Tag: Holy land

The Holy Land, Part 5: The Holy Land is Greater Than You May Think

On By Tyler BoydIn Holy land

In case you missed them, here’s the links to parts 1-4:
The Holy Land, Part 1: What Does it Really Mean to be Holy?
The Holy Land, Part 2: Who or What is Israel?
The Holy Land, Part 3: The Spiritual Significance of the Land
The Holy Land, Part 4: Did Israel Get Replaced?

One of the challenges in discussing the land promise is that the New Testament doesn’t address it as directly or explicitly as the Old Testament does. There’s no single, comprehensive statement that spells out exactly what became – or what will become – of God’s promise to give Abraham’s descendants a land. Because of this, some assume that the land promise no longer matters for Christians today – that it was once important for Old Testament Israel, but that it was quietly set aside once Israel was expanded to include all the faithful from every nation through Christ.

But that assumption may say more about our expectations than it does about the text of the New Testament itself.

The New Testament doesn’t ignore the concept of holy land. It does, however, reframe it.

It is important to remember that what made the land “holy” was not its geography or borders – it was the presence of God. In the Old Testament, Canaan was indeed set apart as God’s land because it was the place of His dominion and presence. It was holy, not because it belonged to Israel, but because it belonged to God.

So if we want to understand what happens to it in the New Testament, we should begin by asking: Where is God’s presence now? Where does He dwell? Where is His dominion exercised?  

While the New Testament doesn’t rehash the land promise in the same terms as the Old, it is far from silent about God’s kingdom, His dwelling place, or the scope of His reign. And when we follow those threads, a powerful truth emerges – one that shows us why the idea of “holy land” still matters today, but not in the same way many modern-day evangelicals assume. It matters, but in a transformed and expanded way.

Jesus Redefines Sacred Space

In John 4:19-20, a Samaritan woman asked Jesus a direct question about the geographical location where God should be worshiped.

 Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.

She was referring to Mount Gerizim, the center of Samaritan worship, while acknowledging the Jewish claim that worship should take place in God’s holy land, in Jerusalem. But Jesus’s response reframes the entire conversation:

Woman, believe me, that hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

John 4:21-24

Jesus was not dodging the question – He was reframing the concept of God’s sacred place of worship. No longer would worship be restricted to one sacred geographic location. Neither Mount Gerizim nor Jerusalem would remain central. Instead, worship would become geographically universal, unbound by borders, anchored not in one place, but in every place He is rightly worshiped – in spirit and in truth.

What Jesus promised in John 4 wasn’t a change in God’s plan – it was the fulfillment of it. From the beginning, God’s promise to Abraham was never meant to be confined to a single strip of land. Instead, it pointed toward a blessing that would extend to all nations through Abraham’s offspring (Genesis 22:18).

Even early in Genesis, God spoke in expansive, global terms. He told Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the “dust of the earth” (Genesis 13:16) – an image not of a local settlement but of worldwide reach, a people far greater than the physical boundaries of Canaan could contain.

That’s why Paul, reflecting on this promise, could say its ultimate fulfillment was not limited to Canaan, but encompassed the entire world.

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

Romans 4:13

For Paul, the land of Canaan served as a symbol, a preview of a much greater inheritance. The true fulfillment of God’s promise was not in one land, but in the whole world, reserved as an inheritance for the faithful.

God’s Presence in His People

Through Christ, the blessing and inheritance once promised to Abraham has now been extended to all who are in Him. And with that expansion comes a radical redefinition of where God dwells. No longer is His presence confined to a physical temple in a single geographic location. The New Testament reveals something far greater: God’s temple is now His people.

Paul writes:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?

1 Corinthians 6:19

Elsewhere he declares:

For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.

2 Corinthians 6:16 (quoting from Leviticus 26:12)

And in the vision of the new creation, John hears these words:

Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

Revelation 21:3

Just as God once made His home in the land of Canaan, Paul now explains that “the Spirit of God dwells in you” (Romans 8:9). This means that God’s holy presence is no longer limited by borders or buildings – it is present wherever His people are. Wherever Christians are gathered together, submitting to God’s will, there is God’s dominion. That is holy ground.

The New Creation

What makes a land “holy” has never been geography alone – it is the presence of God that makes any place sacred. In the Old Testament, that presence dwelled in the land of Canaan, but through Christ, God’s presence is now among His people – people drawn from every nation. That shift radically reshapes how we think about the idea of a “holy land.”

