GOD’S COVENANTS
God’s next covenant is the Palestinian Covenant. This agreement concerns the Promised Land given to the Jewish people for permanent possession, and carries worldwide implications (Deuteronomy 30:1-10 NIV). While the term “Palestinian Covenant” is not found in Scripture, it is commonly used today. Because this covenant is unconditional, God alone will fulfill it perfectly.
A little background: The Israelites began as honored guests in Egypt but were eventually enslaved by the Pharaohs. After 430 years Moses, under God’s direction, led them out of Egypt toward the Promised Land. As they approached it, Moses sent twelve men to spy out the land. When they returned, only Joshua and Caleb urged the people to trust God and take possession of it, despite the presence of formidable inhabitants.
However, the people—who had repeatedly been disobedient—refused to take the land God had given into their hands. This angered God, and due to their unbelief, He made them wander in the wilderness for forty years until that generation died. After Moses’ death, Joshua succeeded him, and he, along with Caleb and their obedient descendants, were finally allowed to enter the land, which they took by force (Numbers 14:24 NIV, Joshua 1:1-9 NIV).
The Jewish people will eventually take full possession of the land, though there has been—and will continue to be—intense conflict with neighboring peoples, alongside God’s ongoing discipline and correction of the Jewish people (Leviticus 26:40-45 NIV).
Are we seeing battles over that small strip of land called Israel today? Absolutely! Yet this represents only a portion of what Israel will ultimately possess. Let’s look, big picture, at the land God is giving to the Jewish people. When the Lord put Abram into a deep sleep, He made this covenant with him and his descendants: “So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River—the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites,” Genesis 15:18-21 NIV.
When the land described in this covenant is viewed in full, it reveals the future extent of God’s promised land for Israel:
- Modern-day Israel, including the West Bank and Gaza
- Parts of Lebanon and southwestern Syria, extending to the Euphrates River
- Regions east of the Jordan River into parts of Jordan and Iraq
- From the River of Egypt to the Mediterranean near the Gaza border
Friends, God’s promises to His people will be fulfilled. This Promised Land is for the Jewish people, and it carries blessings for the entire world, for God said, “all peoples on earth will be blessed through Israel,” Genesis 12:1-3 NIV.
Rejoice in the Promised Land
Shalom, Chris Baker
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