It is a fact of history that the Jew has never completely possessed this portion of the earth, although a fore-

shadowing took place during the reign of Solomon. In 1 Kings 4:21 and 2 Chronicles 9:26, we are told that his

dominion was from the river (Euphrates) to the border of Egypt. This is not so extensive as the promise of Genesis

15 for it does not include Egypt and the boundary of the Nile, and while Solomon, for political and commercial

reasons, was able to control territory outside Palestine, yet the twelve tribes went no further than this stretch of land

as 1 Kings 4:25 states: `Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan

even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon'. Reference to a map will show that this was the extreme north and

south of Palestine only, and therefore it is certain that the Jew has never yet enjoyed as his inheritance the complete

territory promised in Genesis 15:18. To suggest, as some expositors do, that the reign of Solomon for forty years

fulfils this Scripture is obviously wrong and would be in the nature of an anticlimax, to say the least, after the

solemn and spacious promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This period is a foreshadowing only, leaving the

complete fulfilment to a future day when God will honour His word to the letter, and not in the free and easy way

mentioned above.

Notice that the Scripture always connects the land and the seed together, and as the land is literal, the seed must

be literal too (cf. Gen. 26:3,4 and 28:13,14). As we have before emphasized, the Divine intention is finally to

embrace the Gentile world as well as the Jew, consequently we shall not be surprised to find in the New Testament

that the Gentile believer, as a partaker of Israel's spiritual things and their covenant blessings (Rom. 15:26,27), is

counted as being part of Abraham's seed (Gal. 3:7-9,29) and as being blessed with him (verse 9). This is a picture of

the glorious time when all the families of the earth shall be blessed, and he will then be, in the fullest sense, the heir

of the world as Romans 4:13 describes him.

Returning to the Old Testament, we find that this is a long historical record of God's preparation of the Jewish

race for the part that they were to play in being His agents for world blessing. What a long time it seemed to take,

but this fact only emphasizes Israel's sin and their slowness to learn God's ways. You may think that the Jews were,

on the whole, a bad nation. The period covered by their kings and prophets was a black one indeed, almost

unrelieved failure and departure from God. Why then did not God cast them off? Because He cannot break His

promises, and is a God of wonderful patience and long-suffering. The New Testament also stresses this, for Peter

writes in his second epistle (3:9), `The Lord is ... longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but

that all should come to repentance'. It may be, dear reader, that this Divine forbearance has been waiting a long

time for your response to the redeeming love shown on Calvary's cross. Have you yet placed your faith in Christ

alone as your Saviour and Sinbearer? If not, do not trifle with the long-suffering of God, for the Scriptures make it

clear that this wondrous patience will have an end one day, and that perhaps sooner than you think:

`... now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation' (2 Cor. 6:2),

and the word now means this very day you are reading these lines, not tomorrow or the future which you cannot

know or count on with certainty. Do not forget that the Saviour said, `Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast

out' (John 6:37).

He promises to receive you just as you are, so what is there to stop your coming to Him in simple faith NOW?