Some religious Jews and some Christians believe Jews are now entitled to all of the so-called “promised land” that God promised to their ancestors in a covenant he made with them that is recorded in the Bible. But such an assertion belies an ignorance of holy scripture.
In my book Palestine Is Coming: The Revival of Ancient Philistia, I show from the Bible that God will not give Jews all of the promised land until they turn to him in repentance and faith, which will occur en masse at the end of the age.
For instance, after Joshua led the Israelites into a portion of the promised land, God said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their ancestors, and have not obeyed my voice, I will no longer drive out any of the nations that Joshua left when he died” (Judges 2.20-21 NRSV). For, the text further informs, “the LORD had left these nations, not driving them out at once, and had not handed them over to Joshua” (v. 23).
What nations were they? The text continues, “Now these are the nations that the LORD left to test all those in Israel … the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, … They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their ancestors by Moses” (Judges 3.1, 3-4).
I believe God has not changed his mind about this even to this very day. So, it is not God’s will for Jews to have all of the promised land now That is just one of many reasons why I say in my book to give the Palestinians “the land of the Philistines” from whom they derive their name.
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