The Most Contested Land On Earth

The land of Israel: Who had it first?

I got into it on some inflammatory Facebook posts the other day (despite knowing most people never change their mind because of a comment) but I wanted to be a voice amongst the conspiracy theories, sweeping generalizations, and blatant anti-semitism.

Coincidentally (or not), I’m reading the book of Genesis in my personal study, and I find that the things that pop up in my day to day life then have significant correlation in the scripture I’m reading that day.

I thought I would unpack the earliest history of the land in a way that anyone can understand. Since the middle east conflict is in the news and all over social media… it isn’t going to go away. You can agree or disagree with me, but here’s the “I could explain it to my 7 year old” version as told by Genesis.

One of the biggest arguments about the war over the land comes down to this question “Who had the land first?”.

I’m going to go with the answer no one will like: God. YHWH. He had the land first.

He is the creator of the Earth and owns everything in it. It is His to give out and give away.

We’re going to start with Noah. Since the Earth was essentially wiped out and things started over again with Noah.

Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

• Shem was the line of blessing (through which Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus would come from - region Middle East & Mesopotamia)

• Japheth was the line of expansion (loosely linked to Europe & Asian people groups)

• Ham was the cursed line through Canaan (Africa and Middle East region)

Why was Ham cursed? You can read the story & the interpretations in Genesis 9:20–27. Interpretations go from he dishonored his father to he committed a sexual act against his father. There’s debate.

So all people spread out through these three sons.

By the time we get to Abraham, you can see that both Shem & Ham’s descendants are in the Middle Eastern region.

So we move onto Genesis 12 where God calls Abraham to a land “He will show him”.

“Now the Lord said to Abram,
‘Go from your country
and your kindred
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.
And I will make of you a great nation,
and I will bless you
and make your name great,
so that you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and him who dishonors you I will curse,
and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’”

Genesis 12: 1-3

Bottom line? Abraham was NOT in the promised land of Israel. He was being called there by God, the creator of the land.

So who was there?

Well…. the Canaanites, Jebusites, and other tribes. There was no formal country. It was tribal and nomadic at that point. There was a lot of wilderness as well.

Abraham starts a journey towards the land we call Israel today. He sets up altars and offerings, takes a detour into Egypt during famine, and then eventually settles in Hebron. This is where Isaac is born.

Where is Hebron today? It’s about 19 miles south of Jerusalem in the West Bank.

This is where the Lord and two angels visited him to announce he would have a son Isaac (he already had his son Ishmael through a servant Hagar).

Then Abraham continues moving around (it’s still pretty nomadic). The next big moment is when Abraham makes a treaty with Abimelech.

What’s interesting here is that Abimelech (who does not worship YHWH) recognizes Abraham’s authority, and they make a pact.

“God is with you in all that you do.” (Genesis 21:22) - Abimelech

Abraham now has a recognized land-and-water claim in Canaan… not by violence, but by diplomatic recognition.

So let’s recap:

• God owns the land

• God called Abraham to a land

• The land was inhabited by tribes Canaanites and also had lots of unclaimed land

• Abimelech recognizes the divine favor on Abraham and gives Abraham a part of the land (he was overseeing) in a non violent act.

This moment confirms Abraham's spiritual and political authority in the land of promise, and it all happens without a single sword drawn.

The next big move? The Mount of Moriah.

This is where God calls Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. This mount is Jerusalem…specifically the Temple Mount, where the first & second temples were built.

It was a three day ish journey from Beersheba to Mount of Moriah.

Who owned this land? According to scripture, it appears to be wilderness.

• There’s no mention of towns, kings, or inhabitants. The tone suggests it was undeveloped hill country.

• Abraham builds an altar freely, without asking permission or negotiating… something he doesn't do when land is already settled (it Genesis 23).

In Genesis 23, it happens again. This time to find a burial place for Sarah. And when the tribes of the land offer him land for free, he insists on paying full price for it.

Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.

So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city.

Genesis 23:16-18

Obviously the land that we call Israel would go through MANY more hands and wars and conflicts. But what’s interesting here is that Ishmael (considered the father of Islam and Abraham’s first born son through his maidservant Hagar), is nowhere in this story.

In fact, Ishmael is said to have settled in the wilderness earlier in Genesis.

“God was with the boy (Ishmael), and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.” Genesis 21: 20-21

Paran is generally believed to be in the northern Sinai Peninsula or northwestern Arabia…. east or southeast of Canaan. Jordan or Saudi Arabia most likely.

Ishmael is a descendant of the line of Shem (through Noah and Abraham) but was not a settler AT ALL in the land of Israel that we know today.

The land was God’s, settled loosely by tribes through the line of Ham (the Canaanites). Abraham’s first piece of land was acquired peacefully because a pagan tribal leader recognized the divine favor on Abraham.

And Abraham showed ultimate trust and obedience in God by giving up his son on the Mount of Moriah, a piece of wilderness that is where Jerusalem is today.

Most arguments about who owns the land don’t go this far back. But if you want to know who had the land first? It was God.

God and then some nomadic tribes of Canaanites, one of whom recognized Abraham’s authority and gave him a piece of land. And then Abraham also went to parts of the land that were wilderness.

It wasn’t Ishmael.

It wasn’t Muslims.

This isn’t my opinion. It’s scripture.

If you’d like to take down this argument, you will have to take down the authority of the Torah and Old Testament, which you are free to do. But that’s a different argument for a different day.

If this challenges your assumptions or makes you curious, I invite you to start at Genesis 12. The story is there, plain as day. I don’t need you to agree…. I just need you to look.

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