It is time to examine the Abrahamic Covenant itself and see exactly what was promised in that covenant and how those promises relate to the nation of Israel and believers today. Genesis 12:1–3 records the first promise to Abraham.

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Gen. 12:1–3).

The specific things in this text that are of major importance in our study are the promises concerning a great nation, the land, and in thee shall all of the families of the earth be blessed. We have already established that the last thing mentioned is the gospel promise of Christ himself. This particular promise cannot possibly refer to physical Israel except as she is the vehicle through which the Messiah is brought into the world. We will deal with the land promise first.

THE LAND PROMISE

The specific land is not promised in Genesis 12:1–3. Abraham is merely told to “go to a land that I will show you.” After he came into the land of Canaan, God then promised that specific land to him and his seed.

And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him (Gen. 12:6, 7).

After Abraham and Lot part company, God reaffirms his promise to Abraham that his seed would inherit the land. God now adds that the inheritance would be ‘forever.’ It is impossible not to see that the very essence of the promise that God made to Abraham involved the following:

1. The physical land
2. The natural children are the seed that is to inherit that land
3. The inheritance of the land is to be ‘forever.’

I personally believe the NT Scriptures make the physical land to be a type of spiritual rest and the Israelite to be a type of a true believer. However, we could not come to that conclusion from anything in the OT Scriptures. If all we had was the OT Scriptures, it would be very easy to hold the same view of Israel and the land of Palestine as that held by Dispensationalism.

The following description of a real physical land is the uniform message of the OT Scriptures:

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 this land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 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).

In Genesis 15:6–7, God reaffirms both the promise of the innumerable seed and the land, and he clearly states that it was for this purpose that Abraham was called out of Ur:

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).

Part of the reason the land is given as a permanent inheritance is that it is one of the things that would maintain the special people, or human heritage, out of which the Messiah will come.

In verses 8–17 we have the record of the actual covenant that God made with Abraham, and verse 18 again states the essence of that covenant to be the physical land. Dispensationalism insists that this is an ‘unconditional’ promise that has never been literally fulfilled and is therefore still in force in reference to the physical nation of Israel. The text gives the specific boundaries of the land:

On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates… (Gen. 15:18).

No mention is made of “the blessing to all nations” in this entire chapter. I am sure you see the significance of that fact.

Genesis 17 records God’s reaffirmation to Abraham of the promises and covenant made with Abraham in Gen. 15:18. Abram’s name is changed to Abraham and the innumerable seed promise is reaffirmed in verses l–5. Verse 6 lists three distinct blessings that God promised to Abraham:

And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee (Gen. 17:6).

Notice carefully that the promises given to Abraham, in the early part of this chapter, are almost identical to the promises given to Ishmael in the later part:

And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and I will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation (Gen. 17:20).

Genesis 25:12–18 records the fulfillment of the promise given to Ishmael in the above text:

Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham:… These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations (Gen. 25:12, 16).

Verses 7 and 8 in Genesis 17 are very important verses for many reasons. We must carefully notice exactly what is being promised:

And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And 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. 17:7–8).

These words are very clear as well as very instructive. They are the heart of the reaffirmation of the Abrahamic covenant and promises. Again we note the absence of the promise concerning “blessing all nations.” Several other things are also important.

First of all, the phrase “establish my covenant” in Genesis 17:7 is given to seeds, plural. It speaks of “their” generations. The NT Scriptures tell us that the “thy seed” in verse 7 refers to Isaac as the spiritual seed of Abraham. This is clear from the following comparison of Romans 9:7 and Genesis 17:18–21:

And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear… (Gen. 17:18–21).

Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called (Rom. 9:7).

Romans 9:7 is actually quoting Genesis 21:12 where God repeats the same thing concerning Ishmael and Isaac. The phrase “establishing my covenant” is that which discriminates among the various physical seeds. This distinction concerns the seed line that will be the bearer of the promised Messiah. After Jacob, this designating of a particular son is discontinued. Once Israel is established as a nation, then the promise of the Messiah is taken up into the Mosaic Covenant and becomes the property of the whole nation as a nation.

