Tim Thornton Bible student, unprofitable servant

The land promise made to Abraham had a physical and a spiritual element.

The physical had to do with his physical descendants and geography in the Middle East. The spiritual had to do with his spiritual descendants and the new heavens and the new earth that will be established when Jesus returns.

As to the physical, the promise of the land has been fulfilled.
Josh. 21:43,45 So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it...... 45 Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.
Neh 9:7-8 You are the Lord God, Who chose Abram.... 8 …..... To give him the land of the Canaanite, Of the Hittite and the Amorite, Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite—To give it to his descendants. And You have fulfilled Your promise. For You are righteous.

So according to the absolute authority of Gods Word, God has fulfilled His promise concerning the physical land, but this is not the end of the story.

The Bible is its own interpreter. The physical descendants of Abraham are no longer the people of God.

Rom.2:28-29 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter........
Rom.9:6-7 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but,.......

National Israel had been told that they would be rejected by God and be called "not My people"
Hosea 1:9-10 Then God said: “ Call his name Lo- Ammi, For you are not My people, And I will not be your God. 10.......‘You are not My people, ’There it shall be said to them,‘ You are sons of the living God. 

Who are the children of Israel? One group of people consisting of Jews and Gentiles who can be identified as "not my people" but are now called the children of God.
Rom.9:24-26 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people,
And her beloved, who was not beloved.” 26 “ And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘ You are not My people, ’There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

This group called "My people" consisting of Jews and Gentiles are identified as the sons of Abraham.
Gal. 3:7 Therefore, know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.

All of these share in the same hope that Abraham had.
Rom. 4: 13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world.....

So the real hope that Abraham had was not to be found in this present age on a sin cursed earth; he looked beyond this present world to a new world.
Heb. 11:9,10 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Heb. 11:13-16 "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them".

The homeland that these looked forward to is the hope of every true believer; it is the true land of promise that will be the inheritance of the true children of Abraham the Israel of God!

Gal. 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them.

December 30 2013 • 3 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Shirley H. prayer warrior

The physical land given to Abraham and his descendants is outlined in Genesis 15:18-21. Basically the whole of what we consider today to be the middle east. It is much more that what is considered Israel now. Israel, Syria, Iraq, part of Iran, part of Turkey....that whole area.

June 26 2015 • 2 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report