And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the heave-offering that ye shall offer, five and twenty thousand [cubits] in breadth, and in length as one of the parts from the east side unto the west side and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it.
Judah's strip of land ends, and the next name on the map is not a tribe. A wide band runs the full width of the country, lifted out of the inheritance and handed back to God, with His sanctuary in the middle. Two questions follow. What does it mean to set apart a slice of a country? And why does God put His house at the centre rather than at one end?
Older translations call this set-apart strip "the heave offering," or "the holy oblation." One writer explains what every such offering has in common:
And when the tribes divide up the land again, the portion set apart for the Levites and the sanctuary will count as a heave-offering. Heave offerings differ from one another. Yet they all have one feature in common: they are portions taken out of a larger whole — of fruits, of animals, of money, or of land.
So God treats the land itself like a sacrifice. That rests on a claim He made long before:
"The land is Mine, and you are strangers and sojourners with Me," says Jehovah to Israel (Lev. 25:23). "Moreover, when you shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an oblation to Jehovah, a holy portion of the land" (Ezek. 45:1).
Some treat the return from exile in Babylon as the fulfilment of this vision. One writer weighs the record:
There never was the very smallest trace of the holy oblation, or of the allotments of the land from east to west predicted here. Those who returned from Babylon fell back on the order that existed before the captivity. In no respect did they make good the particular condition Ezekiel predicted.
The new arrangement waits on a person, not just a plan:
Notice that in the days of Joshua they divided the land by lot, and so it will be in the day when someone greater than Joshua takes the kingdom. The oblation is a completely new feature of this fresh division of Israel. It comes when He arrives whose right is the crown, and whose first care is the sanctuary of Jehovah. This is not about heaven, or the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from God. It is about the earth and the land. The temple stands out here as clearly as it is absent in Revelation 21.
The verse puts the sanctuary "in the midst of it." Count the tribes on each side, and see who has no strip at all:
In the division of the land among the twelve tribes, Levi has no part. His inheritance is in the holy oblation that belongs to Jehovah. Seven of the tribes of Israel have their portion on the north of the holy oblation: Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, and Judah. Five tribes have theirs on the south. So the sanctuary stands in the very centre of Immanuel's land, and the altar of burnt offering stands in the very centre of the sanctuary portion. In the millennial age the mountain of Jehovah's house will be set on the top of the mountains and lifted above the hills, and all nations will flow into it. Then the altar in the middle of the land will be not only God's centre for Israel, but His centre of worship for the whole earth.
Notice the order of the chapter. It lists seven tribes, then this offering, then the rest — and it opens the offering with what touches God's house:
Little more need be added here, except to notice that it is the Lord's portion that is above all in view. The tribal portions are stated in Ezekiel 48. The Lord's portion is given first place, and the order in which the parts of this heave offering are named brings out the Lord's pre-eminence. The portion of the priests and Levites comes first, for what has to do with the Sanctuary is of chief importance.
The chapter gives the numbers, but not the unit:
These numbers are given, but a question at once confronts us: are they reeds or cubits? The text of chapter 48 does not say.
Read as reeds, the holy portion is "about sixty miles" square (The Temple). Read as cubits, another writer makes the priests' strip about seven miles by three, "with the sanctuary at the centre" (Michael Hardt). Commentators differ on the scale, not on the centre.
- His land. Israel can give a portion back only because the land was never theirs. God calls it His, and calls them guests on it.
- His portion. The set-apart strip is a heave offering — a piece lifted out of a larger whole and handed to God. The rule that covered grain, animals and money now covers land.
- His centre. Seven tribes north and five south leave the sanctuary in the middle of the country, and the altar in the middle of that.
- His priority. The chapter names God's portion before it finishes the tribal list, and the priests' share before the rest.
- His future. Nothing in Israel's past has matched this. It waits for the day when someone greater than Joshua takes the kingdom — on earth, not in the heavenly city that has no temple.
The heave-offering that ye shall offer unto Jehovah shall be five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth.
The tribal strips of land in Ezekiel 48 run in parallel bands from north to south, and then the list stops. Before the rest of the tribes are named, God claims a block out of the middle for Himself — a share of the very land He is giving away.
This division of land has happened once before, but not this piece of it:
In the days of Joshua the lot divided the land, and it will be the same in the day when One greater than Joshua takes the kingdom. This offering set apart for God is a completely new feature of the fresh division of Israel, made when He comes whose right is the crown, and whose first care is the sanctuary of the LORD. The prince, the priests and the Levites will all be there, each in his proper place in relation to the city and the sanctuary. 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 order here is not accidental:
The Lord's portion is the one specially in view here. His portion takes first place, and the order in which the parts of this offering to the Lord are named shows that He must have the first place. The portion of the priests and Levites is named first, because what has to do with the sanctuary matters most.
Older English versions read "ten thousand" for the breadth here. One writer explains why the larger figure fits better:
reason: "LXX", "Ver.", "remainder", "namely" and passives make this the hardest quote on the page
The holy portion is not tucked into a corner of the country:
So the sanctuary stands in the very centre of Immanuel's land. Count seven tribes from the north, and the portion for the priests, with the sanctuary in the middle of it, is the eighth. Count five tribes from the south — which, with the city portion and the Levites' portion, make seven — and the priests' portion is the eighth again. In the very centre of the sanctuary portion stands the altar of burnt offering. When, in the thousand-year kingdom, the mountain of the LORD's house stands on the top of the mountains, lifted above the hills, and all nations flow into it, then the altar in the middle of the land will be God's centre not only for Israel, but His centre of worship for the whole earth.
One tribe is missing from the twelve strips, and this portion is the reason:
The whole land from north to south will consist of twelve belt-like portions, divided near Jerusalem by the LORD's portion, called the holy offering, which will be for the prince, the priests and the Levites (Ezekiel 48:8-22)... Levi is not counted among the twelve, but has his share in that holy offering — land set apart for the LORD's service (Ezekiel 48:13-14).