If God’s presence is no longer confined to one location but dwells with all who are in Christ, then the holiness once associated with a specific strip of land has now been extended as far as His people reach. In other words, God’s holy land has gone global! This being the case, it would be out of step with the teachings of the New Testament to single out Palestine as uniquely “holy” under the reign of Christ. To do so would suggest that God’s dwelling place is still geographically limited – that He does not dwell wherever His people live and worship in spirit and truth.

The problem with calling modern-day Israel “The Holy Land” isn’t that it assigns too much importance to their land – but that it imagines far too little about God’s Kingdom. God’s reign is no longer confined. It is greater – infinitely greater – and that expansion is the very fulfillment of what the prophets anticipated:

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

Habakkuk 2:14 (cf. Numbers 14:21; Psalm 72:19; Isaiah 6:3)

Jesus confirmed this global scope during the Sermon on the Mount. Quoting from Psalm 37:11, He announced the inheritance that awaited the meek:

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Matthew 5:5

He was not speaking of the present, broken world – a world enslaved by sin, violence, and decay. Rather He was pointing to something far greater. The author of Hebrews captures this cosmic transformation:

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem… Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.
This phrase, “Yet once more” indicates the removal of things that are shaken – that is the things that have been made – in order that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Hebrews 12:22, 26-28

Peter echoes the same theme. He reminds us that the current heavens and earth are being preserved for judgment in fire (2 Peter 3:7). This judgment, however, is what ushers in what has always been promised:

But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

2 Peter 3:13

The land promise has not been discarded – it has been fulfilled, deepened, and universalized. What began as a parcel of land for Abraham’s descendants now culminates in a new world for the people of Christ. As Paul puts it, this is nothing less than a new creation (Galatians 6:15), the true and final “holy land” where righteousness dwells and where God makes His home with His people.

Understanding the fulfillment of the land promise reminds us that the church is not defined by borders or geography, but by the presence of God among His people. Wherever God dwells with His people, that is holy ground. As we go into all the world – making disciples of all nations, baptizing them, and teaching obedience to Christ – we are conquering enemy territory and extending God’s holy land. This truth fuels our mission, deepens our unity across every nation, and lifts our eyes beyond the passing kingdoms of this world to the one kingdom that will not be shaken.

The Holy Land, Part 3: The Spiritual Significance of the Land

On By Tyler BoydIn Holy land

Now that we’ve established a clearer biblical understanding of holiness – that to be holy means being set apart by God’s presence and for God’s purposes – and clarified that Israel is not merely an ethnic group but a covenant people set apart by faith, let’s now turn our attention to the land God promised to Israel. What made that particular plot of land – the land of Canaan – holy in the first place?

A Land Promised by God

The idea of a “promised land” is rooted in God’s covenant with Abraham. In Genesis 12:7, God says, “To your offspring I will give this land,” referring to the land then occupied by the Canaanites.

Later, in Genesis 13:15-16, God broadens the scope of this promise:

For all the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.

Already, there’s a hint that Abraham’s descendants would extend beyond his physical lineage – anticipating the broader definition of Israel as a people who share Abraham’s faith (cf. Romans 4:16-17). While God’s promise to Abraham centered geographically on the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:1-7; 15:18-21), the full scope of the promise would ultimately extend to a people as numerous as the dust of the earth itself.

God’s Land, God’s Sanctuary

As the Israelites prepared to enter the land, God spoke through Moses in Exodus 15:17:

You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain,
the place, O LORD, which you have made for your abode,
the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.

Here, the land God was giving to Israel is described as God’s own dwelling place – His sanctuary. Leviticus 25:23 reinforces this point clearly:

The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.

This is key: what made the land holy was not that it belonged to Israel, but that it belonged to God. Israel’s role was that of a guest. They were sojourners, even in the promised land. The land was holy – not because of who lived there, but because of the One who claimed it for His purposes.

Spiritual Geography

This concept of a geographical plot of land belonging to God himself can be traced back to Moses’s song in Deuteronomy 32, which we looked at briefly in the previous part of this study.

When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
when he divided mankind,
he fixed the borders of the peoples
according to the number of the sons of God.
But the LORD’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted heritage.

Deuteronomy 32:8-9

Here we see that God assigned each nation its own allotted land, and with it, its own spiritual association. That is, the land was allotted according to the number of the “sons of God,” a phrase used in the Old Testament to refer to lesser spiritual beings (Job 1:6; 38:7; cf. Psalm 29:1; 89:6).

This divine allotment is the Bible’s explanation for why the surrounding nations came to serve other “gods” – it was part of God’s sovereign division of the land. From that vantage point, each geographical location had its own spiritual identity. Land is either holy, meaning the territory has been claimed by the one true God, where His presence dwelt and His covenant people loved, or the land was unholy, meaning the region was under the dominion of other spiritual powers.

