Whose Land is It? The Final Battle: National Restoration-Joel 3

Former professor of Bible exposition at THE MASTER'S SEMINARY, Keith Essex, writes exegetically and convincingly of the paramount importance of THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT, both to OT prophecy and NT fulfillment. "All admit the importance of the Abrahamic Covenant in understanding biblical revelation, but not all agree on its interpretation. Genesis 12 is a pivotal statement of the covenant because it contains God's first recorded speech to Abraham. There God promises to make Abraham a great nation, to bless him, and to make his name great. Genesis 15 makes clear that the LORD took upon Himself alone the responsibility for fulfilling the covenant. Genesis 17 adds the revelation that the covenant would be everlasting. Genesis 18 & 22 restate terms of the covenant in connection with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the offering of Abraham's son Isaac. Exodus through Deuteronomy describe the initial outworking of the Abrahamic Covenant. The elements of the covenant are threefold: making Abraham into a great nation, blessing Abraham personally, and blessing all nations in Abraham. The promises of the covenant are unconditional. The rest of the OT repeatedly refers back to God's oath to Abraham in the Torah. The NT does the same by pointing out that Jesus Christ, Abraham's seed, will make possible the final fulfillment of that covenant in the future." +4,000 years ago, Yahweh brought Abram into the land of Canaan & promised it to him and his seed as an everlasting covenant: "On that day, the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, 'To your descendants I have given this land, from the River of Egypt as far as the great River, the River Euphrates." (Gen 15:18; cf. 13:15, 17; 17:17-18). When the LORD was making His covenant with Israel, He promised He would "bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you lightly." (Gen 12:3). In Joel 3, the LORD describes that battle of Armageddon and outlines the consequences for the 2 sides--those who bless His chosen people and those who hate them. Join us as we wrap up our study of Joel with "Whose Land is It? The Final Battle" (Joel 3:1-21).