Ezekiel 47:13-23

content/bible_journal/ezekiel_47:13-23.md

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+title = "Ezekiel 47:13–23"
+date = "2023-07-23"
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+
+### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ezekiel47.13-23)
+
+The perspective of the vision zooms out even further now. (Well, we don't know
+what Ezekiel was seeing here, just what was described to him.) The borders of
+the whole land promised to the house of Israel are listed. Within these
+borders, the twelve tribes will be allotted equal portions of it. However, Levi
+gets a separate portion in the holy precinct, and therefore Joseph ends up with
+two portions given to his line through Ephraim and Manasseh.
+
+The borders as given are not easy to identify with modern places, but I can
+still imagine the consternation they would cause to modern Israel's neighbors.
+God promises to give everything between the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan
+River and Dead Sea, which would include the disputed West Bank and Gaza Strip,
+but in the north may extend up as far as the area west of Damascus. For the
+south, I don't really have a clue. The Reformation Study Bible notes for this
+section mention the Wadi el-Arish as a landmark, which is apparently in the
+middle of the Sinai Peninsula.
+
+As the borders of Israel have been a contentious subject for about a hundred
+years at this point, I will say that I don't think the commands given in this
+chapter or the next are meant for anyone in our time. Since these boundaries
+are given after the vision of the river flowing out of the temple, I think it's
+fair to assume that those things need to happen first. While is possible for
+people to build a temple to the Lord according to the specifications given in
+previous chapters, the life-giving water is clearly the Lord's doing. Most
+likely He won't do that until Jesus Christ returns to the earth to establish
+His kingdom, and by then old political boundaries are not going to matter at
+all.
+
+* * *
+
+Your sovereignty extends throughout the ages unto eternity.