Acts 7:5
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. 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.
This verse stands in Stephen's defense before the council in answer to the charge of blasphemy, where he rehearses the history of God's chosen people from Abraham down through generation to generation to Solomon from the national records, showing thorough knowledge of the Jewish economy and its spiritual interpretation now made manifest through Christ and taking up the most impressive points to vindicate his cause in a clear, thrilling voice that holds the assembly spell-bound. It declares that God gave Abraham no inheritance in Canaan during his lifetime, not even enough ground to stand on or to set his foot on. His only landholding was a purchased burial cave. Yet God promised to give the land to Abraham as a possession and to his seed and descendants after him, when Abraham had no child, so the promise preceded both possession of the land and the birth of an heir.
Abraham trusted God's promise and his faith claimed the land of promise though he owned none of it, and God commended that faith. The promise was not finally fulfilled by Israel's occupation of Canaan, for it included the whole earth to be inherited by Abraham and his seed through Christ as an everlasting, renewed inheritance.
Stephen used Old Testament history and the testimony of Moses and the prophets to give inspired proof of Christ's identity and mission, presenting the crucified Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah, including his mission, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension, and Paul used the same prophetic evidence to argue for Jesus' identity. He showed that it was the voice of Christ speaking through the prophets and patriarchs from the days of Adam to that time, and that Christ is the key unlocking the Old Testament and giving access to its riches, so that the passover cannot be explained without Christ and all religious services and ceremonies are valueless if the Saviour revealed in them is rejected, correcting the expectation of a conquering Messiah with prophecy of a Saviour coming in humility and poverty to be rejected, despised and slain.