The limits of the promised land

Sunday February 6, 2022

The limits of the promised land

The Eternal spoke to Moses and said : Command the Israelites ; You shall say to them : When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land which is to be your inheritance, the land of Canaan, with its borders. Numbers 34:1,2 (Revised NBS)

The land of Canaan has a special value because it is a gift from God. Moses never ceases to remind the people : it is the land, the land, the inheritance that the Eternal, your God, gives you. This country also has a spiritual dimension : it is the country where God desires to manifest his power and to be for his people, the all-provider (Deuteronomy 8:7-10). Also its limits have meaning, since God always sets aside what belongs to him : they served to mark the separation from neighboring idolatrous peoples.

These boundaries were formed by natural geographic boundaries : the Sinai Desert to the south, the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Mount Lebanon to the north, and the Jordan River to the east (Numbers 34:3-13). This separation was accompanied by a real presence in the heart of the civilized world of the time. Indeed, the country was located at the crossroads between Egypt to the southwest and Mesopotamia to the east, with a facade on the Mediterranean basin. As Christians, we must also remain a known presence in this world. God leaves us there to continue the service of the Lord : As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world (John 17:18). There we are kept from the influence of evil by the mighty action of the Father (v. 15).

To the separation willed by God were added promises for the prosperity of Israel. God had foreseen a possible extension for Israel : If the Eternal your God extend your borders, as he swore to your fathers, and give you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers... (Deuteronomy 19:8). This word referred to God's promise to Abraham to extend the eastern boundary to the Euphrates River (Genesis 15:18). The promised blessings are not locked into limits.

It is the same for us Christians. The borders for Israel correspond to our setting apart or sanctification. To this sanctification correspond divine promises greater than we can experience or even imagine : they are not limited, but constitute a wide field of rich and blessed experiences with the Lord.

Source (Pleasing the Lord)