Standing Strong |
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The Historical and Legal Right to the Land of Israel |
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The Historical and Legal Right of the Jews to the Land of Israel ©2005 Richard E. Bristol, PhD Jerusalem
While the Bible provides satisfactory proof of rights to the current land of Israel and much more to those who believe the Bible, it provides no justification for the current state of Israel for the millions who do not recognize the Bible as inerrant truth. Establishing the Jews as a nation and tracing the history of the Jews in the territory in question is the only way to prove a historic and legal claim to the land as a Nation-State. The Jews have a national identity as defined in scholarly definition. They have a historic tie to the land. By international law as accepted by the League of Nations, the United Nations, international treaties, and right of conquest, Israel has rights to all of the Gaza Strip and Judea-Samaria, currently referred to as the West Bank.
People look for one of three ways to prove that the Jews have a claim to current Israel. The first is a biblical claim. The second is a historical claim and the third is a legal claim. David Lewis in his book “Can Israel Survive In a Hostile World states on page 192 that one who believes the Bible has no problem figuring it out that the Jewish people have a right to the land. Looking to the Bible one finds that the biblical claim is based upon a promise from G-d to Abraham and his descendants to the current land and much more; from the river of Egypt as far as the river Euphrates. This promise was passed on to Isaac and to Jacob and then to the entire house of Israel as G-d freed His people from Egypt. The promise was fulfilled through a right of conquest under the leadership of Jacob with an order to destroy the peoples of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Although the promise was dependant upon obeying G-d’s commandments, disobedience would only lead to a dispersion of His people and a promise of the return of this land. These promises are found in the Bible in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Jeremiah. (Underwood) The actual boundaries of the promised land is questioned by some as the actual extent of Israel’s boundaries specified in the Tenach varies from passage to passage. Sometimes it includes land east of the Jordan, sometimes not. (Wilson)274 The biblical promises are not constrained to the Old Testament. … the New Covenant includes the promise that Israel would dwell in its own land in safety and security (Ezekiel 24-28). (Juster) 22 In fact it is claimed that No New Testament passage confutes the continuation of the Abrahamic Covenant. Paul says, “The gifts and call of G-d are irrevocable”; Israel remains “beloved for the father’s sake” (Romans 11:28-29) (Juster) 5
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Isaiah 11:6 2 Thessalonians 2:15 |