GOD'S LAND (OF PROMISE) WAS DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO "SOMEWHERE IN THE DMZ . . ."

I.    An Evangelical Misunderstanding About God’s Land

The prevailing evangelical belief about Palestine is its significance for Israel at the parousia or second coming of Christ. Randy White believes, “since the covenant of land was signed by circumcision, circumcision for the Jew is something that carries forward. Otherwise, if circumcision is past, what would that say about the land? It would say that the whole covenant is gone.” 

Unfortunately for Mr. White and so many others evangelicals today, the apostle Paul believed baptism replaced circumcision (Col. 2:11ff). In other words, Mr. White’s doctrine of the last things (eschatology) incorrectly links circumcision, Abraham, and the eschatological land of promise. If you lose circumcision, they hold, you lose the land. Nonsense. The OT Passover gave way to the NT Lord’s Supper and fulfillment in the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Baptism also superseded (took the place of) circumcision in the Gospels and epistles. 

There have only been one people of God beginning in the O.T., all of whom believed in the Seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15), that is, Christ (Gal. 3:1 6). Adam and Eve believed in the Seed (Gen. 3:20; 4:1). Abraham believed the same promise when God revealed even more of its meaning to him (Gen. 15:6). Abraham looked beyond the physical land of Canaan to the new heavens and earth and a city with foundations (Heb. 11:13-16). 

Heb. 11:13-16 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen and welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 15 And indeed if they had been thinking of that country which they left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they (the believing Jews the author is addressing) desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one (not an earthly one). Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. (emphasis added)

Whitney Woollard has rightly understood the land from a larger, more biblical, and comprehensive view as Abraham did: "The point of God’s land promises was never just one strip of territory in the Middle East. Instead, God’s land promises are ultimately about the whole world.

"In the beginning, God put his people in a garden land to dwell with Him as his people who enjoy his presence. God cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden He had given to them. Then God promised a land to Abraham where he would live with his people.

As that promise of land continues to develop in the storyline of Scripture, we see that the land is ultimately not just about a place to set up borders or to mark out territory in distinction from a bunch of other countries. This land is a place where God dwells with his people."

You will remember that God removed Corporate Adam or Israel from Canaan as He did with Adam and Eve. The point is that physical Eden, Canaan, and later Palestine served as pointers to something greater, the new heavens and earth. (See Rev. 21:1-22:5; 2 Pet. 3)

Ultimately, throughout the Old Testament and the Prophets, we see that God promises to reign over and dwell with his people on the whole earth. Zechariah 14 says, “The Lord will be king over all the earth.” His land will be the whole earth. This is why Paul can say about Abraham that he was the heir of the whole world. (See also Heb. 11:13-16; Rom. 4:13)

Christ is the fulfillment of all five cables: the kingdom of God, the covenants, the mediator, the temple, and the land. Each of these cables points forward to Jesus Christ as the subject and interpreter of Scripture. In my dispensational days, Christ was not the focus of my O.T. sermons, or the sermons I heard given by other preachers. One major U.S. Seminary’s doctrinal statement emphasizes, “that it was historically impossible that they should have had as the conscious object of their faith the incarnate, crucified Son, the Lamb of God (Jn. 1:29), and that it is evident that they did not comprehend as we do that the sacrifices depicted the person and work of Christ. We also believe that they did not understand the redemptive significance of the prophecies or types concerning the sufferings of Christ (1 Pet. 1:10–12).” Dallas Theological Seminary's Doctrinal Statement.

The Lockman Foundation’s New American Standard Bible (NASB) incorrectly interprets 1 Peter 1:11, showing their bias against any O.T. knowledge of Christ before the Gospels. In the NASB, they have Peter saying, (vs. 10, the prophets were) seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. (emphasis added) The Greek text actually reads, “seeking to know what - time - or - circumstance - the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating.” If you don’t want Christ in the text, you remove any possibility of His previous existence. The dispensational system must be protected at any cost.

