Notice: Forever. I stressed earlier that Abraham understood that God’s promises to him were eternal, not a historical flash-in-the-pan for one generation, his own. That is why he did not want Isaac traipsing back to Mesopotamia. Stay away from that place.
This does not mean that Abram inherited the land at that moment. God clarifies through Stephen’s comments in Acts 7.
Significantly, by giving Isaac the same promises he gave Abraham, God gave both patriarchs the same prophetic vision. Paul, in Galatians 3:8, personifies the noun “Scripture,” saying that it, the Word of God, “preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand.” Paul then tells how it did that: Abraham heard the gospel through the promises. Continuing in verse 8, Paul uses as an example the promise that all nations would receive blessings through Abraham. That blessing is most specifically a reference to the saving work of Christ, which would extend to the Gentiles.
So, both Abraham and Isaac heard the same gospel, the same promises. God inspired and motivated both men by means of the same prophetic vision. Of course, it is precisely the same prophetic vision—the same promises—that inspires and motivates us today. It is the gospel of the Kingdom of God.
It may seem unimportant, but he was off the track for a while. The chapter then closes with Mamre, which means “vision,” and Hebron, which is even better in its meaning, Hebron means “join together,” it means “fellowship,” which is indicative of the state of Abraham’s relationship with God. I think what God is showing us is that there is little or no fellowship with Him when one is in a state or condition of worldliness.
It is not just given to the descendants; it is given forever. And now the promise involves eternal life. So, then He turns and says,
God commanded Abram to walk. It indicates learning by experience on this pilgrimage. Learning by experience that I am with you, that I am fellowshipping with you, and that I will provide for you.
When God gave the land to Abraham in Genesis 13:17, He told him to walk through the land in the length of it and the breadth of it. Abraham had to step out by faith and claim his inheritance. But we today have an inheritance in four dimensions, width, length, depth, and height, and these four dimensions together make up God's attribute of love, at least in the way that Paul describes it here.
Verse 15 is certainly an indication that the promise involved eternal life.
