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Continuing our discussion from part two, let us return to some of the verses I first shared with you in part one. Allow me to refresh your memory by sharing them again:

"Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan with the coasts thereof:) Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward: And your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin: and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea, and shall go on to Hazaraddar, and pass on to Azmon: And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon UNTO THE RIVER OF EGYPT, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea."


"This then was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah by their families; even to the border of Edom the wilderness of Zin southward was the uttermost part of the south coast. And their south border was from the shore of the salt sea, from the bay that looketh southward: And it went out to the south side to Maalehacrabbim, and passed along to Zin, and ascended up on the south side unto Kadeshbarnea, and passed along to Hezron, and went up to Adar, and fetched a compass to Karkaa: From thence it passed toward Azmon, and went out UNTO THE RIVER OF EGYPT; and the goings out of that coast were at the sea: this shall be your south coast . . . Ashdod with her towns and her villages, Gaza with her towns and her villages, UNTO THE RIVER OF EGYPT, and the great sea, and the border thereof:"


While we have now clearly established the northern and southern borders of the land which God had promised to Abram and his descendants, now we will focus our attention on the east-to-west breadth of the promised land. First of all, I want you to notice that Numbers 34:3-5 clearly states "this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan". So that phrase is telling us two things. First, that the boundaries are about to be described in the following verses. And second, that those boundaries are to encompass the land of Canaan itself, and NOT stretch all the way over to Iraq -- a.k.a. Mesopotamia -- in the east, or to the south into the land of Egypt. It just isn't so.

What Numbers 34:3-5 and Joshua 15:1-4, 47 are describing for us is the entire southeastern to southwestern portion of the land which was given to the Israelites. This land begins just below the Dead Sea -- which is referred to in these verses as "the salt sea" -- hugs the land of Edom, travels along the northern edge of the Sinai Peninsula, and terminates where the "river of Egypt" empties into the Mediterranean Sea, which is referred to in these verses as "the great sea".

To add some additional clarity to this issue, the reason why Edom forms the southeastern border of Israel is because that land was promised to Esau and his descendants -- and NOT to the Israelites -- who were known as Edomites. Consider the following set of verses which offer proof of this particular point:

"And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance, which he had got in the land of Canaan; and went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob. For their riches were more than that they might dwell together; and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle. Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom. And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir:"


"Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days. And the LORD spake unto me, saying, Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore: Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession."


"And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt."


If you study the three images below, you will see that the land of ancient Israel was flanked on the east and southeast by three nations: Ammon, Moab and Edom. Ammon was comprised of the descendants of Benammi, while Moab was comprised of the descendants of Moab. As the verses below explain, these two were the sons of the two daughters of Lot by their own father. Yes, a bit of desperate sexual hanky-panky went on there following the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plains:

"And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day."








As you may recall from your own Bible studies, it was Ruth the Moabitess who married Boaz, thus making her an ancestor of Jesus Christ. The Ammonites and the Edomites eventually became enemies of the Israelites. Much later, King Herod's lineage would arise from the Edomites. While Herod and his sons were Idumaean -- or Edomites -- Herod entwined his life with Jewish royalty when he married the Hasmonean princess Mariamne. He also practiced Judaism. However, Herod likewise became a strong supporter of Rome, and a lifelong friend of Mark Antony. In fact, Herod the Great -- the first Herod -- was nominated as the king of Judaea by the Roman senate, and declared the king of the Jews. In short, Herod the Great and his sons were puppets of Rome. According to the writings of Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, the final Herod was Herod Agrippa II, who fled to Rome, along with his sister named Berenice, following the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, where he led a life of comfort as a praetor.

As you may possibly already know, today, Ammon, Moab and Edom are known as the nation of Jordan. In fact, to this day, the capital city of Jordan is Amman, located in former Ammon. While we have now established the northern, southern, western and southeastern borders of ancient Israel, now we need to identify the northeastern border of the same. In order to do that, we're going to take a closer look at some of the verses I shared with you in part one:

"Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast."


