“Adonai your God is going to bring you into the land you will enter in order to take possession of it, and he will expel many nations ahead of you — the Hitti, Girgashi, Emori, Kena‘ani, P’rizi, Hivi and Y’vusi, seven nations bigger and stronger than you.”-Deuteronomy 7:1
From verse 1 of Deuteronomy 7, Moses informs the children of Israel that the Lord their God is going to bring them into the Promised Land of Canaan and expel its inhabitants in order that Israel will “possess” the land.
God then calls out seven nations that are to be exterminated.
Let’s talk a little bit about the true meaning of the word “possess” in its context here.
Biblically speaking, “possess” does NOT mean “to own“.
In the Scriptures, the word “possess” is deliberately used because of the special status given to the Land of Canaan.
In other words, the Land of Canaan is unique because it has been set apart for special use by God.
This is a status that will never change for all eternity.
We are given many reminders throughout the Scripture that it is HASHEM and HASHEM alone who is the sole and permanent owner of Canaan.
One may wonder, does the Bible actually allow man to buy and own real estate?
The answer is of course, yes.
Throughout pretty much all of the world, the right of man to purchase a piece of property he can call his own is a foundational right in most societies, especially in America and Europe.
However, there is one carefully designated piece of land in the Middle East that will NEVER be for sale.
The Owner of this property will never sell this land.
He will only lease it out.
And the Owner has already decided who He is going to lease this land out to and that party is Israel and Israel alone.
But here’s the thing.
As the Owner of the Land, God also retains the rights to revoke the lease He has given to His Chosen People.
Here’s another important point.
Because Israel is just leasing the land and doesn’t really own it, they do not have the right to sell that land to any third party…especially a gentile nation.
That divine piece of real estate in the Middle East has been set aside as HOLY and reserved for God alone.
God will be using that Land to establish His headquarters for His Kingdom to come (an event that I believe is much closer than any of us think) .
Recall that the difference between “possession” versus “ownership” was well fleshed out when we studied the Laws of Jubilee.
The Laws of Jubilee dictate that a piece of property that has been “sold” must be returned to its original owner.
Honestly, I really shouldn’t be using the word “sold” at all…because what is really happening is that the right to use the Land is simply being transferred from one party back to its original owner.
Per the Torah, the price a person charges for the transfer of the property he was using is based on the amount of crops it can yield from the time he leases it to the new party to the occurrence of the next Jubilee.
Got it?
The use of the land is only being temporarily transferred and this is a principle that ONLY APPLIES IN THE HOLY LAND.
I hope you can understand why it’s really important to understand the difference between “to own” and “to possess” as defined in Scripture.
For instance, whenever God exiled Israel from the land, He was simply revoking Israel’s right to use the land and transferring the USE of the land to Israel’s conquerers for a certain period of time as punishment for Israel’s disobedience.
Everything I have just explained is why any so-called manmade “Roadmap to Peace” such as the now dead Oslo Accords or any other type of “peace plan” that would force the transfer of ownership of portions of God’s real estate against His Will is an abomination.
To even attempt to transfer portions of the Land of Israel to a third gentile party is just asking for trouble from the Creator.
Great read.
Glad you resonated with this Rachel. Be blessed!