The second thing to note in Genesis 17:7, 8 is the addition of the word everlasting. Notice in verse 7 God establishes his covenant with Abraham and his seed as an everlasting covenant and promises to be “a God unto thee and thy seed after thee:”

And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee (Gen. 17:7)

In verse 8, God promises Abraham and his seed all of the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and then repeats the promise to be “their God:”

And 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).

It is exegetically impossible to separate the ‘land promise,’ the ‘everlasting covenant,’ and the promise to ‘be your God’ in these two verses of Scripture. The ‘seeds’ in verse 7 and in verse 8 must be the same people. God promises to give the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession to the very same people to whom he promises that he will be their God and they would be his people. We cannot pick and choose whatever suits our theological fancy, nor can we spiritualize part of this verse and naturalize the rest without clear NT Scripture evidence proving that is how the Apostles understood it. Covenant Theology uses verse seven as a key proof text in an attempt to prove that their physical children are still included in “God’s covenant (of grace) with Abraham.” However, they will ignore the fact that verse eight is speaking to the same identical people and promising them the physical land of Palestine as an everlasting possession. Dispensationalism, on the other hand, will use verse eight to prove that the physical Jews have the land of Palestine unconditionally promised to them in the future.

From Genesis 17 throughout the rest of the OT Scriptures, the land will occupy one of the central features of the covenant that God made with Abraham and his seed. Actually, it is the central feature. This fact makes it essential to ask, and clearly answer, the question, “Is the ‘land’ promise to be understood physically, and is this promise still awaiting a natural fulfillment in the future; or is the land promise to be spiritualized and then understood as already fulfilled in Christ and the gospel?” Do we understand Hebrews 4:11 to mean the land promise is already fulfilled in the ‘rest in Christ’ in certainty, but not yet fulfilled in the totality of experience? I am sure that I need not mention how loaded with far reaching implications and consequences that question is!

How Long Is ‘Everlasting’?

Before we look at the land aspect of the promise, let us look at the word everlasting. It is crystal clear that the land of Canaan is promised to Abraham and his seed as an everlasting possession. We may not agree on how the NT Scriptures interpret that fact, but we have to deny the very words of Scripture written in Genesis 17:7, 8 if we will not admit that God made an everlasting physical land promise to Abraham and his seed.

We will have help with the land promise if we clearly understand how the OT Scriptures use this word, everlasting. How are we to understand the everlasting things that not only did not last forever, but obviously were not intended or expected to last forever? The word everlasting is used of many things promised under the Old Covenant, and the New Testament Scriptures clearly prove that most of those everlasting things have not only ended, but it was clearly prophesied that they would end when Christ came. If we list some of these everlasting things, it will help us understand how the word is used in Genesis 17:7, 8, and that in turn will throw some needed light on the land promise itself.

1. The Aaronic priesthood was to be an ‘everlasting priesthood,’ but it definitely ended. The following text may give us a clue when it adds the phrase “throughout their generation” as a possible explanation of how long the everlasting priesthood is to really last:

… for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations (Ex. 40:15).

And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood… (Num. 25:13).

Here the word everlasting is used to denote God’s purpose and pledge to Aaron and his sons that they will be his priests ‘forever.’ We know that the Aaronic priesthood definitely ended with the death of Christ and the forming of the Body of Christ at Pentecost.

2. The Passover was to be a ‘feast forever.’

And this day [Passover] shall be unto you for a memorial;…ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever (Ex. 12:14).

3. All of the tabernacle rites, ceremonies, and services were to last ‘for ever’ (Ex. 27:21).

4. The sabbath was a ‘sign for ever.’

Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath … It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever … (Ex. 31:16a, 17a)

5. The sign of ‘circumcision’ was an everlasting sign. It was given as the sign of the ‘everlasting’ land promise (Gen. 17:8).

He that is born in thy house … must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant (Gen. 17:13).

