Scripture presents land in a spiritual perspective. The whole earth, once perfect but now contaminated by the fall, will one day be renewed. There will be a new heaven and earth where life is abundant and God's presence is experienced for ever.
Eden: the original good land
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Paradise lost: expulsion from the garden
Genesis 3:17–19 See also Romans 8:19–20
And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground — because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
The promised land: an echo of Eden
Deuteronomy 8:7–10 See also Exodus 3:8, Exodus 3:17, Exodus 13:5; Leviticus 20:24; Numbers 13:27; Deuteronomy 6:3, Deuteronomy 11:8–12, Deuteronomy 26:9, Deuteronomy 27:3
For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks and fountains and springs that flow through the valleys and hills; a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food without scarcity, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and whose hills are ready to be mined for copper. When you eat and are satisfied, you are to bless the LORD your God for the good land that He has given you.
The land of Israel after the exile
Promise of a return to the land
Amos 9:14–15 See also Isaiah 14:1, Isaiah 35:1–10; Ezekiel 20:41–42, Ezekiel 34:11–13; Amos 9:11–12; Acts 15:16–17
I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will firmly plant them in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that I have given them,” says the LORD your God.
Promise of a restored environment
Isaiah 51:3 See also Zechariah 8:12–13
For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.
The final restoration of the land
Isaiah 65:17 See also Isaiah 66:22; Romans 8:21
For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
Jesus Christ will reign eternally over new heavens and a new earth
Zechariah 9:9–10 See also Matthew 21:5; John 12:15; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1–4, Revelation 22:1–5
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be broken. Then He will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
Vision of life on the new earth
Isaiah 11:6–9 See also Hosea 2:18–23; Micah 4:2–4
The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat; the calf and young lion and fatling will be together, and a little child will lead them. The cow will graze with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play by the cobra’s den, and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the sea is full of water.
The new Eden: the Christian's inheritance
Hebrews 11:13–16 See also Psalm 37:11; Matthew 5:5; Romans 8:17; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 2:7, Revelation 21:7LUK Revelation 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:1–4
All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. Now those who say such things show that they are seeking a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.