Bound for the Promised Land

Oren Martin, D. A. Carson

• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780830898008
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

Just as the Old Testament book of Genesis begins with creation, where humans live in the presence of their Lord, so the New Testament book of Revelation ends with an even more glorious new creation where all of the redeemed dwell with the Lord and his Christ.The historical development between the beginning and the end is crucial, for the journey from Eden to the new Jerusalem proceeds through the land promised to Abraham. The Promised Land is the place where God's people will once again live under his lordship and experience his blessed presence.In this stimulating study from the New Studies in Biblical Theology series, Oren Martin demonstrates how, within the redemptive-historical framework of God's unfolding plan, the land promise advances the place of the kingdom that was lost in Eden. This promise also serves as a type throughout Israel's history that anticipates the even greater land, prepared for all of God's people, that will result from the person and work of Christ and that will be enjoyed in the new creation for eternity.Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.

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Biblical theology and the land promise

Place matters. Just as Genesis begins with creation, where humans live in the presence of their Lord, so Revelation ends with an even more glorious new creation where all of the redeemed dwell with the Lord and his Christ. But the historical development between the beginning and the end is crucial to observe, for the journey from Eden to the new Jerusalem proceeds through the land promised to Abraham. In other words, the Promised Land occupies a special place for God’s people after the fall and exile from Eden, because it is the place where they will once again live under his lordship and experience his blessed presence. The Promised Land, then, connects the beginning and the end.

From a broader perspective, Eden is presented as the inaugural kingdom, and the new Jerusalem is presented as the consummated kingdom, where the kingdom of the world is the kingdom of God (Rev. 11:15; 21:1 – 22:5). It is no surprise, then, that the Old Testament focuses the extension of God’s kingdom on Israel’s land. In other words, God’s programme with and through Abraham is to restore the original conditions of God’s creational kingdom described in Genesis 1 – 2, which will not finally be accomplished until the former things have passed away and all things are made new (Rev. 21:4–5). Thus the intersection of land and kingdom that commences in Eden will be consummated in the new Jerusalem. Between these historical bookends, God will re-establish his kingdom on earth through Abraham and his seed living in the land of promise.

The aim of the present study is to demonstrate that the land promised to Abraham advances the place of the kingdom that was lost in Eden and serves as a type throughout Israel’s history that anticipates the even greater land – prepared for all of God’s people throughout history – that will come as a result of the person and work of Christ. In other words, the land and its blessings find their fulfilment in the new heaven and new earth won by Christ. When each place of God’s people is situated within the redemptive-historical framework of God’s unfolding plan, the land promised to Abraham is seen to be a progressive fulfilment of God’s kingdom on earth. Subsequently, the land promised to and, on more than one occasion, possessed by God’s people throughout the Old Testament pointed to something greater that his people throughout all time, in relation to Christ, will enjoy in the new creation for eternity.

To unpack the land promise in the plan of God, we will examine the theme of land as it progressively unfolds across the story line of Scripture. That is, an examination of this theme will take place as it develops from the Old to the New Testament, from promise to fulfilment. This examination will demonstrate that the land promised to Abraham, which was inhabited and lost throughout Israel’s history, is important because it picks up the place of God’s kingdom that was lost in Eden, thus serving as a subsequent place in God’s unfolding plan. Furthermore, from the perspective of Israel’s exile, this place anticipates and prepares the way for the coming of Jesus Christ, who wins a new creation for his people. And although those united with Christ by faith in the present era of salvation history enjoy every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, they await their final destiny – the new heaven and new earth – to which the land of promise pointed.

The land promise in biblical scholarship

The theme of land in Scripture is an important component in the biblical framework of promise and fulfilment.1 Remarkably, it has not received a great deal of attention in terms of a whole-Bible biblical theology.2 The interest in land as a theological theme is relatively recent in the church’s history.3 This observation is not surprising given the focus on Israel since the mid-twentieth century. Even so, exegetically driven, biblically robust and systematically sensitive theologies of land are relatively few. However, on the interest of land from a sociopolitical perspective, or on the relationship between land/property and ethics, of books there is no end.4 This section, then, will summarize and briefly evaluate past theological treatments of the land.

The significance of land as a theological theme was described by Gerhard von Rad.5 Following in his wake, several works have been devoted to the theme of land. Two books published around the same time treated land as a more comprehensive biblical-theological theme – Walter Brueggemann and W. D. Davies – and both cited von Rad’s earlier essay.6 Although these works present comprehensive treatments on the biblical theme of land, both fall short for various reasons. For example, in terms of a ‘whole-Bible biblical theology’,7 Brueggemann gives little attention to New Testament texts, which limits his treatment of the development of land across the entire Christian canon. Furthermore, his existential and sociological emphases influence his understanding of the land.8 For Davies, when it comes to the nature of Scripture, his work is fraught with a dated form-critical view of the Gospels. Also, he concludes that the New Testament spiritualizes the land and relocates it to Christ.9 As this book will show, this view does not sufficiently present the New Testament fulfilment of what the Old Testament anticipated.

