“…a covenant to give him the land of the Canaanites,
the Hittites, and the Amorites,
The Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites…”
Nehemiah 9:8a MSG
Last time we settled in with some of the specific praises due to Covenant Yahweh – including his choosing of Abram, changing his name to reflect fruitfulness, and a covenant guaranteed to come to pass because of the Author of it. Today we see some more specifics of this covenant.
“…a covenant (berith – ally, treaty) to give (nathan – bestow, commit, entrust, grant, issue, pledge, present) the land…”
The treaty, this covenant, was to give Abram something. To bestow and entrust to him what would be required of a father of multitudes: land.
In our real estate driven society, we typically think of land in relation to what we desire to build upon it. Whether houses or businesses or the latest strip mall, we see what we can use the land for, rather than what the land itself provides for us.
In Abraham’s agrarian society, land was everything. Perhaps kings would think of mansions to build, but the majority of folk would think of cattle to feed, sheep to graze, and crops to harvest, consume, and trade.
And it was a vast land which would be committed to Abraham and his descendants. But first some history.
“…the land of the Canaanites…” You may notice from the map below the “land of Canaan” looks an awful lot like maps of Israel. That’s because it is the same land, as taken by faith in the book of Joshua. But before we get upset that God promised land that had to be taken from others, let’s review some Holy Writ info.
If you remember, God had destroyed the world with a great flood, save Noah’s family – his wife, his sons, and their wives. So when it was time to repopulate the earth, the responsibility landed on Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the three sons of Noah, and their wives. (See Genesis 10 for all those details.)
One of the sons of Ham was named Canaan (which means “land of purple”) and in fact is associated with “pedlar, merchant, mercantile caravans.” Scholars tell us the city of Canaan became a major producer and exporter of purple dye (source).
Contrast this with the sons of Shem, listed in Genesis 11:10-32, where we find a man named Terah who was the father of Abram. This is the line through which God chose to work His plan of redemption for the whole world. It was through the line of Shem, the Shemites, later shortened to Semites. Yes, where Semitic (or, sadly, anti-Semitic) comes from.
An interesting tidbit from a Study Bible also revealed another name by which Abram and his descendants were known. In Genesis 14:13, Abram is called “Abram the Hebrew.” This title Hebrew tends to be used by non-Israelites in a disparaging sense in the Old Testament. And “outside Torah, people known as Habiru/Apiru are referred to as propertyless, dependent, immigrant social class.” (source)
So from the start we have these contrasts: a family from Canaan with land and goods and a settlement, and another family associated with propertyless outsiders. And this is where Yahweh shines.
Because the propertyless, dependent ones were through whom He chose to display His glory. In contrast, Canaanite religious practices were hideous and included child sacrifice, idolatry, religious prostitution, and divination.(source)
And before we get too defensive about those living in the land of Canaan not having a chance to know better, verses like Genesis 15:16 can help calm our hearts: “In the fourth generation your [Abram’s] descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
Rather than picturing an unfair, punishing God sitting around waiting to squash a group of people until they get really bad, could we instead get to know a Creator God of flawless character Who is slow to anger, abounding in love, and desiring that all repent so none would perish? But One Who knows where there is no justice, there is no love? He was being patient in His judgment here, friends. And always.
But let’s look closer at some of the specific names listed in today’s verses. First up, the Hittites whose name comes from chathath – to be shattered, dismayed, terrified; to prostrate in a negative way by violence or fear. In an ironic twist, this is the same word used by God to Joshua centuries later when commanding him to take this same Promised Land: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or chathath.”
The Hittites were powerful people who dominated much of Canaan. And when our returned exiles are being led by the Levites to worship God, they make sure to name this people group who likely terrified their ancestors.
What terrifies you? What could shatter you or, in violence, tempt you to bow down to it instead of Him? The answer to this question is only abstract until something happens in our lives that touches this area. It is then we can take it to heart that God is not out to chathath us. He doesn’t seek to dismay or terrify or shatter in a violent way. The fear of God is a healthy, powerful fear, which leads to the worshipful kind of bowing. If you are in a dismayed season, please know He is the God Who gives strength no matter how powerful or dominating your battle seems.
The next group listed is the Amorites, known as mountain-dwellers who settled west of Babylon. Their name comes from the Hebrew word amar – to say. When looking at all the uses of this word, I was struck by how it was used for each day of creation in Genesis: God said, “let there be light,” God said, “let the waters gather,” God said, “let there be vegetation.” Then only two chapters later, the serpent hissed to Eve, “Did God really say?”
Yes, friends, He really has said. And it does matter. I love that our small group talked last night about the Bible being God-breathed and our firm foundation, like a house built on Rock. We all worship something. Everyone has faith in what they believe matters most. If there is a God, and He has revealed Himself through Holy Writ, then understanding what He has communicated to His creation is of utmost importance.
The next two groups we’ll look at are the Girgashites and Jebusites, from the word Jebus meaning “trodden, threshing place.” Also, interestingly, it is the aboriginal name for Jerusalem, the Holy City. At the time of the conquest under Joshua, the Jebusites were living in Jerusalem (source). But push pause on that for one second.
First, did you realize this land of Canaan is much of modern day Palestine? And this name Palestine evolved from the name of a people group living there – but not listed in these verses – the Philistines? (You can find them in our map below.)
Surely, even if you do not understand the details of it, you have heard of the modern day Palestinian-Israeli conflict? Interesting, isn’t it, how all this originated here in Genesis, the book of Beginnings?
But let’s move on to the final group for today, the Perizzites. I saved them for last because of the root words of the name: perazi – rustic, village, rural; and perazah – without walls. The Study Bible points out these were, indeed, rural inhabitants in the land of Canaan.
But I want to focus on that descriptive perazah. It is also used in a Scripture we’ve seen on here before – Zechariah 2. In describing the New Jerusalem, that place in which we return to the Garden because of Golgotha, all nations will stream into it. There will be no wall or boundary lines, but instead, the LORD Himself will be a surrounding wall of protective fire.
In the midst of discussing judgment and taking over land and building a wall in our current day and a government shut down and this same land being fought over still, the reminder of these verses gives us sanity. The reason God had His people occupy this land was to show His heart to the watching world. And the ultimate return to the Ultimate Promise Land will have nothing to do with competing national interests, but rather worship of the Worthy Lamb. Perhaps we should start living like this now?
It seems Abram knew this to some extent from the very beginning of the promise. Genesis 12:7 says, “The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.”
What else to do when Canaanites are currently residing there? What else but believe Him and build an altar to this Covenant Yahweh, acknowledging He is the Owner of it all anyway?
Where do you need to bow to the Owner of all and acknowledge His supremacy? Where are you clinging to rights and pride rather than sacrifice and unity? Does your worship of the God of the Bible more line up with His vision of the New Jerusalem, or are you holding onto a woefully inadequate nationalism into which you invite the name of Christianity but not the character and ways of Jesus?
He has the authority; all of it. We as believers, His Bride the Church, will answer to how we reflected Him in our day. May we live lives of worship and service, welcome and love.