I find in looking over the promises given to Abraham that they [his seed] were to spread abroad west, east, north, and south, and they were to become a company of nations. I see no nation at present occupying this position except the British Empire, which has very recently become so. At the last census I find from statistics that the area covers 11,778,256 square miles: the population is 391,844,878; English speaking people estimated at over 116,000,000. These figures are enough to show that the British people, or Anglo-Saxon, occupy the role of Israel. These figures show that this empire is the greatest that has ever been, and it bids fair to become the heir of the world. (Romans 4:13)
That which convinces you that the British people, or the Anglo-Saxon race, are the heirs of the world, is sufficient of itself, if there were nothing else, to convince me that they are not, and that no nation on earth does occupy that "role." Let us note a few points.
The people who are to inherit the earth must be the seed of Abraham; for it was to Abraham that the promise was made that he and his seed should be the heir of the world. (Romans 4:13) Therefore if your idea were correct, the inhabitants of the British Empire must be the seed of Abraham.
Passing by the fact that the people embraced in the British Empire are not by any means the same as the Anglo-Saxon race, since the Anglo-Saxon people are largely in the minority, and there are millions of the Anglo-Saxon race not subject to Great Britain, I note the one point of the census. The census shows that there are 391,844,878 people in the British Empire. This is indeed a vast population; but the mere fact that a census of the British Empire can be taken, shows that it is not the heir of the promise to Abraham. Read the following: "And the Lord said Abraham, ... I will make your seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall your seed also be numbered." (Genesis 13:14,16)
Do you see that Britain's four hundred millions of people fall far short of Abraham's posterity? Suppose we take all the nations on this earth; a fairly accurate census has been taken, and they are found to number about fifteen hundred millions. A vast number, truly, but nevertheless they can be numbered, and fall far short of equaling in number the dust of the earth or "the sand of the sea shore." (Genesis 22:17)
Home of the Faithful
Now let us read the text referred to, "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." (Romans 4:13)
Abraham is "the father of all them that believe." (Romans 4:11)
Therefore the promised inheritance "is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made you a father of many nations,) before Him whom he believed, even God, who quickens the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall your seed be." (Romans 4:16-18)
Could anything be plainer? Is it not evident that no race or nation, as such, on this earth is to possess it, but that it is to be possessed by a people who have the righteousness of faith-the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Through the Resurrection
Further: The promise was to Abraham and to his seed; to both together, not to either Abraham or his seed separately. Every time God spoke the promise to Abraham he was very explicit that to him the land should be given. Nevertheless Abraham lived as a stranger, a pilgrim and a sojourner, all his life, (Hebrews 11:13; Genesis 23:4) and died without any inheritance, "no, not so much as to set his foot on." (Acts 7:5)
Yet although he "died in faith, not having received the promise;" (Hebrews 11:13) he was not disappointed, because God had told him that he should die before he received the inheritance. (Genesis 15:15) But God cannot lie, (Titus 1:2) and Abraham knew it, and therefore he knew also that the inheritance of the world was to be his through the resurrection. He believed in the God "who quickens the dead." (Romans 4:17)
It was his faith in the resurrection by Jesus Christ that made him sure of the promise. But the promise is to Abraham and to his seed at the same time. The heir cannot inherit property before the father does, through whom he receives it. This is self-evident. Therefore it is only by the general resurrection of the just, which will take place at the end of this world, when Christ comes, that the seed of Abraham will come into their inheritance.
Those who are raised to life at the coming of Christ are raised incorruptible, immortal. (1 Corinthians 15:51-53) Therefore when they come into their inheritance it will be to hold it for ever. That was indicated in the promise, for the land was to be theirs for "an everlasting possession." (Genesis 17:8)
But only that which is perfect is everlasting; therefore as the sin which has cursed this earth is removed, the curse itself will be removed. Therefore, "We, according to His promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness." (2 Peter 3:13) Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5)
Time of the Inheritance
When will they inherit it? "Evil-doers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, you shall diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." (Psalm 37:9-11)
This brings us to the same point of time as before: the end of "this present evil world," (Galatians 1:4) and the destruction of the wicked, when "The Lord will make wars to cease unto the ends of the earth." (Psalm 46:9)
Now nobody will have the hardihood to assert that the British Empire has been enlarged to its present proportions by peaceful means, or that meekness helps to enlarge one's earthly possessions. The British Empire, like every other government on earth, has won its possessions by the sword, and holds them by the sword.
A Perfect Gift
But the inheritance to Abraham's seed is the gift of God by grace to "the poor of this world, rich in faith." (James 2:5)
As is the Giver, so is the gift. A mean man may give mean gifts; but a king would deem it a disgrace to give in any other way than royally. And how much more must the King of kings give only "Every good gift and every perfect gift." (James 1:17)
If a king with unlimited wealth at his disposal, should promise something as a mark of special favor to one whom he called his personal friend, and should repeat the promise many times, confirming it with the most solemn oath, and cause it to be proclaimed throughout his dominions, would you not expect the gift to be something in proportion to his wealth and power?
And if after all the promises and proclamations he should give this bosom friend an old house with second-hand furniture, would you not think it a disgrace? It would be mockery to his friend, and would show the king to be lacking in a sense of the dignity due his own position.
Well, that is just how many people expect God to fulfill His promises to His friend. They think that after making a special promise, confirming it by an oath, and calling the attention of the universe to the graciousness of the gift, that He will at last bestow upon them an earth that has grown old like a garment, and is almost worn out!
No, no; when God gives, He gives the best. When the meek, the faithful, righteous ones receive the reward of the inheritance, "the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose, [and] they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God." (Isaiah 35:1-2)
Once more God will see everything that He has made, and behold, it will be "very good," as good as the eternal Creator can make it.
Numbering Israel
One word more about the census of the heirs of God's promise.
When "Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel," (1 Chronicles 21:1) the act was iniquity on the part of David, who thus "sinned greatly [and did] very foolishly," (1 Chronicles 21:8) and became "a cause of trespass to Israel." (1 Chronicles 21:3)
David's pride over the number of Israel caused him to forget God's word concerning them, that they should be innumerable. God alone can write up the number of His faithful ones, and when that is done there will be "a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues." (Revelation 7:9)--Present Truth, February 20, 1902--Genesis 13:14-16.