Social commentator and writer Lyson Sibande digs in Chakwera ‘Canaan’ as land of thorns and not honey.
If we understand what the Bible truly says about Canaan, we would stop promising each other Canaan and neither would we demand any Canaan from anybody. If anything at all, we would rather promise each other Egypt and demand the same from our leaders. I know you are already rolling up your sleeves. But hold on and follow me through a quick quest for facts….
The Bible talks about Canaan as the land that was promised to Abraham and his descendants in Genesis Chapter 12. God called Abraham out of Mesopotamia with the promise that in Canaan he and his descendants were going to become a prosperous nation – this is the CANAANITE DREAM.
But at no point in the Bible or beyond, did the CANAANITE DREAM ever come real.
Firstly, the Bible explains from verse 10 of Genesis 12 that immediately Abraham arrived in Canaan, he nearly died of hunger. There was no food in Canaan. In order to save his life, Abraham ran to Egypt. Remember that incidence where he lied that his wife was his sister? Yes, he had escaped death from starvation in Canaan. He was so desperate to live that he was ready to exchange his wife for food. That’s what how bad Canaan had messed up his thinking.
Secondly, when you read Genesis 26, you discover that the same fate of Abraham was met by his son Isaac. A severe famine hit the land again. Just like his father before him, Isaac nearly starved to death. He also thought of going to Egypt to survive, but God appeared to him and stopped him. So Isaac moved into the land of King Abimelech. Just like his father Abrahm, Isaac lied to the Philistines that Rabecca was his sister until one day he was kissing, caressing and touching and the King saw him through the window. The king realized she was his wife not sister. But Isaac had been ready to exchange his wife for food just like his father. That’s how bad living in Canaan had been.
Thirdly, when you come to Genesis 42 you see that the son of Isaac, Jacob was also faced with a huge famine in Canaan and was about to starve to death with his family. Just like his grandfather and father, he looked up to Egypt to survive. So he sent his 10 sons to secure some grain from Egypt where they met with Prime Minister Joseph. Unlike their great grandfather (Abraham) and grandfather (Isaac) who nearly gave up their wives for food, the 10 sons of Jacob, at least left behind one of their brothers to at least depart with food. Having been fed up with the endless problems of Canaan they tossed away the CANAANITE DREAM and left for better life in Egypt.
Fourthly, when you read from Exodus 13 onwards, you see the descendants of Abraham now leaving Egypt after 430 years. Now they are heading back to the Promised Land to live the CANAANITE DREAM under the leadership of Moses, the Man of God. But the Bible is clear that no one who left Egypt that day ever saw Canaan including Moses himself except for two young guys, Joshua and Caleb.
Fifth, when you read from the Bible books of Samuel, Kings, Judges, Chronicles etc which talk about the history of the Nation of Israel in Canaan you learn that immediately the Israelites entered back Canaan, the CANAAN DREAM crashed against reality. They never had peace. They were always at war with neighboring nations and God punished them with frequent military defeats because of apostasy. And they were more than once taken out of Canaan again into exile where they were slaves again and again. They never enjoyed their stay in Canaan. That is why when it was time to return to Canaan after the exilic periods, many Israelites chose to remain in Babylon than go back to Canaan. They chose to live the BABYLONIAN DREAM than return to the folly of the CANAANITE DREAM. This is where the concept of Diaspora emerged from. Jews preferred to stay outside Canaan kuthawa mavuto.
Finally, when Jesus came, as you will read from the Gospels, he still found the Israelites suffering in Canaan. They were oppressed slaves under the Roman Empire. They were weeping and revolting to have their own independent kingdom. That’s why they rallied in numbers behind Jesus hoping he was going to defeat the Romans give them the CANAANITE DREAM. That never happened and Jesus left them still as slaves to Rome in the Promised Land.
Mind you, it took around 1,900years from the time Abraham arrived in Canaan to the time of Jesus and still, there had never been any milk and honey. That is how long one can wait to live the CANAANITE DREAM and still not find it.
That is why I propose that maybe, lets promise each other Egypt not Canaan because it is Egypt that was ever the land of plenty and refuge. Remember, Abram had to rush to Egypt to have plenty and survive, Isaac too thought of doing the same; the Children of Jacob also went to Egypt for food and survival. In fact, that is not all. By the time Jesus was born, and Kind Herod wanted to kill him, his parents escaped with him to Egypt to survive. This means that close to 2000 years from the time of Abraham to Jesus Christ when the CANAANITE DREAM was crashing, Egypt remained the land of plenty and refuge. Egypt was the real land of milk and honey.
Friends and country men, if you wait for Canaan, you will wait forever for the dream that never was. I bring you the EGYPTIAN DREAM
