Christians are familiar with Israel and the Promised Land. When God made a covenant with Abraham, he promised a people and a land. Abraham’s descendants would be God’s people to bless the world, and this chosen nation would also inherit the land of Canaan. Much of the Old Testament centers around this idea: God’s people in a place.
Yet many believers read into the New Testament and see a different paradigm. The idea of land seems to be forgotten. But was it? Looking further through the whole canon, from the beginning to the end, we see God’s people in a consistent place.
How Does the Garden of Eden Reveal God’s Design for People and Land?
God instituted the idea of people in a place at the very beginning, a perfect design. The Lord created the Garden of Eden with intentional borders (Genesis 2:10-14), setting it apart as a paradise, a protected space separate from the rest of the world. Rivers flowed from the garden, watering the area and defining the geographic place. Not a wild jungle, God had personally cultivated Eden with order, creativity, and abundance. God placed Adam and Eve in the garden to care for it.
Adam and Eve’s mission wasn’t limited to Eden. God called them to expand the blessings, to “be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.” (Genesis 1:28). Their created purpose included expanding the peace and beauty of Eden across the earth through having kids. This illustrates God’s original intent: people and land thriving together under God’s rule. The Lord’s reign proved relational, walking with them in Eden. The garden acted as a type of temple, a place to meet with God. These borders and ideas weren’t meant to be contained within Eden. Instead, God designed it to launch a blessing, filling all creation with his presence.
In Eden, we see the original purpose of creation: humans living in harmony with the Creator, with each other, and creation (the land and animals). The Fall disrupted and corrupted this design, yet God didn’t give up on his idea. The Lord has the best ideas. He will still have it.
How Did Pagan Gods Connect to Land and People?
The ancient world understood this connection, at least conceptually. As we see in the Bible and history, each nation or tribe believed their god or gods ruled over a defined territory, often with boundaries like rivers, mountains, or cities. These gods weren’t universal beings, over the whole world, but local spiritual rulers. For example, the god Baal was tied to the land of Canaan, while Marduk ruled Babylon. In the ancient world, the boundaries of land and the national people were identified with a specific pagan god.
These beliefs influenced how these cultures viewed war and conquest. To defeat another nation, it required more than a physical army. Victories in battle proved one god’s superiority over another. When a people or tribe conquered a land, they thought their god had won and extended his authority over a new place. They would build temples to their gods in these new lands to show this victory. At the same time, when a people lost their land, they assumed their god had lost or abandoned them.
People would fear crossing into another god’s territory or offending local gods. Elisha healed Naaman the Aramean, and the man asked the prophet for Israelite soil to take home with him (2 Kings 5:17), since he believed Yahweh’s presence would come with the dirt of the Promised Land.
In contrast, Israel’s God claimed authority over the whole earth (Psalm 24:1). The Lord did give Israel a specific land and boundaries. However, his power wasn’t limited there. This separated Israel from pagan gods and beliefs, people who had twisted God’s original ideas for their own purposes.
What Was God’s Design for Israel’s Promised Land?
God initiated a plan of redemption, entering history and culture to bring the world back to His original purposes through His love and power. With Israel and the Promised Land, God intended to create a holy (set apart) nation, revealing his character, the blessings of proper worship, and to take his message to other nations. The Lord supernaturally delivered the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery and placed them in the Promised Land, much like he placed Adam and Eve in Eden. Like Eden, Israel had defined borders (Genesis 15:18-21, Numbers 34). Israel was God’s people, chosen to live by God’s law in a place where they lived in abundance (the land of milk and honey), and extend the blessing out to other nations. Their mission mirrored Adam and Eve’s.
Through Israel, God planned to reveal Himself to the world. If Israel obeyed God’s law, they would care for the poor, worship the right and only God, and experience unparalleled justice, righteousness, and peace. Such a place would be attractive and distinctive to other nations, much like the Queen of Sheba came from far away to see the wealth and wisdom of Israel under Solomon (1 Kings 10:1-13).
However, also like Adam and Eve, Israel failed in their calling. They broke the central rule, to worship God alone, turning to idols. Since they lost the right relationship with the God who alone is right and good, they oppressed the poor and lived in lust, ignoring God’s commands. Such disobedience led to exile, resulting in the loss of the Promised Land, much like Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden.
But God remained faithful to the covenant and His purposes, even when humanity, made in His image, failed to live up to them. Ultimately, he knew he would have to fulfill his purposes himself, promising a different covenant to bless the world through the Messiah and the Kingdom of God.
How Did the Old Testament Consider God the Lord of the Whole Earth?
We’ve mentioned the difference between Israel’s God and pagan cultures. While idolatrous peoples identified themselves with a local deity, the God of Israel claimed universal authority for a simple reason: he created everything. The biblical canon opens with this statement, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) The “heavens” here means the sky and stars, planets and galaxies, along with the earth. As Creator, he has the right and power to rule. He owns everything and everyone. Since he is also good, the Lord desires redemption and blessing, and his plan to bring goodness to the whole world reflects this.
