The purpose of this pamphlet is to seek to give a Scriptural answer to the two questions composing its title. Scripture alone can furnish the true answer.
There is one golden rule in the interpretation of Scripture, and a most helpful one it is, and that is, If a truth is rightly interpreted, every Scripture, bearing on the same truth, will always be found confirmatory, forming part of a connected and harmonious whole. On the other hand, if Scripture is wrongly interpreted, every Scripture, bearing on the same truth, can only produce more and more confusion, as Scriptures have to be twisted to suit an unscriptural theory, or else ignored. The surest way to expose error is by stating the truth. In that way departure from the truth will be seen to be error, and to be therefore refused.
It will be helpful to present to our readers a diagram, showing the great landmarks in the Scriptures, which present to us an orderly unfolding of the Divine mind, leading up to the supreme revelation of God Himself in our Lord Jesus Christ, and the spiritual blessings He would confer on mankind. In so doing we shall arrive at an answer to our two questions. A diagram, as an appeal to eye-gate, is most useful, and should be carefully studied, and checked by Scripture. The Scriptures praise the believers at Berea, " These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so " (Acts 17:11). We do well to emulate such a good example.
The Course of Time From Beginning to End Chart
The reader will notice in the extreme left of the diagram a short line with the words, " Line of prophecy in Old Testament times." In it we find the most momentous call of God to an individual, Abraham, involving a history, which has affected the world ever since, and which shows the beginning of God's dealings in relation to the Divine plan for the ages.
It is at this point, we begin to trace the course of events. God said to Abraham, " I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great... and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Gen. 12:2, 3). " The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia." (Acts 7:2). This vision found him a heathen idolater, a worshipper of " other gods " (Josh. 24:2). This glorious vision altered his whole life, making him a stranger and a pilgrim in a strange land, which God promised should be his in his descendants (Gen. 17:8).
In the visitation of a terrible famine, which affected the whole of the then world, and in the overruling providence of God, Joseph, a great-grandson of Abraham, was elevated to a position in the land of Egypt, only second to Pharaoh himself. He was thus in a position to settle his father, Jacob, accompanied by his sons and their families, about seventy persons in all, in the rich pasture lands of Goshen, there to be nourished and cared for under his son's powerful protection.
In course of time Joseph died. Generations came and went, until the Egyptians were alarmed at the rapid increase of the Hebrew children, and in order to keep them in servitude, subjected them to bitter bondage. That great leader, Moses, was raised up of God to deliver His people from their cruel slavery, the lash of the taskmaster's whip forever sounding in their ears. Under his leadership they arrived in the wilderness of Sinai on their way to Canaan, the land promised to Abraham, that it should be their's. But alas! the backslidings of the people (witness the 'golden calf incident, and their clamoring to return to Egypt) were so evil, that in the government of God, they wandered for forty years in the wilderness, till all the men who had left Egypt, perished in the wilderness, save two faithful men, Caleb and Joshua (Num.: 22-38).
Meanwhile the inhabitants of Canaan had filled the cup of their iniquities full to the brim (Gen. 15:16). In the righteous government of God these wicked and idolatrous nations were dispossessed of their own lands, and their place was taken by the children of Israel under the leadership of Joshua, and thus God's promise to Abraham was fulfilled.