The Promises to Abraham
By Eugene W. Farnsworth
III—The Family Inheritance
GOD not only promised Abraham a great host as his seed, but He also gave him a land in which to dwell. The seed is composed of all who are Christ’s. They become heirs with Him to the promise by virtue of the new birth. “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Gal. 3:29. What land did God promise His people? and for how long a time will it be given them? He said to Abraham, “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.” Gen. 13:14, 15. “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” Gen. 17:8. An “everlasting” possession is certainly one that has no end. It surely is true that the Jews never had the land in that sense. If they ever possessed the promised inheritance, it was under the reign of David. At that time they had the land, and no earthly power could dispossess them; and yet, just before David died he offered this prayer: “For we are strangers before Thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.” 1 Chron. 29:15. Such words do not indicate that he had received an “everlasting” inheritance. No, he had not yet taken possession of it. In the Thirty-ninth Psalm this stranger and sojourner, this pilgrim, pours his soul out before the Lord with crying and tears: “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not Thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with Thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.” David recognized the truth that not only he, but all his ancestors, were pilgrims and strangers in the land, sojourners only. The testimony of the writer to the Hebrews coincides with that of David. He says: “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. . . . And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise.” Heb. 11:13, 39. Nothing could be clearer. The people who possessed the land of Canaan, and those who were born there, did not possess it as contemplated in the promise to Abraham. He himself did not possess it; for Stephen, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, declares, “And He gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet He promised that He would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.” Acts 7:5. According to this, Abraham never possessed enough of the land to set his foot on, in the sense in which God gave it to him, yet it was promised to him and to his seed. But the promise has not failed. “Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:8, 9. The promise still holds. It is the long-suffering of God that delays its fulfilment, but it will surely come. Paul speaks of this promise in these words: “For the promise, that he [Abraham] should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Rom. 4:13. Such declarations make it very clear that God promised to Abraham and his seed, Christ and all who are Christ’s, the whole earth for an everlasting possession, an eternal inheritance; and so we read, “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all.” Rom. 4:16. Of Christ it is said, “He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham.” Heb. 2:16. And so all who, by faith, put on Christ, become also the seed of Abraham, and heirs of the promised inheritance. They become members of the family by adoption, and share with Christ the possession of the whole earth. Great importance is attached to the question as to whether we have made good the title to our share in this possession. There is no question as to its value, for it surpasses all the estates owned by the great men of this world. Those counted worthy of ownership when Abraham and his seed divide the land, will sing a new song, saying, “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” Rev. 5:9, 10. In the next article consideration will be given to the condition of the earth when it is given to the righteous.