Proverbs 2:21: Possession of the land

“For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it,”
-Proverbs 2:21

One of Shakespeare’s best plays is King Lear, which tells of an aging king who is going to split up his land between his three daughters. But, being a vain old dude, he wanted them to tell him how much they love him before deciding who will get what part. The first two daughters kiss up to him and flatter him, but the third basically tells him, “I’m not going to flatter you. You know how much I love you by my actions.” Lear disowns the third child, even though she is the only one who really loves him.

Thankfully, our Father in Heaven isn’t like old Lear. He is quite astute with a keen sense of justice. He wants to provide for His children. But when it comes to following Him, He is not interested in mere flattery. He wants us to have real faith in Him.

This passage is alluding to the Promised Land of Canaan. After the Jews were delivered from Egypt through Moses, they came to the Promised Land, but the people were too scared to go in and face the people already living there. Because of their lack of faith, God decreed that they would wander the desert for 40 years until the unfaithful had all died off.

After that time, possession of the land could almost be seen as a faith barometer. Whenever the people would turn away from God and go after their own pleasures and sin, God would allow another nation to come in and take over the land. When the people would turn back to God, the land would be delivered back to them.

You see, it is in faith that God’s people are to share in their inheritance. They have claim to it, but only in God, and not in themselves. Solomon is telling his son here, “Remain faithful to the Lord, and this will not be taken away.”

There are a lot of Christians out there who will ignore passages like this, because they are somehow unimportant, they will saw, under the new covenant with Christ. Is this part of an old system that has passed away? No, it’s not. See, the Old Testament is vitally important to Christians because it speaks of Jesus too (see Luke 24:27, for example).

In Christ we will inherit the Kingdom of God. It is a gift that we do not receive by good works or secret ceremony, but by faith. By His Blood He has washed away the sins of those who repent and follow Him, and we will follow into eternal life. Once redeemed by His Blood, we will remain in the Kingdom forever.

But it is only in this way that we can find life. “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?” (1 Corinthians 6:9). It works in the same way today that it worked in the Old Testament. In faith we remain. If we reject God and turn away from Him, we will fall to our enemies.

Jesus, in His death, has paved the way for us to receive this gift. It does not matter what you have done, what situation you are in, or the life you have lived. You don’t have to earn this. Only accept it by repenting and believing in Jesus. This is the way to the Promised Land.