Visualizing Canaan, The Land God Gave Israel

I enjoy looking at maps. They help me visualize places I read about. Therefore, in today’s continuing series on the land now called “Palestine,” we will be visualizing Canaan, the land God gave Israel.

You must understand that it does not matter what “Leaders” around the world want Israel to do or not do. God who created the heavens and the earth has already decided. Moreover, Scripture in many places warns that nations will answer to God for how they have treated the people of Israel and the land that God gave them.

A Few Things Learned In Previous Posts:

As you can see from the above map, God has given Israel much more land than they currently have. Unfortunately, the nation of Israel did not always obey what God told them to do in the land He gave them. Therefore, God disciplined them by allowing other nations to overcome them. When they repented God would bring them back to THEIR land. Not because they were better than other nations but because God had given HIS Word.

We also learned that the Romans renamed the land of Israel Palaestina from their ancient enemy the Philistines as a punishment, to obliterate the link between the Jews and their God-given land.

Moreover, there has never been a nation of “Palestine”.

So let’s look at a few maps to visualize and better understand the history of the land.

Maps of the Nations from Noah’s Sons

The 7 Nations of Canaan in the Land God Gave Israel

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, ² and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. ³ Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. – Deuteronomy 7:1-3

⁴ For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. ⁵ But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire. ⁶ “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. – Deuteronomy 7:4-6

Recommended article links for further understanding:
The Gospel Coalition: God’s Justice in the Land of Canaan
Got Questions: Why did God command the genocide of the Canaanites?

Division of the 12 Tribes in the Land God Gave Israel

The Kingdom Divides Itself in the Land God Gave Israel

From this point on, there are two kingdoms of Hebrews: Israel, in the north and Judah in the south. The Israelites formed their capital in the city of Samaria, and Jerusalem remained the capital of Judah. These kingdoms remained separate states for over two hundred years.

The Exile From the Land God Gave Israel

The Reason is Given in 2 Kings 17:6-18

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

⁷ For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had feared other gods, ⁸ and had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.

⁹ Also the children of Israel secretly did against the Lord their God things that were not right, …¹⁰ They set up for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images …¹¹ There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the Lord had carried away before them; and they did wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger, ¹² for they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.”

¹³ Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, …saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.”

¹⁴ Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, … ¹⁵ And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, …they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, … ¹⁶ So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, … worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. ¹⁷ And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.

¹⁸ Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone. – 2 Kings 17:6-18

The Assyrians Exile the Northern Tribes in the Land God Gave Israel

When the Assyrians conquered Israel they did not settle the Israelites in one place, but scattered them in small populations all over the Middle East. The consequence of the Assyrian invasion of Israel involved the settling of Israel by Assyrians. This group of Assyrians settled in the capital of Israel, Samaria.

Conquering peoples constantly feared that the local gods would wreak vengeance on them. Therefore, they would adopt the local god or gods into their religion and cultic practices. Within a couple of centuries, they were worshipping Yahweh exclusively. (See the account of Jesus and the Samaritan Woman in John 4:1-26.)

What Happened to the “lost tribes” of Israel?

Judah Exiled to Babylon from the the Land God Gave Israel

The Hellenistic Era of the the Land God Gave Israel

However, from 332-141 BC Judah was once more caught in the middle of power struggles between two great empires: the Seleucid state with its capital in Syria to the north and the Ptolemaic state, with its capital in Egypt to the south. Once more, Judah would be conquered first by one and then by the other, as it shifted from being a Seleucid vassal state to a Ptolemaic vassal state. Between 319 and 302 BC, Jerusalem changed hands seven times.

During this same period, Jewish history takes place in several other areas.

• Judah
• Egypt
• Mesopotamia
• Other parts of the Middle East

Due to the dispersion of the Jews during the Exile, large, powerful groups of Jews lived throughout the Persian empire and later the Hellenistic (“Greek”) kingdoms. The Greeks brought a brand-new concept: the “polis,” or “city-state.”

Among the ideas of the polis was the idea of naturalization. The Greeks would allow foreigners to become citizens in the polis. Therefore, it became possible throughout the Middle East for Hebrews and others to become citizens of states other than Judah.

This was revolutionary because, in the ancient world, it was not possible to become a citizen of a state if you weren’t born in that state.

Example: If you were born in Israel, and you moved to Tyre, Babylon, or Egypt, you were always an Israelite. Your legal status in the country you’re living in would be “foreigner” or “sojourner.”

This is vital for understanding the Jewish dispersion; for the rights of citizenship (or near-citizenship, called polituemata), allowed Jews to remain outside of Judaea and still thrive.

In many foreign cities throughout the Hellenistic world, the Jews formed unified and solid communities; Jewish women enjoyed more rights and autonomy in these communities rather than at home.

The Roman Empire in the Land God Gave Israel

From almost the beginning of the Common Era, Judea was ruled by Roman procurators, whose chief responsibility was to collect and deliver an annual tax to the empire. Whatever the procurators raised beyond the quota assigned, they could keep. Not surprisingly, they often imposed confiscatory taxes.

