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The unlimited greatness of the God of
Israel enabling him to make unlimited promises
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Psalm 145:3 Great is the
LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can
fathom
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In
fact He is so great that he cannot be contained in just one entity, El
(Allah, viz.the god of Islam), he is multiple,
Elohim! Even His Spirit is SEVEN-fold!
| From the throne came
flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne,
seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.
Isaiah 11:1 & Revelation
4:5 |
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Since Israel is His inheritance,
she also has to reflect His greatness. This study is aimed at trying to indicate
the eventual borders of Israel, but it is really impossible in the respect
that God will subject the nations and bring them under Israel's control.
In this process some nations will even be destroyed and their territory will
become Israel's domain - what one rules over, actually becomes yours. Israel
will in reality reflect God's splendour.
Isaiah 45:18 For
Jehovah created the heavens and earth and put everything in place, and he
made the world to be lived in, not to be an empty chaos. "I am Jehovah,"
he says, "and there is no other! 19 I publicly proclaim bold promises;
I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner so that no one can know
what I mean. And I didn't tell Israel to ask me for what I didn't plan to
give! No, for I, Jehovah, speak only truth and righteousness.
TLB
Isaiah 60:9 Surely
the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your
sons from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your
God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor. 10 "Foreigners
will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger
I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion. 11 Your gates will always
stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that men may bring
you the wealth of the nations-- their kings led in triumphal procession.
12 For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will
be utterly ruined. |
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| 2. |
The God of Israel's tendency
to express himself in hyperboles (overstatement, exaggeration) when he
means, "A LOT!" Take for instance his promise to Abraham that his descendants
will be like the stars in heaven or the sand of the earth. It's impossible
to fathom, and all we can make of it, is that it will be more than what we
can imagine. It is the same with the eventual territory of Israel. God's
promise to Abraham was in excessive terms:
On
that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants
I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates--
the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites." Genesis 15:18-21.
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Whereas
these nations have actually disappeared and David and Shlomo did actually
rule over much of this total territory, it is nevertheless difficult
to fathom in our day since much of this territory is occupied by other
nations. |
| 3. |
The land is God's inheritance
too. To think he will be satisfied with a little sliver of land along
the coast is ludicrous. Further to this, the coastal plane doesn't include
his mountains. The land needs to be worthy of the King of kings. It will
be from there that he will rule the nations:
Joel 3:17 'Then you
will know that I, the LORD your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill.
Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her.
Isaiah 24:23 "…the LORD of hosts shall reign in Mt. Zion, and
in Jerusalem…" (). |
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God will rule the nations from Jerusalem |
| 4. |
God's sovereignty
to determine borders. (Isaiah 10:13) For he says: |
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"By the strength of my hand
I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed
the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one
I subdued their kings." |
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| 5. |
The
culmination of the full scope of the promises to
the arch fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel), and king David, in Messiah's
rule on earth. This is, for instance, reflected in the following expressions
in Psalm 89. |
| 6. |
The
promise in Isaiah 14:2 that,
Nations will take them and
bring them to their own place. And the house of Israel will possess the nations
as menservants and maidservants in the LORD'S land. They will make captives
of their captors and rule over their oppressors. |
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It means that they will also
have control over the territory of the nations they rule over. |
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Ezekiel 28:24 "`No longer
will the people of Israel have malicious neighbors who are painful briers
and sharp thorns. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign LORD. (Neighbors
will be destroyed - Isaiah 17) |
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Ezekiel 36:7 Therefore this
is what the Sovereign LORD says: I swear with uplifted hand that the nations
around you will also suffer scorn. |
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Jeremia 12:14 This is what
the LORD says: "As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance
I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot
the house of Judah from among them. |
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Zechariah 10:10 I will bring
them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to
Gilead and Lebanon, and there will not be room enough for them. 11
They will pass through the sea of trouble; the surging sea will be subdued
and all the depths of the Nile will dry up. Assyria's pride will be brought
down and Egypt's scepter will pass away. 12 I will strengthen them in the
LORD and in his name they will walk," declares the LORD. 11:1 Open
your doors, O Lebanon,
so that fire may devour your cedars |
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| 7. |
Judgment
on Israel's neighbors:
"This is what the Lord says: 'As
for all My wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave My people
Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the house
of Judah from among them. But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion
and will bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own country.
