Why think the Israelites felt so strong about a Promise Land?

Answer 1

The Israelite were glad as they were going to a land promised by God to Moses as the Promised Land. which they could have as their very own. after centuries of slavery and forty years of wandering.

Likely because it's the land promised to them from the Most High, being His Holy land for His chosen people.

It was important because God promised that land to the Israelites. And He never broke His promise.

The Israelites didn't feel that strongly about the Promised Land at first. They, primarily, went along for the ride that God forced them into.

They never would have left Egypt if God had not stepped into their affairs when He did, and brought about a series of events that, virtually, destroyed the Egyptian economy... and got them "kicked out."

If you read the account... they bickered and complained from the outset about the way things were going at every turn.

"In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, 'If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death." (Ex.16:2-3 NIV)

Yes, they were told that they were going someplace that God had in mind for them. But they didn't know where it was... and, if they had to [which they did have to]... all they wanted was to get there... FAST!

They were, above all else, people, like you and I -- impatient; and they loved their comfort zones [even if it was a "zone" of slavery, with which they had generations of familiarity, nonetheless].

When they finally got the report from the spies they sent in to recon the land... they balked, and were afraid to go in.

So, FEAR, was the strongest emotion they felt regarding the Promised Land. Fearful to freely take what God was giving to them.

After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness as punishment for their faithlessness... the faithless ones had died off, and their children went in... a little more in tune with God's commands... a little more experienced... and a little more subdued.

The "strong feeling" they had about the Promised Land by then, was one of; "I'm ready to leave the wilderness... and settle down in some kind of permanent residence -- even if we have to obey God to get it."

Joshua was in charge, now... and the Israelites were arrayed for battle.

"...Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land of the LORD your God is giving you for your own. But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said... 'The LORD your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land... all your fighting men, fully armed, must cross over ahead of your brothers...

"...Then they answered Joshua, 'Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so will we obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as He was with Moses... Only be strong and courageous!'" (Joshua 1:11-18 NIV)

The Israelites had "no place else to go," except back into the wilderness, to wander forever. So, they could begin to "trust in the LORD their God"... or perish in the desert.

Those were their choices... and the only "strong feelings" they had about the Promised Land was to overcome their fears and trust in the Power that led them that was greater than themselves.

The Israelites were, above all else, people. Scared people... who happen to be Abraham's children... whom God promised to watch over and prosper -- if they would obey Him.

"Be strong and very courageous [in the midst of your fear and dread; emphasis, mine]. Be careful to obey all the law My servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified [even though that is your natural inclination - emphasis, mine]; do not be discouraged [though discouragement lies before you], for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.'" (Joshua 1:7-9 NIV)

The Israelites were shaking in their boots at the prospect of the war before them. Their strongest feelings were terror and fear... the emotions that they were told to keep in check.

They had seen the results of their parents' disobedience forty years earlier... and they knew how a repeat of that would go. So, they were determined to try to overcome their fears... and try this "obedience" thing.

The worst thing that could happen is that they would be killed... and out of their misery, if things didn't work out.

The best thing was that the LORD their God would cause them to prosper... and be successful [the same things that everyone around the world wants].

A home, property and your own land, is what some people call "the American Dream," today [or maybe, yesterday. Times change... dreams can be so elusive... and they vary from generation to generation... and from individual to individual].

But, if there was "strong feeling" about the Promised Land with the Israelites... it had to come AFTER the ordeal that lay before them at the outset -- removing the pagan nations from it, who occupied the land at the moment.

They had to overcome the same dread at which their parents balked forty years earlier. THAT was their "strongest feeling"... until the LORD their God would clear out the pagan nations who lived in their Promised Land.

Once their mission was complete... they received their inheritance. But, even then... before their human emotions [strong feelings] could set in -- they were reminded of their "responsibility" to the LORD their God:

"Now that the LORD your God has given your brothers rest as He promised, return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan.

