Introduction: One of the most controversial political issues of our day, and one that has existed for a long time, is the land dispute between Israel and the Palestinians. Should the Palestinians have a state of their own next to Israel, or have they forfeited their right to live in the area because of their repeated attacks on Jewish civilians? Instead of entering into that heated debate, let’s do what I always like to do and see what God has said about the Jews and the land of Israel. Let’s dive into our study of the Bible!

I. The Promise Fulfilled?

A. Read Joshua 13:1-2 and Joshua 13:7-8. Joshua is very old, and the task of occupying the promised land is not complete. We will skip the reading of the specific land assignments that remain. Has God fulfilled His promise of giving to Abram’s descendants the land?

1. Is the fact that Joshua did not complete the conquest during his lifetime a failure on his part?

B. Read Joshua 13:6. Who does this say will complete the task? (God says that He will drive out the rest of the pagans. God does not fault Joshua; He tells Joshua that his remaining task is to “allot” the remaining land among the tribes.)

C. Read Joshua 11:15 and Joshua 21:43-45. What does this say about the job Joshua did in leading the conquest of the promised land? (It praises Joshua for a great job and it says that God completely fulfilled His promise.)

1. Since this is true, why do we have a dispute over that property today? How is this possible?
2. Was God’s promise of the land conditional?

II. The Unconditional Covenant

A. Read Genesis 12:1-2 and Genesis 13:14-17. As you consider these promises to Abram, does God say that they are conditional?

B. In Genesis chapter 15, God repeats His promise to Abram. Read Genesis 15:8. What practical question is Abram asking God?

C. Read Genesis 3:22-24. Is Abram thinking about how God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, and even placed an armed guard so they could not re-enter it? (There is no record of a land promise to Adam and Eve. Genesis 2:8 says that God planted the garden and put humans in it. Abram had a promise from God.)

D. Read Genesis 15:18-21. This is part of God’s response to Abram’s question in Genesis 15:8, “How am I to know you mean to give me the land?” Would you say that God’s promise is conditional?

E. Read Genesis 15:9-12 and Genesis 15:17. Why are we told about cutting up animals and a torch passing between the animal parts while Abram is sleeping? (Passing between animal parts was an act of entering into a formal contract with another person.)

1. Do you normally sleep through contract negotiations? What should we conclude from God alone passing through the parts while Abram sleeps? (Abram is not promising God anything. God is unilaterally binding Himself.)

F. Read Genesis 17:7. What is God promising, and for how long is He promising it? (God says that He will be the God of Abram’s offspring forever. The agreement is “everlasting.”)

G. Read Genesis 17:8. How long will Abram’s descendants possess the land promised to them? (Forever. The land is “an everlasting possession.”)

III. The Conditional Covenant

A. Read Leviticus 20:22. What does this say might happen to Abram’s offspring? (They might get “vomited out” of the land just like the Canaanites.)

B. Read Deuteronomy 4:25-27. What does this promise say will happen to God’s people if they act “corruptly”? (They will perish from the land promised to them through Abram.)

C. Read Deuteronomy 28:63-65. What does this say will be the “resting place” of God’s people if they disobey?

D. Read Deuteronomy 30:15-18. Does God warn that living in the promised land, indeed living at all, is conditional on obedience to God?

1. Now we have something to contemplate. If God unilaterally entered into a contract with Abram that did not require Abram to obey (since Abram was sleeping), how do we account for these very serious warnings that the Israelites will be tossed off the land if they disobey?
2. Can we accuse God of breaking His word? (No. God clearly warned the people of what would happen if they turned away from Him.)
3. Can you reconcile these apparently contradictory statements of God?
4. Does this teach us anything about the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

IV. The Jubilee Pattern

A. Read Leviticus 25:10, Leviticus 25:13-15 and Leviticus 25:23-24. What does this say happens to land during the 50th year Jubilee celebration? (The land is returned, under equitable circumstances, to the original owners.)

1. What does this teach us about God’s view of the ownership of the land? (That a family was entitled to hold onto its land even if it somehow forfeited the right to live on that land for a period of time.)
2. If you were a land broker or a land purchaser in those days, how would this affect your job? (You would know that the land was being sold only for a specific period of time. It would always revert to the family of the original owner.)

B. Read Leviticus 26:40-42 and Leviticus 26:44-46. The prior chapter of Leviticus describes the Jubilee pattern for land ownership. Do these statements in Leviticus 26 sound like they reflect the same attitude-that the land is never permanently alienated?

1. Is this a promise for the Hebrews as a whole?

C. Let’s think about what we have studied so far. Is the Jubilee pattern of land ownership the ultimate answer to whether God’s land promise to Abram was conditional? (It resolves the apparent conflict for me. God fulfilled His promise. The land remains in the ownership of His people. But living on the land depends on obedience to God. Turning to God restores the land to God’s people.)

V. The Future

A. Read Romans 11:25-29. What does this tell us about the future of the Hebrews and God’s promises to them? (This affirms that God’s gifts are “irrevocable.” There will be a time when the “partial hardening” of Abram’s descendants will no longer exist, a time when “the Gentiles” have come to faith. Romans says, “all Israel will be saved.”)

B. Read Luke 21:24-27. How does Jesus connect the “times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” with His Second Coming? (Assuming that we are correct that the Jubilee pattern of land return is God’s plan for Israel, then just before Jesus returns we will see Abram’s descendants return to faith and return to their land.)

C. Friend, God is faithful! Will you be faithful to Him? The consequences for unfaithfulness are dire. Why not decide right now, that through the power of the Holy Spirit, you will be faithful?

VI. Next week: The True Joshua.

Copr. 2025, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail, but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you study.

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