to her! Our commitment to Israel is that which the psalmist penned so long ago in Psalm 122:6–9:

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you. May peace be within your walls, and prosperity within your palaces.” For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, “May peace be within you.” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.

Shalom!

For more of our Study Books, DVDs, CDs, Levitt Letter Magazine, Music, Israel Tours, Television Programs, etc, please visit

www.levitt.com

Or write to us at:

Zola • Box 12268 • Dallas, TX 75225

24-hour Order Line: 1-800-966-3377

Table of Contents

Introduction

“What rights does Israel have to its land?”

1 This Land belongs to God!

2 The Land was given by God to the Descendants of Abraham!

3 The Gift of this Land to Abraham and his Descendants was based on an Unconditional Covenant from God Himself!

4 This Land was not given to the Descendants of Ishmael, but rather to the Descendants of Isaac!

5 This Land was not given to the other Sons of Abraham, but only to Isaac!

6 This Land was not given to the Descendants of Esau, but only to Jacob!

7 God continued to remind the Children of Israel of this Covenant during their bondage in Egypt and wilderness wanderings!

8 God told Israel to conquer the Land which He had given them!

9 Israel’s sin and captivity did not change their divine right to this Land!

10 God’s Promise to Israel is as certain as the existence and order of the universe!

11 The Name of this Land is not Palestine, but Israel!

12 The full restoration of Israel to its Land with complete peace and security will require the coming of the Messiah!