Hebrews 11:9
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.
The Almighty El-Shaddai swore to Abraham, all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever (Genesis 13:15). Yet, after decades of wondering, and even going to war with five kings to protect his divine inheritance, when it came time for him to bury his wife, the patriarch still claimed to be a ‘foreigner’ in the Land of Promise (Genesis 23:4). He even had to haggle a burial place from a mocking Canaanite.
The Scriptures record three important places purchased by Abraham and his offspring: Abraham bought the Cave of Machpelah (Genesis 23:17-18); David purchased the place where the Temple was built (2 Samuel 24:24); and Jacob acquired the parcel of ground where Joseph was eventually buried (Joshua 24:32). The Scriptures solidly record these transactions but until today, these places are claimed to be Muslim holy sites ‘stolen’ by the Jews.
Abraham believed the Divine reality of the promises of God and acted upon them as much as he could, but he also knew how to live within his earthly present reality, the very present reality of having to buy what already belonged to him by Divine right. He even refused Ephron’s offer of a gift. Abraham bought the land, and he bought it at an exorbitant price. This teaches us the difference between promise and reality.
Four thousand years later, as a response to a distant echo, the descendants of the Children of Abraham move into this land and re-conquer what is already theirs by Divine right. Until today this small strip of land by the Mediterranean Sea, that Pleasant Land promised to the descendant of Abraham not to die but to live in, is being bought at an exorbitant price. It is being bought not only at the price of the lives and deaths of many victims of war and terrorism, but also at the cost of world’s anger and the resurgence of anti-Semitism. The haggling with the 'Canaanite' seems to continue, not only with one king this time, but with the world and the United Nations. Sometimes Israel is so tired of the ‘haggling’ that it is tempted to offer ‘land for peace’.
We must learn something from Abraham our father. While being aware of our Divine reality, we must also learn to live within our present earthly reality. Our souls have been bought and purchased; Yeshua paid the exorbitant bride price to live within the walls of our hearts, but daily the haggling goes on with t 'Canaanite' who does not let go. We can get so tired at times of the daily fight that we compromise with the 'evil one' offering him terms of 'peace' in the form of land from our heart. But wait, Messiah bought that 'land'; it belongs to Him. And as Israel does, must remember the price and the promises, expecting total fulfillment in the Messianic Era..
As Abraham and his 'offspring', we must learn to fight knowing that what God has promised, He is also able t fully accomplish (Romans 4:21).
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.
The Almighty El-Shaddai swore to Abraham, all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever (Genesis 13:15). Yet, after decades of wondering, and even going to war with five kings to protect his divine inheritance, when it came time for him to bury his wife, the patriarch still claimed to be a ‘foreigner’ in the Land of Promise (Genesis 23:4). He even had to haggle a burial place from a mocking Canaanite.
The Scriptures record three important places purchased by Abraham and his offspring: Abraham bought the Cave of Machpelah (Genesis 23:17-18); David purchased the place where the Temple was built (2 Samuel 24:24); and Jacob acquired the parcel of ground where Joseph was eventually buried (Joshua 24:32). The Scriptures solidly record these transactions but until today, these places are claimed to be Muslim holy sites ‘stolen’ by the Jews.
Abraham believed the Divine reality of the promises of God and acted upon them as much as he could, but he also knew how to live within his earthly present reality, the very present reality of having to buy what already belonged to him by Divine right. He even refused Ephron’s offer of a gift. Abraham bought the land, and he bought it at an exorbitant price. This teaches us the difference between promise and reality.
Four thousand years later, as a response to a distant echo, the descendants of the Children of Abraham move into this land and re-conquer what is already theirs by Divine right. Until today this small strip of land by the Mediterranean Sea, that Pleasant Land promised to the descendant of Abraham not to die but to live in, is being bought at an exorbitant price. It is being bought not only at the price of the lives and deaths of many victims of war and terrorism, but also at the cost of world’s anger and the resurgence of anti-Semitism. The haggling with the 'Canaanite' seems to continue, not only with one king this time, but with the world and the United Nations. Sometimes Israel is so tired of the ‘haggling’ that it is tempted to offer ‘land for peace’.
We must learn something from Abraham our father. While being aware of our Divine reality, we must also learn to live within our present earthly reality. Our souls have been bought and purchased; Yeshua paid the exorbitant bride price to live within the walls of our hearts, but daily the haggling goes on with t 'Canaanite' who does not let go. We can get so tired at times of the daily fight that we compromise with the 'evil one' offering him terms of 'peace' in the form of land from our heart. But wait, Messiah bought that 'land'; it belongs to Him. And as Israel does, must remember the price and the promises, expecting total fulfillment in the Messianic Era..
As Abraham and his 'offspring', we must learn to fight knowing that what God has promised, He is also able t fully accomplish (Romans 4:21).
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