The Promise Made to Abraham

AS proof of a future inheritance of the saints on the earth, we will notice the promise the Lord made to Abraham. St. Paul speaks of this promise as one of the firm assurances of future hope; and, because it was confirmed to Abraham by the oath of God, we may derive strong consolation from it, as it rests on "two immutable things." The two immutables being the word of God, and the oath of God.

Those who say we have nothing to do with the teachings of the Old Testament, and that our instruction in divine things is to be received from the New Testament only, may think it strange that we should go so far back as to Abraham for proof on so important a question as the future inheritance of the saints. Why not go there? St. Paul says that God "preached before the gospel unto Abraham." If the gospel was preached to him and if we wish to grasp gospel truth in its entirety, it may be profitable for us to peruse those gospel instructions delivered to him.

In making the promise, "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 for ever." Gen. 13:14, 15.

The Lord made also a covenant with Abraham concerning the land of promise, and when about to confirm that covenant he said to him, "Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age." Gen. 15:13-15.

That these promises did not relate to anything Abraham was to receive in his lifetime is evident from the words of Stephen. When speaking of the sojourn of Abraham in the land of Canaan, he says that the Lord "gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on." Act. 7:5.

It could not be simply a temporary possession of the land promised Abraham for the Lord told him he should have it "forever," and "for an everlasting possession." Admitting that the terms forever and everlasting are sometimes used in a limited sense, we cannot so regard them in this case. The everlasting is not limited by Abraham's life-time; it is the possession that is to be everlasting. Had he received it in his lift-time we should find him still on the land, for the land still exists. St. Paul says, "God called him to go out into a place which he should AFTER receive for an inheritance." Heb. 11:8.

Of the covenant the Lord made with Abraham we read, "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee." Gen. 17:1-2. This charge given to Abraham, as we learn by the marginal reading of the text, was to "be upright, or sincere." Uprightness and sincerity can only be developed by those who, by the grace of God working in them, yield obedience to his perfect law. That being the case the conditions of receiving the inheritance is obedience to the law of God. The blessing of the covenant is stated in verse 8, "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."

The promise made to Abraham was renewed to Isaac. The Lord said to him, "Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee. . . . and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." Gen. 26:3-5.

This promise to Abraham and Isaac was confirmed to Jacob, while sleeping at Bethel with a stone for his pillow. He had a dream of a ladder extending from earth to heaven, with angels of God ascending and descending upon it, "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." Gen 28:13.

We now inquire concerning this Abrahamic promise, was it, as some assert, all accomplished when the children of Israel went into the land of Canaan? Was this simply a promise that Abraham should have a temporal possession of the land? If so, the promise failed; for he died "in a good old age," and the Lord "gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on." We shall not admit that he did not receive it in his lifetime because God failed, on his part, to fulfill his promise; but, the promise made to him of a possession will yet be accomplished, and fully realized, in a future possession of the earth. St. Paul says that Abraham sojourned in the land of promise as in a "strange country." It is vain for men to seek for the final accomplishment of these promises in the past, either to Abraham or his posterity. Simply a temporary possession of the land of Canaan does not meet the case; for St. Paul says that the promise to Abraham, was that "he should be heir of the world."

We may gain clearer light on the nature of the Abrahamic promise by a perusal of St. Paul's comment upon it. He says, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." Gal. 3:16. If the seed to whom the promise was made is Christ, then the promise could not be fulfilled prior to the coming of that seed, consequently, not prior to the first advent of Christ. So we see there is no just ground for the claim that the promise to Abraham was all fulfilled when the children of Israel sojourned in the land of Canaan. What God predicted concerning their sojourn was fulfilled to that extent, that "there failed not aught of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel." But were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with them when they went in to possess the land? No. "They carried up Joseph's bones." Here then were four generations, at least, that did not receive the land while alive, and yet the Lord said to Abraham, "I will give it [the land] to thee." To Isaac, he said, "For unto thee I will give all these countries." To Jacob, he said, "The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it." If we give due weight to these words, we must conclude that when these promises are fulfilled, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be there personally, with the rest of God's people, to possess the land.

Although Christ is the seed to whom the promise was made, to the church of God has been granted the privilege of joint heirship with Christ. St. Paul says, "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Gal. 3:29. Christ's children could not be said to be heirs of a promise if that promise were already fulfilled. Jews, after the flesh, are not heirs of the final inheritance in Christ simply because they are descendants of Abraham; but, as expressed by St. Paul, "So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." Gal. 3:9.

In his epistle to the Hebrews, St. Paul has an interesting testimony concerning Abraham. He says, "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: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Heb. 11:8-10. This testimony shows that when Abraham was in the land he did not receive his inheritance, for he was then only an heir, and he was a stranger in a land he should after receive. Again, when he does receive the final accomplishment of the promise, he will receive a city with foundations "whose builder and maker is God." This city seems to so fully accord with the one described in the book of Revelation that one would conclude it was the new earth with the New Jerusalem upon it, that Abraham expected finally to receive.

The apostle bears a further testimony concerning these ancient worthies: "Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. 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. 11:12, 13. This language can only be understood in one of two ways, either these worthies died and God never made any promise to them, or else, being heirs to certain promises, they died without receiving the fulfillment of them. The latter is the obvious meaning of the text. The objector may say, "This means they died without seeing the Saviour; the promise is respecting him." True, the promise is respecting the Saviour; he is the true seed, but in him we are promised an inheritance; with him we are to be joint-heirs to the land of promise. He is the true heir, we the joint-heirs. The possession will not be given until he comes. Then he is represented as saying to his people, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

In this eleventh chapter of Hebrews St. Paul mentions a number of worthies, and says time would fail to tell of them and the works they accomplished through faith. In conclusion he says, "And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." Heb. 11:39-40. Did God fail to fulfill his promise because he had concluded to do better for his people than he promised Abraham? We do not so understand the text. The "better thing" is not a better inheritance but something better than that these ancient worthies should receive the promise in their day, and others be receiving it all the way along. The Lord has provided a better plan, which is that this promise be realized when all those whom St. Paul styles us, shall have been gathered into that perfect state, as a grand result of gospel work in this world. Had this promise been realized by the ancient worthies, they would have been made perfect without us. It is to be accomplished when our perfection shall come, which will be when "we shall know as we are known," when faith is lost in sight.

The apostle states concerning this Abrahamic promise, "For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;" Heb. 6:13-19. Would St. Paul claim that the Christian's hope was sure because God confirmed the promise with an oath unto Abraham, if that promise had no reference to the future, but had all been fulfilled in the past? Certainly not.

When this apostle was making his address before Agrippa he made reference to the Abrahamic promise, in these words: "And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?" Acts 26:6-8. He is willing to be judged for his ope relative to the promise to the fathers. He saw that the people would inquire how Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob could receive this promise if they were dead; so he inquires why they should think the resurrection incredible. It would be strange indeed if St. Paul should submit himself to be judged in a Roman court, liable to be condemned to death, because of a hope inspired by a promise that was all fulfilled. It is evident from this text that the apostle designed to teach that the fulfillment of this promise is beyond the resurrection. The evidence is most conclusive that the Abrahamic promise reaches to the new earth state.