The Great Revolt of 66-70, followed some sixty years later by the Bar Kokhba revolt, were the greatest calamities in Jewish history prior to the Holocaust.

In addition to the more than one million Jews killed, these failed rebellions led to the total loss of Jewish political authority in Israel until 1948. This loss in itself exacerbated the magnitude of later Jewish catastrophes, since it precluded Israel from being used as a refuge for the large numbers of Jews fleeing persecutions elsewhere.

Read More: Ancient Jewish History: The Great Revolt (66 – 70 CE)

The Jews and Judaism Survived

Although the Temple had been destroyed and Jerusalem burned to the ground, the Jews and Judaism survived the encounter with Rome.

The supreme legislative and judicial body, the Sanhedrin (successor of the Knesset Hagedolah) was reconvened in Yavneh (70 CE), and later in Tiberias. However, the small remaining Jewish community gradually recovered. Recovery was reinforced from time to time by returning exiles. Institutional and communal life was renewed. Moreover, the priests were replaced by rabbis and the synagogue became the focus of Jewish settlement. Halakhah (Jewish religious law) served as the common bond among the Jews and was passed on from generation to generation.

The House of Israel Shall Know

²¹ “I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. ²² So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward. ²³ The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. ²⁴ According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.” ’ – Ezekiel 39:21-24 NKJV

Islam and Ottoman Rule in the Land God Gave Israel

Contrary to popular propaganda, it was not until the 7th century that Islam conquered the land God gave to Israel. Then the Ottomans ruled from 1259 until 1918-1920. According to History.com

As early as the first week of October 1918, both the Ottoman government and several individual Turkish leaders contacted the Allies to feel out peace possibilities. Britain, whose forces then occupied much of the Ottoman territories, was loath to step aside for its allies, particularly France, which according to an agreement concluded in 1916 would take control of the Syrian coast and much of modern-day Lebanon. In a move that enraged his French counterpart, Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister David Lloyd George and his cabinet authorized Admiral Arthur Calthorpe, Britain’s naval commander in the Aegean Sea, to negotiate an immediate armistice with Turkey without consulting France. Though Britain alone would engineer the Ottoman exit from the war, the two powerful Allies would continue to grapple over control in the region at the Paris Peace Conference, and for years beyond.

In 1918 negotiations between Calthorpe Britain’s naval commander team and the delegation from Constantinople, led by the Ottoman Minister, signed the Treaty of Mudros which stated that hostilities would end at noon the following day. The Treaty of Mudros ended Ottoman participation in World War I and effectively—if not legally—marked the dissolution of a once mighty empire. From its ruins, the victors of the First World War attempted to use the post-war peace negotiations to create a new, more unpredictable entity: the modern Middle East.

Scripture Reveals Judgments on the Nations and Peoples

As I noted earlier Scripture reveals consequences for nations and peoples who try to push Israel into a two-state solution, or by holding them hostage by withholding help as they fight against terrorists that want to annihilate them as the current President is doing and others before him as well as leaders around the world.

• “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.” – Genesis 12:3
• “For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near; as you have done, it shall be done to you;
  Your reprisal shall return upon your own head.” Obadiah 1:15
• “I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land.” – Joel 3:2

As America Has Done To Israel

The following mini-documentary dramatically shows the correlation between disasters inflicted on the United States, and its leaders pushing Israel to give up their Promised Land. There is a 100% correlation between the worst disasters and U.S. leaders pushing Israel to give away what was promised to them by their Creator thousands of years ago. However, you probably have never read about this correlation in any newspaper or saw it documented on any television or news outlet. Why is that? Watch and decide that for yourself.

In Closing

Once again it is plain to see that Israel is not the occupier, of the land renamed Palestine. In fact the tiny area in which it sits is only a small sliver of what God intended and intends them to have. Moreover, those who try to divide, murder, lie, or any other diabolical scheme for their political gain to get their way over the land given to Israel by God will face the Judgement from our Creator as shown in the video above.

Moreover, those who are alive after the Rapture of the followers of Jesus Christ will face the final 7 years known as the Tribulation, or the Time of Jacobs Trouble. Then at the end of the 1000-year reign of Christ the Great White Throne Judgment takes place.

Keep in mind that the rebirth of the nation of Israel is unique among all nations throughout history. We have seen how the nation was destroyed via the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Romans. However, God left a remnant of His people in the conquered land because God keeps His Word. No other nation has been “reborn” after destruction and exile…

“Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. – Isaiah 66:8 NASB 1977

Not only was the state of Isreal “reborn” in 1948 but they will upon the return of Jesus Christ finally have all the land God gave them as their inheritance.

Consider this for a moment, if God does not keep His promise to Israel, why would you think He would keep His promise of Salvation to us?

However, we never have to fear. God does not lie and failure is not an option. Our loving Creator keeps EVERY Word He has given us in Scripture for His name’s sake. HALLELUJAH!

Have you accepted the gift of Salvation and follow Jesus Christ as Lord?

Resources Used

• bibleref.com
• biblia.com
• gotquestions.com
• history.com
• jewishvirtuallibrary.org
• IsraelMyGlory.org
• bibleoutlines.com
• thegospelcoalition.org