From the previous verses, it is also easy to see that the eastern border of the Israelites' inheritance was to be the Jordan River. Thus, the Lord says to Joshua, "now therefore arise, go over this Jordan . . . unto the land which I do give to them". So the Lord is making it clear to Joshua that He is going to give them everything that is located to the WEST of the Jordan River. In short, they have to cross the Jordan River in order to get to the land which God is going to give to them. That is to say, the land of Canaan.

Just as Moses had stood a short time earlier on the summit of Mount Nebo -- located in current-day Jordan -- when the Lord showed him the land of promise, in my mind, it is also rather easy to imagine Joshua as he stood on a high bluff overlooking the eastern shore of the Jordan River, looking southward to the Negev Desert -- referred to here as "the wilderness" -- and northward -- noted by "this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites" -- and westward, across the Jordan River, towards the direction of the Mediterranean Sea -- noted by "unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun." Following are the verses which describe Moses' view of the Promised Land:

"And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither."


"Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be."


To reiterate, at the time that this promise was made to the Israelites by the Lord, they had not yet crossed the Jordan River. Anyone who possesses even a casual understanding of Biblical history, knows that Joshua and Caleb crossed from east to west towards Jericho, and not west to east towards modern-day Jordan. They were already in what constitutes a part of modern-day Jordan, so they were obviously looking to the west, and not eastward towards Saudi Arabia and Iraq. It is ridiculous to think that the Lord was promising them land which was behind their backs, when they were looking at the land which stretched for some fifty miles westward in front of them. So there should be no doubt regarding exactly what land the Lord was going to give to the Israelites.

As I mentioned earlier, if God truly promised Abraham all of the land which stretched as far east as the Euphrates River in the nation of Iraq, how do we explain then that even at the height of the kingdom, during the reigns of King David and his son, King Solomon, the Israelites never possessed that land? Isn't the answer rather obvious? God simply never promised that land to them. He plainly said everything west of the Jordan River. Period. Anything else is a fiction that has been invented by Zionist Jews and misguided pro-Israel Christians.

To continue, in Joshua 1:1-4, we also see a mention of the phrase "this Lebanon". The fact that this verse -- as well as Deuteronomy 11:24 -- says "this Lebanon" is an indication that it is referring to the mountainous area to the north around Mount Hermon. We can likewise confirm this point by a few other verses where both Lebanon and Mount Hermon are mentioned together:

"So Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of the same; Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, EVEN UNTO BAALGAD IN THE VALLEY OF LEBANON UNDER MOUNT HERMON: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them."


"Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. This is the land that yet remaineth: all the borders of the Philistines, and all Geshuri, From Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites: From the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that is beside the Sidonians, unto Aphek, to the borders of the Amorites: And the land of the Giblites, AND ALL LEBANON, TOWARD THE SUNRISING, FROM BAALGAD UNDER MOUNT HERMON UNTO THE ENTERING INTO HAMATH. All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto Misrephothmaim, and all the Sidonians, them will I drive out from before the children of Israel: only divide thou it by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee."


"Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions dens, from the mountains of the leopards."


Mount Hermon is a part of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. It straddles the border between modern-day Lebanon and Syria, but its southern slopes extend down into the Golan Heights, which are currently occupied by Israel. As I have mentioned before, according to the Book of Enoch, Mount Hermon is also the site where the Fallen Angels descended to the Earth. You can find Mount Hermon on the map below near the top of the image. I have also included a photograph of Mount Hermon.





As we have now seen, at the pinnacle of their power, King David and King Solomon controlled the land area described in all of the previous verses. In fact, even though it was not included in the original promise which God had been made to Abraham, they also controlled the area known as Transjordan which lies east of the Jordan River. Today, this land is a part of the country of Jordan.

Even though that land was not promised to the Israelites, and in fact was initially viewed as prohibited land by Moses, it eventually did fall under their jurisdiction when the Israelites were forced to fight against Sihon of the Amorites, because he refused to allow them to pass through his land, as they journeyed on their way to the Promised Land.

"And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the kings high way, until we be past thy borders. And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof. For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon . . . Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there. And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei. And the LORD said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land."


