D2 – The Promised Land – A Biblical View

What Is Wrong With This Picture (of the Promised Land)?

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #124 posted May 19, 2021, edited June 3, 2021.

1 – THE RIVER OF EGYPT

The above map shows the boundaries of the land which God promised to the Israelites in perpetuity as extending from the Euphrates River in the north to the Nile River in the south. The map is in error. The Promised Land extends from the Euphrates River in the north to the River of Egypt[1] (also called the Brook of Egypt) in the south. The latter name refers to the Wadi El Arish, which was the northern boundary of Egypt for millennia. The Promised Land does not include the Sinai Peninsula and the territory between the Red Sea and the Nile River.

2 – SOME COMMENTS ON THE RIVER OF EGYPT

You will see from the comments below that this border between Canaan and Egypt played an important role in the histories of both the Egyptians and the Hebrews..

2A – The Crossing by Abraham

After Terah died in Haran circa 1894 BC, Abraham traveled south and crossed the Euphrates River, thereby leaving Mesopotamia and entering Canaan. Later in that year or the next, Abraham traveled south and crossed the River of Egypt, thereby leaving Canaan and entering Egypt, where he visited the pharaoh Cheops=Khufu=Osirophus=Sufi I (1901-1880 BC), the first king of the 4^th Dynasty of Egypt.

2B – The Location of Avaris

After 34 years of rule by the 13^th Dynasty pharaohs Ramesse (1498-1469 BC) and Concharis (1469-1464 BC), the Middle Kingdom of Egypt was ended by a catastrophe that cause first the Ten Plagues of Egypt and then the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. The Hebrews fled across the top of the Bitter Lakes and then down the southwestern coast of the Sinai Peninsula to Pi-Ha-Kiroth, the western landfall of the Strait of Tiran. There, God first parted the waters of the strait, thereby allowing the Hebrews to crossover into Midian (the westernmost point of Saudi Arabia which forms the eastern shore of the Gulf of Aqaba), and then closed the waters of the strait, thereby drowning Pharaoh Concharis and his army.

Meanwhile, the catastrophe unsettled the Hyksos=Amalekites in Arabia, who traveled south into Midian, where they met the Hebrews traveling north. After an inconclusive battle at Rephidim, they separated, with the Hebrews continuing north to the southern foot of Jabal Al Lawz =Mount Sinai, and the Hyksos=Amalekites continuing south into Egypt, which they occupied for the next four centuries (1464-1041 BC). At some point, they built a fortress at the northern border of Egypt, which was called Avaris. Following Velikovsky,[2] I believe that Avaris was located at El Arish, where the River of Egypt empties into the Mediterranean Sea, and from which they exercised control of the Nile Delta and sent raiding parties into Canaan.

The last of the Hyksos=Amalekite kings was Agag=Apepi=Apophis=Ogyges, who ruled for 61 years (1102-1041 BC). In 1058 BC, another catastrophe probably caused the Flood of Ogyges in Egypt, which created unsettled conditions in the land that probably led to two events. (1) In 1052 BC, descendents of Ramesse and Concharis retook the throne in Thebes, ruling it for the next 11 years (1052-1041 BC). The first was Senakhtenre Ta’o I=Queen Tetyshery (1052-1050 BC); the second was Sequenenre Ta’o II=Queen Ahhotep (1050-1048 BC), and the third was Prince Kamose (1048-1041 BC). (2) Probably at the same time, Agag fled from Thebes to Avaris, from which he intended to strengthen his control over lower Canaan and the Nile Delta.

Circa 1041 BC, the Israelites and the Egyptians entered into an alliance to put an end to the Hyksos=Amalekite dominance of the region. The Hebrews were led by Samuel, who judged Israel from 1073 to 1030 BC, and Saul, who was anointed to be king c.1048 BC, but was subordinate to Samuel until the latter’s death in 1030 BC. The Egyptians were led by Prince Ahmose, who was the younger brother of Kamose. They laid siege to Avaris, overwhelmed it, slaughtered its inhabitants, and then razed it to the ground. After the victory, Prince Ahmose succeeded his brother on the Theban throne and founded a new dynasty. In 1030 BC, Samuel died, and Saul reigned for 2 years (1030-1028 BC) as King of Israel without Samuel. Thus, the 18^th Dynasty of Egypt (1041-812 BC) and the United Kingdom of Israel (1030-948 BC) rose to power and prominence simultaneously at the end of the 2^nd Millennium BC.

