THE HOPE OF ISRAEL - The Preterist Archive

42 The Hope of Israel: What Is It?
to pass that / shall do unto, you as I thought to do\
unto them"; and what He purposed as to those idolatrous
nations was their national extermination and
their expulsion from that land. This prophecy concerning
the earthly Israel has been completely fulfilled.
Here is a summary of the covenant. They
Deut. 4 :1.
were to hearken always to God's statutes and judgments
; and, upon that express condition, they were to
go in and possess the land. Every blessing mentioned
in this book is made to depend upon that same condition.
This chapter lays special emphasis upon the
Second Commandment (vv. 15-24) ;
for it was because
of the breaking of that commandment that the Sinaitic
covenant had been nullified; and now God proclaims
a matter of record,
to the whole nation, and makes it
what would certainly be the penal consequences to them
if they should break this substituted covenant. And
not only so, but He confirms His word with a solemn
oath, saying, "I call heaven and earth to witness
against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish
from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to
possess it ; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but
shall utterly be destroyed" (v. 26) Will God fulfil His
.
word? Shall heaven and earth bear witness that He
did not mean what He said?
Careful note should be taken of the promise of mercy
(Verses 29, 30) which should be fulfilled to them if,
when scattered among the heathen (w. 27, 28), any
of them should turn to the Lord :
"If from thence thou shs.lt seek the Lord thy God, thou
shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all they heart and with
all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation and all these things
are come upon thee, if thou turn to the Lord thy God and shalt
be obedient unto His voice."