And these are the names of the tribes From the north end along the way of Hethlon, as one entereth into Hamath, Hazar-enan, the border of Damascus northward unto near Hamath -- the east and west side [belonging] to him -- shall Dan have one [portion].
Ezekiel's last chapter opens with names, not measurements: each tribe gets one strip of land, and the list starts in the far north with Dan. Did any stretch of Israel's history ever look like this, and why does Dan come first?
Dan heads the list and sits at the top of the land — a place Dan had never held. One writer walks through the tribes to show that no period of Israel's history fits:
It must be clear to every fair mind that the distribution of the tribes in the land, from Joshua to the ruin of the kingdom, is completely different from what is predicted here. And no one since can point to anything that matches the prophecy. So Dan is in the extreme north, not Naphtali, as in the old days; next Asher, and only then Naphtali. Again Manasseh, instead of being split by the Jordan, is altogether like the other tribes, with Ephraim to the south. Reuben is no longer east of the Jordan but comes next, and Judah lies just before the holy portion.
What does "one portion" look like on the ground? The same writer lays out the whole picture of the coming kingdom:
In the millennial kingdom, the tribal inheritances will run as parallel strips of land, eastward from the Mediterranean Sea to the River Jordan. The whole land from north to south will consist of twelve belt-like portions. Near Jerusalem these are divided by Jehovah's portion, called the holy oblation or heave-offering. It will be for the prince, the priests and the Levites, with the sanctuary in the middle. In allotting the land among the tribes, Jehovah said, "Joseph shall have two portions," that is, one for Manasseh and one for Ephraim. Levi is not counted among the twelve, but has his share in the sacred heave-offering of land devoted to Jehovah's service.
Dan is missing from other lists of the tribes. Here he heads the list, and that settles what his absence elsewhere cannot mean:
This is not because the tribe will have no share in the future division and blessing. Ezekiel 48 lists it first of all, and farthest north. Early writers held a tradition, based on Genesis 49:17, that the omission was because antichrist would come from this tribe. Dan was certainly the first tribe to approve idolatry.
Another writer ties Dan's far-northern strip to what Jacob said about him long before:
The patriarch's first words about Dan imply a low place — if not the lowest place. His portion in Ezekiel says the same: the extreme northern border of the land. He keeps his place as part of the nation, and that is all.
Why is Dan at the far edge while Judah lies close in?
Here the temple and the city, the priests, Levi, and the Prince form the centre of the land. Their position decides the order of the tribes... Judah and Benjamin, the "Lawgiver" and the "Son of my right hand," occupy the places closest to the sanctuary, to the north and to the south. Here it is a matter of government, and they are its representatives... Dan, the last tribe to the north, is as far as possible from the sanctuary. He once again occupies the place he has always held.
The chapter has a temple, priests and land shared out as Joshua once shared it. That rules out reading it as a picture of heaven:
As in the days of Joshua, the land was divided by lot; so it will be in the day when a greater than Joshua takes the kingdom. The holy portion is a completely new feature of this redistribution of Israel, when He comes whose right is the crown, and whose first care is the sanctuary of Jehovah. This is not a question of heaven, or of the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from God. It is a question of the earth and the land. The temple is as prominent here as it is absent in Revelation 21.
Twelve names assume twelve peoples still in existence. What about the tribes carried away long ago?
As far as is known they never returned... as a body they are still commonly regarded as 'the Lost Tribes.' God knows where to find them when His set time of blessing arrives. The twelve tribes certainly exist, and remnants of them will come into the land again.
- Names. The chapter starts with names because every tribe, Dan included, keeps a share in the coming kingdom. God drops none of them.
- Portions. Each name gets one portion — a single belt of land running east to west, with Joseph counted twice and Levi provided for in the holy portion.
- Order. The sanctuary at the centre fixes each tribe's place, so Judah and Benjamin lie nearest and Dan farthest north.
- Earth. Temple, priests, prince and measured land mark this out as the future of Israel in the land, not a picture of heaven.
- Return. Tribes carried away long ago look lost to us, but God knows where to find them when His time of blessing comes.
And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, Asher one.
Ezekiel's book closes with a map: tribal portions laid out from the far north of the land southward, with Asher placed just under Dan. When was this ever true, why is Asher up there, and what decides how near a tribe sits to God's house?
The order here does not match Israel's history at any point. One commentator lays the two side by side and shows how far apart they are:
Any fair mind must see it. The way the tribes were spread through the land, from Joshua's day to the collapse of the kingdom, is wholly different from what this prophecy predicts. And no one can point to anything like it since. So Dan is in the far north, not Naphtali as in the old days; next Asher, and only then Naphtali. Again Manasseh is not split by the Jordan, but is like all the other tribes, and Reuben is no longer east of the Jordan...
The phrase "from the east side to the west" describes the shape of every portion in this list. What does that look like on the ground?
The end of the book of Ezekiel describes a fresh division of the land among the twelve tribes of Israel. In the kingdom to come, each tribe's inheritance will be a parallel strip of land. Each strip runs eastward from the Mediterranean Sea to the River Jordan. The whole land from north to south will consist of twelve belt-like portions. Near Jerusalem, the Lord's own portion divides them — the holy offering. It will be for the prince, the priests and the Levites, with the sanctuary in the middle.
Each tribe receives "one portion." Who decided which one?
When the land is "divided by lot" in a future day, that really means the land will be "allotted." God Himself has fixed the place of each of the twelve tribes.
Asher is named second because Dan comes first. Dan at the head of this list is the surprise of the chapter:
When the tribes are listed in Revelation 7 as the servants of God, Dan is left out. Idolatry is the sin that hatches all other sins in its nest... Still, such is the grace of God! In Ezekiel's prophecy of the restoration of the tribes, the question is not service but mercy. So Dan is the first named and the first provided for — the worst sinner of all. Yet how fitting that he is the least near to the sanctuary.
Coming early in the list is not the same as sitting near the centre. One writer reads the whole arrangement by distance from the temple:
Here the temple and the city, the priests, Levi, and the Prince form the centre of the land. Their position settles the order of the tribes... Notice that the sons of the lawful wives are closest to the sanctuary, and the sons of the servant women at the furthest edges. Judah and Benjamin — the "Lawgiver" and the "Son of my right hand" — hold the places nearest the sanctuary, to the north and to the south. Here the matter is government, and they represent it... Dan, the last tribe to the north, stands as far from the sanctuary as possible... This is perhaps why Asher, who on a symmetrical plan should be found after Gad to the south, is added to the north instead. That makes Dan's distance stand out even more.
Asher's name itself points to what this redrawn land will feel like for the people living in it:
Asher was Zilpah's second son, and his name means "happy." The prophecy about him points to the rich provision God will make for the nation of Israel — even "royal dainties" — when they are restored to their land in the millennium. What a contrast to their years of deprivation and desolation!
- Future. This map matches no period of Israel's past. Dan heads the list, Asher follows, Naphtali comes third.
- Measured. Every tribe receives a strip running east to west, one portion each, laid out by God rather than left to chance.
- Merciful. Revelation 7 leaves Dan out of God's servants. Here the question is mercy, not service — so Dan comes first.
- Ordered. Nearness to the sanctuary marks rank, not a high place in the list. The sons of the wives sit close in; the sons of the servant women sit at the edges. Asher's move to the north pushes Dan furthest of all.
- Happy. Asher's name means happy. His portion in that day speaks of rich provision after long desolation.