Whenever I read the story of the call of Abraham, I come away with the question: why did God choose where he chose for the Promised Land?
I mean, of all the places on this planet, why would God choose this rocky, little plot of land seemingly out in the middle of nowhere as his special and holy place? What was so unique about this area? Why not someplace like the French Riviera? Or the Red Sea? Italy? Why this patch of desert rock?
Well the answer is actually amazingly simple.
Trade routes.
Shechem and Beth-el, the places Abraham first settled around, were strategically located in the ancient world between two of the most travelled trade routes that ran north and south from Mesopotamia into Africa. It was literally the crossroads of the world at the time. All the traders from all the nations passed through this area, which meant that every nation in the ancient Near East would be exposed to whatever culture inhabited the land. It would be influential. The greatest Empires of the world would use these two primary trade routes to exchange not just merchandise, but stories and ways of life.
So why this patch of land? God intended for the Hebrews to take control of the cities along this route and thereby exert influence on the nations around them. The Promised Land was the arena within which God's people would serve Him faithfully as the world watched. Through their righteous living, the Hebrews would reveal the one true God to the world.
This would of course fail because rather than remain faithful to God and rather than live out their lives as the priestly nation they were intended to be, to live as an example of what it meant to be God's people for the world to see, the Israelites would adopt the ways of other nations and worship other gods rather than living out their calling as God's priestly, faithful people.
They practice injustice instead of justice. Were greedy rather than giving.
Eventually Jesus is sent to renew the blessing – but in a new way. Rather than focusing on this area and just these people, he comes and extends his grace and God's vision beyond the borders of Israel.
In modern Christianity, we make two grave errors regarding how we understand the Promised Land. First, many apply its understanding to this small patch of land being the important location. That controlling this particular area continues to be the grand plan from the time of God's blessing to Abraham.
But if there's something I have learned over the years about God – God's promises are rarely limited to specifics. Is his blessing for this area? Yes. But is it bigger than that? Does God's blessing spill out into the whole world? Yes. Does God intend the entire world to be his “Promised Land?”
I believe so. When Jesus told the disciples to go make disciples, he told them to spread His good news, his love and his message beyond the borders of Judah and Israel – out into the entire world. God's blessing for his people is not limited to this small little crop of land. It is not limited to just the biological heirs of Abraham. God's blessings are for the world.
Second, when we completely spiritualize the Promised Land into some future heavenly home, we are also missing the point. Christians frequently focus on heaven as the destination, rather than recognizing that we are meant to be a blessing to the WORLD as it exists right now. That we are called to live publicly and passionately in order to influence the culture around us. When we focus too heavily on where we are individually headed in the afterlife instead of where we're headed in the here and now, we separate ourselves from our responsibility toward the world in which He has placed us.
Living by faith is not a vague, otherworldly experience. That's not what it meant for Abraham to live by faith in God. Living by faith meant engagement in the world. God wants his people “in the game” not on the bench. That's why he placed them where he did.
Now he places us throughout the world – places us in the midst of our cultures. In our communities to live out the exact same thing he intended for the Israelites. To be his representatives in the world. To live our faith out for the world to see.
That does not mean we force what we think or believe on others, but to LIVE OUT what we believe for others to see, as examples of his love and desire for our world.
Loving people, being in their lives, doesn't always mean you have to shove faith in their face. It simply means it becomes a part of who you are and therefore your very life becomes an example. When our baptismal candles are lit, we are told, “Let your light so shine before others so that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.” Our works do not save ourselves – but they are one of the means through which God works to create faith in others around us. That is God's mission – therefore it is our mission – and purpose in this world.
Our faith is not meant to be an individualized faith that just gets me the free pass through the pearly gates. It's supposed to be a faith that is lived out in our communities and in our world so others may see what we do, hear what we say, and perhaps come to know God as a result. So that our world might be transformed into God's vision of the Promised Land.
And you don't have to be perfect. Abraham was far from a perfect human being. First he tries to give his wife away to Pharaoh. I still wish I could have heard Sarah's response to that.
Then he and Sarah both decide they're going to take matters into their own hands and rather than trust God's promise that he will provide an heir – Sarah tells Abraham to sleep with her slave girl. Can't really blame Abraham for taking his wife up on that offer, but still – it was an act of faithlessness on both their parts.
He almost gives the promised land away by offering it to his nephew Lot. By no means is Abraham a perfect example. He's a human. He's flawed just like each and every one of us.
Yet God uses this flawed man to be one of the most important men in all of human history. He becomes a blessing to the entire world. The promised land extends now to all the earth on account of Abraham living his faith.
We are meant to be a blessing to the world as well. God’s vision for our world may seem unattainable and unlikely – yet so was promising a 75 year old man who had no children that he would have descendants as numerous as the stars.
