I didn't know him, but for this reason I came baptizing in water: that he would be revealed to Israel."

 The very titles by which the Old Testament calls the land and the people show that. Palestine is repeatedly called the holy land ( Zechariah 2:12; 2Ma_1:7 ; Wis_12:3 ). It is called the Lord's land; God speaks of it as his land ( Hosea 9:3; Jeremiah 2:7; Jeremiah 16:18; Leviticus 25:23). The Jewish nation is called God's peculiar treasure ( Exodus 19:5; Psalms 135:4). The Jews are called God's special people ( Deuteronomy 7:6). They are called God's peculiar people ( Deuteronomy 14:2; Deuteronomy 26:18). They are called the Lord's portion ( Deuteronomy 32:9). 