God’s promises are so sure that as we progress through the Old Testament, you’ll see that all of God’s dealings with Israel are to bring this covenant to reality and make Israel a distinct, separate, and different nation. God will give them a promised land.

In Chapter 15, God deeds Abraham a specific geographical area of land according to the ancient customs of that time. It is absolutely crucial to understand that this was God’s promise to Abraham. This was not a mutual agreement. God literally deeded the land to Abraham and the nation of Israel. So it will happen. God said it; believe it.

Get Your Bible Out and Study the Bible Verses Below

In Genesis 12:1-3, God makes a covenant with Abraham, also known as the Abrahamic Covenant, in which He promises to bless Abraham and make him a great nation, and in turn Abraham’s descendants will be a blessing to all nations. As a part of this covenant, God also promises to give Abraham and his descendants a specific land:

“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'” (Genesis 12:1-3)

This promise of land is further specified in Genesis 15:18-21, where God outlines the specific borders of the land He promised to give to the nation of Israel:

“On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.'” (Genesis 15:18-21)

This verse lays out the specific boundaries of the land that God promised to give to the descendants of Abraham, which includes the land from the river of Egypt (likely the Nile) to the great river, the Euphrates, and the land of various ancient tribes, including the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.

Today, the Nile river is located in Egypt, Sudan, and Eritrea. The Euphrates river runs through Turkey, Syria and Iraq. This land today is part of Israel, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait.

It’s worth noting that the promise of land is the first part of the Abrahamic covenant, and it is a fundamental aspect of the relationship between God and the nation of Israel. This promise of land to the descendants of Abraham is reinforced throughout the Bible, and it is often cited as the reason for the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, interpretation of these promise and it’s application today is a subject of ongoing debate and there are different perspectives on what it means for modern nation-states.

Additional Support for the Promised Land

This promise of the land to the nation of Israel is reinforced throughout the Bible. Here are a few additional verses that mention the promised land and its borders:

“And the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.'”

(Genesis 12:7)

“And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

(Genesis 17:8)

“See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.”

(Deuteronomy 1:8)

“I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.”

(Joshua 1:3-4)

“For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing.” (Deuteronomy 8:7-9)

Takeaway

It is clear that throughout the Bible, God repeatedly promises to give the descendants of Abraham the specific land outlined in Genesis 15:18–21 as an eternal possession. This promise is an integral part of the Abrahamic Covenant and is reinforced throughout the Scriptures; as such, it is a fundamental aspect of the relationship between God and the nation of Israel.

What is often overlooked is that it is God who will fulfill this promise because it was God who promised the nation of Israel. It was not a mutual covenant. God deeded the land. During the ceremony highlighted in Genesis 15:9–21, it was God who made the promises to Abraham. Remember Abraham was asleep.

The bottom line is that God will fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. No people, no nation on earth will stop God from fulfilling His promise to Israel about giving them a geographical area of land. As stands now the entire world is against the nation of Israel even our beloved America is turning against Israel.