“And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that He sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.” (Joshua 21:43-45)
These verses from Joshua are used by some to “prove” the the promise to Abraham was fulfilled. It is interesting to note that those who argue this say that the New Testament is their guide. In the New Testament, reference is made to the promise made to Abraham, and clearly teaches that it has not been fulfilled. In Acts 7:2-5, we find the words of Stephen, “And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come unto the land which I shall shew thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. And He gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet He promised that He would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.” There is the evidence, and it’s given by an inspired disciple in the New Testament—this should settle the matter. But we find those who teach the “church/kingdom” theory [that the worldwide body of Christ is the kingdom of God] digging in the Old Testament, trying to disprove it.
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Author: The Herald Press
Keywords: Kingdom of God, Kingdom of heaven, heavenly kingdom, God's promises, promise to Abraham
Bible reference(s): Josh. 21:43-45, Acts 7:5
Source: Scriptural Studies: The Kingdom of God (Houston, 1975).
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.