The original promise to father Abraham was not for a Canaan in heaven—but a Land of Promise on Earth. God literally showed Abraham the Land which he would some day receive as an everlasting possession:

“Lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. [An intimation of a then far-distant period, allowing ample time for such a multiplication of his seed.] Arise, walk through the land, in the length of it, and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.” (Genesis 13:14-17)

“And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger—all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.” (Genesis 17:8)

However, Stephen declared, Abraham had not yet “so much as to set his foot on” his promised “inheritance.” (Acts 7:5) But God’s purpose in promising to make a great nation through Abraham was to eventually “bless all the families of the earth.” Sadly, his Jewish descendants are falsely accused of seeking instead to rule the world! Actually, God’s intention, repeated to Isaac and Jacob—and then to Israel as a nation— is to establish them in the Land and make them the benefactors of all peoples.

“And thy seed [Jacob’s 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.” (Genesis 28:14)