Ezekiel 47:13-23--Division of the Land

Ezekiel 47:13-23
English Standard Version

Division of the Land
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.

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Right alongside all this talk about returning to a new temple and a future kingdom with a future Temple where the LORD would live among His people once again is another promise that I find fascinating.  The Land that was promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as an eternal covenant to their descendants is again renewed as part of this renewal of the covenant as the people were going into Exile.  This tells us that the LORD would not destroy any of the Twelve Tribes and they would all receive their allotments of the Land.  Next, it tells us that they would possess the entirety of Canaan and Gilead (both sides of the Jordan River).  There would be to each tribe, so all of the tribes will survive the Exile.  The boundaries given are real cities, most of which we know of the ancient locations of today as we have found them with archeological digs.  These boundaries go well into what we would call modern-day Syria and Lebanon and Jordan and even portions of northern Egypt.  All the Land which the people took under the Conquest of Moses and Joshua is included in these boundaries.  It was given to them as an eternal inheritance.  Now let's see what the LORD says about anyone who would try to divide the Land, scatter the LORD's people and try to remove them from the Land or take the Land away from them.


Joel 3:2
English Standard Version
2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land.


There is far more Land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and that is a different discussion for a different time.  Suffice it to say though that I think many well-meaning people have an anti-biblical view of the Land and the People of God and are scare of being called names like Zionist or Christian Zionist.  I don't see any way to square any "Land for Peace" type deals with Joel 3:2 and I don't think Christians ever had a right to the Promised Land in the Middle Ages (during the Crusades), though I understand their wanting to push back on the Islamic Caliphate that was taking over Europe and some wanted to protect Israel (though it is the place of God and not the Church to protect His people).  Sometimes the LORD uses other nations to do so, but the pattern is obvious in Scripture that when other nations come to the aid of Israel they try to take that which rightfully belongs to Israel as "payment" for their service, and this is wrong.  There is no nation with boundaries on this earth that belongs to the Christians in the same way that the land of Israel belongs to the descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and certainly the Land of Israel does not belong to Christians (though I believe prophecy seems to indicate that one day the kingdoms of Egypt and Assyria will belong to God-fearing Gentiles who are probably Christians)  In this way, the LORD will surround His people with allies and friends who will not be a threat to them and they will have peace and security, but the Land that was always promised to them will belong to them.  Read the  Bible from cover to cover and let it mold your worldview in these matters.  I see this is a watershed issue because that's what the passage from Joel says.  It will be one of the main issues that will decide how the LORD one day judges the nations of the world.  How did we treat His people and His Land?  I would rather error on the side of caution here and let Israel exclude those who have no right to be in the Land (like the Islamic terrorists that wish to destroy them and take the Land from them) and welcome those who will live at peace with them (like Christians that believe in Israel's right to the Land and live peaceably among them), and I'll let Jesus sort it out later when He separates the sheep from the goats.  Until then, we should do what we can to have our foreign policy align with God's policy on this matter.