| Some people assert that
biblical boundaries cannot be used to demarcate the area of the land the
Jews are entitled to, since all the various accounts differ from each other.
Knowing what one can achieve from a careful study of the scriptures under
guidance of the Spirit, we though that this attitude was really equal to
"throwing out the baby with the bath water"
From our analysis of the
factors that could influence the eventual
size of Israel, the God of Israel's inheritance, it must be clear that the
safest approach to determining Israel's borders in scrupture, would be to
accept "biggest" possible sizes and not an average of values or indicators.
We can now procede to discuss scripture references to the size of the promised
land.
After spending a lot of
time, on and off, to thrash out the significance of various scripture portions
about the boundaries as can be seen below (Thrashing
out details), we've come to realize that evidence is so overwhelming
that the eventual territory controlled by Israel and Messiah will be similar
to that of David & Solomon's kingdoms, that we can stop pursuing
other options. Messiah is the ultimate King in the line of David, why would
he reign over a "home" kingdom any less in size than David's? If anything,
it should be bigger? The following is a quote from an article we've
posted to this site and various forums and blogs, titled:
Israel will be Messiah's
physical home:
Jesus will be the eternal ruler in
the line of David over Israel and all the nations of the world. Why would
He be willing to rule from a kingdom of Israel that is smaller than that
of David and Solomon? Actually, if world leaders could have their way, Israel
will be left with a sliver of land along the Mediterranean Sea, a "Tel Aviv"
state without Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Bless the Name (baruch HaShem),
they will not have it their way!!
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is
born; unto us a son is given [1st Coming]; [2nd Coming] And
the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful,
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase
of His government and peace There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His
kingdom, To order it and
establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. NKJV
Isa 16:4 Let My outcasts dwell
with you, O Moab; Be a shelter to them from the face of the spoiler. For
the extortioner is at an end, Devastation ceases, The oppressors are consumed
out of the land. 5 In mercy the throne will be established; And One will
sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, Judging and seeking justice
and hastening righteousness." NKJV
Amos 9:11 "On that day I will raise up The tabernacle
of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up
its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old;
NKJV
Rev 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying,
"Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them,
and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their
God. NKJV |
Ps 72:8
Let him reign from sea to sea**
and
from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth. 9 The
desert nomads shall bow before him; his enemies shall fall face downward
in the dust. 10 Kings along the Mediterranean coast-the kings of Tarshish
and the islands-and those from Sheba and from Seba-all will bring their gifts.
11 Yes, kings from everywhere! All will bow before him! All will
serve him! TLB
Ps 89:25
Also I will set his hand over the sea, And his right hand over the rivers.
26 He shall cry to Me, 'You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.'
NKJV
The God of Israel promised
Moses:
Ex 23:31
And I will set your enlarged boundaries from the Red Sea to the Philistine
coast, and from the southern deserts as far as the Euphrates River; and I
will cause you to defeat the people now living in the land, and you will
drive them out ahead of you. TLB
** "sea
to sea"
must then
be the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf as in the picture on the right
|
_ |
 |
We have no doubt that this
area, will be controlled by Israel, although some of it could comprise
confederate states. Syria and Jordan will be destroyed (Isaiah 17) and Israel
will have driven out Hisbullah from Lebanon and repossessed most of
Lebanon - Lebanon was historically in any case not really a country
per se, just a Region. Israel will
have taken the Sinai back as in the map and Egypt and Iraq will most probably
be confederate states that have allied themselves to Israel and her God.
A by-product of Israel's
victories*~* and the testimony of her God's involvement will also contribute
to territorial increase beyond what Israel will acquire as spoils of war,
from so-called Lost Tribes in the ME realizing their true identity and joining
themselves and their land to Israel and her God. A catalyst in the process
will be the proven fact by then that Allah is an impotent false moon
god, unable to help his deceived followers to withstand the Israelis due
to the might of their God. *~* See
Isaiah 17 in "Zionsake's
Prophetic Wakeup Call" and "Lost Jews/Tribes"
in Scripture Keywords. |
Isa
19:24 In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria,
a blessing on the earth. 25 The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, "Blessed
be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance."
NIV |
See also THE CULMINATION DAVID'S RULE
IN THAT OF MESSIAH
(Thrashing out details)
We find the first reference to
a territorial entity for a Jewish nation in the promise to Abram when he
first arrived in the land of Canaan?
Genesis
12:5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they
had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out
for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. 6 Abram traveled through
the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that
time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said,
"To your offspring I will give this
land."
So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
|
|
|
 |
. |
The map of
Canaan, found in Atlas of the Bible, Carta, Jerusalem
ISBN 965 220 345 9.
