As in the Pentateuch, in the concluding chapters of his book the prophet Ezekiel describes the ordering of the Holy Land...
As in the Pentateuch, in the concluding chapters of his book the prophet Ezekiel describes the ordering of the Holy Land and the distribution of land among the tribes of Israel. But in this ‘technical’ text we see several details of exceptional importance. As in the preceding chapters, these details emphasise that the prophet is speaking of something more than a merely earthly arrangement. Apocalyptic notes sound in his words, combined in a remarkable way with a ‘land registry plan’ for the renewed people of God.
Chapter 47 begins with a prophecy about a stream flowing from beneath the threshold of the Temple. There is no actual counterpart to it on the Temple Mount in the earthly Jerusalem, and so the prophet’s description should be understood as a symbol of a spiritual reality. Ezekiel says that this stream flowing from the House of God waters the whole earth and gives life to everything through which it flows. Everything flourishes along its banks, its waters teem with fish, and even the waters of the sea into which it flows become ‘healthy’, fit to drink. These are the colours in which the prophets always portray the earth transformed on the day when the Almighty takes up His reign, the day of His victory over sin and death.
In the wider biblical context, Ezekiel’s stream should be compared with the water that the Lord Jesus Christ gives, which becomes in us ‘a spring of water welling up to eternal life’ (Jn 4:14). In a mysterious way, Ezekiel sees and proclaims to us those ‘rivers of living water’ which, according to Christ’s words, fill to overflowing those who believe in Him (Jn 7:38). In Ezekiel’s vision this life-giving water flows from the Temple, where God is present; within the prophet’s book and the Old Testament as a whole, it is understood as a symbol of God’s life-giving grace, a symbol of the Spirit through whom human hearts are changed from stone to flesh. In the New Testament, John the Evangelist reveals to us that this is not a matter of a symbol: it is the very water that flows from the pierced heart of the Son of God (Jn 19:34). And the same John the Evangelist bears witness in Revelation to this ‘river of the water of life’, ‘flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb’ (Rev 22:1).
Going on to describe the division of the land among the tribes of Israel, Ezekiel relates it to what should have taken place under the Sinai covenant, which Israel broke. Thus we see that in the Jerusalem that has been saved and renewed, the Sinai covenant finds its fulfilment. What did not come about because of human unfaithfulness and sin will nevertheless be fulfilled when God Himself comes to save His people and establish a New Covenant. Once again, we cannot help recalling the words of the Lord Jesus, who came ‘not to abolish the law, but to fulfil it’ (Mt 5:17). The Lord speaks of the law which, because of our sins, we could not fulfil without Christ and without the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; these words of His are also closely linked to Ezekiel’s prophecy.
In his prophecies about the lands and peoples neighbouring Israel, Ezekiel said that the Creator’s plan of salvation extended to them as well. At the end of chapter 47, this thought is developed in a way that is astonishing for the Old Testament. Speaking of the division of the land, the prophet proclaims God’s will that foreigners living among the chosen people should be counted as equals of the native inhabitants of the Holy Land and should also receive an allotment of land. These words stand in sharp contrast to the Pentateuch’s commands about separation from other peoples. This too is a detail that undoubtedly belongs to the Kingdom of the age to come for which we hope: even when Israel returns from the Babylonian captivity, Ezra and Nehemiah continue, in the spirit of the Pentateuch, to seek separation from foreigners. The time of unity of all people before God will come not upon the return from captivity, but at the end of time. Only then, with the coming of Christ, will what Ezekiel speaks of here be fulfilled in the Church of the New Covenant, as will what is spoken of after him by Second Isaiah (Is 60:3) and Zechariah (Zec 8:20–23).
In the final chapter, chapter 48, Ezekiel describes in detail how the land of Israel is to be divided. What matters fundamentally to him here is that this division of the land is based not on the tribes’ good fortune or strength, but on the will of the Sovereign of heaven and earth. It is not a matter of feeble human ‘social justice’, but of God’s righteousness. Compared with the former, the latter is as life-giving as the waters of the stream flowing from the Temple are in comparison with the bitter waters of the Dead Sea. At the centre of the entire arrangement of the land is the Temple’s land; the prince is allotted land alongside the tribes of Israel. Clearly, this decisively restricts the scope of the prince’s power and his opportunities for arbitrary rule. The central position of the House of God, the place where the Glory of the Lord is present in the world, is emphasised again in the book’s final words, where the prophet speaks of Jerusalem’s gates, open to everyone. This openness and this Presence give a new meaning to the existence of God’s people and of Jerusalem, expressed in its new name: ‘The Lord is there’.
