Ezekiel

 

Ezekiel Chapter 48

 

  • Ezekiel 48:1 Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Hazar-enan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides east and west; a portion for Dan. 
  • 2 And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Asher. 
  • 3 And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Naphtali. 
  • 4 And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Manasseh. 
  • 5 And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Ephraim. 
  • 6 And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Reuben. 
  • 7 And by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Judah. 
  • 8 And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the offering which ye shall offer of five and twenty thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the other parts, from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it. 
  • 9 The oblation that ye shall offer unto the LORD shall be of five and twenty thousand in length, and of ten thousand in breadth. 
  • 10 And for them, even for the priests, shall be this holy oblation; toward the north five and twenty thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the midst thereof. 
  • 11 It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray. 

The faithful ones are rewarded by being part of the new millennial reign of Christ. I've heard of the Zadok priesthood as opposed to the ones that went astray. 

We have churches today who are like the Zadok priesthood in that they stay true to the word of God and do not compromise to please the world around them. Then we have those that want to be accepted by the mainstream so they look and act just like the world, doing a few social justice works and good deeds along the way so that people will believe they hold to the truth when the truth has long since left them. 

In the end though, God is the judge and those that stay faithful to the word even if it is not popular with man, will be the ones to rule and reign with Christ. 

Sanctification means to be set apart for the service of the Lord. Along with that separation is also a separation from the love of the world and the world's system. Sin is no longer a part of a sanctified vessel of the Holy Spirit. To be ready when the Lord comes and to be able to be counted worthy to stand before Jesus and not enter into time of the judgment and wrath of God, one must be ready always looking for His coming, full of faith and the attitude of obedience to His word.

We should desire the presences of the Lord. God does not come where He is not wanted. If we do not want the Holy Spirit in our midst or the presence of God among us, He will not be there. His hand of protection will not be there. 

The fruits need to be within us. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. To spread the gospel, we need the word of wisdom, word or knowledge, gift of faith, gifts of healing, gift of miracles, gift of prophecy, discernment of spirits, tongues and interpretation. 

Until Jesus returns and sets up His kingdom, we need every gift of the spirit and all heaven has to offer us to spread the gospel and obey the great commission that the church was commissioned to do until the coming of Jesus Christ. 

The Zadok priesthood was rewarded for not straying away from the truth and going into idolatry. Can the same thing be said of you and me? 

We see also during the 1000 year reign of Christ that the tribes of Israel get all their land back.  God is in control. No surrounding nations that try to divide their land again.

  • Ezekiel 48:12 And this oblation of the land that is offered shall be unto them a thing most holy by the border of the Levites. 
  • 13 And over against the border of the priests the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand. 
  • 14 And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the firstfruits of the land: for it is holy unto the LORD. 
  • 15 And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city, for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof. 
  • 16 And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred. 
  • 17 And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty. 
  • 18 And the residue in length over against the oblation of the holy portion shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward: and it shall be over against the oblation of the holy portion; and the increase thereof shall be for food unto them that serve the city. 
  • 19 And they that serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel. 
  • 20 All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city. 
  • 21 And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city, over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince: and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof. 
  • 22 Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince. 
  • 23 As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin shall have a portion. 
  • 24 And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon shall have a portion. 
  • 25 And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar a portion. 
  • 26 And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun a portion. 
  • 27 And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad a portion. 
  • 28 And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar unto the waters of strife in Kadesh, and to the river toward the great sea. 
  • 29 This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, saith the Lord GOD. 
  • 30 And these are the goings out of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures. 
  • 31 And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi. 
  • 32 And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan. 
  • 33 And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun. 
  • 34 At the west side four thousand and five hundred, with their three gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali. 
  • 35 It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there. 

I wish that all nations of the earth would read this last chapter of Ezekiel. Israel has not yet come into their full inheritance. Instead they are constantly pressured into giving up more land for peace. Yet when they do, it does not bring peace. 

As we saw in chapter 47, God even made provisions for Gentiles that lived among Israel. There is no need of all this fighting and warring. 

If Israel was given all the land God promised them, it would be good for the Middle east, not bad. The dessert would bloom like a rose. The economy would prosper (If Israel would acknowledge the Lord in all things), Arabs would also be blessed and affected by their prosperity. 

We hurt ourselves when we hurt Israel. All nations we be brought before the judgment seat of Christ. They will be judge on how they treated Israel and on how they treated "born again" followers of Jesus Christ. 

Those verses that say, "I was hungry and ye gave me no meat" refer to whether or not nations helped Israel in their time of distress. Perhaps it could also refer to fellows believers on a local level that when we feed and clothe them, we are doing the same to Jesus but this passage definitely refers to the troubles of the nation of Israel and how the world around them reacts to their suffering.

  • Matthew 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 
  • 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 
  • 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 
  • 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 
  • 35 For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 
  • 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 
  • 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 
  • 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 
  • 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 
  • 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 

The Brethren of the Lord is the Jewish people in the natural and all who believe in Him in the spiritual side of things. Since this is a judgment of nations it does refer to Israel but it possibly could have an individual interpretation if we as individuals have the means to help but do not do so. Perhaps we can apply it to any treatment of those that believe in the Lord including children. I also believe feeding the hungry involves feeding them the word of God. What profit is it if we just feed and clothe them but deny them the gospel that saves their eternal souls? 

  • Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 
  • 42 For I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 
  • 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 
  • 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 
  • 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 
  • 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

We must be very careful how we treated the nation of Israel and those that preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. I didn't say these things, Jesus did.  


Ezekiel Index


 
  HOME | SITE MAP | BIBLE STUDY INDEX
Email
©2024 oldpathlighthouse.com