Saturday, August 14, 2010

Palestinian Covenant

Dr. Couch, why do we call the Land covenant the Palestinian Covenant? Is this not a pagan name given to the land promised to Abraham, and to his children forever?

ANSWER:  Yes, God said to Abraham in the Abrahamic covenant, "Go forth from your country ... to the land which I will show you" (Gen. 12:1). From this, comes what we call the "sub-covenant" or the Land Promise. It has wrongly been called the Palestinian covenant. The reason is that on the coast this was where the Philistines lived in OT times. So the Romans called that territory Palestine or Palestina.

   However, we should call it The Holy Land, or The Promised Land. Or in Hebrew, "Eratz Israel," The Land of Israel! I don't understand how the amils can call it The Promised Land if they do not believe the Jews are to be restored back to that territory. It is "Promised" to them!

   In the past, without thinking, many of us called that covenant, The Palestinian Covenant. And we should not have done that. I now label it The Holy Land, or The Promised Land.

   Thanks for asking.
   Dr. Mal Couch  (8/10)