2C – The Location of the Mariannu Garrison

Following Velikovsky,[3] I believe that Egypt’s Dynasty 30=20 lasted 19 years (381-362 BC). Its first pharaoh was Nectanbo=Ramses III, who reigned for 18 years (381-363 BC). During his reign, there were three wars:

1-War between Egypt & Libya lasted 3 years (381-379 BC) – When Libyans invaded Egypt, the Egyptians were helped by Athenian mercenaries, who had been hired by Achoris, and by some Persians (the Pereset) who were garrisoned at a fortress on Egypt’s western frontier.

2-War between Egypt & Persia (the Pereset) lasted 3 years (379-376 BC) – As soon as danger on the western front ceased, Nectanbo I=Ramses III revolted against Persia. When a Persian force approached Egypt, the Egyptians were helped by Athenian mercenaries under the command of Admiral Chabrias, who defeated the Persians. When Persia complained to Athens, the Greeks replaced Chabrias with General Iphicrates, who was ordered to assist the Persians.

3-War between Egypt & a Persian-Athenian Alliance lasted 2 years (376-374 BC); a Persian-Greek force under the joint command of Pharnabazus (Persian) and Iphicrates (Greek) assembled at Amor in Syria, but the two generals could not agree on how to proceed. Meanwhile, a Greek naval force assembled at Akko and sailed for the Nile Delta. It attacked Pelusium (a fortress at the northernmost point of the seven mouths of the Nile; probably modern day Port Said), but it was repelled. It next attacked the fortress at Mendesium and invested it. Meanwhile, the Egyptians moved an Israeli garrison (the Mariannu) from Jeb-Elephantine to Zahi, a fortress somewhere on the coast east of Pelusium (possibly about 20 miles away, but more likely 90 miles away, at El Arish, which would have been the logical place to intercept a Persian force moving southward through Canaan). With a hostile force between it and the main army, and with the Nile beginning to overflow, the Greek fleet set sail for home and the war ended – a victory for Nectanbo I=Ramses III.

In 363 BC, Necatnbo=Ramses III was succeeded by Tachos I=Ramses IV, who ruled for 1 year (363-362 BC).

[1] See the fourth expression of the 2^nd Abrahamic Covenant re the Land (Genesis 15:18-21).

[2] See Velikovsky, Immanuel, Ages in Chaos, Doubleday, New York, 1952. The above dates, however, are mine.

[3] See Velikovsky, Immanuel, Peoples of the Sea, Doubleday, New York, 1977. The above dates, however, are mine.

The Jews – Their Election, Their Land, and Their Book

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #103 posted August 26, 2019, edited March 10, 2021.

The Jews are possibly the most unpopular people on earth. Why?

Their Election

One reason the Jews are unpopular is that they claim to be God’s Chosen People. That seems to be a bit presumptuous to most Gentiles. It’s one thing for people to claim that they are special in the eyes of their own god or gods. It is quite another thing to claim that they are special in the eyes of the only God, the Creator of Universe. Yet that is what they do.

Their Land

Another reason the Jews are unpopular is that they claim ownership of a substantial portion of the Middle East that lies athwart the crossroads of the world.

Originally the land in question was settled by the Canaanites. It was promised to Abraham by God in 1894 BC. It was seized by the Jews in a campaign led by Joshua from 1424 to 1418 BC, when it was divided among the twelve tribes of Israel. It was held by them until 685 BC, when the Assyrians under Sargon II seized a portion it (the Northern Kingdom of Israel) and carried off most of the Israelites to the territories northeast of Assyria. Then, in 555 BC, the Neo-Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar seized the rest (the southern Kingdom of Judah) and carried off the Judean elite to Babylon and its surrounding region. During the next 2502 years (555 BC-1948 AD), it suffered under the heavy hands of a series of invaders, each of whom exercised hegemony over it, all the while allowing some Jews to remain there:

- Under the hegemony of the Neo-Babylonians (555-485 BC). The city and its Temple were in ruins, and the Jewish elite lived in exile in Babylon.
- Under hegemony of Persia (485-330 BC), at the beginning of which many of the Jews living in exile were allowed to return to Jerusalem.
- Under the hegemony of Macedon (330-146 BC).
- Under the hegemony of Rome (146 BC-324 AD), which included: the Maccabean Kingdom (143-37 BC) that was instituted by rebels as an independent kingdom and then was ruthlessly suppressed by Rome; the Herodian Kingdom (37 BC – 39 AD) that was instituted by Rome as a Roman satrapy and then replaced by Rome in favor of a Roman governorship; and then the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple and the banishment of the of the Jews from Judea (70 AD).
- Under the hegemony of the Byzantines (324-624 AD).
- Under the hegemony of the Arabs (624-1099 AD).
- Under the hegemony of the Crusaders (1099-1291 AD).
- Under the hegemony of the Mamluks (1291-1517 AD).
- Under the hegemony of the Ottoman Turks (1571-1917 AD).
- Under the hegemony of the British (1917-1948 AD).

