“I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are now staying, the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession; and I will be their God.” There were several major turning points in the history of the people of God: the call of Abraham, the exodus, the occupation of the promised land by the twelve tribes. Another major turning point was the exile, when “the land in which you are now staying” was taken from the chosen people by an occupying army and they were deported. You can imagine the people questioning: if the land is “permanent possession” why has it been taken from us? Is God still our God? This question lingers to this day in the conflict that exist in the Middle East. The initial response to the newly exiled Judeans (soon to be called the Jews) was to trust in the prophetic promise a return. The longer term response was to see that the promise of God should not center on possessing the land but in possessing an intimate relationship with the one who made the promise.
