The book of Joshua contains a passage (Chapter 21, verses 43-45) which
throws clear light upon the question we are investigating- the future of the
Jews. The passage has already been briefly noticed; but its importance demands
a more extended consideration. Its value for our present purpose lies chiefly
in the fact that thereby it clearly appears that nothing now remains to be
fulfilled of all that God promised the fathers of Israel He would do for their
natural descendants.
Joshua, whose name signifies Saved-of-Jehovah, had by God's express
command, led the children of Israel across the river Jordan and into the land
which the Lord had promised their fathers to give them. Furthermore, after a
personal interview with "the Captain of the host of the Lord" (who could have
been none other than the Lord Jesus Himself) he led them victoriously against
their enemies, subduing one after another, until, as the record declares, "he
left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses" (11:15). And
finally, he divided the entire land among the twelve tribes, assigning to each
tribe its inheritance, and to the Levites cities in diverse parts of the land.
God was with Joshua in a very special way; and through that chosen and
well prepared instrument He completed all He had pledged Himself to do for the
children of Israel under His unconditional covenants with Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob; and this is plainly and most emphatically declared in the passage we
are about to examine. The confusion and misunderstanding that now exist, in
regard to the present status and future prospects of "Israel after the flesh,"
would never have arisen had due attention been given to these facts of
Scripture: first, that God's promise to the fathers of Israel concerning the
land of Canaan went no farther than He would bring their descendants into that
land, would give them complete possession of it, and would subdue their
enemies under them; and second, that their continued possession of that
promised land would depend upon their faithfulness to Him and their obedience
to His commandments.
Accordingly, when the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had fulfilled
to their seed, through Joshua, all He had pledged Himself to do for them, all
of which He faithfully accomplished to the last detail, notwithstanding their
many and great "provocations" during the forty years He suffered their manners
in the wilderness, then the unconditional covenants with the fathers were
fulfilled so completely that "there failed not ought of any good thing which
the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel." Therefore, they stood
thenceforth, as to their relations with God, wholly upon the conditional
covenant He made with them through Moses, which we have considered in a
previous chapter (Deut. 29:1). The details of that substituted covenant, which
is strangely ignored by Bible teachers in our day, occupy the greater part of
the Book of Deuteronomy. The substance of it was, as we have already seen,
that, upon the express condition that the children of Israel would diligently
keep the commandments of God- those commandments being of the essence of the
covenant- He would plant them firmly in that land, would establish them in
permanent possession of it, and would, moreover, give them to enjoy certain
specified blessings therein. But if, on the other hand, they should be
disobedient, should adopt the customs of the people of the land, and should
forsake Him to worship their gods, then He would bring sundry curses upon
them, and eventually, for persistent rebellion and apostasy on their part,
would destroy them from off the land and scatter them among all the nations of
the world (Deut. 28:15-68). This is stated again and again, in the clearest
and strongest terms (See Deut. 29:23-28; and 30:17,18).
Certainly it is impossible to maintain, in the face of these plain
Scriptures, and of what we are now about to bring to the reader's attention,
that God had obligated Himself to give the land of Canaan to the natural seed
of Abraham for an everlasting possession. Moreover, those who so teach
overlook the fact that, if God had indeed obligated Himself by His covenants
of promise, not only to bring the children of Israel into that good land, but
also to establish them in it forever, then it would have been a breach of
covenant on His part to pluck them from off the land and scatter them among
all nations of the world, as He has now done. But, as to the conclusions we
should reach regarding this important matter, we are not left to an inference,
however plain; for we have this clear record:
"And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which He sware to give unto
their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.
"And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that He sware
unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before
them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand.
"There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto
the house of Israel; all came to pass" (Josh. 21:43-45).
Here is a carefully worded record, manifestly designed to arrest the
attention and impress itself upon the minds of the readers of God's Word;
which record declares in the most emphatic terms that God had, despite all the
provocation, contumacy and rebellion of that people, fulfilled completely
"all" He had promised and sworn to their fathers to do them; insomuch that of
all the good things He had spoken concerning the house of Israel, "there
failed not ought."