This isn’t a denial of God’s omnipresence, but it underscores that geography itself has spiritual significance. The promised land was set apart by God’s claim on it. To live in the promised land was to dwell in the domain of the LORD; to leave it was to cross into the dominion of another spiritual power. (For a deeper dive, read “The Principalities and Powers” here.)

The Significance of Spiritual Geography

Clearly, David understood this. Have you ever noticed his lament when he fled from Saul into a foreign territory?

They have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the heritage of the LORD, saying, “Go serve other gods.”

1 Samuel 26:19

David wasn’t switching religions. He knew God was present everywhere (cf. Psalm 139:7-12). But he also knew that leaving God’s land meant stepping into regions associated with the domain of other “gods.” David understood that there was something special about the promised land. It was the place where the LORD had chosen to dwell. Meanwhile the land where he was driven was under the influence of other rebellious spiritual powers.

A similar awareness appears in the story of Naaman, the Syrian military commander healed of leprosy. After his healing, he offered a gift to Elisha. When Elisha refused payment, Naaman made what may at first sound like a very strange request:

Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mule loads of earth, for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the LORD.”

2 Kings 5:17

Two loads of earth? Dirt? Why would Naaman want to carry loads of dirt?

It wasn’t because Israel’s physical dirt was somehow superior to dirt in the surrounding region. It was because Naaman recognized the holiness of the land. He wanted to take a part of that sacred ground back with him, because he recognized that the land of Israel had spiritual significance. It was the land that belonged to the true God as opposed to all the other gods who were served among the nations.

The Conditional Nature of the Land Promise

Although God did give the land of Canaan to Israel, it was never theirs unconditionally. We read in Joshua 21:43 that God gave Israel the land, just as he had promised:

Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it and settled there.

But the land remained God’s possession. Israel’s right to dwell there was based solely on their faithfulness to the LORD. In Exodus 19:5-6, God makes this crystal clear:

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Their inheritance was never automatic. In Leviticus 20:22, God warns,

You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.

The prophets repeatedly echoed this truth. If Israel ceased to be faithful to God’s covenant, they would be expelled (cf. Amos 7:7; Hosea 9:2-3; Jeremiah 3:19-20). Perhaps the most sobering warning comes in Jeremiah 17:3-4:

Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I give you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.

To live in the land was to fully embrace loyalty to God’s covenant. Security in the land was never about national strength – it was about faithfulness to the LORD.

The land was a gift, but a conditional one. It was never given to Israel as a piece of real estate to own apart from submission to God’s rule. It was Holy Land because it was God’s land – and He alone determined who could dwell there.

With this, we’ve now explored what it means for something to be holy (Part 1), the true identity of Israel as God’s covenant people (Part 2), and why the promised land was holy (Part 3). This groundwork prepares us to examine how the land promise finds its fulfillment in light of the gospel.

But before we do, we must address a common concern: the charge of “replacement theology” – the claim that the church has replaced Israel in a way that nullifies God’s promises to Israel. To be clear, I do not believe in replacement theology, as it lacks critically important nuance regarding the significance of Israel in the Bible. In the next part of this study, we’ll take that objection seriously with careful biblical reflection.

The Holy Land, Part 2: Who or What is Israel?

On By Tyler BoydIn Holy land

The term “Holy Land” is frequently used today to describe the modern nation of Israel.

In the first part of this study we asked the question, “What does it mean to be holy?” Throughout the Bible, holiness is about being set apart for God’s presence and for God’s purpose. With that foundation in place, we now turn to a second essential question: “Who – or what – is “Israel”?

Many people today refer to the modern land of Israel as the “Holy Land.” But in doing so, they often assume a definition of “Israel” that doesn’t line up with the way the Bible itself uses the term. If we’re going to come to grips with what the Bible teaches about a holy land, we must also understand who or what “Israel” is.

A People, Not a Place

The word “Israel” in the Bible never refers to a piece of land. Yes, God gave the people of Israel a land to dwell in, and yes, that land had deep spiritual significance. But the term “Israel” itself always refers to a people – a special group of people who were in a covenant relationship with God, set apart for His purposes.

The name “Israel” comes from Genesis 32, when Jacob wrestled with a mysterious man, who was later revealed to be the angel of the LORD. It was this Angel who gave Jacob a new name: Israel, meaning “He who strives with God” (Genesis 32:28). Jacob’s twelve sons would become the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel. From that moment forward “Israel” referred to the descendants of Jacob – not a geographical area, but a people in a covenant with the LORD.