47 The vision of the holy waters, Eze 47:1-12.
The borders of the land of Canaan, Eze 47:13-23.
47:1 Eastward - The fountain lay to the west, the conduit pipes were laid to bring the water to the temple, and so must run eastward, and perhaps one main pipe might be laid under the east - gate of the temple.The right side - On the south - side of the temple.
47:2 Out - Of the inmost court. The outer gate - The outmost north - gate in the wall that compassed the whole mountain of the Lord's house.
47:3 He measured - By the line in his hand. He brought me - Went before, and the prophet followed; all this was in vision.
47:8 The sea - The Dead - sea, or lake of Sodom.Shall be healed - The waters of the sea shall be healed, made wholesome.So where the grace of God from his temple and altar flows, it heals the corrupt nature of man, and renders barren terrible deserts, as a land of waters and gardens.
47:9 Shall live - Be preserved alive, and thrive, whereas no fish can live in the Dead - sea. For they - The poisonous waters of the Dead - sea shall be made wholesome for fish. Shall live - Thrive, and multiply in the virtue of the healing streams. Thus is the fruitfulness of the grace of God in the church set forth.
47:10 En - gedi - Which lay on the south - west of the lake of Sodom.En - eglaim - A city on the north - east of the Dead - sea.To spread forth nets - All along on the west - side of this sea to dry them.
47:12 Consumed - Never be consumed, never decay, there shall always be fruit, and enough. Their waters - Those that watered them.Issued out - And so carried a blessing with them.
47:13 The border - The utmost bounds of the whole land.Shall inherit - That is, shall divide for inheritance to the tribes of Israel. Joseph - That is, the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh.
47:15 The great sea - The Mediterranean, which was the greatest sea the Jews knew.
47:18 The east sea - The Dead - sea, which lay on the east of Jerusalem. Thus a line drawn from Damascus through Auranitis, Gilead, the land of Israel beyond Jordan to the east - sea, made the eastern frontier.
47:19 The river - Called the river of Egypt, lay directly in the way to Egypt from Jerusalem. The great sea - To the south - west part of the Mediterranean sea near Gaza.
47:22 Children - Who from their birth should be invested with this right of inheriting.
47:23 His inheritance - This certainly looks at gospel times, when the partition - wall between Jew and Gentile was taken down, and both put on a level before God, both made one in Christ Jesus.
48 The portion of seven tribes, Eze 48:1-7.
The allotment of land for the sanctuary, priests and Levites, Eze 48:8-14.
For the city and prince, Eze 48:15-22.
For the other five tribes, Eze 48:23-29.
A plan of the city, its gates, and new name, Eze 48:30-35.
48:15 A profane place - A common, not consecrated place.
48:16 The measures thereof - The extent and proportions of the city, a square of four thousand five hundred shall be taken out of the middle of the twenty five thousand or the ground - plat of the city. So it shall be an equilateral square, every side exactly the same, north, south, east, and west, four thousand five hundred apiece, by which measures the whole content is visible eighteen thousand cubits not reeds.
48:18 For food - For the maintenance of the city - officers.
48:20 The possession - The land assigned for the city.
48:28 To the river - The river of Egypt.
48:35 Eighteen thousand cubits - About five miles in compass.From that day - From the day of the Lord's restoring this people, and rebuilding their city, and their thankful, holy, and pure worshipping of God there, from that day it shall be said of Jerusalem.The Lord is there - The Lord who as his name alone is Jehovah, so is the only true God, faithful to his promise, rich in mercy, glorious in majesty, righteous in his judgments, wise and holy in his government, whose presence makes us happy, whose withdrawing from us leaves us to misery. This God will by his favour and presence, bring the confluence of all good to persons, families, and cities; this God will be there to dwell, govern, defend, prosper, and crown. Such is to be the case of earthly Jerusalem, such shall be for ever the case of the heavenly Jerusalem. Such is the case of every true believer, who may, wherever he is, in his way of duty, still write Jehovah - Shammah, My God is here.And 'tis best to be where he is 'till he bring us within the gates of the glorious city, where inconceivable light and love from the immediate presence of God, give every one an eternal demonstration that God is here: to him be glory for ever.