What is the land that God promised to Israel?

The land possessed by the descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham, which was until recently called PALESTINE. The whole of it was promised to Abraham, and a further territory was also promised 'from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.' Gen. 15:18; Gen. 17:8. The word used here thrice for 'river' is nahar, which is not applicable to a winter stream, so that 'river of Egypt' doubtless refers to the most easterly branch of the Nile, called Pelusiac. These limits of Abraham's promised possession are on the S.W. and N.E.; the Mediterranean being the western limit, the eastern being undefined; but the 'river Euphrates' boundary must be on the north part of that river, which indeed was reached by Solomon at Tiphsah (about 35 50' N, 39 E). 1 Kings 4:24.

In Num. 34:5-8 directions are given as to the boundaries of the land to be then possessed by the tribes, and here a different word is used for 'river' (nachal) in 'river of Egypt.' This word signifies 'brook in a valley,' and cannot refer to the Nile; indeed the places also mentioned are more in the latitude of the wady called el Arish, 31 5' N, 33 50 E near to the ancient city Rhinocolura. This is not so far south as the country over which Solomon had dominion, which extended to Ezion-geber on the gulf of Akaba. In Num. 34:9-11 the north border is also given, and though some of the places cannot be traced, it is yet clear that the border did not extend as far as was possessed under Solomon, who anticipated for the moment the possession which will yet be inherited by Israel under Christ. 'From Dan to Beersheba' became the common way of describing the whole of Canaan. This comprised about 150 miles from north to south. In Deut. 1:7 the borders are named as between 'the mount of the Amorites,' near the Dead Sea on the south, to 'Lebanon and the river Euphrates' on the north.

Verses 18-21 speak then of an unconditional covenant that the Lord made with Abram that day, telling him that He has given his descendants all the land from the river of Egypt (the Nile) to the river Euphrates, including land at that time possessed by ten different nations. When Israel returned from Egypt they did not possess anything like that whole territory, and never have. But the promise of God stands, and the fulfillment of this awaits the millennium.

Canaan as now to be possessed by Israel was at least to them no final possession, nor their enjoyment of it rest. They entered it sword in hand; they had to gain and to retain possession by the sword. Even now, when giving them the bounds of their inheritance, we find nothing like the full extent of the land promised them, which was "from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates" (Gen. 15:18), or, as more precisely defined, "from the Red Sea unto the sea of the Philistines and from the desert unto the River" (Ex. 23:31.) Their bounds at this time touched neither the Red Sea nor Euphrates; and the reason is plain: they were going into the land under a legal covenant, not as brought in (as yet they will be) according to the fullness of divine grace. If they continued in His covenant, God would enlarge their borders (Ex. 34:24; Deut. 12:20), even to the full extent of the original promise (Deut. 1:7); but this depended upon what never took place. The narrowness of the land with which men taunt Israel now — scarcely the size of Wales, — does not represent what grace has assigned them as their portion, but only their inability to make good their title to it. Even the bounds here assigned them, which included Philistia, Tyre, and all Lebanon, they have never yet possessed; though, with a gleam of coming glory, David's kingdom extended to the Euphrates. But that gleam quickly passed: Israel itself broke asunder, and from this they went down ever further into the ruin in which yet they remain.

The borders described in verse 4 are more extended than Israel has ever yet possessed, for it included the wilderness (in the south), Lebanon (in the north) and eastward as far as the Euphrates River. Or, if looking westward, all the land of the Hittites (toward the east), and to the Great Sea (the Mediterranean) was included. In Genesis 15:18-21 God's promise to Abram gave the borders from a viewpoint further south --" from the river of Egypt (the Nile) to the great river, the River Euphrates." Israel will eventually, in the millennium, possess all this property, but only when they have received their Messiah, the Lord Jesus. Then He will clear the way for them to claim their full inheritance.

In the part of the history of Israel now before us, as related in the Book of Joshua, we find ourselves in the camp of Israel, at the passage of the Jordan. Our backs are towards the wilderness and the south; our faces towards Lebanon and the north; the country stretches across the Jordan as far as the Mediterranean on the left; and the river Euphrates forms the eastern boundary on the right. The whole of the expanse is Israel's by promise; but the land specially given, and which they had left Egypt to inherit, was "over this Jordan," and the nations to be dispossessed were on the west of the river, not on the east, where the two and a half tribes had chosen their portion.

That goodly land in its great dimensions is still Israel 's land, the land of promise. They have yet to possess it from the Euphrates to the River Nile. To say that Israel will never receive the land and possess it in the future as a redeemed people, would mean the same as accusing God of breaking His promise and oathbound covenants.

The promises made to Abraham were unconditional and absolute. They included a great deal besides the possession of the land of Canaan; but they certainly embraced this in the most explicit terms. "And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land." (Gen. 12:7.) "And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever … Arise, walk through the land, in the length of it, and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. (Gen. 13:14-17.) Abraham was apprised indeed that it was not immediate possession of the land which was to be given him. "And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years: and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance." (Gen. 15:13-14.) The land is then given to Abraham by covenant, and its boundaries most accurately defined. "In the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." (Verses 18-21.) The promise of the land was repeated to Isaac (Gen. 26:3), and to Jacob (Gen. 28:13-14).

Verses 18-21 speak then of an unconditional covenant that the Lord made with Abram that day, telling him that He has given his descendants all the land from the river of Egypt (the Nile) to the river Euphrates, including land at that time possessed by ten different nations. when Israel returned from Egypt they did not possess anything like that whole territory, and never have. But the promise of God stands, and the fulfillment of this awaits the millennium.

To begin with, the Euphrates is the eastern boundary of the promised land. Today Palestine measures roughly 150 miles by 50 miles, and equals about the size of Wales. The land promised to Abraham is to extend from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates and from the Red Sea to Lebanon, and will be many times larger. Some authorities say it will be larger than any European country save Russia.

Thus Moses began to explain the law (v.5), telling Israel first that God has spoken to them in Horeb, where they received the law, saying they had dwelt long enough there (v.6). The law cannot be any permanent resting place, for it points onward to something far better, as the Book of Hebrews shows (Heb.6:1-2; 10:1-10). Israel were to take their journey therefore to the mountains of the Amorites, to the plains as the great River Euphrates (v.7). All this territory is eventually to be theirs, though they did enter Canaan they did not by any means take possession of all the land to the Euphrates River. This will be possessed only in the Millennium. Still God beforehand clearly declared what was their proper inheritance. God had sworn this to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (v.8), to be made good to their descendants (Gen.15:18-21).