What Israel will do with acreage, every believer is asked to do with what they hold:
All through Scripture it is a vital claim of godliness that God must have His portion first, before the believer can properly take and enjoy his own. We feel how right it is that God should come first. It is due to Him, and true in everything. If we do not give Him that place, we must suffer the bitter consequence.
- New — Joshua divided the land by lot, but Israel never had this set-apart block before.
- First — God's portion comes before the rest of the tribes get theirs. The chapter's order teaches His place.
- Central — the sanctuary and its altar sit in the middle of the land, seven tribes to the north and five to the south.
- Earthly — real ground, with priests and a temple. This is not the heavenly city.
- Yours — God's portion comes first. Then the believer can take his own and enjoy it.
And for them, for the priests, shall be the holy heave-offering, toward the north five and twenty thousand, and toward the west the breadth ten thousand, and toward the east the breadth ten thousand, and toward the south the length five and twenty thousand and the sanctuary of Jehovah shall be in the midst of it.
Ezekiel's final vision closes with the land shared out among the tribes, and at the heart of it a strip reserved for God Himself. Verse 10 measures the priests' share inside that strip, with God's sanctuary at its centre — which raises two questions: who are these priests, and has any of this happened yet?
Before a single tribe receives its land, a block is lifted out and set apart. One writer notes what the running order of the chapter is doing:
It is the Lord's portion that is especially in view… It is given first place, and the order in which the parts of this heave offering are listed shows the Lord's pre-eminence. The portion of the priests and Levites comes first, because what has to do with the sanctuary matters most.
The land is God's to give, and He gives it back to His people for worship:
So Jehovah claims His right as the recognised owner of the land, but He uses these portions for His people's sanctuary and for those who carry on the worship there, whether priests or Levites. This is a new arrangement for the millennial age; nothing like it existed in the past.
The phrase "with the sanctuary of the LORD in the midst of it" is not decoration. Count the tribes on either side and the geometry becomes deliberate:
Seven of the tribes of Israel — Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim ("Joseph shall have two portions" [Ezekiel 47:13]), Reuben, and Judah — have their portion north of the holy offering. Five tribes lie to the south: Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, and Gad. So the sanctuary stands in the very centre of Immanuel's land. In the very centre of the sanctuary portion stands the altar of burnt offering. When, in the millennial age, the mountain of Jehovah's house is established on the top of the mountains and lifted above the hills, and all nations flow into it, then the altar in the middle of the land will be not only God's centre for Israel, but His centre of worship for the whole earth.
Commentators differ over where inside the strip the priests' block sits. One writer says so plainly:
A question comes up: should the priests' portion sit at the centre of the holy offering, or at its northern end? Since the sanctuary is to be in the middle of the holy offering, we have placed the priests' portion at the centre. Writers are divided on this point, so we must leave it an open question.
The priests here are the sons of Zadok — the priestly family that stayed loyal to God when the nation drifted into idol worship. The land grant is the last item in a long story:
The same principle of righteous government shows itself in the priests of Zadok's line. They had stayed faithful when Israel turned away from Jehovah, and now, in the day of Messiah's kingdom, they hold the nearest place. Past faithfulness meets its reward.
One writer puts a size to that reward:
Finally, the last mention of the sons of Zadok (48:10–11) states that they will receive the 'heave-offering', a portion of the land of 25,000 by 10,000 cubits (around 7 by 3 miles, or 12.5 by 5 kilometres) — with the sanctuary at the centre. So they will occupy the area right around the dwelling place of God. What privilege, what divine response, what gracious reward for the faithfulness of Zadok!
The details of this chapter belong to the earth, not to heaven:
The holy offering set apart for God is a completely new feature in this fresh division of Israel's land. It comes when He arrives whose right the crown is, and whose first care is the sanctuary of Jehovah. Prince, priests, and Levites will be there, each in his proper place in relation to the city and the sanctuary. The question here is not heaven, nor the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from God. It is the earth and the land. The temple stands out clearly here, just as it is plainly absent in Revelation 21.
Nor can the vision be filed away as fulfilled history. The returned exiles simply rebuilt along the old lines:
There never was even the faintest likeness of the holy offering, nor of the allotments of the land from east to west predicted here… The fact is that those who came back from Babylon went back to the order that existed before the captivity. They did not make good in any way the particular arrangement Ezekiel predicted. No one appeared who matched the prince, while the high priest was, as before, a leading figure. The land was not shared out by lot to the group who returned, still less to all Israel.
- First — God takes His portion before any tribe gets one, and the priests come before the Levites. The order itself shows His pre-eminence.
- Centre — the sanctuary sits inside the priests' block, at the middle of the land, seven tribes north and five south. The altar there becomes God's centre of worship for the whole earth.
- Reward — the ground nearest the sanctuary goes to Zadok's line, who stayed faithful while the nation turned away. Past faithfulness gets the nearest place.
- Earthly — prince, priests, Levites and a temple mark this as the land restored. The heavenly Jerusalem has no temple.
- Future — nothing like this layout existed after the exile. The vision still waits for the day the King takes His kingdom.
[It shall be] for the priests that are hallowed of the sons of Zadok, who kept my charge and went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
Ezekiel 48 divides the restored land among the tribes. At the centre, one strip stands apart. This verse says who gets it, and why: these priests kept God's charge when others drifted away.
Zadok was a priest in David's day. Commentators trace the choice of his family back further, to a promise God made to Phinehas.