So let us live not as though we're trying to get to the promised land, but like we live there already.
I mean, of all the places on this planet, why would God choose this rocky, little plot of land seemingly out in the middle of nowhere as his special and holy place? What was so unique about this area? Why not someplace like the French Riviera? Or the Red Sea? Italy? Why this patch of desert rock?
Well the answer is actually amazingly simple.
Trade routes.
Shechem and Beth-el, the places Abraham first settled around, were strategically located in the ancient world between two of the most travelled trade routes that ran north and south from Mesopotamia into Africa. It was literally the crossroads of the world at the time. All the traders from all the nations passed through this area, which meant that every nation in the ancient Near East would be exposed to whatever culture inhabited the land. It would be influential. The greatest Empires of the world would use these two primary trade routes to exchange not just merchandise, but stories and ways of life.
So why this patch of land? God intended for the Hebrews to take control of the cities along this route and thereby exert influence on the nations around them. The Promised Land was the arena within which God's people would serve Him faithfully as the world watched. Through their righteous living, the Hebrews would reveal the one true God to the world.
This would of course fail because rather than remain faithful to God and rather than live out their lives as the priestly nation they were intended to be, to live as an example of what it meant to be God's people for the world to see, the Israelites would adopt the ways of other nations and worship other gods rather than living out their calling as God's priestly, faithful people.
They practice injustice instead of justice. Were greedy rather than giving.
Eventually Jesus is sent to renew the blessing – but in a new way. Rather than focusing on this area and just these people, he comes and extends his grace and God's vision beyond the borders of Israel.
In modern Christianity, we make two grave errors regarding how we understand the Promised Land. First, many apply its understanding to this small patch of land being the important location. That controlling this particular area continues to be the grand plan from the time of God's blessing to Abraham.
But if there's something I have learned over the years about God – God's promises are rarely limited to specifics. Is his blessing for this area? Yes. But is it bigger than that? Does God's blessing spill out into the whole world? Yes. Does God intend the entire world to be his “Promised Land?”
I believe so. When Jesus told the disciples to go make disciples, he told them to spread His good news, his love and his message beyond the borders of Judah and Israel – out into the entire world. God's blessing for his people is not limited to this small little crop of land. It is not limited to just the biological heirs of Abraham. God's blessings are for the world.
Second, when we completely spiritualize the Promised Land into some future heavenly home, we are also missing the point. Christians frequently focus on heaven as the destination, rather than recognizing that we are meant to be a blessing to the WORLD as it exists right now. That we are called to live publicly and passionately in order to influence the culture around us. When we focus too heavily on where we are individually headed in the afterlife instead of where we're headed in the here and now, we separate ourselves from our responsibility toward the world in which He has placed us.
Living by faith is not a vague, otherworldly experience. That's not what it meant for Abraham to live by faith in God. Living by faith meant engagement in the world. God wants his people “in the game” not on the bench. That's why he placed them where he did.
Now he places us throughout the world – places us in the midst of our cultures. In our communities to live out the exact same thing he intended for the Israelites. To be his representatives in the world. To live our faith out for the world to see.
That does not mean we force what we think or believe on others, but to LIVE OUT what we believe for others to see, as examples of his love and desire for our world.
Loving people, being in their lives, doesn't always mean you have to shove faith in their face. It simply means it becomes a part of who you are and therefore your very life becomes an example. When our baptismal candles are lit, we are told, “Let your light so shine before others so that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.” Our works do not save ourselves – but they are one of the means through which God works to create faith in others around us. That is God's mission – therefore it is our mission – and purpose in this world.
Our faith is not meant to be an individualized faith that just gets me the free pass through the pearly gates. It's supposed to be a faith that is lived out in our communities and in our world so others may see what we do, hear what we say, and perhaps come to know God as a result. So that our world might be transformed into God's vision of the Promised Land.
And you don't have to be perfect. Abraham was far from a perfect human being. First he tries to give his wife away to Pharaoh. I still wish I could have heard Sarah's response to that.
Then he and Sarah both decide they're going to take matters into their own hands and rather than trust God's promise that he will provide an heir – Sarah tells Abraham to sleep with her slave girl. Can't really blame Abraham for taking his wife up on that offer, but still – it was an act of faithlessness on both their parts.
He almost gives the promised land away by offering it to his nephew Lot. By no means is Abraham a perfect example. He's a human. He's flawed just like each and every one of us.
Yet God uses this flawed man to be one of the most important men in all of human history. He becomes a blessing to the entire world. The promised land extends now to all the earth on account of Abraham living his faith.
We are meant to be a blessing to the world as well. God’s vision for our world may seem unattainable and unlikely – yet so was promising a 75 year old man who had no children that he would have descendants as numerous as the stars.
So let us live not as though we're trying to get to the promised land, but like we live there already.
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