Have the Land Promises Made to Abraham Been Fulfilled?

Have the Land Promises Made to Abraham Been Fulfilled?

Dear Mr. John:
My friend and I have been discussing the promises God made to Abraham. He says the Jews have never received all the land God promised them and the State of Israel will one day have all the land in that region. Are there any scriptures relating to this matter?
-Densel

Dear Densel:
In Genesis 15:18 God promised Abram, "Unto thy seed have I give this land, from the river of Egypt (this refers to the brook of Egypt, a seasonal stream known as the wady el-Arish that was the southern border of ancient Israel) unto the great river, the river Euphrates..." He did not have in mind the whole expanse of land between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates. Arising in the Armenian Mountains, that great river twists and turns as it flows South. One of its loops flows through the land of Syria. That would be the northern most point of the land which God gave the Hebrews.

In Joshua 21:43-45 Joshua reported, "There failed not aught of any good thing which Jehovah had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass." Notice he twice states that all the promises had been fulfilled.

In I Kings 4:21 we read "And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River (Euphrates) unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt." Those are precisely the markers God promised to Abram.

Because of their disobedience, the Hebrews later lost much of that territory to their enemies, but the promise had been fulfilled and no one can rightly claim that it is yet to be fulfilled.

This belief that the modern state of Israel will one day control all of the land as in ancient times is a sturdy plank in the speculative doctrine of Premillennialism. Such mistaken teaching creates apprehension in the political neighbors of Israel as they are concerned that Israel might one day attempt to expand her borders and take their land from them.

Sincerely,

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