The sons of Zadok will be chosen in that day for approach to Jehovah in ministry (Ezek. 40:46; 43:19; 44:15; 48:11). This was the branch of Aaron's line that came forward in the day of David. For hundreds of years the wrong line had seized the high priesthood. Eli belonged to the younger branch of Aaron's family. They unlawfully took the high priesthood for themselves, despite Jehovah's solemn promise to Phinehas (Num. 25:12-13). But there was a restoration in the person of Zadok in David and Solomon's time, for Jehovah is faithful despite man's failure and hostility. And in the latter day that Ezekiel speaks of, the sons of Zadok will reappear in the priestly line, and Jehovah's original "covenant of peace" with Phinehas will be kept (Ezek. 40:44-46).
The verse credits a whole family with what one man did. Ezekiel returns to them more than once.
Brighter days will yet dawn on the sons of Zadok. Ezekiel mentions them four times in his prophecies about the coming thousand-year kingdom of Christ. Israel will be born again to new life. The scattered tribes will be gathered together and the enemies subdued. Most important of all, Messiah will be present among them. The temple will be built and the sacrificial system set up. At this point the sons of Zadok appear again, and special blessing comes to them. It recognises the faithfulness of their forefather while rebellion and unfaithfulness surrounded him.
The verse ends by pointing at the Levites, who did go astray. Their past costs them a place, not their safety.
The Levites, except the family of Zadok, are appointed to keep guard and do the service of the house, but are excluded from the priestly office. In the government of God they are shut out from this higher place because of their previous history. They had followed the people into idolatry... God calls for an account of what is past. In His holy government, He must remember such a departure from His revealed and known will when He judges. Yet those under that judgment are themselves safe. The day of loss and reward is certain... for as we sow we reap.
Their reward is a plot of ground, and what stands at its centre is the point.
Finally, the last mention of the sons of Zadok (48:10-11) states that they will receive the 'heave-offering', a portion of the land of 25,000 by 10,000 cubits (around 7 by 3 miles) — with the sanctuary at the centre. So they will occupy the area right around the dwelling place of God. What privilege, what divine response, what gracious reward for the faithfulness of Zadok!
Commentators stress that this scene is earth, not heaven.
As in the days of Joshua the land was divided by lot, so it will be in the day when a greater than he takes the kingdom. This set-apart portion is a wholly new feature of Israel's new land division. It comes when He arrives whose right is the crown, and whose first care is the sanctuary of Jehovah. Prince, priests, and Levites shall be there, each in his due place in relation to the city and the sanctuary. For it is no question here of heaven or the heavenly city, new Jerusalem... but of the earth and the land.
One writer treats "kept my charge" as a lasting principle about who draws near to serve.
Under the coming reign of Christ there will be an acknowledged priesthood; "those who kept My charge" will be part of it (Ezek. 48:11). The unfaithful ones will not have the right to be among the priests who carry out the service before the Lord in His sanctuary. Yet by His grace even their needs will be met, for He will give them the care of the house (Ezek. 44:10-16). This thought about responsibility matters even more for us than it did for believers under the old covenant... The sad sluggishness of God's children about worship often has no other reason than this. The lack of faithfulness keeps them from joining the priests who stand before God.
- Charge kept. One phrase carries the verse: these priests kept what God entrusted to them. The nation wandered, and the Levites with it.
- Charge rewarded. God's government settles accounts. Faithfulness meets reward. Failure meets loss of place, though those who fail are themselves safe.
- Charge inherited. The blessing lands on Zadok's descendants, generations after him. It keeps an older promise God made to Phinehas.
- Charge crowned. Their reward is ground: the land closest to the sanctuary. They live right around God's dwelling place.
- Charge today. Commentators apply the same rule now: faithfulness keeps a person among those who draw near to worship.
And this offering heaved from the heave-offering of the land shall be unto them a thing most holy, by the border of the Levites.
The closing chapters of Ezekiel show how God will share out the land among the tribes in the age to come. Verse 12 lifts one strip out of that division, calls it most holy, and gives it to the priests.
Joshua once divided the land by lot. One writer sees that same method used again, with one new feature added.
Notice that in the days of Joshua the land was divided by lot. So it will be in the day when someone greater than he takes the kingdom. The offering set apart for God is a completely new feature of this fresh division of Israel. It comes when He arrives whose right the crown is, and whose first care is the sanctuary of the Lord. Prince, priests, and Levites will all be there, each in his proper place in relation to the city and the sanctuary. For the question here is not heaven, or the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from God. The question is the earth and the land.
The order of the text matters. Inside that set-apart portion, Ezekiel names the priests before anyone else.
The Lord's own portion is what is specially in view. Ezekiel 48 states the tribal portions. The Lord's portion is given first place, and the order in which the parts of this heave offering are mentioned shows that the Lord comes first. The portion of the priests and Levites comes first, because what has to do with the sanctuary matters most. This is even clearer since the priests' portion is mentioned first, although it is the middle division of this offering from the land.
The chapter is careful with words. It calls some land holy and some land not, as one note on the measurements points out. That note quotes an older English translation and follows the Septuagint, the early Greek translation of the Old Testament.
Both these portions are called holy in Ezekiel 48:10, 14. That agrees with Ezekiel 45:1 as the Septuagint reads it: "This shall be holy [the 25,000 by 20,000 portion] in all its borders round about." The possession of the city next to it is not called holy.
So the border in verse 12 is more than a survey line. On one side lies most holy ground; the land beside the city is not called holy.
One writer maps out the whole layout, from the northern strip down to the southern one. The millennial temple, the temple of the coming kingdom, stands at its centre.
Ezekiel 48 describes how the land of Israel will be shared out among the various tribes. It will be divided into rectangular areas or strips, starting with Dan in the north and ending with Gad in the south. Towards the centre, with seven tribes to the north and five to the south, there will be an area for the Levites and the princes. At the centre of that area will be the millennial temple. The glory of the Lord will fill this temple, and around it will lie that area reserved for the sons of Zadok.
Verse 12 says the portion "shall belong to them." The verses just before name Zadok's line. One writer explains why they hold that place.
