Numbers 34 lays out the boundaries of Canaan, the land that God was granting to the Israelites. Commentators note that Canaan was a recognizable entity at that time. It is mentioned, for example, in some Egyptian texts.
The land area described in this chapter includes more than Israel ever managed to claim, even in the time of David and Solomon. We might call the boundaries listed in Numbers 34 "aspirational boundaries" for Israel.
Much more expansive is the description of the promised land that God gave to Abraham in Genesis 15:18: "from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates."
In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on January 21, 2023, Rob Wilson explained the possibility that Gen 15:18 is intended as a merism, in this case a way of referring to the whole world. It is God's plan to bring salvation to all nations through the seed of Abraham. In this reading, Gen 15:18 is a Messianic prophecy.
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