Glenn Beck the outspoken conservative radio and TV host and now media mogul has launched a program called “Restore Courage”. I credit him for the goals he wants to achieve and I am in league with him on many of the stated values behind this effort.
However, Mr. Beck launched this effort during a speech he recently delivered in Israel and his ignorance of biblical passages and biblical history does not lend any credibility to his efforts.
Here are excerpts taken from Glenn Becks speech, I have highlighted the parts that I believe Mr. Beck is wrong.
“He promised that Israel would rise again. For two thousand years the Jewish people held on to this promise. We have seen the promise fulfilled.”
“Israel, we have witnessed the dawn of your redemption.”
“Not by the hand of any man, whether his name is Balfour or Truman, does Israel exist. Israel is here because the God of Abraham keeps His covenants.”
“The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is not neutral in the affairs of mankind. God is not indifferent to Israel. He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant he made with your forefathers.”
(God Speaking) “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” Hosea 4:6
Mr. Beck is claiming a divine right to the land of Israel for the people who live there today. Is this right still valid? Did it cease when the Old (Mosaic) covenant came to an end in the first century?
Are these claims by Mr. Beck confirmed or contradicted by the scripture? If Israel indeed still has a divine right to the land, surely the scripture would indicate that.
The Promise of the land given to the fathers: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.
1. Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: Gen 12:1
2. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. Gen 12:5
3. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. Gen 13:15
4. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Gen 13:17
5. And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. Gen 15:7
6. 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: Gen 15:18
7. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; Gen 26:3
8. And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. Gen 28:4
9. 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; Gen 28:13
10. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Gen 50:24
Conditions revealed for continued possession of the land.
1. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Exodus 20:12
2a. And IF ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; Lev 26:27
2b. And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours. And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Lev 26:31-33 (Compare to Matthew 23:38 and Luke 13:35 — Below).
3.Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them. Deut 1:8
4. Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Deut 4:1
5. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; And then the LORD’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you. Deut 11:16-17
6. But it shall come to pass, IF thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Deut 28:15
6a. The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. Deut 28:21
6b. “Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: And they shall be upon thee FOR A SIGN and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favor to the young: And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.” Deuteronomy 28:45-51
Four times in these seven verses Moses says that these curses will remain in place until Israel is destroyed.
6c. And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you,and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. Deut 28:63
7. Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. Josh 23:13
8. Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you. Josh 23:15-16
9. Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people: 1 Kings 9:7
10. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers. Jer 24:10
Then there are the words of Christ that confirm that this final eviction was about to occur.
1. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. Matt 23:38 (Compare to Leviticus 26:31-33 — Above) .
2. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Luke 13:35 (Compare to Leviticus 26:31-33 — Above).
3. Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. Matt 21:43
4. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. Matt 10:15. Implies a clear destruction from off the land.
If Soddom and Gomorrha were destroyed utterly and it will be more tolerable for them — then the destruction coming (Actually that came…in 70 AD) to Israel is/was clearly worse.
It is clear in the scripture that God made a promise to Abraham to give his descendants a land. Whether or not God is still obligated to these promises is an often discussed and debated topic. Perhaps these promises passed away when the Old Covenant was passing away in the first century and the New Covenant was coming in. Or did God make good on that promise long before that.
Consider a passage in Joshua:
“And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.” Joshua 21:43-45
Summary for Mr. Beck’s consideration:
–God Gave Israel ALL THE LAND.
–Israel possessed it.
–Israel had rest from all their enemies
–All promises to the fathers were kept.
–All came to pass.
–Israel failed to keep the conditions of the covenant and were ultimately thrown off the land for ever.
Could it be any clearer? Or is there another option?
The full text of Glenn Beck’s speech can be accessed at this link.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/read-the-entire-text-of-glenns-keynote-restoring-courage-speech/