"But be VERY CAREFUL to KEEP THE COMMANDMENT and the LAW that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to Love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to Obey His Commands, to hold fast to Him and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul." (Joshua 22:4-5 NIV)

This "formula for prosperity and success" [obedience to God's laws] wasn't as "strongly felt" by the Israelites as was the profound emotion of the sudden material acquisition of their new homes and property took their hearts.

It was prosperity that that generation "fought for"... and won. The strong feelings about which later generations would not feel so strongly... and tend to take for granted [like people anywhere in the world would do, whose nation is blessed by God; for example, the latter generations of the United States of America who were born into prosperity, who didn't have to struggle for it].

But, even some in THAT generation immediately failed to comply with God's "formula for success":

"So the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan to return to Gilead, their own land, which they had acquired in accordance with the command of the LORD through Moses. When they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan." (Joshua 22:10 NIV)

So, began the era of the "Judges"... the bloodiest book in The Bible, as the people's "strong feelings" [carnal human emotions] led them from one bloody ordeal to another, only to be rescued by isolated instances of "obedience to the LORD."

The Israelites were, and are, first and foremost, people. People's strongest feelings lie with themselves... personal interest in their own well-being... their own children and families. Worldly concerns weigh on people, and "obedience to God" [the command to love one another] is not high on one's priority list.

The Israelite's "strong feelings" about the Promised Land, which they now had acquired, were selfish ones [like anyone else, to this day].

"At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance. In those days Israel had no king [only God's laws to guide them]; EVERYONE DID AS HE SAW FIT." (Judges 21:24-25 NIV)

Answer 2

Israel was important to the Israelites because God promised it to Jacob (Genesis ch.28), the father of the Israelites, and his descendants. Jacob was renamed Israel by God (Genesis ch.35); and the Israelites lived in Israel during the era of the Patriarchs (220 years), during the era from Joshua until the First Destruction (850 years), during the Second Temple era (420 years) and afterwards. They remained a majority in the land for another 300 years after the Second Destruction; and a minority of Jews remained there throughout the ensuing centuries.
Israel had been the site of the First Temple, built by King Solomon; the dynasty of King David; the Second Temple, built by Ezra; and the Hasmonean Dynasty. It was where the Hebrew Prophets lived, and where the Mishna (Oral Torah) was codified. Also, many of the Torah's commands apply only in Israel.

See links:

1. God promised the land to the Israelites many times.
   
2. Debunking Bible-criticism
3. Jews have had a continuous presence in Israelfor over 3300 years. Of that time, the Jews were a majority in the land for around 1900 years.
   
4. The Muslims' Qur'an clearly states that Israel belongs to the Jews.

Answer 3

The Old Testament repeatedly tells us that God made a covenant to give the land of the Canaanites to his chosen people. It seems apparent that the people placed great importance on the land and their covenant with God. He even led the Israelites out of Egypt, to settle in the 'promised land' in fulfilment of his covenant. It is only in recent years that scholars began to realise that the biblical history of the conquest of Canaan did not really happen. This demonstrates that in all cases we should read the books of the Old Testament from the perspective of the times in which they were written, rather than the times in which they were set.

Andrew D. H. Mayes, in his paper 'Sociology and the Old Testament', says that some recent study of Israelite religion show that it is most unlikely that early Israel considered herself to stand in a covenant relationship with God. Similarly, Lemche (Early Israel: Anthropological and Historical Studies on the Israelite Society Before the Monarchy), in a careful analysis of the Old Testament traditions, has shown that the covenant concept seems to have played no significant role in Israel's religious life before the sixth century BCE.

Richard J. Coggins, in his paper entitled 'The origins of the Jewish diaspora', sees the Babylonian Exile and, to a lesser extent, the earlier conquest of Israel, as turning points in Jewish consciousness on the land of Israel. They began to see the exile as a divine punishment and longed to be reunited with their kinsmen in the 'promised land'. The land itself began to have theological significance, which found its expression in the scriptures.

Answer 4

Because they believed that God would do what he had promised Moses what he said he would do, which was to take them to the promise land.

Answer 5

Because God gave it to them (Exodus ch.6).