What are the Borders that God Determined for Israel?

What are the Borders that God Determined for Israel?

On August 12, 2025, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared with Sharon Gal, from i24 News, that he is “very” attached to the vision of a “Greater Israel” (The Times of Israel). The term “Greater Israel” was used after the Six Day War of June 1967 to refer to Israel and the areas it had just conquered which included East Jerusalem, the West Bank (i.e., Judea and Samaria), the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights.

Gal further asked Netanyahu if he believes he is on a mission on behalf of the Jewish people. Netanyahu declared that he is “on a mission of generations – there are generations of Jews that dreamt of coming here and generations of Jews who will come after us.” Netanyahu continued, “So if you’re asking if I have a sense of mission, historically and spiritually, the answer is yes.”

Netanyahu’s comments touch upon one of the most hotly debated topics concerning Israel, specifically, the question of Israel’s claim to the land it currently occupies. This question has received even greater press after Netanyahu announced on August 10, 2025 his plan to end the war with Hamas along with his plan for the Gaza Strip the day after Hamas is defeated. Netanyahu summarized his five principles for concluding Israel’s war with Hamas as follows:

“One, Hamas [is] Disarmed. Second, all hostages [are] freed. Third, Gaza is Demilitarized. Fourth, Israel has overriding security control. And five, Non-Israeli, peaceful civil administration, by that I mean a civilian administration that doesn’t educate its children for terror, that doesn’t pay terrorists, and doesn’t launch terrorist attacks against Israel, that’s what we want to see in Gaza. So, it’s neither Hamas or the PA” (Prime Minister’s Office).

On the international front, there has been significant opposition and even outrage towards Netanyahu’s plan. Additionally, France, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, nations who have historically claimed to be Israel’s allies, have recently stated they will recognize a Palestinian State at the United Nations General Assembly in September of this year.

But while men fret and nations scheme about this issue, what is needed is the counsel from God’s Word, the Bible. From the Bible it is clear that God has something to say about Israel’s borders.

What are the borders that God determined for Israel?

Recently, I shared on Episode 93 of the Blessors of Israel Podcast, “Does God Approve of a Two-State Solution?”, that in Genesis 15, God established a Grant covenant with Abram which means God bound Himself by an oath to unilaterally and unconditionally give the land to Abram and his descendants forever.

In verse 18, God declared what the borders of the Promised Land would be: “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.”

God later confirmed the Promised Land borders to Moses in Deuteronomy 1:6-8 and then to Joshua in Joshua 1:4.

Let’s identify the borders that God promised to Israel through His covenant with Abram in Genesis 15:

The western boundary is the “Great Sea” which is the Mediterranean Sea (Joshua 1:4). The southern border is the Nile River in Egypt. The eastern border is the Euphrates River. And, the northern border is Lebanon.

In today’s context, what countries would be included in the borders that God determined for Israel in Genesis 15?

  • First, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
  • Second, a portion of Egypt to the south.
  • Third, some of Saudi Arabia to the southeast.
  • Fourth, all of Jordan to the east.
  • Fifth, a portion of Iraq to the east.
  • Sixth, some of Syria to the north.
  • Lebanon to the north.
  • And possibly the southeastern portion of Turkey as you follow the Euphrates River north by northwest.

When you put it all together, this means that God’s plan for Israel’s borders is far greater than Netanyahu’s vision of a “Greater Israel.”

Question: Has Israel ever fully occupied the boundaries determined by God in Genesis 15?

Answer: No. Some of the regions were controlled by King David and King Solomon but they were never fully possessed or occupied by Israel.

Question: Why didn’t Israel fully occupy the Promised Land according to the borders of Genesis 15?

Answer:  Because Israel failed to obey God’s command and allowed her enemies to remain in the Promised Land which ultimately tempted them to sin against God by worshiping idols.

Question: Will Israel’s borders ever extend to what God promised Abram in Genesis 15?

Answer: Yes. Please remember that since God bound Himself by an oath, His promise to Abram must be fulfilled and it will be fulfilled when Jesus Christ returns to establish His Millennial Kingdom. During Jesus Christ’s 1,000-year reign, the Promised Land will experience peace, tranquility, and blessings as Jesus reigns on the throne of David in keeping with God’s promise to David in 2 Samuel 7.

So one day, in the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ, God’s plan for a “Greater Israel” will be fully realized because God is faithful to keep all of His promises. God said it, so He will do it.

Please join me in praying for the salvation of Israel and her people.

