God’s faithfulness is centered in His very nature and is inextricably linked to His promises both from the Old and New Testaments.  How can we as New Testament saints trust our God for eternal life if He hasn’t kept His promises recorded by the prophets of old?  There is much danger for those who believe that God’s promises to Israel have been broken and transferred to the Church.  To believe this one must say God has either edited or worse yet revoked His very faithful covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  

How ironic it is for those who correctly believe so strongly that the Old Testament is the foundation of the new, and Creation as literal, to say that God’s promises to Israel are either allegorical or no longer applicable.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  God’s promises are irrevocable, and Israel’s blindness is not in full, but in part.  

 For those who think God is through with Israel, the challenge of this article is to lay aside all that you’ve been taught and let your Savior’s Word speak plainly to you.  Consider a few of the Old Testament promises to Israel from the LORD God. (Note: All emphasis added below is mine.)

  • Genesis 28:13 and 15– “And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed…And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.”
  • Exodus 12:23 and 24– “For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.” 
  • 2 Samuel 7:23-26– “And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to Himself, and to make Him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods? For Thou hast confirmed to Thyself Thy people Israel to be a people unto Thee for ever: and thou, LORD, art become their God. And now, O LORD God, the word that Thou hast spoken concerning Thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as Thou hast said. And let Thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of Thy servant David be established before Thee.”
  • 1 Kings 10:9- “Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.”
  • 1 Kings 11:39- “And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever.”
  • 1 Chronicles 16:12-19- “Remember His marvellous works that He hath done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth; O ye seed of Israel His servant, ye children of Jacob, His chosen ones. He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth. Be ye mindful always of His covenant; the word which He commanded to a thousand generations; Even of the covenant which He made with Abraham, and of His oath unto Isaac; And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance; When ye were but few, even a few, and strangers in it.”
  • 2 Chronicles 33:7b- “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever.”
  • Psalm 105:6-11- “O ye seed of Abraham His servant, ye children of Jacob His chosen. He is the LORD our God: His judgments are in all the earth. He hath remembered His covenant for ever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant He made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance…”
  • Jeremiah 31:7-13- “For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn. Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.”
  • Jeremiah 31:31-32-“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD…”
  • Jeremiah 33:14-16-“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.”
  • Jeremiah 33:20-21a–“Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break My covenant of the day, and My covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant…”
  • Jermiah 33:25-26a-“Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant…”
  • Jeremiah 51:5-“For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of His God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.”
  • Ezekiel 11:17-“Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”

One final note:  God is called the God of Israel 201 times. 

“I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.” Isaiah 43:15

For a good follow-up article concerning God’s Word and Israel, see- “Israel and Prophetic Proof” Part 1 from The Berean Call at: http://www.thebereancall.org/node/7745