The same principle of righteous government shows itself in the priests of Zadok's line. They had stayed faithful when Israel turned away from the Lord. Now, in the day of Messiah's kingdom, they fill the nearest place. Past faithfulness meets its reward.
Another writer gives its size and position, then breaks out in wonder at the gift.
The last mention of the sons of Zadok (48:10–11) says that they will receive the heave-offering: a portion of the land 25,000 by 10,000 cubits, about 7 by 3 miles, or 12.5 by 5 kilometres. The sanctuary stands at its centre. So they will occupy the area right around the dwelling place of God. What privilege, what a response from God, what gracious reward for the faithfulness of Zadok!
- Faithfulness — Zadok's line stayed faithful when Israel turned away. In Messiah's kingdom they fill the nearest place.
- Gift — Their reward is a portion lifted out of the holy portion and given to them by God.
- Nearness — Their ground lies right around the dwelling place of God, with the sanctuary at the centre.
- Holiness — The text grades the land. It calls the priests' and Levites' portions holy. The land next to the city it does not.
- First place — Ezekiel names the priests first because the sanctuary matters most. Prince, priests, Levites and city each stand in relation to where God dwells.
And answering to the border of the priests, the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth the whole length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.
Ezekiel's vision ends with the land of Israel measured out again and shared among the tribes. Before any tribe is named, God sets aside a block in the middle for Himself, and verse 13 gives the Levites a strip there, equal in size to the priests' — near the sanctuary, but not inside it.
The parts of this offering come in a set order, and that order carries its own message.
Little more needs to be said here, except to notice that the main focus is the Lord's portion. Ezekiel 48 states the tribal portions. The Lord's portion is given first place, and the order in which the parts of this offering are named shows that He comes first. The part for the priests and Levites comes first, because what has to do with the sanctuary matters most.
The Owner of the land hands it out, and the arrangement has no earlier parallel.
So Jehovah claims His right as the acknowledged owner of the land. But He uses these portions for His people's sanctuary, and for those who carry on the worship there, whether priests or Levites. It is a fresh arrangement for the millennial age; nothing like it was known in the past.
The Levites do not get a leftover. Their block matches the priests' block, and the total at the end of the verse — 25,000 by 20,000 — is the two strips added together.
Out of this measured area they were to mark off 25,000 by 10,000 for the priests, and the sanctuary stood inside it… Verse 5 tells us who received the rest of the 25,000 by 20,000: the Levites, who got a portion equal in size to the priests'. Ezekiel 48:10 and 14 call both of these portions holy… The land of the city next to them is not called holy.
Twelve tribal strips run north to south, but one tribe's name is missing from them.
When the land is divided among the twelve tribes, Levi has no part. His inheritance is in the holy portion that belongs to Jehovah. The Levites are a picture of the Church, who are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ… Seven tribes of Israel have their land north of the holy portion, and five tribes have theirs to the south. So the sanctuary stands in the very centre of Immanuel's land.
The Levites live next door to the priests, but they are not priests. One writer traces that line back to what the Levites once did.
Coming back to our chapter, we find that the Levites — except the family of Zadok — are appointed to keep guard and do the service of the house. But they are kept out of the priestly office. In the government of God they are shut out of this higher place because of their past history. They had followed the people into idolatry… The day of loss and reward is certain, and God's grace does not set it aside. The future will bring out results that flow from the past, for as we sow, we reap. If our work is good we will receive reward. If it is bad we will suffer loss, though we ourselves are saved.
These measurements describe real ground and a coming age, not the present one.
Notice that in the days of Joshua the land was divided by lot, and so it will be in the day when One greater than he takes the kingdom. The holy portion is a completely new feature of this fresh division of Israel's land. It appears when He comes to whom the crown belongs by right, and whose first care is the sanctuary of Jehovah. Prince, priests and Levites will all be there, each in his own place in relation to the city and the sanctuary. This is not about heaven, or the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from God. It is about the earth and the land. The temple stands out here as clearly as it is plainly missing in Revelation 21.
Commentators differ over the unit of measure, since the text of the chapter does not name it. Some read cubits, as the ESV does; others argue for reeds.
Taking the measurement as reeds — the reed is six cubits — we have a city more fitting in size to the glory of the millennial kingdom.
- Owner first. The land is divided by lot, yet the Lord owns it, and His portion comes before any tribe's.
- Portion given. Levi has no tribal share at all; his inheritance is the holy portion belonging to the Lord.
- Portion equal. The Levites' strip matches the priests' in size, and Scripture calls both holy. The land next to them, belonging to the city, is not.
- Portion bounded. The Levites serve the house, but past idolatry keeps them out of the priestly office. They lose the reward, though they themselves are safe.
- Portion future. Prince, priests and Levites each stand in their own place around a temple on earth. The heavenly city of Revelation 21 has no temple at all.
And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the first-fruits of the land for it is holy unto Jehovah.
These chapters describe how the tribes will share out the land of Israel in a coming day. One strip goes to the Levites, who serve at the sanctuary, and this verse locks it in place: it belongs to the Lord.
These chapters set aside a holy portion of the land before the tribes get theirs. Kelly reads this as God claiming ownership, then handing that ground over for worship:
Jehovah here claims His right as the acknowledged possessor of the land. But He uses it for His people's sanctuary and for those who carry on the worship there, whether priests or Levites. It is a fresh arrangement for the millennial age; no one knew anything like it in the past.
To alienate land is to sign it over to someone else for good. Here God forbids it, and the reason reaches further than Israel:
So we see that God's principle as to the land is that "the land cannot be alienated." And why? Because it is His, and He is gracious. True of Israel's land, so that they shall certainly return to it; true of our heavenly inheritance. God "has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." Ours is "an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you." By God's power you "are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5.)
