The circumcision of the heart is not confined to the Old Covenant but is carried over to the New Covenant thus testifying to the unchanging nature of our God. (Mal. 3:6) Land restoration could just as easily be carried over into the New Covenant as well as proof of God's faithfulness. (Heb. 10:23)
According the book of Deuteronomy, first would come the blessings, then the curses, followed by land restoration, and finally, circumcision of the heart.
Deuteronomy 30:1-6 “When all these things come upon you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you call them to mind in all the nations to which the LORD your God has banished you, and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey His voice with all your heart and all your soul according to everything I am giving you today, then He will restore you from captivity
a and have compassion on you and gather you from all the nations to which the LORD your God has scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the ends of the earth, He will gather you and return you from there. And the LORD your God will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply more than your fathers. The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live
The blessings were poured out:
1 kings 8:56 “Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel according to all that He promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises He made through His servant Moses.
The curses were poured out:
Daniel 9:13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquities and giving attention to Your truth.
Israel was restored following the Babylonian exile:
Jeremiah 29:10-14 “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
Psalm 85:1 LORD, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
Heart were circumcised following Christ.
Colossians 2:11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
Romans 2:29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
So we see that while land restoration was fulfilled under the old covenant, circumcision of the heart was not. From the NT we know circumcision of the heart to be fulfilled under the new covenant as performed by the Spirit.
OT scripture declares land restoration fulfilled following the babylonian exile (curses poured out). However, unlike circumcision of the heart, NT scripture makes no mention of land restoration, so what gives us the support to say it was carried over? Because there's no mention of its cancellation? that would be known as an argument from ignorance, which is always fallacy in informal logic.
Except for those laws carried over.
I would argue the laws that carried over into the new covenant were to love God and love thy neighbor. This is evidenced in the NT scripture
James 2:8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
Romans 13:9-10 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Galatians 5:13-14 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Doing the works of these laws do not justify us before God nor do they grant us salvation, for God does not need our works, but they do justify our faith before others.
But because they are not the agreement there are still laws and promises carried over from one covenant to another.
NT scripture tells us what laws "carry" over into the new covenant agreement. We know we are not under the 613 commands of moses as Christ fulfilled those righteous standards in us (romans 8:4). Thus we are now free to love God and love our neighbor (galatians 5:13-14).
The NT scripture also tells us what the better promises of the new covenant are.
Forgiveness of sins (matthew 26:28)
Eternal life (John 3:16)
Kingdom inheritance (matthew 25:34)
Fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22)
Co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17)
Where does the NT mention land restoration as part of the new covenant?
But there are other things foretold Cithat have not yet come to pass and must come to pass in order for all things to be fulfilled such as the redemption of our bodies, His return and all things pertaining thereto, the redemption of creation from the curse, the resurrection of the just and then the unjust for judgment, the receiving of eternal rewards and everlasting treasures on the basis of what we have done for the Lord in this life, the elimination of death, the creation of the new Heaven and new earth, and the arrival of the New Jerusalem; all prophecies concerning the fate of this present world and humanity
The fulfillment of all things is not symbolic, but must be literal in order for fulfillments to be declared. That is a rule of prophecy.
I don't deny that these things are literal.
The same law God gave them under the Old Covenant, only under the New Covenant they do not obey the law for salvation or to obtain God's favor, but they obey the law out of love for the Lord and out of gratitude for the grace and mercy bestowed upon them, just as the rest of us who have entered into the New Covenant do, only the greater part of the house of Israel (Judah included) have not yet entered into the New Covenant. That will one day change. (Rom. 11:26)
Only a remnant of natural Israel would be saved (romans 9:27). How is "all of Israel saved"? It is saved by Part of natural Israel being hardened in the 1st century leading to the crucifixion, while the fullness of the nations, of whom some descended from Ephraim, are included with the remnant of Jews in the vessels of mercy.
Even though the fortunes of Jacob were declared restored, Israel still did not obtain the status as a nation and people that it has been foretold that they will for a number of reasons and which is destined to be fulfilled under Christ.
There are other prophecies yet to be fulfilled pertaining to the coming judgments upon the world, the return of Christ, and His coming reign on the earth in which the nation of Israel plays a central role and which requires land restoration to be in effect and since God said that a day would come in which Israel would be restored as a nation, never to be driven out of their land again, (Ezek. 37:25, Am. 9:15) in upholding His faithfulness, (Heb. 10:23) He cannot change His mind for if we are to trust in the greatest of promises, even the least of all promises must meet their fulfillment.
I agree that even though Jacob was declare restored from captivity, that it was not done fully. And what I mean by not done fully is not done spiritually. The old covenant and its law were a picture/shadow that pointed to Christ. The earthly picture/shadow ( the type) was fulfilled with Israel being restored from captivity when they returned from Babylonian exile.
We can see that earthly picture was fulfilled as even the Jews themselves believed they were freed in human terms.
John 8:33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham
and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
But the ultimate fulfillment (the antitype) is found in Christ. For it is Christ who truly frees. Thus I would argue the ultimate fulfillment of Jacob's restoration is found in Christ.
John 8:34-35 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
The old covenant was the type, the new covenant the antitype. The old covenant was an earthly picture, the new covenant is the heavenly truth.
Do you believe being born again means to literally come out of your mother's womb a 2nd time? If you don't, then why do you believe the earthly picture of the old covenant is the reality?
