Bound for the Promised Land (Volume 34)

New Studies in Biblical Theology #34

by D.A. Carson, Oren Martin

Just as the Old Testament book of Genesis begins with creation, where humans live in the presence of their Lord, so the New Testament book of Revelation ends with an even more glorious new creation where all of the redeemed dwell with the Lord and his Christ. The historical development between the beginning and the end is crucial, for the journey from Eden to the new Jerusalem proceeds through the land promised to Abraham. The Promised Land is the place where God's people will once again live under his lordship and experience his blessed presence. In this stimulating study from the New Studies in Biblical Theology series, Oren Martin demonstrates how, within the redemptive-historical framework of God's unfolding plan, the land promise advances the place of the kingdom that was lost in Eden. This promise also serves as a type throughout Israel's history that anticipates the even greater land, prepared for all of God's people, that will result from the person and work of Christ and that will be enjoyed in the new creation for eternity. Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, Old Testament, Reference, New Testament, Academic, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 13, 2015

About the author

Donald A. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He has been at Trinity since 1978. Carson came to Trinity from the faculty of Northwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he also served for two years as academic dean. He has served as assistant pastor and pastor and has done itinerant ministry in Canada and the United Kingdom. Carson received the Bachelor of Science in chemistry from McGill University, the Master of Divinity from Central Baptist Seminary in Toronto, and the Doctor of Philosophy in New Testament from the University of Cambridge. Carson is an active guest lecturer in academic and church settings around the world. He has written or edited about sixty books. He is a founding member and currently president of The Gospel Coalition. Carson and his wife, Joy, reside in Libertyville, Illinois. They have two adult children.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oren Martin’s Bound for the Promised Land masterfully explores the theology of the land, a vital yet often overlooked biblical theme. He traces the land promise from Eden to the new creation, revealing its role in the Bible’s redemptive narrative. He convincingly shows that the Promised Land transcends a mere geographical inheritance, serving as a theological symbol pointing to Christ’s consummated reign in the new creation.

The NT does not spiritualize the land promise; it anchors it in the coming physical new creation in Christ and the resurrection.

A key strength of the book is its correction of the widespread misconception that the modern state of Israel is the heir of the land promise. Martin redirects attention to Jesus Christ, who fulfills all God’s promises and secures an eternal inheritance for his people. He presents Israel’s land as a type, foreshadowing the greater reality of the Messiah’s kingdom, which will be fully revealed in the new heavens and new earth.

This book is a must-read for those seeking to understand how the land motif weaves into the Bible’s central storyline. It deepens our understanding of God’s kingdom purposes and underscores the ultimate aim of redemptive history: dwelling with God in his place under his rule forever.

[Shane Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

2020 reads: 41/52

Rating: 4 stars

Oren Martin's thesis is this: "the land promised to Abraham advances the place of the kingdom that was lost in Eden and serves as a type throughout Israel's history that anticipates the even greater land…In other words the land and its blessings find their fulfilment in the new heavens and new earth won by Christ." (17)

Key aspects to the argument are:

1) When considered within the OT corpus, the land promise to Abraham is a reversal/restoration of the Edenic paradise. The promise of God's unique presence in Eden was never meant to remain static; God's mandate to Adam was to "fill the earth." Given this, the land-promise to Abraham, as the beginning of the reversal of Gen. 3, is seen to represent a beach-head as it were, the re-establishment of the kingdom of God on earth for further expansion. God's goal was for the entire world to be filled with his presence.

2) Understanding the Abrahamic covenant is key. A lot of discussion today centers on whether the Abrahamic covenant is conditional/unconditional. Martin suggests it is both: the "ultimate fulfillment of the covenant is grounded on God's promises, but the means of the fulfilment will come through Abraham's—and his descendants'—obedience." (70) Furthermore, the promise to Abraham always envisioned something much wider than the slice of land in Israel: "Abraham's 'seed' both encompasses a multitude of nations (Gen. 17) and relates to an individual descendent (Gen. 22:17) who will mediate blessing to all the nations of the earth…it is difficult to see how the territorial promise could be exhausted by any limited geographical plot…the multiplication of descendants naturally expands the territorial orders until the earth is filled." (71) This agrees with the first point that the land-promise was in response to/re-establishing the mandate given to Adam to "fill the earth."

3) In light of this, when one reads the prophets, we find the expectation of Israel's restoration as encompassing something much broader than the land-promise, stretching to include a global, international, trans-ethnic restoration of Yahweh worshippers (cf. Isa. 54:1–55:13; 19:19-25).

