Your ShelfYour Projects

The Sabbath-School

3%

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · May 7, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 18.

Read the full edition

The Sabbath-School.

LESSON FOR THE PACIFIC COAST—MAY 30.

Inheritance of the Saints.

(Continued.)

PROMISES RENEWED TO ISAAC AND JACOB.

1. To whom besides Abraham was the inheritance of the earth promised?
"For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever." Gen. 13:15.
2. From which one of his sons was his seed to be reckoned?
"And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him." Gen. 17:19.
"And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called." Gen. 21:12.
3. Where do we find the promise to Abraham explicitly renewed to Isaac?
"And there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swore unto Abraham thy father; and I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Gen. 26:1-4.
4. How do you know that Isaac alone was not the "seed" referred to in the promise to Abraham?
"And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Gen. 26:4. The promise, when renewed to Isaac, included also his seed.
5. Upon what condition was the promise to Abraham based?
"Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." Gen. 26:5.
6. Since the same promise was made to Isaac, must it not also have been on the same conditions? It certainly must.
7. Where do we find this promise again repeated?
"And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Gen. 28:13, 14.
8. On what occasion and to whom were these words spoken? See Gen. 28:10-17.
9. Who besides Jacob was at this time included in the promise? Gen. 28:13, 14. See quotation above.
10. Where are Isaac and Jacob expressly called the heirs of the promise made to Abraham?
"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise." Heb. 11:8, 9.
11. Did they, then, receive the promise?
"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." Heb. 11:13.
12. From this last verse, what would you conclude as to their understanding of the nature of the promise? We must conclude that they did not expect the promise to be fulfilled to them in their life-time, because they "died in faith." When they died they were just as certain of receiving the promise as they were when it was first made.
13. Quote the texts already learned, which prove that these promises will yet be literally fulfilled to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Pet. 3:9.
"For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." 2 Cor. 1:20.