A favorite verse used by Jehovah Witnesses is For evil-doers shall be cut off; but those that wait for the LORD, they shall inherit the land.---Psalm 37:9 They claim that this teaches that when a righteous Jehovah Witness dies and are resurrected (but are not part of the 'elect' class of 'born again' that go to heaven--the 144,000) they get to live on Earth--again! Anyway, I am interested in first finding the plain meaning of this verse--the idea that King David probably had in mind. Then finding the possible spiritual meaning that applies to the New Covenant. First, look for the usage of the expression "inherit the earth" or "land," we see God gives Abraham land, but some of the land Abraham has to wait for because God is giving them time to get their act together (which He knows will not happen, but does so nonetheless to give them a fair chance): And He said to him, "I am the Lord, Who brought you forth from Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it."--Genesis 15:7 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.--Genesis 28:4 "And the fourth generation will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites will not be complete until then."--Genesis 15:16 Here are some more examples of land inheritance: And the Lord said to me, Do not distress the Moabites, and do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land [as] an inheritance, because I have given Ar to the children of Lot [as] an inheritance.--Deuteronomy 2:9 And the Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, and the children of Esau were driving them out, and they exterminated them from before them and dwelt in their stead, just as the Israelites did to the land of their inheritance, which the Lord gave them.--Deuteronomy 2:12 And when you approach opposite the children of Ammon, neither distress them, nor provoke them, for I will not give you of the land of the children of Ammon as an inheritance, because I have given it to the children of Lot as an inheritance.--Deuteronomy 2:19 Israel inherited land that previously belonged to Canaanites (though not all of it, some of it was not taken like those that lived in remote place, or went abroad like to north Africa) and land that belong to some more obscure tribes, as Exodus frequently states: I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.--Exodus 3:8 And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.--Exodus 3:17 And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.--Exodus 13:5 And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee--Exodus 13:11 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.--Exodus 23:28 And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:--Exodus 33:2 In the Bible generally righteous people were given the land of wicked people that were judged by God and subsequently evicted, or only allowed to live if they paid tribute to conquering ruler, Israel allowed many others to live in its territory in the time of Solomon on this condition. When Israel was disobedient they were attacked, if not conquered and made slaves like in the case of the Captivity in Babylon, then were restored to their homeland, or in the Era of the Romans where they also had to pay taxes to Rome to be left alone. The plain reading in the mind of King David when writing Psalm 37 was almost certainly God's sense of giving actual land to more righteous nations, and punishing other nations by taking their land. Perhaps, King David had in mind the boundaries of the land of Israel in their time, after David his son Solomon ruled Israel when its borders were at its biggest: Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.--1 Kings 4:21 This was a fulfilment of Genesis 15:

• published: 30 Jun 2014
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