Promised Land: Whose Land? Whose Promise?: WHO SHALL INHERIT? A complete History of God and Humanity with Reference to Middle East

By Plammoottil Cherian

Biblical interpretation of the Abrahamic Covenants and his descendants often present a bias against the Arabs and Ishmaelites perhaps due to lack of full knowledge of God's covenantal promises and blessings to humanity. Dr. Cherian presents clear evidences that God has no partiality and that Jews, Christians, Arabs, Muslims, Hindus and all people are equally called to be the partakers of the Kingdom of God. Ishmael was not rejected, but he and his generations were abundantly blessed, and they have a continuous role to play in the end stages of the world. As a skilled detective the author examines the Scriptures and calls all people to unlock the Bible and fight for the Eternal Promised Land. The book presents: *A complete history of God and humanity

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 13, 2019
• ISBN: 9781643009933

Book preview

Preface

This book is not a novel, a fiction, nor its chapters written in politically correct statements; but is a book of true facts of history, human destiny, future of Middle East, and humanity. With the horrific event of what came to be known as the acronym 9/11, fear and insecurity are etched on the minds of millions around the world. We are living at a time hearing evil tiding almost daily in all parts of the world, yet most of us pay attention to only events in our own locale. Those who have a keen mind it is easy to find that every part of the world is under threat of evil tiding of poverty, unrest, injustice, abuse of power or horrific actions of terrorism that threaten world peace. Unfortunately, we are living at a time when prophetic voices that warn us of rejecting or deviating from the moral laws of God are no more heard or heeded, and those who claim to be the stewards of moral authority and righteousness are silent under the canon of political correctness. When corruption and immorality are rampant, nation’s policies are orchestrated by despotic hypocritical politicians for their advantage, when injustices prevail and religious leaders of nations are silent it conveys the notion that God has become silent or blind or even doesn’t care anymore. Millions live with the same feeling of Job who lived nearly thirty-five centuries ago, Fear gripped me, and my bones trembled (Job 4:14).

The book of Ecclesiastes concludes with a very relevant statement for today’s world. Of making many books, there is no end, and much study wearies the body (Eccl. 12:11). There is no shortage of books written and rolling down the press on any subject. Yet the percentage of people reading classic books, literature, history, and spirituality for knowledge have become less. The wide world of web has become the institution of higher learning for many, which gives fragmentary information on most subjects. The mushrooming books on dirty politics, sexual escapades, and scandal-ridden politics that come out like a flash in the pan and fade just as quickly are the subjects of interests. These are the books the author of Ecclesiastes warned about, the substance of which appears interesting but worthless intellectually and spiritually. The truth of the matter is, despite hundreds of thousands of volumes of books are stacked in libraries of towns and cities of the world, people seem to be illiterate and wandering aimlessly with no peace in families, society, and the nations.

Our social and political systems have changed. There was a time when people of all ethnic background were accepted and respected. Interethnic or interreligious marriages, once an anathema, now become more common and accommodated. There was a time when political parties worked together for the common good of the people, placing people and country first and party second. Now they are highly polarized. However, the racial division based on color and ethnicity is flaring up. For many, trust in God is only imprinted on the dollar and coins and not on the walls of the heart. Faith in the Almighty God is swiftly eroding from the nations founded on faith like the United States of America, United Kingdom, most other European nations, and Israel. The poor and the needy are not taken care of. The rich are getting richer and the poor are becoming poorer. Righteousness and justice are fading from nations. While terrorists threaten the peace and hold us in the grips of fear, these changes in the culture and social setup add to the fear and insecurity of nations.

And for the morally and spiritually conscious, another important sign of the end time is apostasy. Both the Old Testament and New Testament give warnings of apostasy and the consequent danger we face. It is a real threat and has been in effect from the very beginning but more precipitously and intensely during the last five decades. ‘Your own wickedness will correct you, and your apostasies will reprove you. Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the lord your God, and the dread of Me is not in you,’ declares the Lord god of hosts (Jer. 2:19). Therefore, a lion from the forest will slay them. A wolf of the deserts will destroy them. A leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are numerous (Jer. 5:6). Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction (2 Thess. 2:3). We must know the danger of lions and leopards leading nations.

Evidence of apostasy can be seen in publications. There was a publication that describe five gospels, the fifth being gospel of Thomas, which is an apocryphal book not accepted in the Bible canonically.¹ The authors claim to have measured the authenticity of all the sayings of Jesus giving it a numerical value of 20 percent, meaning the remaining 80 percent are not his words.² But their ignorance is revealed in the fact that there is only one Gospel and that is the Eternal Gospel of Jesus Christ, recorded by four different authors, two of them Jesus’s disciples and the other two by evangelists who knew Jesus’s mission more authentically and personally.

When horror grips us and terror drives people and nation frantically to intense fear and anxiety, negating the shelter and refuge found in the Gospel messages leave humanity hopeless. It is impossible to determine a numerical percentage of what Jesus did really say two thousand years ago when there was no technology for voice recording or voice identification at the time of Jesus’s ministry and such claims are mere hogwash. Such publications are helpful to create doubts and negativity about the Word of God and deliberate attempts to destroy the faith of people in God’s eternal plan of redemption of humanity. Nonetheless, when they found that at least 20 percent of what Jesus said is truth, that certainly should have changed them to believe in Jesus? Perhaps they are counting the percentage of what God said is true in the Bible. If these apostates have read the Gospel of Luke, they would have believed in Jesus.

