God’s Holy Land (Numbers 33:50–34:29)

Many years ago I was offered a trip to Jerusalem to see the “holy land.” Shortly thereafter, a series of attacks broke out in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and I chose not to go. I would love to see that part of the world some time. I can imagine that reading Scripture while picturing those places would be a wonderful combination.

As a significant redemptive-historical place, that small piece of real estate is of deep interest to Christians, and rightly so. At the same time, many Christians overemphasise the “holy land,” forgetting that, under the new covenant, that piece of real-estate is nothing special. Though there are valid and important geopolitical matters surrounding that once Promised Land, Christians cast their eyes to a far larger landscape: the entire globe (Matthew 28:18–20).

At the risk of sounding provocative, there is nothing today holy about that land in Palestine. Having fulfilled its purpose, it is merely a land, not a holy land. Though as I trust we will see, one day it will, along with the rest of the world, be a part of God’s greater holy land.

Without being polemical, I want to pastorally help us appreciate that, as important as this piece of Middle Eastern real estate was, the new covenant believer–Jew and Gentile—should be thinking much larger and far less parochially than the geopolitical nation of Israel. We should be thinking the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16) and the promise that we will inherit the entire earth.

We will study this portion, beginning with the end of chapter 33, under four major headings:

1. It Was a Bad land (33:50–56)
2. It Was a Bordered Land (34:1–15)
3. It Was a Blessed Land (34:16–29)
4. Conclusion: There is a Better Land

It Was a Bad Land

Chapter 33 concludes with an important admonition regarding the soon to be inherited land of Canaan.

And the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.”

(Numbers 33:50–56)

The Israelites were “commanded” (vv. 50–51) to “drive out” idolators and to “destroy” and “demolish” idols in the land of Canaan (52). In other words, the land they were inheriting was religiously not a holy land. At least not yet. When it came to worship, and wickedness flowing from this, it was in fact a very bad land.

It must be acknowledged that though this was a bad land religiously, it nevertheless was a good land agriculturally. As recorded in chapter 13, the land of Canaan was a land of milk and honey, with grapes as big as watermelons. It was a fertile land. Yet, contrary to the beliefs of the locals, the fertility of the soil had nothing to do with their idolatrous and immoral religion. Rather, it was fertile by the kindness of God, who causes it to rain sometimes on both the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:45). After all, despite mankind’s unfaithful stewardship, “the earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1).

The land of Canaan, God’s Promised Land to Israel, was a land of both great antiquity (the Egyptians ruled it for centuries before the exodus) and of even greater iniquity (Genesis 15:12–16). Though it was a beautiful and bountiful land, it was inhabited by Yahweh-denying and dishonouring idolators and therefore it was a bad land. But it was a bad land that God commanded to be transformed into a blessed land; it was a bad land, but with prophesied potential to be a blessed land.

Verses 53–54 provide a hint that, under the possession of God’s people, things could be different. God’s gifts are always good gifts. So with the inheritance of this land. There was much potential for much good.

This was the basis for the grave exhortation to “drive out,” “destroy,” and “demolish.” False worship and false worshippers were to be replaced with true worship and true worshippers. In many ways, this is the point of the book of Numbers.

We should pause to reflect on the biblical reality that, as religiously bad as we view the world in our day, it is no match for the promises, power, and purposes of God. We live in a bad land (not only criminally and politically but, more to the point, spiritually) and this should steel our resolve to drive out, destroy, and demolish those things that will bring God’s judgement (Ephesians 5:11–14). And as we have often reflected upon, this must begin with the people of God (2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1).

As Christians we are to guard against idolatry and its accompanying vices such as immorality. In a famous quote, G. K. Chesterton responded to a newspaper survey asking its readers what is wrong with the world. He responded, “Dear Sir: Regarding your article, ‘What’s Wrong with the World?’ I am. Yours truly, G. K. Chesterton.”

