Was God's land promise to Abram unconditional?

[TonyChanYT]

I think so.

God called Abram, and he went in Gen 12:

6a When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

God promised to give Abram's offspring some (physical) land. It was a gradual revelation. Another detail was added in the next chapter, Gen 13:

14 The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.

H5704-forever was polysemantic. It did not always mean time going on to infinity

Genesis 17:

8 I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting [H5769] possession, and I will be their God.”

H5769-olam-forever was also polysemantic.

Abraham instructed his servant in Genesis 24:

7 "The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me from my father's house and my native land, who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, 'To your offspring I will give this land'--He will send His angel before you so that you can take a wife for my son from there."

Abraham didn't mention the forever part.

Genesis 26:

2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. 3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham.

Was God's land promise to Abram unconditional?

Yes, and it was fulfilled already. However, there could be further fulfillment.

Did God promise to give his descendants the land forever unconditionally?

Probably not.

Moses explained in Lev 18:

26 But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you 27(for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), 28 lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.

There was a condition in order to keep the land continuously.

 

[Randy Kluth]

I think so.

God called Abram, and he went in Gen 12:


God promised to give Abram's offspring some (physical) land. It was a gradual revelation. Another detail was added in the next chapter, Gen 13:


H5704-forever was polysemantic. It did not always mean time going on to infinity

Genesis 17:


H5769-olam-forever was also polysemantic.

Abraham instructed his servant in Genesis 24:


Abraham didn't mention the forever part.

Genesis 26:


Was God's land promise to Abram unconditional?

Yes, and it was fulfilled already. However, there could be further fulfillment.

Did God promise to give his descendants the land forever unconditionally?

Probably not.

Moses explained in Lev 18:


There was a condition in order to keep the land continuously.

This is a great, though controversial, subject. I completely agree with you that "forever" can mean "in perpetuity," rather than "eternally." And yes, some "forever" promises were conditional, meaning that though there was "perpetuity," the conditions rendered this "perpetuity" not "eternal."

So yes, Israel inherited their land, in perpetuity, and yet conditionally. They would be removed from their land if they did not, as a people, follow the Law. They committed apostasy and were exiled form their land, but only on a temporary basis. They were always returned to their land.

My argument is that the promise of land ownership still remains. That does not mean Israel has yet been given rights, by God, to all of the land in Palestine. But they may have an argument that God is moving in this direction.

Whenever Israel was removed from their land, God always made a path for them to return to that land. It may be argued that once the New Covenant of Christ was initiated, the Church took up the mantle of "Israel" and the "land inheritance" became "heaven" and not a physical geography in Palestine.

I respect those who believe this "Replacement Theology." However, Jesus described the NT era, for Jews, as a time of their greatest "punishment." This means they are still going through a protracted correctional experience designed to return them to their land in Palestine. Just my opinion....

I must hasten to say that I would agree, in part, with the Replacement Theologians. The international Church has, at least for the time being, replaced national Israel as "God's People." They have taken the baton and moved God's Kingdom along without Israel. I wouldn't call them the New Israel, but I would say that they assumed the tradition that Israel began, of faith, and of Christ's Kingdom.

But I think that at Christ's Coming, the baton will not be passed back, as Dispensationalists think, but rather, Israel will sort of "catch up" to the Gentile Church, joining many nations in becoming "Christian nations." This reality of theocratic nations is denied all the time, but I will double down on it. God promised Abraham the *nation* Israel and many *nations* under the fatherhood of Abraham. Those are *nations,* and not just remnants of nations, which is what we largely have now.

And so, one day soon Israel will become, I think, a Christian nation. As well, the former Christian nations will return to their proper, orthodox Christianity. This will be in the Millennial Kingdom, if I'm right that there will be one.

But I would agree with the Replacement Theologians that the inheritance of the land of Palestine is not an "eternal" promise in the sense that in Eternity there won't be these kinds of political divisions at all. There will be "New Jerusalem," which is a united city, and not separate nations with separate political units. But this is all speculative.

 

[Jay Ross]

Hello
Please allow me to present the following, which I believe is more in line with what is recorded in the scriptures: -

This is how I would paraphrase Genesis 12:1-3: -

Genesis 12:1 Now the Lord had said to Abram:
"Walk away from: -
your country,
your family, and
your father's house,
And walk towards an earth that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in/through you shall be blessed
All the families {of this world}, who inhabiting My fertile field/soil
. . . . .
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this earth." And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 13:14-15: - 14 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are — northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the earth which you see, {that (entity)}, I will give to your descendants for a long period of time whose ending, which is beyond man’s comprehension, is at the vanishing point, {of this particular time period}, in the future.

In Genesis 15:17-21, God again described the land that He had promised to Abraham tht he would give to Abraham’s descendants for a period of time as a sign so that they could believe that they will receive the whole earth for a possession in the distant future. After the death of King Solomon, the entity portion of the earth that God had given as a possession to Abraham’s descendants was taken from them because of their idolatrous worship, but God did not remove all of this entity from them.

This is in Genesis 17:8 where God gave this promise: -

Genesis 17:8: - 8 Also I give this entity, to your descendants after you, the country in which you are a stranger, all the country of Canaan, for a long period of time {where the vanishing point for this time period is in the distant future}, as a possession; and I will be their God."

This land was divided between the Kingdom if Isael and the Kingdom of Judah. The Kingdom of Israel was overcome by the Assyrians and had dominion over that part of the land of Canaan until Babylon came and took the Kingdom of Judah into exile in Babylon for 70 years.
After the Jews from the Kingdom of Judah returned, they lived in the land of Canaan but they did not have dominion over the Land of Canaan. Initially the Greek Empire had dominion over the Land of Canaan and then after 60 BC the Roman Empire held dominion over the Land of Canaan.

In 2 Chronicles 7:12ff God warned the Israelites that if they continue in their idolatrous way that the following would happen: -

2 Chronicles 7:19-20: - 19 But if you turn away and forsake the statutes and commandments I have set before you, and if you go off to serve and worship other gods, 20 then I will uproot Israel from the fertile soil I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. I will make it an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.

This prophetic word was fulfilled in 70 A.D. when the Little Horn came with His army and trampled the temple and destroyed it and scattered the Israelite to the four corners of the earth.

People claim that Israel returned to the “Promised Land” in 1948 AD to fulfil Genesis 15:16: - “16 But in the fourth age they, i.e., your descendants, shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

However, in this one verse we can see that Abraham’s descendants return in their own strength and the Little Horn and his fighters/armies have opposed the Israelites possession of the Land of Canaan ever since. We can also note that everywhere else in the world the Israelites are also persecuted and oppressed in the countries that they have been scattered too.

Shortly, in around 20 years’ time, God will judge the kings of the earth for their part in trampling God’s sanctuary and His earthly Hosts/the Israelites along with the Heavenly hosts who have influenced the kings of the earth to do so, particularly the Little Horn.

When the fulness in time of the Gentiles has run to its completion, then as Paul informs us, that after that time all of Israel will be saved. God Himself has promised that He will gather them to Himself and redeem them and cleanse them and make like new again the Kingdom of Priests, a Holy Nation and His Possession among the nations Covenant once again. But the progression of the redeemed Israelites to become a Kingdom of Priests will take some time but when they do enter into this covenant once more, they will do so and excel in doing so.

Shalom

PS: e&oa.