Land in the Torah as a Source of Christian Religious Education

The purpose of this article is to carry out a theological analysis of "land" as one of the important theological themes in the Old Testament. The approach used in this article is the deductive paradigm. Based on the results of the analysis of the theme of land theology in the Old Testament, the theological theme of the "land" refers to the land that belongs to God which was inherited ( mahala ) by Israel. The land became one of the prominent features of the series of stories and life in the Old Testament. Israel's responsibility on YHWH's land is to establish the Torah as a source of religious education. The paper recommends that any Christian that God places anywhere and in any field of work should strive to strengthen Christian teaching that is rooted in the Word of God as a source of teaching authority. It recommends that an understanding of "land" in the Old Testament should become the theological starting point in building the paradigm of Christian Religious Education.


INTRODUCTION
Research on the land of Israel has been carried out by Aviv Cohen. 1 Cohen conducted a study of the land as a starting point to build the argument that the teaching of geography is connected with nationalism and Citizenship Education as an exploration of history.Roy Charly H. P. Sipahutar also conducts studies on land.Sipahutar's study of land is from "an eco-theological perspective". 2All of these studies are on the same theme, land.While Cohen studies land from the Citizenship Education perspective, Sipahutar's is from an eco-theological viewpoint.The paper is looks at land from the perspective of Christian Religious Education.The paper focuses on the group of Israelites with Moses as their leader who entered the land and built in the land YHWH.It proposes that biblical theology for Christian religious education studies must focus on land in the Old Testament.
The Old Testament describes 'land' as "Eretz and adamah."The first term, more often mentioned is also more comprehensive.Land (eretz) can refer to the whole earth (Gen.11: 1).The term land also refers to "land in general (Ex.8:12; Deut.11:25) and specifically land as territory (2 Sam.24:8) and as an area with political boundaries (Deut.1:5)."3Instead, the word adamah, is connected to the root word (dm). 4The root dm refers to or reflects where humans came from (Gen.2:7; 3:19; Ps. 90:3; 104:29), and" land as eretz and adamah is a social entity." 5and in the Pentateuch perspective is an "important theme and even described as a central theme of biblical faith". 6This explanation has been discussed by Norman C. Habel in "The Land is Mine." 7Land is also an essential subject in Historical Books."The land was seen as an integration of theological motives (cf.Boda and McConville 8 )," 9 because "under Joshua's leadership, the land would be conquered and inhabited as in the book of Joshua." 10 Eretz refers to the earth, in general, or to the land, specifically, to the theme of land area in the Bible.When the word eretz is used, it carries or gives the image of God's sovereignty over the entire earth because of his ownership rights.This is the idea of God "walking" on earth, how He promises to "walk" with His people on the ground (ha eretz) if they are obedient and in God living with humans permanently on the new earth (Canaan).
The Hebrew word for land, "eretz, is the fourth noun in the Old Testament." 11This word refers to the common word "earth, cosmology, and land, territorial.However, when combined with ha eretz it will specifically refer to the land of Canaan." 12 Israel's liberation from Egypt was seen as an act of God's redemption and presented a "special" people placed in a specific place.This place is often referred to as "land" in the Hebrew Bible.As discussed above, the term "land" has become one of the central themes of theology and the main ethics of the Israeli religion.The land became the "binder and sign" of God's relationship with Israel.The land is a means of developing a relationship between God and His people.What about the expression "the land of Israel?" The expression "the land of Israel" is rarely used in the Hebrew Scriptures (1 Sam.13:9; Ezr.40:2; 47:18; 1 Chron.22: 2; 2 Chron.2:17). 13Instead, the Hebrew Bible generally refers to that land as "the land of Canaan" or the land of Canaanites and Amorites.This expression is still used long after Israel settled in the country to remind Israel that Israel does not wholly own the land; Israel only "leases" land from YHWH, because God chose to give it to Israel, and Israel, has "land rights" 14 with strict terms of the treaty.
The strictness of the treaty can be seen in YHWH's request to Joshua."Giving (ntn, giving) land is a central theme in the book of Joshua (cf.George 15 )." 16 The first fulfilment of the promise of land is recorded in Joshua 1.The passage shows the notion of fulfilment: God gave Israel land as an inheritance, but "Israel still needs to go conquer and receive land." 17 In Joshua 1:12, Israel will change their land ownership from a promise to complete ownership.The chronology of Joshua 1-5 indicates that "Israel crossed the Jordan ... This chronology in Braber Wesselius's conclusion in his review of the Jordan crossing is of great significance, and the time indication in Joshua 1-8's chronology is very serious." 18epresentatively, "Joshua became a model (character) in obedience (post-Moses).""Joshua must obey the law as it was told to Moses (7-8)." 19This aspect of obedience to the law must be carried on to generations in the land given by God.This means the law (Tora) must be enforced on God's land.

