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pp. 117 - 120
Possession in the O.T. is closely related to "the land" of promise, and there are more
occurrences of the word yarash `to possess' in Deuteronomy than in any other book of
the Bible. Keeping merely to the English of the A.V. and taking no account of such
renderings as `inherit', `succeed', `drive out' or `dispossess', we find 46 references to
possessing the land in that great book of the law.
The first occurrence of yarash in the O.T. are found in Gen. 15:, and are related
(1) To the true heir, and (2) To the inheriting of the land.
"I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward" (15: 1). In reply to this assurance of
God, after the victory over the confederate kings and the blessing by Melchisedec,
Abraham appears to have reviewed the fact that he was now an old man, and it looked
very likely that his heir would have to be the steward of his house, seeing, as he said "I
go childless" (15: 2).
While Abraham's attitude is by no means a fulfillment of law 191 of the code of
Khammurabi, it is sufficiently near in spirit to reveal Abraham's intention and obligation.
However, God had other plans. To Abraham's plaint "Behold, Thou hast given to me
no seed, and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir (yarash)", the Lord replies, "This
shall not be thine heir (yarash); but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels
shall be thine heir (yarash)" (15: 4).
Then follows the Divine promise and the great act of faith (Gen. 15: 5, 6) and God said:
"I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to
inherit it (yarash)" to which Abraham replies,
"Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? (yarash)" (Gen. 15: 7, 8).
In Gen. 15: we are turned back to the initial call of Abraham, and the certainty of the
promise, that "the house of Jacob SHALL possess his possessions" (Gen. 15: 1-7), but
from verse 8 to the end we are directed forward to the strange pathway which the chosen
seed must tread before the possession is entered. This sheds light on the greater purpose
of the ages, and is seen to involve a principle that obtains in every calling. Before we
consider this great problematic passage, let us follow the Divine direction and turn back
to the earlier chapters of Genesis where the initial call of Abraham, together with the
hindrances that prevent him from taking possession of this inheritance, are recorded.
Gen. 15: turns us back to Ur of the Chaldees, where the call first came. The first
movement of Abraham's family out of Ur of the Chaldees is by the record of Gen. 11: 31.
"And Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his
daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the
Chaldees, TO GO into the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran, and DWELT
THERE."