The Promised Land: Gifted by God

The Downriver Disciples Project explores THE PROMISED LAND: GIFTED BY GOD

The "Promised Land," also described in the Holy Bible (1) as the "land flowing with milk and hon- ey," is the territory (Canaan) promised by the LORD to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-7, Genesis 15:1-20) and his descendants. This sworn oath was subsequently reaffirmed by the LORD with Abraham's son, Isaac (Genesis 26:1-6), and again with Abraham's grandson, Jacob (Genesis 28:10-15). This promise, also referred to as a "Covenant" (2), is fulfilled in Deuteronomy 1:8.

Before the Israelites, Deuteronomy 7:1 tells us that Canaan was inhabited by seven regional ethnic divisions or nations- the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (see also Genesis 10:15-19). Many were driven out by the Israelites following their departure from Egypt, which begins in Exodus 12:31-42. The Exodus narrative runs through the books of Exodus (3), Leviticus (4), Numbers (5), and Deuteronomy (6), with the Israelites finally entering Canaan in the book of Joshua (7).

Where is this "Promised Land" in the Bible? a. In Genesis 15:18-21, we read of the Covenant as well as the geographical boundaries: "On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, 'To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.'" b. The borders are also mentioned in Exodus 23:31, as the LORD said to Moses, "I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River." c. The borders are outlined in Numbers 34:1-12 and Ezekiel 47:13-23, as the LORD said to Mo- ses, “Command the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter Canaan, the land that will be allotted to you as an inheritance is to have these boundaries:

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1  SOUTHERN: “‘Your southern side will include some of the Desert of Zin along the border of Edom. Your southern boundary will start in the east from the southern end of the Dead Sea, 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, where it will turn, join the Wadi of Egypt and end at the Medi- terranean Sea.

 WESTERN: “‘Your western boundary will be the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. This will be your boundary on the west.

 NORTHERN: “‘For your northern boundary, run a line from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor and from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath. Then the boundary will go to Zedad, continue to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your boundary on the north.

 EASTERN: “‘For your eastern boundary, run a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 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 Galilee. Then the boundary will go down along the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea.

“‘This will be your land, with its boundaries on every side.’”

WHERE IS THE PROMISED LAND IN TODAY'S WORLD?

According to Genesis 15:18 and Joshua 1:4, the land God gave to Israel included everything from the Nile River in Egypt to Lebanon (south to north) and everything from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River (west to east). So, what land has God stated belongs to Israel? All of the land mod- ern Israel currently possesses, plus all of the land of the Palestinians (the West Bank and Gaza), plus some of Egypt and Syria, plus all of Jordan, plus some of Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Israel currently possesses only a fraction of the land God has promised.

Source: https://www.gotquestions.org/Israel-land.html.

See page 3 for biblical references.

See page 4 for document footnotes.

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2 BIBLICAL REFERENCES TO THE PROMISED LAND

