The following “Question” was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and “Answered” by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed by Anjela Paje of Spokane, WA, from the tape, GC 70-24, titled “Questions and Answers Part 52.”  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE.  ©2003. All Rights Reserved.

Questioner

In Genesis 17:8, and it’s basically out of concern of defending the premillennial point of view. And basically, God is talking to Abraham, and He says, in Genesis 17:8, “Also, I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” And, I was just wondering if you take that in the literal sense of the land of Canaan, how it’s possible to be an everlasting possession when it says in 2 Peter 3 that the heavens and earth are going to be totally destroyed or annihilated. Without allegorizing this verse.

John MacArthur's Answer

You know, the substantial answer to that is, that the Hebrew phrase, everlasting possession, is always qualified by the context. Always. I mean you see that numerous, numerous times throughout the Old Testament. Does everlasting always mean eternal? No, it does not. The context, again, dictates that. When He said here, “I give you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession,” that also forces the question up, well why were there so many centuries that they didn’t have the land? So, again you have to interpret that in the light of what unfolds in history. And, you have to interpret that term ‘everlasting’ also in relationship to what the Bible teaches eschatologically. And we do clearly know that, as you pointed out, that the current heaven and the current earth is going to dissolve. The elements are going to melt with fervent heat. It’s going to all be replaced after it’s uncreated by a new heaven and a new earth. Now, there are some who would say that in the new heaven and in the new earth there will be some kind of ‘Canaan.’ I don’t know. There are some who say, metaphorically or symbolically, the whole new heaven and the whole new earth will be a kind of Promised Land, a kind of Canaan. But, I think it’s better just to understand that you’re going to run into the term ‘everlasting possession’ or ‘everlasting’ I should say, in cases where it’s not always eternal. There are, there’re a number of them in the Old Testament.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's “MacArthur's Questions and Answers” by:

Tony Capoccia
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