“I will give you and your descendants after you the land in which you are now foreigners, all the land of Canaan, as a permanent possession; and I will be their God.”-Genesis 17:8
One important lesson we can learn from Abraham’s life is the importance of adopting a heavenly perspective versus an earthly perspective.
The earthly perspective is always focusing on our immediate and physical circumstances.
“What happens if I lose my job?!!”
“How the hell am I gonna pay off my student loan debt?!!”
“My girlfriend just broke up with me!”
When we focus on external circumstances instead of God, our actions end up “birthing an Ishmael” as one Arab Christian Pastor I sometimes listen to put it.
Look what Abraham did when the grievous famine came. Against God’s will he went down south into Egypt. And it cost him. And not only did it cost him, it cost us too. Because the Egyptian bondwoman he brought back was Hagar, who eventually ended up “birthing an Ishmael”.
And now we have to deal with idiotic groups like ISIS.
Instead of trusting in the God who called him, Abraham ended up letting external circumstances guide his decisions.
This same idea can be applied to the Jewish people’s relationship to the land of Israel.
Notice how verse 8 says that “I will give this land to your descendants forever“.
Now some people will say this verse cannot possibly be true because it is obvious that throughout their history Israel has not always resided in the land since they first entered it during the time of Joshua.
Their argument is focused on the external circumstances and ignoring God’s eternal promise to Abraham.
There is a big difference between ownership of the land and possession of it.
One can own something and not actually physically possess it.
For example, if I have a building that I am renting out, I own it but it is my tenants that are physically in possession of it.
The very instant that God made the covenant with Abraham, the land belonged to the Hebrews, even if according to God’s timetable, the time still wasn’t ripe for them to possess it.
Even during their 400 year period of slavery in Egypt, the land belonged to Israel.
People have a tendency to say that Israel lost their ownership of the land when they were forced to relocate to Babylon or when they lost the land during the Roman takeover in 70 A.D.
WRONG!
Israel has never lost nor will it ever lose their rights to the land.
It is an eternal possession from God.
Don’t be fooled by the “external circumstances” argument.
Stand on the promises of YEHOVEH!
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