1 Kings 4 · a question people ask
Is this the promise to Abraham kept?
The chapter doesn't say, but its words come close to the promises. The LORD told Abraham, "I will multiply your offspring greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore" (Genesis 22:17), and Jacob prayed it back: "make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which can’t be counted because there are so many" (Genesis 32:12). The land was promised "from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates" (Genesis 15:18). Here "Judah and Israel were numerous as the sand which is by the sea in multitude" (4:20), and "Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt" (4:21). 1 Kings 4 names neither Abraham nor a promise, and doesn't say which river "the River" is. Christians read it in two main ways. Both agree that the chapter itself makes no claim that a promise is kept here, and that "Nothing failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel" (Joshua 21:45).
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Kept, and reaching further
Those who read it this way note that Joshua says the land promise was kept: "So the LORD gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers" (Joshua 21:43), and "All came to pass" (Joshua 21:45). In Nehemiah the Levites (Nehemiah 9:5) pray of God's covenant with Abraham to give the land to his offspring, "and have performed your words, for you are righteous" (Nehemiah 9:8). Solomon himself says, "There has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant" (8:56). On this reading 4:20-21 shows the promise kept, and the New Testament speaks of the promise to Abraham reaching further, "that he would be heir of the world" (Romans 4:13), and of "a better country, that is, a heavenly one" (Hebrews 11:16).
Joshua 21:43-45 · Nehemiah 9:5-8 · 1 Kings 8:56 · Romans 4:13 · Hebrews 11:16
Kept for a time, with more to come
Those who read it this way note that the land was promised "for an everlasting possession" (Genesis 17:8), yet in 1 Kings the LORD warns Solomon, "I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them" (9:7). A later prophet says of Israel, "I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them" (Amos 9:15), and Paul writes of Israel, "they are beloved for the fathers’ sake" (Romans 11:28), and "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29). On this reading Solomon's day shows the promise kept for a time, and its full keeping for Israel in the land is still to come.
Genesis 17:8 · 1 Kings 9:7 · Amos 9:15 · Romans 11:28-29
The verses
“that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your offspring greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gate of his enemies.”
“You said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which can’t be counted because there are so many.’””
“In that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:”
“Judah and Israel were numerous as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry. Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.”