Some translations call this strip "the firstfruits of the land" instead of "this choice portion." Firstfruits were the first part of any harvest, and Israel gave that part back to God:
Enjoying those fruits of the goodness of God, the people gave Him back the firstfruits, as a testimony that all came from Him, that all was His, and that His grace had given it to them. So the firstfruits were not for the people to eat: they offered them to God, and ate all the rest. It was the recognition of God while sharing His blessings. So the people offered the firstfruits to God, and they passed into the hands of the priests as their portion.
So men with no land of their own still had a living. Kelly, on an earlier part of the same vision, notes what they received:
They are to be content with Jehovah as their inheritance, instead of the earthly portion of an Israelite. But He appoints them their share out of His offerings, dedicated things and firstfruits.
The same care shapes every share in this chapter. God means each person to keep what He assigned him:
God's care that each of His people should keep his allotted inheritance teaches us the unchangeable character of His giving, for He disposed every lot. It also teaches that there is an individuality which He intends to keep in the inheritance. So the person and his portion in the land, as allotted by God, are so identified in His mind that no separation is to take place. Individuality, distinctness and abiding character are involved in this. Israel lost her inheritance, and the land reverted to Him who had given it and who claims it as His. But Israel is to be brought back, and the land will be again divided by lot according to this vision of Ezekiel.
Is all this a picture of heaven? Kelly says no. The subject is the earth:
Notice that, 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 portion set apart as an offering is a wholly new feature of this redistribution of Israel. It comes when He arrives whose right is the crown, and whose first care is the sanctuary of Jehovah. Prince, priests, and Levites will all be there, each in his proper place in relation to the city and the sanctuary. For it is no question here of heaven or the heavenly city, new Jerusalem, that comes down out of heaven from God, but of the earth and the land. The temple is as marked here as it is emphatically absent in Revelation 21.
- Owner. The rule stands on one fact: the land is the Lord's. He lifts out a portion for Himself before anyone else receives a share.
- Gift. Because the land is His and He is gracious, no one can sign it away for good. The same security guards an inheritance kept in heaven for us.
- Firstfruits. What Israel hands back to God as the first and best feeds those who serve Him. They live on His portion, not on an estate of their own.
- Unchangeable. God's giving does not move from hand to hand. He joins person and portion in His mind, so Israel will return to the very land she lost.
- Earthly. All of this belongs to a real land with a real temple. The heavenly city of Revelation 21 has no temple at all.
And the five thousand that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a common [place] for the city, for dwellings and for suburbs and the city shall be in the midst of it.
Ezekiel's final vision divides the restored land, and at its centre lies a square set apart for God. This verse describes the last strip of that square, and the strip holding the city is called common, not holy.
This verse describes the last band of the square set apart to the Lord. One writer sets out the order, and insists the label covers the whole band — not just the land around the city:
The east side was for the priests. The middle was for the Levites, next in order. The remaining five thousand was common, for the whole house of Israel, to have the city in general, with its dwellings and suburbs. And this common place — it is simply a mis-statement to say that only the land outside the city within this portion was common — this common place was the part farthest from the sanctuary, and it was for the whole house of Israel…
The ESV says "common" here; older translations read "profane". One writer explains the word by its opposite:
A sanctified person or thing is one set apart from ordinary uses to be for God's own possession and use and enjoyment. The opposite of sanctification is profanation… The priests of the coming millennial day are to "teach My people the difference between the holy and profane" (Ezek. 44:23). The very word used there means "common or polluted." And of course, a thing gets polluted exactly when it is put to common use.
So the city stands inside the square given to God, yet on ground kept separate from the sanctuary.
Priests get their portion. Levites get theirs. The ruler gets his. No single tribe owns this strip. One writer comments on the matching statement in chapter 45:
Israel have their portion in the possession of the city. The prince has his, and the tribes theirs, in the land as a whole. Jehovah binds up the whole system of His people, civil and religious, with His own name. From then on selfish oppression will be as unknown as corruption in worship.
The verse names three uses: the city, homes, and open land. One writer describes where the city stands and how the land around it is worked:
The city is to be in the middle of this one-fifth. It is to be foursquare, measuring 4,500 reeds each way, with suburbs of 250 reeds around it — a total square of 5,000 reeds… It will be built on the site of the present Jerusalem. The terrible earthquake of Zechariah 14 will prepare the ground for it. The two portions left in this one-fifth, on either side of the city… are to be used for growing food for those who serve the city, and those who serve the city are to be drawn from all the tribes of Israel.
The text gives numbers but never names the unit. One writer argues the unit must be the reed, not the cubit:
If these were cubits, the city would be no more than about 1.136 miles square. That is a very small place, little more than one and a quarter square miles. Take the measurement as reeds — a reed is six cubits (Ezek. 40:5; 43:13) — and we have a city whose size better fits the glory of the millennial kingdom. It would be about 6.81 miles square, or cover nearly 47 square miles.
Some have tried to read this vision as a picture of the heavenly city. The presence of a temple rules that out:
This is not about heaven, or about the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from God. It is about the earth and the land. The temple stands out here as clearly as it is absent from Revelation 21. So there are no priests or Levites, no feasts or sacrifices, in the heavenly city of Revelation — there could not be, any more than in Christianity now.
Everything measured here — common ground included — points to one final glory:
This then is the last and chief glory — the presence of Jehovah in the city of His choice. In this Israel shall boast above all their privileges; and justly, for it is the complement and crown of all. How bright an end of their long wanderings, and of their manifold sorrows!
- Common — the word means ground not set apart for God. It also carries the sense of polluted, since common use is where pollution creeps in.
- Placed — this band lies farthest from the sanctuary, yet still inside the square offered to God. Ordinary life sits close to worship, never mixed with it.
- Shared — no tribe owns the city. It belongs to the whole house of Israel, and the Lord binds their civil and religious life together with His own name.
- Supplied — homes, suburbs and farmland on both sides feed those who serve the city, and those servants come from every tribe.
- Crowned — the measuring ends in the presence of the Lord in the city of His choice. That is the glory all these boundaries frame.
