"In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." - Genesis 15:18-21

Last week (see part two) we looked at the physical boundaries of the Promised Land that God gave to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We also acknowledged that in today's political climate for Israel to try to lay claim to all that God promised would mean World War III.

So in looking at what has been promised to the Jewish people, one must two questions - (1) has Israel ever been in complete control of all that has been promised to them?; and (2) when will Israel ever receive the full measure of God's promise to them?

The answer to the first question is no. Joshua' conquest of Canaan stopped before the complete conquest of the Promised Land. Beginning with Judges 1:27, we see the end of the conquest with the phrase "neither did," in which the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Napthali, and Dan did not follow through on God's command to take possession of the land promised to them. With this failure, the period of "the Judges" begins which is marked by a cyclical pattern of rebellion, oppression, pleading to God for forgiveness and restoration until finally the book ends with the phrase, "and everyone did what was right in their own eyes" (21:25).

The great kingdoms of David and Solomon did not take possession of all that was promised to them. David's sin with Bathsheba and Solomon's problems with women stopped the fulfillment of what had been promised by God.

But do not worry because the answer to the second question is "YES." One day Israel will see the reality of all that has been promised to them. We don't know when but we do know the how, what and most importantly the WHO. Revelation 19-22 foretells of a time when Jesus himself will sit on the throne of David (see also specific passages in Isaiah 60-66) and rule the nations for a 1,000 years before the arrival of the New Jerusalem.

So the lesson we must learn is that while we must search for peaceful solutions to man's problems and we must treat all peoples (Jews, Palestinians and Arabs) equitably and with dignity, we must acknowledge that the land is Israel's and that one day Jesus himself will claim it for His own. It is not our place to try to do God's job for him. It is our job to tell the world of Jesus and make ready for His arrival.

These thoughts have been quite appropriate because this week Israel celebrated their Independence Day (the 5th of Iyar on the Jewish calendar). Fifty-six years ago (May 14, 1948 on the Julian calendar), the nation of Israel was reborn after being driven out of their homes in AD 70 by Titus. And while we must praise God for this miracle, we must always remember that true independence can only occur when a person's heart is touched by Messiah Jesus. We must pray for this to happen every day of the year!