We know for sure that none of the above actually did last forever. We also know that God never intended that they should. It is obvious that ‘everlasting’ cannot mean ‘never end’ in any of these passages in the OT Scriptures. If we insist that it does, then either God used the wrong word or else we do not understand how he meant the word to be understood. I am aware that this is difficult to fit into the Dispensational hermeneutic, but it is still a clear biblical fact.

The everlasting priesthood of Aaron was done away in Christ. The everlasting Passover feast was done away when the true Passover Lamb was offered; the everlasting tabernacle services were only types of the true everlasting ministry of Christ; the everlasting seventh day Sabbath given to Israel as the sign of the Mosaic covenant was a beautiful picture of our eternal rest in Christ, our true Sabbath (Heb. 4:1–11); and circumcision in the flesh was a type of regeneration or circumcision of the heart. It is clear that none of these things was meant to be permanent and yet the OT Scriptures specifically state that all of these things were to endure forever or everlastingly. What rule of logical interpretation do we violate when we view the everlasting land promise the same as the other everlasting things mentioned above?

It is perfectly clear from the NT Scriptures that we must understand the word everlasting in one of two ways depending on the context.

1. It may mean that something is given as a physical and temporary ‘type’ of something else that is spiritual and eternal. The thing promised becomes truly everlasting as it finds its fulfillment in its antitype. Israel is a nation before God ‘forever’ as it is fulfilled in the church, the true ‘Israel of God.’ Aaron is indeed a priest ‘forever’ as he finds his fulfillment in Christ our High Priest. The Sabbath is a sign forever as it finds its fulfillment in eternal salvation or rest in Christ. God’s people will indeed dwell secure in the true holy land forever as they eternally rest in Christ.

2. The word everlasting may also mean that something will last as long as the covenant lasts under which that something was instituted. A change in covenants changes everything under that covenant (Heb. 7:11, 12).

The end result, as it relates to our discussion, is the same regardless of which view we take. Whether the word everlasting means either, both, or neither of the above, one thing is absolutely certain–everlasting can not possibly mean ‘without any end’ in many OT Scriptures. The NT Scriptures specifically state that most of the everlasting things under the Old Covenant definitely ended when Christ came. When the New Covenant replaced the Old Covenant, it also replaced everything that the Old Covenant had brought into being. This is a clear New Testament fact that must be recognized and implemented into our theological thinking.

It was the Passover that dated the beginning of Israel as a nation (Ex. 12). The Sabbath was the sign of the covenant that established Israel’s unique relationship to God as a special nation (Ex. 31:12–17; Deut. 5:15; Ezek. 20:12, 20). The whole function of the priesthood was built around “the sins committed” under that Old Covenant (Heb. 9:15) which was housed in the Ark of the Covenant behind the veil in the Most Holy Place. All of those things together are what made Israel a special and everlasting separate nation. The everlasting nation, the everlasting priesthood, and the everlasting sign all ended when the Old Covenant that established all of these things was fulfilled by Christ. The antitypes of all of these things are truly established forever because they are built on the new and true everlasting covenant (Matt. 26:28; Heb. 13:20) that will never need to be modified, added to, or changed in any way. This is the true everlasting covenant spoken of in Hebrews 13:20 that will never be replaced. It is a covenant that really will never end!

The rending of the veil from top to bottom took place the very second that the true Passover Lamb “gave up the ghost” (Matt. 27:50, 51). The true High Priest has not only gone behind the veil, he has totally removed it. We must see that particular moment of time and that meaningful event as the beginning of Christ administering the New Covenant and the ending of the Old Covenant along with everything that it established. And everything must include every single everlasting thing mentioned under the Old Covenant.

The Dispensationalists are right when they insist that the heart of the Abrahamic Covenant as expressed in the language of the OT Scriptures is the promise that “Israel will inherit the land of Canaan forever.” The covenant that promised this was cut in Genesis 15 and the language used in the covenant precisely describes the specific boundaries of the land that was promised to Abraham and his seed. Only special revelation from God could allow anyone to spiritualize the land promise in the Abrahamic covenant in the following text:

In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river Euphrates … (Gen. 15:18).

