God Keeps the Land Promise to Abraham's Heirs After Death

"Send men for yourself," etc. Rabbi Acha the Great opened: "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever" (Isaiah 40:8). To what is the matter comparable? To a king who had a beloved friend, and he made an agreement with him and said to him, "Come along with me, and I will give you a gift." He went with him and died. The king said to the son of his friend, "Even though your father has died, I am not retracting the gift that I said I would give him. Come and take it, you." The king is the Holy One, blessed be He, and the friend is Abraham, as it is said, "the seed of Abraham My beloved" (Isaiah 41:8). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "Come along with Me," as it is said, "Go forth from your land" (Genesis 12:1). He made an agreement with him to give him a gift, as it is said, "Arise, walk through the land [...] for to you I will give it" (Genesis 13:17), and it says, "for all the land which you see, to you I will give it [and to your seed forever]" (Genesis 13:15). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, "Even though I made an agreement with the patriarchs to give them the land, and they died, I am not retracting; rather, 'the word of our God shall stand forever'" (Isaiah 40:8).