Why was Abraham promised land that belonged to others?
Genesis 12:1 - 20
ESV - 1 Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
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Asked July 01 2013
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Anonymous (via GotQuestions)
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S. Michael Houdmann
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In Genesis 12:1-3, the Lord says to Abraham, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless...
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Emo Tenorio
Great question for our current age, the short answer would be that everything belongs to the Creator including you and me. Isaiah 44:24 In the vernacular of our age God is like a cosmic landlord leasing out properties to whom He chooses and can pass His credit and reference checks. Scripture makes it clear that all those renters on the land were a very wicked unrepentant abomination to Him, think modern day dismantling of junk vehicles. Who would not turn from their evil practices that polluted the land with innocent blood, think modern day dumping of motor oils and drug lab chemicals. The cup of their iniquity overflowed with no stopping in sight and like any good landlord even the Lord's patience ran out, after years of their not paying rent. The lesson for us today is to read and meet the terms of the lease agreement with the Creator. Jeremiah 12:17 That is why in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy God set fore what was an abomination to Him and what was not be be done in the Land. Still after a few generations they would sin and turn from God with their iniquity and be driven from the land, but unlike the previous renters they would return as prophesied twice, and then never leave again as prophesied. Jeremiah 2:20-21....... Jeremiah 30:7......Jeremiah 30:11 This land was deeded forever to the Israelites as a possession, the only such transfer of God's property to any people, the apple of His very eye. Jeremiah 31:35-36.........Jeremiah 33:20-21........Jeremiah 30:2-3 In the Lord's freedom...........warrior on
Jeremiah Kaaya
The holy Bible says in the book of Psalms 24:1; "The world and all its fulness belongs to the LORD. The LORD, the creator owns all. That land belonged to no one, it belonged/belongs to the LORD, the LORD God of Israel (YAHWE). For that reason, God only changed the occupancy of the land from the worshipers of the devil to one who would know and worship Him through Abraham. Whatever God gives us, He does so so that we use them to worship Him. The occupants of that land then only used it to worship the devil. It is this very land that God, the owner of it, chose to be the source of the beginning of His redemption plan of man. He wanted it to be a place where his name would be worshiped forever. The battle for that land to date between Israelis and Arabs is not only between them, it is between God, the creator and the evil forces. Because the Israelis are for YAHWE, they have always emerged and will always emerge victorious. God bless
Cherie Mitchell
The whole earth belongs to God. All the land is God's. However, God gave part of His land to Abraham. It was a promise of God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their descendants. Israel is the land God selected. Jerusalem is known as the City of God. The inhabitants of the land during the time of Abraham were not people of faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, they were pagans who worshiped many gods and even sacrificed their own children to these gods. Therefore, they polluted God's land. God reserved His land for the people of faith in Him who would gladly and willingly follow Him, the One True God. So, the land belonged to God and He can decide who lives there and who doesn't. The book of Revelation reveals God's decision to honor those who honor Him.
Salem Markus Purba
Because all the land belongs to God (Leviticus 25 : 23) and God put the man on the land to work it and to take care of it (Genesis 2: 15), not to own it. Since the land promised to Abraham was occupied by the people who were idol worshipers, Abraham's descendants had to take it over from them by relying on God's power to establish the sovereignty of the LORD- the Kingdom of God on the land.
Gregory Tomlinson
Because the inhabitants polluted the land with their sins. God gave it to Abraham's seed, and when they forsook His ways, even after much pleading to repent He took it from them. Unlike the other inhabitants, God makes a promise that it will belong to them as an eternal inheritance, and at their expulsion foretold their eventual return. As has been so well stated in most of the other posts, It is God's divine right in that He created it, and all that is in it. Who has the power to contend with Him who is eternal?
Patricia Robinson
If the landlord or owner of some choice property saw that the tenants were becoming reckless with said property and knew that in the future their descendants will be doing evil things, such as offer their children as sacrifice to false gods, that landlord will search around for a righteous tenant and future family members of that righteous tenant to inhabit His choice property.
Kenneth Heck
In addition to the answers above, there is another consideration. In my opinion, the Canaanites and associated peoples did not actually legally own the land they lived on. After the fall of the tower of Babel, those of Japheth went to the northern regions, those of Ham migrated to the southern regions, and those of Shem interited the middle regions. The so-called "land of Canaan" was in the middle region and actually belonged to the descendants of Shem. God, however, didn't require the Canaanites to evacuate immediately, preferring instead to deal with them gently over time, even though the entire line of Canaan had been cursed by Noah (Gen 9:25).
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