Picture this, you own a beautiful 300 acres of fertile land- rolling hills for a decent herd of beef cattle, a couple of ponds, adequate tree lines for hunting, a perfect area for a huge garden, more than enough fenced-in area for milk goats, chickens, a few sheep. The main house on the land is a 6 bedroom, 4 bath, massive kitchen and perfect dining area to host fellowship meals…a large outdoor eating area where feasts can be held complete with a built-in stone grill- perfect for roasting a Passover lamb.
Now, consider that you will one day pass from this earth. What would happen to this land; to this house? Before you die, you would write it into a will for your children to inherit. You may even add covenant laws to the will that state that this property may never be sold for land development, Leviticus 25:23. This land may never be used to host pagan festivals, Deut. 12:4. The first fruits of what this land produces is to be given to the poor and used to host feasts in the house, Lev. 23. No graven images are allowed to be set up on the land or in the house, Exodus 20:4. This land must be allowed to rest every seven years, Lev. 25. (Regenerative agriculture). This land is to be set apart to Yah, Deut. 1:8.
Other families have owned this land in the past, Lev. 18:25, but Yah gave you the ability to purchase and possess this property as your own- as an inheritance for you children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, Deut. 7:9. You work for yourself from the land and prosper- Yah blesses the work of your hands and the produce of this land because you honor Him in all endeavors, Deut. 28.
I don’t know about yall, but the thought of this gives me goose bumps- the thought of leaving land for my children to inherit and actually watching those blessings Yah describes come to fruition because we care for the land according to His word.
He is our parent, our Father. He did leave a land of inheritance for His children. A beautiful land flowing with milk and honey, filled with herds and flocks, vines and olive groves. The picture I just described above is just a drop in the jar; that feeling of desiring to leave that blessing for our children is just an ounce of what THE Father desires to give His children. I’m going to drop this side note- you’ll have to read to read ‘The Wedding Covenant Theology’ series to get the full context of what I'm about to say:
The covenant was never about Yahuah marrying a people He called children, the covenant was always about a Father leaving His children an inheritance will.
We are going to take this all the way back to the garden.
Genesis 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He placed the man He had formed.
Genesis 2:15 Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. Yahuah planted His own garden in the land of Eden and placed Adam inside it.
It was the Father’s land that He gave His first human son to abide in. The garden had four rivers running from it, Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates. These rivers, or river valleys, are all still present today. The land marks and natural resources are still present today. The garden is not. Keep this in mind as we continue.
Fast forward to Noah. The earth was filled with violence, bloodshed, and abominations. The earth needed to be cleansed. After the flood, Noah emerges from the ark on the first of the third month. He builds an altar, and makes a sacrifice to atone for the guilt of the earth. Yahuah smelled the goodly savor and made a covenant with him to never flood the earth again.
Jubilees 6:15-17, 21 And He gave to Noah and his sons a sign that there should never again be a flood on the earth. He set His bow in the cloud for a sign of the eternal covenant that there should not again be a flood on the earth. For this reason it is ordained and written on the heavenly tables, that they should celebrate the feast of weeks in this month once a year, to renew the covenant every year. . .21 For it is the feast of weeks and the feast of first-fruits: this feast is two-fold and of a double nature: according to what is written and engraven concerning it, celebrate it. ***
In Genesis 15, Abram is given the promise of seed as numerous as the stars of the heavens. Yahuah said to him in vs. 7: “I am Yahuah who brought you out of Ur-Kasdim, to give you this land to inherit it.” He instructed for a proper altar sacrifice to be performed, and blessed him with a prophetic vision of what would come to pass through his seed.
Genesis 15:18-21 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates— the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
Genesis 17:7-8 I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.
Do you see the descriptions of how large this span of land is? Are you picking up on the “everlasting covenant” and “eternal possession” promises? Historical Israel never inherited that entire span of land and they certainly did not get to experience abiding there eternally- not yet anyway.
Hebrew 11:8-10 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Galatians 3:29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
Looking ahead to Jacob, we read Isaac’s blessing in Genesis 28. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were dwelling in the land, but they considered themselves foreigners- although the land was covenanted to them, they understood that the true land of promise was something to still look forward to; something eternal.
Genesis 28:3-4 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples. And may He give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants, so that you may possess the land where you dwell as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.
From Jacob came the 12 sons; the 12 tribes of Israel. As we know, a famine came to the land so the family of Israel- 70 beings aside from Joseph's household, went into the land of Egypt. The family grew into great numbers and new rulership forced the Hebrews into slavery. Yahuah heard the cries of the people and appeared to Moses:
Exodus 6:2-8 God also told Moses, “I am Yahuah. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name Yahuah I did not make Myself known to them. I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they lived as foreigners. Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered My covenant. Therefore tell the Israelites: ‘I am Yahuah, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am Yahuah your Elohim, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am Yahuah!’
He brings the people out and brings them to Mt. Siani and makes a covenant with them- He renews the covenant that He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with the multitude of the children of Israel. The covenant is not equivalent to law but it does contain laws, statues, and ordinances, many of which are regulations for the rights to the land. This is comparable to how we live now in our country- when you break laws: steal, murder, produce and sell illegal substances- you lose your rights.
Leviticus 18:2-5 Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I am the LORD your God. You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you. You must not walk in their customs. You are to practice My judgments and keep My statutes by walking in them. I am the LORD your God. Keep My statutes and My judgments, for the man who does these things will live by them. I am the LORD.
