Ezekiel

It’s the last day for our study in Ezekiel, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. 

Today’s Passage: Ezekiel 48:30-35.

 30 “These shall be the exits of the city: On the north side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, 31 three gates, the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi, the gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel. 32 On the east side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan. 33 On
the south side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, three gates,
the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun. 34 On the west side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali. 35 The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord Is There.”

HUH!   I never knew that before.  Each tribe had a gate named after it.
Makes me wonder if people would enter the city through the gate named after their tribe or if they entered how ever they wanted to.   I know… it’s just speculation on my part and it probably doesn’t even matter.. just a random wondering in my head.  🙂

Each side is the same.  4,500 cubits with three gates. 

I like how God named the city.   The Lord Is There.  It just seems so appropriate.  God dwelling right there, with his priests, surrounded by the land owned by the Prince, surrounded by his people the Israelites.     The Lord is INDEED there.

Just as he is INDEED there among his people, the ones who call upon his name, who see their need for Christ and believe in him.

The LORD is there! 

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I need to apologize, it’s been so long since I’ve visited with Ezekiel. Life’s been so busy lately I’ve been doing other things rather than work through the last chapter. I’ll finish up Ezekiel this week and then i think I’ll start with Corinthians, or perhaps Romans. What do you think??  

Anyways, today’s passage is from Ezekiel 48:1-29.

 “These are the names of the tribes: Beginning at the northern extreme, beside the way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan (which is on the northern border of Damascus over against Hamath), and extending from the east side to the west, Dan, one portion. 2 Adjoining the territory of Dan, from the east side to the west, Asher, one portion. 3 Adjoining the territory of Asher, from the east side to the west, Naphtali, one portion. 4 Adjoining the territory of Naphtali, from the east side to the west, Manasseh, one portion. 5 Adjoining the territory of Manasseh, from the east side to the west, Ephraim, one portion. 6 Adjoining the territory of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, Reuben, one portion. 7 Adjoining the territory of Reuben, from the east side to the west, Judah, one portion.

http://trackingbibleprophecy.org/speculation.php

8 “Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be the portion which you shall set apart, 25,000 cubits in breadth, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the midst of it. 9 The portion that you shall set apart for the Lord shall be 25,000 cubits in length, and 20,000 in breadth. 10 These
shall be the allotments of the holy portion: the priests shall have an
allotment measuring 25,000 cubits on the northern side, 10,000 cubits in
breadth on the western side, 10,000 in breadth on the eastern side, and
25,000 in length on the southern side, with the sanctuary of the Lord in the midst of it. 11 This shall be for the consecrated priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, as the Levites did. 12 And
it shall belong to them as a special portion from the holy portion of
the land, a most holy place, adjoining the territory of the Levites. 13 And
alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an
allotment 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in breadth. The whole
length shall be 25,000 cubits and the breadth 20,000. 14 They shall not sell or exchange any of it. They shall not alienate this choice portion of the land, for it is holy to the Lord.
15 “The remainder, 5,000 cubits in breadth and 25,000 in length, shall be for common use for the city, for dwellings and for open country. In the midst of it shall be the city, 16 and these shall be its measurements: the north side 4,500 cubits, the south side 4,500, the east side 4,500, and the west side 4,500. 17 And the city shall have open land: on the north 250 cubits, on the south 250, on the east 250, and on the west 250. 18 The
remainder of the length alongside the holy portion shall be 10,000
cubits to the east, and 10,000 to the west, and it shall be alongside
the holy portion. Its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. 19 And the workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall till it. 20 The whole portion that you shall set apart shall be 25,000 cubits square, that is, the holy portion together with the property of the city.
21 “What
remains on both sides of the holy portion and of the property of the
city shall belong to the prince. Extending from the 25,000 cubits of the
holy portion to the east border, and westward from the 25,000 cubits to
the west border, parallel to the tribal portions, it shall belong to
the prince. The holy portion with the sanctuary of the temple shall be in its midst. 22 It
shall be separate from the property of the Levites and the property of
the city, which are in the midst of that which belongs to the prince.
The portion of the prince shall lie between the territory of Judah and
the territory of Benjamin.
23 “As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west, Benjamin, one portion. 24 Adjoining the territory of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, Simeon, one portion. 25 Adjoining the territory of Simeon, from the east side to the west, Issachar, one portion. 26 Adjoining the territory of Issachar, from the east side to the west, Zebulun, one portion. 27 Adjoining the territory of Zebulun, from the east side to the west, Gad, one portion. 28 And adjoining the territory of Gad to the south, the boundary shall run from Tamar to the waters of Meribah-kadesh, from there along the Brook of Egypt to the Great Sea. 29 This is the land that you shall allot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, declares the Lord God.

I have to admit, as I read through this list I’ve been wondering… what do I pull out of this passage that will point me to Christ and his amazing work in my life?   I see names and numbers and quite frankly kinda all runs together.

It’s great to see how God ensured that each family line within Israel got the land it should have.   It seems like the larger families got more land than the smaller ones which makes sense right?