The boundaries of this territory
of Canaan corresponds closely to those given to Moses in
Numbers 34: 3 "`Your
southern side will include some of the Desert of Zin along the border of
Edom. On the east, your southern boundary will start from the end of the
Salt Sea, 4 cross south of Scorpion Pass, continue on to Zin and go south
of Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon, 5 where
it will turn, join the Wadi of Egypt and end at the Sea. 6 "`Your western
boundary will be the coast of the Great Sea. This will be your boundary on
the west. 7 "`For your northern boundary, run a line from the Great Sea to
Mount Hor 8 and from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath. Then the boundary will go
to Zedad, 9 continue to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your
boundary on the north. 10 "`For your eastern boundary, run a line from Hazar
Enan to Shepham. 11 The boundary will go down from Shepham to Riblah on the
east side of Ain and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Kinnereth.
12 Then the boundary will go down along the Jordan and end at the Salt Sea.
Note that territory
on the east bank of the Jordan isn't included in this
demarcation. |
Gen 17:7 I will
establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your
descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the
God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where
you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and
your descendants after you; and I will be their God." NIV
(Return to
ARTICLES (Home) |
Boundary Factors
2 Kings 14:25
Jeroboam II recovered the lost territories of Israel between Hamath and the
Dead Sea, just as the Lord God of Israel had predicted through Jonah (son
of Amittai) the prophet from Gathhepher. 26 For the Lord saw the bitter plight
of Israel-she had no one to help her. 27 And he had not said that he would
blot out the name of Israel, so he used King Jeroboam II to save her. TLB
From
http://www.sonlightpublishers.com |
. |
 |
The next time God spoke to Abram
about the land meant for his descendants, was after he had moved north from
the Negev to a place between Bethel and Aiin, a mountainous area (later of
Judea). It was here that God said to Abram,
"Lift up your eyes from
where you are and look north and south, east and west. 15 All the land that
you see I will give to you and your offspring forever (Genesis
13:14-15).
Since Abram's vantage point was
a high area, he must have been able to look well over the Jordan River on
the east, claiming the area by being able to see it. It did, in fact later
become the tribal areas of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh.
Note that Aroer, destined
for desolation in Isaiah 17:2, is included in Reuben's territory (Jordan
today). Consequently, this area will revert back to Israel after the fulfillment
of Isaiah 17. It might be an ongoing fulfillment of Balaam's prophesy in
Numbers 24:15: Then
he uttered his oracle: "...17 A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will
rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all
the sons of Sheth. 18 Edom will be conquered; Seir, his enemy, will be conquered,
but Israel will grow strong. 19 A ruler will come out of Jacob and destroy
the survivors of the city."
Zechariah 10:10
gives an indication of how
far the Promised Land will to the north and north east.
"I will bring them
back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to Gilead
and Lebanon, and there will not be room enough for them. 11 They will
pass through the sea of trouble; the surging sea will be subdued and all
the depths of the Nile will dry up. Assyria's pride will be brought down
and Egypt's scepter will pass away. 12 I will strengthen them in the LORD
and in his name they will walk," declares the LORD. 11:1 Open your
doors, O Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars."
Lebanon actually seems not to have
been as well defined as it is today. This fact is also reflected
in Deutoronomy 1:7
"Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all
the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western
foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites
and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 See, I
have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land that the
LORD swore he would give to your fathers--to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--and
to their descendants after them."
From this reference to Lebanon,
it is clear that the present country of Lebanon, will eventually disappear
and become Israeli territory.
So far, the Sinai isn't
included
Let's get ahead of ourselves, and
mention that the eventual territorial area of Israel will roughly
comprise the areas occupied by the 10 nations mentioned in Genesis
15:19-21: ...the Kenites,
Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites,
Girgashites and Jebusites.
The best indication of the
eventual area of Israel can be determined if one could demarcate to areas
of the above ten nations. This demarcation will be done in the
table below that is divided into blocks representing areas east and west
of the Jordan River.
The Kenites: Numbers 24:" 21 Then he saw the
Kenites and uttered his oracle: "Your dwelling place is secure, your nest
is set in a rock; 22 yet you Kenites will be destroyed when Asshur takes
you captive."
Asshur is one one of the sons of Shem, and according to Genesis 10:30, the
region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern
hill country - bordering the Tigris river. It shows how far Israel will stretch
to the north-east, actually beyond the Euphrates River
In the Israelite era, we come across them in Saul's war with the Amalekites:
1 Sam 15:4 So Saul mobilized his army at Telaim. There
were two hundred thousand troops in addition to ten thousand men from Judah.
