[ref001] Yahweh's Failed Land Promise [ref002] Yahweh's Failed Land Promise Farrell Till I

[ref001]
Yahweh's Failed Land Promise
[ref002]




Yahweh's Failed Land Promise

Farrell Till

   In their desperate efforts to prove that the Bible was verbally
inspired of God, inerrancy believers often point to prophecy fulfillment. 
In my debate with Bill Jackson, he referred to "multiplied dozens of Old
Testament prophetic utterances, fulfilled in minute detail in the New
Testament, and in such a manner that there could be no contrivance at
all,"  (_Jackson-Till_Debate_, p. 3).  As is true of all who use the
prophecy-fulfillment argument, Jackson could only claim "multiplied
dozens" of prophecy fulfillments; he could not cite a single verifiable
example of a fulfilled OT prophecy.

   As I said in the debate, the "prophecy fulfillments" that are
invariably cited in support of this argument never actually "happened
except in the fertile imaginations of a few religious mystics whose
fanciful interpretations of certain events have been swallowed hook, line,
and sinker by gullible people like our Mr. Jackson," (_Jackson-Till
Debate_, p. 17).  When logical analysis is applied to these alleged
instances of prophecy fulfillment, it quickly becomes obvious that there
is no real evidence of fulfillment.  Time would fail me if I tried to
analyze the many alleged prophecy fulfillments that inerrantists have
pointed to, so instead I will concentrate on a failed prophecy that they
never say much about.

   On several occasions prophetic statements were made in the Pentateuch
about the land that Yahweh, the tribal god of the Israelites, had promised
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  These were clearly stated promises that
Yahweh would give the land of the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites,
Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites to the seed of Abraham.  In
[ref003]
Deuteronomy 7:17-24, for example, Yahweh presumably made this emphatic
promise:


     If thou shalt say in thy heart, These nations are more than I; how
can I dispossess them?  Thou shalt not be afraid of them: thou shalt well
remember what Yahweh thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt; the
great trials which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the
mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, whereby Yahweh thy God brought thee
out: so shall Yahweh thy God do unto all the peoples of whom thou art
afraid.  Moreover Yahweh thy God will send the hornet among them, until
they that are left, and hide themselves, perish from before thee.  Thou
shalt not be affrighted at them; for Yahweh thy God is in the midst of
thee, a great God and a terrible.  And Yahweh thy God will cast out those
nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at
once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee. But Yahweh thy God
will deliver them up before thee, and will discomfit them with a great
discomfiture, until they be destroyed.  And he will deliver their kings
unto thy hand, and thou shalt make their name to perish from under heaven:
there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed
them," (ASV with Yahweh substituted for Jehovah).


The substance of this prophecy was repeated in such places as [ref004]Exodus 23:20-33;
[ref005]Deut.
4:33-39, [ref006]Deut.  7:1-2,
and [ref007]Deut. 31:1-8. 
In some of these passages, the names of the "seven nations greater and
mightier than thou" to be driven out of the land were also specified as
they were above: the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, the
Hittites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, and the Perizzites.

  When Joshua assumed the leadership of Israel after the death of Moses,
the land promise was renewed in very specific terms: 


  Now it came to pass after the death of Moses the servant of Yahweh that
Yahweh spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses my
servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all
this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children
of Israel.  _Every_place_that_the_sole_of_your_foot_shall_tread_upon,_to
you_have_I_given_it,_as_I_spake_unto_Moses_.  From the wilderness, and
this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land
of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun,
shall be your border.  _There_shall_not_any_man_be_able_to_stand_before
thee_all_the_days_of_thy_life_; as I was with Moses, so I will be with
thee; I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.  _Be_strong_and_of_good
courage;_for_thou_shalt_cause_this_people_to_inherit_the_land_which_I
sware_unto_their_fathers_to_give_them_, ([ref008]Joshua 1:1-6, ASV, 
Yahweh substituted).


