In the last two weeks of July, Israel has been hit with over 2,500 rockets from the Gaza Strip. Since 2001, 12,000 rockets have been launched from the Gaza Stip into Israel. Nevertheless, much of the world is upset with Israel’s campaign to defend itself against rocket attacks because of young civilians dying in the process. The question should be asked and answered, Does the land belong to Israel? My purpose is to answer that question from the Bible itself.
Originally, God told the Patriarch of the Jews that He would give him and his descendants not only the current land of Israel but much more besides.
On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites” (Gen. 15:18-21).
Here God tells Abraham (called Abram at the time) that He is going to take away land that belongs to other nations and give to his descendants (through Isaac) the land between the river of Egypt and the Euphrates River. The land that they were given by God goes further south, north, and east than they have today. In the future they will possess all the land God allotted to them.
Palestinians have no ancient claim on the land of Israel. They have only recently laid claim to the land as political pawns of other nations. The original people of Palestine were wiped out a long time ago. Because of their wickedness, God gave their land to Israel. Does God have the right to take away land from other nations and give it to Israel?
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine (Ex. 19:5).
But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples (Lev. 20:24).
“For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its fullness” (Ps. 50:10-12).
God, as creator of all, claims the right to the entire earth and the right to do with it as He sees fit.
Gaza—
God originally gave Israel the ancient city of Gaza along with its surrounding villages. The modern city of Gaza was built upon the ruins of the ancient city, so we have no question as to where this city was located. It is the largest city in the Gaza Strip. The Scriptures say the southern boundary of Israel (Tribe of Judah) was the river of Egypt. There is debate as to what river or brook this was. Some authorities believe it is the wadi El Arish about 25 miles south of the Gaza Strip and others believe it may have been as far southwest as a tributary of the Nile. See the Commentary Yehoshua (Joshua) by Mesorah Pub., chapter 15. Either way the Gaza Strip is clearly within the boundaries of the land God originally gave Israel.
So this was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families: The border of Edom at the Wilderness of Zin southward was the extreme southern boundary. . . . Ashdod with its towns and villages, Gaza with its towns and villages–as far as the Brook of Egypt and the Great Sea with its coastline (Josh. 15:1, 47).
However, during most of the time, Israel never actually conquered this land until the time of David and Solomon, but God gave the Gaza Strip to Israel thousands of years ago.
In June, 1967, during the Six Day War, Israel recaptured the Gaza Strip. However, they allowed the Palestinians living there autonomous rule in 1994 through the Palestinian Authority. Israel has suffered many terrorist attacks and rockets from there ever since. Since 2007 the Gaza Strip has been de facto governed by the terrorist organization Hamas when they gained a majority of seats in their government. The only reason Israel has not just taken over the Gaza Strip again is because world opinion is against them. Most nations of the world think they should tolerate being constantly attacked by terrorists and rockets—something none of them would tolerate themselves if they could help it.
According to ICEJ (International Christian Embassy Jerusalem),
In 2007, the Islamist terror militia Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in a violent coup against the Palestinian Authority, which had been granted jurisdiction over the area following the Israeli withdrawal in 2005.
In their Charter (1988) Hamas describes itself as “one of the links in the Chain of Jihad in the confrontation with the Zionist invasion.” In their war against Jews they rely on a saying of the Moslem prophet Mohammed who said: “The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!” The Hamas-terrorists see themselves as devout Muslims when they fulfill the quoted prophesy and try to kill Jews by all means. Thereby “Jihad [is] its path and death for the case of Allah its most sublime belief.” This is why Hamas is considered to be a terrorist organization by the US, EU, Germany and many other countries.
According to the Anti-Defamation League,
Mahmoud Zahar, Hamas leader, after casting his vote in the Gaza Strip, January 25, 2006, Ha'aretz said,
“[Hamas] will not change a single word in its covenant [which is calling for the destruction of Israel].”