Do you also see how God put himself physically into the midst of them.  He didn’t give himself and the priests a portion off to one side or the other, but a portion right in the middle. 

This makes me think of Christ, and how we are his people and he dwells within us.  He doesn’t pick a small corner and say HEY here’s where I will stay, but rather he dwells IN US.   Makes himself an integral part of who we are. Ergo affecting change within us.   God’s people having God’s Priests dwell right in their midst.  It’s a good thing that eh?

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Keep Living a Life of Faith was the theme of yesterday’s passage.  Today we learn from Ezekiel 47:13-23.

13 Thus says the Lord God: “This is the boundary by which you shall divide the land for inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions. 14 And you shall divide equally what I swore to give to your fathers. This land shall fall to you as your inheritance.
15 “This shall be the boundary of the land: On the north side, from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, and on to Zedad, 16 Berothah, Sibraim (which lies on the border between Damascus and Hamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. 17 So the boundary shall run from the sea to Hazar-enan, which is on the northern border of Damascus, with the border of Hamath to the north. This shall be the north side.
18 “On the east side, the boundary shall run between Hauran and Damascus; along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel; to the eastern sea and as far as Tamar. This shall be the east side.
19 “On the south side, it shall run from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribah-kadesh, from there along the Brook of Egypt to the Great Sea. This shall be the south side.
20 “On the west side, the Great Sea shall be the boundary to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This shall be the west side.
21 “So you shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel. 22 You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. They
shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall
be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 23 In whatever tribe the sojourner resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the Lord God.

The land is to be divided.  The portion for Joseph to be doubled. 12 sections of land as per the 12 tribes of Israel. The travellers who live among them are to be counted among the inheritees.   They are to be treated no differently among the tribes than any native born individual.

Hmmm… What can I take from this?
God does not differentiate  between people who grew up in the church, the natural born offspring you could say and those who came into the church from the outside.   To him.. they are all his children.  All his children share in the inheritance of the Lord.    No one gets anything more than another.  All share equally as those “naturally born”. 

Pretty cool that eh?   Best to not forget it.

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Yesterday, God’s Protections in the Kitchens, today Ezekiel 47:1-12.

  Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the
threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east).
The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of
the temple, south of the altar. 2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.
3 Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. 4 Again
he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was
knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water,
and it was waist-deep. 5 Again
he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass
through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river
that could not be passed through. 6 And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?”
Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. 9 And wherever the river goes,
every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very
many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. 10 Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. 11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. 12 And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but
they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them
flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

In today’s passage we find water, water that becomes a river that becomes a what???  A lake?   A lake that will be teeming with wildlife and plants and trees.

This water stems forth from the temple and flows to the east. Becoming deeper and fuller the farther out it goes. 

Can you see how the temple is a source of life and hope?   People working, thriving, wildlife thriving, trees growing and being a good food source.   

All because of the temple, the sanctuary of God. 

Can you picture it?

The people bring in the sacrifices.
An aroma pleasing to God wafts from the temple.
And out of the sanctuary flows life-giving water, so abundant that it in turn brings life to all those around it.   Birds, fish, wildlife, plants, trees, and the people who harvest it all.  Fresh water except for the marshlands. 

God’s special place brings life to the land.
  
I dunno about you, but the imagery of this boosters my faith.   It shows me a real picture of what God does.   How our sacrifices, our living for him brings forth life that we don’t always see it?  This water that pours out from God’s people that sustains so much…. 

When you see how churches who follow  after God can change communities, how a person following after God changes the folks that are around, and sometimes even beyond.  We can’t always see how we influence and change the world for the better by our faithful actions.  

4,000 cubits the man walked…one cubit is 45 centimetres or a foot and half.  That’s quite the distance you know….   To those right next to the sanctuary it would have looked like an insignificant trickle… but further out… a mighty river!   Flowing out of the sanctuary, sustaining so much.   It boggles the mind eh?  (just a bit).   To see this as God’s people, changing the world in ways we don’t always see… every little bit matters. 

This gives me hope!   It makes me take heart it does!  🙂 
Let’s keep living our lives as a sacrifice of praise to God… it makes a difference. 

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Last time we met we learned about the sacrifices and protections God set in place. Today we are going to discuss Ezekiel 46:19-24.

 19 Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, to the north row of the holy chambers for the priests, and behold, a place was there at the extreme western end of them. 20 And he said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, in order not to bring them out into the outer court and so transmit holiness to the people.”
21 Then
he brought me out to the outer court and led me around to the four
corners of the court. And behold, in each corner of the court there was
another court— 22 in the four corners of the court were small courts, forty cubits long and thirty broad; the four were of the same size. 23 On the inside, around each of the four courts was a row of masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the rows all around. 24 Then he said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple shall boil the sacrifices of the people.”