And these shall be the measures thereof the north side four thousand and five hundred [cubits], and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.
The same measurement comes back four times over for the future city — north, south, east and west identical. A square this exact raises two questions: is this a real city on a real map, and how large is it meant to be?
This measuring belongs to a place on the map of Israel, not to a vision of heaven. The setting is the Millennium, the thousand-year kingdom to come.
The city described in Ezekiel is the earthly Jerusalem. It is the capital of the nation of Israel during the Millennium, when they are brought into possession of the land. This city is literal, and not symbolic, like the city of Revelation 21.
One writer sets this city beside the heavenly city of Revelation, point by point.
In Ezekiel the measuring reed is of ordinary make, suited to an earthly city; in Revelation it is a golden reed... In Ezekiel the city is large, fitting for a splendid earthly capital; in Revelation the city is vast beyond every earthly limit. In Ezekiel it has the four-sided form, often used in Scripture to show perfect earthly symmetry. In Revelation there is another dimension: a height equal to the length and the breadth.
The city stands on land the chapter calls common rather than holy. That detail settles who the city is for.
The whole division was to be common for the city. In a word, the east side was for the priests, the middle for the Levites next in order, and the remaining five thousand was common for the whole house of Israel, to have the city generally, its dwelling and suburbs.
The ESV supplies the word "cubits"; the verse itself gives only a number. So commentators differ over the unit, and one line of reasoning works back from the measuring reed of the earlier chapters.
Taking the other measurements as reeds seems the only reasonable conclusion. Scripture gives the city as 5,000 by 5,000 of some unit (Ezek. 48:15, 17). If these were cubits, the city would be no more than about 1.136 miles square. That is a very insignificant place of little more than one and a quarter square miles. Take the measurement as reeds instead — the reed is six cubits (Ezek. 40:5; 43:13). Then we have a city more fitting in size to the glory of the millennial kingdom: about 6.81 miles square, or nearly 47 square miles.
Others read the figures as cubits. Even then the city is far bigger than the Jerusalem standing today.
The sides of the square space allotted to the future city measure 5000 enlarged cubits (probably of 24½ inches), a little less than 2 miles. The city itself is to occupy a square of 4500 cubits each way, with a margin all round of 250 cubits, with large suburbs east and west. The 4500 cubits equal about 1.8 miles, and give about three and a quarter square miles — very much larger than the Old City standing today.
The verse repeats the figure for every side. One writer reads that repetition as part of the message.
Perhaps we should not pass by without noticing the often-repeated measurement of each side — 4,500. Here nine appears as an important factor. Being 3x3, it signifies the full manifestation of what is divine, its complete display... The forty-five is multiplied twice by ten — a full and competent witness to the carrying out of divine order in all relations Godward and manward. This shows us the character of the millennial capital, and the government of the kingdom; this agrees with the general testimony of Scripture.
A few verses later the survey ends with a name. That name explains why the ground was worth marking out.
The favoured city of Jerusalem is to bear another of the Lord's Names in the Millennium. It is a Name that tells of His presence among His people, for it means "the Lord is there." In the earlier part of Ezekiel, the prophet in vision sees the glory of the Lord leave the House of the Lord, and leave the city. But at the close he sees the House built to the divine pattern, and the glory filling the House... In the middle of a scene ordered by the Lord Himself, He can take His place among His people. So their city, which is His city, can be called "The Lord is there."
- Measured — the four equal sides describe a literal city in Israel, the capital of the nation in the coming kingdom. It is not a picture of heaven.
- Common — the city stands on the part kept common rather than holy. It belongs to the whole house of Israel, for dwelling and suburbs.
- Disputed — the verse names no unit, and commentators differ. Read as reeds, the city covers about 47 square miles; read as cubits, about three and a quarter.
- Ordered — the repeated figure speaks of divine order carried through. It marks the character of the capital and the government of the kingdom.
- Inhabited — the survey closes with a name. The point of the walls is the Presence inside them: the glory that once left this city returns.
And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north two hundred and fifty [cubits], and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty.
Ezekiel's closing vision divides the land afresh, with a measured city at its centre. This verse gives the belt of open ground that runs round that city — 250 on every side. Two questions follow: how big is this city, and who does the open ground serve?
The 250 only makes sense alongside the city's own measurements. One writer sets the two figures side by side:
The city is to be in the middle of this one-fifth, and is to be square, measuring 4,500 reeds each way, with suburbs of 250 reeds surrounding it. That is a total square of 5,000 reeds, covering an area of about 100 square miles. It will be built on the site of the present Jerusalem, the terrible earthquake of Zechariah 14 preparing the ground for it.
So the open land is the margin that rounds the city's 4,500 up to a full square of 5,000.
Commentators differ on the unit behind these numbers, and the difference is enormous. One writer weighs cubits against reeds and settles on reeds:
If these were cubits, the city would be no more than about 1.136 miles square. That is a very insignificant place, little more than one and a quarter square miles. Take the measurement as reeds instead — the reed is six cubits, Ezekiel 40:5; Ezekiel 43:13 — and we have a city more fitting in size to the glory of the millennial kingdom. It would be about 6.81 miles square, or cover nearly 47 square miles.
Others read the same figures as cubits and still find a city far larger than the Jerusalem of today:
The 4,500 cubits equal about 1.8 mile, and give about three and a quarter square miles. That is very much larger than the present Old City.
The strip that holds the city and its open border sits apart from the portions of the priests and Levites. It is the section farthest from the sanctuary, and it is common ground:
The whole division was to be common ground for the city, and so on. In a word, the east side was for the priests, the middle for the Levites next in order, and the remaining five thousand was common ground for the whole house of Israel, to hold the city as a whole, with its dwellings and suburbs. It is a plain misstatement to say that only the land outside the city within this portion was common. This common ground, the part farthest from the sanctuary, was for the whole house of Israel.
