Historical Records
Today there is much discussion about the ownership of the land by Israel, claiming that Jews have no claim to the land and that Jews are merely occupiers of the land belonging to the “Palestinians”.
History, however, tells a different story. When Abraham entered into the land is was known as the land of Canaan, or the land of the Kenaani [H3667 כְּנַעַן], meaning the land of the humiliated or vanquished. It was also known as the land of the Philistines, or the Pelishtiy [H6430 פְּלִשְׁתִּי], meaning land of the immigrants.
After the Romans destroyed the Temple in AD70, they eventually renamed it “Syria Palaestina” around AD200, in their efforts to remove the name of Israel and the Jews forever from the memory of all mankind. Until the state of Israel was established in 1948 all inhabitants of the land, whether Jewish, Arab, or other, became known as “Palestinians”, despite there never being an actual state or nation named Palestine.
Biblical Records
Genesis 17:8 – “And I will give to Abraham, and to his descendants, the land of his wanderings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
According to the first book of the Bible the land of Canaan, also known as the land of the Philistine, belongs solely to the Jewish people: the sons of Isaac and Jacob – Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. It does not belong to the sons of Ishmael – Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
Deuteronomy 1:7-8 puts it this way: “Go into the country of the Amorites as well as into the neighboring regions; the Arabah, the hill country, the Shephelah, the Negev, and the seacoast. Go into the land of the Canaanites and the Lebanon, as far as the great river Euphrates. I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of the land that I have given to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and to their descendants.”
Deuteronomy 34:1-3 confirms this: “Now Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah as far as the £western sea, and the Negev and the plain in the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.”
Ezra 1:2-3 states that Cyrus, King of Persia knew who this land belonged to – it belonged to “Yahweh, the Elohim of Heaven, . . . the Elohim of Israel, . . . who is in Jerusalem!”
It is in Israel that Yahweh will place his name, eyes, and heart forever according to 1 Kings 9:3.
Secular Records
The Bible quite clearly states that the land currently thought of as Palestine belongs to the Jews. But is this the only record we have that this land belongs to the Jews? Not at all. Secular records also declare the same:
1. Balfour Declaration-1917. The Balfour declaration states: “His Majesty’s government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”
https://www.gov.il/en/Departments/General/the-balfour-declaration-29-0ct-2017
2. The Mandate For Palestine-1920-1922. The Mandate for Palestine clearly delineates to whom what land does and does not belong. The “Mandate for Palestine,” established the Jewish legal right to settle anywhere in western Palestine, a 10,000-square-miles area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The legally binding document was conferred on April 24, 1920, and unanimously approved on July 24, 1922.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandate_for_Palestine
3. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181. On November 29, 1947, the United Nations passed Resolution 181 which called for the partition of the British-ruled Palestine Mandate into a Jewish state and an Arab state. It was approved with 33 votes in favor, 13 against, 10 abstentions and one absent. The Jewish State was to be all of Canaan, including the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the Arab state was to be what is today the nation of Jordan.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/United-Nations-Resolution-181
4. The Israeli Declaration of Independence-1948. The declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel clearly states that the land of Palestine was the birthplace of the Jewish people, that they had been forcibly exiled for about 1800 years, and that their desire to return since the exile began had not diminished nor been forsaken. It also declares that this right to return was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of 1917, and re-affirmed in the Mandate of the League of Nations in 1922, and was finalized by the UN General Assembly Resolution 181.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-declaration-of-the-establishment-of-the-state-of-israel
Islamic Records
Even the Islamic Qur’an states that the land of Palestine belongs to the Jewish people.
Surah 17:104 “And We said unto the Children of Israel after him: Dwell in the land; but when the promise of the Hereafter cometh to pass We shall bring you as a crowd gathered out of various nations.”
Surah 17 clearly states that the Children of Israel will be exiled twice (17:4), records the destruction of the First Temple and Mohammed never contests the Bible’s claim that the Temple was in Jerusalem (17:7). Surah 17 also depicts the time when the Children of Israel will be regathered for the final time, and that they will thereafter dwell in the land of “Palestine” (17:104).
Surah 5:20-21 “Remember Moses said to his people: “O my people! Call in remembrance the favor of God unto you, when He produced prophets among you, made you kings, and gave you what He had not given to any other among the peoples. O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin.”
Surah 10:93-94 “And We had certainty settled the Children of Israel in an agreeable settlement and provided them with good things. And they did not differ until [after] knowledge had come to them. Indeed, your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ. So if you are in doubt, [O Muhammad], about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters.”
Conclusions
Genesis 12:3 – “I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse.”
Surah 2:47 – “O Children of Israel, remember My favor that I have bestowed upon you and that I preferred you over the worlds.”
It is abundantly clear that the land belongs to the Jewish people (Qur’an – Children of Israel) as witnessed by Biblical, secular, and Islamic records, and does not belong to the Arabs. Both the Bible and the Qur’an tell of the punishments for any who fail to accept this fact.
Why then, do the leaders of the Western nations continue to attempt to divide the land of Israel? Why, then, do the Arab leaders rant and rave, and continue to violate their own writings by attempting to forcibly take the land of Israel and utterly destroy the Jews and their culture?
• Perhaps it is because both, like Adam and Eve, refuse to believe the word of their scriptures and do whatever seems right in their own eyes.
• Perhaps it is because the Western Nations refuse to accept the truth of the Bible. Perhaps it is because the Arab leaders, like Ishmael, refuse to accept the covenants made by Yahweh to the peoples of the earth.
• Perhaps it is because many, like Satan, refuse to submit and are determined to exalt their throne above the throne of Yahweh.
Final Thought for 2024
Time is short – Yeshua Ha’Mashiach is coming soon. So, what are we to do while we wait for our Lord and Savior, Yeshua, to appear?
Watch And Be Ready: Matthew 24:42, 25:13; Mark 13:33; Luke 12:40, 21:36; 1 Thessalonians 5:6
Pray And Be Ready: Luke 12:40, 21:36; Matthew 24:42, 25:13; Mark 13:33; 1 Thessalonians 5:6
Purify Oneself: 1 John 3:2-3
Abide In Yeshua: 1 John 2:27-28, 3:2, 4:13-16; Jeremiah 31:34; Hebrews 8:11; Mark 8:38
Look For His Coming: Hebrews 9:28;Acts 1:11; Titus 2:11-13; Isaiah 25:9
Article Originally Posted in March 2012
Rapture Parallels, Patterns, Pictures, and Types 