"Can any Bible literalists tell me what this means?"
jbennett...
"On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river[1] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates-- " Gen 15:18
The quote from Genesis 15:18 is a special part of the Abrahamic Covenant between God and Abraham (Abram). In it, God promises to give the land between the River of Egypt (the Nile) to the Euphrates river (in modern day Iraq) to the descendents of Abraham as their possession forever. It is important to note that the Covenant God made is performed by Himself (Gen 15:12-18), which means that the promise is unconditional and not dependent upon anything that Abraham or his descendents have to do.
Although the promises of God were to Abraham and his descendents, God Himself specifically excluded Ishmael (Gen 17:17-21), Abraham's illegitimate son through his wife's maid (Hagar) who was the father of the Arab nations. God also specifically directed the promises to be passed down solely through Abraham's son Isaac to Isaac's son Jacob (also known as Israel), the father of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Contrary to what is said on the site where you got the quote, the promise has yet to be completely fulfilled. The Israelites came close under King Solomon (1 Kings 4:21), but modern day Israel possesses only a fraction of the Promised Land. Many Christians (including myself) believe that all promises of God are always totally fulfilled and the Promise of the Land will only be completely fulfilled when the Messiah (Jesus) returns to rule over the Earth at the second coming and at that time He will restore the Children of the Promise (the Jews) to the full extent of the promised land as a permanent possession.
I am not sure what Jews believe concerning these passages - perhaps Zeev or others could comment on that.
Hope that helps.
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