Luke most convincingly wrote his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles about the claims of Jesus’s teachings, sayings, miracles he performed, and their authenticity most likely after being asked to inquire and report them to Theophilus, who probably was a powerful official under the Roman Empire as can be inferred from the salutation, Your excellency, or Most excellent Theophilus. Both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts were addressed to Theophilus. Luke was a physician with such ability and likely may have been a close friend of Theophilus. Likewise, Matthew, Mark, and John wrote the works of Jesus as they knew it inspired by the Holy Spirit. But the four writers present a unified single theme of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the eternal Gospel (Rev. 14:6) or the Gospel of God (Rom. 1:1).

The two ailments of the present culture in general today are lack of purpose and direction in life; and the feeling of the common masses that life is unfair and therefore meaningless further adds to fear. When the whole world is looking for peace and tranquility, a direction and guidance for purpose and meaning in life our writings should be aimed to help the hopeless and helpless who stand at the crossroads with uncertainty of direction and purpose in life. We do not have to be a fundamentalist, but we certainly must have the fundamentals of the moral laws. The whole problem of the world is, people are misguided by misinterpretations by learned and reputed people including professors, clergy, and nations’ political leaders who have become apostates.

We are living at a time when the culture of civility, honesty, truth, and faith are vanishing; and in place a new culture of falsity, rudeness, dishonesty, and disbelief in the God of Abraham is taking hold of the world. This culture challenges the authority of God and conveys the idea that anyone or any nation can chart his/her destiny without guidance of Almighty God of the universe. Our nation’s Founding Fathers certainly believed in the guidance of the Almighty. I am not a great person by any world standard but a small human being dependent on the God of truth who guides me to use my knowledge to speak the truth of the Scriptures in these last days when many things spoken and prophesied in the Bible have proven correct as history reveals them.

The most important sign of our present time was prophesied by Daniel about 535 BC when he recorded the events that occurred from 605–535 BC. Nearly 2,600 years ago he and thousands of his fellow citizens had been deported as captives after Judah was besieged by Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC. According to God’s great providential plan, though a captive, Daniel served the foreign government for sixty years during the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus. In his early years in captivity, he found himself facing egocentric despotic rulers surrounded by people of same caliber, attitude, and mind-set as it is today in several nations. Instead of giving in or giving up, he courageously held on to the truth he learned that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is sovereign who controls the affairs of the nations.

Daniel’s prophecies are considered the key of all biblical prophecies. In just twelve short chapters he concludes his visionary predictions of God’s sovereign plan for the nations like ancient Babylon (any nation and leaders who are arrogant) will continue until end time. All civilized nations can learn many things from the world events of the last twenty-six centuries and guide their people to seek the truth and find refuge in God. What we hear in the news report every day, hour by hour, is of personal stress caused by events of murder, hatred, natural disasters, hunger, poverty, injustice, which contribute to distress and insecurity. Despite such depressing news, we must be confident to search with all our strength to find security and peace of mind in God, who is in control of the daily affairs of our lives.

One of the most significant signs of the end time predicted by Daniel is the increase of knowledge. But you Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge (Dan. 12:4). Humanity has gained little by little knowledge in everything from arts and literature, every branch of science from astronomy to zoology; and we have deciphered as much knowledge as we can from the heights of the farthest and coldest outer space to the deepest of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. The last two decades have seen unparalleled increase in our technological knowledge and capability, and we have come to a stage that life cannot go on if we do not have technology at our fingertips. Without the advancement of technology that we have now, no branch of science and medical science could progress any further. In 1953 Watson and Crick deciphered the structure of DNA, which I call God’s book of life, imprinted in every single cell of human body and of every single species he created. New insights are coming to light about this fascinating molecule. By a reasonable calculation, the total length of DNA packed within the several trillion cells of the human body would be equal to the distance of ninety-three round trips from the earth to the sun. Amazing!

Today it is easy to see that people young and old are running to and from for gaining knowledge. Our young students are on the run to get a degree of their choice by selecting relevant subjects moving from classroom to classroom, online to online, for completing their courses at the same time running to reach their work places to earn for their living and support. Our younger generation and the college-bound students are the most stressed out at the present times. Now they are running for their lives. Since 1999 from Columbine, Colorado, to Parkland, Florida, there have been so many gun violence and shooting in our campuses and dozens of children lost their lives. Survivors of the deadly shooting rampage organized a nationwide march under the banner March for our Lives, and more than eight hundred thousands gathered in Washington, D. C., joined by many thousands around the world. Their collective voice was to send a message to the politicians on their total neglect and inaction on the scourge of gun violence. Politicians who are supported by the National Rifle Association ignored their voices, but conscientious people were shedding tears. Children are our future, and their lives must be protected by laws to prevent gun violence.

People are running to and from for knowledge or for safety for their life from violence. Because of the apathy toward the Word of God, Daniel was instructed to seal and preserve the Book for the end time when people will fervidly search for true knowledge and comfort. The time is fast approaching to convince that our knowledge in many things is vain and we must search for the truth, find the true knowledge for help for the crises we face today, and hope for tomorrow.

Prophet Amos echoed the same concern of Daniel when people would be staggering from sea to sea and wander from North to East searching for the Word of the Lord, but to no avail. Amos wrote his message more than two hundred years before Daniel between 760 and 750 BC during the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel and Uzziah (Azariah) of Judah. He prophesied at a time when the country was prosperous, wealthy, and complacent as it is today for many nations who see their strength in their own weapons and wealth.