4) It so happens, then, that Christ, the true temple and perfect presence of God comes as the fulfilment to which the land promises: "…those united to him by faith in his death and resurrection receive their inheritance, rest…" (119) This is NOT a spiritualization of the promises of God since Hebrews makes it very clear that the OT sacrificial system, indeed, the very temple itself, were but shadows of a true and better reality: Jesus himself (Heb. 8-10). Again, "the rest previously promised and enjoyed in the land is connected typologically in relation to Christ, who will give rest in his eternal kingdom to those who come to him." (127) This fulfilment is inaugurated, and awaits consummation in the new heavens and new earth.

5) Such a reading is confirmed by Paul who, in passing, states that "Abraham and his offspring…would be heir of the world" (Rom. 4:13). Paul, it seems, sees the wider promise which was given to Abraham—and it extended beyond the strict borders of Israel.

6) The author of Hebrews also shows what was already developed within the OT itself, namely, "the incomplete character of rest in Canaan and the future-oriented, final rest of God…the rest in Canaan functions as a type of God's heavenly rest in Genesis." (143)

7) The concluding argument is this: "Israel's land promises reach the fulfilment of their original design when redeemed people from every tribe, tongue, nation and people fill and inhabit the whole earth." (168)

A minor critique would be this: Martin's volume is weighted heavily toward a sweeping, wide-angled biblical theology of the land-promise and perhaps could have done with more exegetical sections. There was also little interaction with opposing views on key texts. I think Martin is correct to approach the land-promise in its wider canonical context, but more effort could have been done to situate and exegete the key texts.

All in all, a valuable contribution and erudite example of biblical theology, implicitly showing how if we fail to approach the text with a correct biblical theology we may end up misrepresenting Scripture.

[Philip Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding. A solid biblical theology of land. Highly recommended.

[Cliff Kvidahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was sadly disappointed in this work. It felt more like a survey than what was originally a PhD dissertation. It also felt like the author primarily interacted with research within his own theological camp. This series needs to turn up its academic rigor a bit more; the last few volumes I have read were at the same level as this one.

[Alex McEwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was on staff at FBC Mesquite, in the shadow of the COVID pandemic, the pastor I worked for once told me that the biggest threat our congregation faced wasn’t liberalism, modernity, or any other hot topic issue, but dispensationalism.

While I found myself disagreeing with much of what was written in this volume, it must be noted that Oren R. Martin has made a significant contribution to modern Baptistic theology. I found myself rejoicing in the scholarship even when I disagreed.

In this work, Martin sets out to chart a course for how those in the Progressive Covenantalism camp might address the Land Promise in the canon of Scripture. He traces the land promise from the Garden to Abraham, to David, to Christ, and into the Eschaton. In doing so, Martin makes a compelling case for his position.

The Progressive Covenantal position aims to be a middle ground between dispensationalism and covenantal theologies. Personally, I would have liked to see this work engage more critically with both dispensational and covenantal theologies. Both hermeneutical camps have well-developed perspectives on the topic, and it would have been beneficial to see Martin differentiate the Baptistic Progressive Covenantal hermeneutic in that context. Although I don’t know the dispensational position well enough to defend it comprehensively, the historic covenantal position views the land promise as ultimately fulfilled in Christ rather than in a temporal, earthly fulfillment.

Despite my disagreements, Martin has delivered excellent scholarship. I appreciated his transparency from the outset about his Progressive Covenantalism perspective. I also valued his honesty about the challenges of tracing the land promise into the New Testament. Finally, I loved his strategy of keeping the main text incredibly accessible to a lay audience while taking his more academic arguments into the footnotes. This let the work stand as an accessible piece, but retained serious academic scholarship. I may try to implement this strategy one day and am thankful this text introduced me to it. Additionally, while it wasn’t his primary goal, Martin has presented one of the most convincing arguments for an Adamic Covenant that I have encountered.

Overall, I was encouraged by this work. It’s heartening to see serious engagement with the Progressive Covenantal position and to see Baptists move away from Classical Dispensationalism towards something more aligned with their origins. As these conversations occur in academic circles, they will naturally filter down to regular congregations. I believe this work will be a valuable tool for Baptist ministers as they navigate presenting non-dispensationalist theologies to their congregations.

Presbyterians will find more convincing arguments for the Land Promise in Beale’s massive tome, “New Testament Biblical Theology”. His several chapters on the topic chart an incredibly insightful covenantal position on the land promise. However, we might still be encouraged by Martin’s incredibly devotional and well researched work. Let Martin show us how to engage with other positions in good faith. And maybe by understanding his position better we will have a mirror into our own position.

