Israel in Bible Prophecy - NetBibleStudy.com

and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan;and into the land of Canaan they came.”It was to the descendants of Abraham that God gave the entire land from the River Nilein Egypt northward to the River Euphrates and bounded by the Mediterranean Sea. This is anarea of some 250,00 square miles. It includes most of the Sinai Peninsula, Edom, Transjordan,Negev, Syria, and in general the areas occupied by the Arabian nations.We read in Genesis 15:18, “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram,saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, theriver Euphrates.”This is the only area upon earth thus given by God to a certain people long before theyactually became a nation.In addition to this the Lord specified which one of Abraham’s sons would be the heir ofthis portion of land. “And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because ofthe lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto hervoice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called” (Genesis 21:12).The descendants of Abraham through Isaac are the rightful owners of the entire land ofCanaan.We also find that God gave this land to Abraham’s seed without any strings attached.The unconditional nature of this gift is clearly declared in Genesis 17:7-8, where the Lord said,“And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thyseed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, tobe a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give untothee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art astranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession;and I will be their God.”When the Lord, some 400 years after Abraham, gave Israel its constitution at Mt. Sinai,He predicted that the people would disobey Him, and that they would be driven out of Canaanand scattered among the nation. Verses 32-33 of Leviticus 26 record God’s word concerningthis. He said,“And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemieswhich dwell therein shall be astonished at it. And I will scatteryou among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: andyour land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.”History stands as proof of the literal fulfillment of this prophecy. In 721 B.C. thenorthern ten tribes were carried away into captivity by Assyria. About 140 years later in 586B.C. the southern two tribes were taken into Babylon. Seventy years later a handful of about40,000 returned to the land of Israel under Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah, but all the rest werescattered to the four corners of the earth. In 70 A.D. under Titus the Roman, Jerusalem wasutterly destroyed and the remnant dispersed among the nations. Bible Prophecy has a great deal