Things That Were Written Aforetime...

In the last issue of the Fruit Of The Spirit, the Abrahamic covenant was introduced by way of Genesis 12:1-3. It was in that call of God that the three-fold promise was made to Abraham to include the land promise, the seed promise, and the nation promise. This second installment will examine each promise, its initial fulfillment, and the ultimate fulfillment for man today.

The Land of Promise

It is apparent from Acts 7:2, that the declaration recorded in Genesis 12:1-3 was originally made while Abram was still in Ur of Chaldees. From there, he traveled with his wife, his nephew, and his father to Haran, where Abram’s father, Terah, died (Genesis 11:30-31). After the death of Terah, Abram continued his journey to Canaan, and at Sichem he built an altar to God. It was there that God once again appeared unto Abram, declaring His promise of land and of seed (Genesis 12:7).

It would be that land in ancient Palestine that Abram and his descendants would inherit from God; though Abraham never possessed it (Acts 7:5). This promise was initially fulfilled after God brought the children of Israel over the Jordan River and drove out the Canaanite inhabitants before them. Those of the pre-millennial persuasion see this promise as having not yet been fulfilled and anticipate a future kingdom in which the nation of Israel is physically restored to Palestine. However, Joshua 21:43 emphatically states, “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 in verse 45 the Scriptures state, “There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass” (cf. Neh. 9:24).

The secondary, or ultimate, fulfillment of this land promise is Heaven. The Hebrew writer clearly identified the land of Canaan as the land of promise for the children of Israel and Heaven as that land of promise for Christians (Hebrews 3:7-4:1, 9-10). Just as Paul points to a figurative circumcision of a figurative Jew, the Christian (Romans 2:29), John saw a figurative Jerusalem descending out of Heaven in Revelation 21:2.

This city is not literally Jerusalem, but is a figure of the capital of God’s people wherein they worship the Father.

The Seed of Promise

Few will argue against Isaac as being the fulfillment of the seed promise. Additionally, the fulfillment of this promise was extended to the multitude of the children of Israel (Gen 15:5; cf. Neh 9:23). The apostle Paul expressed the ultimate fulfillment of the seed promise in Galatians 3:16 saying, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” Paul then further extends the application of the

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