Premillennialism
The Promises (3)
One of the fundamental doctrines of most, if not all, premillenialists is that before the end of time God will give to the Jews the land of Canaan. This supposedly is because He gave them that land but has never fulfilled His promise and since God is faithful, He will give them the land. It is true that God promised to the descendants of Abraham (the Jews) this land. However, the Bible shows that it is not true that He has not yet fulfilled His promise. As already observed in Joshua 4:43-45, "So Jehovah gave unto Israel all the land which He sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it and dwelt therein.. .There failed not aught of any good thing which Jehovah had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass."
It was also observed that their keeping of the land was conditioned on their faithfulness. Clearly, they were unfaithful and therefore forfeited their keeping the land. God does not owe them this land because of their unfaithfulness.
Another promise that God made to Abraham's descendants is found in Genesis 13:16 where he said to Abraham, "I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then may thy seed also be numbered." Then in Geneses 15:5 He said to Abraham, "Look now toward the heaven and number the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, so shall thy seed be." This promise has also been fulfilled. When Baalam tried to curse Israel "Jehovah put a word in Baalam's mouth.. and Baalam said 'Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel?" (Numbers 23:5, 10). In 2nd Chronicles 1:9 Solomon says of God,"Thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth for multitude." In Deuteronomy 10:22 we read, "Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons: and Jehovah thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude." Hence, the promise of numerous descendants has been fulfilled..
The third, and without question, the most important promise to Abraham is the one found in Genesis 22:18. This is the occasion when God told Abraham to offer his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering. Abraham was in the act of doing this very thing when an angel of the Lord stayed his hand and said because you have not witheld your son, your only son, "In thy seed all nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice." As the Bible shows clearly, this is a spiritual blessing and promise.
There are three parts to this promise:
- The seed.
It is plain from Galatians 3:16 just who the seed is. That text says, "Now to Abraham were the promises spoken and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one. And to thy seed, which is Christ." - All nations.
In Peter's speech in Acts 3:25-26 he said to the Jews, "You are sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, "And in thy seed shall all families of the earth be blessed. To you first, God, having raised up His servant, Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities." ALL families would include Jew and Gentile. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone that believeth: "to the Jew first and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16). - Blessed.
This promise has to do with the forgiveness of sins. The text says that God through Christ is to bless "in turning away every one of you from your iniquities." (Acts 3:25-26).
Thus the promise says that in Jesus Christ everyone, whether Jew or Gentile, can be blessed, i.e., have his sins forgiven. - Hiram Hutto