You know, I never thought about that.
About where the sacrifices were taken care of once the people brought them.
Also never thought about how God would want to be careful about where they were prepared for the sake of the people.
God took care of that detail.  Protecting them from what the message says as ” endanger the unprepared people out there with The Holy.”   God wanted to keep his people safe.  The priests were set apart by God for the work they did, so they could handle the holiness of God.  The common people were not.  So God set apart a special area for his sacrifices were his holiness wouldn’t endanger them.

God made all these little kitchens for the cooking of his sacrifices and the protection of his people.

God still does this you know?   The watching out for his people. 
We often aren’t truly aware of it.
At least that’s what I bring away from this passage.  What about you?

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9 “When the people of the land come before the Lord
at the appointed feasts, he who enters by the north gate to worship
shall go out by the south gate, and he who enters by the south gate
shall go out by the north gate: no one shall return by way of the gate
by which he entered, but each shall go out straight ahead. 10 When they enter, the prince shall enter with them, and when they go out, he shall go out.

Verses 11-15 discuss the sacrifices.    The next verses talk about inheritances.  Any inheritance the prince leaves for his children needs to come out the land that is HIS, not the peoples, not the temples, just his.  If he makes the gift to a servant they only have until the year of liberty to use it and enjoy it, after that, it reverts back to the prince so that any offspring of the prince don’t lose any of their inheritance.

16 “Thus says the Lord God:
If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons as his inheritance, it
shall belong to his sons. It is their property by inheritance. 17 But if he makes a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty. Then it shall revert to the prince; surely it is his inheritance — it shall belong to his sons. 18 The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting
them out of their property. He shall give his sons their inheritance
out of his own property, so that none of my people shall be scattered from his property.”

I read these verses and I wonder about God’s care for his people.
Assuring that the prince remembers the importance of the sacrifices.
I wonder why the people had to walk in the straight line from one gate to the other.  I wonder if God was just keeping things orderly, or if there was a reason behind it. 
I kinda wonder if it’s a foreshadowing of how we can’t turn back to our old ways after we accept the sacrifice that Christ made on our behalf.   Once we’ve “gone through that gate” there is no turning back.   God’s call upon our heart is too strong for that.  Nothing can separate us from his love, we’re his through and through.  

The last verses have me feeling kinda sad and at the same time more aware of God’s protection on our behalf.   Imagine your employer giving you a gift, and you know you can only have it for a short term… nothing long term… because whatever the employer has, has to be kept as an inheritance for his children.   Kind of a bummer to know you have to give it back, but at the same time an incentive to make good use of it and to keep it good shape as you know if will be going back to him!    At the same time it’s good to see those protections in place for the future generation, so that you know that the land God gave the prince can’t to wastefully given away and thereby affect the long-term needs of future generations.

No squandering to be done here!
Only protections offered.   I just find myself intrigued.
What about you?

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 Ezekiel 45:7-25 is our lesson for today.  Last time we learned about designating part of what we have as for the Lord.  It’s a reminder you know?

7 “And to the
prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the
property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of
the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of
the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern
boundary 8 of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people, but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.

 As
I read this passage there seems to be more than one prince talked about
here.   There is “THE PRINCE” and then there are the princes.    THE PRINCE shall belong to the land surrounding the holy district and the city property.  This land shall be his.

BUT then there are the princes who are being called to no longer oppress the people of God.   It is to these princes that God directs his comments.

They are to put away violence and oppression.
They are to execute justice and righteousness. 
They are no longer to evict the people.
They will have just balances.  The ephah and the bath, they will be of the same measure – one tenth of a homer.    With money being measured the same as well.

But I’m not sure if these princes are different or not.  

9 “Thus says the Lord God: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease your evictions of my people, declares the Lord God.
10 “You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath. 11 The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer, and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. 12 The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.

The princes are to receive offerings that are of the standard, measured weight.  This offering is to be given by all the people of the land.
 
13 “This
is the offering that you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each
homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, 14 and as the fixed portion of oil, measured in baths, one tenth of a bath from each cor (the cor, like the homer, contains ten baths). 15 And
one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of
Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them, declares the Lord God. 

16 All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel. 17 It
shall be the prince’s duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain
offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the
Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall
provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace
offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

But do you see as you read?  Not only do the people have offerings to make, but the prince has offerings he needs to make as well.  The burnt, grain and drink offerings at the festivals etc, as well as the sin, grain, burnt and peace offerings in order to make atonement for the people.

18 “Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull from the herd without blemish, and purify the sanctuary. 19 The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court. 20 You
shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has
sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the
temple.
21 “In
the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall
celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread
shall be eaten. 22 On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. 23 And on the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering. 24 And he shall provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil to each ephah. 25 In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the feast, he shall make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and for the oil.

And yet more sacrifices.
Do you see that they have be without any kind of blemish?
Perfect animals.
Meant to make the people right with God.
But so many were needed.  Grain, birds, cattle, sheep and more.’
I am left sitting here thinking, Jesus put an end to all that.
He was what the sacrifices pointed us toward.
Then he ended the need for them. 

That’s a true prince in action.

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