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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Top Bible Prophecy #3 The Promised Land - Deuteronomy 30


Deuteronomy 30:5 "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."


Reviewing the last two top Bible prophecies
Last week and the week before, I wrote some posts on particular scriptures that I am simply calling: "Top Bible Prophecies". In the April 12, 2013 post we looked at Top Prophecy #1 - Genesis 3:15. Then on April 17 and 18, 2013 we looked at Top Bible Prophecy # 2 - Genesis 12. In Genesis 12 we see God's Covenant with Abraham promising and predicting three things: A Land (Genesis 12:1), Seed (Genesis 12:2,7) and Blessing (Genesis 12:3). We noted how in Abraham's Covenant, God took the plan of salvation revealed in Genesis 3:15 to the more specific form of Promise.  Between both passages we see the common word "seed", indicating that through a redemptive bloodline God would ultimately bring about the humanity of which the Divine Son would assume to shed His blood on the cross. 

Connecting Abraham's Covenant to Deuteronomy 30
As we already mentioned, God promised Abraham land, seed and blessing.  We know "what God" promised.  The question is: "how will God bring the promise and prediction to Abraham to be about the Person of Jesus Christ?"  As you go throughout the rest of scripture, God will make three other eternal covenants that amplify the three-fold promise of the Abrahamic Covenant of Genesis 12 (Land Covenant, Davidic Covenant, New Covenant).  Today's post will feature the Land Covenant of Deuteronomy 30, which amplifies and reinforces God's promised land to His people Israel.  In considering the figure below, as well as the exposition that will follow on Deuteronomy 30, you will see why we are considering it Top Prophecy #3:

Abraham's (Promise of Land)-------------Land (Amplified promise)
Covenant                                                       Covenant
(Genesis 12:1)                                         (Deut 30:1-10)

Why the Promised Land to Israel matters to Christians today
I think before we unfold the significance of Deuteoronomy 30, it is vital to first see why this even matters to the Christian reader.  What does a land deed to Israel have to do with me?  As you study both Old and New Testaments on this subject of the Promised Land, here are some applications you find to the Christian:

1. God's fulfillment of His promises to Israel directly impacts His level of faithfulness in fulfilling the Christian's salvation. (Romans 11:11-12)

2. The God who guarantees a future for Israel is the same God who guarantees the Gospel.  In fact, Romans 10:6-9, a key passage describing the Gospel, quotes from Deuteronomy 30, the key text for God's land Covenant with Israel.

3. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)  By virtue of the fact that Jesus is going to restore Israel and her land at His second coming, means that His Promises to the Christian right now stand firm.  Jesus never changes His character nor faithfulness. 

With those three main applications stated, we can now briefly see the prophetic significance of the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 30.

God's Promised Land in Bible Prophecy
Deuteronomy 30:1-10 outlines God's amplification and prophetic program for restoring the nation of Israel at Christ's return.  A brief outline of this text shows this point:

1. Rescue Israel.              Deuteronomy 30:3-5
2. Redeeming o Israel.    Deuteronomy 30:6-8
3. Rich blessing of Israel.  Deuteronomy 30:9-10

God's ultimate will to have a redeemed nation in Israel will come to pass.  Undoubtedly she would have a history of apostasy and rebellion as predicted in Deuteronomy 28-29.  In fact, Deuteronomy 30:1-2  details how she will be scattered all over the globe.  A brief history of Israel from Old Testament to present day demonstrates the truth of her scattering.

