Abraham 1.2: Children, Land Blessig

Take a trip down to Canaan I’ll meet you face to face Give you children, Offspring – progeny – descendants. Remember those sermons the Reverend Lovejoy preaches in the Simpsons – those long lists of names or genealogies that are so common in the bible.

These genealogies in the bible should be read as declarations of the continuing fulfilment of this prophecy to Abraham. Take a trip down to Canaan I’ll meet you face to face Give you children, land, The bible contains a lot of history about the Israelites coming to Canaan and settling there.
The land was divided into tribal allotments, perhaps around 1200 BCE. How that was done is disclosed in chapters 14 to 19 in the book of Joshua.
Around 600 years later, first the Assyrian and then the Babylonian Empires defeated the kingdoms of Israel (722) and later Judah (586).

In 538, after the Persian Empire defeated Babylon, they allowed the ‘captive’ Jews who had been resettled in Babylon to return to their home country. Only a relatively small number of Jews took up the offer, many electing to stay in Babylon.

The Persian Empire was defeated by Alexander the Great around 333. After his early death his generals carved up his empire (including Israel) when he died.

The Romans ‘inherited’ Israel in 63 BCE when they took over the Greek Empire.

After years of trying to accommodate the Jewish culture into their world order, they finally gave up and destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE (or AD if you prefer that terminology). They renamed Israel as Palestine, and “encouraged” the Jews to leave. There was a departure of Jews to Babylon, North Africa and finally Europe.

He lived down the road from Babylon Til Jah said He didn’t like what was going on
Said leave your idols get out of this place

Take a trip down to Canaan I’ll meet you face to face

Give you children, land, posterity You can raise a tribe between the river and the sea

God told Abraham to go to Canaan