4: THE PROMISE MADE TO ABRAHAM

“FOR the promise that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations), before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” Romans 4:13, 16, 17.SAIN 24.1

THE above language is a clear proof that the promise made to Abraham relates to more than has yet been realized. Abraham was “heir of the world.” Neither he, nor his seed after the flesh, ever yet possessed the world. All those of faith, in all nations, are his children, and are to share his inheritance with him. The last statement of the above text shows that the accomplishment of what is promised is beyond the resurrection of the dead. And such was the reasoning of Paul respecting it, when he stood before Agrippa. Having stated that he stood to be “judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers,” he inquired, “Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?” ^{1Acts 26:6-8.} Thus he clearly located the fulfillment of the promise beyond the resurrection of the dead. In fact, when writing to the Hebrews, he speaks of this promise as the full assurance of future hope: “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show 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.” ^{2Hebrews 6:17, 18.} This promise being made so sure to Abraham,—resting upon the two immutable things, the word of God, and the oath of God,—affords strong consolation to all who are of faith. They are fellow-heirs with Abraham.SAIN 24.2

Let us look at the word of promise made to Abraham: “The Lord said unto Abraham, 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. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.” ^{3Genesis 13:14-17.} There was no limit to the distance he should walk, or how far he should look. All that he could see the Lord promised to give to him and to his seed. The promise was that Abraham “should be the heir of the world.”SAIN 25.1

The Lord made a covenant with Abraham concerning the land of promise, and when about to confirm the 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.” ^{4Genesis 15:13-15.} How is this language to be understood? He was to be buried in a good old age, and yet have an everlasting possession of the land. He surely could not have such a possession in this life. That the promise did not relate simply to what Abraham was to receive in his life-time is made clear by the language used respecting it by Stephen, in the discourse which cost him his life. Speaking of the sojourn of Abraham in the land of Canaan, he says: “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.” ^{5Acts 7:5.}SAIN 25.2

It could not be simply a temporary possession of the land which was promised to 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 here, for there is no limiting clause. It does not say he should have it for an everlasting possession, throughout his life. The everlasting is not limited by Abraham’s life-time; it is the possession that is everlasting. Had he received it in his life-time, we should find him still on the land, for the land still exists.SAIN 26.1

Of the covenant which 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.” ^{6Genesis 17:1.} This charge made to Abraham, as we learn by the marginal reading of the text, was to “be upright, or sincere.” True uprightness can only be developed in those in whose hearts the grace of God, by faith, works obedience to God’s righteous law. Of Abraham, it is said that he “believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” ^{7Romans 4:3.} Thus he also became heir of that “righteousness which is by faith.” ^{8Hebrews 11:7; Romans 3:22; Philippians 3:9.} been by the law.” ^{9Galatians 3:18, 21.} The Lord stated the blessing of the covenant to Abraham in these words: “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.” ^{10Genesis 17:8.}SAIN 26.2

In this promise made to Abraham we see, then, that there are three points embraced,—righteousness, eternal life, and the inheritance. From the reasoning of the apostle Paul in his epistles, when treating of this subject, we see that he recognizes all these in Christ, and that by him all will be brought in. But we will see more of this as we advance in our investigations.SAIN 27.1

The promise made to Abraham was renewed to Isaac in these words: “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.” ^{11Genesis 26:3-5.}SAIN 27.2

This promise to Abraham and Isaac was confirmed to Jacob, while sleeping at Bethel with a stone for a 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.” ^{12Genesis 28:13.}SAIN 27.3

Was this Abrahamic promise, 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 of Canaan? 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 life-time 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. Paul says of Abraham that he “sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country.” It is all in vain for men to claim the final accomplishment of these promises in the past, either to Abraham or his seed. Simply a temporary possession of the land of Canaan does not meet the case; for as already quoted from the apostle, the promise to Abraham was that “he should be the heir of the world.”SAIN 27.4

We may gain clearer light upon the promise made to Abraham by reading what Paul said to the Galatians, in his comments relative thereto. 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.” ^{13Galatians 3:16. In the text before us Paul based his whole argument on the absence of a single letter. If the letter “s” had been attached to the word “seed,” how different would have been his conclusion. How important to read the Bible carefully.}SAIN 28.1

If the seed to whom the promise is 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. Thus 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 the Lord said of their sojourn in the land was fulfilled to that extent that it is said, “There failed not aught of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel.” ^{14Joshua 21:45.} But were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with them when they went in to possess the land?—No. Even of Joseph, the son of Jacob, it is said, “They carried up Joseph’s bones.” Here, then, were four generations, at least, that did not receive the land in their life-time, and yet the Lord said to Abraham; “I will 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.SAIN 28.2

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. As stated by the apostle Paul: “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” ^{15Galatians 3:16.} 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 Paul, “So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” ^{16Galatians 3:9.}SAIN 29.1

As the promise clearly relates to what is to be accomplished for the faithful in Christ, it gives a sure foundation for our hope. So the apostle Peter, in speaking of Christ and his work, and our relation to it, says: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” ^{171 Peter 1:3-7.}SAIN 29.2

The manner of the apostle Paul was to adapt his teachings to whatever class he addressed, and so, if possible, to lead them to Christ and his work, as well as a consideration of the great blessings to be received in him. This was especially true when writing to the Hebrews, his own after the flesh, of whom he said he could be “accursed from Christ” for his kinsmen might be saved. In writing to them of the promises made to 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.” ^{18Hebrews 11:10.} This testimony shows conclusively that Abraham did not receive his inheritance when he dwelt in the land of Canaan. He was then only an heir; he was a stranger in a land he should after receive. Again, according to this testimony, when he does receive the final accomplishment of the promise, he will receive a city with foundations, “whose builder and maker is God.” This seems so fully to accord with what John describes in Revelation 21, as the final abode of the Lord’s people, that one would surely conclude it was the new earth, with the New Jerusalem upon it, that Abraham expected in the accomplishment of the promise.SAIN 29.3

The apostle further speaks to his brethren of these ancient worthies in these words: “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.” ^{19Hebrews 11:12, 13.} This language must 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 to receive an inheritance, with him we are joint heirs to the land of promise. He is the true heir, we are the joint heirs. The possession will not be given until he comes. Then he is represented as saying to his children, “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” ^{20Matthew 25:34.}SAIN 30.1

In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews the apostle makes mention of a number of these ancient worthies, and after saying that time would fail to tell of them, and of the works they did, 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.” ^{21Hebrews 11:39, 40.} Did the Lord fail to fulfill this 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 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 Paul styles us, shall have been gathered into that perfect state, as a grand result of the gospel work in this world. Had this promise been realized by the ancient worthies, they would have been made perfect without us. These promises are 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.SAIN 31.1

The apostle tells us that God made this promise sure to Abraham, confirming it with an oath, that “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 steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.” ^{22Hebrews 6:18, 19.} Would Paul claim that the Christian’s hope was made sure because God had confirmed a promise to Abraham by an oath, if that promise had no reference to the future, but had met its accomplishment in the past?—Most certainly not.SAIN 31.2

Again, as he stood before Agrippa, pleading for a hope inspired by this same promise made unto the fathers ^{23Acts 26:6-8.} he saw at once that the people would inquire in their minds how Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob could receive this promise, as they were dead; so he inquires why they should think it incredible that God should raise the dead-that these men should live again, and the promise be verified to them. It would be strange indeed for Paul to 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 that the apostle designed to teach that the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham is beyond the resurrection, and that it reaches to the new-earth state.SAIN 32.1