The Old Testament declares God’s rule over all nations, not just Israel. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” As such, God could—and did and does—act anywhere and everywhere he chooses, not limited by any borders. He could bring down Egypt, the most powerful kingdom of the day, through the plagues, the death of the firstborn, and parting the Red Sea. Throughout the Bible, God exerted his rule over leaders of all nations and places, not just Israel.
Foreign (and pagan) kings, such as Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus, became instruments in God’s redemptive plan (Isaiah 45:1, Daniel 2:21). The prophets often reminded Israel and others that God wasn’t tribal or localized. He judged all nations by the same standards of peace, righteousness, and justice.
Another distinction between Israel and pagan cultures was how Yahweh claimed to be the only God. Since all other cultures believed their gods to be a local phenomenon, they practiced polytheism.
Israel’s monotheism, along with God’s claim of absolute authority over all the earth, framed the Jewish exile in a different light. While Assyria, Babylon, or Persia clearly believed their victories proved their gods beat the Lord, God continued to prove his rule and reign over kings during the exile. Stories abound in Daniel, Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah regarding this reality.
As such, God promised a future when he would bring a Messiah priest-king who would rule over a redeemed, everlasting Kingdom. One day, “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14) Israel, the Jews, needed to remain set apart since God would bring this Kingdom Messiah through the line of David.
How Did the Principle of Land and People Change in the New Testament?
The New Testament shows us the fulfillment of the Messiah (Jesus), who brings the Kingdom of God and the new covenant. Christ is revealed as the substance of the Old Testament symbols. In many ways, the principle of land and people shifts from the physical to the spiritual.
Jesus redefines the idea of God’s kingdom, not as a political territory like Israel or even Jerusalem, but as God’s reign in the hearts of people from all nations. Before Pilate, Jesus declares, “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36) Speaking with the woman at the well, he expresses the idea of true worship, not on a physical mountain but in spirit and truth, since God is spirit (John 4:23-24). With this in mind, people of any nation can repent and become children of God, expanding the chosen people to include those with faith in Christ. Jesus’ Great Commission sends the Gospel to all nations (Matthew 28:19), redeeming Eden and fulfilling the promise to Abraham that all peoples would be blessed through his descendant, Christ.
The early church embraced this. The Gospel spread beyond Jerusalem to Samaria, Syria, Greece, and Rome. The Kingdom of God became a global mission, not tied to a land, race, or ethnicity. Believers now formed one people in Christ, collectively becoming the Jerusalem from heaven (Galatians 4:26) and the temple where God dwells (1 Peter 1:5).
However, the New Testament still implies or includes a regional theme. Cities in the Roman world would have their own god or goddess, like Aphrodite for Corinth, continuing the ancient pagan worldview. Caesar (the emperor) existed as a type of god-human, like a demigod, and since polytheism was common, people of the empire were supposed to worship him and their local god.
The missionary journeys went to specific places, planting local churches in each city. Paul identified churches by their cities—Corinth, Philippi, Ephesus—even though several house churches might be in that city. He continued to recognize the unique identity and context of each local church, an outpost that worships the true God-Man, Jesus, and expresses the transcendent Kingdom of God. While implied, Paul conquered territories with the Gospel, love, and self-sacrifice, not a human army.
This continues today. The Kingdom of God spreads around the world, not through force or new borders, but by transformed hearts and local families of God called a church. God continues to work through people and places. Local churches become visible and tangible expressions of the greater Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus promised this Gospel of the Kingdom would be preached around the world, echoing Adam and Eve’s mission, and then “the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14) Christ predicts his return for a new heaven and earth. In the book of Revelation, Scripture completes the theme of people and place in right relationship with God.
How Is God’s Original Purpose Fulfilled in Revelation?
As expressed and designed in the Garden of Eden, Revelation fulfills God’s original intent. The Lord never abandoned his plan.
First, Jesus returns and rules in the millennial kingdom from Jerusalem (Revelation 20:4-6). This thousand-year reign restores peace, righteousness, and justice to the earth, fulfilling the Old Testament promises of the Messiah ruling from Zion, another name for Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:2-4). Jesus rules from Zion over the nations, and the whole world experiences rest and peace. But this is only a taste of what’s to come.
After Satan is released for a time and then a final judgment, God brings a new heaven and earth (Revelation 21:1). Sin, death, and the curse are gone. The New Jerusalem comes down from heaven, not only a city but the Bride of Christ (God’s born-again people). “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them.” (Revelation 21:3) This echoes Eden but expands it to a much grander scale, redeeming and remaking all creation with God’s people as a city and temple where the Father and Son dwell with his people forever.
In the new creation, the old boundaries are gone. The tree of life was guarded in Eden, but now it’s available for any to come to the city and partake, freely, “for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2). Here, God’s design is fully realized. Individuals from every tribe and language live in perfect unity with Him and with each other and with creation. The land is filled with his glory.
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