The Dispensation of Promise—An Everlasting Possession

By RANDY WHITE, D.Min.

Founder and CEO

As we continue our study of the dispensations, we go deeper this week into the concepts that carry over into future ages from the dispensation of promise, which began with the call of Abram in Genesis 12.

Here is the basic text that forms the background for this week’s lesson:

So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south. (Gen. 12:4-9)

Here is a map that traces Abram’s path to this particular point in the text:

We left off last time with this question: Do you know where modern-day Shechem is, or why this might be significant?

Have you ever turned on the news and heard of the little town on the West Bank called Nablus? It is a town that is in Palestinian territory and, in fact, is very prominent among those that are called Palestinians. Many of the elite leaders in our own nation would like this place to become Jew-free.

It is interesting that this is the first place that Abram comes to—the land that God says, “I am going to give you this land.”

In other words, many of the leaders of our country are completely at odds with this passage. God has given Abram this particular land.

In fact, later in the book of Genesis, Jacob comes back to Shechem at one point and he actually purchases this land.

And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the city.
And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for an hundred pieces of money.
And he erected there an altar, and called it EleloheIsrael. (Gen. 33:18-20)

Here we have the record of this transaction—making this one of only three places in the Bible for which we have such a report. This land was not stolen or even conquered. It was purchased. Jacob’s Well is there to this very day, and archaeologists have discovered the remains of the ancient city of Shechem.

One of the fundamental revelations that was given in this new dispensation of promise is that the land of Canaan would be given to Abram and his descendants—who comprise the nation of Israel. God clearly makes this promise to Abram again in Genesis 12:7. In fact, no person could be in right relationship with God without faith in this promise of the gift of land to Abram’s offspring.

We see this truth reiterated when we look at another important verse, Genesis 13:15:

For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

This is clearly something that changes everything. The people of Israel would own the land forever!

In that light, let us also think about another very key verse that expands on the promise of Genesis 12:1, in particular:

And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. (Gen. 17:8)

This giving of the land to the Jewish people would carry over past this dispensation of promise. In fact, it is theirs as an everlasting possession. If you are going to be in a right relationship with God, you must recognize that fact from this point onward.

And here is the key verse that we began to base all of this upon:

And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. (Gen. 12:3, NASB).

What an astounding truth this is—and one that flies in the face of so much of what we are told—even by those who are viewed as the most intelligent leaders of our time, from a worldly perspective. May God help us who know the truth of Scripture to place our faith in His Word alone—even when the world contradicts it.

Editor’s Note: This blog was compiled with the assistance of Paul J. Scharf,
editor in chief of Dispensational Publishing House,
and is taken from the video that you can watch in its entirety below.

(Read Part 20)

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible^®,
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)