Dr. Matthew Dodd | August 13, 2025

What Are Israel’s Future Borders?

Yesterday, the Jewish News Syndicate reported that Saudi Arabia “clarified that it will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel until there is a Palestinian state, an end to the war against Hamas and a complete military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.”

The Saudi’s response was a direct counter to comments made on Tuesday by White House National Security Council spokesman, John Kirby.

During his daily briefing, Kirby struck an optimistic tone regarding normalization talks between Israel and the Saudis.

Kirby said, “We certainly received positive feedback from both sides that they’re willing to continue to have those discussions.”

The Saudi foreign ministry promptly issued the following statement clarifying its position regarding any future normalization talks with Israel:

“The Kingdom has communicated its firm position to the U.S. administration that there will be no diplomatic relations with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is recognized on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and that the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip stops and all Israeli occupation forces withdraw from the Gaza Strip.”

The Saudi’s stance not only stalls the Biden administration’s efforts to establish peace between its two Middle Eastern allies, it also signals that the Saudis have aligned themselves with China and Iran against Israel and the U.S.

If Israel were to agree to Saudi Arabia’s demands it would signal the beginning of the end of the state of Israel as we now know it.

First, Israel would have to return the land it won during the Six-Day War in 1967 when it was attacked by Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. At that time, Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria, Jordan’s West Bank (i.e., Judea and Samaria) which included East Jerusalem, and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip. Israel later withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula in 1982 and then from Gaza in 2005. Such a withdrawal would open the floodgates for the likes of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Authority, which are Iranian proxies, to mount an endless barrage of attacks against Israel.

Second, East Jerusalem, which includes Israel’s sacred Western Wall, would be handed over to the Palestinians and made the capital of the new Palestinian state.

Third, Israel would have to end its war against Hamas and remove its forces from Gaza. Once this happened, Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists would regroup and attempt to finish what it started on October 7, 2023, meaning from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, Palestine will be free of the Jews.

While the demands by Saudi Arabia are troubling at best and the likelihood of Israel signing off is nil, let’s be clear, the Bible declares that one day, Israel’s borders will go well beyond the Jordan River. In fact, Israel’s border will extend to another river, the Euphrates River.

In Genesis 15, God established a Grant Covenant with Abram which means God bound Himself by an unconditional, unilateral oath to give the Promised Land to Abram and his descendants forever.

In verse 18, God declared what the borders of the Promised Land would be: “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.”

God later confirmed the Promised Land borders to Moses in Deuteronomy 1:6-8 and then to Joshua in Joshua 1:4.

Let’s identify the borders that God promised to Israel through His covenant with Abram.

  • The western boundary is the “Great Sea” which is the Mediterranean Sea (Joshua 1:4).
  • The southern border is the Nile River in Egypt.
  • The eastern border is the Euphrates River.
  • The northern border is Lebanon.

In today’s context, what countries would be included in the borders listed in Genesis 15?

  • First, the territory currently occupied by the Palestinians, the West Bank and Gaza, is included.
  • Second, a portion of Egypt to the south.
  • Third, some of Saudi Arabia to the southeast.
  • Fourth, all of Jordan to the east.
  • Fifth, a portion of Iraq to the east.
  • Sixth, some of Syria to the north.
  • Lebanon to the north.
  • And possibly the southeastern portion of Turkey as you follow the Euphrates River north by northwest.

Question: Has Israel ever fully occupied these boundaries?

Answer: No. Some of the regions were controlled by King David and King Solomon but they were never fully possessed or occupied by Israel.

Question: Why didn’t Israel fully occupy the Promised Land according to the borders of Genesis 15?

Answer:  Because Israel failed to obey God’s command and allowed their enemies to remain in the Land which ultimately tempted them to sin against God by worshipping idols.

Question: Will Israel’s borders ever extend to what God promised Abram in Genesis 15?

Answer: Yes. Please remember that since God bound Himself by an oath, His promise to Abram must be fulfilled and it will be fulfilled when Jesus Christ returns to establish His Millennial Kingdom. During Christ’s 1,000-year reign, the Promised Land will experience peace, tranquility, and blessings as Jesus reigns on the throne of David from the capital city, Jerusalem.

What a glorious day that will be.

