When God Says 'Forever' He Means Forever
"And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him:
'Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are,
northward, southward, eastward, and westward;
for all the land which you see
I give to you and your descendants FOREVER.'"
Genesis 13:14-15
A personal story -- here is an example of what one means when he/she says that God spoke to him, or personally confirmed something to him. This happens frequently to all believers as they serve the Lord. Yesterday I very unexpectedly found myself in an online debate with someone who absolutely denies that God has given the land of Israel to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He refused to acknowledge this and called the Israelis land-stealers. I didn't argue long with him because his words were hate-filled and I saw it was no use to continue. I posted for him the link to my Israel site which contains all the Biblical basis for the land belonging to the Jewish people. See the link to that site below.
Then this morning, I found God confirming to me what I said the night before when the Scripture above "just happened to be" my reading for today - a confirmation of what I said to that man last night !!!
I never get used to this. When I argued in that debate, I did not know that my Scripture reading the next morning was going to be a "confirmation" of what I had said the night before.
But that's not all. My New Testament reading this morning was:
"Thus God, determining to show more abundantly
TO THE HEIRS OF PROMISE
the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath,
that by two immutable things,
in which IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD TO LIE,"
we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge
to lay hold of the hope set before us."
Hebrews 6:17-18
In this passage God confirms the fact that it is impossible for him to lie, and that his counsel is immutable! Just what I had said to that man the night before.
God promised to Abraham and later confirmed it to his son Isaac, and then to his grandson Jacob that he gave the land to them FOREVER. That means that although the Jewish people lost it for a period of time because of their rebellion against him, the covenant remained. God had warned them beforehand that if they continued in rebelling against him he would send foreign armies to destroy them, and that's exactly what happened. They were punished - but his covenant with them remained. If you chasten your child, he doesn't stop being your child.
The land of Israel has always belonged to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - the land covenant was not conditional. God chastened Israel, but his Word to them was that the land was theirs forever. FOREVER. And indeed, we are seeing in this very generation his faithfulness to his Word as he brings them back to that land from every country on earth to which they had been scattered, and the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem has been restored to them.
God has stated further that in the period of their restoration, the Messiah will come. Satan knows this only too well, and look how he is fighting them, determined to destroy them and prevent it - because he knows that when the Messiah comes, it will be the end of Satan's career.
Satan is the one who killed all the Jewish baby boys to prevent Moses from growing up to fulfill the purpose God had for him. Satan is the one who again killed all the Jewish baby boys when Jesus was born - Satan did all in his power to prevent Jesus from fulfilling his ministry. And Satan is the one now - who is determined to prevent the restoration of the Jewish people back to the land of their forefathers, hell-bent on destroying them and driving Israel into the sea - because he knows that the Messiah will come in this time period and Satan will do all in his power to prevent it.
God cannot and will not lie. Ever. It is remarkable that Muslim doctrine says that a Muslim is to LIE when it's for the sake of Islam. One could write a book on the lies they are using in all of their endeavors even now. Some of their lies are preposterous. For example, they claim that Jesus was a "Palestinian" because he was born in Bethlehem. When Jesus was born, Bethlehem was in ISRAEL - and Islam did not exist! And of course their determination to create a "Palestinian state" WITHIN Israel's borders ( ! ! ! ) is totally and completely based on lies - lies he has persuaded "the world" to believe.
So there you have it. The god of Islam is known BY his acknowledged use of lies, while the God of Israel is known for his absolute truth and faithfulness.
Choose ye this day whom you shall serve.
More:
Israel's covenant Explained
The Messiah And His Land:
