1 Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goes to Hamath, Hazarenan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides east and west; a portion for Dan.
Now we get to the dividing up of the land among all twelve tribes. First Dan gets their portion.
2 And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Asher.
3 And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Naphtali.
4 And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Manasseh.
5 And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Ephraim.
6 And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Reuben.
Instead of each tribe receiving a geographically consistent block like Moses gave them, they get a strip that goes from border to border. This would have reduced some of the economic inequality that comes from some tribes being isolated in the mountains and some being by prosperous sea ports. Every tribe had beachfront property, farmland, and mountains.
7 And by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Judah.
8 And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the offering which ye shall offer of five and twenty thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the other parts, from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it.
South of Judah is the portion we measured out a couple of chapters ago for the Temple and its surrounding city and suburbs.
9 The oblation that ye shall offer unto the Lord shall be of five and twenty thousand in length, and of ten thousand in breadth.
5000 what? Reeds? Cubits? Probably reeds since the size is right for what God said to use that plot for.
10 And for them, even for the priests, shall be this holy oblation; toward the north five and twenty thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the Lord shall be in the midst thereof.
If it is reeds (verse 9), than the priests get 85 miles by 34 miles with the Temple in the middle.
11 It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept My charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
This will be specifically to the clan that stayed obedient to God when everyone else turned from Him.
Paul teaches in the New Testament that it is good for the ministry to be supported by their work ministering. If they are feeding you spiritually, you should be feeding them physically. This was simply repeating the principle God put in place under Moses.
12 And this oblation of the land that is offered shall be unto them a thing most holy by the border of the Levites.
13 And over against the border of the priests the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.
The Levites got about half the land.
14 And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the firstfruits of the land: for it is holy unto the Lord.
15 And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the 25,000, shall be a profane place for the city, for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof.
The profane place would have been the garbage dump and possibly the cemetery?
16 And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side 4500, and the south side 4500, and on the east side4500, and the west side 4500.
The city itself will measure 7.6 by 7.6 miles.
17 And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north 250, and toward the south 250, and toward the east 250, and toward the west 250.
The suburbs would stretch out by about half a mile each direction.
18 And the residue in length over against the oblation of the holy portion shall be 10,000 eastward, and 10,000 westward: and it shall be over against the oblation of the holy portion; and the increase thereof shall be for food unto them that serve the city.
There is to be a bit of farm land set aside for the city workers that measures about 17 miles.
19 And they that serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel.
There will be accepted workers from each tribe instead of just the Levites like before.
20 All the oblation shall be 25,000 by25,000: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city.
This whole place is to be 42 miles square.
21 And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city, over against the 25,000 of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the 25,000 toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince: and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof.
The ruler gets what is left over, right next to the Temple property.
22 Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince’s, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince.
Plus the ruler gets a portion south of the city before the property given to Benjamin.
23 As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin shall have a portion.
The rest of the land is divided up in the same manner to the other half of the tribes.
24 And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon shall have a portion.
25 And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar a portion.
26 And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun a portion.
27 And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad a portion.
28 And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar unto the waters of strife in Kadesh, and to the river toward the great sea.
Thirteen tribes in all:
- One for each of the twelve sons of Jacob.
- Two for his son Joseph.
29 This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, says the Lord God.
30 And these are the goings out of the city on the north side, 4500 measures.
7.6 miles
31 And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.
The city is to have twelve gates, one for each tribe (with both tribes descended from Joseph sharing one gate).
32 And at the east side4500: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.
33 And at the south side 4500 measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun.
34 At the west side 4500, with their three gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali.
35 It was round about 18,000 measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, "The Lord is There."
The city itself and all that was included in it was 31.9 miles.
Israel never again descended into the idolatry of their forefathers. Oh, they never did stay in the service of God, preferring to serve their own selves, but the blatant idolatry ended.
And then Jesus came.
From that time on, the selfish, disobedient branches of Israel were cut off and wild (non-Jewish) branches were grafted in, becoming part of Israel. (Romans 11) From the time of the Cross on anyone of any bloodline who chooses to love God becomes part of Israel while anyone who chooses to serve Self is condemned.
So, God;
- Destroyed Israel/Judah for her sins (Ezekiel 1-30 [640-507BC]);
- Punished her neighbors for their sins and bad attitudes (Ezekiel 31-36);
- Revived and renewed Israel and Judah, reuniting them as one country (Ezekiel 37 [457BC]);
- Warned of another time of conquest coming, but that this time Judah would win (Ezekiel 38-39 [312-63BC with the Maccabees gaining Judah her freedom in 167-160BC]);
- Promises that the city and the Temple will be rebuilt (Ezekiel 41-46 [this began in 457BC with a major remolding by Herod in the early first century AD]);
- Tells of the coming Messiah with His healing of all who accept Him (Ezekiel 47 [about AD30]); and then
- Gives directions for how the land is to be divided when they all return from Babylon (Ezekiel 48).
God gave Ezekiel an outline of what was left for Israel. He did not give specific dates (like He did to Daniel about this same time), but He did give enough detail that we can see His guiding and working.
By combining the works of Daniel and Ezekiel we can see that God knew all along what He was doing and exactly when the Messiah was to show up. Jesus fulfilled every one of these prophecies to the letter.
Though none of these things are in our future, these works are vitally important to us. A God who accurately tells what was going to happen 500 years before it did, is a God who can be trusted with the rest of history and with our lives. When God said that there will be an end of time and that Christ will return and take all true believers to Heaven, we can bet on its happening.