II.    The Frequency of Land in Scripture 

Laiu Fachhai found the frequency of the noun 'land', Hebrew erets, in both the wisdom literature and the Psalms is incredible. It “is the fourth most frequent noun (2504x) in the Old Testament after “the LORD” (6827x), “God” (2601x), and “Israel” (2515x). “(O)ne cannot exaggerate how important the image of land was to the O.T. mind and heart, not only in reference to the Promised Land that was eventually attained but also in apocalyptic visions of the coming age.” If we consider the synonyms for land such as ‘lands,’ “inheritance,” “kingdom/s,” “realm,” “domain,” ‘nation/s,’ field/s,’ ‘country/ies,’ increases the number of times exponentially “land” is implied. The NASB uses the term “inheritance” 210 times, “realm” is used nine times, “domain” four times, “kingdom,” 162 times, ‘kingdoms,’ 55 times, ‘nation,’ 137 times, ‘country.’ This is not to mention all the times a 3rd masculine singular pronouns such as “he” in Hebrew, or ‘it’ in English, is used for land.  

III.    Three Over Arching Land Motifs

Three motifs or themes come to mind when the Bible speaks of the Land (of Promise). “The land was where humankind’s obedience to God was to be measured.” It was a barometer of Israel’s relationship to God. The first is the land theme, which begins in Eden. “Genesis begins with humans living in the Lord’s presence in a divinely gifted land. Revelation ends with redeemed humans living in the Lord’s presence in a fully renewed land. Everything in between is the development of God’s people in (and out) of God’s land.” 

The second is Canaan, a land “flowing with milk and honey,” used twenty-three times only in the O.T., and of “rest” (Josh. 1:13, 15; Heb. 3). The former phrase refers to the abundance and goodness of the Land God had given Israel. God created it with abundant pasture lands that would produce milk as a staple of life, a concern posed to Adam in Eden (Gen. 2:5), and later in Canaan, sixty-four times (See Josh. 14:4; 21; et al.). In Canaan, life would be sweet, a luxury for any ANE people. Unfortunately, Joshua could not give Israel rest. In 2 Chronicles 20:30, God gave Jehoshaphat rest on all sides. In 2 Samuel 7:1, God gave David rest from his enemies, and God promised David that his son, Solomon “shall be a man of rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days” (1 Chr. 22:9).

The point is, the land, through every stage of Israel’s history (promise, conquest, possession, misuse, loss, and recovery), becomes so central to Israel’s covenantal experience that to speak of the land is to talk in terms of Israel’s special relationship with Yahweh. It was the place that guaranteed restored intimacy with God and promoted human flourishing, and it was a new garden paradise.

The last motif, the fulfillment of the previous two themes, is the new heavens and earth recorded in John’s apocalypse, Rev. 21:1ff. In Christ, the curse on the cosmos would be done away (Gal. 3:13). Adam and Corporate Adam (Israel) lost their land inheritance due to sin, and failing their probation. The ten tribes of Israel went into captivity to Assyria in 722 B.C. and Judah to Babylonia in 586 B.C. Jesus, representing His people, succeeded His.

God had put His Name and Glory-Cloud upon the holy mountain in Eden (Gen. 2:10-14) and on Sinai (Ex. 19:7-25). Eden was the first “holy land.” There the LORD God planted the “tree of life” and “intended to be a sign and seal of man’s perfected life with and in his holy God.” 

A.    The Land: A Place of Rest

Josh. 1:12-13, 15 But to the Reubenites, to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 13 “Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is giving you rest, and will give you this land.’ . . . 15 until the Lord gives your brothers rest, as He is giving you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God is giving them. (emphasis added)

God built rest into His creation in Gen. 2:1-3. In it, we can celebrate what we have accomplished. Rest leads to refreshment as it causes us to cease from our daily labors. The Lord Jesus took time to rest, and no one worked harder than Him (Mk. 6:45-47; Lk. 6:12; 9:28). Jesus encouraged His disciples to refresh themselves, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) (Mk. 6:31). Since Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, He “rightly observes the sabbath by making people whole (cf. likewise Luke 13:10-17).” Ultimate rest comes only in Christ (Mt. 11:27-28) not in possessing a land.

