I.        INTRODUCTION

A.      In the United States, there is constant awareness and concern for the modern nation of Israel.

                                                             1.      Our concern for Israel is evident in that Israel is ever present in our daily news.  In recent days, escalation in fighting in the Middle East has pushed Israel into the headlines again.

                                                             2.      This concern is also evident in that our foreign policy is highly favorable to Israel.

a.       In fact, the U.S. gave $84.9 billion in foreign aid (grants, loans, and commodities) to Israel from 1949 to 1998, which cost taxpayers $134.8 billion because much of the money was borrowed and interest was paid (Israel: the 51^st State, Morris Glenn Bowers, pp. 330-339).

b.       Other costs to the U.S. include military costs, political costs, and foreign aid (money) given to some nations (such as Egypt) to persuade them into peace with Israel.

B.      As Christians and citizens of the United States, let us understand why many of our fellow citizens and our government favor such vested interest in this tiny country on the other side of the world (about the size of New Jersey with a population of about seven million).

                                                             1.      Some will cite the fact that modern Israel is the only democracy and western-culture nation in the Middle East.  There is some validity to this, but not enough to justify our level of involvement.

                                                             2.      The true reason for our involvement in Israel is the belief by many Americans that the Jews are God’s chosen people who have a right to that piece of ground and that the United States has an obligation to help them possess it.

C.      Zionism is a political movement and ideology that supports a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine.

                                                             1.      A detailed history of Zionism as a political ideology is beyond the limits of this study, but the following website is recommended:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionist_movement

                                                             2.      The modern nation of Israel exists because of Zionism.  This history is also beyond the bounds of our study, but this website is recommended: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel

                                                             3.      Zionists have a powerful influence in the United States with political organizations and lobby groups designed expressly for promoting Israel’s possession of Palestine.

D.      It is important for Christians to understand these things because most Zionists believe as they do so because of their religious convictions.

                                                             1.      Jews hold this conviction based upon the promises of Jehovah given to Abraham and David.

                                                             2.      Zionists who claim to believe in Christ base their conviction not only on the promises to Abraham and David, but also upon the promise of the second coming of Jesus Christ.  They believe Christ will return to establish His kingdom in Jerusalem with a one-thousand year reign on earth (Millennialism).

E.       Let us consider the Bible to determine the truth on this matter.  We seek to answer these questions from the Scriptures:

                                                             1.      Do the Jews have a God-given right to the piece of land known as Palestine?

                                                             2.      Are the Jews God’s chosen nation?

                                                             3.      Is Christ returning to earth to reign from Jerusalem for one-thousand years?  (This question will be answered in Part II.)

II.      THE PROMISES TO ABRAHAM

A.      The promises and covenant given to Abraham (Abram) by God are recorded in Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 15:1-21; 17:1-27; 22:15-18.

                                                             1.      The promises given to Abraham were:

a.       To make the descendants of Abraham (i.e., Israel, the Jews) into a great nation.

b.       To give the descendants of Abraham the land that God showed him.

c.        To bless all nations of the earth through Abraham’s seed.

                                                             2.      These promises were the subject of the covenant made between God and Abraham, for which the sign was circumcision (Gen. 17).

B.      The Bible demonstrates that all three of these promises have been fulfilled.

                                                             1.      Regarding the promise of a great nation, all of the Old Testament history of Israel from the time they left Egypt is evidence of its fulfillment.  By any measure, Israel became a great nation.

                                                             2.      Regarding the promise of the land, see Joshua 21:43-45.  Notice verse 45: “Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.”  Also notice Joshua 23:14; Nehemiah 9:7-8.

                                                             3.      Regarding the promise of the seed, see Galatians 3:7-9,16,29.  This promise is fulfilled in Christ.  (Of course, the Jews reject Jesus as the Messiah and the fulfillment of this promise.)

C.      However, the Zionists point to the term “forever” in the Scriptures as proof that the fulfillment of these promises must be everlasting.

                                                             1.      God told Abraham that He would give the land “to you and your descendants forever” (Gen. 13:15).  The Zionists consider this to be the Jews’ eternal deed to the land of Canaan.

                                                             2.      Actually, terms such as “forever” are not always used in an unlimited sense in the Bible.

a.       For example, circumcision was an “everlasting covenant” (Gen. 17:13), the Passover was an “ordinance forever” (Ex. 12:14), and the Levitical priesthood was “everlasting” (Num. 25:13).

b.       Modern Jews may still cling to these things, but Christians understand that all of them ended with the inauguration of the new covenant of Christ (see Hebrews).

                                                             3.      Therefore, we see that the promise given to Abraham was not guaranteed to have an immutable fulfillment because of the word “forever.”

D.      The limitations of the land and nation promises to Abraham were given in the conditions placed upon his descendants, the children of Israel.

                                                             1.      Notice the condition given to Israel by God: “Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:5-6).  By this condition, Israel understood that disobedience and violation of God’s covenant would forfeit their nationhood as God’s chosen people.

                                                             2.      Again, Moses warned Israel that if they broke the covenant, they would “perish quickly from the land” and God would “scatter you among the peoples” (Deut. 4:25-27).  In other words, Israel would lose the land and would no longer be a great nation.  This warning was given with the promise that God would not forget the covenant with their fathers (Deut. 4:30-31), but this does not say that God would restore the land and the nation.

                                                             3.      Likewise, in Deuteronomy 8:19-20, Moses told Israel that if they forgot God and turned to idols, God would make them to perish “like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you.”

                                                             4.      After Israel possessed the land of Canaan, Joshua warned Israel again that if they transgressed the covenant of God, they would “perish quickly from off the good land which He has given you” (Josh. 23:15-16).

                                                             5.      The history of Israel proves the words of God to be true, for when Israel transgressed the covenant they were destroyed as a nation and removed from the land.  The ultimate fulfillment of this occurred when the Romans destroyed the nation of Judah in 70 A.D.

III.   THE PROMISES TO DAVID

A.      Zionists also point to the promises given to David by God in 2Samuel 7:8-16 as evidence that Palestine belongs to the Jews and that the Jews are still God’s nation, His chosen people.

                                                             1.      God promised to “appoint a place” for Israel where they would rest from their enemies.  Notice that this promise was given long after Israel had taken possession of the land of Canaan.  Therefore, the fulfillment of this promise cannot be in the physical land of Palestine.

                                                             2.      God also promised to establish the throne of David forever.  Specifically, a physical descendant of David (“of the fruit of your body”) would sit on his throne forever (Psalm 89:3-4; 132:11-12).

a.       David’s son Solomon sat on the throne of David, but of course he did not live forever.  In fact, David’s descendants through Solomon and Jeconiah (Coniah) were cursed to never sit on the throne again (Jer. 22:24-30).

b.       Therefore, the descendant of David who would sit on the throne forever had to come though David’s other son, Nathan.

B.      Zionists completely overlook the spiritual nature and fulfillment of these promises to David.

                                                             1.      Peter declared the fulfillment of these things on the Day of Pentecost after Jesus ascended to the Father (Acts 2:14-36).

                                                             2.      Jesus Christ is the descendant of David through Nathan (presumably through Mary, Luke 3:31-34) who has been seated on the throne of David where He now reigns (1Cor. 15:25; Eph. 1:20-23).

                                                             3.      Because the Zionists look for terrestrial fulfillments of every promise and prophecy concerning Israel, and because they consider every Scriptural reference to Israel to concern only the fleshly descendants of Jacob, they are blinded from seeing the true fulfillment of God’s wonderful promises in the Lord Jesus Christ.

***Please see the continuation of this study in “Premillennialism – Part II: The One-Thousand Year Reign.”***