It proves nothing to quote Joshua 23:13 and similar texts to prove “all this has already been fulfilled.” In David’s day, long after Joshua 23:13 was written, the fulfillment of the ‘covenant of Abraham’ was still understood as future, and the heart of the promise was still in terms of the same land being given as an everlasting inheritance to the nation of Israel. Again, the words are clear.

O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance (1 Chron. 16:13–18).

These words are plain. The promise of the physical land is just as much a part of the everlasting covenant that God made with Abraham as the promise “I will be their God and they shall be my people.” We may believe that the NT Scriptures spiritualize the land promise, but we cannot deny that the covenant itself, as given to Abraham, concerned the natural land of Canaan. Likewise, we cannot deny that the land promise is always the prominent thing throughout the whole of the OT Scriptures. I believe the Dispensationalist is wrong in not seeing that the NT Scriptures spiritualize the land promise, but the answer is not to deny what the Old Testament Scriptures clearly say. As one brother said, “Just because the Dispensationalist ties the horse up to the wrong hitching post does not mean that there is no horse.”

Psalm 105 is a recitation of God’s past blessings and future (from that point) promises for the nation of Israel. David repeats the same words as those quoted above. He adds, “He hath remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations” (v. 8), and then proceeds to talk about the land.

O descendants of Abraham … He is the LORD our God … He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: “To you will I give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit” (Ps. 105:6–11 NIV).

It seems impossible to compare the above verses with texts like Luke 1:68–79 and not see that the NT Scriptures uses the same terms in a spiritual way. The physical land is without question the heart of the promise in Psalm 105:6–11, but salvation, or spiritual rest, becomes the heart of the fulfillment of the same promise in Luke 1:68–79 and other NT passages. We do not find even a hint of the physical land of Palestine in Luke’s words. He totally spiritualizes the words found in the OT Scriptures.

In Jeremiah’s day, “I will be their God” and possessing the land are both equal parts of an everlasting covenant that God promises to make with Israel in the last days. We could ask, as we read these verses, “What happened to the previous everlasting covenant that God made with Israel?” How can a truly everlasting covenant be replaced with another everlasting covenant if the word everlasting means never ending?

Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: and they shall be my people, and I will their God: and I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul (Jer. 32:37–41).

How are we to understand the land promise given to Abraham and reiterated all through the OT Scriptures? There is absolutely no question that inheriting the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession is the heart of the covenant that God made with Abraham and also constantly told Israel to remember. Is that covenant promise still awaiting a natural fulfillment in the physical land of Palestine by national Israel? Are the Dispensationalists correct in their basic approach to Scripture? Or is the land promise to be spiritualized? Do the answers to the above questions lie in the OT Scriptures or in the words of the Apostles as they interpret the OT Scriptures? The last question is the basic one. Where one looks for the answers to the questions will determine what the answers will be! Use the OT Scriptures to interpret the New and you will get entirely different answers than if you use the NT Scriptures to interpret the Old.

First of all, we must realize that there is not a single repetition, or mention, of the land promise in any passage in the NT Scriptures including Romans 11 and the entire book of Revelation. True, this is an argument from silence, but it is an obvious silence, and it does leave the Dispensationalist with a theology of Israel and the land that is built entirely on the OT Scriptures. It also leaves them with an expectation of a future natural fulfillment that is identical to that held by the people who rejected and crucified Christ because they were not interested either in him or in his kind of kingdom.

Second, the NT Scriptures definitely spiritualize the land promise in passages where one would expect to find it reiterated. This is clearly illustrated in every sermon in the book of Acts, the book of Hebrews, and in passages like Luke l:68–79 quoted earlier. The writers of the NT Scriptures always point a Jew back to the Cross and Pentecost as the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham (Acts 3:24–26). They never once point him forward with a future land promise.

Third, the one New Testament passage that does clearly speak about the ‘promised land’ makes it evident that the land was only a pledge of something greater.

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11:8–10).