Perhaps it is an overstatement, but I heard a theologian once say that the problem with the world is the church. As salt and light, we can have an effect on corruption. In other words, a bad land can become a better land. A horrific land can, by the power of Jesus Christ, become a holy land. And according to the book of Revelation, it one day will! But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Divine Lotto

The inheritance of this bad land, with the goal of it becoming a much better land, was to be divided according to the size of each tribe (vv. 53–54). (Note, incidentally, that God does not appear to have been concerned with “equality.”) Under God’s providence, tribal lands were then to be divided by lot among the clans within each tribe (Proverbs 16:33).

The Threat of Exile

The chapter ends with a strong and grave exhortation to be sure to drive out the inhabitants of the land, lest God’s people be detoured from devotion to the Lord (vv. 55–56). Subsequent history reveals that Israel failed to do so, with cataclysmic consequences (Judges 15:63; 16:10; 17:12–13). In other words, this not-so-holy land would, for the most part, remain a not-so-holy land. And Israel would lose their land.

It was a Bordered Land

God’s holy land was bounded on all sides, south, west, north, east.

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders), your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of the Salt Sea on the east. And your border shall turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon. And the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and its limit shall be at the sea.

 

“For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its coast. This shall be your western border.

 

“This shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line to Mount Hor. From Mount Hor you shall draw a line to Lebo-hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at Zedad. Then the border shall extend to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern border.

 

“You shall draw a line for your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. And the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and reach to the shoulder of the Sea of Chinnereth on the east. And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its limit shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land as defined by its borders all around.”

 

Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. For the tribe of the people of Reuben by fathers’ houses and the tribe of the people of Gad by their fathers’ houses have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manasseh. The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.”

(Numbers 34:1–15)

It had specific dimensions, setting it off from the rest of the world—yet for the benefit of the rest of the world. This gift of God to his people was a blessing that, like all blessings, had boundaries. These borders were to be both reached and guarded. They were necessary for protection, for purity, for purpose.

The Borders of the Holy Land

God’s word established the borders of the holy land. We see here what Allen has called “liturgical geography.” It is an act of worship.

As far as I can tell, the term “holy land” is only found in Psalm 78:54 and, in an eschatological usage, Zechariah 2:12. The association of the words “holy” and “land” are found numerous times in Ezekiel 45–48—again, in a very eschatological portion of Scripture.

The term is a good one, for the Promised Land was by definition “holy.” That is, God distinctly set it aside for his people. It was to be a different piece of real estate in which its inhabitants would be covenantally faithful and, in return, receive favour from God, their King (see Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28). It would be sufficiently watered with God’s rain. It would not suffer under pestilence. It would yield amazingly yields of harvest. It would flow with milk and honey.

But more importantly, as God’s people faithfully kept covenant, this holy land would circumferentially be a means of the Great Commission. That is, as surrounding peoples observed their holy behaviour, they would be drawn to the holy place (the tabernacle/temple) to worship the only holy God. Ashley notes, “Socially, politically, and religiously Israel was to be a holy people to the Lord, distinctive in character and practice, so that they might be a light for the nations and a source of salvation to the Gentiles” (see Deuteronomy 4:1–9). Isaiah 43:21 describes Israel as “the people whom I have formed for myself that they might declare my praise.” God commanded through Moses, “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel” (Exodus 19:5–6).

We see this truth illustrated in the dedication of Solomon’s temple, in which he appealed that all nations would come and worship the true God there (2 Chronicles 6:32–33). In this way, the land within these God-prescribed parameters was to be a holy land; a land in which God’s chosen people would live devoted to Yahweh, making the most of their gracious inheritance. Note that the Lord was far more important than the land. Unfortunately, the nation of Israel lost sight of this and, for this reason, lost the land.

At this point, we should perhaps spare Moses a sympathetic thought. Consider the opening words: “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, ‘When you enter the land of Canaan…’” In vv. 12–13 we read, “And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its limit shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land as defined by its borders all around. Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, ‘This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe’” (cf. 33:51). They would enter; Moses would not. These words must have been painful for him to receive, record, and relay, for several reasons.

