Números 34

Números 34

Constable has a very interesting explanation for the differences in the two areas on the map writing that "This was not the same border promised to Abraham but was what God gave the Israelites at their entrance into the land. If they had been obedient to Him, He would have eventually enlarged their border to include the whole area promised to Abraham. Even though they disobeyed God He still enlarged their border beyond the boundaries given here later in their history though not yet to the extent promised Abraham." He quotes Philip who says "on any estimate and interpretation, the ‘Canaan’ that was the inheritance given to Israel was larger and more extensive than they were ever able to possess, even in David’s and Solomon’s time.” God had promised the land of Canaan to Abraham in Genesis 17:8 “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” However God never specifically told the patriarchs the boundaries of the Promised Land, or what constituted all the land of Canaan. The closest we come to boundaries is the promise in Genesis 15:18-21+ where we read "On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.” In this passage in Genesis 15 the land actually goes much further east than we see in the boundaries in Numbers 34. (See the map below). HCSB Note - The borders of the promised land represented the limits of the land of Canaan during the late Bronze Age (1550-1200 b.c.) and were the ideal setting for the national boundaries. (HCSB Study Bible). ESB Note - Canaan consisted of the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan plus modern Lebanon and a portion of modern Syria.(ESV Study Bible) Ronald Allen - This chapter presents the land in terms of an outline of its borders. The language is covenantal in nature; the description is that of a contract. Those who were in the final staging area in the plains of Moab would have their sensibilities greatly encouraged by the dimensions and directions of the land so described.....Even when we have difficulty in making identifications of geographical sites (not a very surprising matter, given the nature of the case), we may still be impressed with the order and format of these texts. They were designed to be read aloud. Even geography is a matter of worship, a litany of promise, in the Book of Numbers. This chapter is a celebration of God’s gifting, a liturgy of geography. It presents a trust deed, a legal document from God to his people. Prophetically, it points to realization in Joshua 15. The repetition of the phrase “the land of Canaan” in v.2 (Heb.) has something triumphant about it. These chapters were designed to build confidence in the people and also to provoke their continuing worship of the Lord. (EBC) Life Application Note - The boundaries correspond more to the land conquered by David and to the ideal territory portrayed by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 47-48). The size of the land portrays God's generosity. He always gives us more than we could ask or think (Eph 3:20+). (Life Application Study Bible) Command the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land of Canaan (see Nu 33:51-53+), this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders - NET = "the land that has been assigned to you as an inheritance." Heretofore God had not defined the borders of the Promised Land, but does in the following passages. Note that God says not IF you enter, but WHEN you enter which should have been an encouragement to the often fearful sons of Israel! Why was God so sure? Was it because they were so wonderfully deserving? Of course not! None of us deserve the benefits of the gracious gifts of God (that's why it is called "grace!"). His assurance of entrance into the promised land was based on His faithfulness to His covenant promises to the patriarchs, Abraham (Gen 15:18-21+), Isaac (Gen 26:4), and Jacob (Gen 28:13-14). In the same way, His faithfulness to believers today is not based on our deserving His good gifts (Jas 1:17+) and precious and magnificent promises (, but is based on the New Covenant in Christ's blood (Lk 22:20+), an everlasting covenant, just as was the Abrahamic Covenant. (See Related Resources below -- if you have never studied the concept of Covenant, then you are missing the key truth that motivates God's action in both the Old and New Testament.) the land that shall fall to you - The verb naphal) means literally to fall and is found over 400v in a variety of settings - Nāphal is used for the way lots fall when they are cast. When the sailors wanted to know who was responsible for the great storm, the lot fell on Jonah (Jonah 1:7). Similar expressions are used in 1 Chr. 26:14 and Est. 3:7 (led to establishment of Feast of Purim, purim being a Persian word for lot). Further, nāphal describes inheritances and property which were distributed by casting lots. Judges 18:1 speaks of the inheritance which had fallen to the tribe of Dan. (See also Num. 34:2; Josh. 17:5; Ps. 16:6; Ezek. 47:14.) (Complete Biblical Library Hebrew-English Dictionary) Allen on fall to you - In the phrase אֲשֶׁר תִּפֹּל לָכֶם (ʾašer tippōl lāḵem, “which will fall to you”), the use of the verb nāp̱al (“to fall”) is a colorful touch; reference is made to the distribution of the land that will be done by lot but that the lot will be the outworking of the will of the Lord. The same wording is