World is at the threshold of a serious famine when people have no appetite for the Word of God. It is doubtful whether a good majority of the people find interest or time to feed on the Word of God or seek the treasures hidden in the Bible that can provide them healing remedies and thirst-quenching living water. Because of the apathy, as Paul had warned, God will take away even the opportunity to hear the word of God because a powerful delusion has gripped the nations around the world (2 Thess. 2:11). Because of the willful negligence, the world is in a powerful delusion. Therefore, if people do not care for the Word of God but quoting it for their convenience without righteousness, God told Daniel to seal the scroll for the time when people will frantically search for truth, which prophet Amos also foresaw. Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord god, When I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the lord (Amos 8:11). Surely, we are at the threshold of that famine, if not already in it.

Several divinity schools now have curricula designed to teach many pathways to heaven, and perhaps the Christian way is too narrow, teaching them to follow the wider world highways of religions. As prophesied by Amos, those people who stagger from sea to sea in search of truth end up in vain and would not find the truth. The Word of God was given to us nearly thirty-five centuries ago. Ten Commandments were written by God in 1445 BC, and the Pentateuch was written by Moses before his death in 1406 BC. In the secularized Christian world, many have lost the courage of Daniel and Amos to stand firm against the Nebuchadnezzar and Jeroboams of the world. Perhaps because many are giving into secular theology, they may not have to fear the lion’s den any more.

Based on Prophets Daniel and Amos, the current problems of the world are the following:³

Practice of mere religion without substance of relationship with God.

Not providing justice in every affair of human life. Justice must roll like a river and righteousness like a never-failing stream.

We are not seeking the truth or depend and act on truth. It is essential to reverse the course because God reveals hidden things that lay in darkness.

The general belief is changing from One God to many gods. God does not exist in many forms; he is the One God of Abraham.

Our latency in seeking the true God. We must seek God personally.

The rebellion and lawlessness that we see all around is a sign that should precede the Day of the Lord. As Peter also has warned, the day of the Lord will be preceded by persecution, false prophets and their false teachings (2 Pet. 3:10), and desolating sacrilege or profanity that is rampant. This has been foretold in several passages of the Scriptures (Dan. 9:27, 11:31, 12:11; Mt. 24:1–51; Mk. 13:1–37; Lk. 21:5–36).⁴ Seeing the present separation of the nations from God and lack of justice to ordinary people everywhere, the warning for the nations is But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5:24). This verse has been a milestone verse in the Bible quoted by people of conscience and echoed recently by conscious public figures.⁵ It is high time that we ordinary people and the politicians serve justice and righteousness in our nations. It is imperative that we seek God in our nations. Modern culture is the culture of pleasing everyone, and most preachers and gurus are looking for big audience and a big applause for their rhetorical words. Prophets like Amos, Micah, Daniel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel were not men pleasers but were God pleasers.

The antidotes for the present world of directionless and purposeless wandering is to find God in our lives and the nation. Fear God and keep his commandments. No matter how difficult life’s contradictions seem driving us under the present culture to the edge of Niagara Falls to a depth of 167 feet, our grip must be on God to know the truth of safety. We should enjoy life but cannot take God away from our lives. By reinventing and anchoring our lives in God as individuals and nations only, we will understand the purpose of our lives. The world is drifting aimlessly and in fear. Perhaps many have forgotten Lord’s assurance that when fear grips us God is a sure anchor.

Living in the midst of the present culture, I write this book about Promised Land as our inheritance and possession. Most people have an erroneous notion that Promised Land is in Israel to where millions of people make pilgrimage. Undoubtedly, Israel is the Holy Land where the Shekinah glory of God shined once in the Temple and it is the land where Messiah was born, carried his earthly ministry, shed his blood for the redemption of humanity, died, buried, resurrected and ascended into heaven as prophesied by prophets Isaiah, Daniel, Zechariah, and others. The land piece called Ancient Canaan, Palestine, or present Israel, is symbolic of an eternal Promised Land that will not be inherited by conquest by any one ethnic group. The entire Middle East, Arab world, Israel, and the rest of the world live in fear as to what might happen and who shall inherit the Promised Land.

People live in fear because of the extremism shown by radicals who have determined to destroy the peace and security of the Middle East. We cannot live in fear because God has not given us a spirit of fear but of courage. No one can live in the shadow of another person except we all learn to live in the shadow of Lord Almighty. Arab nations and Israel must live fearlessly, because they are brothers and sisters. Such brotherly existence of all ethnicity is expected in the earthly Canaan promised to Abraham. The entire Middle East is occupied by mostly by descendants of Abraham. Arabs were a nomadic group of people in the past but now well settled in nearly twenty-two countries across the Middle East. In that sense, our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were nomadic because their whole life was wandering, roving, and drifting from place to place and from tent to tent. Abraham in Canaan was a cattle and sheep farmer as were Isaac and Jacob. The whole of Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East are occupied by the generations of Joktan (Gen. 10:25), Ishmael (Gen. 25:12–18), Isaac, and six other sons of Abraham through Keturah (Gen. 25:1–6), who are listed in order of their genealogy as recorded in the Scriptures.

But I must say that there has been a great deal of bias toward the Arabs by western Christian world, particularly evangelicals and fundamentalist preachers with their rhetorical skills to take biblical verses out of context and condemning not only Arabs, Ishmaelites, but also our common father of faith Abraham and our common mother Sarah. One thing they conveniently forget of the Scriptures is that it was God’s promise that Abraham shall become the father of many nations (Gen. 17:4–5) and that Sarah shall become the mother of many nations (Gen. 17:16). With the promise of a son at age ninety-nine to Abraham and to Sarah at age eighty-nine, why did God bless them as father and mother of many nations? We must explore deeply the spiritual meaning of what God implied here without bias of what happened in history.