OLD TESTAMENT Genesis 12:7, Genesis 13:15, Genesis 13:17, Genesis 15:7, Genesis 15:18, Genesis 17:8-9, Genesis 24:7, Genesis 26:3, Genesis 28:4, Genesis 28:13, Genesis 28:15, Genesis 35:12, Genesis 48:3-4, Genesis 50:24, Exodus 3:8, Exodus 3:17, Exodus 6:4, Exodus 6:8, Exodus 12:25, Exodus 13:5, Exodus 13:11, Exodus 20:12, Exodus 32:13, Exodus 33:1-4, Leviticus 14:34, Leviticus 20:24, Leviticus 23:10, Leviticus 25:2, Leviticus 25:38, Numbers 11:12, Numbers 13:2, Numbers 13:27, Numbers 14:8, Numbers 14:15-16, Numbers 14:23, Numbers 14:30, Numbers 14:40, Numbers 15:2, Numbers 16:13-14, Numbers 20:12, Numbers 20:24, Numbers 27:12, Numbers 32:7, Numbers 32:9, Numbers 32:11, Numbers 33:53, Num- bers 34:2, Deuteronomy 1:8, Deuteronomy 1:21, Deuteronomy 1:25, Deuteronomy 1:35, Deuterono- my 1:39, Deuteronomy 2:12, Deuteronomy 2:29, Deuteronomy 3:18, Deuteronomy 3:20, Deuterono- my 3:28, Deuteronomy 4:1, Deuteronomy 4:5, Deuteronomy 4:21, Deuteronomy 4:37-38, Deuterono- my 4:40, Deuteronomy 5:16, Deuteronomy 5:31, Deuteronomy 5:33, Deuteronomy 6:3, Deuteronomy 6:10, Deuteronomy 6:18, Deuteronomy 6:23, Deuteronomy 7:13, Deuteronomy 8:1, Deuteronomy 8:10, Deuteronomy 9:5-6, Deuteronomy 9:23, Deuteronomy 9:28, Deuteronomy 10:11, Deuteronomy 11:9, Deuteronomy 11:17, Deuteronomy 11:21, Deuteronomy 11:31, Deuteronomy 12:1, Deuteronomy 12:10, Deuteronomy 15:4, Deuteronomy 15:7, Deuteronomy 16:20, Deuteronomy 17:14, Deuteronomy 18:9, Deuteronomy 19:1-3, Deuteronomy 19:8-10, Deuteronomy 19:14, Deuteronomy 21:1, Deuterono- my 21:23,Deuteronomy 24:4, Deuteronomy 25:15, Deuteronomy 25:19, Deuteronomy 26:1-3, Deuter- onomy 26:9, Deuteronomy 26:15, Deuteronomy 27:2-3, Deuteronomy 28:8, Deuteronomy 28:11, Deu- teronomy 28:52, Deuteronomy 30:20, Deuteronomy 31:7, Deuteronomy 31:19-23, Deuteronomy 32:49, Deuteronomy 32:52, Deuteronomy 34:4, Joshua 1:2, Joshua 1:6, Joshua 1:11, Joshua 1:15, Joshua 2:9, Joshua 5:6, Joshua 9:24, Joshua 13:6, Joshua 18:3, Joshua 21:43, Joshua 22:4, Joshua 23:5, Joshua 23:13, Joshua 23:15, Joshua 23:16, Joshua 24:29, Judges 2:1, Judges 6:9, 1 Kings 8:34, 1 Kings 8:36, 1 Kings 8:40, 1 Kings 9:6-7, 1 Kings 14:15, 2 Kings 21:8, 1 Chronicles 11:10, 1 Chronicles 16:15-18, 2 Chronicles 6:25, 2 Chronicles 6:27, 2 Chronicles 6:30-31, 2 Chronicles 7:19-20, 2 Chronicles 20:7, 2 Chronicles 33:8, Nehemiah 9:8, Nehemiah 9:15,Nehemiah 9:23, Nehemiah 9:36, Psalms 78:54-55, Psalms 105:8-11, Psalms 135:11-12, Psalms 136:21-22, Isaiah 14:1, Isaiah 60:21, Jeremiah 3:18, Jeremiah 7:6-7, Jeremiah 11:5, Jeremiah 24:10, Jeremiah 25:5, Jeremiah 30:3, Jeremiah 32:22, Jeremiah 35:15, Jeremiah 32:22, Ezekiel 11:17, Ezekiel 20:6, Ezekiel 20:14-16, Ezekiel 20:28, Ezekiel 20:42, Ezekiel 28:25, Ezekiel 34:13, Ezekiel 34:29, Ezekiel 36:28, Ezekiel 37:12-14, Ezekiel 37:21, Ezekiel 37:25, Ezekiel 45:8, Ezekiel 47:13- 23, Amos 9:15.

NEW TESTAMENT Acts 7:5, Acts 13:19, Hebrews 11:9.

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3 FOOTNOTES

(1) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/the-good-news

(2) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/covenants

(3) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/exodus

(4) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/leviticus

(5) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/numbers

(6) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/deuteronomy

(7) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/joshua