Introduction
God’s promises to His people were always more than material blessings—they were an expression of His faithfulness, care, and plan of redemption. The promised land played a special role: it symbolized freedom, identity, and the presence of God. Yet possessing the land was not an automatic right; it was tied to the covenant with God. Israel had to learn that grace is a gift received through trust and obedience. Despite failure and exile, God’s promise remained—with a view toward final restoration. In Christ we recognize that our true inheritance goes far beyond earthly borders: it is the new earth where God will dwell with His people forever.
LESSONS OF FAITH FROM JOSHUA
Lesson 9 : Heirs of the Promise, Prisoners of Hope
9.1 Eden and Canaan
Two Gardens of Promise
Introduction
This week we turn our attention to the grand biblical storyline that leads from the Garden of Eden to the promised land of Canaan—a theme full of hope, longing, and divine assurances. Through the Fall, humanity lost its original home, but God promised that this loss would not have the final word. The promise of a new, better land runs like a red thread through the history of Israel—and through our own story. As heirs of this promise, we too live between the “already” and the “not yet,” between captivity and hope.
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Bible Study
1. The Garden of Eden – The original dwelling place God created for humanity
Genesis 2:15:
“Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”
The text shows that the garden was not merely a beautiful place but a divinely ordered living space in which humans were given an active role: to work (“abad” = serve, cultivate) and to keep (“shamar” = guard, protect). Eden was:
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A place of encounter with God (Gen. 3:8),
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A learning center where humanity was to understand God’s wisdom and order,
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A symbol of belonging and responsibility.
Genesis 3:17–24:
After the Fall, Eden is left behind. God pronounces the curse upon the ground (not upon the human itself). People must now work by the sweat of their brow. The expulsion reveals:
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Humanity loses access to the tree of life (cf. Rev. 22:2—restored in the New Jerusalem).
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Paradise is not destroyed, but closed (cherubim with a flaming sword).
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The loss of the land is a result of separation from God, not merely a geographical shift.
Eden is the prototype of the later “promised land”—a space of divine presence.
2. The Promise to the Patriarchs – Canaan as a new Eden?
Genesis 13:14–15 (Abraham):
“Lift up your eyes… for all the land that you see I will give to you and your descendants forever.”
Genesis 26:3,24 (Isaac):
“I will be with you and will bless you… for to you and your descendants I will give all these lands.”
Genesis 28:13 (Jacob):
“The land on which you lie, I will give to you and your descendants.”
The promise spans three generations: Abraham → Isaac → Jacob. None of them truly possessed the land. They lived in tents, as strangers (Hebrews 11:9). Yet:
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They lived in trust that God would fulfill His word.
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The land was a sign of the covenant between God and His people.
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Possession was not earned, but a gift of grace (Deut. 9:4–6).
Canaan, like Eden, is a gift—but one to be received through faith and preserved through obedience.
3. The New Testament: The better inheritance – The heavenly Canaan
Hebrews 6:11–15 Hebrews 8:6
The author of Hebrews points back to the patriarchs and notes:
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We too do not yet live in fulfillment but in faith toward what is coming.
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Jesus is the Mediator of the new covenant, offering a better inheritance: not earthly but heavenly (Heb. 11:16).
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Promises are not automatically inherited, but through faith and patience.
The “promised place” today is not geographical but spiritual: the new creation, the heavenly Jerusalem, eternal fellowship with God.
Spiritual Overview
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Eden → Humanity loses the holy space through sin.
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Canaan → God promises a new space—a place of blessing, accessible only by faith.
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Heavenly Canaan → In Christ, God’s original plan is completed. The relationship broken in Eden is fully restored.
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Answers to the Questions
Question 1: Read Genesis 2:15 and 3:17–24. What were the consequences of the Fall for the living space of the first human pair?
The Fall was not merely a moral misstep but a radical rupture in the relationship between God and humanity. This rupture immediately showed itself in the loss of Eden.
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Eden was more than a garden; it was a divine space where God walked with humanity.
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Through disobedience, humans lost not only a place but a way of life in perfect harmony with God:
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Work became laborious,
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Relationship between man and woman was harmed,
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The tree of life was closed off.
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The expulsion symbolized spiritual death—living outside God’s holy space.
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Scripture ends (Revelation 22) with the complete restoration of Eden: no curse, God’s presence, access to the tree of life.
Application: Eden teaches that our greatest problem is spiritual separation—and God has always worked toward restoring us.
Question 2: How did the patriarchs perceive the promise of the land?
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob understood the promise not as immediate possession but as God’s assured word. They lived in the promised land but not as owners, instead as strangers and pilgrims.
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Abraham saw the land from afar—its “eternal” aspect pointing beyond geography.
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Isaac received the same promise during a famine—demonstrating God’s faithfulness.
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Jacob, homeless and fleeing, received the promise on the bare ground—proof that God’s promises do not depend on human strength.
Theologically:
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The patriarchs understood the land as covenant sign.
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They sensed that the true inheritance must be greater than physical land.
Application: God’s promises often do not fulfill immediately, but they are sure.
Question 3: What does it mean for us as Adventists to live as heirs of the promise?
For Adventists—believers in Christ’s return—it means living between the already and the not yet.