If we can accept the biblical truth that the earth belongs to God, our fathers did not create the earth or its abundance of resources, they rented it from the Creator, and we the present owners must return the geographical regions where we live to our future generations from whom we borrowed it. Biblical scriptures are not politically correct statements, because God is not a politician and he does not play dice. God does not build bridges where there is no river. He parts the Red Sea and dries up River Jordan for his faithful to reach the Promised Land.

This book is written under such time and culture we face today. I submit this to everyone, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Arabs, Hindus, skeptics, and atheists, with my utmost respect to explore the Words of God scrupulously to find the absolute truth. The entire humanity is of mixed bloodline in the providential plan of God of Abraham, and our mixed bloodline is purified by the Blood of the New Covenant of Jesus, who also had mixed human blood line providentially, but also of the Holy Spirit by which we all are sanctified. The time is at hand for the Day of the Lord. Lord’s high priest has already the golden censer with much incense, first to allow the smoke to reach God Almighty as the prayers of the martyrs, the saved Jews, Gentiles, and many who were killed asking for justice. As the smoke (prayers) ascended to the throne of God, the angel (Christ) is ready to throw the fire from the altar into the earth (Rev. 8:1–6). Before the fire falls on earth, Jews, Arabs, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, and agnostics are reminded to accept Christ, the eternal truth of God. That is the only sure way we possess our inheritance of the eternal Promised Land. Amen!

Section I

Humanity and the Quest for Canaan

Millions of people make pilgrimage to the Holy Land particularly to see the shrines and places important to their religion and feel satisfied with the sanctity of the place but perhaps without a real knowledge and appreciation for the true history of the land. After the Great Deluge of Noah’s time, the world was repopulated by the descendants of Noah through his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The genealogy, hereditary roots, and respective territorial distribution of humanity are described in the books of Genesis and first Chronicles. According to biblical genealogy, the entire nations of Middle East and Africa appear to be the generations of Shem and Ham. The dispersal, sociopolitical life, and their religious practices are succinctly recorded in the Scriptures. Japheth became the ancestor of eastern and western Europe and the New World, from where they migrated to other parts of the world. Though most regions have concentration of genetically related ethnic groups, now the world population is cosmopolitan in nature. The history of ancient Canaan (Palestine), the modern Israel, West Bank, and Gaza is more divine than its geopolitical importance. The Land was promised to Abraham by God from which the name Promised Land is derived. Israel; the Arab nations; and the entire Middle East, mostly descendants of Abraham, occupy most of the territory of the original Canaan for the last four millennia. Egypt, African nations, and the land of Canaan were historically occupied by the descendants of Mizraim and Canaan, two sons of Ham. The genealogy of entire human race is traced and described.

The land is holy for two eternal truths. First, Jerusalem Temple was the national pride that had the Ark of Covenant in the Holy of Holies whence the Shekinah glory of the Lord filled the temple and the nation once (1 Ki. 8:1–11). The Ark symbolized the presence of God in Israel, a nation God searched out for developing faith. With the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, the life of the nation was disrupted. Second, the land became once again holy by the footsteps of Jesus, the Son of God, whose teaching, preaching, and healing ministry revolutionized the concept of eternal life through faith in the New Covenant of Blood he established. Israel is the progenitor of Messiah, Jesus Christ. Prophet Ezekiel allegorically explains that the Shekinah glory of God shall fill the millennial temple in Jerusalem to abide forever (Ezek. 11:22–24, 43:1–4). The cherubim standing on Mount of Olive in Ezekiel’s vision foretells of Christ who shall descend to rule in Jerusalem as King in the Millennial kingdom when the glory of God shall lighten the earth out of its present darkness. While Canaan is symbolic of a land of promise only, there is an eternal Promised Land far beyond River Jordan and our quest must be to take possession of eternal Canaan. The most learned man of Jewish theology has explained who the true children of Abraham are:And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seeds and heirs according to the promise (Gal. 3:29).

Chapter 1

Introduction: Quest for Canaan

Every mother is like Moses. She does not enter the Promised Land. She prepares a world she will not see.

—Pope Paul VI¹

Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed,

Or the golden bowl is broken,

Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,

Or the wheel broken at the well.

Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,

And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

—Ecclesiastes 12:6, 7

Since the beginning of creation, humanity has an inherent quest for faith and developed practices of worship that became religious traditions to relate to God in our spiritual journey to the heavenly realm. This quest for faith is inherent in human nature as an instinctive knowledge, just as ants learn to make their nests underground, a young spider learns to weave its web as soon as it is hatched, a little sparrow learns to fly and gather her food, or an infant learns to suck the nipples of the mother. This pursuit for faith is manifested in different ways from the savage people of the jungles to the elite that lives in mansions of light and from cultish beliefs to the sound of melodious hymns of praise through the organs of magnificent churches.

Solomon, son of David who had practically everything under the sun—wisdom, power, riches, honor, and reputation—was the wisest king ever recorded in history. After his coronation, a well-pleased God for his attitude and devotion was willing to grant him anything he would ask. At Gibeon, as he finished offering the burnt offering at the highest place, he was thankful to the Lord for his kindness toward his father David, the continuity of his kingdom, and the chance to sit on the throne. And Solomon said: ‘You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. Now, O Lord my God, you have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore, give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?’ (1 Ki. 3:5–9).