But that is not all; for Joshua, when about to die, assembled all
Israel, with their elders, their heads, their judges and their officers
(23:2), and after rehearsing briefly what Jehovah had done for them, he
earnestly exhorted them to be "Very courageous to keep and to do all that is
written in the Book of the law of Moses"; to shun the idolatries of the
Canaanites, not even so much as to make mention of the names of their gods;
but to cleave steadfastly to Jehovah their God, as they had done during the
period of his leadership (vv. 6-8).
And then, with the utmost solemnity and impressiveness, he warned them
that, if they should "in anywise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of those
nations... and make marriages with them, then they were to "know for a
certainty that the Lord" would no more drive out those enemies; but would make
them the instruments of His judgment upon the apostate people, "until ye
perish from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you"
(11-13).
And he concludes with these weighty words:
"And behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in
all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all
the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come
to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.
"Therefore, it shall come to pass that, as all good things are come upon
you, which the Lord your God promised you; so shall the Lord bring upon you
all evil things, until He have destroyed you from off this good land which
the Lord your God hath given you. When ye have transgressed the covenant of
the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other
gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the Lord be
kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land
which He hath given unto you" (vv. 14-16).
It is specially to be noticed that Joshua's last message changes in
character at verse 15 from an exhortation to a prophecy; and that, in the
prophetic part of that message, he plainly declares that the then unborn
generations of Israelites would transgress the covenant of the Lord, and that
He would therefore destroy them from off the land. (That the prophecy had
reference to future generations of Israelites appears from verse 31 of the
next chapter, where it is recorded that "Israel served the Lord all the days
of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had
known all the works of the Lord, that He had done for Israel.")
And now the whole world has been witness for nineteen centuries that
God has done just what He said He would do. And is there to be, in time to
come, a reversal of this Divine decree and judgment? Impossible. We use that
strong word advisedly. For to begin with, there is no hint in the Scripture we
have been considering of the reversal of this decree and of a return to the
old order of things; and "God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret
unto His servants the prophets." Furthermore, the terms in which God announced
through Moses and Joshua (the founders of the nation of Israel) the
destruction of that nation, exclude the possibility of its restoration.
And finally, it was necessary that the old covenant and all that was
connected with it should wax old and vanish away, in order that place might be
found for the new and everlasting covenant, the "better covenant, which was
established upon better promises" (Heb. 8:6-13). It was under that old
covenant, which had merely "the shadow of good things to come"- the glorious
and eternal things of God's everlasting kingdom- that the children of Israel
took possession of the land of Canaan. And now, not only have the old covenant
and all the shadows connected with it passed away, but they have been replaced
by the eternal realities, which those shadows represented for that era of
mingled light and darkness. But "the darkness is past and the true light now
shineth" (1 J. 2:8); so there can be no going back again to the time of
dimness and shadows.
It is of the highest importance that this truth be clearly grasped and
firmly maintained, for it is of the very essence and substance of the gospel
that, while there is mercy now for all men- pardon, life and eternal blessing-
"Through the blood of the everlasting covenant," there is no mercy and no
blessing for any, whether Jews or Gentiles, under any other covenant; but
judgments and curses only. There now remains no promises for any except the
"better promises" of the gospel of Christ; and for those who refuse that
gospel- it matters not what their ancestry- there is nought but the abiding
wrath of God, nought "but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery
indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." (Heb. 10:27). It is due to
the glory of God and the honor of His gospel to insist upon this.
FROM THE DESERT TO THE RIVER EUPHRATES
Those who hold the doctrine of a national restoration for the Jews,
and with a territorial dominion greater (so we are told) than any they
occupied in their past history, usually refer to the word of the Lord to
Abraham- "Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto
the great river, the river Euphrates" (Gen 15:18), as affording support for
the doctrine. The argument is- and it is regarded by those who make use
thereof as quite conclusive of the matter -that this promise has never been
fulfilled to the "seed" of Abraham, and hence there must needs be a
restoration of national Israel, if only for the purpose of the fulfillment of
this particular promise.
But this argument is based upon a two-fold mistake: first, a mistake
as to the facts of history, for the above promise was duly fulfilled to
Abraham's natural "seed," and the Bible contains clear records of the fact, as
will be shown presently; and second, a mistake as to the nature of the
promise; for the promise in its fullness runs to Abraham's true "Seed" (which
is Christ), as clearly explained by the apostle Paul. This also will be shown
below.
