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God's Promise |
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Human Price of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine Israeli daily aggression on the Palestinian people Mission and meaning of Al-Jazeerah Cities, localities, and tourist attractions
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By Hassan El-Najjar Reviewed on November 29, 2003
If you read the following quotations from the Bible, which include all the verses that deal with the "Promise Land," you will realize that God has promised the Holly Land to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel). The promise was literally given to their descendants, not to the followers of any specific religion. These descendants, today, are the Muslims, Christians, or Jews who have been associated with the Holly Land for thousands of years. Most Eastern European and Russian Jews, for example, are descendants of people who converted to Judaism starting from the eighth century. Therefore, the promise does not apply to them because they are not descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, the promise applies to descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who followed Jesus Christ and became the Christians of the Holly Land. The promise also applies to those Christians who, later, followed the message of Islam and became Muslims of the Holly Land. Thus, God's promise is for Jews, Christians, and Muslims of the Holly Land, not for other followers of these three great religions. Anyone who believes in God knows that if God promises something, He fulfils His promise. The Holly Land has been inhabited uninterruptedly by Muslims for over1400 years, by Christians for over 2000 years, and by Jews for over than that. These are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that the promise was made to. There should be clear distinction between descendants and followers of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The importance of this fact is to dispel the prevalent myth among Jewish and Christian fundamentalists that the Holy Land was promised by God to Jews per se, as followers of Judaism, which has never been the case. This myth has been used for more than a century to support the establishment of Israel on the expense of the Palestinian people, then to support the aggressive and oppressive policies of the Zionist Israeli government against Palestinians in particular, and against Arabs and Muslims in general. It's time for new thinking. It's time to stop the bloodbath. Look at the related Bible verses yourself. You can do that by searching the words "promise land" in the bible, using the following website: In case you don't want to do the research by yourself, here are the results. Look at all the quotes, and you will find that the Holly Land was promised to descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not to Jews, Christians, or Muslims per se. Search words: "promise land" Search type: AND"The Lord , the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father's household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, 'To your offspring [ 24:7 Or [ seed ] ] I will give this land'-he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. (Whole Chapter: In context: ) I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." (Whole Chapter: In context: ) Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." (Whole Chapter: In context: ) And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites-a land flowing with milk and honey.' (Whole Chapter: In context: ) When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. (Whole Chapter: In context: ) "After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your forefathers, (Whole Chapter: In context: ) Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.' " (Whole Chapter: In context: ) Then the Lord said to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.' (Whole Chapter: In context: ) Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their forefathers? (Whole Chapter: In context: ) 'The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in the desert.' (Whole Chapter: In context: ) not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. (Whole Chapter: In context: ) 'Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob- (Whole Chapter: In context: ) Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord , the God of your fathers, promised you. (Whole Chapter: In context: ) Do what is right and good in the Lord 's sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers, (Whole Chapter: In context: ) But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers. (Whole Chapter: In context: ) Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers. (Whole Chapter: In context: ) Otherwise, the country from which you brought us will say, 'Because the Lord was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to put them to death in the desert.' (Whole Chapter: In context: ) No man will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go. (Whole Chapter: In context: ) If the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he promised on oath to your forefathers, and gives you the whole land he promised them, (Whole Chapter: In context: ) Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey." (Whole Chapter: In context: ) Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord , the God of your fathers, promised you. (Whole Chapter: In context: ) When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their forefathers, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant. (Whole Chapter: In context: ) And when many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath." (Whole Chapter: In context: ) The Lord gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: "Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you." (Whole Chapter: In context: ) Then the Lord said to him, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it." (Whole Chapter: In context: )
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