Also, Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Bahar, acting Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, April 20, 2007; as reported by Palestinian Media Watch, April 23, 2007, said,
“This is Islam, that was ahead of its time with regards to human rights in the treatment of prisoners, but our nation was tested by the cancerous lump, that is the Jews, in the heart of the Arab nation... Be certain that America is on its way to utter destruction, America is wallowing [in blood] today in Iraq and Afghanistan, America is defeated and Israel is defeated, and was defeated in Lebanon and Palestine... Make us victorious over the community of infidels... Allah, take the Jews and their allies, Allah, take the Americans and their allies... Allah, annihilate them completely and do not leave anyone of them.”
So while many Americans are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, Palestinian leaders pray for the complete annihilation of the U.S. and Israel.
The Bible says the nations will be judged by how they treated Israel:
“FOR BEHOLD, in those days and at that time when I shall reverse the captivity and restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and will bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and there will I deal with and execute judgment upon them for [their treatment of] My people and of My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations and [because] they have divided My land” (Joel 3:1-2 AMP).
Then continuing this future prophecy it says God will retaliate against Gaza (coast of Philistia).
“Indeed, what have you to do with Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia?
Will you retaliate against Me? But if you retaliate against Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head” (Joel 3:4).
It could be argued that Israel had no right to give the Palestinians that land in the first place since God gave it to them. As it says, they were not even to sell the land permanently much less give it away.
The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me (Lev. 25:23).
Of course, Israel clearly sees that mistake today and will not make it again. In the future the Bible says Gaza will be abandoned because of God’s judgment upon it.
For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon desolate; They shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be uprooted (Zeph. 2:4).
What about young innocent people dying in the process of Israel protecting their own land?
One thing I find interesting about this question is that many unbelievers of God and the Bible in America and the world, who claim to be so concerned about the death of innocents, totally believe in the right of killing their own babies—go figure! Many Muslims who protest the loss of children when Israel defends herself are fine with strapping a bomb vest on a child to kill itself in the name of Allah. Hamas has also continually used innocent women and children and places like schools and hospitals from which to fire rockets at Israel. Clearly, they have no respect for innocents themselves. The median age in the Gaza Strip is seventeen; so in any war with the Palestinians, young people are going to be killed.
When God gave Israel the land, He commanded that all the people be killed—even innocent children. In the conquest of Jericho, all men, women, and children were devoted to charem— utter destruction.
And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword (Josh. 6:21).
Maybe you don’t agree with God commanding the destruction of even innocent children of people who are his enemies. My own father quit reading the Bible when he came to this and declared himself more just than God. Do you think you are more just and merciful than God? Personally, I think that is a very dangerous accusation to make against the Almighty—an accusation that itself deserves God’s wrath. Shall the pot tell the potter how to run His universe? Many people would like to.
What many people don’t realize or don’t believe is that when an innocent child is killed, they go to heaven. However, if they grow up to be a terrorist and kill innocent people and then die, they will go to hell. In all wars innocent people die, and often they are children. Israel has done far more than any other nation to avoid the death of innocents by air-dropping notices warning people to evacuate and sometimes even calling them by phone in advance to bombing.
In the end all nations who do not serve Israel will perish.
It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. (Zech. 12:9).
“For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish, and those nations shall be utterly ruined” (Isaiah 60:12).
The Bible commands us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem,
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love you (Ps. 122:6).
It is becoming increasingly clearer that ultimately the world cannot have peace unless there is peace in Jerusalem. The last world war will be over Israel. The Lord has promised that those who bless the descendants of Abraham will be blessed.
Now the Lord had said to Abram:
“I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:2-3).
I have a personal testimony concerning this promise. Years ago I was a founder of a Messianic Jewish congregation in Richmond, Virginia. We bought an old abandoned synagogue that needed a lot of work. Satanists had broken into the building and wrote graffiti on the ark (the closet where the Torah scrolls are kept) and the paneling surrounding it. They also burnt candles on the wood and broke off the Stars of David. I decided to strip it down, sand it, then stain and seal it. It was a huge job of hard oak wood covering an area about 25 feet high and 20 feet wide. The job took many weeks of hard work. I tried to get others to help with very little success. When I finally finished the project, my wife and I received an unexpected inheritance check from a relative who died—whom we never even knew. It was just enough to pay off our own house!