[Zachary Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, he even talks about the New Testament! Martin brings a refreshingly balanced, biblical-theological approach to the study of land and leaves us with something to grasp and hope for, rather than to be abstracted and spiritualized.

[Brian Pate · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun read! A theology of the land in the OT and NT. He explores how progressive covenantalism would be applied to the theme of land.

I thoroughly enjoyed the biblical theological perspective of Oren Martin. He begins with a beautiful overview of biblical theology (ch. 2), though at times I felt like it was a distillation of Dempster, Dumbrell, and Gentry/Wellum. I found the material on the prophets (ch. 6), gospels (ch. 7), and epistles (ch. 8) most helpful.

Martin proposes that "the land and its blessings find their fulfillment in the new heaven and new earth won by Christ" (p. 17). Chapter 10 provides helpful interaction with the dispensationalist viewpoint.

Minor critiques:

1. This book left me wanting more. That's probably a good thing, but I would have benefited from more in-depth exegesis and interaction with opposing viewpoints.

2. Martin included many large block quotations. It was good stuff, but I would have preferred more of his own original thought.

3. Some of the massive footnotes (e.g., pp. 132-133 lol) did not have direct bearing on a theology of land. While perhaps appropriate in the dissertation, I think they could have been omitted here.

[Will Standridge, II · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martin argues that the land promises in Scripture find their ultimate fulfillment not in a strip of real estate in the Middle East, but in the new heavens and new earth. He traces this theme across the whole Bible with theological depth and clarity.

His insights on typology, covenant, and fulfillment are thoughtful and, I believe, correct. The book helps anchor the land promise in the broader story of redemption—where Christ is the center and eternity is the goal.

[George Mayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have yet to be disappointed with a volume in the NSBT series, and this book is no exception. An excellent look at the theological development of the land theme across the canon of scripture, showing how all of God's promises are fulfilled in the person and work of Christ. If I had a minor quibble it would be that I wish Martin had dealt more with the land theme in Acts. Overall, a very impressive work, and one I would recommend.

[Drake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t quite have the in-depth study or rigorous exegesis that I was hoping for. Still, a solid overview of an important (and intensely-debated) biblical theme, and there were plenty of insights that helped shaped my own thinking on the subject.

[David Couch · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book on a theology of the land promises that I have read yet - hands down.

[Steven Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the positives, I would say that I more or less agree with the position that Oren Martin advances in this book. I thought the connections between Genesis 1-2 and Revelation 21-22 are natural and placing Abraham's promise of land within this arch is natural. Drawing attention to the connection between the Promised land and the rest of God was helpful, as was drawing attention to the "already / not yet" fulfillment in Joshua / Kings. It was also nice to see the NT connections in Matthew's gospel, in John 15, Romans 4, Hebrews, and Peter's epistles.

For the negatives, this is not a book that you give to someone that disagrees with Martin's position. In some places Gentry and Wellum's Kingdom and Covenant is cited on almost every page, so the book relies on that (good) book to do a lot of the heavy lifting for sketching out the progressive covenantal view. He does not argue to establish the position but almost assumes it naturally follows from the text. I could hear the internal voices of some of my dispensational friends' objections as I was reading and Martin did not offer counterarguments. I would have liked to have seen more depth of interaction with some of prophetic texts in particular.

Further, this is missing some of the practical elements that I hoped to find in a biblical theology on this theme. For instance, how is the international land divided? What does the inheritance look like in eternity, i.e. how should I visualize it? How should this practically affect my life?

So, my end review is a 3.5 or so. Glad I read, but not sure I took away a whole lot. Read Gentry and Wellum's Kingdom and Covenant and then if you are still thirsty for a little more along that line maybe pick this one up.

[Adam Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful survey of the land promise to Israel within God's redemptive purposes, from the perspective of Reformed covenant theology. In his own words, Martin shows that "the land promised to Abraham advances the place of the kingdom that was lost in Eden and serves as a type throughout Israel's history that anticipates an even greater land... that will come as a result of the person and work of Jesus Christ."

The whole discussion is clear, cohesive and meticulously footnoted, with regular concise summaries to keep readers on track. Martin reflects the unity of the Scriptures wonderfully, connecting the issue of the land with the larger storyline running from Genesis to Revelation. In doing so, he offers nothing particularly novel, but it's still instructive. It was also valuable to have a closing chapter on "theological reflections," engaging with dispensationalist views.

