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Posted on May 20, 2023 by Mike LeDuke Next article:Inheriting the Land

When the Lord Jesus came, Abraham had been dead for centuries. Yet, as discussed in the last post, Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham, though the promises remained partly fulfilled throughout Abraham’s lifetime, they finally came to complete fruition with the Lord.

But how does that benefit Abraham at all? How would you feel if someone promised you something, maybe a new home or a tract of land, and then didn’t give it to you? Instead, what if, many years after your death, they gave it to your grandchild? Does that seem right? Why would they have made the promise to you, if you were never actually going to benefit from it? Why not just make the promise to your grandchild?

First, whatever God does is right — that’s a clear principle of Scripture. Second, there’s a little more to this promise that shows that Abraham’s connection to it is a little different than we might initially think. In Hebrews 11, the apostle writes about many of the faithful. When discussing Abraham and his family, he specifically acknowledges the promises’ lack of fulfillment:

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise…These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews 11:8-9, 13).

But, that isn’t where the story ends. The apostle continues to talk about the faithful, evening noting that the faithful throughout history have “obtained promises” (v. 33). In other words, for centuries, the promises made to Abraham have been passed on to his descendants, and none of them have received them. Indeed, Christ was the fulfillment of the promised offspring who would bless the world, but there was more to the promises than the blessing of the world––think about the inheritance of the land. Though Israel possessed some of the land, they rarely ever took hold of everything promised to Abraham. Thus, the promises were passed on, and no one ever actually had them fulfilled. Yet, consider how the apostle ends the list of the faithful:

“And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:39-40).

There was a reason that they hadn’t received the promise. It wasn’t that God was baiting them and simply never fulfilling what He said––as if God would do that! Instead God works on an unlimited timetable. That means that death isn’t a problem for him. If someone dies without receiving the fulfillment of the promise, that’s no issue — God can raise them up. And that’s the point. God’s promises didn’t fall to the ground. Far from it. Instead, God was waiting to fulfill them so that He could fulfill them all at once with all the faithful. That’s what the apostle was saying in Hebrews.

But if that’s the case, do you see what that means for all the faithful of old?

It means, as much as it defies everything that we as humans know and believe about death, that they’re coming back, and that one day, in life again, those promises will finally be fulfilled.

So when will that be? And how does one become part of that group?