Leviticus 18:25-30 Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants. But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances, and you must not commit any of these abominations—neither your native-born nor the foreigner who lives among you. For the men who were in the land before you committed all these abominations, and the land has become defiled. So if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it spewed out the nations before you. Therefore anyone who commits any of these abominations must be cut off from among his people. You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.
These same sentiments and commands are repeated multiple times throughout Deuteronomy and into Joshua. We see Joshua go in and lead the people to begin defeating the nations. Very soon after the death of Joshua and the tribes stopped dispossessing the nations from the land.
Judges 1:27-36 At that time Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. When Israel became stronger, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor, but they never drove them out completely. Ephraim also failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer; so the Canaanites continued to dwell among them in Gezer. Zebulun failed to drive out the inhabitants of Kitron and Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and served as forced laborers. Asher failed to drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob. So the Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, because they did not drive them out. Naphtali failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath. So the Naphtalites also lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, but the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served them as forced laborers. The Amorites forced the Danites into the hill country and did not allow them to come down into the plain. And the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But when the house of Joseph grew in strength, they pressed the Amorites into forced labor. And the border of the Amorites extended from the Ascent of Akrabbim to Sela and beyond.
Judges 2:1-3 Now the messenger of Yahuah went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I had promised to your fathers, and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you, and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done? So now I tell you that I will not drive out these people before you; they will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.”
Right after coming into the land, the people broke the covenant! A rough estimate of the timeline suggests there were approximately 600 years between Israel entering the land and the Assyrian captivity when the people lost their rights to live on the land. 600 years of disobedience, idolatry, and mixing with the nations! What a long-suffering God. Only during the days of David and Solomon do we see a united kingdom, a people practicing the laws, for the most part at least.
When we read the books of Hosea and Jeremiah we see the descriptions of the people losing their rights to the land; the certificate of divorce was the land vomiting them out as Leviticus 18 said would happen. The children were not divorced from their Father, they were always able to repent- we see the scattered tribes join Hezekiah’s Passover in 2 Chronicles 34. But they were never allowed to own the land again. Even though Judah wasn’t spoken of as divorced, they did eventually become scattered from their land in 70 AD. It wasn’t until the 1940’s when political powers-that-be bought that land and brought Jews to it. This is never mentioned in the “Support Israel” news but there are Jews in Pakistan who protest the Jews living in Jerusalem because they know they don’t have rights to the land- they know the gathering back to the land does not happen until the Messiah appears.
Obviously, us as grafted-in Israel cannot just stake our claim today, that’s not going to go well! BUT we do still have a land to look forward to, the same land and city that Abraham was looking forward to. Remember what I said in the beginning that the covenant is two-fold, the promise for restoration is built into the instructions for this life in the flesh.
Deuteronomy 30:1-6 “When all these things come upon you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you call them to mind in all the nations to which the LORD your God has banished you, and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey His voice with all your heart and all your soul according to everything I am giving you today, then He will restore you from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you from all the nations to which the LORD your God has scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the farthest horizon, He will gather you and return you from there. And the LORD your God will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply more than your fathers. The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
Jeremiah 31:7-9 For this is what the LORD says: “Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations! Make your praises heard, and say, ‘O LORD, save Your people, the remnant of Israel!’ Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor. They will return as a great assembly! They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.”
Ezekiel 37:12-14, 25 Therefore prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O My people, I will open your graves and bring you up from them, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, My people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put My Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.’” . . . 25 They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live there forever with their children and grandchildren, and My servant David will be their prince forever.
I heard a fantastic point be made by Sean Griffin at Kingdom in Context- we can have such great faith in knowing that Yahuah will keep His covenant to do this; to raise up to eternal life and bring us back to the land, because He was faithful to keep His covenant consequences and dispossess the people from the land. He kept His word for consequences, He will keep His word for restoration. This is such a powerful parenting point for us to remember!
The land He is going to bring to the earth for us to inhabit is a garden land- the restored and expanded Garden of Eden.
Isaiah 51:3 For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.
Joel 2 describes the Day of Yahuah- the day Messiah returns with a sword and an army of messengers to clear the defiled land- the Jerusalem that now is as we discussed last week from Galatians 4.
Joel 2:3 Before them a fire devours and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland—surely nothing will escape them.
Revelation 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.
In 2 Corinthian 12 Paul is expressing a vision his friend saw of the Paradise of God in the third firmament. Revelation 21 and 22 speaks of the Tree of Life which was in the midst of the Garden in Genesis 2, as well as rivers that flow from it. From what I have gathered, the Garden is in the midst of the City which is in the midst of the whole land.
2 Esdras 8:52 It is for you that paradise is opened, the tree of life is planted, the age to come is prepared, plenty is provided, a city is built, rest is appointed, goodness is established and wisdom perfected beforehand.
Ezekiel 34:29-30 And I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,’ declares the Lord GOD.
Revelation 21:2 I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (2 Cor. 12 Paradise in the 3rd Heaven)
Revelation 21:10-12 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, shining with the glory of God. Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, as clear as crystal. The city had a great and high wall with twelve gates inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve angels at the gates.
Isaiah 54 is a dialogue between Yahuah and the personified city, she is being told to expand her tent pegs because children are coming to her. It describes a fortified city with walls and great stones whose children are taught by Yahuah. At the end of the passage we read:
Isaiah 54:17 This is the inheritance of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me,” declares the LORD.
The land, the city of Yahuah, the Tree of Life IS our inheritance from our Father. The Hebrews of old were given a portion and squandered their inheritance but Israel by faith returns to the Father with their whole heart and receives life in the land. The parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15 and the fulfillment of Deut. 30.