'Heritage' in the Bible

I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel); and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord [you have the promise of My changeless omnipotence and faithfulness].’”

Then I prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord God, do not destroy Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought from Egypt with a mighty hand.

Then Samuel took the flask of oil and poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has the Lord not anointed you as ruler over His inheritance (Israel)?

(for they are Your people and Your heritage, whom You brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace [of slavery and oppression]),

For You singled them out from all the peoples of the earth as Your heritage, just as You declared through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”

“This is the wicked man’s portion from God,And the heritage decreed and appointed to him by God.”

“This [which I am about to explain] is the portion of a wicked man from God,And the inheritance which tyrants and oppressors receive from the Almighty:

“For what is the portion I would have from God above,And what heritage from the Almighty on high?

The [boundary] lines [of the land] have fallen for me in pleasant places;Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.

Save Your people and bless Your inheritance;Be their shepherd also, and carry them forever.

Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the nation whose God is the Lord,The people whom He has chosen as His own inheritance.

The Lord knows the days of the blameless,And their inheritance will continue forever.

For You have heard my vows, O God;You have given me the inheritance of those who fear Your name [with reverence].

You, O God, sent abroad plentiful rain;You confirmed Your inheritance when it was parched and weary.

Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance;Remember Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.

He also drove out the nations before the sons of IsraelAnd allotted their land as an inheritance, measured out and partitioned;And He had the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents [the tents of those who had been dispossessed].

He also handed His people over to the sword,And was infuriated with His inheritance (Israel).

They crush Your people, O Lord,And afflict and abuse Your heritage.

For the Lord will not abandon His people,Nor will He abandon His inheritance.

That I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones,That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,That I may glory with Your inheritance.

Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against His peopleAnd He detested His own inheritance.

He has declared and made known to His people the power of His works,In giving them the heritage of the nations.

I have taken Your testimonies as a heritage forever,For they are the joy of my heart.

Behold, children are a heritage and gift from the Lord,The fruit of the womb a reward.

And He gave their land as a heritage,A heritage to Israel His people.

And gave their land as a heritage,For His lovingkindness endures forever;

Even a heritage to Israel His servant,For His lovingkindness endures forever;

whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My heritage.”

“No weapon that is formed against you will succeed;And every tongue that rises against you in judgment you will condemn.This [peace, righteousness, security, and triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,And this is their vindication from Me,” says the Lord.

Then you will take pleasure in the Lord,And I will make you ride on the high places of the earth,And I will feed you with the [promised] heritage of Jacob your father;For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

O Lord, why do You cause us to stray from Your waysAnd harden our heart from fearing You [with reverence and awe]?Return for Your servants’ sake, the tribes of Your heritage.

“I brought you into a plentiful landTo eat its fruit and [enjoy] its good things.But you came and defiled My landAnd you made My inheritance repulsive.

“Then I said,‘How [gloriously and honorably] I would set you among My childrenAnd give you a pleasant land—a wonderful heritage,The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My FatherAnd not turn away from following Me.’

“I have abandoned My house,I have given up My [precious] inheritance (Judah);I have given the [dearly] beloved of My lifeInto the hands of her enemies.

“My inheritance has become to MeLike a lion in the forest;She has raised her voice and roared against Me;So I have come to [treat her as if I] hate her.

“Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me [unlike the others]?Are the birds of prey (enemies) surrounding her on every side?Go, gather all the [wild] beasts of the field;Bring them to devour [her]!

And it shall come about that after I have uprooted them, I will return and have compassion on them; and I will bring them back again, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land.

And you will, through your own fault, let go of your [grip on your] inheritanceThat I gave you;And I will make you serve your enemiesIn a land which you do not know;For you have kindled a fire in My angerWhich will burn forever.

“Though you are glad, though you rejoice,O you who plunder My heritage,Though you are wanton and skip about like a heifer in the grassAnd neigh like stallions,

Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord,Weep between the porch and the altar,And let them say, “Have compassion and spare Your people, O Lord,And do not make Your inheritance (Israel) an object of ridicule,Or a [humiliating] byword among the [Gentile] nations.Why should they say among the peoples,‘Where is their God?’”

I will gather together all the [Gentile] nations [that were hostile to My people]And bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat (the Lord has judged).And there I will deal with them and enter into judgment with them thereFor [their treatment of] My people, My inheritance, Israel,Whom they have scattered among the nations,And [because] they have encroached on My land and divided it up.

Who is a God like You, who forgives wickednessAnd passes over the rebellious acts of the remnant of His possession?He does not retain His anger forever,Because He [constantly] delights in mercy and lovingkindness.

but [in comparison with My love for Jacob] I have hated Esau (Edom), and I have made his mountains a wasteland, and have given his inheritance to the jackals of the wilderness.”

In Him also we have received an inheritance [a destiny—we were claimed by God as His own], having been predestined (chosen, appointed beforehand) according to the purpose of Him who works everything in agreement with the counsel and design of His will,

The Spirit is the guarantee [the first installment, the pledge, a foretaste] of our inheritance until the redemption of God’s own [purchased] possession [His believers], to the praise of His glory.