The reason why we call this Top Bible Prophecy "The Promised Land", is because God had "promised it" to Abraham and his descendants. (Genesis 12:1; 13:15; 15:7)  The Land was to be Israel's portion and proof that God's Covenant with her was not broken.  God included the boundaries of the land - stretching from the River Euphrates to the East to the Western most limit of the Nile River in Egypt. (Genesis 15:18).  Though there were times throughout Israel's history where she came close to possessing the land, nevertheless she has never has possessed all of it. (Joshua 21:43-45; 23:14-15; Nehemiah 9:8)  This tells us that God's fulfillment of the land to Israel still remains future.2 

When God will Rescue, Redeem and Richly Bless Israel with the land
As we mentioned before, Deuteronomy 30 outlines God's future guarantee of granting Israel the promised land.3  This three-step process of rescuing, redeeming and rich blessing is spoken of in the passages that point to the return of the Lord to set up His earthly Kingdom here on earth.  For instance, Isaiah 11 speaks of Christ returning to rule the earth with a rod of iron (11:4), rescuing Israel (11:11) who will be redeemed (11:13) and thus be a rich blessing among the nations (11:16).4  According to Revelation 19-20, this future time period will last 1,000 years and is called by Bible teachers "The Millennium" (a term meaning 1,000 years). 

So Israel as a nation can be expected to be rescued and redeemed at Christ's return (Romans 11:25-26) and thus be richly blessed in her own land as originally promised to Abraham.

Why the Promised Land to Israel matters to Christians today
What does a land deed to Israel have to do with me?  As we have seen, this top Bible prophecy has implications reaching into the future beginning at Christ's return.  However the fullfillment of this land covenant ties into determining God's faithfulness to the Christian as Savior Lord and Treasure.  As we noted at the beginning:

1. God's fulfillment of His promises to Israel directly impacts His level of faithfulness in fulfilling the Christian's salvation. (Romans 11:11-12)

2. The God who guarantees a future for Israel is the same God who guarantees the Gospel. In fact, Romans 10:6-9, a key passage describing the Gospel, quotes from Deuteronomy 30, the key text for God's land Covenant with Israel.

3. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) By virtue of the fact that Jesus is going to restore Israel and her land at His second coming, means that His Promises to the Christian right now stand firm. Jesus never changes His character nor faithfulness.

Closing Thoughts
Bible Prophecy (also called "eschatology" meaning study of last things) is designed to energize hope and expectation of Christ's return.  My prayer is that these studies are giving you the reader an orderly way of considering the vast and rich terrain of God's prophetic message in His Word.  Tomorrow we will consider Top Bible Prophecy #4.....

End Notes__________________
1. 722 b.c Assyrian Exile of the Northern Kingdom of Israel;  605-586 b.c Babylonian Exile of the Southern Kingdom of Judah; 516 b.c-Jesus' day.  Though the Jews did return in large numbers to Jerusalem, yet many were still scattered throughout the Medditeranean world and were termed "The Dispersed ones" by Jesus day. In today's world, even though many have been steadily returning since the reconstitution of Israel in 1948, many are still scattered throughout the world.

2. Dwight Pentecost in His Book: "Things to Come", mentions the following cross-references that also refer to God's continuing promise of the future promised land to Israel: Isaiah 11:11-12, 14:1-3, 27;12-13, 43:1-8, 49:8-16, 66:20-22, Jeremiah 16:14-16, 23:3-8, 30:10-11, 31:8,31-37; Ezekiel 11:17-21, 20:33-38, 34:11-16, 39:25-29; Hosea 1:10-11; Joel 3:17-21; Amos 9:11-15; Micah 4:4-7 and Zephaniah 3:14-20.

3. In Deuteronomy 30:3-5 we see Him rescuing Israel as seen in the words "restore" (30:3), "gather you again" (30:3), "gather you" (30:4), "bring you back" (30:4) and "bring you into the land" (30:5). Then in Deuteronomy 30:6-8 we see God redeeming Israel as demonstrated by the phrase "circumcision of the heart" (30:6), which is an Old Testament version of the more glorious New Birth spoken of by Jesus in John 3. Thirdly, we see God richly blessing Israel in Deuteronomy 30:9-10 through the language of "prospering" (30:9). 

4. Another passage that speaks of Christ's future earthly reign over His people Israel is Zechariah 12-14. Zechariah prophesies of Israel being rescued (12:1-9), redeemed (12:10-14:8) and richly blessed (14:9-21) in her own land with her Messiah. 


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