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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
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