Just before crossing the Jordan, Joshua repeated the promise: 


  And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the
words of Yahweh your God.  And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the
living God is among you, and _that_he_will_without_fail_drive_out_from
before_you_the_Canaanite,_and_the_Hittite,_and_the_Hivite,_and_the
Perizzite,_and_the_Girgashite,_and_the_Amorite,_and_the_Jebusite_. 
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over
before you into the Jordan," ([ref009]Joshua 3:9-11).


To stress the emphatic nature of parts of the land promises that Yahweh
made to Israel, I have underlined certain statements. So when all of the
passages I have quoted and listed are considered, we see that the
prophecies included all of the following:


  _Without_fail_, God would drive out of the land beyond the Jordan
ALL of the people then possessing it.  No man among these people would be
able to stand before the Israelites all the days of their lives.  The
Israelites would drive out the nations possessing the land and utterly
destroy them and the memory of their name under heaven.  They were to make
no covenants with the nations in this land or show mercy to them ([ref010]Deut. 7:2). 
Every place that the sole of their feet would tread upon, God would give
to them.  Their empire would stretch from the Red Sea unto the river
Euphrates and from the great sea (Mediterranean) toward the going down of
the sun.


To circumvent obvious contradictions that result when Yahweh's promises
are compared to biblical history recorded later, inerrantists contend that
the land promises made to the Israelites were conditional on their good
behavior, but there is no support for that dodge in the Bible.  In [ref011]Deuteronomy
9:3-7, another prophetic passage relating to the land promise, specific
notice was taken of the fact that the Israelites of the then present
generation were themselves undeserving of the land but that it would be
given to them for the sake of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob:


  Know therefore this day, that Yahweh thy God is he who goeth over before
thee as a devouring fire; he will destroy them, and he will bring them
down before thee: so shalt thou drive them out, and make them to perish
quickly, as Yahweh hath spoken unto thee. 


_Speak_not_thou_in_thy_heart,_after_that_Yahweh_thy_God_hath_thrust_them
out_from_before_thee,_saying,_For_my_righteousness_Yahweh_hath_brought_me
in_to_possess_this_land_; whereas for the wickedness of these nations
Yahweh doth drive them out from before thee. _Not_for_thy_righteousness,
or_for_the_uprightness_of_thy_heart,_dost_thou_go_in_to_possess_their
land_; but for the wickedness of these nations Yahweh thy God doth
drive them out from before thee, AND THAT HE MAY ESTABLISH THE WORD WHICH
YAHWEH SWARE UNTO THY FATHERS, TO ABRAHAM, TO ISAAC, AND TO JACOB. 
_Know_therefore,_that_Yahweh_thy_God_giveth_thee_not_this_good_land_to
possess_it_for_thy_righteousness;_for_thou_art_a_stiff-necked
people_.

So here is another clear statement.  God was not giving the land to the
Israelites because of their righteousness; in fact, he considered them a
stiff-necked, undeserving people. (See also [ref012]Exodus 33:1-6.) He
was giving the land to them because of the unconditional promise that he
had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Unless he did this, he would have
reneged on a promise made to the patriarchs with no strings attached, ([ref013]Gen. 12:7; 
[ref014]13:14-16).  

The unconditional nature of Yahweh's land promise was restated in
[ref015]Leviticus 
26:42-45: 


  Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob; and also my covenant with
Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will
remember the land.  The land also shall be left by them, and shall enjoy
its sabbaths, while it lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept
of the punishment of their iniquity; because, even because they rejected
mine ordinances, and their soul abhorred my statutes.  _And_yet_for_all
that,_when_they_are_in_the_land_of_their_enemies,_I_will_not_reject_them,
neither_will_I_abhor_them,_to_destroy_them_utterly,_and_to_break_my
covenant_with_them;_for_I_am_Yahweh_their_God;_but_I_will_for_their_sakes
remember_the_covenant_of_their_ancestors,_whom_I_brought_forth_out_of_the
land_of_Egypt_in_the_sight_of_the_nations,_that_I_might_be_their_God:_I_am
Yahweh_.


