'When we
come to examine the original promises in the Old Testament, to which the
writers in the New Testament refer, we shall find that “the land” is their
chief burden.
When the
Lord called Abraham at the first he told him to go into a land which he would
show him. And when he came into Canaan the Lord appeared unto him and said,
“Unto thy seed will I give this land; and there he builded an altar unto the
Lord.” Gen. 12:1, 7.
After Lot
was separated from him the promise was renewed. That the prominence of this
point may be seen, we copy in full what was said to him on this occasion.
“And the
Lord said unto Abram, 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 forever. 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.” Gen. 13:14-17.
At the
next repetition of the promise this point is made especially prominent, as
follows:
“And he
said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to
give thee this land to inherit it.” Gen. 15:7.
And again,
“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, and I will be
their God.” Gen. 17:8.
Thus the
Lord has spoken the word that he brought Abraham out of his native land to give
him the land that he would show him, and to his seed, for an everlasting
possession. This was his purpose; but this purpose was never fulfilled;
Abraham, with his posterity,
- 205 - J.
H. Waggoner
died in
faith of its fulfillment, and as God is faithful it will certainly be brought
to pass. That this promise of the land was deeply impressed upon the minds of
the patriarchs is proved by their references to it. When Abraham sent his
servant to take a wife for Isaac, he said: “The Lord God of Heaven, which took
me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake
unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land;
he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son
from thence.” Gen. 24:7.
The Lord
also appeared unto Isaac in Gerar, as he was on his way to Egypt, and said unto
him: “Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of.
Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and I will bless thee; for unto
thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform
the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father.” Gen. 26:2, 3.
It is
worthy of remark that in this, the only instance recorded of God speaking to
Isaac, he commences with renewing the promise of the land, in fulfillment of
his word and oath unto Abraham. And in the only instance recorded of Isaac
referring to God’s promises to his father, “the land” is the main subject of
mention. He sent away Jacob to take a wife of his kindred in Padan-aram,
saying: “And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply
thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; and give thee the blessing of
Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land
wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.” Gen. 28:3, 4. And
Jacob went on his way, and he lodged in Luz, and the Lord appeared also to him
in a dream, 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.”
Gen. 28:13. And again, after his sojourn in that land, the Lord appeared unto
him as he came out of Padan-aram, and said unto him: “I am God Almighty: be
fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and
kings shall come out of thy loins; and the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac,
to thee will I give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.” Gen.
35:11, 12.
And
finally, Joseph charged his
The
Atonement - 206
brethren
to carry his bones out of Egypt, saying: “And God will surely visit you, and
bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac,
and to Jacob.” Gen. 50:24.
And thus
it is clearly shown that the inheritance, the possession, the land, was the
great object of promise in the Abrahamic covenant, without which the other
promises could never be fulfilled.
(To be
continued)
(Excerpt
from-) THE ATONEMENT PART SECOND:
THE
ATONEMENT AS REVEALED IN THE BIBLE
(1884)
BY ELDER J. H. WAGGONER
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