METHODOLOGY
The method used in this research is a literature study containing relevant theories.The writer will first explain the land theology in the Old Testament studies and finally build the concept of Land Theology to Strengthen the Torah as a Source of Christian Religious Education.

LAND IN THE TORAH
According to Dyrness,20 the Old Testament story of election and covenant begins with God's promises to the forefather, Abraham.The central element of the promises, as stated and repeated in the stories of the patriarchs, was that God would give land to Abraham and his descendants.
Norman C. Habel explains the six biblical earth ideologies.Of the six themes, three themes can be seen as an essential part of this article."Land is given as conditional land.This is a theocratic ideology and the land belongs to God."21These conditions refer to the law enforcement on all land given.The law must be responded to by "fear and trembling" relating to the Shema and loving God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind (Deut.6:4,5).The land is God's territory, and God's law covers the land.This means the ideology Habel refers to as (Deuteronomy) promotes a theocracy God (overcomes) gave to Israel.The law became a symbol of God's authority over the land and there were no other gods on the land.
This land (will be) "owned by many families; personally, God bequeathed (nahalah) the land."22God gave the land to Israel as a promotion to the ancestors of Israel.This certainly refers to God's promise to Israel's ancestors and the promotion of YHWH as a mighty and powerful God in heaven and on earth (overland).
The land revealed "prophetic ideology and God as inheritor of the land."23YHWH, Israel, and land are a series that describes the close relationship that exists, and (all three) are in a covenant in which Israel and the land are bound to God.Therefore, there is no tolerance for other gods in that union (three parties).Deviations (on the part of Israel) would undermine the unity of the relationship.The ideology is theocratic ideology.Deviations are also pollutant actions on land (pollutant actions are not in an ecological context but prophetic).The land must become idolatry-free land.
From the "Etan Levine" perspective, geographically, the land of Israel is the Center of Biblical literature. 24This is to the unique relationship between God and the chosen people.All subsequent generations will inherit the land as a legacy.This is an indispensable important part of the covenant between God and the nation of Israel.
For Preuss, the description of the land, which consciously reaches beyond its empirical character, seeks to underline the beauty and size of the territory given by YHWH to His people.The promised land is easily marked as "land flowing with milk and honey." 25 Preuss also provides a topographic analysis of the land flowing with milk and honey: "This land is not depicted as the land of the gods or painted with the colours of heaven but is depicted as habitable land, even more, likely as a nomadic land.Milk and honey are likely to be food from the point of view of farmers who use the land."Observing Levine's analysis, Levine is closer to Roland de Vaux, 26 in that, unlike Israel, their ancestors were not like Bedouins who were camel breeders.The ancestors of Israel raised goats and sheep.When we encounter them in history, the ancestors of Israel came as a settled people.This is one factor we can take to limit comparisons when comparing the wandering of the Bedouins and the ancestors of Israel.
The land to be inhabited is "the land that was promised to the ancestors of Israel and will be realised through the group of Moses in the narrative of the group of Moses." 27John van Seters sees the land in the theological theme as pure land God gave."The land that YHWH, your Lord has given you, is equal, and often uses the law or introduces the law as a legal motivation, ethical or religious attitude." The function of law is to regulate and protect life and blessings on the land given by YHWH."Land is immovable property of God whereas Israel is the moveable (divine) property of God." 28 The three of them are bound by a treaty relationship.
Seters added, "There is a connection or connectivity between land and law.Israel as God's people entered and inhabited God's land." 29On that land, the law of God (Torah) became the absolute regulation as conveyed to Moses.It passed on to Joshua to govern Israel's social, religious, political, economic and educational life.Social, religious, political, economic and educational regulations are based on the law (Torah).Land connectivity and law cannot be seen literally (land and law) but rather in Israel's relationship with God on that land.Israel's socio-political situation is a marker of Israel's relationship with God, whether near-far, harmonious-not harmonious.In that situation, whether the law is enforced or not will be known.
