Has Israel’s territory ever encompassed the promise in Joshua 1:4?

Answer

In Joshua 1:4, God promised Joshua that the land of Israel would encompass territory extending “from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.” This territory would cover the land from the southern tip of Israel along the Red Sea to the Euphrates River in the east, the border of Syria in the north (the land of the Hittites), and the Mediterranean Sea (Great Sea) in the west. However, Israel has not yet controlled this entire land area.

During Joshua’s time, a significant portion of the land of Canaan came under Israelite control. By the time of David and his son Solomon (around 1000 BC, approximately 400 years after Joshua), a large area of land was either under Israel’s control or influence. Nevertheless, the complete territory promised to Israel in Scripture, as stated in Joshua 1:4 and elsewhere, remains unfulfilled.

Some individuals point to a later passage in the book of Joshua as apparently contradicting the promise in Joshua 1:4. Following the conquest of Canaan, the historical account states, “So the LORD gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. And the LORD gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their hand. Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass” (Joshua 21:43-45). There is actually no contradiction. At the time referenced in Joshua 21, all of Israel’s enemies had been subdued. None posed a threat to God’s people. God had granted them the right to everything He had promised in Joshua 1:4, and they were authorized to take possession of the entire land—all the way to the Euphrates—as soon as they needed it and when they called for it.

Dependent on the Lord for help. The fact that they never did so does not diminish the reality that God had kept His word.

Following Joshua’s passing, the book of Judges reveals that the Israelites turned away from God. As a consequence, God permitted their adversaries to grow stronger, and Israel forfeited the land that God had previously granted. Judges 2:14 states, “In his wrath against Israel the LORD handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were powerless to resist any longer.”

Several judges emerged during this era, engaging in a continuous struggle for dominance over Israel’s territory. Subsequently, under the rule of David and Solomon, Israel governed the largest portion of the Promised Land up to that point. Following Solomon’s reign, the kingdom was divided into the Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south. Both kingdoms eventually transgressed to such an extent that God permitted foreign nations to conquer them, leading to the exile of most Jews.

Nevertheless, God was not finished with His people, and He reinstated Israel’s land. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah chronicle the repatriation of the Jewish people from Babylon seventy years after their exile. The temple was reconstructed, and worship in Jerusalem was reinstated. Israel persisted in their land until AD 70 when the Romans demolished the temple and seized Jerusalem.

It was not until 1948 that the contemporary nation of Israel was founded following World War II. Today, more than six decades later, Israel has evolved into a prosperous nation and the oldest democracy in the Middle East. Nonetheless, many of its neighboring countries remain hostile, and a Palestinian movement aims to establish its own state within the confines of modern Israel’s territory.

The Bible predicts that God will ultimately fulfill the pledge to grant Israel complete authority over the Promised Land. The Messiah will ultimately govern Israel’s entire territory during the Millennium (Revelation 21—22;cf: Psalm 72:8).