The “Children of the Promise” and the “Land”

3rd Semester / Week 5

“…that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles… Now to Abraham and his Seed were THE PROMISES made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ,” (Galatians 3:14,16).

“They are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy Seed be called. That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the CHILDREN of THE PROMISE are COUNTED AS THE SEED,” (Romans 9:6-8).

Apparently, because of verses like this, the New Testament reveals that if someone had a certain DNA then that doesn’t make them part of the True Israel of God, but instead it’s still about having a saving Covenant relationship with God and His Seed, Jesus Christ. As we’ve seen in Galatians 3:16, Jesus is the only Seed to whom the promises were directly given, and we should know that being in the Kingdom of the True Israel of God is only through having a spiritual Covenant relationship with God. The whole entire focus of Romans chapters 9-11 is about “Israel,” therefore, notice that we’re “the children of the promise” as is also taught in Galatians 3:29 and we’re included in this discussion about “Israel.”

The NLT translates Romans 9 this way:

“not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, ‘Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,’ though Abraham had other children, too. This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only THE CHILDREN of THE PROMISE are considered to be Abraham’s children,” (Romans 9:6-8).

So, who exactly are the “children of the promise” that were mentioned in Romans 9:8? We see the first part of this answer in the 3rd chapter of Galatians:

“THE PROMISES were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is CHRIST,” (Galatians 3:16).

Notice that passage declared that all of the promises exclusively find their fulfillment in Christ. Not just one single promise, but instead the “promises” made to Abraham. We also know that:

“Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by FAITH,” (Romans 9:31-32).

It is all about FAITH in the Promised Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and this is further confirmed in Galatians 3:

“Therefore know that only those who are of FAITH are sons of Abraham,” (Galatians 3:7).

It’s not those that just merely have “faith” that there’s a God somewhere out there, but instead it’s only those who put their “faith” in the Promised Redeemer who are “sons of Abraham,” and then the very important thing to realize is that in Christ:

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all ONE in Christ Jesus. And if YOU are Christ’s, then YOU are Abraham’s SEED, and heirs according to THE PROMISE,” (Galatians 3:28-29).

That right there is the “Good News:” if “YOU” belong to Christ and have placed your “faith” in Him, then “YOU” are a descendant of Abraham and fully inherit “the promise” made to Abraham.

“To be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of THE PROMISE in Christ Jesus through the gospel,” (Ephesians 3:6).

In Christ, you’re not a stepchild that receives a limited amount of the promise, but rather, you become a full heir of “the promise” made to Abraham. Acts 15:9 even declares that God “made no distinction between us and them.” This is truly “Good News.” There is no other people group that can claim to receive more promises than those who are in Christ.

John the Baptist told the teacher of the Law who questioned him:

“do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these STONES God can raise up CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM. The ax is already at THE ROOT of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:9-10).

That is another passage that reveals it isn’t about DNA, and that God can turn not only anyone into a descendant of Abraham, but He can even turn anything into a descendant of Abraham, even the “living STONES” mentioned in 1 Peter 2:5 which had used the exact same Greek word for “stone” to describe Gentiles who’ve now become “the people of God” (1 Peter 2:10). The “Good News” is that in God’s eyes, Gentiles can directly become what Elect/Remnant Jews had been (also see Esther 8:17), although there’s now no longer a distinction between the two (Galatians 3:28). There’s now only those who are in Christ, and those who are not. “The ax” has been placed against any who don’t have Jesus as their “ROOT,” (Matthew 3:9-10).

Remember the common theme in the Old Testament (also seen in Romans 11) of the threat of being “cut off” for not keeping the Covenant with God, therefore, anyone without Christ, and without being in His New Covenant, are “cut off” and are no longer a part of God’s people. It should be easy for them to be added back, and our goal should be to help them back into the Covenant through being reattached to the true vine (John 15:1). It’s absolutely essential to be in a saving Covenant relationship with the Father, yet as we’ll see next semester, the Old Covenant is now “obsolete” and has passed away. The only way to be part of our current Kingdom of God is through having a saving Covenant relationship with Him, which is now the New Covenant, and this Covenant relationship is one of the main themes throughout Scripture.

