A Hebrew Inheritance

 

“Go up to a land [eres – earth, used to describe the promised land] flowing with milk and honey [debash – honey, symbolizing the richness and fertility of the land]; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate [stubborn] people, and I might destroy you on the way.”                 Exodus 33:3

An essential element of the covenant God made with Abraham was the inheritance of land promised by God for Abraham and his descendants. Yet, there would be conditions regarding the possession of that land. Before Israel would occupy and possess it, pagan nations needed to be dispossessed of the land. This would not take place for more than 400 years, following Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage.    

God made a covenant with Israel that they would become his own special people. He promised them an inheritance, namely a land where they could develop into a holy nation. Israel, however, became a people in Egypt before they occupied the land. To become a nation, they had to gain possession of the land. They left Egypt, agreed to the covenant at Sinai, and then proceeded to take Palestine as their possession. However, forty years passed between Sinai and the first successful attempt at conquest.  

Iniquity of the Amorites

God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward, they will come out with many possessions. “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. “Then, in the fourth generation, they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”                     Genesis 15:13-16

Abraham could not possess the land because the sin of the Amorites was not yet complete. Leviticus 18:24-30 teaches that the morality of a people either allows them to occupy a land or causes the land to expel them. Israel possessed Canaan by dispossessing the Amorites due to the sin of its inhabitants, which abounded to the point that God refused to allow them to occupy that land. In such a light, Israel became the means of God's judgment on these nations. Yet, God would use Israel as His instrument of justice only when they willingly submit to His sovereignty and become the inheritance recipients solely under his love. A covenant results in inheritance, but one must come to the inheritance to obtain it. And he must be willing to face all opponents in obtaining the inheritance. Yet, in reality, God defeats the opponents and allows the inheritance to be obtained. 

The Land Defiled 

‘For the land has become defiled; therefore, I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants. ‘But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native nor the alien who sojourns among you (for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled); so that the land will not spew you out, should you defile it, as it has spewed out the nation which has been before you. ‘For whoever does any of these abominations, those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people. ‘Thus, you are to keep My charge, that you do not practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; I am the Lord your God.’”

                      Leviticus 18:25-30 

Part of a covenant relationship with Yahweh is the people’s willingness to live a life consistent with God’s people. God had ordained the extermination of the Canaanites, but disobedient Israelites would suffer the same punishment as their predecessors. The land would vomit out its inhabitants to show how detestable these practices are in God's sight. The land designed and consecrated for His people would expel the inhabitants due to their indulgence in the abominations of their immoralities. The iniquity of the Canaanites was now full. The Israelites are exhorted to a pure and holy life on the ground that Yahweh, the Holy One, is their God and that they are His people.

Designated as Sacred

‘You are, therefore, to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them so that the land to which I am bringing you to live will not spew you out. ‘Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I will drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore, I have abhorred them. ‘Hence, I have said to you, “You are to possess their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples. ‘You are therefore to make a distinction [badal - separate, divide] between the clean animal and the unclean and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that creeps on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean. ‘Thus, you are to be holy [qadosh – designated as sacred] to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.                  Leviticus 20:22-26

Yahweh was about to give the rich and fertile land for them as a possession, whose inhabitants He had driven out because of their abominations, to be their God, who had separated Israel from the nations. For this reason, they were also to separate (make distinctions) between clean and unclean cattle and birds and not defile themselves through unclean animals, with which the earth swarmed and which God had prohibited them from eating or touching when dead because they were defiled. They were designated as sacred since Yahweh was holy, and he had severed them from the nations to belong to Him and be the nation of His possession. They would possess the land in holiness.

Defining Inheritance

The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible speaks of inheritance in the Old Testament as: 

In many instances of biblical usage, the theological meaning of the word goes beyond the legalistic. Apart from any legal processes, it may characterize the bestowal of a merciful God's gift or possession upon his people in fulfillment of a promise or as a reward for obedience. 

