The Promised Land
“And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life.” I John 2:25
Christian radio has been playing a song by Toby Mac entitled “The Promised Land”. In the beginning of the song, the lyrics ask where this promised land is that most people search for while still a resident of earth. Folks are always looking for more: more happiness, more money, more popularity, etc. Why is it that most people are so dissatisfied with their lot in life? They tend to follow those who make all sorts of promises, particularly politicians. Because this is an election year, we are subject to endless television and radio commercials from the candidates running for office. Have you ever wondered what the real reasons are for someone to become a politician? They all say that they want to serve the public, but it seems that they really want the public to serve them. The campaign ads that really bug me are the ones in which the candidates tell the viewers that if we elect them, they will absolutely do such and such to make our lives better. However, they won’t be able to fulfill any of those promises because each one of them does not have the power to do so, and they will face much opposition. They can work toward those goals that they promise, but unless they can get enough support from fellow politicians, they will fail. Many of them have good intentions, but you know what folks say about the road of which good intentions paves.
When God called Abraham to leave his home and journey to a place of which God prepared for His new nation, it was a difficult journey. Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, father of twelve sons who eventually became the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel, along with his family, left the land of Canaan, the original location of Israel, because of famine, and traveled to Egypt, wherein the Hebrews, who had grown to a large nation of people, were enslaved by Pharaoh for over 400 years. God raised up Moses to lead them out of Egypt and into the land that He had promised Abraham many years before. It was a long, difficult journey due to the disobedience and idolatry of God’s people. Moses, because he disobeyed God (Numbers 20:12), was not allowed to see the promised land and died, leaving Joshua to lead the Hebrew people the rest of the way to the land that was described as flowing with milk and honey (Joshua 5:6).
Had the people of God been an obedient people, never wavering in their faith and commitment to the LORD, serving Him in all truth and sincerity, it would have been as close to a land of milk and honey as any nation on earth could have been, but it would never have been a utopia because those who inhabited it were not perfect. They were all born with a sin nature, and that was a proven fact by the way they dishonored their Creator in abandoning Him and turning to idols again and again. Thus, the promised land, whom some may have believed would be like the Garden of Eden, was polluted and marred by the sin of the people for whom God had prepared this land. I suppose that some of them could have asked, “Where is this good land that God promised us?” They wanted to have their cake and eat it, too. They couldn’t or wouldn’t admit that it was their sinful behavior which destroyed the beautiful land and cities which God had given them.
Fast forward to today. Folks keep looking for that “utopia” in which they can live in ease and comfort without problems, troubles, or worries, but they do not realize that there is not nor ever will be a “land of milk and honey” on this earth in its present state. Sin mars everything that it touches, and it has touched just about everything. One cannot watch five minutes of television before sin is displayed, either on the news as people scream because they are afraid that the right to kill their unborn babies will be taken away from them, on a comedy show where Christians are mocked and the name of God is blasphemed, or a drama show that features fornication, murder, violence, etc. Sin is not the exception; it is the norm. In the above-mentioned song, the lyrics finally conclude that the only promised land that exists is Jesus. He is our Promised Land. There is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12), and there is no other than Jesus Christ in which we can find peace, rest, and joy. Jesus, You are my Promised Land.
On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand, and cast a wishful eye/To Canaan’s fair and happy land, Where my possessions lie.
I am bound for the Promised Land, I am bound for the Promised Land/O who will come and go with me? I am bound for the Promised Land.
American Folk Melody written by Samuel Stennett, 1787