We’ve been added to Israel, we’ve been given the New Covenant, we’re the “seed” of Abraham and heirs of the “promise, so then, what was “the promise” that was made to Abraham? We see in Genesis 12:1-7 and 22:18 that God promised Abraham three things:

Land, Seed, and Blessing

“The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the LAND I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will BLESS you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you,” (Genesis 12:1-3).

In examining the Land, Seed, and Blessing, we’ll look into the “blessing” next week, and we already know from Galatians 3 that the direct “seed” was Jesus, and by being connected to Him we’re also considered to be part of the “seed” because we are “in Christ.” Therefore, what we’ll now focus on is the promise of “land.”

Before we look into that “land” promise, let’s first explore the sign of the Covenant that was made to Abraham. Just like how the “land” was promised to be “everlasting,” the sign of the Covenant was also told to be “everlasting.” But does that mean eternally unchanging? God’s Word describes things that were “everlasting,” however, does that word really mean what we think it means? The word for “everlasting” is Strong’s 5769, “olam.” While we assume that “everlasting” means “without end,” the actual Hebrew word actually only means “for a long duration.” One example of something that was “everlasting” was the official sign of the Abrahamic Covenant: circumcision.

“This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 11 and you shall be circumcised IN THE FLESH of your foreskins… My covenant shall be IN THE FLESH for an EVERLASTING [olam] covenant,” (Genesis 17:10-11, 13).

The real meaning of “an everlasting” circumcision of “the flesh” has changed because ultimately what God wants isn’t just circumcision of “the flesh” of “foreskins,” but instead the greater and much more important circumcised “heart,” done not by human hands but by God (Colossians 2:11). Have “land” promises likewise changed and gotten even “better,” especially knowing that we’re specifically told that the New Covenant is based on “better promises” (such as Hebrews 8:6). Have “land” promises already expanded and then will find their ultimate fulfillment in the New Heaven and Earth?

We see this in gotquestions.org which is a dispensational site: “God’s promises to Abraham’s descendants will be fulfilled literally. The Abrahamic Covenant included the promise of land (Genesis 12:1). It was a specific land, an actual property, with dimensions specified in Genesis 15:18-21. In Genesis 13:15, God gives Abraham all the land that he can see, and the gift is declared to be “forever.” God was not going to renege on His promise. The territory given as part of the Abrahamic Covenant is expanded in Deuteronomy 30:1-10, often called the Palestinian Covenant… At no point in history, though, has Israel controlled all of the land God had specified. There remains, therefore, a final fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant that will see Israel occupying their God-given homeland to the fullest extent.”

However, unlike what’s assumed by dispensational premillennialists, how did Abraham understand the concept of the “land” that he was to inherit?

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he DWELT IN THE LAND OF PROMISE AS IF IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he WAITED FOR THE CITY WHICH HAS FOUNDATIONS, WHOSE BUILDER AND MAKER IS GOD… 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,” (Hebrews 11:8-10; 13-16).

Did you notice that? As you read this section, look back again over the key words in that passage. Notice that Abraham “dwelt” in the literal promised “land” as if in “a foreign country,” because he knew that wasn’t the actual fulfillment of the promise. Abraham was still waiting for “the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” The literal, physical, earthly promised land wasn’t what Abraham looked forward to. Even though he had “dwelt” in the literal promised land, he died “not having received the promises,” and he “confessed” that he was merely a “stranger” and “pilgrim” on this current “earth,” but he knew that what he looked forward to was the New Heaven and Earth (again, that’s the specific heavenly “city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God,” that’s the “heavenly country” that we too should be looking forward to).

“…we, according to His PROMISE, look for new heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

That’s the true and ultimate “promised” land. That should be our focus, just like it was for Abraham, but it doesn’t arrive until after Judgment Day. Remember what we’re told about the New Covenant just a few chapters earlier in Hebrews:

“…the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on BETTER PROMISES,” (Hebrews 8:6).

Rather than the smaller promises made in the Old Testament, we look forward to even “better promises” in our New Covenant, therefore that small section of land has been expanded. Rather than only receiving a relatively small, controversial tract of land in the Middle East, we instead look forward to the true promised land which is the entire New Heaven and Earth.