Two main negatives about "Bound for the Promised Land." First, some of his discussion is overly brief. In a work this length, that might be seen as inevitable, but Martin could have easily cut out a lot of the block quotes without losing much, and expanded his argument in places instead. Second, there are some notable omissions, two being Acts and the prophesied destruction of Jerusalem. Yet, even if there is much that could be improved, there is much that is excellent. This is definitely worth reading and having on the shelf.

[Sam Sinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

In general, I fully agree with the author’s thesis that the land promises offer an echo of Eden and anticipate the new creation. He successfully proved his point with solid summaries of the biblical text.

However, there was insufficient interaction with competing systems of thought. The author was generally dismissive of both covenant theology‘s spiritualizing of the promises and dispensationalism’s strictly literal understanding of them. The book would have been strengthened by better argumentation in this regard.

Finally, it felt at times as if this was little more than a repackaging and synthesis of the work already done by Wellum and Gentry. That said, I suppose I would rather read in 150 page book on the topic then the million page book they wrote…

[Nate Cordano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviews the biblical theme of land from Genesis through Revelation, highlighting the need for the church to reject an over-spiritualized view of heaven. Just as God intended to dwell with man in His first creation, so shall He once more in His new creation.

“And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.”

“For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away... and he who was seated on the throne said ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’”

[Caleb Bratcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This kind of book is always a dry read, despite my favorable disposition towards the author's thesis. Recognition of the idea—the reality—that the inheritance we read of in the New Testament includes a physical fulfillment of the ancient land promises is desperately needed in our Christian worldview if we are to ever have what Douglas Moo calls the “‘already’ ethical commitment” to the land demanded by the “‘not yet’ of a restored creation”. This is a helpful resource for those looking to improve their understanding of eschatology.

[Joshua Reichard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr. Martin does a helpful job arguing for a fulfillment of the land promise given to Abraham in Genesis as the new heavens and new earth. Though this will rub the wrong way on many dispensationalist I think over all he gives a clear and helpful Amill. view of the Land. I would disagree slightly with him in that the Jew still have a special place/role in the history of God. But I would agree with his co conclusion of the land promise.

[Don Henrikson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written biblical theology. Martin follows the theme of "land" through the canon of Scripture and shows the progression of the covenant land promise up through its conclusion in Christ. He interacts well, though briefly, with both dispensationalism and covenant theology. If anything, the book left me wanting more. I highly recommend it.

[Taylor Sines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and thorough treatment of the development of the land motif in OT and NT. Recommended for anyone looking to better understand the role of the land under the various biblical covenants.

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to the theme of land in Scripture.

[Matthew Bonzon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear and compelling synthesis of how the “land” is developed throughout Scripture.

[Jennifer Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional. A new favorite!

[Luke Schmeltzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Promised Land pointed forward to something greater than the earthly Canaan. Pretty good book

[Benji Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This well-written book explores themes of land and inheritance throughout the Canon. While it was an enjoyable read, there were some texts that weren't explored.

[Noah Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can’t review as thoroughly as deserved. Lots of great content in this, but it loses one star for writing style, and another for not giving me clarity about my central question: does God still owe ethnic Israel physical occupancy of a certain territory? I think the answer is no, and I think Martin’s answer is also no. But his talk about a “tension” between the conditional and unconditional aspects of the land promise left me a little unsatisfied. Still, I do feel much better equipped to think through the theological issues and relevant biblical passages than I did before.

[Greta Earnest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent study of the theology of the land.

[Timothy Decker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful but not as focused as it needed to be. Largely in agreement with the author's views, however in some places he seemed to widen his focus more broadly than on land and was too vague in his theological conclusion concerning his view of the millennium.

[Will Pareja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. Straddles well the tensions of Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism without making them front and center for straw men, champions or attacks.
Presents well a fleshing out of the progressive covenantalism of his graduate school profs at Southern Seminary.

[Justin Carlton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive look at God's covenant promise of land to His people, from Genesis to Revelation. Well-researched and meticulous, this is still a readable work for amateur theologians (such as myself). Oren Martin writes from a covenantal perspective about the means by which God fulfills His covenants across the Testaments and within the scope of human history, critiquing both dispensationalist attempts to separate New and Old Testament covenants as well as replacement theology that obscures the unique identities of Israel and the church. A challenging and rewarding read.

[R. Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very helpful presentation of an idea that spans the entire Bible. It fails to engage crucial works on biblical backgrounds (esp. on Ancient Near Eastern covenants, particularly land-grant [or promise] covenants in the ANE) and curiously does not engage some of the works that shaped this niche of Biblical Studies (e.g., Richard Hays's "Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul").

That said, it still helps folks read their Bibles better and synthesize concepts comprising the biblical metanarrative.

3.5 / 5