Why Canaan?
Why would the Lord want to take Abraham out of Babylon and send him to the land of Canaan? What’s so important about Canaan? Is it because it’s a land that flowed “with milk and honey” or is there another reason? Is there some kind of connection between the Lord’s affection and this land? Does this land represent the Garden of Eden? Does the land represent “The New Jerusalem” as seen by John in Revelation? The Bible says, “A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there. The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.” Genesis 2:10-14 So the Garden is described as having a River run through that divided off into four headwaters - four rivers that all exist in the land known as the Fertile Crescent between four rivers. Do you remember the phrase that many parents use, “I brought you into this world. I can take you just as easily” - This reminds me of what God did to Adam and Eve when he took them out of the Garden for disobeying Him. And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever. So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” Genesis 3:22-24 From there, everything went to hell! Genesis 6 speaks to the worst of it - when the fallen angels mated with human women - when the Watchers described in Enoch taught humans numerous transgressions against God. This is why Paul said, in Ephesians 6:12, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” “When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days - and also afterward when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.” Genesis 6:1-4 The Scripture is clear that the Nephilim lived before AND AFTER the flood. How did this happen, if only Noah and his wife, and their 3 sons and their 3 wives lived? Is it possible that some of Nephilim DNA was passed on? Did one of them carry the cultural behavior that was an abomination to God? It appears wickedness existed in the hearts of the all humans - including the Nephilim - the giants that lived upon the land - the men of renown. Canaan was the grandson of Noah, the son of Ham. He is the one Noah cursed when Canaan expressed an interest in Noah’s nakedness. Did the same wickedness that the caused the Lord to regret creating humans exist in Ham? Is that why his fourth son was cursed? By the way - Judah was the fourth son of Leah - the one who finally caused Leah to praise her God! “Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans scattered and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha.” Genesis 10:15-19 Later we learn, during Joshua and Caleb’s report, “The land we explored (Canaan) devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” Numbers 13:32-33 Perhaps Canaan was wicked? Perhaps this is why the Lord promised Abraham he would give him and his descendants the land of Canaan? Perhaps he wanted to drive out the demon possessed, and the bad influence of the thoughts and behaviors of the Nephilim. I mean why else would the Lord want to bless Abraham and make him the father of many nations - but start with making him go to the Land of Canaan - wasn’t Babylon bad enough? Why would the Lord bring the Israelites out of Egypt and allow them to wander through the wilderness until a there was a regeneration? Why would the Lord send 12 Israelite spies to scope out Jericho, the walled city that led to heart of Canaan? Why would the Lord establish his kingdom in Jerusalem, in the land where the giants lived? Why wouldn’t the Lord choose another place to bring His Kingdom down? Has anyone considered Ephesians 3:10? Paul understood the mystery of God! “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” Hebron was the location that Abraham went, in Canaan. Hundreds of years later, when the Lord was bringing the Israelites into the promised land, He sent spies out - “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders out.” Numbers 13:2 NIV And scripture says, “They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. Numbers 13:22 According to Leviticus 18:27 - “the people of the land (of Canaan) who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean.” Why Canaan? What do you think? The end of Genesis 26 is what sparked this thought - verses 34-35 - it’s super short. It says, “When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.” Genesis 26:34-35 "The Hittite women that Esau took where descendants from the land - “The inhabitants of Canaan included the Hivites, Girgashites, Jebusites, Amorites, Hittites, and Perizzities." Judges 1:9-10 For whatever reason, the Hittite women were getting on Rebekah’s nerves - “Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.” Genesis 27:46 Perhaps the Canaanite women were wicked to the bone? Perhaps they extended from the transgression at Mount Hermon?
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