But I never said that there were not passages in the New Testament that gave indication of such.
Debatable indication. If it was explicitly mentioned, it would be much harder to debate. Jesus makes no mention of land restoration nor to the apostles.
Yes but that does not mean it was confined to the Old Covenant.
Sure just show us where the new covenant mentions it then.
The evidence needed would be scriptures declaring land restoration canceled. There is none.
The NT declares the old covenant obsolete (hebrews 8:13), of which land restoration is a part of. That is evidence.
Declaring because the NT does not mention land restoration cancellation that therefore land restoration is still in effect, would be an argument from ignorance, which is always a logical fallacy.
They had to have received their traditions, culture, and customs from somewhere. They had to receive their history from somewhere. If not from the pre-desolation Hebrews, then from where? Genetic evidence has repeatedly shown that Jews retain a bloodline distinct from all other peoples. Where did that bloodline come from if not from the pre-desolation Hebrews? It did not just appear all of a sudden. Even you yourself said you had Jewish DNA. That did not just appear in you or your ancestors out of no where.
If further proof is needed, God is capable of providing it and in time, as He sees fit, it will be.
And despite the judgment that came upon Jerusalem which resulted in the destruction of the Temple, this clearly was not the end as is pointed out in
Matthew 23:39 in which Jesus told the people that after He had pronounced judgment, they would not see Him again until they said "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."
They might have been set aside throughout most of history between the destruction of Jerusalem and their re-establishment as a nation in 1948, but we have entered a time in which they are destined to play a more pivotal role in the events that are destined to transpire but which require that they be regathered to their land.
For starters genetic studies do not,without a doubt, define who is Jewish and who is not. There is not one concrete study out there that has been able to prove who is a Jew and who is not. So DNA cannot really tell us. DNA tests make the best estimated guess. They are not 100%. For example there are 4 haplogroups that are in higher frequencies in European Ashkenazi Jews, but "rarely" found in non Ashkenazi Europeans, and yet only half of European Ashkenazi Jews actually have one of these 4 haplogroups. So what does this tell us? only that you may or may not be Jewish but we don't really know, its just a best guess. So the fact that one of those haplogroups was found in my DNA doesn't 100% prove i have Jewish ancestory, as europeans with no Jewish descent can have it on a rare basis. However, I still could be Jewish as no one knows our family genealogy going back even 200 years.
from 23andme: Can 23andMe identify Jewish ancestry?
Four mitochondrial haplogroups are found at high frequency in people of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry and rarely found in non-Ashkenazi Europeans: N1b, K1a1b1a, K1a9, and K2a2a. Therefore, Europeans carrying one of these haplogroups likely have Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry on their mothers-only line.
However, approximately half of people with Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry do not carry one of these four haplogroups, so having a different haplogroup does not mean you don't have Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry
.
Paternal DNA (y chromosome) tells that 70% of Israeli Jews and 82% of Palestinian Arabs belong to the same gene pools. So, who is to say that Arabs are not Jews as well.
"Our recent study of high-resolution microsatellite haplotypes demonstrated that a substantial portion of Y chromosomes of Jews (70%) and of Palestinian Muslim Arabs (82%) belonged to the same chromosome pool"
source: ebel A, Filon D, Weiss DA, Weale M, Faerman M, Oppenheim A, Thomas MG (December 2000). "High-resolution Y chromosome haplotypes of Israeli and Palestinian Arabs reveal geographic substructure and substantial overlap with haplotypes of Jews".
Human Genetics.
107 (6): 630–41.
Maternal DNA (x chromosome) suggests that 80% of Ashkenazi Jews come from European descent.
"80 percent of Ashkenazi maternal ancestry comes from women indigenous to Europe, and [only] 8 percent from the Near East, with the rest uncertain"
Source:
A substantial prehistoric European ancestry amongst Ashkenazi maternal lineages
So from a genetic standpoint, what does this tell us? Modern day Ashkenazi Jews have a majority patrilineal descent from the near east, but a majority matrilineal descent from europe. In other words, men from the near east married women from europe.
Interestingly enough, modern day Jews defines jewishness by matrilineal descent, despite 80% of Ashkenazi Jews having european descent on the mother's side.
"According to traditional Jewish law (
halacha), Jewishness is passed down through the mother. So, if your mother was Jewish, you are too. This position is held by most members of the Conservative and Orthodox communities. The Reform movement recognizes the
children of one Jewish parent — mother or father — as a Member of the Tribe if the child is raised Jewish.
But why does traditional Jewish law favor matrilineal descent?
Some people say that Judaism goes by matrilineal descent because we always know who a person’s mother is, and we don’t always know who a person’s father is."
From:
Who Is a Jew: Matrilineal Descent | My Jewish Learning
If one can actually trace their genealogical records back to pre-desolation Israel, well then they can actually prove they descend from natural Israel.
Additionally, from a religious standpoint, modern day Israel does not follow the religion of pre-desolation hebrews. They follow from Babylonian Talmud, which came in the years after the destruction the temple. It is a man made religion.
But just as our earthly bodies will be changed into heavenly bodies, even the earthly promised land can be changed so as to be made part of the greater promised land when that day comes for the passing of this present earth and the creation of the new earth to which the Heavenly Jerusalem will descend.
So then the present day land of Israel is in fact not where Israel will dwell forever, as it will be changed at the creation of the new heavens and new earth, correct?