Question: Hank Hanegraaff states that “All the promises to Israel have already been fulfilled ...

Question: Hank Hanegraaff states that “All the promises to Israel have already been fulfilled according to Joshua:21:43-45 [43] And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. [44] And the LORD 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; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. [45] There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.
See All....” Is that correct?

Answer: Absolutely not. Even a superficial reading of the passage, along with minimal biblical knowledge and a little common sense, reveals the fallacy of this claim by so many who believe that the church has replaced Israel! Joshua:21:43-45 [43] And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. [44] And the LORD 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; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. [45] There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.
See All... simply declares that all of God’s promises to Israel about giving her the land of Canaan had been fulfilled. But there are hundreds of other promises to Israel contained in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, et al., which were not even given until centuries after Joshua and, therefore, could not possibly have been fulfilled in Israel’s initial conquest of Canaan. Moreover, there were many other promises from God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob long before Joshua, which were not and could not have been fulfilled in Joshua’s day.

Consider God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, “In thee [and in thy seed] shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gn 12:3; 26:4; 28:14),referring to the Messiah, who came more than 1,000 years after Joshua. And what of the promises of Messiah’s coming to redeem Israel and all mankind given to Israel by her prophets centuries after Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land? Surely their fulfillment was yet future in Joshua’s day. Indeed, the promise of redemption through the Messiah has not yet been completely fulfilled even today, as the gospel is still going out around the world.

God gave the land of Canaan to Abraham and to his seed “for ever” (Gn 13:15) by “an everlasting covenant” (Gn 17:7, 19; 1 Chr:16:17And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant,
See All..., etc.)for “an everlasting possession” (Gn 17:8)—and, by their very nature, it will take eternity to fulfill those promises. These (and many others) were promises for Israel and could never apply to the church, yet that is the claim of those who, like Hank, teach that God is finished with Israel and that the Great Tribulation occurred under Nero.

Hundreds of other promises were given to Israel centuries after Joshua’s day and thus could not have been fulfilled at that time: “the time of Jacob’s trouble… he shall be saved out of it” (Jer:30:7Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.
See All...); two thirds of all Jews will be killed (Zec:13:8And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
See All...,9)—this, the worst tribulation that Israel and the world will ever have seen, must be “shortened [or] there should no flesh be saved” (Mt 24:21,22). Moreover, God promised Israel and David that his throne would be established “for ever” (2 Sm 7:12-16)in Jerusalem, which, though destroyed (Dn 9:26; Mt 24:2; Lk 21:6, etc.), would be restored (Jer:31:38-40 [38] Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner. [39] And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath. [40] And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.
See All...; Ezk 37:26-28; Zec:14:11-16 [11] And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. [12] And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. [13] And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. [14] And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. [15] And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. [16] And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
See All..., etc.)—clearly not fulfilled in Joshua’s day, when Jerusalem didn’t yet belong to Israel.

None of the many promises God made long after Joshua died regarding Jerusalem could have been fulfilled at the time of Joshua:21:43-45 [43] And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. [44] And the LORD 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; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. [45] There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.
See All.... Jerusalem became the subject of numerous promises to Israel, which are still being fulfilled: “the city of God…God is in the midst of her” (Ps:46:4-5 [4] There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. [5] God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
See All...); “the joy of the whole earth…the city of the Lord of hosts…God will establish it forever” (Ps:48:1-8 [1] (A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah.) Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. [2] Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. [3] God is known in her palaces for a refuge. [4] For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together. [5] They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away. [6] Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail. [7] Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind. [8] As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah.
See All..., etc.), “trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Lk 21:24). And what of the many prophecies that Israel would be scattered among all nations (Dt 28:64; Neh:1:8Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
See All...; Am 9:9, etc.), preserved and brought back (Dt 30:3, etc.), and that “all Israel shall be saved” (Rom:11:26And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
See All...)? Clearly, none of these had come to pass at the time Hank says all promises were fulfilled. Many promises are still future and could not possibly apply to the church but only to Israel.

And what of Jerusalem being made a “cup of trembling unto all the people round about when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem” and “a burdensome stone for all people” (Zec:12:2Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
See All...,3)? And what of God making the governors of Judah like “a torch of fire in a sheaf [to] devour all the people round about” (12:6)and God bringing “all nations against Jerusalem to battle” (14:2), the Messiah returning to rescue Israel (12:9,10), every Jew being supernaturally brought back to Israel with not one left among the nations (Ezk 39:28; Mt 24:30,31)? And what of Christ establishing His rule over the earth on David’s throne, with Israel being fully restored to sinless fellowship with Him and to her land with endless peace (Is 2:1-5; 9:6-7; Ezk 34:11-16, 23,24; 36:8-12, 15, Zec:14:9-21 [9] And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. [10] All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses. [11] And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. [12] And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. [13] And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. [14] And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. [15] And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. [16] And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. [17] And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. [18] And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. [19] This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. [20] In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. [21] Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.
See All...)? These were all fulfilled at Joshua:21:43-45 [43] And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. [44] And the LORD 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; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. [45] There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.
See All...? Hardly!

The astonishing claim that all of God’s promises to Israel had already been fulfilled in Joshua’s day reveals the depths of the delusion that grips those who insist that Israel no longer has any significance in God’s purposes.