A great and humble prayer by a young king who was probably twenty years old, and it shows his humility and maturity as well as his devotion and desire to depend on God as he was chosen to lead Israel. A well-pleased God granted him not only what he asked for, but also riches and honor and a gift of long life, if he would obey Gods statutes and commandments as his father David kept (1 Ki. 3:13–14). However, in later years Solomon’s heart was turned away from the God of Abraham and David because he was given into foreign wives of whom he had a collection of thousand. To please his wives, he introduced foreign gods into the holy nation, and consequently, Israel was divided into two kingdoms and since then the nation suffered severely from backsliding in faith in Israel’s God.

In his later years, he concluded that everything he had tried, tested, or tasted was vanity. He uses the words meaningless, useless, pointless, foolish, vanity, and empty to describe his experiences. His indulgent lifestyle after all the things under the heaven was a futile attempt of chasing after the wind or grasping for the wind. The phrase chasing after the wind is an excellent metaphor because we can feel and experience wind from a cool breeze to the destructive power of a windstorm but we never can grasp it and running after a wind to get hold of it is not only futile and destructive but also reveals the emptiness and lack of true wisdom of the human mind. Solomon’s advice to the generations is, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart away from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones (Prov. 3:5–8).

Solomon’s life experiences are summarized in his final words in Ecclesiastes: The words of the wise are like cattle prods—painful but helpful. Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep. But, my child, let me give you some further advice: Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out. That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad (Eccl. 12:11–14, NLT)

The aim of every major religion is to know the true God before our spirit or soul finally returns to its origin. The goal of Hinduism is the release (moksha) of the soul from the cycle of rebirth (samsara) to be in the presence of God or philosophically to unite with God (Brahman) jus as a drop of rain merges in the wide ocean. An analysis of each major religion will reveal that our instinctive knowledge of the fear of God (faith) and our actions (obeying God’s commandments) resulted in the formation of a set of beliefs and faiths. Most civilized cultures of the world are deeply rooted in religious beliefs and the ethical principles are undoubtedly drawn from such faiths.

However, faith has become so fundamentalist, radical, extremist, fanatical, nominal, and cultish to many people that the idea of God and reverence for the Almighty God is slipping away from the culture dangerously. Fundamentalism, extremism, and nominalism of religious practices pervade each religion, while the general trend of secularism and atheism are on the rise. The God of Abraham appears to be far away blindfolded, unable to see the grotesque injustices, hypocrisy, outrageous greed, and non-caring attitude of many who faithfully worship him who has become slow to hear the cry of the suffering millions. To many of the elites, elects, and the rich and intellectuals, once they have attained their riches, wealth, power, and position, God has become so monotonous. The former and latter certainly give way to the idea that God is dead, or he seems to have disappeared from the lives of many, even in nations which were founded on faith. Many others seek God nominally, fanatically, or for a matter of convenience. Nevertheless, there are millions of people who faithfully seek, depend and guided by Almighty God, pray for our nations on whose mediation God sustains the nations from peril.

One of the books I have read about the monotheistic religions is A History of God by Karen Armstrong in which she examines the concept of God in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religions.² Armstrong explains the beginning of worship of the cultish Yahweh, the unique God of ancient Middle East, which gave rise to the Jewish concept of the God, from which the Trinitarian nature and the Nicene Creed concept of a Christian God arose. She also comments on how "al-Lah, the high God of the ancient Arabian pantheon became the concept of an Islamic God and faith.³ In the concluding two chapters, she entertains the concept of Death of God in the modern secularist society that promotes atheism and raising the question, Does God have a future?" in the post-modern world.

A history of God in the words of the author is not a history of the ineffable reality of God itself . . . but a history of the way men and women have perceived him from Abraham to the present day.⁴ While the whole book is interesting, the final two sentences captivated me to delve further: Human beings cannot endure emptiness and desolation; they will fill the vacuum by creating a new focus of meaning. The idols of fundamentalism are not good substitutes for God; if we are to look for a new vibrant faith for the twenty-first century, we should perhaps, ponder the history of God for some lessons and warnings.⁵ I intend to do just that, distilling the history of Abraham and Abrahamic faith from the moment he was singled out to be the progenitor of many nations, who are posterity of Abraham biologically and spiritually.

While fundamentalism by any religion is dangerous to the spiritual growth of its adherents, a lack of true knowledge in the basics of our quest for Canaan or God’s plan of salvation and eternity can be very tragic and could bring devastating effects upon humanity. The Bible reveals this flaw in the life of the ancient Israel, and certainly the pews of modern Christian churches have become scanty for lack of knowledge about the truth of God that has been replaced by the rhetoric of false prophets and mere tradition without substance at the present times. While Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Ludwig Feuerbach, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, and many others who have contributed their share in giving independence to people from God, there have been hosts of prophets, apostles, Paul, Martin Luther, John Calvin, George Muller, Charles Spurgeon, and many others who had reached millions of people with the message of a true God, his purpose and plan for humanity, the fundamental doctrines of the Trinitarian God, how to fill the emptiness of human heart and remove the despair by seeking the true God of Abraham who only can ensure our eternity in the kingdom of God. Although it is not universal among denominations, from the operation of few churches, I must agree with Karl Marx that Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of the heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people,⁶ with one exception. The exception being, religion is not merely the sigh of the oppressed. True religion is the hope of the hopeless. It is the hope of the rich and poor, it is the hope of liberation from oppression, it provides peace and tranquility against the uproars of life, and it is the hope of mortals to be immortals in eternity. But certainly there are churches that abuse their congregants, keeping them under the mesmerism of rhetorical opioids and man-made regulations.

