Canaan: A strategic land bridge

Was the “Promised Land” -- the area often now called The Holy Land -- chosen for missionary purposes?

“This is Jerusalem: I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her” - Ezekiel 5:5, NIV

     Why did God ask Abraham to uproot his family and move all the way to Canaan? Why did the Lord need him to move from one end of the fertile crescent to the other? The answer is simple: strategy. Missiologists have long pointed to the strategic importance of that narrow piece of real estate which Christians today often call The Holy Land.
     The Promised Land of Canaan -- now frequently called Palestine -- is only 60 miles wide in places. At its western edge is the Mediterranean Sea. To the east is impassable desert. Its location makes it a land bridge between three continents. Africa’s only land link to Europe and to Asia runs through what is today modern Israel. If God wanted to make Himself known throughout the ancient world, this would have been the ideal place to do it from.
     To establish and maintain a nation on this busy bridge would be a superhuman feat. But this is exactly what the puny little nation of Israel did (with some brief gaps) for nearly 1,300 years. Was it a a mere coincidence that God placed His people on this bridge between continents? Unlikely. He seems to have done so on purpose so that His name would be proclaimed in “all nations.”

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10 ways to ruin mission trips

Youth in Mission

Linking to me

Map idea taken from Bible Mapbook by Simon Jenkins, published by Lion Publishing, and reproduced by permission.

Need answers? The Old Testament has them.

How can I know what God expects of us? What plan does God have for the world? These questions and others are answered in the Old Testament. [ read more ]

SNU missions course materials and syllabi

Cultural Anthropology Introduction to Missions Linguistics Mexican Field Studies Missions Strategies Modern Missionary Movement (History of Missions) Nazarene Missions Church Growth and Christian Missions Theology of Missions Traditional Religions World Religions

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