THE
land promised in the Bible is a real and substantial part of
this earth, a place for living men and women; and inheritance
in it belongs to the future. It has no connection with the cloudy
region sometimes referred to in hymns which speak of the dead
as "safe in
the Promised Land". It has none-the-less a very close connection
with the hope of future life, as a later leaflet in this series
will show more fully.
1. The
promised land is the land that was Promised.
This very
obvious statement emphasizes that the words of Scripture mean
what they say, and opens the way for asking to whom the promises
were made and what was promised.
2. The
promises were made to Abrham and his seed.
"Now
to Abraham and his seed were the promises made" (Gal.
3:16).
3. The
land Promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for an everlasting
possession was the land of Palestine and adjoining territories.
"And
the Lord said unto Abram ... 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). "I will give to thee (Abraham) and to thy
seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all
the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession" (Gen.
17:8). "Unto thee (Isaac) and unto thy seed will I
give all these countries" (Gen. 26:3). "The land
whereon thou (Jacob) liest, to thee will I give it, and
to thy seed" (Gen. 28:13). "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).
4. The
seed associated with Abraham in the Promise of the land
was Christ and all who are adopted into him and covered
by his name.
"He
saith not, And to seeds, as of many: but as of one, And
to thy seed, WHICH IS CHRIST. . . For as many of you as
have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ ... and
if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs
according to the promise" (Gal. 3:16-17, 27, 29).
5. The
Promise was not fulfilled in the lifetime of Abraham, Isaac
or Jacob.
"These
all died in faith, not having received the promises, but
having SEEN THEM AFAR OFF" (Heb. 11:13). "God
gave Abraham none inheritance in the land, no, not so much
as to set his foot on" (Acts 7:5). "I (Abraham)
am a stranger and a sojourner with you; give me a possession
of a burying place" (Gen. 23:4).
6. The
occupation of the land by the descendants of Abraham under
the law of Moses was not a fulfilment of the promise made
concerning Abraham and Christ.
"The
promise that he (Abraham) should be THE HEIR OF THE WORLD
was not to Abraham or his seed through the law, but through
the righteousness of faith" (Rom. 4 :13-14). "If
the inheritance be of the law it is no more of promise;
but God gave it to Abraham by promise" (Gal. 3:18).
7. The
fulfilment of the Promises made to the fathers is spoken
of in the Scriptures as future.
"Thou
wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham,
which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of
old" (Micah 7:20). "To perform the mercy promised
to our fathers ... the oath which he sware to our father
Abraham" (Luke 1:72, 73). "My covenant with Abraham
will I remember; and I WILL REMEMBER THE LAND" (Lev.
26:42). "Jesus Christ was a minister ... to confirm
the promises made unto the fathers" (Rom. 15:8).
8. The
fathers to whom the Promises were made have a prominent
place in the pictures which the Bible gives of the Kingdom
of God, and the Holy Land is shown to be the solid basis
of the hope for the future.
"Ye
shall see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets,
in the Kingdom of God" (Luke 13:28, 29). "The
Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion". "The
kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem (Micah 4:7,
8). "The Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and
in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously" (Isa.
24:23). "At that time they shall call Jerusalem the
throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered
unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither
shall they walk any more after the imagination of their
evil heart" (Jer. 3:17). "The Lord delighteth
in thee, and thy land shall be married" (Isa. 62:4). "They
shall build the old wastes ... they shall repair the waste
cities, the desolations of many generations" (Isa.
61:4). "He shall swallow up death in victory ... In
that day shall this song be sung IN THE LAND OF JUDAH" (Isa.
25:8; 26:1).
NEXT:
12. What Is A Heavenly Country?
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