1. Read Genesis 15:18-19. When the Abrahamic Covenant was ratified, what were the dimensions of the land promised to the descendants of Abraham?
2. How many years after the Abrahamic Covenant did God make a covenant with the nation of Israel? What does the former Pharisee Paul tell us in
Galatians 3:16-17?
3. Before the covenant with the nation of Israel is made, God makes an offer.
"You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself. Now then,
if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be
to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." (Ex 19:4-6, NASB)
What does a kingdom and nation require?
4. By 586 B.C., Jerusalem is sacked and the Temple is destroyed. The Southern Kingdom of Judah no longer exists, and all but the poorest of Jews have been
deported and scattered about the Neo-Babylonian empire.
Then the Lord said to me, "A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have
turned back to the wrongdoings of their ancestors who refused to hear My words, and they have followed other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the
house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers." (Jer 11:9-10, NASB)
You shall say to the rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, "This is what the Lord God says: 'Enough of all your abominations,
house of Israel, when you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, My house, when you
offered My food, the fat, and the blood and they broke My covenant—this in addition to all your abominations. And you have not taken responsibility for My
holy things yourselves, but you have appointed foreigners to take responsibility for My sanctuary.'" (Ezek 44:6-8, NASB)
Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesize of the fall of Jerusalem and live to see / experience the Exile and destruction of the Temple.
With the hindsight of history, what is the significance of all this to the nation of Israel?
5. In light of this, how does a descendant of Abraham gain entrance into the Promised Land?