Thus, the main purpose of this book is to distill the true God of Abraham as revealed in the only history of God available to humanity, which is the ineffable Bible, the Word of God, which describes who God is, his nature, plan, and purpose for creating humanity and singling out a man named Abraham to be the progenitor of a faith community, about twenty generations after Adam. This book is a true exploration of the biblical facts about the Abrahamic faith, connecting the dots from his homeland in the Ur of the Chaldeans, whence Abraham answered the call of an unknown God who is much different than the gods he and his forefathers worshipped before (Gen. 11:31, 12:1–5). From Haran, he moved westward to Canaan in the Fertile Crescent, the land that was promised to him and his posterity where he earned the title Father of Many Nations and a friend of God. Abraham’s name appears about 312 times in the Bible, and he is second only to Moses in the New Testament record of biblical heroes.

As quoted at the beginning of this chapter, Solomon concludes that the spirit breathed into our bodies return to God and the body returns to its elemental form as dust. All human beings will one day come to the final judgment to give an account of how he or she has met the purpose of life in relation to the Creator, God. Before that happens, we are advised to fear God and obey his commandments. Commandments are strictly God-given and not man-made, although in every religion we often see man-made regulations outshine the true ordinances of God.

In the three monotheistic religions of Abrahamic origin, faith is anchored on a God, whose nature, relation, and actions toward man are interpreted differently with diverse patterns of worship. Nonetheless, only a life of true faith anchored on God and the means he provided can stand before Him and the work of actions we do must rests on the commandments consistent with that faith. Canaan was infested with a pantheon of gods and many worship systems that were to be driven out of the land for which Abraham and his posterity were given its physical possession: Ancient Canaan, the most important land piece of which is modern Israel, alternatively known as Promised Land. We have witnessed several wars, constant disputes and clashes in the region, political instability, extremism, and bloodshed to control, inherit, and possess it. The questions I tend to answer in this book are, what does the Promised Land mean, whose land it is, and who shall possess it? It is imperative that we know the roots of Abraham, who the descendants of Abraham are, who possessed Canaan before Abraham, what were the covenantal promises to Abraham, and how we may possess our inheritance.

Where Is the Land of Promise?

Nowhere in the Scripture there is mention of the commonly termed Promised Land, which was most likely framed because the land was promised to Abraham by God who owns the earth and universe. Of all the translation of the Bible, few of them use "promised land," whereas most versions use the phrase land of promise. That verse in Hebrews says, By faith, he sojourned in a land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise (Heb. 11:9, KJV). Though both promised land and land of promise are used interchangeably, there is a degree of difference between the two usages. If we critically analyze the meaning of the verse, if the land was promised unconditionally to Abraham as his inheritance and after Abraham moved and occupied the land, why did he live as a sojourner (stranger, as a foreigner) in his own land? A man who owned large number of cattle and sheep and who had several hundred trained loyal men to carry out his orders, why did he live in tents and not in a mansion or a bungalow?

Isaac and Jacob were heirs to the same promise as Abraham, and they also lived in tent as sojourners. Jacob when he stood before Pharaoh of Egypt said, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage" (Gen. 47:9, emphasis added). Not only Jacob considered him a pilgrim, but he affirmed that his father and grandfather to whom the land was promised were also pilgrims. Were they pilgrims in the land they owned? For that matter, Jacob can be considered the first human being who understood the true meaning of the words pilgrim and sojourner, which became important in Hebrew theology and subsequently in the Greek and English language.

There is great difference between promised land and land of promise. The land of promise means the land that has already been taken possession of as we move to a deeded property for living or as Joshua conquered Canaan and allotted to the twelve tribes, whereas Promised Land means it is still a promise, pointing to a futuristic possession of inheritance. The best definition I like of promised land is in Merriam Webster dictionary, which defines promised land as something and especially a place or condition believed to promise final satisfaction or realization of hopes. Do all of us have the final satisfaction or achieved the realization of our hopes? Not for truly spiritual people.

One may live in temporarily just as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived. By faith Abraham sojourned in the land of promise in Canaan, where he lived one hundred years, and God fulfilled his promise by Israel acquiring it. But neither Abraham nor any of his posterity gained final satisfaction or materialized their hopes of eternity. Thus, Promised Land is symbolic of heaven, which cannot be possessed by the works of the law but by the free promise of the grace of God. Having the grace of god throughout one’s life in all matters is the key to possession of the Promised Land. Thus, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were sojourners in their own land. Moses lived forty years in Egypt, forty years in Midian, and forty years in the wilderness, which were his land of promise for his earthly dwelling and actions and the land of promise Moses was shown from Mount Pisgah, from where he had a glimpse of the eternal Promised Land beyond Canaan.

Stephen told the Jewish leaders boldly that Abraham did not inherit even one foot of land in Canaan (Acts 7:5). Therefore, Abraham kept the faith and lived as a sojourner, believing that he and his posterity will one day inherit and take possession of the eternal promised land. The important lesson to learn is that people are sojourners in this world, strangers, and pilgrims in it. Our land of possession where we have the dwelling is not our permanent place of dwelling. We borrowed it from our children, they from their children, transferring the temporary places to our posterity. We all have to look forward to a better country. This Promised Land is far beyond the Jordan River and beyond the horizon and can see only by faith that has been tried, tested, and passed with a 20/20 vision of acuity in faith. There are millions of people who have lost their physical vision like Isaac but who keep a perfect vision of faith for the Promised Land. People who have no faith or meager faith or only claim to have faith with no substance shall never see nor inherit the Promised Land.