5 The Amalekites were camped in the valley below them. 6 Saul sent a message
to the Kenites, telling them to get out from among the Amalekites or else
die with them. "For you were kind to the people of Israel when they came
out of the land of Egypt," he explained. So the Kenites packed up and left.
7 Then Saul butchered the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, east
of Egypt. 8 He captured Agag, the king of the Amalekites, but killed everyone
else. TLB
As we'll see below, the Amalakites lived in the Judean mountains and in the
wilderness areas further south. Above we saw that Saul
"butchered the Amalekites from Havilah all the way
to Shur, east of Egypt." Havilah probably was in Arabia (today Saudi
Arabia because that is where Ishmael ended up. His sons "...lived from
Havilah to Shur, which is facing Egypt as you come toward Assyria; Gen 25:18.
See also
Scripture
Keywords
.
 |
|
The Hittites: The lived in the Hebron area at the time of Abraham:
Genesis 25:9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of
Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son
of Zohar the Hittite, 10 the field Abraham had bought
from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.
Later, however, they were shown to live an the area stretching from Damascus,
northwards; Turkey today. This can be seen in the map on the left.
2 Chronicles 1:16 Solomon's horses were imported
from Egypt and from Kue--the royal merchants purchased them from Kue. 17
They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and
a horse for a hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all the kings
of the Hittites and of the Arameans.
Map from "Understanding the Old Testament. Baruch Sarel
ISBN 965-220-364-5
|
The Canaanites and
Perizzites are mentioned
together as if they were sharing the same territory, apparently in the area
around Bethel and Ai (Ephraim) - Genesis 13:3
Genesis 13:7 And quarreling arose between Abram's herdsmen and the herdsmen
of Lot. The Canaanites and Perizzites
were also living in the land at that time.
...16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for
the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."
Kenizzites/Kadmonites:
Genesis 15:19-21 (Just mentions
names)
Deuteronomy 7:1 When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering
to possess and drives out before you many nations--the Hittites, Girgashites,
Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger
and stronger than you-- 2 and when the LORD your God has delivered them over
to you and you have defeated them, then you must
destroy them totally. Make no treaty
with them, and show them no mercy.
1 Kings 9:20 All the people left from the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites,
Hivites and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites), 21 that is, their
descendants remaining in the land, whom the Israelites could not
exterminate--these Solomon conscripted for his slave labor force, as it is
to this day.
The Amalekites
The Amalekites were not mentioned among the nations whose land was to become
part of Israel, but they were among the nations Israel had to fight for land.
We will see from the discussion below that that they were associated with
the mountains of Judea north (Ephraim) & west of the Dead Sea and areas
further south of the Wadi-el-Arish and west towards Egypt in the Wilderness
of Shur, that indicates flexibility concerning Israel's southern boundary.
That they lived as far north as the mountains of Ephraim, is claer from the
following:
Judg 12:13 Next was Abdon (son of Hillel) from Pirathon.
14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He
was Israel's judge for eight years. 15 Then he died and was buried in Pirathon,
in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites. TLB
The first mention of the Amalekites was at the time Ched-or-laomer,
king of Elam and some allies were the strong men, dominating the area, including
Sodom where Abraham's nephew, Lot, lived (Gen 14:1-6). It was stated that
"war filled the land" and a lot of tribes/kingdoms/clans were overrun, including
the Amalekites (Gen 14:7 )
The Amalekites again feature strongly in the report of the ten spies (of
little faith, compared to the other two, Joshua & Caleb) and their
recommendation that Israel didn't have a chance against these people - of
whom some were "giants." The Israelites' acceptance of their report led to
God's sending them back into the desert:
Num 13:29 The Amalekites live in the south,
while in the hill country there are the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites;
down along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and in the Jordan River valley
are the Canaanites." TLB
Num 14:25 But now, since the people of Israel are so afraid of the Amalekites
and the Canaanites living in the valleys, tomorrow you must turn back into
the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea." TLB
Another indication of the southern boundary of the Promised Land is
the location from where the spies were sent, namely the wilderness of Paran
(roughly between the top ends of the Red Sea fork - the one extending towards
Egypt and the one ending in Aqaba:
Num 13:1 Jehovah now instructed Moses, 2 "Send spies
into the land of Canaan-the land I am giving to Israel;" ...3 (The
Israelis were camped in the wilderness of Paran at the time.) TLB
It is also of interest to note that the mountains of Paran are the source
of the "River of Egypt" (Wadi-el-Arish) - Adam
Clarke's Commentary.
Judg 10:11 But the Lord replied, "Didn't I save you from the Egyptians, the
Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites,
and the Maonites? Has there ever been a time when you cried out to me that
I haven't rescued you? TLB |