1. As to the historical facts: At Mount Sinai God showed to Moses how
He would proceed to put the children of Israel in possession of their promised
inheritance. He would not drive out the inhabitants of the land "in one year";
but He said, "little by little I will drive them out from before thee, until
thou be increased, and inherit the land." And He goes on to say that He would
set the bounds of their possession "from the desert unto the river"
(Euphrates), and would "deliver the inhabitants of the land" into their hand,
and they should "drive them out" before them (Ex. 23:27-31). This shows that
the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, insofar as it was to be fulfilled
to his natural seed, was not to be postponed to a far-off dispensation, but
was to be accomplished in that era of the old covenant; and so it was.
Again, when Moses had brought the Israelites to the river Jordan and
was about to leave them, he reminded them of the word of Jehovah spoken at
Horeb; where He commanded them to take their journey "to the land of the
Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates"; and
said, "Behold, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land
which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give unto
them and to their seed after them" (Deut. 1:6-8). From this it will be seen
that, as soon as the Israelites had crossed the river Jordan, they were
constructively in possession of the of the whole land of promise, from the Red
sea to the Euphrates river. And once again, in this last message, Moses says:
"Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours; from
the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the
uttermost sea shall your coast be" (Deut. 11:24).
Furthermore, in God's first word to Joshua after the death of Moses,
He commanded him, saying: "Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou and
all this people, unto the land that I do give them, even to the children of
Israel" (Josh. 1:2). And what was the extent of the territory which God gave
to the children of Israel at that time? The next verses answer the question:
"Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given
unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto
the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto
the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast" (vv.
3-4).
Here therefore, we have a record of the fulfillment of the promise,
considered as a promise of an earthly possession to an earthly people, in its
widest extent.
But there are later records which make it yet more certain that
nothing remains, of the promise we are considering, for fulfillment to be a
re-constituted Jewish nation. Thus we read (2 Sam. 8:3) that "David smote also
Hadadeger, the son of Rehob, King of Zobah, as he went to recover his border
at the river Euphrates." This record makes evident that the eastern boundary
of the territory of the nation of Israel was the river Euphrates." It shows,
moreover, that part of that territory has been wrested from them, and was
occupied by the King of Zobah, and then when David defeated the latter he did
not conquer alien territory, but merely recovered his own proper "border at
the river Euphrates." (See also 1 Chron. 13:3).
A little further on we read: "And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms,
from the river [i.e., the Euphrates] unto the land of the Philistines, and
unto the border of Egypt... For he had dominion over all the region on this
side of the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side
of the river" (1 Ki. 4:21, 24. See also 2 Chron. 9:26).
So much for the "literal" fulfilment of God's promise to Abraham and
his "seed."
2. But we learn from the New Testament that God's promise to Abraham,
recorded in Genesis 15:18, was much larger than appears from the words in
which it was spoken; and we learn also that, while it had Abraham's natural
"seed" immediately in view, its fullness was intended for his spiritual seed.
For in Romans 4:9-25 Paul unfolds the great truth that Abraham was, in
God's sight and according to His eternal purpose, the father, not only of a
natural line of posterity, but also "the father of all them that believe,
though they be not circumcised." And in that connection he refers to the
promise we are considering, and say: "For the promise that he should be the
heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but
through the righteousness of faith" (v. 13).
Here we get a view of the vast extent and the true character of this
promise; and we see also that the heirs of the promise are, not Abraham's
natural descendants, but his spiritual children. And this is confirmed by what
is written in Galatians 3:7. "Know ye therefore that they which are of faith,
the same are the children of Abraham"; and in Galatians 3:29, "And if ye be
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
"The promise" referred to in this chapter of Galatians is the promise
of Genesis 13:15 and 15:18; and verse 16 contains a very illuminating
explanation thereof: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He
saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is
Christ."
Thus we find that the promise to Abraham embraced the gift of the
whole world, and that the true and sole heir of that promise is Jesus Christ;
though, through God's wondrous grace, those who believe in Christ are reckoned
"the children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:16,17). And this makes it impossible that
there should be a future fulfilment of the promise in the realm of "that which
is natural" (1 Cor. 15:46).