For one thing, he spoke of the nine and a half tribes that would receive their inheritance. It must have broken his heart that he would die with a whole lot of people choosing to remain on the fringe, outside the parameters of God’s promises.

Moses knew when to surrender and when to be stubborn. But it would have been a sad surrender knowing that some of God’s people would miss out on so much of God’s blessing. He would have also been deeply saddened knowing how indifferent individualism would hinder God’s people from experiencing the full potential within the fullness of their borders. You see, Israel never inhabited the complete bordered holy land. Even under Solomon’s reign.

Second, Moses realised, again, that he would miss out on the experience of God’s holy land. God’s appointed time of transition had come and Moses surrendered to it. Every leader should know when it is time to step aside and let the next generation of leaders assume the helm. So it was with Moses as he passed the mantle to Eleazar the high priest and Joshua his erstwhile assistant (v. 17). The next generation would experience victories that were impossible, by God’s design, for Moses and his generation to experience.

Think about it: Forty years of faithful ministry and yet, because of one failure of faith, Moses was excluded. This provides a hint of what it means to be holy and what God expected of those in the holy land. Unbelief would make the holy land a not-so-holy land. But there are other lessons as well.

God has high requirements for those who lead his people. The faith failure of their leader would serve as a significant warning, a poignant lesson to take God and his word seriously. It would also be an important reminder that God’s holiness means he does not show partiality. As great a leader as Moses was, it only took one sinful pin to burst the bubble of the promised fullness of blessing.

Borders for Protection and Purity

The parameters would identify the borders they were responsible to protect. They were not responsible for what happened outside their walls but they were responsible to protect what lay within. Israel was responsible for what happened within her borders, not for what happened outside of them. And to the degree that she was faithful, she would impact the surrounding nations (see Deuteronomy 4:1–9).

As noted, Israel was called to a circumferential ministry. If she behaved herself under God, she would be in a position to impact the surrounding peoples.

Though the church is called to what missiologist George Peters called “centrifugal ministry,” nevertheless, as the local church pays close attention to her belief and behaviour within her own borders, her effectiveness will be empowered. Carl Trueman helpfully writes, “Many Christians talk of engaging the culture. In fact, the culture is most dramatically engaged by the church presenting it with another culture, another form of community, rooted in her liturgical worship practices and manifested in the loving community that exists both in and beyond the worship service.”

Brothers and sisters, worshipping together is a huge factor in experiencing the blessings within the borders in which God has placed us (see Acts 17:26). I am not suggesting that we should not vote, speak to the powers that be, or passively watch the world go to hell in a handbasket. I am not a fan of isolationism, either politically or spiritually. I am saying, as our text helps us to see, that we had better be sure our own house is in order before trying to sort out someone else’s house. We need to be faithful within the boundaries of our own local church before bemoaning the failures of others within their boundaries.

It does little good to gripe about government being unfaithful to the constitution while we ignore our own biblical covenant. It is inconsistent to gripe about corruption while we are miserly toward God and his work. Dealing with sin within our borders is of first priority, not the sins of those without.

Borders for Israel’s Purpose

Unfortunately, the land, within these parameters, was never fully acquired by Israel. She failed to be faithful. She failed to be appropriately forceful in securing what God promised. Rushdoony is helpful, “It was the Promised Land, but it was a land to be earned by the hard lessons of the wilderness journey and by a long period of battle. God’s promises to us as to men of old are not handouts: they come with a necessity for struggle, and victory comes after struggle.”

The divinely established borders were to help Israel to focus on where the battle was to be fought so that she would fulfil her purpose of being a God-honouring theocratic nation for the purpose of ultimately being a blessing to the nations. But her failure to behave within the parameters led to her fall.

It is important to remember that God does not give futile assignments. God was not playing games with the nation of Israel. They had a very real responsibility and, to the degree they remained devoted to the Lord, they would experience God’s blessings upon their efforts. That is, the Promised Land would become a holy land. We need to remember this in our day.

The Great Commission is not a futile mission. All those for whom Christ died will be saved. The nations will be discipled. To accomplish this we must remain devoted disciples. We must be distinctively different. When a church abandons her purpose, the Lord abandons her (Revelation 2:4–5).

