37 lines
1.9 KiB
Markdown
37 lines
1.9 KiB
Markdown
+++
|
||
title = "Ezekiel 47:13–23"
|
||
date = "2023-07-23"
|
||
+++
|
||
|
||
### [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.
|