The Kingdom of Promise and ProphecyWhiteside, Robertson L.
Religion
The Kingdom of Promise and Prophecy
Whiteside, Robertson L.
Bible -- Prophecies
We learn from a note accompanying the question that a Holy Roller or
some similar kind of preacher is creating a little confusion by teaching
that the Jews will return to Jerusalem and Christ will soon come and
rebuild the temple.
There is no way to keep fanatics from making wild guesses, nor to keep
speculators from perverting the word of God. But if people studied the
Bible as they should, such fellows would create very little confusion.
It is hard to tell just why such a high fever has lately developed about
the future of the Jews. Some preachers seem not to have much thought for
any one but the Jews.
God promised Abraham to make of his seed a great nation and to give to
them the land of Canaan. (Gen. 12:1-3; 13:14-17.) After Israel came out
of Egypt, God entered into a covenant with them, promising to make of
them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, on condition that they
obeyed his voice and kept his covenant. (Ex. 19:5, 6.) But as they
neared Canaan, Jehovah said to them: “And it shall be, if thou shalt
forget Jehovah thy God, and walk after other Gods, and serve them, and
worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely
perish. As the nations that Jehovah maketh to perish before you, so
shall ye perish; because ye would not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah
your God.” (Deut. 8:19, 20.) The nations spoken of perished permanently,
never to inhabit Canaan again. Israel was to perish as they did, if they
turned from Jehovah in rebellion against him. I think one can safely say
that not a future-kingdom advocate believes that Scripture just as it
reads.
Some, at least, of those who look for the return of the Jews to
Palestine and the restoration of their old kingdom tell us that the land
promise to Abraham and his seed was an unconditional promise. If so, why
have the Jews been deprived of their land for eighteen and a half
centuries? If the Jews were driven out because of their conduct, then
the land covenant, or promise, was conditional. It seems to me that
their theory virtually charges God with a failure to carry out an
unconditional promise. Just here the interested reader should read
carefully Deut. 27 and 28. But some will tell us that the land promise
and the national promises have not yet been fulfilled to the Jews; but
in so contending they run squarely against plain statements of
Scripture.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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