Will you please join me in praying for the return of Jesus Christ, the peace of Israel, and for the leaders of the United States?

by Dr. Matthew Dodd | February 8, 2024

In an August 7, 2023 Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) article, Menachem Wecker reports on an all-too-familiar antisemitic activity, this from one of America’s most prestigious universities, Princeton, which is apparently allowing one of the most outrageous anti-Jewish accusations to be propagated. And it is not the first time this has happened at Princeton. In fact, these experiences are too common on liberal university campuses in the United States.

In what is described as a “modern-day antisemitic blood libel,” one of many spread through the centuries, a forthcoming Princeton University course reading list includes The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability by Jasbir Puar, a Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Director of the Graduate Program in Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University.

Published in 2017 by Duke University Press, the book won the National Women’s Studies Association’s Alison Piepmeier Book Prize in 2018. The book is part of a sample reading list for an upcoming Princeton University Humanities course.

The book promotes “queer”/homosexual/transgender, progressive liberal agendas along with Black Lives Matter propaganda and other social justice themes. The book blames nearly all of the world’s ills on the United States and Israel. 

Arsen Ostrovsky, CEO of the International Legal Forum, a network of lawyers, wrote a letter to Christopher Ludwig Eisgruber, President of Princeton, and Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi, Chair of Princeton’s Near Eastern Studies Department.

In the letter he writes, “The book in question contains a number of very serious and defamatory accusations, primarily that the Israel Defense Forces is harvesting the organs of Palestinians, including by ‘shooting to maim, rather than to kill,’ in order to create a ‘mass debilitation of Palestinian bodies.’ This charge is not only demonstrably false, but a modern-day antisemitic blood libel.”

Ostrovsky reminds that Princeton hosted a lecture in February by Mohammed El-Kurd, who he describes as “a notorious Jerusalem-based Palestinian activist, whom the Anti-Defamation League has called an ‘unvarnished, vicious’ antisemite, and who himself has also sickeningly accused Israelis of harvesting and eating the organs of Palestinians.”

Ostrovsky told JNS that his group requests the book be removed because it lacks educational value and scholarly merit, and because of the “potential for incitement to racial hatred and violence against the Jewish community by the use of age-old antisemitic blood libels.”

As reported in the JNS article, Morton Klein, National President of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), Susan Tuchman, Director of the Center for Law and Justice, and Jonathan Ginsburg, Managing Director of ZOA Campus, also wrote to Satyel Larson, Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton, and the Professor for the course The Healing Humanities: Decolonizing Trauma Studies from the Global South, listed as an offering in fall 2023-24, stating “Puar’s book is filled with anti-Israel falsehoods. Mandating your students to read this antisemitic book will likely lead them to unwarranted animosity toward Israel and Jews.” They added, “We strongly urge you to replace Puar’s book with a book that is based on the facts.”

They urge Princeton to rethink the “misguided and dangerous decision,” suggesting “If the goal is to educate, rather than indoctrinate Princeton students with false anti-Israel propaganda, then there are accurate books about the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict to include on your syllabus.” They conclude “Puar’s book is not worthy of a place on any reading list at Princeton and should be removed from yours.”

In a follow-up JNS opinion article, Davis Suissa summarizes “In his book Israel Denial, scholar Cary Nelson asserts that Puar’s work ‘suffers from basic flaws in the principles and practices that guide it—her methodology, her standards of evidence, her style of argumentation, her lack of interest in opposing views, her penchant for drawing conclusions unsupported by facts, and her willingness to let political convictions guide every aspect of her anti-Zionist project.’”

Blessors’ Key Takeaways

  • Antisemitism is on the rise in colleges and universities across the United States (See “Anti-Semitism on College Campuses across US”).
  • Books that lack educational value and scholarly merit should not be part of an educational curriculum.
  • Books passed-off as scholarly works should be reviewed by educational institutions, especially when they are grossly antisemitic and when they make outrageous claims that have no substantiation, which is the “luxury” of Israel’s enemies, who regularly fabricate stories, alter events, misreport, or purposely mislead receivers of their messages/reports.
  • Efforts to indoctrinate students in discredited conspiracies should be challenged, and blatant antisemitic propaganda promoted by any institution should be exposed and rejected.

Blessors’ Bottom Line

  • All forms of antisemitism have Satan as their source (See “What’s at the Heart of Anti-Semitism?”). 
  • Though Satan’s future is sealed, he has not given up the fight. He wants to destroy Israel to prevent the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of His Millennial Kingdom (Revelation 19-20).
  • Christians must understand what is behind all forms of antisemitism and reject whatever form antisemitism takes.

Geoff Hetrick and Dr. Matthew Dodd

August 11, 2023