THRU THE BIBLE
EXPOSITION
Ezekiel: Effective
Ministry To The Spiritually Rebellious
Part LXX: Israel's
Boundaries In The Kingdom: Lessons On Possessions
(Ezekiel 47:13-23)
I.
Introduction
A.
The
Millennial Kingdom that God will provide for His people will display His great
grace and goodness, and one particular illustration of that provision is described
in His directions for the national boundaries of Israel.
B.
Ezekiel
47:13-23 provides that description, and we view it for our insight and
edification (as follows):
II.
Israel's Boundaries In The Kingdom: Lessons On
Possessions, Ezekiel 47:13-23.
A.
God has
planned for Israel to have very specific land boundaries in the Millennial
Kingdom, Ezekiel 47:13-23:
1.
When God
had promised Israel's patriarch Abraham the land of Palestine to him and his
descendants forever, that promise was intended to be a lasting one, Ezekiel
47:13-14.
2.
In
Genesis 15:18, God had promised Abraham the land from the Euphrates River down
to the Nile River in Egypt. (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to
Genesis 15:18-21) Israel never obtained
all that land, and the closest they came to obtaining it all occurred in
Solomon's reign when he controlled but did not inhabit all the land from the
Euphrates to Wadi el-Arish just south of modern-day Gaza, Ibid., ftn. to 1
Kings 8:65.
3.
Significantly,
Israel's boundaries in the Millennial Kingdom given in Ezekiel 47:13-23, as in
the case of Israel in Solomon's day, do not reach the full length promised to
Abraham (Ibid., ftn. to Ezekiel 47:13-20), so the boundaries supplied in
Ezekiel 47:13-23 likely present the area allotted to Israel for her residences
though she will control the land all the way from the Nile River in Egypt up to
the Euphrates River, Ibid.
4.
Accordingly,
for her residences, Israel's northern boundary will run from the Mediterranean
Sea north of Tyre to a point near Damascus (Ezekiel 47:15-17), her eastern
border will be formed by the Jordan River and the Dead Sea with no tribes
settling east of those bodies of water (Ezekiel 47:18), her southern border
will run from a little below the Dead Sea to the Wadi el-Arish, the "river
of Egypt" in the KJV (Ezekiel 47:19; Ibid., ftn. to Isaiah 27:12) that
empties into the Mediterranean Sea. (Ibid., ftn. to Ezekiel 47:13-20).
5.
This
land west of the Jordan and Dead Sea will be divided up for the twelve tribes
by lot, Ezekiel 47:22a.
6.
In
addition, aliens who want to associate with Israel will be "considered
native-born Israelites" who will "be allotted an inheritance among
the tribes of Israel," Ezekiel 47:22b.
Wherever the alien decides to make his home in Israel, there he is will
be allotted an inheritance with God's blessing, Ezekiel 47:23.
B.
God's setting
of these boundaries in view of Israel's history offer significant lessons for
us on our possessions:
1.
There is
a great lesson on possessions we can learn from God's setting of Israel's
future eastern boundary:
a.
God did
not initially plan for any of Israel's tribes to settle east of the Jordan
River, explaining Moses' expression of anger when he heard of the desire of two-and-a-half
tribes to inherit that land, Numbers 32:2-15.
However, the great abundance of livestock owned by the two-and-a-half
tribes and their belief that the land east of the Jordan was well-suited for their
livestock led them to desire that land, Num. 32:1.
b.
Moses
had permitted the two-and-a-half tribes to inherit the land east of the Jordan
River if their warriors first helped the other tribes conquer their lands that
were west of the Jordan, Numbers 32:16-42.
c.
However,
because the Jordan River was a natural barrier between the two-and-a-half
tribes and the rest of Israel, a lack of communication between them and the
rest of Israel over an issue almost led to a civil war, Joshua 22:10-34. Also, the two-and-a-half tribes east of the
Jordan later suffered great affliction from invading Gentiles due to their lack
of rapid help from the other tribes west of the Jordan, cf. Amos 1:3.
d.
All
these problems will be avoided in the Millennial Kingdom when all 12 tribes dwell
together west of the Jordan. We thus
learn not to aim to have many possessions, what led to the various problems the
two-and-a-half tribes faced east of the Jordan because of the abundance of
their livestock (1 Timothy 6:10)!
2.
There is
a great lesson on possessions in the inheritance of Gentiles in Israel: God in
grace will let Gentiles who will be believers upon entering the Millennial
Kingdom inherit land in Israel opposite the case in the Old Testament. Gentiles in the Old Testament were pagans
whose presence in the land threatened Israel's holiness. Once Gentiles are saved, there will then be
no need to restrict them from owning land in Israel!
Lesson: Israel's
boundaries and the right of inheritance for resident aliens in the Millennial
Kingdom instruct us today on the value of our rightly relating to God for
salvation and accepting His will regarding what we are to own.
Application: May we not aim to be rich as a goal in life, but rightly
relate to God and be content with His supplies.