The Promises to Abraham
By Eugene W. Farnsworth
THE promises of God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob run, like a scarlet thread, through the warp and woof of all the Scriptures. Prophets, apostles, and evangelists make constant reference to them. "For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself," said the apostle. Again, when Paul made his defense before Agrippa, he said, "Now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers." And so, in numerous places, in both the Old and the New Testament, frequent reference is made to these promises. A study of them will be profitable to all. - That God would make the descendants of Abraham a great nation.
- He would make Abraham's name great.
- In Abraham all the families of the earth should be blessed.
These promises are repeated, with variations and additions, several times. And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Gen. 13:14-17. In this citation of the promise Abraham is commanded to look toward the four points of compass, and all the land was promised to him and to his seed "forever." It will be noticed that the promise is to Abraham as well as to his seed. Both were to possess the land forever; in other words it was to be theirs "for an everlasting possession." Gen. 17:8. The promise was confirmed to Isaac as follows: 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 sware 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. 26:3, 4. To Jacob the promise was reiterated in these words: 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. Such are the promises to the fathers of which we so often read. God promised the patriarchs a country in which to live temporarily and eternally. Their temporal dwelling-place was the land of Canaan; and when the Jews inherited that land and dwelt in it, it was by virtue of this promise of God. While the people were yet slaves in Egypt, God told Moses that He would give them the land He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Lord: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by My name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. And I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. . . . And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for an heritage: I am the Lord. Ex. 6:2-4, 8. After long years of waiting and wandering they entered the land of promise; and when it had been divided among the tribes, Joshua testified as follows: And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. Joshua 23:14. And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which He swore to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. 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. There failed not aught of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass. Joshua 21:43-45. So far, then, as the promise related to temporal, earthly things, all was fulfilled. There was no failure. They dwelt in the promised land many years, sometimes in peace and quietude, many times in distress and in bondage to their enemies. Sometimes Israel was a flourishing, powerful nation. At other times its cities were desolate, the land was deserted, and the people became captives and were exiled to strange countries. At last the Messiah was born. They had been looking for the coming King for centuries, but "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." They rejected Him; and, as a result, in a short time their city, with its magnificent temple, the pride of the nation, was in ruins, the people were scattered to all countries, and their land was reduced to desolation. Since that time, as the centuries have rolled by, the Jews have been wanderers in every clime and country. In every city they are found, wandering exiles, a people without a country, and having no home. Their ancient city of peace, to which all their tribes journeyed with great joy, has been for centuries a wailing place for its returning children. What a tragedy the history of the Jewish nation represents! All that God gave Abraham as a temporal, earthly inheritance has been lost. Has the promise failed that they should possess the land forevermore? In the next article the question of who are represented by the seed of Abraham will be considered.