Not Defined by Race

A common misconception, not only during the time of Christ, but extending even to today throughout much of modern evangelicalism, is that “Israel” refers to the ethnic Jewish people. Since “Israel” was used to refer to the descendants of Jacob, it is easy to see how many would easily draw this conclusion. However, a careful reading of Scripture quite clearly reveals that from the very beginning, the people of Israel included those from other nations who had chosen to align themselves with the LORD.

Here’s a few examples:

  • Exodus 12:38 says that a “mixed multitude” left Egypt along with the Israelites
  • Numbers 12:1 describes Moses’ wife as a Cushite
  • Rahab, the woman who protected the spies in Jericho, was a Canaanite from Jericho (Joshua 2:1; 6:25)
  • Ruth, the great-grandmother of King David, was a Moabite (Ruth 1:4)
  • Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s mighty men, wasn’t ethnically Jewish (2 Samuel 11:3)
  • Esther 8:17 tells us that “many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews” out of fear and reverence

In Zechariah’s prophetic vision where God promises to restore and dwell in Jerusalem after Israel’s exile, an Angel proclaims that the time is coming when God’s covenant family will expand far beyond ethnic Israel to include people of all nations.

And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.

Zechariah 2:11

Clearly, the biblical category of “Israel” was never tied exclusively to ethnicity. Instead, Israel has always included anyone who turns to the LORD in faithful obedience. This is exactly the point that the apostle Paul makes in Romans 2:28-29, when he says,

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

According to Paul, being an Israelite, a true Jew, is a matter of faithfulness. Rather than being marked out by a physical feature such as circumcision, they are marked out by the Spirit. The same God who welcomed foreigners in the Exodus, and welcomed Ruth and Rahab into the family of Israel, welcomes all those who turn to Him in faithful obedience today.

A Family Bound by Faith

In the first century, this non-ethnic definition of Israel stirred up controversy. Many Jewish people feared that including the Gentiles among God’s people would mean that God had abandoned His promises to Abraham. This concern stands behind much of what Paul said throughout his letter to the Romans. For instance, consider Paul’s words in Romans 9:6-8

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of promise are counted as offspring.

Here, Paul draws a sharp line between ethnic descent and those to whom God has promised an inheritance. God’s promises were never about bloodlines; they were about faithfulness. The true children of Abraham are those who act out of trust in God’s promises.

Jesus made this same point when speaking to a group of Jews:

They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did.”

John 8:39

Then, just a few verses later, He declares that their true father is not Abraham, but the devil (John 8:44). Why? Because they rejected the truth of God’s Word.

And let’s not forget John the Baptist’s bold statement to the Pharisees:

And do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father,” for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

Matthew 3:9

In other words, physical descent means nothing without faithfulness to God.

Not the Modern Nation-State

Since Israel is not defined as the land itself, and not defined by an ethnic group of people, it should also be plain to see that the biblical definition of “Israel” does not apply to the modern nation-state of Israel. While some may contend that today’s Israel (founded in 1948) may have some distant cultural and genealogical connections to the people of the Bible, it is fundamentally a secular political entity, not a “holy nation” in the biblical sense.

The modern state of Israel does not function as a covenant people living under God’s law. Its borders are not defined by faithfulness to God. For this reason, it is a serious error to equate modern Israel with biblical Israel, or to take what the Bible says about Israel and apply it to modern Israel.

A Holy Nation

Peter calls the church, Jew and Gentile alike, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession” (1 Peter 2:9). This echoes the very language used by God for Israel at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:6).

So yes, we may rightly speak of Israel as a “holy nation.” But only if we are using the term the way the Bible does – to describe a people, not a plot of land; and to describe a people who are set apart by the Spirit through their faithfulness to God.

Having carefully defined the term “holy,” and now having a biblical understanding of the term “Israel,” we can now return to the study of the land itself. In the next article we’ll ask the question “Why was Israel’s land considered holy?”

The Holy Land, Part 1: What Does it Really Mean to be Holy?

On By Tyler BoydIn Holy land

When people hear the phrase “The Holy Land,” their minds often turn to the modern-day region encompassing Israel, Palestine, and parts of Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. This land is revered by millions, walked by countless pilgrims, and woven throughout the pages of Scripture. This is the land that was given to Abraham’s family, was the home of David’s kingdom, and it is the land where Jesus Himself walked the earth.

But did you know that this territory is referred to as “holy land” only one time throughout all the pages of Scripture? In Zechariah’s prophetic vision of Israel’s restoration after the Babylonian exile, he writes:

And the LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.

Zechariah 2:12

In the New Testament, the phrase doesn’t appear at all.

