The Land God gave to Abraham & his Seed

Today many people including some evangelical Christians think that the land God gave to Abraham & his seed, belongs to a different group of people, disobedient to God, & who deny Jesus Christ (the Seed)!  I want to show you some Bible verses & also a very interesting letter from Irenaeus concerning the promise God made to Abraham about inheriting the land, and you please make your own conclusions.

Irenaeus (AD 130–202) was the bishop of Lugdunum (Today Lyons) France, an Apologist, & leading Christian theologian of the 2nd century. He was born of Greek parents in Asia Minor, and was also a student of Polycarp (A disciple of the apostle John, instructed by the apostles, & who was brought into contact with many who had seen Christ).

Bishop & historian Eusebius of Caesarea who wrote a history of the church in the 4th century, notes that  Irenaeus, prior to his becoming bishop (He succeeded the martyred Pothinus as bishop of Lugdunum on AD 177), had served as a missionary to southern Gaul (France) and as a peacemaker among the churches of Asia Minor that had been disturbed by heresy.

– I clarify that this post has nothing to do with ‘Replacement Theology‘ which believes the Church replaced Israel, that (real) Jews are no longer God’s chosen people, & God does not have specific future plans for the nation of Israel, a theology we disagree with. Please see Rom.11.

The Scriptures teach us that the church is entirely a new creation that came into being on the day of Pentecost, and will continue until it is taken to heaven at the rapture [Eph. 1:9–11; 1 Thess. 4:13–17]. After the rapture of the Church, God will deal again & reveal Himself to His people of the Old Covenant, judgment of the nations will come & only a remnant, 1/3 of Israel (Zach.12-13) that survives the period of ‘Jacob’s Trouble’ (Jer.30:7), will be saved.

No one is elected/chosen for salvation because of race, culture, etc. Salvation is only trough faith in the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 9 (also 10 & 11) talks about the ‘elected’ nation of Israel, not elected for salvation (Deut. 7:6-9), but in context of Romans 9 (applying exegesis), chosen for God’s purpose, to bring the law, the Scriptures (Ro.3:1-2), the covenants, the promise,  the Messiah. Believers in Christ are also elected/chosen for a purpose, to declare the goodness of God, [1 Peter 2:9] through Jesus Christ.

“for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.” [Gen.13:15].

“that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; [Gen.22:17].

“Blessed are the Meek, for they shall inherit the earth (land)”.  [Matthew 5:5].

“Now the promises were made to Abraham and his Seed. He does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your Seed,” meaning one, who is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not annul the covenant that was ratified by God in Christ, so as to nullify the promise. 18 For if the inheritance comes from the law, it no longer comes from the promise. But God gave it to Abraham through a promise“. [Gal.3:16-18].

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. [Gal.3:28-29].

 ^“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but a new creation. ” [Gal.6:15].

“By faith Abraham . . . 13 These all died in faith not having received the promises, but having seen them from afar were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ” [Heb. 11:6-13].

2. Thus, then, the promise of God, which He gave to Abraham, remains stedfast. For thus He said: “Lift up thine eyes, and look from this place where now thou art, towards the north and south, and east and west. For all the earth which thou seest, I will give to thee and to thy seed, even for ever.” [Genesis 13:13-14]. And again He says, “Arise, and go through the length and breadth of the land, since I will give it unto thee;” [Genesis 13:17] and [yet] he did not receive an inheritance in it, not even a footstep, but was always a stranger and a pilgrim therein. [Acts 7:5; Hebrews 11:13] And upon the death of Sarah his wife, when the Hittites were willing to bestow upon him a place where he might bury her, he declined it as a gift, but bought the burying-place (giving for it four hundred talents of silver) from Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite. {Gen.13:11]. Thus did he await patiently the promise of God, and was unwilling to appear to receive from men, what God had promised to give him, when He said again to him as follows: “I will give this land to thy seed, from the river of Egypt even unto the great river Euphrates.” [Gen.15:13]. If, then, God promised him the inheritance of the land, yet he did not receive it during all the time of his sojourn there, it must be, that together with his seed, that is, those who fear God and believe in Him, he shall receive it at the resurrection of the just. For his seed is the Church, which receives the adoption to God through the Lord, as John the Baptist said: “For God is able from the stones to raise up children to Abraham.” [Luke 3:8]. Thus also the apostle says in the Epistle to the Galatians: “But ye, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise.” [Gal.4:28] And again, in the same Epistle, he plainly declares that they who have believed in Christ do receive Christ, the promise to Abraham thus saying, “The promises were spoken to Abraham, and to his seed. Now He does not say, And of seeds, as if [He spake] of many, but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” [Gal.3:16]. And again, confirming his former words, he says, “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore, that they which are of faith are the children of Abraham. But the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, declared to Abraham beforehand, That in thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which are of faith shall be blessed with faithful Abraham.” [Gal.3:6, etc.]. Thus, then, they who are of faith shall be blessed with faithful Abraham, and these are the children of Abraham. Now God made promise of the earth to Abraham and his seed; yet neither Abraham nor his seed, that is, those who are justified by faith, do now receive any inheritance in it; but they shall receive it at the resurrection of the just. For God is true and faithful; and on this account He said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” [Matt.5:5]  – Ireneaus “Against Heresies” Book 5, Chapter 32

But if someone still want to believe that land is only for the descendants of Abraham in the flesh, then we need to know that most of the Jews living in Israel today are not of the same blood (Semite) or even of the faith of Abraham, the majority are secular people, many others are followers of the Talmud & kabbalah (a diff. faith) & only a minority are followers of the Old Testament. See here & here.

Jesus recognized that the Jews of that time were descendants of Abraham in the flesh, but not all were children of Abraham. Please see John 8:37-44, & Rom.9:6-7.