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I’ve long held that Romans 11 promises a future conversion for “all Israel” – i.e. the preponderance of the people. (See esp my essay here: http://www.biblicalstudiescenter.org/interpretation/rom11_26.htm as well as my forthcoming essay in the James Jordan festschrift which is in the works.)

But I’ve largely remained indifferent to whether there remains a future land promise (built e.g. on Gen 12 and a host of related passages), and I’m more than wary of Zionism, which I take to be a very misguided attempt to manufacture a fulfillment of God’s promises without understanding either the promises or the corollary conditions.

I still don’t claim to have a settled position on the land issue. But I was forced to lean toward it when I was struck recently by how much sense it would make. After all:

1. We know that a whole host of Israelites have savingly believed God over the years, both before and after the advent of Christ.
2. We believe in the resurrection of the body, not an eternal state of disembodied “spirituality.”
3. Correspondingly, we believe in the renovation of the earth, just as we believe in the renovation of the body.
4. Surely a renovated earth would have geography, and since the renovation is a renovation of this earth, it seems at least plausible – nay, overwhelmingly likely – that the new earth will have the land of Canaan.
5. Since everyone has to live somewhere – why wouldn’t believing Israelites live in Palestine? Why should that be thought the least bit “strange”?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 at 8:42 pm and is filed under Genesis, Old Testament interpretation, Paul, Romans, scriptorium. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.