Introduction
Many would have you believe that being of Jewish descent qualifies someone to be Yahweh’s chosen people, who are to inherit the kingdom of God. Many will also tell you that God’s kingdom includes the physical land of Israel, earthly Jerusalem/temple, etc. But is this really what the word teaches brothers and sisters? Let us strive to be like the faithful Bereans (Acts 17:11), searching the scriptures diligently for ourselves, in order that we will receive only the truth that is taught by the Spirit of Truth (John 16:13) and not by man’s wisdom, which is foolishness with God (1 Cor 2:6-16). In this two-part study, we are going to examine a series of key passages and find out who the word establishes as the children of promise.
Some people think the covenant made at Sinai (aka old covenant) was the first one, but this is not true. It was preceded by the covenant between Yahweh and Abraham, which was made because of his faith and obedience. Part 1 will focus primarily on this covenant, and part 2 will bridge the understanding to the new covenant, which is now in effect through Yahshua Messiah. As you read on you will find that both covenants are integrally and forever linked in an amazing way! We will also be looking at the covenant from Sinai, as one of the major points of focus will be contrasting old and new covenants.
Through Yah’s covenant with Abraham, the promises of blessing/people and inheritance/land went to him and his seed (seed = offspring/descendants). Keeping the words faith and obedience in mind is crucial to understanding this study. Moreover, we must keep this question in mind: “Who is the seed of Abraham?” What you will find is that without being identified with the covenant promises of Abraham, we cannot be children of God. And in like fashion, without being identified with Christ through faith and repentance, we cannot be counted as children of Abraham, and neither therefore as children of God. We will also be touching on what is counted as the true promised land, which is the kingdom of Heaven.
Please read all passages carefully and pay particularly close attention to content in all caps, and especially content that is in bold font. All passages are KJV unless otherwise noted. You may notice that all the passages are in order of appearance by book, chapter, and verse (correlating to most Bible versions anyway). I do not always use this method, but rather when it seems to work/flow well, and moreover to aid in understanding. On we go! Continue reading “Children of Promise”