In this series the Covenant with Abraham is seen as consisting of three main strands, Seed, Name and Land. (Blessing is considered as integral to the whole Covenant and Protection as an aspect of the promise of the Seed). This section on ‘the Land’ consists of six studies, exploring the way in which the Land was uniquely fitted for a particular people with a particular way of life that was designed to reveal a special relationship with God. Only within that land could the people live as a holy nation.
The Land Part 1
We hear the echoes of another place – Eden – a new beginning in a specially chosen place, a man and a woman who are called to trust and obey the Creator God as the source of wisdom, and the promise of creation restored through the seed that God would provide…
The Land Part 2
A new generation Led by Joshua entered the Promised Land. They needed a first-hand engagement with the God who led their fathers out of Egypt. Crossing the Jordan in full flood recapitulated the crossing of the Red Sea…
The Land Part 3
A central feature of life in the Land was the annual cycle of festivals. The Israelites were forbidden to act like the previous inhabitants who worshipped their “nature gods” at mountain shrines across the land…
The Land Part 4
In this session we consider the relationship of Israel’s tenure of the Land to the Covenant made at Mt. Sinai. From this point of view the right to live in the Land was conditional on obedience…
The Land Part 5a
In the first part of this session we trace the history of the Land of Israel from AD 70 to the period of the Jewish aliahs (returns) in the late nineteenth and early 20th centuries, in fulfilment of Biblical prophecy…
The Land Part 5b
The 1st World War was to have a decisive effect for the future of the Land. The strategic requirement to secure the Suez canal led to the allied capture of Beersheba and the liberation of Jerusalem in December 1917. Simultaneously the British Government issued the Balfour Declaration, in favour of a homeland in Palestine for the Jewish people.
The Land Part 6a
The first part of this session begins with a summary of events since independence in 1948. It has been a story of conflict to the present day, ultimately about the existence of Israel as a Jewish State, so that compromise is not possible…
The Land Part 6b
This continues and completes the session begun in 6a. Ezekiel describes the assembly of a confederation of surrounding nations against God’s people and His Land. In their extremity God will intervene and in doing so will make Himself known to Israel and the nations…