God is still in the business of blessing those who bless Israel and cursing those who curse her.
Originally, God told the Patriarch of the Jews that He would give him and his descendants not only the current land of Israel but much more besides.
On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites” (Gen. 15:18-21).
Here God tells Abraham (called Abram at the time) that He is going to take away land that belongs to other nations and give to his descendants (through Isaac) the land between the river of Egypt and the Euphrates River. The land that they were given by God goes further south, north, and east than they have today. In the future they will possess all the land God allotted to them.
Palestinians have no ancient claim on the land of Israel. They have only recently laid claim to the land as political pawns of other nations. The original people of Palestine were wiped out a long time ago. Because of their wickedness, God gave their land to Israel. Does God have the right to take away land from other nations and give it to Israel?
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine (Ex. 19:5).
But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples (Lev. 20:24).
“For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its fullness” (Ps. 50:10-12).
God, as creator of all, claims the right to the entire earth and the right to do with it as He sees fit.
Gaza—
God originally gave Israel the ancient city of Gaza along with its surrounding villages. The modern city of Gaza was built upon the ruins of the ancient city, so we have no question as to where this city was located. It is the largest city in the Gaza Strip. The Scriptures say the southern boundary of Israel (Tribe of Judah) was the river of Egypt. There is debate as to what river or brook this was. Some authorities believe it is the wadi El Arish about 25 miles south of the Gaza Strip and others believe it may have been as far southwest as a tributary of the Nile. See the Commentary Yehoshua (Joshua) by Mesorah Pub., chapter 15. Either way the Gaza Strip is clearly within the boundaries of the land God originally gave Israel.
So this was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families: The border of Edom at the Wilderness of Zin southward was the extreme southern boundary. . . . Ashdod with its towns and villages, Gaza with its towns and villages–as far as the Brook of Egypt and the Great Sea with its coastline (Josh. 15:1, 47).
However, during most of the time, Israel never actually conquered this land until the time of David and Solomon, but God gave the Gaza Strip to Israel thousands of years ago.
In June, 1967, during the Six Day War, Israel recaptured the Gaza Strip. However, they allowed the Palestinians living there autonomous rule in 1994 through the Palestinian Authority. Israel has suffered many terrorist attacks and rockets from there ever since. Since 2007 the Gaza Strip has been de facto governed by the terrorist organization Hamas when they gained a majority of seats in their government. The only reason Israel has not just taken over the Gaza Strip again is because world opinion is against them. Most nations of the world think they should tolerate being constantly attacked by terrorists and rockets—something none of them would tolerate themselves if they could help it.
According to ICEJ (International Christian Embassy Jerusalem),
In 2007, the Islamist terror militia Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in a violent coup against the Palestinian Authority, which had been granted jurisdiction over the area following the Israeli withdrawal in 2005.
In their Charter (1988) Hamas describes itself as “one of the links in the Chain of Jihad in the confrontation with the Zionist invasion.” In their war against Jews they rely on a saying of the Moslem prophet Mohammed who said: “The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!” The Hamas-terrorists see themselves as devout Muslims when they fulfill the quoted prophesy and try to kill Jews by all means. Thereby “Jihad [is] its path and death for the case of Allah its most sublime belief.” This is why Hamas is considered to be a terrorist organization by the US, EU, Germany and many other countries.
According to the Anti-Defamation League,
Mahmoud Zahar, Hamas leader, after casting his vote in the Gaza Strip, January 25, 2006, Ha'aretz said,
“[Hamas] will not change a single word in its covenant [which is calling for the destruction of Israel].”
Also, Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Bahar, acting Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, April 20, 2007; as reported by Palestinian Media Watch, April 23, 2007, said,
“This is Islam, that was ahead of its time with regards to human rights in the treatment of prisoners, but our nation was tested by the cancerous lump, that is the Jews, in the heart of the Arab nation... Be certain that America is on its way to utter destruction, America is wallowing [in blood] today in Iraq and Afghanistan, America is defeated and Israel is defeated, and was defeated in Lebanon and Palestine... Make us victorious over the community of infidels... Allah, take the Jews and their allies, Allah, take the Americans and their allies... Allah, annihilate them completely and do not leave anyone of them.”
