This Land Belongs to Jesus

A Devotional Series from Genesis

Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)

8/18 Reading Portions: 1 Samuel 10; Romans 8; Jeremiah 47; Psalms 23-24

Genesis 12:7

Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your Offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

SEED

The KJV renders our verse like this:

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.

When we see the word “Offspring” (ESV), we may tend to think of the word in a plurality, like progeny, posterity, or descendants. In the original Hebrew, however, לְזַרְעֲךָ (l’-ZAR-a-KHA), in the possessive form, is a singular “Offspring” (ESV) or “Seed” (KJV), meaning “To your Offspring…” (ESV) or “Unto thy Seed” (KJV). We see the same possessive, singular form when the promise to Abram is repeated by God Almighty in Genesis 17:7,

And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy Seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy Seed after thee. KJV

The Holy Spirit explains these covenant promises through Paul when the apostle dictated his letter to the Christians in Galatia,

Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy Seed, which is Christ. Galatians 3:16, KJV

This is why I capitalized “Seed” and “Offspring” in the verses from Genesis. The Seed and Offspring was the promise of the Messiah to come. The land that is occupied by Palestinians and Israelis today belongs to Jesus… because the entire world, the heavens, the earth, and those who dwell therein belong to Him (Ex 19:5; Psa 24:1; 89:11; et al).

Now, as considered in our devotional thought from Genesis 12:2-3, these promises are also to you and me who are in Christ. For the Holy Spirit goes on to explain through Paul,

And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:29, KJV

But the truth of this verse is more than doctrinal; that is, we’re not merely receiving information for our core Christian beliefs. This truth is also devotional, for it prioritizes Christ so that we may devote ourselves to Him. This truth is also liturgical and practical. Note that once Abram received this blessed promise from Yehovah, Abram built there an altar to the LORD. There is a miracle that takes place in the Christian believer when Christ Jesus is set before us as the First, Last, and Everything in between; when He is exalted in our hearts and minds: being liturgical, relating to our public worship of God, we will worship God in Christ by the Spirit for the Father’s great glory. This is why it is written that he built an altar.

But it is also practical. For when this miracle takes place in a daily practice of exalting Christ in the Spirit for the Father’s glory, we fulfill what we were ultimately created to be—worshippers of God, as it is written,

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

Hallelujah! What a Savior!