I recently saw a meme floating around social media: “Israel doesn’t occupy the land. They OWN it. Gen 15:18-21.”
There were multiple amens attached.
Certainly, the intent was to show support for Israel in response to the horrific attack on civilians by Hamas last October.
While there is a promise made in Genesis 15, it is curious that a verse referencing “everlasting” was not used, such as Genesis 13:15: “All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.” This promise to Abraham was restated to him (Genesis 17:8), then confirmed to Isaac (Genesis 26:3) and Jacob (Genesis 35:12).
The main problem with the meme, however, is it assumes God’s promise was without condition. That’s certainly the response of many to the meme: “God does not break his covenants.” “Truth!” “Of course!” “I stand with Israel.”
Yet the Bible itself does not support the idea God gifted the land to Abraham’s descendants in perpetuity without condition.
Land in the Old Testament
Before we consider these conditions, however, we first must address the wording of the meme.
God’s promise to the Patriarchs does not mean Israel “owns” the land. God explicitly rejects such a concept in Leviticus 25:23: “The land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.” God is the only owner of the land.
God set conditions that the people must not sin, but obey his commands in order to remain in the land (Deuteronomy 4:1; 5:33; 11:8-9; Joshua 23:16; 2 Chronicles 7:19-22; 33:7-9; Jeremiah 11:5; 32:21-23).
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Abraham, though a foreigner at the time, was told by God the land was an everlasting possession for him and his descendants, and they must keep God’s covenant (Genesis 17:8-9). As Abraham was a foreigner in the land he possessed, so his later descendants also were foreigners.
Before entering the land, God warned Israel if they did not keep his commands, the land would vomit them out as it did the Canaanites (Leviticus 18:25-28; 20:22).
By the monarchy’s end, God tells them, “You came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable” (Jeremiah 2:7).
These detestable acts included idolatry (Deuteronomy 4:25-27; 11:16-17; 30:17-18; Joshua 23:16; 1 Kings 14:15-16; Jeremiah 16:13-15) and unethical treatment of their fellow human beings.
If Israel wanted to remain in the land, they were to follow the way of justice, treating people fairly and without partiality (Deuteronomy 16:18-20). They were not to mistreat the foreigner living among them, but were to treat them as native-born. “Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt,” God commands (Leviticus 19:33-34).
Israel was driven from the land because of violence and bloodshed (Ezekiel 7:23-25), because they did not care for the orphan and the poor (Jeremiah 5:28).
Land in the New Testament
Many American Christians think they are called to unwavering support of Israel, regardless of the civilian casualty count. Some even believe Israel is entitled to the whole land, to expel the Palestinians. This, however, contradicts the statements above—such as love the foreigner, care for the orphan and poor.
I believe it also misreads the biblical story, as the New Testament authors continuously spiritualized the return to the land and the restoration of Israel, reading these as the gathering of Jews and Gentiles in Christ.
For instance, the writer to the Hebrews says we don’t look toward the earthly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22; 13:11-14), but join with the Hebrew faithful, who lived as foreigners and strangers on the Earth, longing for a better country to come (Hebrews 11:13-16). Remember, he’s writing to Hebraic Jews, saying the land and temple no longer are important.
Biblical warnings
God can give the land to whomever he wants, whether Israeli or Palestinian. That is up to God. But as Christians, we should not turn a blind eye to the suffering of Palestinians—both Christian and Muslim—who did not take part in nor condone Oct. 7.
We should not encourage Israel to violate the command of God. They should limit retribution to no more than an eye for an eye (Exodus 21:23-25). One thousand two hundred people died in Israel that day. Why is it OK for 35,000 civilians to die in Gaza? Even if these deaths have been overreported by 90 percent, that still is 3 “eyes” to 1.
Even if the restoration texts apply to the modern state of Israel, the modern state is not living by these texts. The return described by the prophets was of a people with the law written on their hearts of flesh (Jeremiah 31:31-34), filled with God’s Spirit to obey the commands (Ezekiel 11:14-21; 36:22-32) and wholeheartedly fearing the Lord (Jeremiah 32:36-41).
Isaiah says strangers would be united to those returning (Isaiah 14:1-2). Ezekiel adds they would treat the foreigner residing in the land as a native-born and give them an inheritance in the land in whatever tribe they resided (Ezekiel 47:21-23).
God the shepherd would gather his lost sheep, caring for the weak and injured but destroying the sleek and strong (Ezekiel 34:15-16). It would seem Israel should strive to find a way to live in peace with their Palestinian neighbors, not take their land nor prosper at their expense, lest they themselves be destroyed. The same applies to Palestine.
God shows no favoritism
The modern secular state of Israel does not live the righteous life described within the Hebrew Bible. In many ways, their response is far more like the people of Ezekiel’s own day than his vision of the future people of God.
Just after Jerusalem’s fall to Babylon, the attacked people say to themselves: “Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as our possession” (Ezekiel 33:24).
Yet, God tells them they violated his commands, worshiped idols, shed the blood of the innocent, defiled their neighbor’s wives and relied on their own sword rather than on him. “Should you then possess the land” (Ezekiel 33:25-26)?
The God who was, and is, and is to come (Revelation 1:8) is neither for Israel or her enemy (Joshua 3:13-15). He shows no favoritism for Jew or Gentile but rewards each according to their good or evil deeds (Romans 2:6-11).
Jay Givens is professor of theological studies and director of online Christian studies programs at Wayland Baptist University. This article is adapted from the original blog post and republished by permission. The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the author.
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