THE HOPE OF ISRAEL - The Preterist Archive

64 The Hope of Israel: What Is It?
children of Israel would deligently 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 the 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