Three additional works examine the concept of land from within the Old Testament. First, Moshe Weinfeld contributes a substantive exegetical piece to the discussion of land.10 Although helpful in his exegetical work on the relevant Old Testament texts, he fails to synthesize it into a coherent theology. For example, when it comes to the varying views of the borders of the Promised Land, he detects redactional activity and concludes that they are contradictory.11 This lack of coherence is no doubt attributed to his subscription to critical views of Scripture, specifically the documentary hypothesis. Secondly, Norman Habel identifies six ideologies in the Old Testament regarding land: royal, theocratic, ancestral household, prophetic, agrarian and immigrant.12 But rather than offering a comprehensive biblical theology, Habel aims to connect the land to economic, social, political and religious ideas. Finally, and closer to the approach of this book, Arie Leder treats the land as a coherent and progressive biblical theology.13 However, he limits his study to the Pentateuch before making application to the church. Thus a more comprehensive biblical theology of the Promised Land is needed.

There are also chapters and articles that treat the theme of land within their overall argument. First, some Old Testament theologies isolate the discussion of land to, at most, a few chapters, which often are limited to Deuteronomy and/or Joshua.14 Other Old Testament theologies integrate land into one of their central themes; thus giving it greater prominence.15 Secondly, chapters and articles are devoted to one or more aspects of a theology of land from various theological traditions.16 While each of these chapters and articles illumines the theme of land in a unique way, they are not comprehensive. Finally, G. K. Beale has provided a chapter in his New Testament theology on the relationship of Israel’s land promises to the fulfilment of Israel’s restoration and new-creation prophecies in Christ and the church.17 Although similar to the argument of this study, Beale’s treatment of the development of the land promise in the Old Testament is brief before he shows the fulfilment in the New Testament.

Other, more recent, works come closer to this study. First, an edited volume by Philip Johnston and Peter Walker is similar in some ways to the present examination of the land theme; especially the first two chapters by Paul Williamson and T. Desmond Alexander.18 The contributors attempt to provide biblical, theological and contemporary perspectives on the land of promise, albeit from different perspectives.19 The treatment of land, however, is limited due to the contributors’ conflicting views (e.g. Palestinian Christian, Jewish Christian). Secondly, a recent work by Gary Burge holds out even more promise when it comes to the nature and breadth of Scripture.20 Burge seeks to integrate both Old and New Testament before showing how Jesus and the New Testament reinterpret the land. He argues that Jesus is the ‘great rearranger’ of the land and that all the properties of the holy land are now relocated in him.21 However, many will dismiss his conclusions because he does not show sufficient Old Testament warrant for his New Testament conclusions.22 Thirdly, Craig Bartholomew connects the land promised to Abraham to the broader theme of place.23 Through a biblical, theological, philosophical, historical and practical investigation, he alerts his readers to the importance of place for humanity as it seeks ‘playmaking’ in its cities, gardens, homes and a myriad of different types of places. However, the primary purpose of Bartholomew’s work is not to examine comprehensively the land promise and its place in redemptive history, but rather to reorient his readers by Scripture and the best of the Christian tradition towards a recovery of place today.24

Finally, Peter Gentry and Stephen Wellum have contributed a via media between dispensational and covenant theology that examines God’s overarching plan to bring about his kingdom through covenant by unpacking in detail each biblical covenant in its own redemptive-historical context and its relationship to the arrival of the new covenant in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The final chapters summarize and apply the theological implications of kingdom through covenant to various doctrinal loci, such as the land promise.25 While my study is in substantial agreement with Gentry and Wellum’s Kingdom Through Covenant, it aims to go into greater depth by restricting its focus to the theme of land.

Some conclusions can be drawn from this brief survey. First, though a variety of books and articles deal with the topic of land, at many points their theological focus is intertwined with ethics and/or the sociopolitical Israel–Palestine conflict. Secondly, though various theologies study the theme of land, many are restricted to Old Testament theology. Furthermore, Old Testament theologies that treat the theme of land often limit their study to Genesis, Deuteronomy and/or Joshua. Thirdly, because many argue that the New Testament does not advance the promise of land, New Testament theology has not, by and large, examined how the theme of land arises.26 Hence a theology of land remains problematic for New Testament theology. Finally, further study is needed on the theme of land from the standpoint of a whole-Bible theology. This work, therefore, aims to clarify and complete what is lacking.

Approach and assumptions

Recent studies in biblical theology have tried to argue that no one centre or theme exhaustively captures the rich and multifaceted message of Scripture.27 Paul House asserts, ‘We should give up arguing that one theme and one theme only is the central theme of the Bible and highlight major themes that allow other ideas as subpoints.’28 This conclusion finds support given the diversity of the Old and New Testaments. According to James Dunn, a centre for New Testament theology is more easily seen due to its unified focus on Christ and faith in him as Lord, but when the Old Testament is added in the scope of a theological centre, the q...