found in Judg 18:1; Ps 16:6; Ezek 47:14. (EBC) C H Mackintosh - Chapter 34 gives the boundaries of the inheritance, as drawn by the hand of Jehovah. The self-same hand which had guided their wanderings, here fixes the bounds of their habitation. Alas! they never took possession of the land as given of God. He gave them the whole land, and gave it forever: they took but a part, and that for a time. But, blessed be God, the moment is approaching when the seed of Abraham shall enter upon the full and everlasting possession of that fair inheritance, from which they are for the present excluded. Jehovah will assuredly accomplish all His promises, and lead His people into all the blessings secured to them in the everlasting covenant—that covenant which has been ratified by the blood of the Lamb. Not one jot or tittle shall fail of all that He has spoken. His promises are all yea and Amen in Christ Jesus, who is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. All praise to the Father, and unto the Son, and to the Holy Spirit! Andrew Murray, the gifted nineteen century writer in Two Covenants speaks to the importance of studying covenant writing… : Blessed is the man (OR WOMAN) who truly knows God as his God; who knows what the Covenant promises him; what unwavering confidence of expectation it [the truth of covenant] secures, that all its [covenant's] terms will be fulfilled to him; what a claim and hold it gives him on the Covenant-keeping God Himself. To many a man, who has never thought much of the Covenant, a true and living faith in it would mean the transformation of his whole life (ED: THE TRUTH OF COVENANT LITERALLY SAVED OUR MARRIAGE! GOD USED HIS WORD TO SUPERNATURALLY REVIVE OUR DYING MARRIAGE! AND IT DID IT USING OUR STUDY OF COVENANT). The full knowledge of what God wants to do for him; the assurance that it will be done by an Almighty Power; the being drawn to God Himself in personal surrender, and dependence, and waiting to have it done; all this would make the Covenant the very gate of heaven. May the Holy Spirit give us some vision of its glory. (Murray, Andrew: Two Covenants) (Here is a preview of the 11 lesson Precept Study on Covenant - the best Precept course I have ever taken and thereafter taught a number of times with similar responses from the attendees!) Related Resources: Covenant: As It Relates to Marriage Covenant: Why Study It? Covenant: Introduction Lesson 1 Covenant: Summary Table Lesson 2 Covenant: The Exchange of Robes Lesson 3 Covenant: The Exchange of Armor and Belts Lesson 4 Covenant: Solemn and Binding Lesson 5 Covenant: A Walk Into Death Lesson 6 Covenant: The Oneness of Covenant Covenant: Oneness Notes Lesson 7 Covenant: Withholding Nothing from God Lesson 8 Covenant: Abrahamic versus Mosaic Lesson 9 Covenant: New Covenant in the Old Testament Lesson 10 Covenant: Why the New is Better Lesson 11 Covenant: Abrahamic vs Old vs New New Covenant in the Old Testament Numbers 34:3 'Your southern sector shall extend from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern border shall extend from the end of the Salt Sea eastward. south quarter (KJV): Ex 23:31 Jos 15:1-12 Eze 47:13,19-23 salt sea eastward (KJV): Ge 14:3 Jos 3:16 15:2 Eze 47:8,18 Numbers 34 Resources - Multiples Sermons and Commentaries Boundaries of the Promised Land (Source) ESV Study Bible note - The original boundaries of the Promised Land as defined in Numbers 34 are somewhat different from the boundaries of the land that the Israelites eventually occupied. The original boundaries included the mountainous area north of Sidon and Damascus, but the Israelites never occupied this area during the settlement period. Conversely, the original boundaries did not include land east of the Jordan River, but the Israelites occupied this land after capturing it from Og and Sihon. Your southern sector shall extend from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom - Locate the wilderness of Zin toward the bottom of the map above and follow the boundary north and slightly east between the Promised Land and Edom. And your southern border shall extend from the end of the Salt Sea eastward - The Salt Sea is the Dead Sea in the map above. Salt Sea - 9v - Gen. 14:3; Num. 34:3; Num. 34:12; Deut. 3:17; Jos. 3:16; Jos. 12:3; Jos. 15:2; Jos. 15:5; Jos. 18:19 COMPARISON OF BOUNDARIES Num 34:1–12 Josh 14:1-19:51 Ezek 47:13-20 SOUTH Zin Wilderness border w/Edom; Salt Sea to Scorpion Pass N. Zin, S. of Kadesh Barnea Hazar Addar, Azmon Brook of Egypt to Great Sea Zin Wilderness border w/Edom, Salt Sea, S. of Kadesh Barnea, Hezron Addar, Karka, Azmon Brook of Egypt to Great Sea Dead Sea toward Negeb, Tamar to Waters of Meribah dr. Kedesh, Brook of Egypt to Great Sea WEST Great Sea Great Sea Great Sea NORTH Great Sea to Mt. Hor Lebo Hamath, Zedad, Ziphron, Hazar Enan Abdon, Rehob, Hammon Kanah, Greater Sidon, back to Ramah, Tyre, Hosah, Great Sea Great Sea along Helon Rd. to Zedad, Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim (between Damascus and Hamath), Hazar Hatticon; Sea to Hazar Enan, on Damascus border EAST Hazar Enan, Shepham, Riblah, East of Ain, Slopes E. of Kinnereth Sea, Along Jordan to Salt Sea Jordon River and Sea of Kinnereth (Naphtali, Issachar, Manasseh, Ephraim) Except for Transjordan allocations Hauran / Damascus, to between Gilead and Israel, along Jordan River, E side of [Dead] Sea Source: Dennis