Ancient Churches Lexicon Entry:
The Land of Canaan
Back to: Lexicon Index | Lexicon Home
The Lord’s church had been in the land of Canaan continuously from most ancient times (AC 5136). That the Most Ancient Church was in the land of Canaan is evident from the fact that the Nephilim, who were a posterity of the Most Ancient Church, were said to have been in that land (Genesis. 6:4). (At that time the land of Canaan was defined as the entire region located between the Nile and the Euphrates (AC 4454).)
The people of the Most Ancient Church saw heavenly things represented in every earthly thing they looked at. Because of this, one result of the Most Ancient Church residing in Canaan was that everything in that land—including the names of regions, cities, mountains, and rivers—became representative of the Lord’s kingdom (AC 5136, AC 6516). The Lord then successively maintained a church in Canaan in order to preserve those established representatives, which would later be needed in writing the Word (AC 5136).
After the collapse of the Most Ancient Church, remnants of it continued to exist in Canaan, especially among the Hittites and the Hivites (AC 4447). The Lord then established the Ancient Church in the land of Canaan using representatives that had originated in the Most Ancient Church (AC 5136). From there it spread to many surrounding nations (AC 1238, AC 1140).
In Syria, however, a new kind of external worship began that led to the establishment of the Second Ancient Church, also called the Hebrew Church. This external worship became widespread, but was especially adopted in Canaan (AC 1238). It was for this reason that the people living in the land of Canaan were in general called “Hebrews” (AC 4517).
See also:
Altars, Ancient Word,
Antediluvians, Eber,
Flood, Hivites,
Hittites, Posterities,
Remnants, Representatives,
Sacrifices, The Word
Passages relating to the Land of Canaan and
the Ancient Churches:
AC 1140; AC 1238; AC 1585; AC 3686; AC
3708; AC 4289; AC 4431; AC 4447; AC 4454;
AC 4516; AC 4517; AC 4535; AC 5136; AC
5577; AC 6392; AC 6435; AC 6516; AC 6589;
AC 7439; AC 8317; AC 8944; AC 9325; AC
10276; AC 10500; AC 10559; AE 29; AE 700;
HD 5; HD 247; HD 261; LJ 3; TCR 279; Verbo
36; WH 12
Help with References and Abbreviations