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The Promised Land

When Abraham entered the Promised Land he was traveling with his nephew, Lot.  They were men of great wealth, and they had very large herds of animals.  Since the land could not support the herds of both men, Abraham suggested that they separate, and he told Lot to take the land he wanted.  Lot looked at the valley below the hills on which Jerusalem rests, and he saw that it was well watered and very fertile.  Thus, he took the valley for his possession, and Abraham willingly accepted the hilly region that includes Mount Moriah—the hill beside which Jerusalem was built.

After Abraham and Lot parted company, Yahweh made this promise to Abraham:

“Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.  I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered.  Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.”[i]

In Genesis 15: 18-21, Yahweh gave Abraham a more precise description of the Promised Land’s boundaries:

“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt (the Nile River) as far as the great river Euphrates; the land of the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.”[ii]

Later, Yahweh told Abraham that he would become the father of many nations, and He confirmed that the Promised Land would belong to his descendants forever:

“For My part, this is My covenant with you: you will become the father of many nations.  And you are no longer to be called Abram; your name is to be Abraham, for I am making you father of many nations, and your issue will be kings.  And I shall maintain my covenant between Myself and you, and your descendants after you, generation after generation, as a covenant in perpetuity, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.  And to you and to your descendants after you, I shall give the country where you are now immigrants, the entire land of Canaan, to own in perpetuity.  And I will be their God.”[iii]

Then Yahweh explained that even though Abraham would become the father of many nations, His covenant would pass through Isaac’s descendants:

“As regards your wife…Sarah….I shall bless her and moreover give you a son by her.  I shall bless her and she will become nations: kings of peoples will issue from her….Yes, your wife Sarah will bear you a son whom you must name Isaac.  And I shall maintain My covenant with him, a covenant in perpetuity, to be his God and the God of his descendants after him.  For Ishmael too I grant you your request.  I hereby bless him and will make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous.  He will be the father of twelve princes, and I shall make him into a great nation.  But my covenant I shall maintain with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear you….”[iv]

A “covenant in perpetuity” is binding for all eternity.  That means the Promised Land belongs to Abraham’s descendants through Isaac forever.  In Genesis 26: 2-5, Yahweh confirmed His promise to Isaac:

“Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you.  Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.  I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My Laws.”[v]

In Genesis 28: 13-15, Yahweh said that the Promised Land belongs to Abraham’s descendants through Jacob:

“I am Yahweh, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give to you and your descendants.  Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.  Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised.”[vi]

Yahweh repeated this promise in Genesis 35: 10-12:

“You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name….I am God Almighty (El Shaddai); be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come forth from you.  The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you.”[vii]

Later, Yahweh told Moses that He would rescue the Jewish people from bondage in Egypt and bring them to the Promised Land, and He tied the promise to His Name:

“I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage.  I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.  Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.  I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a permanent possession; I am Yahweh.”[viii]

As the Children of Israel were preparing to leave Mount Sinai and go to the Promised Land, Yahweh told them He would send His Angel before them.  This Angel is the Angel of Yahweh who appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and He established Israel as a nation:

“Behold, I am going to send an Angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.  Be on your guard before Him and obey His Voice; do not be rebellious toward Him, for He will not pardon your transgression, since My Name is in Him.  But if you will truly obey His Voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.  For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them.  You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their sacred pillars in pieces.  But you shall serve Yahweh your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst.”[ix]

In Exodus 23: 27-31, Yahweh explained how His Angel would drive out the early inhabitants of the Promised Land, and He gave another description of its boundaries:

“I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.  I will send hornets ahead of you that they may drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you.  I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.  I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.  I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines (i.e., the Mediterranean Sea), and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.”[x]

This is an excerpt from His Name is Yahweh.  It explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important.  It’s a book that you need to read and share.  It’s available in eBook format and in paperback.

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