"THE SON OF THE BONDWOMAN SHALL NOT BE HEIR"
But the Scripture does not leave the matter there. Chapter III of
Galatians states the positive side of the truth, showing, and with all the
clearness that could be asked, that Christ and His people are the true "Israel
of God" (6:16), the seed of Abraham and heirs of the promises; but chapter IV
presents the negative side of the same truth, making it evident that the
natural Israel has no longer any standing before God, or any part in His
future purposes. And further it is shown that the setting aside of "Israel
after the flesh" is not a new revelation given to Paul, but was to be found in
the O.T. records. For there is evident reproof in the words: "Tell me, ye that
desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that
Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman" (Gal.
4:21,22). Paul's question implies that those who construed the Scriptures in
the sense that is now-a-days mis-called "literal," should have known better.
And he goes on to show that these things "are an allegory," in which Hagar
stands for the old covenant and her son, Ishmael, for the natural Israel;
whereas Sarah represents the new covenant and Isaac the true Israel, the seed
of Abraham, the heirs of the promise. And the climax of the lesson is found in
the words of Sarah, which the apostle here declares to be the voice of
Scripture; for, in declaring what was to be the outcome of the controversy
between the natural Israel, that which "was born after the flesh," and the
true Israel, that which "was born after the Spirit," and which was being
persecuted by the natural Israel, he says: "Nevertheless, what saith the
Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son; for the son of the bondwoman
shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman." And he concludes with this
comforting statement: "So then, brethren, we are not children of the
bondwoman, but of the free."
It is superfluous to say that these New Testament Scriptures make
certain that the national restoration of Israel after the flesh is not a part
of the revealed will of God, but that the reverse is true.
THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES
The period of the Judges is one of repeated departures by the people
of Israel from the right ways of the Lord, and of repeated lapses into
idolatry. Yet He exercised great patience and long forbearance with them, not
casting them off for one offence, or for many; but permitting them to have one
bitter experience after another at the hands of their enemies, to teach them
that their welfare, and indeed their very existence as a nation, depended upon
their faithfulness to Him and their obedience to His law. And again and again,
during that long period of decline, He intervened for their deliverance by the
hand of one and another of the Judges.
It is recorded that, in the completeness of their apostasy and the
depth of their degradation, "they sacrificed unto devils" (Deut. 32:7). And
further to show the extent of their denial of God during the era of the
Judges, we quote the following testimony from their own scriptures:
"And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and
served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon,
and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of
the Philistines, and forsook the Lord and served Him not" (Jud. 10:6).
Finally, during the regency of Samuel, the last of the Judges and the
first of the line of Prophets, the wickedness of the people culminated in
their demand for a king. And notwithstanding that "the thing displeased
Samuel," they persisted in that demand, saying, "Make us a king to judge us
like all the nations" (1 Sam. 8:5,6).
This was a national sin of rebellion against Jehovah. Nevertheless, He
did not cast them off, but directed Samuel to let them have their own way,
saying:
"Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for
they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not
reign over them" (v. 7).
This was the origin of the earthly Kingdom of Israel, over which David
and his descendants reigned, and which the carnally minded Jews were, and are,
expecting their long looked for Messiah to restore. And we see that, so far
from being the Kingdom of God, that earthly kingdom involved the repudiation
of the Kingdom of God.
Later on Samuel, by the Lord's command, gathered the people together,
and after recalling what the Lord had done for them in days past, said:
"And ye have this day rejected your God, who Himself saved you out of all
your adversities and your tribulations, and ye have said unto Him, Nay, but
set a king over us" (1 Sam. 10:17-19).
Finally when Samuel was about to die, he addressed "All Israel,"
reminding them of their grievous sin, and saying:
"And when ye saw that Nahash the King of the children of Ammon came
against you, ye said unto me, Nay, but a king shall reign over us, when the
Lord your God was your King."
And he went on to say:
"Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do
before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call unto the Lord,
and He will send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your
wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking
you a king" (Sam. 12:6-17).
These passages make it abundantly clear, even were there nothing else
to enlighten us, that God regards that earthly kingdom with utter detestation,
that He will never restore it, and that when John the Baptist preached to the
Jewish people, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," he was
not announcing the setting up again of the earthly throne of David.