"Preuss" 30 sees the land as one of the prominent features of the series of stories and life in the Old Testament.Israel's departure from Egypt had the goal of entering the promised land (Ex.3:71).In presenting the promise of land as conquest, the traditions of the ancestors and the group of Moses are united in a Deuteronomistic summary which is then given a Deuteronomistic interpretation in which all of Israel (Josh.1:2; 3:1,7) is united in different groups.In addition, the gift of land is another purpose of the Deuteronomistic creed in Deuteronomy 26:5-9.YHWH gave the land as a gift from His promise to maintain the country's character as a legacy.In the Psalms, the word land is nahala from Israel (Ps.37:18; 47:5; 105:11; 135:12).Only Psalm 79:1 calls it your land.Psalm 79:1 puts YHWH as the owner of nahala."Israel, as God's chosen people, received the land as a gift and lived on God's land." 31egally, Israel's life on the land took place under YHWH's regulations as the land owner."YHWH was identified as the owner and ruler of the land and Israel lived under the torah as stated in Deuteronomy.The law will apply throughout Canaan, and Israel must agree." 32Habel conveyed a theocratic ideology of land, the position of Israel, and the theocratic regulations that apply to inherited land.
Theocratic ideology frames YHWH's claim of ownership of land and people (Israel), and also frames the divine relationship between God and Israel.This is a claim from above (religious claim).In line with the claims from above, Israel has the right to claim the land as land owned by Israel (claim from below) for generations.Israel is the holder of rights in land.
For Barth, "The land of Canaan occupied by Israel was a gift from God." 33 The land God gave was a consequence and necessity on the part of God as the fulfilment of God's promise to Abraham.This promise applies to Abraham and his descendants (Gen.17:8,18).The guarantee to give land was also given to Isaac (Gen.26:3) and Jacob and his descendants (Gen.28:13).
The involvement of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as heirs of the promised land implies that the promise of giving the land was not fulfilled shortly while they were alive just as God's promise to make Abraham a great nation did not occur in a generation (Gen 12:2; 17:2).Even though the promise was certain, during Abraham's lifetime the land could not yet be claimed as his own.The Bible describes Abraham as a "stranger and foreigner" (Gen.23:4; 35:27).Jacob also described himself as a stranger before Pharaoh like Abraham and Isaac, wandering as astranger (Gen.47:9).The Odyssey confronts the ancestors of Israel (Abraham) living in the tension between the promise and its fulfilment.The fulfilment of a promise is always expected to be the end of the tension.
In Preuss's perspective, 34 this promised land is not just a space but a place.A space can be understood as something open and neutral, but this is not the case with a place that can be understood as a space with a special history and meaning, where important events occur, important words are spoken, and where oaths and promises are made so that the land occupied by Israel is not just space, but a place that provides an identity relationship with YHWH.Israel and land are two social entities in the Old Testament."The history of the Israelites in the Old Testament may be said to Center on the promised land (Canaan), which would later be called "the land of Israel" (Eretz yisrael) or "holy land." 35Land is a sign of relationship and treaty and "through the composition of Joshua 13-19, the level of holiness of the land is achieved.The place of worship in Shiloh is of concern because God is present at Shiloh." 36 Barth asserts that theologically speaking, the Israelites believed that God ruled over the whole world, so according to that belief that the very small land of Canaan was also one of His domains. 37his is the basis for the overall activity of the Israelites in the land of Canaan.Land was given to meet the daily needs of Israelite families.Joshua carried out the division of land by casting lots (Josh.14:1-2; 18:1-10)."Verse 14:1,2 is the beginning of the division of land.""Through Joshua, the land was shared (Deut.19:14).Thus, the boundaries of the family land are fixed and not removed (Deut 19:14).Whoever shifts the boundaries of someone else's land will be cursed (Deut 27:17).Every eviction in the Old Testament, even if it was done by a ruler and was legitimate was still against God's law (Hos.5:10)." 38he land is given so that people will have a permanent relationship with God.Wright said, "Land is proof of this special relationship.The Lord called the Israelites my firstborn (Exodus 4:22; compare with Deut.32:5-6, 18-19 and figuratively in Deut.8:5)." 39Israel knows that they are God's people (community of Jewish) because they have received the inheritance.This gift proves the relationship between God's covenant with Abraham and Sinai's covenant with the whole nation (group of Moses).
The final form of Deuteronomy, "The giving of land is a framework that threatens the exile from there, after which the possibility to return (4:25-31; 29:21-30:10)." 47Mayes differs from Nelson in thought as he links the land and the law."A treaty binds both." 48The covenant came after the Israelites left Egypt, where this "was a deliverance from God." 49 According to Mayes, the relationship established by the treaty (covenant) "was regulated by the law established by the contract." 50The law "was not addressed to the court, but rather to the teaching." 51Jean Louis Ska posists that "the Torah is to be didactic as well as liturgical and judicial (the court)." 52Torah is embodied in advice and encouragement that persuades the targeted people.The legal motives in which casuistic and apodictic were contained in the clauses of the Book of Promises (17 per cent) and Deuteronomy (60 per cent).The types of clauses were: ethics (Deut.24:6), cult theology (Deut.17:1); Israel's salvation history (Deut.15:15). 53Everything was integrated with the purpose of persuasion in the context of teaching rather than in the context of lawsuits.