Abraham obviously realized, while his feet were actually standing in the promised land itself, that the land was not the full or real promise, but only a pledge of something greater. Abraham’s ultimate hope was “heavenly” (v 16) and not “earthly” (v 13). He was still looking for a heavenly city even while dwelling in the physical land of promise. It is clear to anyone without a total theological bias that Abraham’s hope was not in the earthly city of Palestine but in the heavenly city itself. Verses 13 and 16 in Hebrews 11 establish that beyond question. However, we must insist that we only know what Abraham understood by what the Holy Spirit has revealed to us in the NT Scriptures. We could read the life of Abraham in Genesis for a million years and never find what is revealed in Hebrews 11:8–10.^[1]

Dispensationalism keeps insisting that the faithfulness of God to keep his covenant is at stake in Israel inheriting the land of Canaan sometime in the future. This reasoning misses the whole point of the real promise. Suppose a father promised his son a car if he graduated from High School with a B average. The boy pictures in his mind a small compact. He really works and graduates with a B+ average. On his graduation day his father hands him a set of keys and says, “Your new wheels are in the garage.” The boy rushes out to the garage trying to imagine which compact and what color awaits him. Imagine his amazement if he found a brand new $30,000 sports car with every option imaginable. Would one expect the boy, in great disappointment, to go in to his dad and say, “Gee, I was expecting a Geo^TM or an Escort^TM”?

Do you think that any OT believer, including Abraham himself, would trade what he now possesses in the presence of God for every inch of Palestine? Do you really think a believing Jew in the future would feel “let down” if all he got was heaven itself? If you were a Jew living in the celestial city, would you feel that God had gone back on his Word for giving you a heavenly city instead of the earthly city of Jerusalem? Would you lament his unfaithfulness to his unconditional promise made to Abraham?

What we are really saying is this: (1) Every promise that was made to Abraham and his seed is either now fulfilled spiritually in Christ; or will be fulfilled in the new heavens and new earth; or else it ended when the Old Covenant was done away; or there will be, in some cases, a ‘double’ fulfillment. (2) Every single thing given to a believer ‘in Christ’ is far better than anything in the natural world, including all of the land of Palestine. Every believer, whether Jew or Gentile, will ultimately be united to Christ and be part of his bride (Rev. 21) and experience the “better things” of Hebrews 11:39, 40.

Both the Dispensationalist and the Covenant Theologian want to bring the promise of Abraham and his seed into the present age in a physical sense via the lineage of their physical children. They both insist that the promise made to Abraham and his seed is an unconditional covenant and is therefore still in effect for physical seeds. The Dispensationalist naturalizes the seed to mean physical Israel, and the Paedobaptist naturalizes the seed to mean the physical children of believers. The Padeobaptist wants to make the Abrahamic covenant to be a special covenant with believers concerning the salvation of their physical children that is still in effect today. The Dispensationalist wants the same covenant to be a special covenant still in force with Jews concerning the land of Palestine. In the end, the Paedobaptist does exactly the same thing with Abraham’s seed as the Dispensationalist! He merely does it for a different purpose.

Fourth, it seems clear that the NT Scriptures see all of the things that are implied in the promise concerning “a land of your own” to be the New Covenant believer’s possession in a spiritual sense. The heart of the land promise involved “rest from your enemies” and full provision of every need. The prominent theme in the OT Scriptures was ‘rest’ and all that goes along with it. The heart of the gospel message in the NT Scriptures is rest and full provision, but it is spiritualized. It is not difficult to read the fulfillment of the promised rest into passages like Matthew 11:28–30, Hebrews 4, and specifically Luke 1:68–79. It is not the real estate (physical land) that was important but an eternal real ‘estate’ (the blessing that was typified by the land).

It may be beneficial to review this section in the form of a chart. It will help to fix in our minds how we are to understand the word everlasting as it is used in the many Old Covenant promises.

Thing Promised	OT Type	NT Fulfillment
Everlasting Priesthood	Aaron	Christ
Everlasting Sanctuary	Tabernacle	The Body of Christ
Everlasting Sabbath	Seventh Day	Salvation Rest (Heb. 4)
Everlasting Circumcision	Physical Circumcision	Regeneration
Everlasting Land	Earthly Jerusalem	New Jerusalem (Rev. 21)

 

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