In Matthew 11:28, Jesus calls those “who labor and are heavy laden” to come to Him. Why? He uses the future tense verb (huraysete), “I will give you—rest (anapausin) for your souls.” This promise of rest signifies that our greatest need is spiritual. As sinners, we continuously strive against God, refusing His offer of spiritual rest via repentance and faith in Christ now and at death. 

Deuteronomy 33:12 invites the weary, “May the beloved of the Lord live in security beside Him Who shields him all the day long, And he lives between His shoulders.” And in Psalm 37:7, “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” Rest is symbolic of salvation itself, as the Prophet Isaiah declared, 15 For this is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength” (Isa. 30).

Heb. 3:7-11 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today if you hear His voice,

8 Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me,

As in the day of trial in the wilderness,

9 Where your fathers tried Me by testing Me,

And saw My works for forty years.

10 “Therefore I was angry with this generation,

And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,

And they did not know My ways’;

11 As I swore in My wrath,

‘They shall not enter My rest.’” (emphasis added)

Early into creation, God established the Sabbath rest—“one day in seven set aside for freedom from work” (Ex. 20:8-11; Dt. 5:12-15). Man and beast need physical refreshment (Ex. 23:12). But man also needs spiritual restoration through worshipping God. “Sabbath rest was buttressed by a system of festivals that constituted an important part of Hebrew religious life.” Such worshipful rest signifies God’s “covenant sign"—"a perpetual covenant” and “a sign” between God and his people (Ex. 31:16-17).

‘Rest’ in Joshua 1:13 and 15 are Hiphil stem verbs (nuack), meaning to “cause to rest = give rest to.” Only God can give or cause the type of rest He prescribes for His chosen people. This rest was for Israel, a rest from bondage in Egypt (Dt. 5:15), and thus it signifies freedom “from work, from human striving and acquisitiveness, from worldly preoccupations.”

“In the N.T., however, the heavenly rest that follows life on earth is nothing less than the goal of human existence.” Ultimate rest occurs at death. Hebrews 4:3, 9-10 proclaims, “For we who have believed enter that rest . . . 9 Consequently, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His” (See also Num. 14).

The Scripture writers ultimately connect the promise of land with Messiah’s future work and our unhindered, constructive activity in the new earth (Rev. 21:1ff). We shall rule with Christ forever (Lk. 19:15-19; Rev. 22:5). “Only at that time (the second coming of Christ) would the heir of all things mediate the new covenant so that the faithful of all ages might together receive the promised inheritance.”

B. The Land of Promise Was Directly Connected to “Somewhere in the DMZ”

Hopefully, you have some idea of what I’m about to say. If I had died that day on that numbered hill recorded on some map long since discarded, I would never have entered the Land—New Jerusalem (See Rev. 21). Because of my eternal election to salvation, God in Christ promised me, as Abraham’s offspring, that I would one day reach that destination. The way there was through turning from my sin and trusting Christ, both gifts from God. God’s Kingship kept me from dying. His covenants of Redemption and Grace ensured my survival. Christ, having observed the Covenant of works in my stead perfectly (Gen. 2:16-17; see Jesus’ obedience in the Gospels), the Lord can reckon me as a covenant keeper via the imputation or transfer of Christ’s righteousness (Rom. 5:12-21). Christ is my mediator. He lived perfectly for me and died for me. And now He ever lives to make intercession for me at the Father’s right hand. God listens to Him and gives to His Son whatever He asks. The Holy Spirit or Glory-Cloud during that terrible day spread over me, His protection certain. I will, therefore, one day at my death, reach my Sabbath-rest in the Land of Promise, the new heavens and new earth.

This promise is as true for First Responders, abused women, and children as it is for traumatized combat veterans, their spouses, and their families if they too trust in the Savior alone by grace alone. The law of faith is the sole factor in one’s standing before a holy God, and that is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9). Does Jesus know you? (Mt. 7:21-23).

Mt. 5:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addressed the self-righteous. This is the reason He made the outlandish statement that their righteousness must surpass that Scribes and Pharisees, both of whom believed their redemption centered in law-keeping. Then Jesus raised the bar of law keeping to an impossible height and said, Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt. 5:48). In other words, we can't keep the law as God demands. 25 When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” 26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Mt. 19)

Heb. 2:1-3 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?