And if they learn well the ways of My people and swear by My name, saying,
'As surely as the Lord lives' even as they once taught My people to swear
by Baal - then they will be established among My people. But if any nation
does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,' declares the Lord"
(Jeremiah 12:14-17). |
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| 8. |
The God of Israel uses his people to inflict his judgment
on their neighbors and the nations. This also gives them control over
the territory of nations.
Psalms 149:2 Let Israel
rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King... 6
May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their
hands, 7 to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples.
Psalms 110:2 The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you
will rule in the midst of your enemies. 3 Your troops (heavenly or Israel)
will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy majesty, from the
womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth.
Obadiah 1:17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy,
and the house of Jacob will possess its inheritance. 18 The house of Jacob
will be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame; the house of Esau will be
stubble, and they will set it on fire and consume it. There will be no survivors
from the house
hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train
for war anymore.
Micah 4:12 But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD; they do
not understand his plan, he who gathers them like sheaves to the threshing
floor. 13 "Rise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion, for I will give you horns
of iron; I will give you hoofs of bronze and you will break to pieces many
nations." You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the LORD, their wealth
to the Lord of all the earth.
Zechariah 9:15 He will defend
his people and they will subdue their enemies, treading them beneath their
feet. They will taste victory and shout with triumph. They will slaughter
their foes, leaving horrible carnege everywhere. Living Bible
Paraphrased.
Zechariah 12:6 “On
that day I will make the clans of Judah like a brazier that sets a woodpile
ablaze or like a burning torch among sheaves of grain. They will burn up
all the neighboring nations right and left, while the people living in Jerusalem
remain secure. New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers,
Inc.) 1996. |
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| 9. |
The
Arabs, being Hamites, are inherently bound by the implications of the curse,
spoken over them by Noah.
Genesis 9:24 25 When Noah awoke
from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him. He said,
"Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers. 26 He
also said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave
of Shem. 27 May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in
the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave. |
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The ramification of the curse is an inability of Hamites to rule themselves
or create employment for themselves as we see in Africa and Arab countries.
More about this at
"Arabs are
Hamites" |
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It is foreseen that Israel will
eventually rule over most of the nations. This is also reflected by Isaiah
24:2
Nations will take them and
bring them to their own place. And the house of Israel will possess the nations
as menservants and maidservants in the LORD'S land. They will make captives
of their captors and rule over their oppressors |
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(See again,
Arabs
are Hamites). Those
Israel will rule, will definitely include their immediate neighbors. |
| 10. |
The Jews will be resettled on
the mountains of Israel, not just the coastal plain where the nations
are trying to squeeze them in with the help of leftist and agnostic
leaders.
Ezekiel 36:8 "'But
you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people
Israel, for they will soon come home. 9 I am concerned for you and will look
on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown. 10 And I will multiply the
number of people upon you, even the whole house of Israel. The towns will
be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. 11 I will increase the number of men
and animals upon you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will
settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before.
Then you will know that I am the LORD. 12 I will cause people, my people
Israel, to walk upon you. They will possess you, and you will be their
inheritance; you will never again deprive them of their children |
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That they will be settled on
mountains is repeated in 5 consecutive verses, confirming 5 times that
it is specifically on the mountains. It doesn't leave room for the Arabs
now living there and it definitely includes other mountains in the north
and south. Shlomo, for instance, also built cities in Lebanon a mountainous
area.
I Kings 9:17 And
Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon,18 Baalath, and Tadmor
in the desert, within his land, 19 as well as all his store cities and the
towns for his chariots and for his horses--whatever he desired to build in
Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled. |
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11. |
God of Israel will eventually rule the
world from this city, Jerusalem (Zion).
"…the LORD of hosts shall reign in Mt. Zion, and in Jerusalem…"
(Isa 24:23). |
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