Biblical Truth

Because Christianity outsources all questions, outside of the Messiah in the Old Testament to Judaism, when bringing up the subject with Christians among the more common responses is for questions of the Old Testament you should consult a Jewish Rabbi.  Which I did. 

RABBI: His response was to reference 1 Kings 4:20-21, “The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank, and they were happy. And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.” See the prophecy from the Nile to the Euphrates has already been fulfilled.  In 2 Kings 17:2-23, you will note that God exiled and destroy Israel because they worshipped idols, therefore their covenant is now, null and void.  In Ezra 9:15, he notes the Jews as the remnant of Israel, therefore as Israel no longer exists their birthright has passed on to the Jews and the Jewish state.  On your average passport, there is a section labeled nationality or citizenship.  For most countries, the terms are used interchangeably, but in the Jewish State, they have two very different meanings.  Citizenship means the name of the land or soil, while nationality refers to one’s ethnicity.  Hence an average Jewish passport reads citizenship Israel, nationality Jewish or Arab.  Thus, as Jews, we acknowledge we are not Israel, but only claim that the land we are on is Israel.  In 2013 a linguist by the name of Uzzi Ornan challenged the Jewish Supreme court to use a universal Israeli nationality because both Arabs and Jews are Israeli, but the high court ruled that was not possible because “there is no proof of the existence of a uniquely Israeli people.”  Today all that remains beyond the Jews in the Middle East are Canaanite tribes and people. 

My Response:  The reference of the birthright in 1 Chronicles 5:2 that went to Joseph and not Judah was written after the exile of Israel during the Deuteronomic History under Ezra the scribe while our Jewish brothers and sisters were in Babylon.  We know this because the rest of the chapter references where they were exiled to in the Assyrian Empire, thus in modern-day terms they would be Arabs.  Therefore, Ezra and the other writers acknowledged that they were not the heirs of the birthright well after Joseph was exiled.  Also, the land referenced in 1 Kings 4, while it may have been under the control of Solomon, the land in the north by the Euphrates was the conquered territory of the Armenians and in the south was the conquered territory of Edom so that the Israelites were not living there.  Further, the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis 15 not only lists geographical boundaries but also people groups, such as the land of the Hittites in modern-day Turkey, the land of the Amorites in modern-day Iraq as well as the lands of the Kenites in modern-day Saudi Arabia, the lands of the Kenizzites and Kadmonites in modern-day Yemen and Oman, none of which were lands under Solomon’s control, thus the prophecy remained incomplete at that time.   While I acknowledge that Israel died and was exiled in their sin, we must also account for all the prophecies of their return well before Judah went into exile, such as Micah 5:7, The remnant of Jacob will be amid many peoples like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for anyone or depend on man.  Noting that Israel would be amid many peoples, as you call them Canaanite tribes. 

RABBI: The promises of God always come with an if, for instance, God told David in 1 Kings 2:4 if your descendants follow the law of Moses they would never fail to have a king on the throne of Israel. While Christians claim that Jesus is the fulfillment of that verse, they don’t acknowledge that we failed, and in Jeremiah 22:30 it reads that the covenant was revoked, This is what the Lord says: “Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.”  Now whether the Messiah does come, or the Jewish State reaches from the Nile to the Euphrates will depend on if we earn it as a people and a nation.  The promise of Abraham also comes with an if, such as 2 Chronicles 7:14, if my people who are called by my name…  Clearly, the Muslim people do not know God, nor have they earned the promise of Abraham.

My Response: In Isaiah 46:10 God states that he declares the end from the beginning, thus your answer of the promise passing to another heir in yourselves, or revoking his promises altogether suggests that God doesn’t see or anticipate all things or that all things are not in his hands.  Isaiah 65:1 testifies, “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here I am, here I am.’  Now if ancient Israel was exiled throughout the Assyrian Empire for worshiping idols, then we should consider with the advent of Islam that they destroyed their idols and in like manner, God expanded them to the east and the west so that every promise he gave to Abraham has been fulfilled through the Arab and Muslim peoples in complete terms: Except for Judah they are many nations from the Nile to the Euphrates, many kings, a people like the stars, they even still maintain control over the cave of Machpelah in Hebron.[1]

RABBI: Complete fulfillment?  Arabia has been under the control of the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, and others.  Even in modern history, the Turks controlled Arabia for nearly 400 years. By your own terms, you state Turkey within the Abrahamic Covenant, yet the Turks are not Arabs.  Why couldn’t any of these other groups be Israel?  While I believe their claims to be dubious, many European Christian organizations at least claim the title of Israel, while the Arabs do not claim the title of Israel, or Israelite, more like Philistine.  Therefore, it seems only natural that we associate them with the Canaanites because this is the title they give themselves.