Meager faith is no faith and having a false faith is blasphemy and profaneness. Those who live in faith must climb to the mountaintop of Pisgah to see the panoramic view of the Promised Land. It is the promise for all and within the reach of everyone with a catch. But the lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them" (Num. 20:12). We are to hear keenly, believe, and act in calmness and keep cool at all inciting and provocative circumstances of life, political, geophysical, and economic upheaval, famine, poverty, or even at the sounds of swords and machine guns. Promised Land belongs to the assembly of believers freed from the burdens of the world.

The Scriptures reveal that Promised Land will be a reality to the Jewish people and all believers in future when Christ returns to rule the world when all the kings and lords will come and kneel before the King of kings and Lord of lords. This is what exactly prophesied in the Scriptures and the prophecies (Ezek. 47:13–20; Dan. 9:24–27, 11:40-45; Mic. 7:12; Rev. 9:14, 16:12). The best advice Paul gives to the Hebrews, the Arabs, and the rest of humanity is to be faithful to Lord Jesus and be part of the Eternal Covenant through the blood of Christ Jesus. Paul also hoped to be restored to the fellowship of his brethren Jews who they despised because of his faith and witness for Christ. And I especially urge you to pray that I may be restored to you as soon as possible. Now may the God of peace who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen! (Heb. 13:20–21). Abrahamic Covenant was made everlasting only through the blood of Christ, and we inherit and possess the Promised Land only through redemption in Jesus Christ. The land behind Jordan where Abraham and his forefathers lived and worshipped are symbolic of death and that land of promise beyond Jordan, the geographical land of Canaan, symbolizes the land of life, the land of everlasting covenant, pointing to an eternal Promised Land.

Therefore, I give the title of this book Promised Land: Whose Land, Whose Promise, Who shall Inherit? As quoted at the beginning, Pope John Paul VI reveals an eternal truth. In every family, the mother is the most devoted in caring, preparing, and taking the brunt of responsibility of raising the children and preparing the family for the challenges of the times. The Holy Father compares all mothers who work diligently and hard metaphorically to Moses, who could see the land of promise only from the peaks of Mount Pisgah. While that is true, Moses is sure to be in the eternal Promised Land as all devout mothers who prepared godly leaders in each generation. However, the truth remains that despite our many preparations and toils in our quest for the Promised Land from our earthly life we may see it only afar, yet it is within our reach.

Chapter 2

The Arab Spring

For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

—Nelson Mandela, 1918–2013,

South African anti-apartheid political leader

and president of South Africa

Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits.

—Thomas Jefferson 1734–1826,

American Founding Father

and the third president of the United States

Freedom is the most precious gift of the Creator to every individual, yet many are deprived of it. Ever since human history began, Middle East region has dominated not only in the biblical narratives and scriptural prophesies but also the headlines of the world news constantly in the twentieth century and continues daily in the twenty-first century. While many may remember the Arab-Israeli wars since 1948, they may have forgotten the ancient wars in the region and their root cause. The uprising called the Arab Spring began in December 2010 across the Fertile Crescent, except for Morocco and Turkey, mostly subsided after leaders of Egypt and Libya were toppled and gone into history. Hosni Mubarak occupied the throne of the pharaoh in 1981 after President Anwar Sadat was assassinated, and he ruled nearly three decades until February 2011, when he was swept away from power under the forceful currents of the movement.

Although Mubarak continued the policy of Anwar Sadat, committing to honor the Camp David Accord signed on September 17, 1978, and maintained good political friendship with democratic nations like the United States, India, and much of the Western nations as well as with the former Soviet Union, he faced criticism for the human right record under his regime. Mubarak was forced to step down on February 11, 2011, by the Egyptian Revolution in the wave of the Arab Spring.¹ Millions of Egyptians were living in poverty in the valley of the shadow of death called City of the Dead. Egyptians gave a strong victory to the Islamist group known as the Muslim Brotherhood, for better or worse.

Another tyrant Muammar Gaddafi, under whom the Libyan people have suffered for more than forty years (1969–2011) of oppression, corruption, and tyranny, had met with a violent death on October 20, 2011.² Islamists and extremists seem to have taken control of these nations with no change to the better and perhaps experience of cruelty and destruction of life for many as we have seen in the destructive civil wars in Syria, Iraq, and Libya.

Fearing what has happened to Egypt and Libya, the dictatorial regime of Syria cracked down the protestors, killing hundreds of thousands of people mercilessly, has shown no signs to accept an Arab League proposal.³ In fact Syria has intentionally missed, if not rejected, the Arab League deadline to allow outside observers into the country, prompting the League to consider economic sanctions against Syria for its crackdown of dissidents. While the League considers sanctions, it is ironic to note that Syria was one of the founding members of the Arab League. The unrest began in 2010 and has escalated into armed conflict, infight between rebel groups, resulting in severe and cruel human rights violation, forcing hundreds of thousands of people fleeing and looking for way out to shelter in cities of refuge.

The revolutionary wave turned violent in many places and spread throughout the Arab League nations, and the tremors of the political quake are also felt in the kingdoms of Bahrain, Lebanon, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and other countries of Arab populations.⁴ There is no question that the protest at its core had the genuine reasons of resentment toward dictatorship or autocracy; and in many nations, people face severe unemployment, poverty, corruption, and lack of concern for the subjects. Rather than bringing real change that people hoped for by toppling the existing regimes, it ended up in power struggle across the Arab nations participated, mostly resulting in contentious battle between extremists, religious elites, and a very small fraction for true democratic reforms.⁵ In Libya alone, there were reported to be 1,500 militia groups involved in power struggle. It is sad because, although the regions’ youth were involved in the uprising, their dreams of changing the political landscape did not result in a positive outlook of democratic reforms of government but rather got entangled in the old web of fundamentalism.

