No — Israel has never fully possessed the land that God deeded to Abraham and his descendants.
God's promise stretched from the River of Egypt to the Euphrates and back around to the Red Sea. Even at Israel's greatest height under Solomon, the nation never obtained that full territory. According to Les Feldick, Israel will not enjoy all the promised land until the Millennial Kingdom when Christ returns.
Genesis 15:18 — God explicitly defines the boundaries of the land deeded to Abraham's seed, making it the foundational text for answering whether Israel has possessed all of it.
God's covenant with Abram in Genesis 15 specified that Abram's seed had already been given a vast, defined territory: from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates, with the boundary coming back around to the Red Sea. The wording is in the past tense — God says "have I given this land" — so the title deed was settled from the moment the covenant was cut. The Old Testament record shows that Israel's kingdom, even at its greatest under Solomon, did not extend to those full borders. The nation's territory reached only a little beyond Galilee and the Jordan — not all the way to the Euphrates or the Red Sea boundary described in Genesis 15.
Les Feldick is emphatic: Israel has never occupied all the land that God deeded to Abraham. He says, "Israel never occupied all this. They never have." Even under David and Solomon, Israel only went a little beyond Galilee and a little beyond the Jordan. Solomon took Israel to its greatest height and gained more land than anyone before or after him, but he still did not get all the territory promised in the Abrahamic Covenant. Les explains that the covenant boundaries run from the Euphrates down to the Red Sea and back up to the River of Egypt — far beyond what Israel ever controlled.
The promised real estate begins at the Mediterranean and extends east to the Euphrates River, with the northern line above Lebanon and the southern boundary reaching the Red Sea and the River of Egypt. Les points to Genesis 15 and says God deeded "this whole shebang" to Abraham — not just the Jordan-to-Mediterranean strip that is often called the Holy Land.
Solomon took the kingdom of Israel to its greatest height, getting even a little more than the territory of the two and a half tribes. His empire went out and then back, but it fell short of the full Abrahamic boundaries. As Les puts it, "Solomon didn't get all of it, but he got more than anyone before him or after him."
Yes, according to Les Feldick, but not yet. Israel will not enjoy all the promised land in the present age. Full possession awaits the Millennial Kingdom when Christ returns and Israel finally receives everything that was deeded to them. Les says plainly, "Israel will not enjoy this to the full until the Millennial Kingdom when Christ returns."
The Full Extent of the Deed
Les sketches the geographic scope of God's promise — from the Mediterranean out to the Euphrates and down to the Red Sea — and notes God promised it thousands of years ago through the Abrahamic covenant.
Israel Never Occupied It All
Les directly states that Israel never occupied all the deeded land, and even under David and Solomon they only went a little beyond Galilee and the Jordan. He also notes that present-day Israel is limited to the strip between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean.
Solomon's Empire Fell Short
Les explains that Solomon's kingdom was Israel's greatest territorial height, yet he did not reach all the way to the Euphrates; the Abrahamic Covenant promised land extending to the Euphrates, Red Sea, and River of Egypt.
God’s Plan for Israel vs. Gentiles: Understanding the Abrahamic Covenant
It's not all of a sudden all going to come on the scene at once, but the promises of God are so sure that as we move through the Old Testament, you're going to see all of God's dealing with this nation of Israel is to bring into fruition this covenant, where the nation of Israel will now be a nation of people, unique, separated, different from all the other nations.
From Genesis to Exodus: Understanding the Biblical Timeline of Israel
Israel has now been in the land over 200 years, and they're multiplying. And God is about ready to fulfill these promises that he had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He's going to now take them into the land that he had delineated in that Abrahamic covenant. But let's start in chapter 1, verse 1. This is, of course, a book of redemption. I think I mentioned that last week.
Future Full Possession in the Kingdom
Les teaches that God deeded the whole Middle East to Abraham, but Israel will not enjoy it fully until the Millennial Kingdom when Christ returns and the nation finally receives all the promised land.
Biblical Timeline: Creation to Christ's Kingdom!
And so from Genesis chapter 12 all the way up into our New Testament, the Bible is telling almost, I won't say totally, but the Bible is dealing almost totally with the nation of Israel. And He gives them the covenant promises back there in Genesis 12, that out of this one man will come a nation of people.
Is the New Covenant for Israel or the Church? Jeremiah 31 Explained
But for the most part, the Jews have been going back to the little land of Israel, based on God's covenant promise to that nation. Let's look at the next part of this Abrahamic covenant, and I always like to go to 2 Samuel chapter 7. We may have looked at it in recent weeks, but just in case we didn't, we've got to hit it again.
Genesis 15:18: In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
This is the main covenant passage Les references when defining the full extent of the land promised to Israel.
Genesis 15:19-21: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
Les refers to the tribes listed in this chapter as evidence that the whole region was included in the title deed given to Abraham.
No. As Les Feldick notes, Israel never occupied all the territory God deeded to Abraham. Even under Solomon, Israel's reach only extended a little beyond Galilee and the Jordan, not to the Euphrates.
Les says today's Israel is limited to a narrow strip between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, running from just south of Jerusalem up to the southern border of Lebanon. That is far smaller than the covenant boundaries.
Les teaches that full possession will happen in the Millennial Kingdom, after Christ returns. Until then, Israel will not enjoy all the territory that God has already deeded to them.
Watch the Teaching: The Boundaries of the Promised Land: What Does the Bible Say?