So while many Americans are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, Palestinian leaders pray for the complete annihilation of the U.S. and Israel.
The Bible says the nations will be judged by how they treated Israel:
“FOR BEHOLD, in those days and at that time when I shall reverse the captivity and restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and will bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and there will I deal with and execute judgment upon them for [their treatment of] My people and of My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations and [because] they have divided My land” (Joel 3:1-2 AMP).
Then continuing this future prophecy it says God will retaliate against Gaza (coast of Philistia).
“Indeed, what have you to do with Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia?
Will you retaliate against Me? But if you retaliate against Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head” (Joel 3:4).
It could be argued that Israel had no right to give the Palestinians that land in the first place since God gave it to them. As it says, they were not even to sell the land permanently much less give it away.
The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me (Lev. 25:23).
Of course, Israel clearly sees that mistake today and will not make it again. In the future the Bible says Gaza will be abandoned because of God’s judgment upon it.
For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon desolate; They shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be uprooted (Zeph. 2:4).
What about young innocent people dying in the process of Israel protecting their own land?
One thing I find interesting about this question is that many unbelievers of God and the Bible in America and the world, who claim to be so concerned about the death of innocents, totally believe in the right of killing their own babies—go figure! Many Muslims who protest the loss of children when Israel defends herself are fine with strapping a bomb vest on a child to kill itself in the name of Allah. Hamas has also continually used innocent women and children and places like schools and hospitals from which to fire rockets at Israel. Clearly, they have no respect for innocents themselves. The median age in the Gaza Strip is seventeen; so in any war with the Palestinians, young people are going to be killed.
When God gave Israel the land, He commanded that all the people be killed—even innocent children. In the conquest of Jericho, all men, women, and children were devoted to charem— utter destruction.
And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword (Josh. 6:21).
Maybe you don’t agree with God commanding the destruction of even innocent children of people who are his enemies. My own father quit reading the Bible when he came to this and declared himself more just than God. Do you think you are more just and merciful than God? Personally, I think that is a very dangerous accusation to make against the Almighty—an accusation that itself deserves God’s wrath. Shall the pot tell the potter how to run His universe? Many people would like to.
What many people don’t realize or don’t believe is that when an innocent child is killed, they go to heaven. However, if they grow up to be a terrorist and kill innocent people and then die, they will go to hell. In all wars innocent people die, and often they are children. Israel has done far more than any other nation to avoid the death of innocents by air-dropping notices warning people to evacuate and sometimes even calling them by phone in advance to bombing.
In the end all nations who do not serve Israel will perish.
It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. (Zech. 12:9).
“For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish, and those nations shall be utterly ruined” (Isaiah 60:12).
The Bible commands us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem,
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love you (Ps. 122:6).
It is becoming increasingly clearer that ultimately the world cannot have peace unless there is peace in Jerusalem. The last world war will be over Israel. The Lord has promised that those who bless the descendants of Abraham will be blessed.
Now the Lord had said to Abram:
“I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:2-3).
I have a personal testimony concerning this promise. Years ago I was a founder of a Messianic Jewish congregation in Richmond, Virginia. We bought an old abandoned synagogue that needed a lot of work. Satanists had broken into the building and wrote graffiti on the ark (the closet where the Torah scrolls are kept) and the paneling surrounding it. They also burnt candles on the wood and broke off the Stars of David. I decided to strip it down, sand it, then stain and seal it. It was a huge job of hard oak wood covering an area about 25 feet high and 20 feet wide. The job took many weeks of hard work. I tried to get others to help with very little success. When I finally finished the project, my wife and I received an unexpected inheritance check from a relative who died—whom we never even knew. It was just enough to pay off our own house!
God is still in the business of blessing those who bless Israel and cursing those who curse her.
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