So the open land is not a ring of sacred ground guarding the temple. The sanctuary stands in a different portion.
The city's ground belongs to Israel as a whole. Each party in the land is given its own place:
So Israel have their portion in the possession of the city. The prince has his, and the tribes theirs, in the land as a whole. The LORD binds up the entire system of His people, civil and religious, with His own name. From then on selfish oppression will be as unknown as corruption in worship.
Food for the city's workers comes from the fields beside it, and the workers themselves come from every tribe:
The two portions left on either side of the city — strips 10,000 reeds long and 5,000 wide — are to be used for raising food for those who serve the city, and those who serve the city are to be drawn out of all the tribes of Israel.
Is this city a picture of heaven? One writer answers no, and points to the temple:
The subject here is not heaven, nor the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from God. The subject is the earth and the land. The temple stands out here just as strikingly as it is missing in Revelation 21. So there are not, nor could there be, priests or Levites, feasts or sacrifices, in the heavenly city of Revelation.
All this measuring ends somewhere. The last thing said about the city is not its size:
This then is the last and chief glory — the presence of the LORD in the city of His choice. Israel will boast in this above all their privileges, and rightly so, for it completes and crowns everything. What a bright end to their long wanderings and to their many sorrows!
- Measured — the 250 on each side is the margin that turns a city of 4,500 square into a plot of 5,000 square.
- Disputed — commentators differ on the unit: read as reeds, the city covers around 47 square miles; read as cubits, about three and a quarter.
- Common — this whole strip lies farthest from the sanctuary, and it is not holy ground.
- Shared — it belongs to the whole house of Israel; its workers come from every tribe, and no one is oppressed.
- Inhabited — the surveying ends in a name, because the point of the plan is not the acreage but the One who lives there.
And the residue in length, alongside the holy heave-offering, shall be ten thousand eastward and ten thousand westward it shall be alongside the holy heave-offering; and the increase thereof shall be for the support of them that serve the city.
Ezekiel's closing vision shares out the whole land again among the tribes. At the centre it sets apart a great square. This square is called the "oblation" or holy portion. It holds the sanctuary, the ground of the priests and Levites, and the city. This verse deals with the farmland left over on each side of the city, and with the workers whose food it grows.
The strips measured out in this chapter belong to a future division of the land under Israel's King. Israel has never yet known anything like it.
The holy portion is a completely new feature of this fresh division of Israel's land, when He comes whose right the crown is, and whose first care is the sanctuary of Jehovah. Prince, priests, and Levites will be there, each in his proper place in relation to the city and the sanctuary. For the question here is not heaven, or the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from God, but the earth and the land.
The city does not fill the whole width of ground given to it. Two pieces are left over, one on each side. These strips grow the food.
The two portions left in this one-fifth lie on either side of the city. They are strips of land 10,000 reeds long and 5,000 wide, covering together an area of 400 square miles. They will grow food for those who serve the city. And those who serve the city will come from all the tribes of Israel.
(The ESV gives the measure here as cubits; the figures above are in reeds.)
Verse 18 twice says this farmland lies "alongside the holy portion" — beside it, not inside it. One writer holds that line firmly against those who call the city's portion the heavenly Jerusalem.
The whole division was to be common ground for the city. In short, the east side was for the priests, the middle for the Levites next in order, and the remaining five thousand was common ground for the whole house of Israel, to hold the city as a whole, its dwelling and its suburbs. And this common place — the part farthest from the sanctuary, given to the whole house of Israel — is, we are told, the heavenly Jerusalem!
(Some translations call this ground a "profane place.")
The rings of ground — tribes, then the offering, then the sanctuary — are not merely administrative. The portions move inward in steps, from the outside in.
Moving in toward the divine centre, we have first Israel's separation from the nations. Then the holy portion in the middle of the land. Then the Sanctuary with its walls and courts. Last, the Temple and its three graded rooms — porch, holy place, and most holy place. The whole plan is a deeply impressive picture of the Divine majesty and holiness. It is in the power and truth of that holiness that the Millennial blessing will be kept.
The crop feeds the city's workers, and the city's ground belongs to the whole nation, not to the priests and Levites. Each part of the nation has its own place in this layout.
So Israel have their portion in the holding of the city. The prince has his, and the tribes have theirs, in the land as a whole. Jehovah ties the whole order of His people, civil and religious, to His own name. From then on selfish oppression will be as unknown as corruption in worship.
That the city's servants are fed from tilled ground fits the whole character of the age this chapter describes.
That age of peace will be a farming age. Men will go back to the land, and God's first purpose for man on the earth will take effect. The forge and the anvil will no longer groan out the death of millions. They will ring out their gladness along with the songs of the field and the vineyard.
- Centre. The sanctuary stands at the heart of the newly divided land. Every other portion, the city's included, takes its place in relation to it.
- Steps. Nations, tribes, holy portion, sanctuary, temple: the plan moves inward, and each step shows more of God's holiness.
- Common. The city's ground lies farthest from the sanctuary and stays common ground, and the whole house of Israel holds it.
- Provision. The leftover strips beside the city are farmland, and their crop feeds the men who keep the city running.
- Servants. Those workers come from every tribe. Daily life and worship both carry the Lord's own name, so oppression becomes as unthinkable as corrupt worship.
And they that serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel.
Ezekiel's final vision shares out the land among the tribes, and sets apart a strip in the middle for the sanctuary, the priests, the Levites and the city. Verse 19 tells us who works the fields of that city, and which tribes those workers come from.
The land around the city does not belong to whichever tribe lives nearest. One commentator quotes the command about the city's portion and shows how it fits the whole arrangement:
"And you shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and twenty-five thousand long … it shall be for the whole house of Israel." … So Israel have their portion in the possession of the city; the prince has his, and the tribes theirs, in the land generally. Jehovah binds up the entire system of His people, civil and religious, with His own name. From then on selfish oppression will be as unknown as corruption in worship.
