This Land is My Land

by Jesma O'Hara

From the "Watchmen on the Walls" series of studies

"This land shall not be sold into perpetual
ownership for the land is MINE"

- Leviticus 25:23

The ownership of the land of Israel has been the subject of much controversy down through the ages. In Abraham's day it was known as Canaan and various tribes made their home there. Despite this the Lord told Abraham that He would give the land to him and his descendants for an everlasting possession.

 Read Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 17:1-10; 28:13-14

How long were the descendants of Abraham to possess the land?

Were there any conditions attached to possessing the land?

Even though Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived in the land they never actually owned it. They shared it with the various tribal families who lived there. In fact the only part of the promised land which they could lay claim to was the field which contained the cave of Machpelah which Abraham bought to bury Sarah in. This cave, which became the family tomb, is situated in the town of Hebron today.

Famine drove the descendants of Abraham into Egypt where his great grandson Joseph had become Grand Vizier to Pharoah. They remained there for 400 years, just as God had told Abraham they would. (Genesis 15:13-16).

At the end of that time God brought them out under Moses with a mighty hand and once again began to speak about the ownership of this land.

"It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord
are continually upon it from the beginning of the year
to it's end" - Deuteronomy 11:12

"On that day I swore to them that I would bring them
out of Egypt into a Land I had searched out for them,
a land flowing with milk and honey, the most
beautiful of all lands." - Ezekiel 20:6

What do these scriptures reveal about the Lord's heart for this little land?

As the Lord was bringing them into the land He was also warning them that if they disobeyed Him he would send them into exile. This form of discipline is not unlike a father who gives his beloved son a car on his seventeenth birthday. The car is to be in the son's name however, certain stipulations govern it's use.

The first few midemeanours bring a warning but when the son continues to misuse his father's gift, the rights concerning useo f the car art t emporarily removed. The car remains in the son's name but he is refused access to it for a time.

Sot it was with Abraham's descendants. The Lord cut off their access to the land for a time but His intention was always to return it to His beloved covenant people.

Read Deuteronomy 30:1-6

During the long years of exile, which began to draw to a close towards the end of the last century, the land passed through the hands of many conquerors. The Romans, the Arabs and Seljuks, the Byzantines, the Crusaders, the Ottoman Turks and finally the British all possessed this land for a time but were never able to plumb it's secrets.

By the end of the last century the land of Palestine, as it had been named, was no longer the land of milk and honey spoken of by the Lord. It was desolate and barren.

Most of its trees had disappeared as a result of the tree taz imposed by the Ottomans. No one could afford to keep them. Consequently the elements had eaten away at the soil, aided in their destructive course by the herds of goats belongig to the wandering bedouin tribesmen. Once fertile farmlands had degenerated into malarial swamps.

The Lord had spoken of this in Zechariah 7:14

"I scattered them with a whirlwind among the nations where they were strangers. The land was left so desolate behind them that no one could come or go. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate."

When the Lord allowed the Jewish people to be scattered across the earth, they were wrenched from the land He had promised them. No other people has been given a specific piece of land as an everlasting possession. this covenant the Lord made with them bonded them to the land in such a way that separation for either party was like a forced separation between a husband and wife. The two that have been one are forced apart and the ensuing despair prevents either from living life to the full. So it is between Israel and the Jewish people - they are bound together by the Lord and apart neither prospers.

The return of the Jewish people to the land after their enforced separation has been like a return from the dead for both. The people are growing strong and the land is flourishing in a way it has not known for centuries.

Whose Land?

With the return of the Jewish people and the rebirth of the state has come a renewed battle about the ownership of this little land which is so small it fits 3.3 times into Tasmania! The surrounding Arab states, in contrast, cover 14,260,650 sq klms.

The P.L.O. and the Arab states have mounted an intense media campaign to paint Israel as a land hungry aggressor.

The issue is not about a Palestinian Homeland as there is already one on the east side of the Jordan, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, established in the 1920's by Great Britain and with a population comprising 70% Palestinian.

It is also not about the ownership of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Both of these strips of land were occupied by Jordan and Egypt respectively in the 1948 War and during the following nineteen years neither country used the opportunity to create another Palestinian State.

Why?

Because one already existed - Jordan!

It was only after these areas came under Israeli control after the Six Day War in 1967, that the Arabs began to agitate for a Palestinian Homeland.

No, the issue does not concern a Palestinian Homeland, the issue revolves solely around the ownership of the land.

Our first scripture states that the land belongs to the Lord and He has chosen to give it to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as an everlasting possession!

The Lord knew that because He had claimed this land as His own, there would be fierce battles fought over it so He specifically set it's boundaries in Genesis 15 and again in Deuteronomy 11:24.

This would include parts of present day Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iraq.

Israel has not yet possessed all the land promised her and may not do so until the coming of the Messiah. However, we must pray for the fulfillment of God's purposes in this regard.

Read Joel 3:1-2

For what reasons does the Lord say He will judge the nations?

The nations are poised on the brink of the most dramatic period in the history of the earth. Messiah is returning to set up His throne in Jerusalem, in Israel, not in New York or London, and the USA and the UN are pressuring Israel to give land away for peace.

The central issue is the Lordship of the Almighty God over this earth as the nations seek to impose THEIR will on HIS land.

"Then the nations shall know that I the Lord do set apart
and consecrate Israel for holy use when
My sanctuary shall be in their midst for evermore"

Ezekiel 37:28

Introducing John & Jesma O'Hara John, a businessman & Jesma have five children, and two grandchildren, Isabella and Asher. Both serve on the Eldership of Hesed Fellowship and are board members of International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem, Australian Branch and Jesma has also been the Editor of their magazine for the past 12 years. Hesed Ministries is involved in supporting a number of projects : Field workers in Israel, Orr Shalom Children's Homes, Kesher Friends of WIZO and Mercy International in Thailand. They also support orphanages and schools for AIDS affected children in Malawi and Kenya. Jesma is Chairman of the Board of Nambour Christian College, co-educational inter-denominational college of over 1200 students, from preschool to year 12. They are also the Australian Representatives of Orr Shalom Children’s Homes. Jesma's Qualifications Masters in Early Judaism and Early Christianity. B A major in Religious Studies Studied in Jerusalem at AMI Jerusalem Centre For Biblical Studies and Research and Educator’s From Abroad Study Course at Yad VaShem.