Later on, in Numbers 32, we discover that the tribes of Gad and Reuben asked Moses to allow them to remain on the east side of the Jordan River -- instead of crossing over into the land of Canaan -- because they had a lot of cattle, and the land of Gilead to the east of the Jordan River would be a good place for them. If you read the chapter, you will see that Moses gave them his blessing, and told them that if they were willing to cross the Jordan River into Canaan, and fight with the rest of the children of Israel, once the land of Canaan was subdued, they could return to Gilead on the east side of the Jordan River, and possess it. Consider the following verses:

"And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead: But thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord saith. So concerning them Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel: And Moses said unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the LORD, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession: But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the LORD hath said unto thy servants, so will we do. We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours. And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about."


As you can see, not only did Moses promise the tribes of Gad and Reuben land on the east side of the Jordan River, but he also made this same promise to half of the tribe of Manasseh as well. The other half of the tribe of Manasseh settled on the west side of the Jordan River. If you open your Bible to Joshua chapter twenty-two, you will find the fulfillment of this promise, if you wish to take the time to read it. If you are interested in reading a more detailed explanation concerning how the children of Israel acquired all of the land which was located just east of the Jordan River, even though it was not a part of the original promise, please consider visiting the following URL:

https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft596nb3tj&chunk.id=d0e3036&toc.id=d0e3036&brand=ucpress

At any rate, this is why King David and King Solomon still ruled over Transjordan hundreds of years later. Below you can see a map which will help you to visualize the topics we just discussed:



As I first mentioned to you in part one, there are different versions of the Greater Israel map to be found online. They are not all the same, because the different people who made them come from different backgrounds, and thus have their own understanding regarding what certain verses mean. Sadly, there are certain people who have arrived at the erroneous conclusion that God also promised all, or at least part, of Asia Minor -- that is to say, Anatolia, or Turkey -- to the Israelites. How did these people arrive at such a misguided conclusion? It would seem that their confusion arises from the fact that they have not correctly understood certain verses concerning the land of the Hittites. However, before I offer you an explanation, let me first share with you two maps which were apparently made by some of these misguided people, which show their distorted versions of Greater Israel:





To continue, according to the Scriptures, and as I briefly mentioned in part two, the Hittites were descended from Heth, who was one of the sons of Canaan. In turn, Canaan was one of the four sons of Ham. As for Ham, he was one of the three sons of Noah. In short, Heth was the grandson of Ham, and the great grandson of Noah. Here again are the verses from the Book of Genesis:

"And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad."


While their predominant location was in Asia Minor, later to be known as Anatolia, and today known as Turkey -- thus named after the modern nation's founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk -- the Hittites eventually expanded southward and controlled all of northern Syria at one point in history. Further south, they were in conflict with the Egyptians, particularly around Kadesh. The Hittites called their kingdom "Hattusa", which in the Akkadian language is Hatti. Thus, it is also referred to as Hatti-land. There is a belief that the Hatti may have been a people who preceded the Hittites in Anatolia, and that the Hittites simply kept the name Hattusa, and absorbed the Hatti culture.

However, the Hittites also lived in Canaan, particularly in the area of Hebron, which today is a part of the West Bank. Most Bible-knowledgeable Christians will be familiar with the descendants of Heth -- that is, the Hittites -- from the story of Abraham and Ephron the Hittite. Abraham in fact made a deal with Ephron whereby he purchased the cave of Machpelah from Ephron for four hundred shekels of silver, to be used as the burial place for Abraham's family. Below is the story in its entirety.

"And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him, Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead. And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you. And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying, Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead. And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land. And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there. And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant. And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city. And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan. And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth."


"And these are the days of the years of Abrahams life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years. Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife."


"And he [Jacob] charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people."


"And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them: For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre."


Below is a map where you can see where Mamre, Hebron and the cave of Machpelah are located, along with a few other places in ancient Israel:



The reason why this point is important, is because when God made His covenant with Abraham, and named the peoples of Canaan which the Israelites would conquer, the Hittites were named among them. Later, when Joshua and the Israelites were at the point of entering the land of Canaan, the LORD again reminded Joshua that the land of the Hittites would be given to them. Let me share those verses with you again:

"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."


"Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, ALL THE LAND OF THE HITTITES, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast."


Please go to part four for the conclusion of this series.

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