Monday, January 17, 2011
New Land Focus under the New Covenant
The role of Canaan or modern day Palestine for the Child of God is a challenging topic. Does the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites continue to play a role in the faith of a believer, or should the focus of this promised land be abandoned? I'm not sure I have the answer. I believe we have strong evidence in the New Testament that the view on the land should not be the same; however, at the same time, the angels told the Disciples that Jesus would return again to the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:11, see also Zechariah 14:4).
Jesus appeared to take the focus off of the land between the River and the Great Sea when he tells the Samaritan woman: "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem." (John 4:21)
Before his ascension, Jesus told his Disciples that they would be his witnesses "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8) Jesus' focus was now larger than just the original Promised Land.
However, I believe Jesus' redefined the Promised Land when he said, "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." (John 14:2-4)
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.'" (Revelation 21:1-3)
"By faith Abraham made his home in the promised land like 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." (Hebrews 11:9-10)
However, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob "did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." (Hebrews 11:13-16)
Our land focus no longer has to be earthly. We have a new mission (see next post). "Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come." (Hebrews 13:13-14)
Amen.
Jesus appeared to take the focus off of the land between the River and the Great Sea when he tells the Samaritan woman: "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem." (John 4:21)
Before his ascension, Jesus told his Disciples that they would be his witnesses "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8) Jesus' focus was now larger than just the original Promised Land.
However, I believe Jesus' redefined the Promised Land when he said, "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." (John 14:2-4)
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.'" (Revelation 21:1-3)
"By faith Abraham made his home in the promised land like 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." (Hebrews 11:9-10)
However, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob "did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." (Hebrews 11:13-16)
Our land focus no longer has to be earthly. We have a new mission (see next post). "Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come." (Hebrews 13:13-14)
Amen.
# posted by Wesley Son of Cornelius @ 11:07 AM 
