“And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.” (Joshua 21:43)
The promise to give Abraham’s family this land had first been made in Genesis 12:6-7. “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.”
Over sixty five years later, the promise was repeated to Isaac, in Genesis 26:4-5. “And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
The same promise was given to Jacob forty years later, when he was fleeing from Esau in Genesis 28:13-14 “And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
One hundred seven years after his vision of the ladder reaching to heaven at Bethel, and seventeen years after they moved to Egypt, Jacob reminded Joseph that they would return to the land in Genesis 48. Four hundred thirty years after they entered Egypt, God renewed his promise to Israel to give them the land and delivered them from Egypt. Forty five years after that, Joshua started dividing up the land. Seven hundred and thirty years after the promise was first made, it was finally fulfilled.
“And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.” (Joshua 21:44-45)
God did not forget his promises. Despite numerous additions to his promise, and after seven hundred and thirty years, God fulfilled every thing he had said to Israel. Why do Christians today give up on God’s promises so quickly?