Galatians 3:16  “To Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ.”

Galatians 3:29  “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

These verses in Galatians chapter 3 are often used as prooftexts by those who believe the New Testament church has either replaced the ethnic nation of Israel (Replacement Theology) or is a fulfillment of ethnic Israel, and has inherited the Old Testament promises made to Israel – thereby replacing Israel (Covenant Theology).

What do both Replacement and Covenant Theologians make of the physical, unconditional LAND PROMISES made to a specific Jewish Lineage, from Abraham è Isaac è Jacob, as shown below?:

God’s Unconditional Genesis Land Promises:  Starting with Abram, down through Jacob (Israel)

Genesis 13:14-15 (Abram) “The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, ‘Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and I will give to your  SEED forever.’”

Genesis 15:4 (Abram) “He brought Abram outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven; count the stars if you are able to number them.’ He said to him, ‘So shall your SEED be.’”

Genesis 15:18-21 (Abram) “On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your SEED I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates –  the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.’”

Genesis 17:7-10 (Abraham)  “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your SEED after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your SEED after you. I give to you and your SEED after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; I will be their God. And God said to Abraham: ‘As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your SEED after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your SEED after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised.’”

Genesis 22:17-18 (Abraham) “In blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply your SEED as the stars of the heaven and as the sand on the seashore; your SEED shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your  SEED all the earth’s nations shall be blessed because you obeyed My voice.”

Romans 4:16-22 “Therefore, it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the  SEED, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are 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’) in the presence of Him whom he believed – God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, ‘So shall your SEED be.’”

Genesis 26:3-4 (Isaac) “Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and I will bless you; for to you and your SEED I give all these lands; I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your SEED multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your SEED all these lands; in your  SEED all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 35:10-12 (Jacob) “’Your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.’ Be fruitful and multiply; a company of nations shall proceed from you; kings shall come from your body. The land I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; to your SEED after you I give this land.”

Here is how both Replacement and Covenant Theologians deconstruct verses like Genesis 13:14-15 (the unconditional Land Covenant) and Genesis 17:8 (the “everlasting possession” for specific offspring).

It is known as the “Argument for the “Singular Seed”:

They argue that the New Testament explicitly redefines the “lineage” of Abraham, removing the biological requirement (ethnic Israel, as descended through Abraham) and replacing it with the spiritual requirement (spiritual Israel, by God’s grace through one’s faith in Jesus Christ).

Texts used to argue for ethnic Israel no longer entitled to the Land Promises:

First, in Galatians 3:6-8, God explains through Paul that true children of Abraham are by faith as provided by God Himself in the Gospel of Jesus Christ: “Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Therefore, know that only those who are of faith are children of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’”

Secondly, in Galatians 3:16, Paul writes: “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ.”

Finally, in Galatians 3:29, Paul writes: “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Their Argument:

Replacement and Covenant Theologians argue that Paul is teaching us how to read the Old Testament book of Genesis. They claim Paul is saying the promise was never ultimately about Abraham’s plural descendants (ethnic Jews), but about Abraham’s singular Descendant (Jesus).

Their Conclusion:

Replacement and Covenant Theologians claim the “specific Jewish lineage” was merely a delivery mechanism to get to Jesus. Once Jesus arrived, the “lineage” promise was fulfilled in Him. If you want the inheritance (the Land/the World), it is not by being a child of Jacob; you get it by being “in Christ.”

3 Challenges that Demonstrate Why this Argument of “Singular Seed” Fails:

1. No One believes the Church has inherited the Promised Land
2. Logical Fallacy of False Equivalency in Galatians 3:16 between the Church to Israel
3. Exegetical Error of Illegitimate Totality Transfer of Galatians 3:16

In this first of 3 articles, we examine Reason #1 è No One believes the Church has inherited the Promised Land… and we start with the hermeneutic of “context” when the same word with multiple meanings is used across multiple passages. It is crucial to know the context in which that word is used.

 Seed / Offspring / Descendant = zera` = zeh’-rah è appears 230X throughout Old Testament, in nearly every time period and genre (category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content).

The 3 main uses of “seed” or “offspring” or “descendant” are:

1. Physical Seed: The substance by which plants reproduce.

“Then God said, ‘Let the earth sprout vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it, according to their kinds.’ ” (Genesis 1:11)

2. Physical Seed: Biological offspring, whether immediate children or remote descendants.

Israel as an ethnic group – a nation – collectively is “the seed of Abraham” (Psalm 105:6), an identity carrying covenant privilege (Deuter. 10:15) and accountability (Deuter. 28:46).

Prophets console the Israelite exiles: “Your seed and your name shall remain” (Isaiah 66:22).  “I will plant them in their land, and they will never again be uprooted” (Amos 9:15).

3. Spiritual Seed: The royal, Messianic line – the promise of a coming Redeemer.

The Suffering Servant: “He will see His seed; He will prolong His days” (Isaiah 53:10)

The singular “seed” is Christ: all who are “in Christ” become Abraham’s seed, “heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:29). This Old Testament term here opens into the New Testament church.

The Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob): God gives Unconditional Land Promises to the Physical SEED

The same word for “Seed” is used for “Descendant” and “Offspring”, as well as its meaning being based on the context of its usage in the passage.

In the table above, where the use of “seed” or “offspring” or “descendant” is used interchangeably not only in the Genesis unconditional land promises but also in the New Testament.

For the claim that the unconditional land promises are not to the physical, literal nation of Israel but to “spiritual Israel” – those who are “in Christ” – believers in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior – means the Church now owns the land of Israel and therefore we should lay claim to it. No one believes this.

Summary

To just say that some Scripture that references “seed”, or “offspring”, or “descendant”, or “son”, or “congregation”, is always used the same way across all Scriptures where it is being used… is sloppy hermeneutics.

We need to admit that the logical argument being used that how we interpret Galatians 3:16 for “seed” is how we can interpret the entire Old Testament is incorrect.

“The Evidence of Faith’s Substance”_Article #660