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Hebrews 6:11–15 calls us to zealous faithfulness and endurance.
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Hebrews 8:6 teaches that Jesus mediates a better covenant with better promises—a heavenly inheritance.
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As Adventists we live in eschatological hope: the new earth, the New Jerusalem.
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Like the patriarchs, we have not yet seen the “land”—but we believe.
We cannot earn the inheritance; it is grace.
Application: Being heirs means living responsibly as citizens of a future kingdom.
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Spiritual Principles
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God’s promises are certain, even if they are not immediate.
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Humanity owns nothing by itself—everything is God’s gift.
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Loss is not the end but may be the beginning of divine restoration.
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Patient faith is the path to inheriting God’s promises.
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Practical Application
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Trust despite uncertainty
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Live as strangers and pilgrims
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Practice patience and perseverance
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Spread hope about God’s kingdom
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Conclusion
Between Eden and Canaan lies the story of humanity—a story of loss, but also of divine restoration. The promise of the land is more than geography; it represents the restoration of relationship between God and humanity. As heirs of the promise we do not live looking backward, but forward—as prisoners of hope.
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Thought of the Day
“He who mourns what is lost, yet believes the promise, does not live in the past but in the expectation of heaven.”
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Illustration
“Between the Andes and Heaven”
When Faith Takes Root – a Modern Parable
Chapter 1: The Ground Nobody Wanted
It was an early morning in the Bolivian Andes. The sun pushed timidly through wisps of fog that wrapped around the small village of San Pedro de Cien Aguas.
In a simple clay hut sat Matías Rivera, a man in his forties, his face weather-worn and his eyes empty.
He had lost everything.
The drought had burned his fields.
The market had collapsed.
His wife had left after the last loan could no longer be paid.
And now he stood there—without land, without family, without a plan.
Only his elderly mother, Carmen, remained.
Carmen—almost blind, yet with a faith as unshakable as the Andes themselves—said:
“Matías, maybe God is not trying to punish you—maybe He is calling you anew.”
Matías gave no reply.
He no longer believed in promises.
Especially not in those that came from the Bible.
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Chapter 2: A Garden Full of Thorns
On the outskirts of the village lay an abandoned plot of land.
A wind-beaten patch of soil—too rocky for farming, too remote for trade.
The villagers called it “El Campo Muerto”—the Dead Field.
But Carmen insisted:
“Go there. Start small. Perhaps it is not a dead field, but the land God wants to show you.”
Reluctantly, Matías climbed up to the place.
It was indeed hopeless.
But something—perhaps his mother’s voice, perhaps a faint thought of Eden—made him start digging.
He began clearing thorns.
Week after week.
Under the blazing midday sun.
Alone.
And he planted—not much, just potatoes and a few beans.
The soil was hard, but not infertile.
After three months, the first green sprouts appeared.
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Chapter 3: The Old Promise
One day, when Matías returned from the village, he found Carmen sitting on a bench outside the hut, reading with a trembling voice from her worn-out Bible:
“Lift up your eyes, Matías, and see the land before you.
God did not promise Abraham possessions only—but hope.”
“Mamá,” Matías whispered, “we are not patriarchs. We are poor.”
“And that is exactly why,” she said, “perhaps more belongs to you than you think.
Abraham had nothing either—except faith.”
Matías could not hold back—he began to weep.
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Chapter 4: The Arrival of Strangers
A few weeks later, an unfamiliar group arrived in San Pedro.
They were volunteers from an Adventist relief organization.
They were searching for land on which to build a small school for indigenous children.
But no one wanted to give up anything.
Except Matías.
“You can have the dead field,” he said.
“It brought me back to life.”
Surprised by his generosity, they helped him rebuild the land.
They dug wells together, built a small clay school, and planted trees.
The dead field became a garden.
Children laughed.
Thorns gave way to playgrounds.
And Matías found not only his faith again—but a purpose.
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Chapter 5: The Land That God Gives
A year later, Matías stood in the same place as at the beginning—but everything had changed.
The school was full.
The fields bore fruit.
And a new promise grew in his heart.
He did not have a title to the land.
Officially, it was not his.
And yet it was—through grace, through faith, through hope.
He understood:
Just as Israel did not receive Canaan because of merit, he had earned nothing—and yet had received everything.
And Carmen, now weaker, said with a gentle smile:
“You are an heir of the promise, my son.”
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Chapter 6: The Tree of Life
In the center of the garden, right next to the school, Matías planted a small quince tree.
He named it “Árbol de la Esperanza”—The Tree of Hope.
Every day he told the children a story under its branches.
And when the children asked:
“Why does it grow so beautifully?”
Matías answered:
“Because hope roots deeply. Even in dry soil.”
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Epilogue
“All these died in faith, not having received the promise,
but having seen it afar off, and greeted it.”
(Hebrews 11:13)
Matías still lives in San Pedro.
The tree blossoms every year.
And the promise—it is not yet fulfilled.
But it lives.
In every child.
In every prayer.
In every piece of bread that grows from the earth.
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Closing Thought
The true heirs of the promise are not the ones who possess land—
but those who, despite loss, hold fast to God’s word.
Like Matías—between the Andes and heaven.