The land is the Center of Deuteronomy theology and it springs from traditions and for special purposes."This context was in the Israeli occupation of the land.This was likely in the early postoccupation period.Through this tradition, Israel was judged for losing ownership of the promised land." 54ayes was of the view that "The book of Deuteronomy has emphasized promise and pressed it as the centre of theology." 55The land is a "focus of promise, as a place of reward for obedience or a place where the law is obeyed, as well as an expression of Israel's status as YHWH's chosen people.Life for Deuteronomy is living in a land that is in a covenant with YHWH." 56 The basis of Israel's obedience refers to the Torah on God's land, and on that basis, they were taught (didactic) and put on trial (judicial).
The regulations that will take place on the land belonging to God refer to "torah" 57 as law."The TORAH occupies the primary place of authority, significance, and influence in the mediation of Yahweh's purpose, presence, and power to Israel." 58In this regulation, the Torah functions as a mediator, director and instruction on how Israel should live.This is an "epistemological" 59 reference for Israel's teaching."Torah is the authoritative rendering of this relationship between YHWH and Israel." 60The Torah is not only a mediator, instruction and reference, but the Torah is a medium and YHWH's approach demonstrates His power.As a medium of demonstration, the Torah was presented to Musa as the subject of the first receiver but as the interpreter and first giver.After Moses, there were "the Levites, Joshua, Samuel, Josiah, and the prophets" 61 as the subject of the Torah mediators."The Torah is concerned with transmitting the one will of one God creator" 62 and giving it to Israel as a guide.Israel must respond to the Torah as God's will.The response includes "response in words and response in action."The response in words, Claus Westermann refers to "lament and praise ... In Lament and praise people speak to God," while the response in action is "in action includes the execution of what is commanded for daily life as well as the specific act directed towards God in the sanctuary, particularly the sacrifice. 63"The response in words and action are two sides of Israel's response to God through the Torah as a mediator.
Mark O'Brien, through his article "Deuteronomy 16:18-18:22: Meeting the Challenge of Towns and Nation," 64 O'Brien conducted a critical analysis with a synchronous approach to suggest that this section aims to maintain Israel's firm commitment to the Torah.The Torah is YHWH's special characteristic and status separated from others.Israel must not withdraw YHWH on YHWH's land."Israel must pay close attention to the Torah." 65The order to enforce the law (torah) does not only relate to Israel receiving a land inheritance.Both land and law "were given as a consequence of a relationship with God." 66 The most important of them is the relationship between God and Israel: "The direct relationship between Israel's obedience to the divine law which must be carried out as a 'rule of life' in the promised land." 67There is no other choice but the law (torah) in regulating the life of Israel and God as the legal regulator.
The order is a continuity of "Israel's election and responsibility" 68 as a "Jewish community.The Jewish community is an Israeli-Exodus community as an Exodus community." 69The Exodus community is a community with a Jewish faith.Israel is called "the people and community of Jewish," so "all of Israel's law is connected with YHWH, Moses and Sinai".Even the law to be carried out "is not only related to human norms but to show the will of God and God is behind this jurisprudence." 70srael is entitled to the inheritance of the land, while Israel is prosecuted and is responsible for enforcing the law (Tora).Removing other gods from YHWH's presence is imperative in line with the commandments in the Decalogue.The Decalogue is "God's will for Israel" 71 in the land of inheritance while affirming the "monotheistic formula."72 Through Israeli law initiated by YHWH, we can see (its) moral dynamics expected by YHWH.By the statement, "Be holy because I am holy" it is important to look at the moral dynamics of Israeli law.The law has the features of "holiness are truth, justice."73 Observing Birch's explanation of The Moral Authority of Israelite Law, "Law becomes the identity of the community, the law becomes a moral identity, and law is a divine will" 74 because "law as Torah."75 This law (torah) becomes Israel's identity.Therefore, it is unethical if Israel as YHWH withdraws from Him and worships other gods, or escapes from the Torah (Josh.1:8; Ezr.7:10). La (torah) is also a source of Israel's moral epistemology teaching. Inther words, Israeli morality is based on the teaching of the law (torah).
The response in action is the internalisation of the Torah in daily life.The response in words must be in line with the response in action as proof that there is no gap between "words (recognition) and action."Both of these had to be demonstrated by Israel when they were on God's land.The Torah must be enforced or responded to in words and actions.The absence of these two things indicates Israel's negligence in establishing the Torah on God's land.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the explanation, we recommend that understanding the land in the Old Testament should become the theological starting point in building the paradigm of Christian Religious Education.