On May 14, 1948, when The Proclamation of the Establishment of the State of Israel was issued by David Ben-Gurion, a portion of the land came under the sovereignty of the Jewish people. This sovereignty was extended over Jerusalem during the Six Day War (1967) and over the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War (1973). Since then the Jews have been under continuous attack by the surrounding nations, each of which claims a right to the land – or at least a portion of it – based on the time when they exercised hegemony over it. Consequently the Jews are continually forced to justify their possession of the land by word and by military force.

A good example of this occurred on Monday, April 29, 2019. Two days later, on Wednesday, May 1, 2019, CBNNews.com carried an article by Emily Jones under the headline: “’This is the Deed to Our Land’: Israel’s Ambassador Takes Out Bible at UN to Prove Jewish People’s Claim to Israel.” The article in its entirety reads as follows:

Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon used the Bible to defend the Jewish people’s claim to the land of Israel during a special session at the United Nations Security Council on Monday.

Danon was tasked with the job of proving the case for Jews’ connection to the Holy Land during the session. He outlined four reasons, “the Bible, history, international law, and the pursuit of international peace and security.”

In a dramatic moment, Danon opened the Bible and read aloud God’s covenant with Abraham from Genesis 17: “And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout the generations for an everlasting covenant. And I will give to you and your descendants after you all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession and I will be their God.”

Danon then raised up the Bible, turned to attendees and said, “This is the deed to our land.”

“From the book of Genesis to the Jews’ exodus, from Egypt to receiving the Torah on Mt. Sinai, and to the realization of God’s covenant in the holy land of Israel, the Bible paints a consistent picture. The entire history of our people and our connection to Eretz Israel begins right here,” he continued while lifting up the Bible once again.

Danon argued that all of the Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – affirm the Jewish people’s connection to Israel.

“The Qur’an itself accepts the divine deed of the Jewish people to the land of Israel,” he said.

That was exactly the right way to assert Israel’s claim to the land which it occupies. He quoted from the Bible, the written Word of God, who created Universe. There is no higher authority in Universe. Yet few people took the idea of a divine deed seriously. Nonetheless, I believe that God will honor the Israelis here, for he says in KJ21 Samuel 2:30, “,,,them that honor me I will honor.”

Their Book

There is only one divine book in existence. It is the Bible. It consists of two parts: the Tenakh (or Old Testament), which was written in Hebrew by Jews, and the New Covenant Scriptures (or New Testament), which was written in Hebraic Greek by Jews.

Unfortunately, most Jews only claim the Tenakh as their own (Ambassador Danon undoubtedly help up a copy of the Tenakh at the UN) and, even worse, view the Talmud as their highest authority. Thus they miss the fact that the Jewish Messiah lies at the center of the entire Bible and is the central character in Universe’s drama. That they do so I regard as one of the genuine tragedies of history.

Moreover, few people recognize the Bible for what it is, the Word of God written. It claims to be divinely inspired and therefore completely trustworthy, yet most people pick and choose what portions of it they will believe – if any.

Psalm 2

All of the foregoing reminds me of Psalm 2, which in the NIV translation reads as follows:

Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together against the LORD
and against his Anointed One.
“Let us break their chains,” they say,”
and throw off their fetters.”

The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
Then he rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
“I have installed my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”

I will proclaim the decree of the LORD:
He said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.
Ask of me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
You will rule them with an iron scepter;
you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry
and you be destroyed in your way,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

The psalm is speaking about God-the-Father and his Son, whom he sent into the world in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Promised Messiah of Israel, to be born of a virgin, live a sinless life, die on the cross to atone for the sins of the world, return to life on the third day, ascend to Heaven fifty days later, and come again in power and glory to wreak God’s vengeance on a rebellious world, create new heavens and a new earth, and rule the world from Jerusalem forever as Prophet, Priest, and King.

Conclusion

One cause of God’s wrath is the refusal of the nations of the world to recognize the Jews as God’s Chosen People and their right to the land which God gave them – i.e. the former land of Canaan in its entirety. Opinions vary. Some voices recognize the Jews’ right to part of the Promised Land. Other voices deny their right to any part of that land. Still other voices call for the elimination of the Jews from the face of the earth.

