Land—Eretz

November 24, 2008

by: Teri Riddering, Coordinator, BFP Spanish Resource Center

God’s Creation

In Genesis 1:9–13, we read that God created the heavens and the earth, contrary to the modern idea that the universe is a fluke of nature, the result of a “Big Bang.” This issue is especially debated these days because of the ongoing scientific experimentation in Switzerland with the Atlas particle detector, where physicists are trying to prove this theory of our origins with their giant machine called the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Their hope, according to their hypothesis, is to find the Higgs Boson, or “God particle,” that has set everything into motion and which, supposedly, explains how matter gains mass.

It is interesting that these physicists are searching for an original particle that they can only term as the “God particle.” Those of us who believe in the divine Creator are not confused as to how the Earth and the universe came into being. Psalm 24:1–2 declares, “The earth is the LORD’S, and all its fullness, the world, and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters.”

 

The Promised Land

The second major use of the term eretz is in reference to the Land that God promised to Abraham and his descendants as a perpetual inheritance, located between the Euphrates River and the Nile River (Gen. 15:18). God cares for this Land, Eretz Israel, because it belongs to Him. God told the children of Israel that it is “a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year” (Deut. 11:12).

Eretz Israel represents consolation and hope to the Jews in the Diaspora (those who are dispersed among the nations). It is deeply imbedded within their heart and soul, stirring profound sentiments of love and devotion related to their eternal hope of redemption. Eretz Israel is always calling them back to the Land of their fathers. Rabbi Yohanan, a Talmudic sage, declared that one who walked even six feet in Eretz Israel was sure to participate in the world to come (Kethuboth 111a). According to Jewish author Philip Birnbaum, “Rabbi Hiyya ben Gammada showed his devotion by rolling himself in the dust of Eretz Israel, in conformity with the words of the psalmist: ‘Thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor her dust’ (Psalm 102:14).” Some modern-day, observant Jews even import Eretz Israel’s dust for burial purposes.

The closest Israel ever got to possessing the entire Promised Land was during King David and Solomon’s reigns and during the Hasmonean kingdom (after the Maccabean Revolt in the intertestamental period). 1 Kings 4:21 details the limits of the Israelite kingdom at its peak: “So Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.” After a series of foreign rulers, the Jewish people again experienced approximately a century of self-rule under the Maccabees between 166 BC and 63 BC.

The Holy Land

God’s original promises involved a permanent possession of the Land, but required that the nation of Israel be holy unto God. Even though God expelled His people temporarily because of their sin, He has brought them back and restored the Land. And God’s covenant guarantees that these boundaries will still hold true for the future. Though it is debatable whether that signifies the “Greater Israel” (from the Euphrates to the Nile) or the “Lesser Israel” (from Dan to Beersheva), God said: “‘I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.’ For thus says the LORD, ‘Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them…Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the Negev; for I will restore their fortunes,’ declares the LORD” (Jer. 32:41–42, 44, NASB).

What makes Eretz Israel the Holy Land? It is holy only because the Lord has chosen to establish His Name there: “…I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place where which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name” (Neh. 1:9b). But God will one day also make His people holy, so that His Name may be forever glorified in Eretz Israel: “Also your people shall all be righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified” (Isa. 60:21).

 

Photo Credit: Photo: www.israelimages.com