Millennial Temple

Dr. Couch, I've been studying the plans and blueprint the Lord gave to Ezekiel for the millennial temple in chapters 40-48. In Genesis 15:18 God told Abraham in the covenant He made with him that the extent of the kingdom would be from "the river Egypt (possibly the Nile or the Wadi el Arish) to the great river Euphrates." This would include the areas of other pagan tribal peoples as mentioned in verses 19-21. Is there a conflict? ANSWER:  Absolutely not! You cited Ezekiel 47:18 that is only describing the boundaries on the east side of the land, with the starting point probably the city of Jerusalem. Other sides of the boundaries are described in verses 13-23. But there is another point you must consider. When the land was divided up for the Jews when they originally entered Canaan, the tribal divisions of the land were more limited and confined just to the heart of the territory, though the core of the land went all the way to the Euphrates.    In one sense, (1) the kingdom over which the Messiah will reign is the entire world though (2) the core of the land goes all the way over to the Euphrates. However (3) the tribal occupation was a much smaller territory. There is no contradiction. Remember, context, context, context!    To fully understand the divisions of the land mentioned you need to sit down with a map of the region and study carefully 47:13-23. On these verses Unger writes: "Ezekiel envisioned not only a rejuvenated land but an enlarged Canaan for all Israel, including the whole twelve tribes, to inhabit. The distribution closely follows the boundaries given Moses (Num. 34:1-15); however, the northern boundary is given first, in contrast to Numbers. … Some of the place names marking the boundaries of the land are still uncertain or unknown. But the general boundary can be traced to a point along the Mediterranean north of Tyre."    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch