Conflict has long raged in Palestine over the right of Jews to have their own kingdom in the Middle East. Most of the disagreement today is political and ethnic, but many Christians and religious Jews see the possession of Palestine as a Divine right granted to the Israelites thousands of years ago. Did God promise to give the Israelites the land along the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea?
In Genesis 15:8 God promised to give Abraham’s descendants the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. “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:” In Ezekiel 47 the promise is repeated to the Israelites as part of the kingdom to be established by the Messiah. In Ezekiel is given a more specific description of the borders of the promised land. The geographical markers have changed or been lost over the millennia so it is hard to identify the exact boundaries of the promised land. Despite the difficulties of finding the specific borders it is clear that the land God promised to Abraham is all the territory between Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River stretching north to the Euphrates river (in modern day Syria) and south to beneath the Dead Sea towards a point parallel with the southeastern corner of the Mediterranean. Something like this:
After the exodus from Egypt God led the Israelites to the eastern border of the land of Canaan. He commanded them to go in and conquer the land He had promised them. If they would obey Him God would give them victory over the inhabitants. If they disobeyed God and turned to idolatry then the Canaanites and other nations would take Israel captive. Israel began to conquer the land. After early successes the nation fell into a vicious cycle of disobedience, captivity, repentance, deliverance and then disobedience again. As a result Israel conquered very little of the promised land until the time of David. Under King David and his son Solomon Israel took possession of most, but not all, of the land promised to Abraham. After Solomon’s death the kingdom split and began to dwindle. Israel has never held all of the territory promised to her by God.
The history of the Israelites and the current political situation makes it seem unlikely that the Jews will hold all the promised land. However, God’s promises will always be fulfilled. When Jesus returns to establish His kingdom He will make Jerusalem His capital city. He will rule over the whole earth. He will be King of Israel and give to the Jews the land promised to Abraham’s descendants. God always keeps His promises.
Everlasting Truths 