Israel not Palestine

"Plate V Palestine in the time of Jesus." (back map, Holy Bible, Holman Bible Publishers, 1983) Below is a cut-a-way of a Bible map showing this error.

"From the time of the Greek historian Herodotus the term 'Palestine' (derived from the word for Philistine) designated the western tip of the fertile crescent, namely, the area on both sides of the Jordan river, limited on the north by the Litani river and Mount Hermon, on the east by the Syrian desert, and on the south by the Negeb desert, and on the west by the Mediterranean Sea." (Oxford Companion to the Bible, Metzger, 1993)

"The term "Palestine' originally applied to the territory of Israel's foes, the Philistines, was first used by Herodotus as a designation of S Syria. In the form of Palaestina, it was also used by the Romans. The older term "Canaan' has a similar history." (New Bible Dictionary)

If you look in the back of your Bible on the map you'll see the word "Palestine" substituted for Israel. Satan has played a very nasty trick—convincing almost everyone that the land of Israel should be called Palestine. The below quote sums up this point nicely.

"…it became the usual appellation for the whole country of the Jews, both west and east of Jordan. The word is now so commonly employed in our more familiar language to destinate the whole country of Israel that although biblically a misnomer, it has been chosen here as the most convenient heading under which to give a general description of THE HOLY LAND." (Smith's Dictionary)

Brothers and sisters, God wishes for you to understand that the land now called Palestine is not to be called that at all! God never called or recognized that distinction for the land He gave to the seed of Abraham. The first time we read of the name Israel is in Genesis 32:28.

"And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed."

The word Israel (pronounced yis-raw-ale) means "God prevails" God says,

"And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard [it]: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter; which thing ought not to be done." (Genesis 34:7)

"And God said unto him, Thy name [is] Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I [am] God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land." (Genesis 35:10-12)

"Cursed [be] their anger, for [it was] fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." (Genesis 49:7)

"The Horims also dwelt in Seir beforetime; but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which the LORD gave unto them." (Deuteronomy 2:12)

"Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey." (Deuteronomy 26:15)

"So Benhadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abelbethmaachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali." (1 Kings 15:20)

"And when the Philistines heard that David was anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David. And David heard [of it], and went out against them. And the Philistines came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. And David enquired of God, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines? and wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto him, Go up; for I will deliver them into thine hand. So they came up to Baalperazim; and David smote them there. Then David said, God hath broken in upon mine enemies by mine hand like the breaking forth of waters: therefore they called the name of that place Baalperazim." (1 Chronicles 14:8-11)

"In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, [even] a blessing in the midst of the land:" (Isaiah 19:24)

"If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, [then] the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever." (Jeremiah 31:36)

"This [city] shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; [but] I will judge you in the border of Israel." (Ezekiel 11:11)

"Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel." (Ezekiel 11:17)

"And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, [and] of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein." (Ezekiel 12:19)

"Son of man, what [is] that proverb [that] ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?" (Ezekiel 12:22)

"What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?" (Ezekiel 18:2)

"And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel." (Ezekiel 19:9)

"And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD." (Ezekiel 20:38)

"And ye shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country [for] the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers." (Ezekiel 20:42)

"Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop [thy word] toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel, And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I [am] against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked." (Ezekiel 21:2,3)

"And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity…For thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast clapped [thine] hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel." (Ezekiel 25:3,6)

"Judah, and the land of Israel, they [were] thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm." (Ezekiel 27:17)

"Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we [are] many; the land is given us for inheritance." (Ezekiel 33:24)

"For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through." (Ezekiel 33:28)

"And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel [by] Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And [this is] the east side." (Ezekiel 47:18)

See also Ezekiel 33:24; 34:13,24; 35:12; 36:1,4,6,8,17; 37:12,22; 38:8,18,19; 39:2,4,9,17, 40:2; 44:28; 45:8.

"And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel." (Malachi 1:5)

God moving the Apostle Matthew confirms the proper designation for God's land.

"Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel." (Matthew 2:20,21)

Finally, our Master the Lord Jesus Christ affirms this designation in Matthew 10:23.

"But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel , till the Son of man be come."

The question is, who are you going to believe God and Jesus? Or your commentaries, Bible dictionaries, and Bible maps? Blessed saints, as a fellow laborer in the Kingdom of God I'm telling you, on the authority of God's Word, never to call the land of Israel Palestine ever again!

Don't be fooled by the media, or the backwards publishers that have no knowledge of God or His Word. Don't let the political area sway you into believing the heathen Philistines (really known today as Palestinians) are the owners of that land! It's not Palestine, and it was not given to Ishmael. It rightfully belongs to the descendants of Abraham where ever they are. Beloved, the next time you hear someone call Israel Palestine tell them they're wrong, and show them God's Word on it.

Amen?

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