So time and time again, it was specifically said that the Israelites would
be given the land of Canaan, REGARDLESS OF THEIR OWN CONDUCT, so that
Yahweh could fulfill the promise that he made to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. Inerrantists who deny this are denying biblical statements worded
just as plainly as anything ever said on the subject of creation, the
resurrection, baptism, final judgment, and other important Christian
doctrines. 

As proof that the land promise was dependent on the good behavior of the
Israelites, inerrantists like to cite [ref016]Exodus 23:20-33
where a conditional suggestion was attached to the promise: "But if thou
shalt indeed hearken unto his voice (the angel that was to go before them,
FT) and do all that he speak, then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies
and an adversary unto thine adversaries."  In emphasizing the if in this
verse, they overlook an important point.  If Yahweh said that he would
fulfill the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob regardless of the
wickedness of the generation that went in to possess the land, he could
not turn around later and say that he would make good his promise only if
the people were obedient.  That would put a contradiction into the
scriptures that the inerrantists would have to explain, because the land
promise could not have been both conditional and unconditional at the same
time.  And clearly the passages cited earlier were unconditional in
promising the land to the Israelites.

So after Yahweh had unconditionally promised to the Israelites that they
would be given the land beyond the Jordan, under Joshua's leadership they
went in to possess it, and initially the Bible claims that they succeeded. 
The claim, in fact, was that Joshua thoroughly and completely subdued the
land: 


  So Joshua smote ALL the land, the hill-country, and the South, and the
lowland, and the slopes, and all their kings: he left none remaining,
_but_he_utterly_destroyed_all_that_breathed_, AS YAHWEH, THE GOD OF
ISRAEL, COMMANDED.  And Joshua smote them from Kadesh-barnea even unto
Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon.  And all these
kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, _because_Yahweh,_the
God_of_Israel,_fought_for_Israel_. And Joshua returned, and all Israel
with him, unto the camp to Gilgal, ([ref017]Joshua 10:40-43, 
ASV, Yahweh for Jehovah).


In places, the Bible is almost boringly repetitious, but this writing
characteristic of the "inspired"  spokesmen of God often works to the
advantage of those who seek to debunk the myth that God verbally inspired
the writing of the Bible.  In this case, it makes it easy to establish
that a complete, unqualified fulfillment of the land promises was claimed
by the "inspired" men who wrote the Old Testament.  Consider, for example,
the clearly stated claim of the following passages:


  And Yahweh said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them (the armies
of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Hivites poised for
battle against the Israelites, FT); for tomorrow at this time will I
deliver them up ALL slain before Israel: thou shalt hock their horses, and
burn their chariots with fire.  So Joshua came, and all the people of war
with him, against them by the waters of Merom suddenly, and fell upon
them. And Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Israel, and they smote
them, and chased them unto great Sidon, and unto Misrephothmaim, and unto
the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, _until_they_left
them_none_remaining_.  And Joshua did unto them as Yahweh bade him: he
hocked their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire.  And Joshua
turned back at that time, and took Hazor, and smote the king thereof with
the sword: for Hazor before time was the head of all those kingdoms. 
_And_they_smote_all_the_souls_that_were_therein_with_the_edge_of_the
sword,_utterly_destroying_them;_THERE_WERE_NONE_LEFT_THAT_BREATHED_:
and he burnt Hazor with fire.  And all the cities of those kings, and all
the kings of them, did Joshua take, and he smote them with the edge of the
sword, and utterly destroyed them; as Moses the servant of Yahweh
commanded.  But as for the cities that stood on their mounds, Israel
burned none of them, save Hazor only; that did Joshua burn.  And all the
spoil of these cities, and the cattle, the children of Israel took for a
prey unto themselves; but every man they smote with the edge of the sword,
until they had destroyed them, _neither_left_they_any_that_breathed_. 
As Yahweh commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua: and so
did Joshua; _he_left_nothing_undone_of_all_that_Yahweh_commanded
Moses_, ([ref018]Joshua 11:6-15, 
Yahweh substituted).


