Replies

>>>You also have two major issues ... and a third of your own construction.<<<

>>>1. Abraham HIMSELF was also to possess the land ... that didn't happen for him, he was dead long before all the events that you highlight happened ... so the fulfillment of this covenant is still future. From my perspective, it awaits the resurrection of Abraham (sorry, it wasn't in 70 AD) in the Millennial kingdom of Christ.<<<

Since you did not post any scriptural references to explain yourself; I am going to simply show that the following were the promises to Abraham, preceded by the conditions:

"And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations." (Gen 17:9 KJV)

That is brutally honest. These are the covenants:

"In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed (singular) have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." (Gen 15:18-21 KJV)

"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; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." (Gen 22:17-18 KJV)

God kept his promises! All promises went to his seed, as in a single seed, named Jesus Christ; and in him all nations are blessed, as follows:

"Now to Abraham and his seed [singular] were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." (Gal 3:16 KJV)

Let's get rid of all words but the actual fulfillment of the promise:

"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made: to one seed Christ." (Gal 3:16 KJV)

That was simple enough. Now, since all the promises were made to Christ, he owns all the land that was promised to Abraham. Since it is His land, he can do as he pleases with it. He can choose to live there, in the flesh (He is God, after all;) or He can choose to live in new Jerusalem in heaven. From all I have read, He chose to live in new Jerusalem, and he made Christians his heirs:

"And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Gal 3:29 KJV)

Why was the promise not given to the other children of Israel, besides Christ? Maybe because they were self-serving isolationists through which at least one of the promises to Abraham could not be fulfilled, namely this one:

"… in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed…" (Gen 22:18 KJV)

>>>2. They were to possess the land forever. Since they don't possess it today ... that forever possession has not started yet ... therefore whatever parts in the past they had ... did not fulfill the promise ... and it's still future.<<<

As aforementioned, Abraham's seed, Christ, owns the land, forever. The promises were fulfilled. The old covenant is through: finished! Christ fulfilled the old covenants: all of them.

>>>Perhaps your biggest error is that you have taken a strictly unconditional covenant (Abrahamic covenant) made 400+ years before Joshua ... and tied it to commands to rid the land of pagans ... and have concluded that a modification of the Abrahamic covenant stipulations must have occurred.<<<

I simply quoted the scripture. I didn't bother quoting the scriptures I quoted above: that Christ inherited all the land as the seed of the promise; because the other scriptures I quoted showed the land promise was conditional, and the conditions were broken by the children of Israel.

Do not the new testament scriptures state, many times over, that God is no respecter of persons? Why should Israel be treated more favourably than the Gentiles? They broke the covenants, not God. And did Christ not break down the middle wall of the partition between us?

"For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us" (Eph 2:14 KJV)

I appreciate you thinking so highly of me; but I can assure you there is nothing special about me, or any of my blood relatives. In fact, according to Paul, we are all one blood:

"God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;" (Acts 17:24-26 KJV)

Let's assume you are correct in your assessments. If we are all of one blood, which the Holy Ghost clearly states we are: then who gets the land?

>>>Personally ... if you can provide even 1% of a cogent explanation for even the first item, I'll be impressed. Why will I be impressed? Because you have taken the time to lay out a nice case for the LITERAL fulfillment (I'm proud of you for this) and yet when it comes to Abraham HIMSELF possessing the land ... and the eternal nature of that possession ... there will no doubt come various allegory, typology, or some other non-literal understanding that you must assign to handle this part of the promise.<<<

Since you did not post any scripture to support your claim, I don't know how to respond, except to quote the new testament:

"And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Gal 3:29 KJV)

Are you saying that Christians are not heirs to the promise? That seems contradictory. Maybe you can explain to us why it is not contradictory.

Even if what you claim is supported by some means of interpretation; why do you think Abraham might want to possess the land? Did he not look for a better country?

"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. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city." (Heb 11:12-16 KJV)

If you are going to make declarations that others are in error, you should at least have the courtesy to post scriptures supporting your declarations. Why should anyone consider your opinion as fact? I certainly do not. You have given me no reason to.

Philip