NOTES for Иез 45:1-46:24
The instructions concerning the principles for distributing the land show once again that our everyday social and economic needs are not something base and necessarily sinful; they too can and must be transformed in the light of a higher truth. One might object, however, that it is impossible to establish perfect justice on earth, and therefore there is no point in trying: every effort will end in failure once again.
Yet the impossibility of attaining the ideal standard on an earth wounded by sin does not release us from the need to try again and again to resist evil and injustice. Specific social circumstances naturally change according to place and time, so the particular recommendations given in Ezekiel's prophecy to the Jews of his era cannot be mechanically copied in other countries many centuries later. Nevertheless, even when solving relative and temporary problems, our actions must be measured against what stands above immediate circumstances. The very fact that the distribution of land begins by setting apart land for the temple speaks of this: the temple rises not only at the center of the city and the country, but also at the heart of the people's aspirations and deeds.