Notice the unexpected change that Paul made regarding Abraham in Romans 4:13:

“… the promise that he would be the heir of the WORLD…”

Paul dropped off the expected promise of a specific “land” and instead let us know that the actual promise to Abraham wasn’t just a relatively small section of land in the Middle East, but rather, it’s been enlarged to include the whole “world.” That’s what we as Christians will be inheriting in the New Heaven and Earth, and that’s exactly what Abraham had anticipated according to Hebrews chapter 11.

Furthermore, also notice what’s revealed in the final chapter of Hebrews:

“For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come,” (Hebrews 13:14).

The literal city in Jerusalem is now irrelevant because “we have no continuing city,” and what other city would that’ve been other than the earthly Jerusalem? Jesus Himself even confirmed the irrelevance of the earthly Jerusalem:

“Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father… the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,” (John 4:21, 23).

Just like Abraham, we’re only “strangers and pilgrims” on this current earth, and all of that land in the Middle East shouldn’t be our focus. The New Covenant has “better promises,” so instead of focusing on the earthly Jerusalem, we’re surprisingly told this in Hebrews:

“…you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem…,” (Hebrews 12:22).

We as Christians have already been brought into the true and greater Jerusalem that’s the mother of Christians (see Galatians 4:22-26). We’re not literally there, but it’s still what we’re a part of, and that’s where Jesus is currently ruling as King over His Kingdom, the people who submit to Him, and He’s “ruling in the midst of His enemies,” as predicted in Psalm 110:2. Our current spiritual Kingdom is also growing all over this current earth.

Interestingly and significantly, regarding specific land promises that dispensationalists insist haven’t ever been literally fulfilled yet, and would therefore supposedly need to be fulfilled in the future in order for God to be trustworthy, consider this important revealing passage:

“So the Lord GAVE TO ISRAEL ALL THE LAND OF WHICH HE HAD SWORN TO GIVE to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. ALL CAME TO PASS,” (Joshua 21:43-45).

The typical dispensational Zionist argument is this: “Despite what the writer of Joshua wrote, Jewish people have never possessed the land from the river in Egypt up to the Euphrates river…”

Therefore, consider these 4 important passages:

“You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram … You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant TO GIVE TO HIS OFFSPRING THE LAND OF the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. AND YOU HAVE KEPT YOUR PROMISE,” (Nehemiah 9:7–8).

“Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms FROM THE EUPHRATES to the land of the Philistines and TO THE BORDER OF EGYPT. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life,” (1 Kings 4:21).

“So David summoned ALL ISRAEL, FROM THE Shihor/Nile RIVER IN EGYPT…” (1 Chronicles 13:5).

“David also defeated Hadadezer… as he WENT TO RECOVER HIS TERRITORY AT THE RIVER EUPHRATES,” (2 Samuel 8:3).

Notice those passages which document the land that “all Israel” had truly already possessed, “from THE RIVER IN EGYPT UP TO THE EUPHRATES RIVER.” According to Scripture, that specific land promise had already been literally fulfilled and doesn’t still require a future fulfillment as dispensationalists allege. There were certain specifications from the Old Testament which had to be fulfilled, and as those passages reveal, those terms were truly fulfilled, and now we instead look forward to “better promises.” There had been a typological fulfillment, yet fortunately we still await the ultimate greater fulfillment that’s “better.”

As if we don’t already have enough proof to show the irrelevance of the current physical land, here’s one more passage that displays how, rather than needing to be eternally given to Israel, we instead see this:

“But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight. Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss, and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’” (1 Kings 9:6-8).

Clearly, God has shown us that He was able to take away the permanent right to the land for breaking His Covenant, and we also know that Abraham himself had instead known that the true land that he was looking forward to is the New Heaven and Earth.

To conclude, the New Testament reveals that the Old Testament prophets had clearly revealed God’s redemptive concern for the Gentiles, who were to be grafted into the Elect/Remnant on an EQUAL basis with the Elect Jews. Our equality is all because of Jesus, and He is the True Israel of God, He is the “SEED” to whom “THE PROMISES” were made, and we’re His “CHILDREN OF THE PROMISE” who “ARE COUNTED AS THE SEED.” God fulfilled His Old Covenant promises, and the Old Covenant is now “OBSOLETE” and has vanished away and replaced by something “better.” We already have the “BETTER COVENANT” with its “BETTER PROMISES,” and someday we’ll inherit the ultimate and better “PROMISED LAND:” the entire New Heaven and Earth!