My Response: While it is true that the Persians, Greeks, Romans, and others have controlled the land, the Arabs have always been the occupants.  Per Genesis 35:11, Jacob will be a nation and a community of nations.  In 1 Chronicles 5:26, the tribes associated with Manasseh on the eastside of the Jordan were exiled to modern-day Turkey by the Assyrians.  Thus, per Genesis 48:18 Manasseh, the Turks are one nation within the Abrahamic Territory and the Arabs, Ephraim, is a league of nations. Also, to be precise the Ottomans occupied Arabia for 390 years, as prophesied in Ezekiel 4:4-5. Beyond that Isaiah 9:21 prophesies conflicts between Ephraim and Manasseh, “Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh; together they will turn against Judah.” 

Regarding the identity of the Arabs, most somehow expect the descendants of Isaac to reckon their name through Israel and perhaps one day some will[2], however, this would be reckoning their name through Jacob[3], Isaac’s son, not his father, Abraham as God foretold, they would in Genesis 21:12. The term Hebrew is the Greek form of the word taken from the Greek translation of the Old Testament Bible, the Septuagint.  The actual pronunciation of the word Hebrew in Hebrew  is “Abree,” which in Arabic is translated as “descendant of Abram,”[4] singular, or “Abreem,” plural.[5]  With this in mind, consider that Abraham,[6] Joseph,[7] Moses,[8] and the other Israelites[9] were all referenced as Abreem (Hebrew), “Descendants of Abram,” in the Bible. Yet like their father, they have been renamed from Abree, “Descendent of Abram,” to Arabee, עֲרָבִ֔י, or “Arab” in English,[10] meaning “Descendent of Abraham.”[11] The Arabs are claiming the title of Hebrew and Arabia is the land of the Hebrews.  As Jews, we reckon our identity through Judah, our father, rather than through Abraham.  Though Judah was a descendant of Abraham, the two people are not the same.  And Zechariah 9:5-7 prophesies that even the Philistines will belong to our God and be a clan in Judah.

Also remember Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.”  Thus, forgetting their identity is also part of the promise of Joseph so that it should be expected that they would not remember their father’s household.  And though they have adopted the name Palestine, it was given by the Romans to the land, not themselves.

RABBI: The word Hebrew begins with an Ayin, not an Alef like the word Abraham, therefore Hebrew is not a reference to Abraham.  As for myself, I would not accept any Arab as an Israelite without a full family lineage going back to ancient times, and even then, I would have my doubts.

My Response:  In either language both the words Hebrew and Arab begin with an Ayin, not an Alef like the word Abraham, but if you ask any Arab who the name is in reference to, they will tell you it is a reference to their father Abraham.  Historically one can see this in the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus, “They are an Arabian nation and name their tribes from these, both because of their own virtue, and because of the dignity of Abraham their father.”[12] 

I acknowledge that I don’t have a family tree of the Arab people, but this is where faith comes into play, after all regarding the promise it states Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness.  If God’s promise to Abraham were based on the works of future generations then he could not have made it, but if his promise is based on love and forgiveness then the promise becomes eternal as relevant for us today as it was for Abraham in his day.

RABBI: If your argument is based on faith, forgiveness, and love, perhaps you should consult with a Christian. 

[1] Genesis 23, 49:29-33.

[2] Isaiah 44:5.

[3] Genesis 32:28.

[4] Genesis 14:13 interlinearbible.org /Genesis/14-13.htm.

[5] Genesis 43:32, interlinearbible.org /Genesis/43-32.htm.

[6] Genesis 14:13.

[7] Genesis 39:14, 39:17, 41:12.

[8] Exodus 2:5-6.

[9] Gen 43:32; Ex 1:15-16, 19.

[10] Isaiah 13:20, interlinearbible.org /isaiah/13-20.htm.

[11] Genesis 17:5.

[12] Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 1, Ch 12.