  _So_Joshua_took_the_whole_land_, according to all that Yahweh spake
unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to
their divisions by their tribes.  And the land had rest from war, ([ref019]Joshua 11:23, 
Yahweh substituted).

  _So_Yahweh_gave_unto_Israel_ALL_the_land_which_he_sware_to_give_unto
their_fathers_; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.  And Yahweh
gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their
fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them;
Yahweh delivered all their enemies into their hand. THERE FAILED NOT AUGHT
OF ANY GOOD THING WHICH YAHWEH HAD SPOKEN UNTO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL.  ALL
CAME TO PASS,([ref020]Joshua 21:43-45, 
Yahweh substituted).

These statements are fully as clear as [ref021]Mark 16:16 and [ref022]Acts 2:38. 
Yahweh gave unto Israel ALL the land that he swore to give to their
fathers, and the dimensions of that land were clearly laid out in such
passages as [ref023]Exodus 23:20-33
and [ref024]Joshua
1:1-6.  Its borders extended from the Red Sea to the sea of the
Philistines, from the wilderness, to Lebanon, and to the great river
Euphrates.  Furthermore, the fulfillment claims state that the Israelites
left none alive to breathe and that _not_a_man_of_all_their_enemies
stood_before_them_. Who were those enemies?  Time and time again, they
were named in the land prophecies: the Amorites, the Canaanites, the
Girgashites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, and the Perizzites. 
Yet after audaciously claiming in the passages noted above that every
aspect of Yahweh's land promise had been fulfilled, the writer(s) turned
around and brazenly admitted that some parts of the land were not
conquered and some of the peoples in these lands were not driven out:  


  Now Joshua was old and well stricken in years; and Yahweh said unto him,
Thou art old and well stricken in years, _and_there_remaineth_yet_very
much_land_to_be_possessed_.  This is the land that yet remaineth: all
the regions of the Philistines, and all the Geshurites; from the Shihor,
which is before Egypt, even unto the border of Ekron northward, which is
reckoned to the Canaanites; the five lords of the Philistines; the
Gazites, and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the
Ekronites; also the Avvim, on the south; _all_the_land_of_the
Canaanites_, and Mearah that belongeth to the Sidonians, unto Aphek, to
the border of the Amorites; and the land of the Gebalites, and _all
Lebanon_, toward the sunrising, from Baalgad under mount Hermon unto
the entrance of Hamath; all the inhabitants of the hill-country from
Lebanon unto Misrephothmaim, even all the Sidonians; them will I drive out
from before the children of Israel: only allot thou it unto Israel for an
inheritance, as I have commanded thee, ([ref025]Joshua 13:1-6, 
Yahweh substituted).


This statement flatly contradicts the claim in [ref026]Joshua 11:23 that
Joshua "took the whole land, according to all that Yahweh spake unto
Moses" so that the land had rest from war.  All of the territorial regions
singled out in this passage as land that remained to be possessed lay
within the boundaries that were laid out in [ref027]Joshua 1:1-6 to
specify the scope of the land that Yahweh would give to the Israelites. 
So if Joshua had indeed taken "the WHOLE land, according to all that
Yahweh spake unto Moses," as claimed In [ref028]Joshua 11:23, how
could it be said later that "very much land" remained to be possessed? 
Perhaps some of our inerrantist readers can answer this question. They are
good at coming up with far-fetched, how-it- could-have-been scenarios to
"explain" obvious contradictions in the Bible.  