An inheritance is not something to occupy but, more often, something to possess. When given by God, possession represents the principle of ownership or stewardship requiring accountability to varying degrees. The possession of land, which Israel received by lot from God, was to remain the inalienable property of the families. According to an old-standing custom, the father's property went to his sons, the firstborn receiving a double portion, the other sons single and equal portions. Considering this division, the firstborn, as head of the family, had to provide food, clothing, and other necessities in his house, not only for his mother but also for his sisters until they married. Moses more precisely defined this custom: the father could not deprive his firstborn of his birthright by mere whim, but it might be taken away because of a trespass against the father, as in the case of Reuben.

Righteous Versus Wicked

Cease from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord will inherit the land. Yet a little while and, the wicked man will be no more, and you will look carefully for his place, and he will not be there. But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.                                      Psalm 37:8-11 

David was preoccupied with the disparity between God's dealings with the wicked and the righteous. Although we do not know the events that spurned the writing of this psalm, David kept bringing the conversation back to the principle of inheritance of the land. Like Psalm 73, David laments that the wicked are not being dealt with promptly. Humanity desires to see justice when those who cause injustice are not immediately and effectively addressed. Yet David reminds himself that the wicked will be properly confronted in due time. The humble will inherit the land and delight in abundance, a reward for their humility. In the same way, the righteous one who is blessed inherits the land. This inheritance is promised to those who learn to wait for the Lord.

The wicked borrows and does not pay back, but the righteous is gracious and gives. For those blessed by Him will inherit the land, but those cursed by Him will be cut off.   Psalm 37:21-22 

Depart from evil and do good so you will abide forever. For the Lord loves justice and does not forsake His godly ones; they are preserved forever, but the descendants of the wicked will be cut off. The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.                      Psalm 37:27-29

Wait for the Lord and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.                         Psalm 37:34

Rest

“Remember the word which Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God gives you rest and will give you this land.’ “Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but you shall cross before your brothers in battle array, all your valiant warriors, and shall help them, until the Lord gives your brothers rest, as He gives you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to your own land and possess that which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.”       Joshua 1:13-15

Joshua reminds the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh that though they had received their inheritance east of the Jordan, they were committed to fighting with their brothers and assisting in conquering the land west of Jordan from the Canaanites. Both the eastern and western tribes viewed their new homeland as a place of rest from their long wilderness journey. The promise of rest in Canaan is first recorded in Deuteronomy 3:19-20: ‘But your wives and your little ones and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in your cities which I have given you until the Lord gives rest to your fellow countrymen as to you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God will give them beyond the Jordan. Then you may return every man to his possession, which I have given you.’ Jesus addressed this rest in Matthew 11:28: "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

Through Tribulations and Evils

Uriel, the angel assigned to weather according to the Ancient Book of Enoch, had the following conversation with Ezra in 2 Ezdras, chapter 7, written by Ezra and included in the Apocrypha:

“Stand up, Ezra, and hear what I have come to tell you.” Suppose there was a great city in a large valley, but the only entrance to it was a very narrow passage through the mountains with fire on the right side and a jagged cliff over deep waters on the left side, and this single path between these two is only wide enough for one man at a time. Now, if a man was given this city for an inheritance, the only way for the heir to possess it is to go through the danger, right?” I said to him, “Yes, my lord!” He answered and said to me, “So also is Israel’s portion. Because of their sakes, God made the world, and when Adam transgressed my commandments, that which had been made was condemned. Because of this, the entrances of this future age are narrow and full of sorrow and travail. They are very few and filled with many perils and pain, but the future world is broad and sure and abundant with eternal fruit. Unless the living pass through the tribulations and evils, they will not receive what has been stored up for them.”

The Hebrew’s inheritance does not involve a free pass but rather a willingness to stay true to the lifestyle the Lord has ordained for each believer. Although painful and challenging at times, the rewards are immeasurable. The cost is worth it! David recognized this principle in 2 Samuel 24:24: However, the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.” So, David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.