In concluding this point, let us observe that God’s appointed borders, parameters, or boundaries are often necessary to experience the fullness of his gifts. God promised a specific piece of land to his people. It was a gift. And it came with borders and boundaries. Unfortunately, two and a half tribes chose to try and experience God’s best outside of the boundaries and they (their children primarily) paid a painful price. We need to respect God’s boundaries.

God has given the gift of sex—to be enjoyed within the boundary of heterosexual marriage. God has given gift of the ordinances—to be observed within the boundary of church membership. God has given the gift of spiritual gifts—to be exercised within the boundary of decency and order. God has given the gift of shepherding leadership in the church—to be recognised within the boundary of scriptural qualifications (1 Timothy 3:1–7; Titus 1:5–9). God has given the gift of salvation by grace alone through faith alone—to be received within the boundary of Christ’s lordship, which includes the exercise of good works (Ephesians 2:8–10; James 2).

It Was a Blessed Land

Chosen men would inherit the land by the Lord’s blessing (see Ephesians 1:3–4). These closing verses highlight the certainty of the promise concerning the land.

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. You shall take one chief from every tribe to divide the land for inheritance. These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. Of the tribe of the people of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. Of the tribe of the people of Dan a chief, Bukki the son of Jogli. Of the people of Joseph: of the tribe of the people of Manasseh a chief, Hanniel the son of Ephod. And of the tribe of the people of Ephraim a chief, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. Of the tribe of the people of Zebulun a chief, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. Of the tribe of the people of Issachar a chief, Paltiel the son of Azzan. And of the tribe of the people of Asher a chief, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. Of the tribe of the people of Naphtali a chief, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” These are the men whom the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance for the people of Israel in the land of Canaan.

(Numbers 34:16–29)

The verses above parallel instructions given to the first generation (1:5–16). That generation having died, the new generation was poised to secure the victory. As we saw previously, there was always historical continuity with God’s people and his purpose. That is, his kingdom marches on.

God continues to build his church, despite the failures of his people. Ashley helpfully comments, “The new day has dawned. A new census has been taken (chapter 26), and the land of Canaan has been divided. In many ways, the Israelites stand at the same position they did at the beginning of the Book of Numbers, before their rebellion and punishment of the wilderness years took place. Now, as then, it would be important for lay leadership to assist in the task at hand, which was marking out the boundaries of the land.” We should sense the anticipation of God’s blessings upon his people and the land. It was to be a blessed land. It was a blessed inheritance.

The Error of Dualism

This inheritance was a physical, material inheritance. It was a material blessing. One of the errors with which the church throughout history has wrestled is that of dualism: the idea that matter and spirit are in opposition to each other and that matter is evil while spirit is good. A consequence is that Christians can become guilty of despising the physical, or at least dismissing God’s creation as insignificant. Like the drunk that Luther spoke of who falls off one side of the horse to climb on again only to fall off the other side, Christians can find themselves erroneously embracing either of two extremes.

First, beware the extreme of worshipping creation. We can put too much emphasis on God’s good gifts (sex, a house, cars, outdoors, recreation, music, health, etc.).

Second, beware the opposite extreme of dismissing as unimportant or as irrelevant these same things. Hence, disregarding the gift of sex within marriage, poor stewardship of the possessions God has given to us, our health, the environment.

The fact that God gave this land grant to his people is evidence enough that the physical gifts of God are good things that should properly appreciated and appreciatively stewarded.

It is important that Christians avoid a gnostic approach to life. The material matters. Matter matters because God created it. He created this earth and so it matters to him. We should not think ethereal, floating-on-clouds existence as Christians but rather we should think living in a physical, material, though glorified, world. Christians should look forward to the day when the land will be glorious. Christians one day will truly and fully inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).

Finally, this blessing was responsibly placed in the hands of capable leaders. God’s inheritance was placed in the hands of those who would lead in the conquest of Canaan. We can assume they were as faithful as was Caleb.