Most of the rest of the book of Joshua and the better part of Judges
contradict all of the fulfillment claims that I have noted above.  [ref029]Joshua
15:63 says, "And as for the JEBUSITES, the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
_the_children_of_Judah_could_not_drive_them_out_; but the Jebusites
dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day."  Yet the
Jebusites were specifically named as one of the seven nations "greater and
mightier than thou" that would be utterly destroyed.  [ref030]Joshua 16:10 
says, "And they drove not out the CANAANITES that dwelt in Gezer; but the
Canaanites dwell in the midst of Ephraim unto this day, and are become
servants to do taskwork."  But the Canaanites were specifically listed as
one of the seven nations that would be utterly destroyed.  [ref031]Joshua 17:12-13
says, "Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of
those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.  And it came to
pass, when the children of Israel were waxed strong, that they put the
Canaanites to taskwork, _and_did_not_utterly_drive_them_out_."  Yet
the promise had clearly been that the Canaanites would be utterly driven
out, that NO MAN would be able to stand before the Israelites all the days
of their lives.  Making servants of them can hardly be considered
fulfillment of a prophecy declaring that they would be "utterly driven
out."  In fact, it contradicts a restriction noted on page three that
expressly prohibited the Israelites from making covenants with the
inhabitants of their promised land.

In [ref032]Joshua
16:10; [ref033]17:12-13;  [ref034]Judges
1:1-5; [ref035]1:9;  [ref036]1:21;  [ref037]1:27-36;  [ref038]3:1-6 and many
other places, references are made to the people that the Israelites could
not drive out of the land, and many of these were specific references to
people from the "seven nations greater and mightier than thou" that Yahweh
promised that he would drive out WITHOUT FAIL.  But he didn't, and so the
inerrancy champions have some serious explaining to do.  IF "Yahweh gave
unto Israel ALL the land which he sware to give unto their fathers"
([ref039]Joshua 
21:43-45) and IF "they possessed it (the land) and dwelt therein" 
(same passage) and IF Yahweh "gave them rest round about, according to ALL
that he sware unto their fathers" (same passage) and IF "there stood not a
man of ALL their enemies before them" (same passage) and IF "Yahweh
delivered all their enemies into their hand" (same passage) and IF "there
failed not AUGHT of any good thing which Yahweh had spoken unto the house
of Israel" (same passage) and IF "_all_ came to pass" (same passage),
how could it have been that some of the enemies of Israel were still in
the land during the time of the book of Judges and how could it have been
that some of the people of the "seven nations greater and mightier than
thou" were still dwelling with the children of Israel "unto this day"? 


Someone has a lot of explaining to do, and it isn't those of us who reject
the inerrancy doctrine.



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[ref001] mailto:jlowder@atheist.tamu.edu
[ref002] http://freethought.tamu.edu/mag/sr/1991/1/1land91.html
[ref003] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Deuteronomy+7:17-24
[ref004] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Exodus+23:20-33
[ref005] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Deuteronomy+4:33-39
[ref006] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Deuteronomy+7:1-2
[ref007] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Deuteronomy+31:1-8
[ref008] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+1:1-6
[ref009] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+3:9-11
[ref010] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Deuteronomy+7:2
[ref011] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Deuteronomy+9:3-7
[ref012] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Exodus+33:1-6
[ref013] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Genesis+12:7
[ref014] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Genesis+13:14-16
[ref015] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Leviticus+26:42-45
[ref016] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Exodus+23:20-33
[ref017] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+10:40-43
[ref018] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+11:6-15
[ref019] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+11:23
[ref020] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+21:43-45
[ref021] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Mark+16:16
[ref022] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Acts+2:38
[ref023] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Exodus+23:20-33
[ref024] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+1:1-6
[ref025] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+13:1-6
[ref026] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+11:23
[ref027] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+1:1-6
[ref028] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+11:23
[ref029] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+15:63
[ref030] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+16:10
[ref031] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+17:12-13
[ref032] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+16:10
[ref033] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+17:12-13
[ref034] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Judges+1:1-5
[ref035] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Judges+1:9
[ref036] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Judges+1:21
[ref037] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Judges+1:27-36
[ref038] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Judges+3:1-6
[ref039] http://www.calvin.edu/cgi-bin/bible?Joshua+21:43-45
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