Pt. 1- You’re In

The Israeli people have an interesting relationship to their homeland.  It seems that after being given the promised land, they have had great difficulty (over the past three thousand years) maintaining sovereignty over it. 

In these three articles I want to look at four questions. 

• Why was the land of Canaan given to Abram and his descendants in the first place?
• After being given the land, why did God exile them from that land?
• Next, after being exiled, why did God promise to restore them back to their land?
• And finally, when will that restoration occur?

Land of Promise
God’s intent since creation was to have a two-way love story and friendship with humanity.  Unfortunately, early events in the Genesis narrative sidelined that vision.  So, if the Creator was going to restore the “Edenic vision,” the broken relationship must be healed, and a geography would have to be established where he could live with his people. 

God’s purpose for Israel was to be a light to the nations and to represent his character to the rest of the earth. That nation was to be a conduit for God’s blessing, his truth, his law and the lineage of the Messiah, ultimately leading to the salvation of all humanity.

To begin this grand design, God, when calling Abram into his charge called him to a land.  That land was given as a promise (land grant) to Abram, and it was confirmed to his son and grandson (Isaac and Jacob).

See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’
Deuteronomy 1:6-8

God is intensely practical and cares for that land. Notice how he speaks of it and how he connects his people to that land.

You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land that you are going over to possess, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it, like a garden of vegetables. But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, a land that the LORD your God cares for. The eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the LORD is giving you.
Deuteronomy 11: 8-17

We should emphasize that Israel was not given the land because of their moral conduct, good character or personal righteousness; the Lord goes out of his way to stress this point so there should be no misunderstanding. 

Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

“Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.
Deuteronomy 9:4-7

This brings us to a significant conundrum.  We see that the people were given the land because of a promise to their ancestors, not as a reward for good behavior.  God is keeping his word to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; he is honoring the covenant and oath he established with the patriarchs.  It is not about Israel deserving the land, but about a faithful God who keeps his promise.

We also saw above that to remain in the land requires the people to remain faithful to God and not turn aside to worship and server false gods. This begins to address our second question which was “after being given the land, why were they kicked out of it?” It must have had something to do with their hearts wandering away from the love of God.

At this point I want to introduce an idea about the land that I hope will clear up any confusion. This land is not a normal plot of ground! God considers this land his sanctuary, a holy ground, dedicated to his presence. It was first his land, just as the garden was first the “garden of God.”  The fact that he invites his people into the garden of Eden, or the land of Canaan should not be understood to mean that he relinquishes his authority over that ground; rather he is inviting his people into his earthly home where they can live together (Creator with his creation). Recall from an earlier article, Melchizedek identified God as “possessor of heaven and earth.”  As possessor, certainly God has every right to claim this land as his own and do with it as he chooses.

Conclusion
We have seen that the land of Canaan is God’s land which he promised to the patriarchs and their descendants, a place on earth where he could live with his human family.  The people of God did not earn this land for good conduct; it was a gift (land grant) demonstrating God’s faithfulness to his promise.  Even though Israel would later be exiled from the land, God did not revoke their sovereign rights over that territory, for that would have broken the promise to the patriarchs. In fact, the Apostle Paul states in Galatians that the promises made to Abraham were still in effect thousands of years after Abraham lived.  Think about that!

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
Galatians 3:16-18

In part two we will explore “The Exile,” our second question.