I find that very few people, among whom I include myself, recognize that the Jews are God’s Chosen People and that all of Palestine belongs to the them (see my blog posted September 26, 2016). The reason is that few people recognize that the Bible is the Word of God and therefore inviolate. It created and under-girds all of Creation. All of human inquiry and investigation must start with the question, “What does God’s Word say about this?” As for what he said about Palestine, Danon quoted him accurately.

Does Palestine belong to the Jews?

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #011 posted September 26, 2016, edited March 9, 2021.

That events in the Middle East occupy prominent positions in the reporting of newspapers and TV stations throughout the world on a daily basis does not get much attention. Moreover, what the Bible says about God’s election of the ancient Hebrews as his Chosen People and his gift to them of the Land of Canaan in perpetuity gets even less. Yet God created Universe and is absolutely sovereign over it. To ignore in the 21^st century AD what he chose to do in the 19^th century BC invites his wrath. Expect trouble.

Preamble

Although Palestine is not a Biblical name for the land which God promised to Israel, and which is now occupied in various degrees by the Lebanese, Syrians, Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, and Saudis, I use it because it is the term which most people today use for the portion of the Promised Land which is currently occupied by the Palestinians and Israelis, and which appears stuck in the craw of the world.

SEVEN-FOLD PROMISE OF LAND

God uttered His promise of land to the Hebrews seven times – five times to Abraham, once to Isaac, and once to Jacob. The promise was then confirmed by Moses.

1^st Promise – given to Abraham: “And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him” (Genesis 12:7).

2^nd Promise – given to Abraham: “And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee” (Genesis 13:14-17).

3^rd Promise – given to Abraham: “And he said unto [Abram], I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it” (Genesis 15:7).

4^th Promise – given to Abraham: “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: 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” (Genesis 15:18-21).

5^th Promise – given to Abraham: “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:8).

6^th Promise – given to Isaac: “Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father” (Genesis 26:3).

7^th Promise – given to Jacob: “And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed” (Genesis 28:13).

Moses’s confirmation of God’s promise of the land. “When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (KJV Deut 7:1-8).

EXTENT OF THE PROMISED LAND.[1]

In addition to promising the Land of Canaan to the Jews, God specified the extent of the Promised Land so that mankind could not plead ignorance concerning what he was doing.

Certain territory. In His fourth promise of the Land (Genesis 15:18), God defined the territory that He was giving as all the land between the Euphrates River in the north and the River of Egypt (now the Wadi El Arish in the Sinai peninsula) in the south. Moreover, God and Moses mentioned the following people that must be driven out of the land or destroyed: the Amorites twice, the Canaanites twice, the Girgashites twice, the Hittites twice, the Hivites, the Jebusites twice, the Kadmonites, the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Perizzites twice, and the Rephaims. In addition, in his sixth promise of the land, God appears to have included Philistia. Thus, the Promised Land includes all the land between the Euphrates on the north and the Wadi El Arish on the south, and between the Jordan River on the east and the Mediterranean Sea on the west – that is, Lebanon, Syria south of the Euphrates, Israel, Jordan west of the Jordan River (i.e. the west bank), and Sinai north of the Wadi El Arish.

Probable territory. The Promised Land probably also includes Gilead, the land on the east bank of the Jordan River that was occupied by Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. “And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses” (KJV Joshua 22:9).

BASIS OF GOD’S GIFTS: GRACE

In the case of both his gift of election and his gift of land, God made clear to the Jewish people that he was giving them these things for his own reasons, one of which was that he had decided to love them, and one of which was that he wished to demonstrate that he always keeps his Word. Neither gift was merited in any way. Indeed, God went out of his way to point out that they were insignificant in number, unrighteous in character, and generally “stiff-necked” (i.e. stubborn and troublesome).

Grace, not merit, was the basis of God’s election of Israel: “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations” (Deuteronomy 7:6-9).

Grace, not merit, was the basis of God’s gift of the Land: “Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee. Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiff-necked people” (Deuteronomy 9:4).

WARNING

Until the nations of the world realize and acknowledge that God chose the Jewish People to be “the apple of his eye”[2] and gave them the land of Canaan (Palestine) to hold in perpetuity, Israel is going to be a constant source of trouble for the nations. Moreover, if any nation turns against Israel, it will suffer retribution at the hands of an angry God, for “…the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (KJV Genesis 12:1-3).

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[1] The Promised Land is synonymous with Canaan – see fourth and fifth promises.

[2] Zechariah 2:8.