Israel is not the most ancient, but it is by far the most memorable of all lands, as Jerusalem, its capital, is the most renowned of all cities, and its people the most interesting of all nations. Here in the promised land the pilgrim fathers of Israel wandered, lived, and died — traversing the country from its northern limit to its southern entrance. This, too, was the goodly land which Moses longed to enter, but which he was only permitted to see, its glories being exhibited to him by its Creator and Beautifier. Into the Holy Land Jehovah led His redeemed host through the dry bed of Jordan. The impetuous torrent was driven back, and stood silent at the presence of the God of Jacob (Psa. 114). What a land of cloud and sky, of darkness and light — a land of abounding evil, and yet of super-abounding grace. What miracles, moral and physical, have been witnessed in the land of Canaan. Here Samson, the Nazarite judge, displayed his strength and personal prowess against the war-like Philistines. David, too, the warrior king of Israel, performed those wonderful exploits which were not only celebrated by the maidens of Judah, but which have been rehearsed in song and story ever since, and his strange eventful life written in tablets which will never perish. Here, too, reigned Solomon, whose glory and wealth, whose wisdom and power were world-wide, and even formed the subject of converse and inquiry in far-distant courts and lands. Here were the sovereigns of Judah and Israel interred, some of whom await the blast of the trump to rise and enter a glory prepared for them by David’s Son and Lord; while others, alas! will answer to the voice of Christ at the close of the future earthly era of blessing, and will come forth to the “resurrection of damnation.” The pen of the historian and the pencil of the artist have made us familiar with the scenes where Isaiah uttered his grand and comprehensive prophecies, which fill the soul with their grandeur, and which sweep the whole range and extent of the Divine purposes as to the future. Here, too, the weeping prophet, Jeremiah, poured out his lamentations, and for three-and-twenty years ceased not to warn the Judah part of the nation of near judgment. John the Baptist also lifted up his solitary voice in this land, preparing a people for the Messiah and His kingdom. But surely all is eclipsed by the brighter light which shone upon Zion when Jehovah-Jesus entered His country and visited His people. What an undying interest attaches to those cities and towns trod by the feet of the Son of God.
“Thou land of the cross and the glory,
Whose brightness at last will shine
Afar through the earth — What a story
Of darkness and light is thine.”
Israel was anciently regarded as occupying the center of the known world, and certainly its geographical situation is somewhat remarkable. Jerusalem at least occupies a central position in midst of the inhabited world, for “thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her” (Ezek. 5:5). Israel is protected on the north by the Lebanon range of mountains, the summits of which are almost perpetually capped with snow; on the west it is washed by the waters of the Mediterranean; on the south lies Egypt and adjoining desert, the scene of the forty years’ wanderings; while on the east from the Jordan stretches out the great Arabian desert to the Euphrates, a distance of about 300 miles. It is difficult to give the exact length of the country in miles, as geographers considerably differ in defining the limits of the land from north to south, and even from west to east; but it has been computed that its extreme length is from 140 to 150 miles or thereby, having an average breadth of about 40 miles, but in some extreme points it is about double that. If the territory east of the Jordan, occupied by the two tribes and a half, be embraced, then the land of Canaan would nearly cover 20,000 square miles.
During the time of our Lord the whole country was divided into three parts, the northern one being Galilee (the intellectual), the middle province being Samaria (the defiled), while the southern portion was Judea (the religious). In the glorious reign of Solomon the country rivalled all the kingdoms of the earth for grandeur. Its population was immense (1 Kings 3:8), its social prosperity great (1 Kings 4:20), its commerce successful and extensive (1 Kings 9:26-28). The treasures and rarities of India were imported into Canaan by a regularly established merchant navy (1 Kings 10:22), and gold and silver were so abundant that the latter was “nothing accounted of” in these palmy days (1 Kings 10:21). Soon, however, the fine gold became dim, for what is the glory of man but the flower of grass which withereth and perisheth in a day. Solomon’s sins are recounted in 1 Kings 11, as also the Divine threat to rend the kingdom in twain (1 Kings 11:12-13), which was fulfilled on the accession of his son Rehoboam (1 Kings 12). Thenceforth, within the limits of the hitherto undivided kingdom, two independent monarchies were established, respectively known as the kingdom of Israel, or ten-tribed kingdom, first Tirzah, afterwards Samaria, being the capital; and second, the kingdom of Judah, or tribes of Judah and Benjamin, Jerusalem being as formerly the capital.
The former possession of Canaan was entered upon, held for a brief period, and lost on the ground of the people’s obedience (see book of Deuteronomy where the principle is fully stated), but the future entrance into Canaan and lasting possession of the country will be solely on the ground of sovereign grace and unconditional promise made to Abram and the fathers. Thus the future Israel will stretch from the Nile on the west, across the great Arabian desert till the Euphrates on the east; its northern boundary, too, will be somewhat enlarged (Gen. 15:18; Ezek. 48). This we suppose will increase the country to about three times its present size, if not more. We do not see that a future return of the Jews to their land in unbelief and by the aid of an unnamed maritime power (Isa. 18); the greatly increased size of the country as already pointed out; the regular settlement of the tribes after their national conversion, and orderly arrangement in parallel bands across the breadth of the country from west to east — from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates (Ezek. 48), and the erection of a magnificent temple, constructed according to Divine plan, and of immense size, so as to form an house of prayer for “all people,” are statements to be set aside by any system of allegory or figure. Most certainly, no past fulfilment of them can be adduced, and we are convinced, that the more carefully the prophetic Scriptures are read, and their connection with Israel seen, that their future and literal fulfilment must be admitted by all candid and reflecting minds.
The names by which Israel is spoken of are as follows: —
1. Canaan, Lev. 14:34;
2. Palestine, so named by the ancients;
3. The Holy Land, Zech. 2:12;
4. The Lord’s Land, Hos. 9:3;
5. Thy Land, O Immanuel, Isa. 8:8;
6. Land of Israel, 1 Sam. 13:19;
7. Land of the Hebrews, Gen. 40:15;
8. Land of Judah, Isa. 26:1;
9. Land of Promise, Heb. 11:9;
10. The Pleasant Land, Dan. 8:9.