The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring, I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Genesis 12:7 (NIV84)
Canaan was the son of Ham, the grandson of Noah. The genealogy of chapter 10 gives us the identity of the people that settled in the land called after the name of their patriarch, Canaan.
Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans scattered and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.
Genesis 10:15–20 (NIV84)
These are the idol worshippers that lived in the land of Canaan when Abraham arrived there. They were wicked people and God had decided that they had forfeited their right to occupy the land. Note that in God’s promise to Abraham he gave the land to Abraham’s offspring. It would not become theirs for several hundred years. Abraham’s descendants would increase and eventually his grandson Jacob would take the clan down into Egypt to escape famine and there they would grow to become a great body of people. The Egyptians would enslave them and they would live in Egypt for 400 years before they filled up their cup of sin, and they were ripe for judgment, (15:16).
Under the leadership of Joshua, the “offspring” of Abraham would enter the land of Canaan and begin the process of either destroying or driving the Canaanites out. They were not faithful to fully remove the Canaanites but they did occupy the land. This land, the land some call Palestine (after the Philistines who occupied small portions of the land), or more correctly identified as the land of Israel.
It should be no surprise that the people of the world who do not know God or give heed to His Word, should consider the rightful owners of the land in dispute. But for the people of God, we understand that the land of the earth belongs only to God and He alone has the right to give it to whomever He will. Because of this covenant God made with Abraham and confirmed with his descendants several times, Israel became known as the people of the land, i. e., The Promised Land.
Israel’s failure to fully eradicate the Canaanites from the land led them into idolatry and ultimately God said they were more evil than the people He has expelled from the land. Israel also lost the right to dwell in the land and was carried into captivity and was not to return to the land until 1948. Since that time Jewish people are continuing to migrate back into the land and Israel has become a strong and prosperous nation once again. This covenant we read about in our text is key to what is happening in Israel today. As we follow the prophecies of God we find that Israel and the city of Jerusalem will be front and center in the plan of redemption until the day when God brings forth the New Jerusalem and from there He reigns eternally.
My Prayer For You Today
that you will uphold the God-given right of Israel to occupy the land and live there in peace.