According to reports by experts on the Middle East, there is a marked increase in the youth population of the region. Middle East nations collectively have nearly 111 million individuals between the ages 15 to 29 who make up nearly 27 percent of the region’s population. To quote the authors: This youth cohort is the product of an historical demographic transition, one marked by early high rates of fertility and population growth during the 1970s and 1980s, followed with a rapid decline in fertility seen across the region during the mid-1990s. As fertility rates declined, dependent child populations began to decline, reducing overall population growth rates but ensuring that the generation born during the 1970s and 1980s became an increasing share of the population. Importantly, while the rise of the youth bulge is often viewed in the context of the challenges that it imposes on the existing political and social order, it can—and should—be viewed as an economic opportunity for the region.⁶

Educated, intelligent, and thoughtful youth of a nation are vibrant generation who can make viable changes for the betterment of the society with their imagination and innovative spirit. But unfortunately during the Arab Spring their voices were not heard. In most nations of the region, the old fundamentalist clans hold on to power, sending the message that the society will run itself quite nicely without the youth, and they will have their turn in the distant future, but their energy, brain and youth power should sustain to hold the old regime in power.⁷

The Arab Spring protests have had similarity of civil disobedience and resistance; strikes; demonstrations; burning of women’s veils; the use of social media blogs to organize, communicate, and raise awareness of repression faced by millions of people in the Arab world. As expected, the protests have met with violent response from the regimes and counterdemonstrations. The wave of slogan from Morocco to Egypt and all Middle East has been "Ash-shab vurid isaat an-nizam meaning the people want to bring down the regime."⁸

Many other Arab countries—Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Libya, and Syria—demanded changes in political and social structure as well as freedom of expression, security, and justice during the uprising. Reporters, foreign observers, and Western nations earnestly hoped that the dictatorship and monarchies would come to an end and the political landscape of the Middle East would see the dawn of democracy just as the Eastern European nations freed themselves from the impregnable communist regime of the former Soviet Union, whose yoke was very heavy upon them. There is no historical parallel in the disturbances in the political and social structure of the Middle East with that of the Eastern European countries who wanted to free them from the yoke of Russian communism.

The Soviet-led political-military alliance in Eastern Europe known as the Warsaw Pact, officially called the treaty of friendship was established in 1955 to offset the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) formed by the Western European countries and their North American allies. But in December of 1991, as the world watched in amazement, the Soviet Union disintegrated into fifteen separate countries and member nations of the Warsaw Pact, one after another—Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania—saw their communist regimes fall to popular democratic reforms and the communist threat had hopefully befallen. With the eventual fall of former Soviet Union and the power of communism, the Warsaw Pact officially was dissolved in Prague in 1991.

The main reasons for this surprising collapse of the Soviet Union were a shattered economy as well as disruption in the political structure and thought and demand by the people for dignity of life and freedom. The fear of the West that communism and its threat of progression may land on the shores of Western nations was thwarted by breaking the backbone of Soviet Communism. The final bell of freedom to the Eastern block was rung perhaps with the famous challenge by Ronald Regan, president of the United States, at the Brandenburg Gate near the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987, when he challenged Mikhail Gorbachev, the then president of the Soviet Union, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. For his part, Mikhail Gorbachev worked earnestly to democratize his country’s political system and decentralize its economy, which paved the way for the downfall of Soviet communism. He was duly recognized for his effort with the Nobel Prize for peace in 1990.⁹ However, things have changed. During the last decade, world political events prove that Russia is reorganizing to regain the superpower status once again, exerting influence in eastern Europe, Middle East, and elsewhere by their tactics, perhaps putting together the final scenes of the act in preparation for the battle of Armageddon in fulfillment of the prophecy. The recent threat by Russia of nuclear capability to destroy any nation must be taken seriously (Rev. 16:16, 19:17–21), and in my view, it is a trumpet call for the opposing forces of Lord Jesus Christ to March to the valley of Megiddo.¹⁰

The Lesson from Arab Spring

Arab Spring did not bring any streams in the desert for the life of millions in those nations, rather most uprising was a political earthquake, the tremors of which are still shattering the regions. The Atlantic reported ten most significant world events of 2016 in its December 28, 2016, global edition.¹¹ The report includes the revolt in Aleppo, Syria, against a dictatorial regime, which if successful would have been the true materialization of the Arab Spring for establishing democratic principles. However, by barbaric and savage tactics, including use of chemical weapons of mustard gas, neurotoxins such as sarin gas, and the intervention of foreign countries that do not embrace true democracy, and by the silence and inaction of regional leaders and the champions of Western democracies, Syria has become a world crisis, perhaps setting the stage for the apocalyptic Armageddon. Thus, the world is in turmoil most everywhere whether by terrorists, people fighting for freedom and liberty, starvation and death, thirsting for justice, or by any nation that feels it can trash the minority because they have the power to do whatever manipulations they can make. Tranquility and peace is nowhere to find. The hope of peace and clandestine plans for democratic reforms in Islamic nations are fading fast.

Political pundits have compared the Arab Spring and Middle East turmoil with the fall of the Soviet and Eastern European communism, making predictions and perhaps suggesting foreign policy changes by United States, hoping that these nations are looking forward to true democratic freedom. The world had a sigh of relief after the death of Hitler who committed the most heinous crime against humanity, and we hoped to see the horizon of peace and tranquility. Ironically, destabilization resulting from despotic actions destroy peace and stability in many regions from Eastern Europe to Middle East to Africa due to violence, extremism, refugee crisis, hunger, hatred, and nationalism from places of savagery to even