What promise in Acts 7:5?
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Tim,
In your teachings, you separate the land promise to Abraham from that to Moses. Moses’ was fulfilled through the Promised land, and Abraham’s will be fulfilled through the Kingdom. I also believe you use Acts 7:5 as evidence that Abraham’s promise is not yet fulfilled.However, it seems to me that the context refers to the land of Kanaan, not the Kingdom:
[Act 7:4-5 NKJV] “[God] moved [Abraham] to this land in which you now dwell. “And God gave him no inheritance in IT [i.e., “this land in which you now dwell”], not even enough to set his foot on.”
[Act 7:17 NKJV] “But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt…”
It seems to me that the latter quote shows that the land promise given to Abraham (in Gen 13:15) was fulfilled when Kanaan was conquered.
/Anders
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Anders,
The land that God promised to Abraham as a permanent inheritance includes the land of seven nations (Gen. 15:18-20; Deut. 7:1; Acts 13:19) and extended from the Nile to the Euphrates. However, under the Mosaic Covenant, God only gave Israel a temporary residence (within the borders of the whole land He would eventually give to Abraham), as long as they kept His Law. “The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me” (Lev. 25:23 NASB). The ultimate penalty for Israel was exile from the Land.
Regarding Acts 7:17, the “promise” referenced concerned the APPOINTED TIME when their slavery would end, as stated in the Abrahamic Covenant:
Gen. 15:13-16 (NKJV)
13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
14 “And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15 “Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.
16 “But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”This is NOT the permanent inheritance promised to Abraham personally and his “Seed” who is Christ (Gal. 3:16). It is the temporary inheritance under the Law of Moses. Note that Abraham would be dead (v. 15) when this temporary inheritance of his descendants would take place. It is THIS promise specifically that Steven referenced in Acts 7:17.
In Galatians 3, Paul made this very clear distinction between the permanent inheritance promised to Abraham and His ‘Seed’ (Christ), vs. the arrangement under the Law of Moses which was temporary. Yes, it involved the same land, but under two different covenants.
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Anders,
Acts 7:5 does indeed refer to the permanent inheritance of the Land, because it refers to Abraham HIMSELF inheriting the land along with His ‘Seed’ who is Christ (Gal. 3:16). God said He would give the Land “to YOU and to your seed.” This can only occur after the resurrection since Abraham died long before the exodus. The ONLY promise of the Land inheritance given specifically to Abraham is the permanent possession. The only part of God’s promises to Abraham that were fulfilled already are the promise that he would have a Son (Isaac) through Sarah, and that his descendants would be abused for 4000 years, then enslaved for a time but delivered in the “fourth generation.” Gen. 15:13-16.
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Tim,
We totally agree that the land promise to Abraham is not yet fulfilled but will be fulfilled through the Kingdom. My problem is that I cannot see that this is what Acts 7 says. Look at v.17:[Act 7:17 NKJV] “But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt…”
Since “the time drew near” when “the people multiplied in Egypt”, the time must refer to the conquest of Kanaan. At this time the “promise… God had sworn TO ABRAHAM” would be fulfilled. It must be the land promise because it is not possible to “set ones foot on” (v.5) a promise of a son, an abuse of 4000 years, or a delivery in the 4th generation.
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Anders,
God made a series of promises to Abraham, all of which are part of the Abrahamic Covenant. But those specific promises are not fulfilled at the same time. These include:
1. A son through Sarah
2. This son would become a great nation
3. persecution and subjugation of Abraham’s descendants
4. through Abraham’s seed all nations would be blessed
5. permanent inheritance of the land by Abraham himself and his ‘Seed’NONE of these promises occurred or will occur at the same time. They are each fulfilled progressively. The statement in Acts 7:5 concerning the land is specifically, “he would give it to him in possession, and to his seed after him.”
The fact is, God gave the land temporarily to Abraham’s descendants but not to Abraham himself. So, the latter part of this statement was fulfilled in a limited sense after the exodus, but definitely not the first part.
I think you are making a mistake by supposing that verse 17 must refer to everything in verse 5. It is clear in v. 17 that the context refers to when a specified time had been fulfilled which was a very specific part of the promises to Abraham. That specified time is recorded in Gen. 15.
Gen. 15 (LXX)
13 And it was said to Abram, Thou shalt surely know that thy seed shall be a sojourner in a land not their won, and they shall enslave them, and afflict them, and humble them four hundred years.
14 And the nation whomsoever they shall serve I will judge; and after this, they shall come forth hither with much property.
15 But thou shalt depart to thy fathers in peace, nourished in a good old age.
16 And in the fourth generation they shall return hither, for the sins of the Amorites are not yet filled up, even until now.This is precisely, and exclusively, what Acts references in v. 17:
Acts 7:17-20 (NASB)
17 “But as the time of the promise was approaching which God had assured to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt,
18 until there arose another king over Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph.
19 “It was he who took shrewd advantage of our race, and mistreated our fathers so that they would expose their infants and they would not survive.
20 “And it was at this time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God; and he was nurtured three months in his father’s home.Moses was the “fourth generation” from Levi, Abraham’s great-grandson who was taken into Egypt with his father and brothers. (Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses {1 Chron. 6:1-2).
Obviously when Moses was born it was not the TIME for Israel to inherit the land, either temporarily (under the Law) or permanently (in the Kingdom). Moses was 120 years old when he died and Joshua took the Israelites into the land. The statement, “the promise was approaching which God had assured to Abraham”, the ONLY “promise” in view was their deliverance from slavery through Moses — the exodus. That is pretty plain in Steven’s speech as he went on to describe it in detail through all of verses 17-44. The entrance into the promised land is not even mentioned by Steven until v. 45 where it is only mentioned in passing that Joshua brought the tabernacle into the land. But nothing is said of inheriting the land, or the Abrahamic Covenant.
The whole point of Steven’s sermon was that God fulfilled a promise to Abraham regarding the deliverance from Egypt, gave them His Law, but even so they refused to obey Him.
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