Daniel P Warner

Geography of Israel – Promises, Promises

Why is Israel called “The Promised Land?”

Burning Bush Blogs

Equipping Men with Biblical Knowledge and Leadership Skills

Category: Personal Study

Thread: New to the Bible – Geography of Israel

Post Topic: The Promised Land

Post in Thread: #1

Next: Milk and Honey and Spies

Scripture: Genesis 12:1-5

Genesis 17:1-11

Key Verses:
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you…
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.

Genesis 12:1-2; Genesis 12:4

 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” 9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.”

Genesis 17:8-9

Note on this series of posts

This post fits within a continuing series meant for readers who are less familiar with Scripture, but anyone can benefit.

Understanding the geography of Israel will aid in comprehending God’s plan as it unfolds throughout the Bible. This series explores that geography by examining aspects of Israel’s natural features as described during biblical events. The posts seek to reveal larger truths specific to the geography while also diving into specific stories.

Today’s story introduces “The Promised Land,” a phrase you’ll hear in Christian circles.

Observations

Context

  • A grandson of Noah was named Canaan. He and his descendants settled in the area where God sent Abram (see Genesis 10:15-19).
  • Abram’s family was from Ur, but had moved north to Harran with his father when God calls him to move in Genesis 12:1.
    • In modern-day terms, this journey would have been from southern Iraq to an area near Turkey/Syria.
  • Abram obeyed, and travelled as far as Egypt and back before settling in Judea.
  • Abram wandered with his livestock, but Bethel, in the hill country north of Jerusalem, is often mentioned.

Notes

  • In Genesis 12, God calls Abram to move his family to Canaan, and Abram willingly agrees.
  • God poetically promises to bless those who bless Abram and curse those who curse him.
  • God promises to make a great nation out of Abram, even though he still had no children.
  • In Genesis 17, God reappears, and renews his covenant with Abram
  • God changes Abram’s name to Abraham.
  • God instructs Abraham that his promise as part of the covenant is circumcision.

Interpretation

Judean Mountains – did Abram’s livestock feed here?

Davidbena, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Obedience

  • God instructed Abram to leave the comfort of Harran to journey to a strange land.
  • How did God communicate directly with people so long ago? Was it an audible voice? A messenger (an angel)?
    • In Chapter 17, it seems to be an audible voice.
    • In another instance, angels are sent to tell an aging Sarah that she’s pregnant.
  • Abram trusted God to keep his promise of blessing.
  • When he arrived in Canaan, he built alters to worship God.

Imagine…

In Abram’s shoes, would you have been happy about packing up everything and moving to a strange land? On the one hand, there’s the adventure of it, and the promises of God. On the other hand, there’s the fear of the unknown.

Covenant

  • A covenant during ancient times was like a contract today. Both sides made promises that they were required to keep.
  • Abram’s side was simply obedience. Circumsicion was to be a sign of his (and his descendants’) obedience.
  • Abraham’s descendants struggled to remain obedient. Eventually, God allowed them into the Promised Land anyway.
  • The greatest part of the covenant that God provided through Abraham’s line was the Messiah, the Promised One, Jesus Christ.

Correlation

  • Hebrews 11:8-10 – Abraham is commended for his faith to leave his homeland and live in tents in the land promised to his descendants.

Application

Geography Lesson
  • Abram’s journey from Ur to Canaan skirted around the desert along the fertile crescent (Mesopotamia). He traveled north, then west, then back south to Canaan. Think of the route as an upside-down ‘U’.
  • As the crow flies, it would have been a much shorter trip straight across the desert. But the crow would have died en route. 😒
  • Israel is a strip of fertile land between Egypt to the south, and Turkey/Syria to the north.
Generic Applications
  • We can trust the promises of God. Even when we don’t keep our end of the deal, there is a path back to him, and he will remember us.
  • The ultimate promise of salvation is fulfilled in Abraham’s descendant, Jesus.
  • We don’t always see the fulfillment of God’s promises here on earth. Hebrews 11:13-16 says that these men of faith never saw their promises fulfilled before they died. But they knew God had prepared a better place for them.
Personalize it
  • What is your Promised Land? Take heart, if your faith is in Jesus, he is preparing a place for you in heaven.

Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:

Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.