Numbers 34:1-15 NKJV
34 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance—the land of Canaan to its boundaries. 3 Your southern border shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom; then your southern border shall extend eastward to the end of the Salt Sea; 4 your border shall turn from the southern side of the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to Zin, and be on the south of Kadesh Barnea; then it shall go on to Hazar Addar, and continue to Azmon; 5 the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the Sea.
6 ‘As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea for a border; this shall be your western border.
7 ‘And this shall be your northern border: From the Great Sea you shall mark out your border line to Mount Hor; 8 from Mount Hor you shall mark out your border to the entrance of Hamath; then the direction of the border shall be toward Zedad; 9 the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar Enan. This shall be your northern border.
10 ‘You shall mark out your eastern border from Hazar Enan to Shepham; 11 the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; the border shall go down and reach to the eastern side of the Sea of Chinnereth; 12 the border shall go down along the Jordan, and it shall end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land with its surrounding boundaries.’ ”
13 Then Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying: “This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. 14 For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and the half-tribe of Manasseh has received its inheritance. 15 The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance on this side of the Jordan, across from Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.”
The Lord establishes the boundaries of the land for the nine and a half tribes west of the Jordan River. These boundaries marked the land which these tribes would call home. What is the New Testament fulfillment of the land of Canaan, promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the children of Israel (Ex 3:8)? The Lord does not promise to bring all the biological descendants of Israel back within these borders. Nor does He promise a specific patch of land to the true Israel—the body of believers. Instead, God’s New Testament people are scattered to the four corners of the earth. The kingdom of God which Christ brought with Him knows no earthly boundaries but exists in the hearts of believers. It exists visibly wherever God’s word is purely preached, and Christ’s sacraments are administered correctly. Nor is the land of Canaan a picture of a future kingdom of Christ on earth. What does it prefigure then?
It is a picture of the new heavens and new earth, which is life everlasting. The Lord says in Isaiah 65:17, “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.” The apostle writes in 2 Peter 3:13, “We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” When Christ returns in glory and brings this about, God’s people will not be surrounded by unbelieving nations as His Old Testament people were. Unlike the New Testament church, God’s people will not be scattered across the earth, dwelling in the midst of an unbelieving world with unbelievers in the midst of them. On that day, the only boundary will be the one that separates the righteous from the wicked. John says in Revelation 22:15, “Outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.” Within the land God gives His people—the new heavens and new earth—there will be only peace, righteousness, and joy because that is where God will dwell with His people, comfort them, and give them every good thing.
Let us pray: Help us, good Lord, so that our hearts do not become set on the things of this life in such a way that we lose sight of the Promised Land of eternal life. Amen.