So where does that leave us? Is this region in the middle-east sacred? What does it mean for something to be called holy in the first place? This article launches a five-part series exploring the biblical concept of “The Holy Land,” beginning with the essential question: What does it mean to be holy?

What Does “Holy” Mean?

The word holy might evoke thoughts of moral excellence. For instance, think about the phrase “holier than thou.” If someone is accused of being “holier than thou,” they are being accused of having a self-righteous attitude that looks down on others for their imperfections. But in Scripture, holiness is first and foremost about separation and dedication. In Hebrew, the word is qadosh, and in Greek, hagios. Both words mean that something is set apart from the ordinary or profane and devoted to God’s purposes.

At the core of this concept is the understanding that the LORD God Himself is holy. He is utterly distinct from His creation and from all other gods. He is not merely powerful or majestic, but He is unique in His role as creator. This is the cry of the seraphim in Isaiah 6:3, later echoed in Revelation 4:8.

Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!

Isaiah 6:3

In the context of Isaiah 6, Isaiah sees the Lord “high and lifted up” on a throne, communicating God’s majesty, authority, and separateness from all other powers. Even the seraphim cover their faces in his presence because they cannot bear to look directly at his glory. He is categorically different – utterly set apart. Isaiah found himself terrified to be in His presence, because he realized that nothing impure can remain the presence of the holiness of God. Because God is holy, anything that is closely associated with Him must also be set apart.

Holiness is closely connected with moral purity. Psalm 24:3-4 stresses this point.

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not sweat deceitfully.

Here we see that holiness demands moral living. But even so, there’s more to holiness than simply living morally. Holiness is ultimately about proximity to God’s holiness. As an illustration, consider the way the tabernacle was structured in ancient Israel.

The closer one got to the Most Holy Place, where God’s presence dwelled above the ark of the covenant, the greater the degree of holiness required. The outer court was accessible to all Israelites. The Holy Place could be entered only by priests. But the Most Holy Place – the very heart of the tabernacle – could be entered by only one man, the high priest, and only once a year, and even then, only with the blood of a sacrifice (Leviticus 16).

We can think of holiness as nearness to God. Objects, people, and places were considered “holy” not merely because they were morally superior on their own, but because they were set apart for a special purpose in God’s presence.

That’s why physical objects, such as anointing oil, the utensils for the tabernacle, and a gold lampstand could be described as “holy” (Exodus 30:25-29). They can’t make moral choices, but they are set apart for divine use in proximity to God’s divine space. A tithe from the crops is “holy to the LORD” (Leviticus 27:30), not because grain is morally upright, but because it was to be specially devoted for the Lord. Moral purity is important, not because it is synonymous with holiness, but because it is necessary in order to be brought near to the One who is utterly set apart.

Understanding holiness in this way helps us to understand how land can be holy. When Moses approaches the burning bush in Exodus 3:5, he’s told to remove his sandals because the ground is holy. This is not because there was anything unique about the geological makeup of the ground. What made the ground holy was God’s presence. It was “holy ground” because God’s presence had claimed it.

What Made Israel Holy?

This also helps us understand why Israel was called holy. In Exodus 19:6, God declares His desire for Israel to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” This wasn’t because Israel was morally superior (as their many failures make clear), but because God had set them apart to be His people through which He would fulfill His purpose.

Like priests mediate between God and others, Israel was meant to be a light to the nations, demonstrating to others the wisdom and character of their God (cf. Deuteronomy 4:5-8; Isaiah 49:6; 60:3. From the beginning, Israel’s story was never meant to end with them. God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 made clear that through Abraham’s descendants, “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Israel was chosen to carry God’s promise forward.

Deuteronomy 32:8-9 speaks of how, when the other nations went their own way, and were scattered throughout the world, God claimed Israel as his own.

When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
when he divided mankind,
he fixed the borders of the peoples
according to the number of the sons of God.
But the LORD’s portion is his people,
Jacob is his allotted heritage.

In short, Israel was holy because they belong to God. There were set apart from the other nations for God’s divine purpose. But it’s key to understand this: Israel’s holiness was never the final goal. Israel was holy, but their holiness was the means by which God’s wisdom, mercy, and redemption would be provided to all people among all nations.

Looking Ahead

In the next part of this series, we’ll ask the question: Who or What is “Israel”? Is it a geographic location? A geopolitical nation? An ethnic group? Or are they perhaps, defined by something else entirely?

But for now, we’ve laid an important foundation: Holiness means to be set apart for God. And that means that the idea of “holy land” – just like holy oil, or a holy people – only makes sense in connection with God’s presence and God’s purposes. Take those away, and what’s left may be good, beautiful, or even historically significant, but it is not holy.