If the local church will enjoy the blessings of God within her ‘land’ then she will need men of capable, confident, courageous because Christ-like leadership. God chooses his leaders and the way to know whom he has chosen is not a mystery—we have his written instruction in 1 Tim 3 and Titus 1. Let us pay attention to this and then go forth with God’s blessing.

It Pointed to a Better Land

As we have come to appreciate, this old covenant book points us to the new covenant that is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so here. But how?

The concept of land in the Old Testament is important, for the Promised Land was essential for the fulfilment of God’s promise in Genesis 3:15 to send the serpent crusher, who would save his people from the venom of sin and its wrath-deserving guilt. Of course, this promise was of God sending his Son, Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. That is, all the lands on earth are to experience the blessings of God’s salvation. This is what was behind the first land promise in Genesis 12:1–3, which was given to Abraham. This promise was reiterated to him in Genesis 15:12–16 and 22:15–18. Both passages speak of “offspring” and also refer to land (in some way). These are inseparable. These promises are then repeated to both Isaac (Genesis 26:2–4) and then finally to Jacob (Genesis 28:13–14).

Here is what we need to see: The land and the promised seed—Christ (Galatians 3:16)—were inseparable, for Jesus Christ had to come through the nation of Israel. The Promised Land was not primarily about the land per se but rather about the gospel. The reason there were parameters, the reason Israel needed to protect her borders, and the reason Israel needed to be pure was because she was the steward of the Saviour!

Interestingly, Israel failed miserably in her stewardship and yet the Father still sent his Son, the promised Saviour, not of the land but of the world! Of course Israel missed this, for all they could think of was the physical real estate (John 1:11). But those enlightened by the Spirit of God receive him and become sons of God, through the same faith as that of Abraham.

To summarise, the land promises have been fulfilled in a far better way than Israel ever experienced (Joshua 21:43–45). They were fulfilled with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ who perfectly lived within the boundaries of God’s holy law, who died in the place of hell-deserving sinners—“outside the land”—and who rose from the dead securing the world as his kingdom (1 Corinthians 15:24–28; see Psalm 2).

The Promised Land and innumerable offspring was not ethnocentric. Rather, all who share in Abraham’s faith are children of Abraham, whether Jew or Gentile (Galatians 3:7–9, 26–29). After all, significantly, Paul referred to Abraham as “the heir of the world” in Romans 4:13. In other words, not merely a piece of land in the Middle East but rather the entire globe.

The holy land was a physical, geographic place in which God’s people were to dwell. It was a holy land because it was where the holy place of God’s presence dwelt (tabernacle, temple). It was therefore an extremely significant place. But, with the coming of Jesus Christ—with his death, burial, and resurrection—the holy land has been greatly expanded. That is, the entire globe is God’s holy land. The entire globe is the place where God dwells with his people (Matthew 28:18–20; John 4:19–26; 1 Peter 2:9–10). And according to the book of Revelation, one day this entire world will actually be a holy land!

Land or Earth?

In Psalm 37:11 the writer says, “But the meek shall inherit the land.” When Jesus quoted this, he said, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). You see, the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof (Psalm 24:1), not merely a place in the Middle East.

When Jesus Christ rose from the dead, he was given the title deed to all the earth. And therefore he was able to tell his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel. He was able to claim every land for himself.

Paul understood this and thus wrote about the wall (“boundary”) between believing Jew and believing Gentile being torn down by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:11–18). The result is that believers from every place are fellow citizens of God’s kingdom, his everlasting kingdom that, though is not of this world (John 18:36) it nevertheless is very much in this world and one day when Jesus takes over this world, all the world will be his holy land (see 1 Corinthians 15:24–28). Duguid summarises, “His inheritance is far greater than a small piece of real estate of the Middle East: it is a vast kingdom of people from all four corners of the world, from every tribe and nation and period of history.”

Brothers and sisters, God’s holy land is already, but not yet. But it is sure to be. So let us behave within our God established boundaries, with an eye to the day when all the lands will become God’s holy land.

AMEN