Verse 19 ties the workers to the ground they till. One writer measures that ground and names who it feeds:
Two portions are left on either side of the city. They are strips of territory 10,000 reeds long and 5,000 broad, covering together an area of 400 square miles. Their purpose is to raise food for those who serve the city. And those who serve the city will come from all the tribes of Israel.
The ground given to the city is common, not holy. Older translations call it a "profane place." Newer ones read "for common use." One writer lays out the arrangement and rejects the idea that this common ground is the heavenly Jerusalem:
The whole division was to be common for the city. In a word, the east side was for the priests, and the middle for the Levites next in order. The remaining five thousand was common for the whole house of Israel, who have the city as a whole, its dwelling and its open land. And this common place — the part farthest from the sanctuary, belonging to the whole house of Israel — is, we are told, the heavenly Jerusalem! It is a plain misstatement to say that only the ground outside the city, within this portion, was common.
The vision gives the city's measurements without naming the unit, and commentators read them differently. One reference work takes them as enlarged cubits:
Each side of the square space set apart for the future city measures 5,000 enlarged cubits — probably 24½ inches each — a little less than 2 miles. The city itself occupies a square of 4,500 cubits each way. Around it runs a margin of 250 cubits, with large suburbs east and west.
Another weighs the same figures and prefers the reed:
If these were cubits the city would be no more than about 1.136 miles square — a very small place. Take the measurement as reeds — the reed is six cubits — and we have a city more fitting in size to the glory of the millennial kingdom. It would be about 6.81 miles square, or nearly 47 square miles.
Servants, farmland and food supplies are the details of an actual society. One writer insists we must read the whole vision that way:
The portion set apart for Jehovah is a wholly new feature of this fresh division of Israel's land. That division comes when He arrives whose right is the crown, and whose first care is the sanctuary of Jehovah. Prince, priests, and Levites shall be there, each in his due place in relation to the city and the sanctuary. The subject here is not heaven, nor the heavenly city, new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from God. The subject is the earth and the land.
- Shared — The city portion is not one tribe's estate. It belongs to the whole house of Israel.
- Staffed — Because the city is everyone's, its workers come from everyone: drawn out of all the tribes.
- Supplied — The strips of land on either side exist to feed those same workers.
- Separated — This ground is common, not holy. It lies beside the sanctuary portion, on the side farthest from it.
- Solid — The measurements describe a real city on real earth. Commentators differ over reeds or cubits, but not over this: the vision speaks of the land, not heaven.
The whole heave-offering shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand; ye shall offer the holy heave-offering foursquare with the possession of the city.
Ezekiel's long vision ends with a map: the land shared out among the tribes, with one great set-apart square in the middle. Verse 20 gives the size of that whole square, and it raises three questions: how big is it, what is inside it, and is it real earth or a picture of heaven?
Kelly sets this square against the first division of the land under Joshua.
As in the days of Joshua, the land was divided by lot, so it will be in the day when a greater than he takes the kingdom. The offering is a wholly new feature of this fresh division of Israel. It comes when He arrives whose right the crown is, and whose first care is the sanctuary of the Lord. Prince, priests, and Levites shall be there, each in their due place in relation to the city and the sanctuary. This is not about heaven, or about the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from God. It is about the earth and the land. The temple stands out here as plainly as it is absent in Revelation 21.
One writer adds up the three parts of the square, calling it the "heave offering" — the portion set apart for the Lord.
The "heave offering" is of first importance since the Sanctuary enclosure is within its bounds. It is foursquare, 25,000 by 25,000, divided into three main parts: 25,000 by 10,000 for the priests, 25,000 by 10,000 for the Levites, and 25,000 by 5,000 for the city and its surroundings. The Prince's portion then lies on the east and west of this great square. It reaches to the eastern and western boundaries of the land. But these numbers at once raise a question: are they reeds or cubits?
The size of the square depends on which of those units is meant.
A note on Bible symbols reads meaning in the shape itself:
Four-square — completeness; the same all ways; the perfection of a city whose builder and maker is God.
Of the three parts, the one nearest the outside is the city's, and the text does not call it holy. Darby presses this against readers who turn it into something heavenly.
The whole division was to be common for the city. In a word, the east side was for the priests, and the middle for the Levites next in order. The remaining five thousand was common for the whole house of Israel, to have the city as a whole, its dwelling and suburbs. It is a simple misstatement to say that only the part outside the city within this portion was common. And this common place, the part farthest from the sanctuary, given to the whole house of Israel, is, we are told, the heavenly Jerusalem!
(Older translations read "profane" where newer ones read "common.")
The priests hold the strip nearest the sanctuary. One writer sees that share as a reward for the faithfulness of Zadok's priestly family.
The last mention of the sons of Zadok (48:10–11) says they will receive the 'heave-offering': a portion of the land of 25,000 by 10,000 cubits, about 7 by 3 miles, with the sanctuary at the centre. So they will occupy the area directly around the dwelling place of God. What privilege, what divine response, what gracious reward for the faithfulness of Zadok!
The same writer measures the square, then names what stands inside it.
On one basis of measurement, the holy heave offering with the city portion forms a great square of 34 miles, covering about 1,160 square miles. Everything belonging to divine worship and government on earth centres inside its borders. There stand the Sanctuary, the holy of holies, and the city, with all the ministers and servants who attend them both. Here we have the mountain of the Lord's House to which all nations shall come.
- Offered — the square goes to God first, before anyone uses it, and everything else takes its place around it.
- Square — equal every way, it pictures completeness, the perfection of a city God Himself builds.
- Divided — three strips fill it: priests nearest the sanctuary, Levites next, and the city's share farthest out.
- Shared — that outer strip is not called holy but common, and it belongs to the whole house of Israel, not to a heavenly city.
- Central — worship and government on earth centre in this one square, the mountain to which the nations come.