Photo credit: Wikipedia user Thermos. License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic

Sunday, November 18, 2018

The land of promise

Hebrews 11.9 says that Isaac and Jacob were “coheirs of the same promise” as Abraham. Which promise? The promised land, as the same verse tells us: “By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise.” Therefore, the New Testament tells us that the land was promised by God to Abraham and his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob who inherited it from him as his heirs. Jacob is also named Israel. His children became the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. Recall that Romans 15.8 reminds us that Messiah came “to confirm the promises to the fathers”. Now, then, to whom does the New Testament promise the holy land?