Ezekiel 47:22, commentary and pictures

The land was to be divided by lot as a lasting inheritance both for Israel and for the foreigners living among them who raised families there, who were to be counted as native-born and to receive their share together with and among the tribes of Israel.
It belongs to Ezekiel's closing vision in chapters 40-48 of a sanctuary, city, and land promised to Israel, not to a description of the immortal state or of the present gospel age.
The whole promise was conditional on Israel becoming ashamed of sin, putting iniquity away, and returning to God wholeheartedly.
If Israel had yielded to those conditions, what is promised about dividing the land would have been fulfilled literally in detail then, under the old covenant order while the distinction between Israel and the stranger remained.
Israel did not meet the conditions and few returned from captivity, so that sanctuary, city, and division of the land never came to pass as described and never will be built literally.
It cannot be built in the future to fulfill its described purpose, because its Levitical priesthood with animal sin offerings pointed forward to Christ, while Christ's new covenant priesthood pleads His own once-for-all offering, yet because the people failed God will more than make good those promises to His Israel in Christ in the new heavens and new earth with its capital the New Jerusalem.

Vision's Context and Promise

Ezekiel 47:22 belongs to the closing vision of chapters 40-48, a promise of sanctuary, city and land to mortal Israel under the former covenant, not a description of the immortal state or of the present gospel age. It belongs to the temple vision whose priestly system is of the former Levitical order, not to be fulfilled by a temple built after the Christian dispensation began, since Christ's priesthood is the permanent priesthood of the new covenant. The sanctuary prophecy with its blessings was offered for the past, while the old covenant ordinances and the distinction between Israel and the stranger remained in force.

The vision was given to encourage the exiles in Babylonian captivity and sets forth what the Lord would do for His people if they would yield to Him. Ezekiel was God's prophet among the captives carried away with King Jehoiachin in 597 B.C. to Babylonia and settled near the river Chebar, contemporary with Jeremiah prophesying in Jerusalem, himself of the priesthood, his name meaning God strengthens. In the twenty-fifth year of captivity he was carried to the land of Israel and set upon a very high mountain with the frame of a city lying to the south, showing what was in prospect for Israel in Palestine after restoration to their own land. The glorious prosperity and favor held out there, made clear by the last seven verses of chapter 39, was for Israel upon return from Babylon and depended upon faithfulness in representing truth in the earth, and it does not require a future age of probation.

The whole promise was conditional on Israel becoming ashamed of sins and iniquities, putting them away, returning wholly to God, and living up to its calling. The form of the house was to be made known to them that they might be ashamed of iniquity, and only if they were ashamed of all that they had done would the city and sanctuary from chapter 40 onward have been built. From chapter 36 onward Israel was called to return wholly to God and receive the promised good, including a new division of the land with inheritance for those living among Israel. Because Israel continued in apostasy and was not ashamed, the promised restoration, city, land division and glorious temple did not occur as described.

The land was to be divided by lot for an inheritance to Israel and to the strangers sojourning among them who beget children among them. Those strangers were to be as those born in the country and to have inheritance with and among the tribes of Israel, including among the twelve tribes. Resident foreigners and their children were thus to share as if native-born, as part of the restoration that could have been established if Israel had answered the calls to leave Babylon. The specific provision about inheritance for resident foreigners stands without further explanation in some accounts of the conditional prophecies of chapters 40-48.

The land division belonged to a restoration in which God's glory would show approval of the sanctuary's work and His life-giving power and continual presence would bring healing and life to the land. The water of life flowing from the sanctuary would heal marshes and deserts and salt lands and waters, gradually establishing the peaceful condition of the Messiah's kingdom on this present earth and making their days like the days of heaven upon the earth. That restoration included long life, safety in the holy mountain, a people whose character influenced the animals, removal of enemies, raising of the dead, rebuilding of the glorious temple with its life-giving water, Israel as a light to the world, and a grand temple at Jerusalem ultimately a house of prayer for all nations. The verse thus recognizes a distinction between Israel and the stranger that has since been broken down. Its reading of resident foreigners receiving an inheritance among the tribes as native-born is connected with the question of having a place in the heavenly city.

Conditional Prophecy and Fulfillment

If Israel had yielded to God's conditions, what is promised about dividing the land by lot for an inheritance to Israel and to the sojourning strangers who beget children among them, to be as born in the country with inheritance with and among the tribes of Israel including among the twelve tribes, would have been literally fulfilled in detail then upon return from Babylon. That fulfillment belonged to the past, while the old covenant ordinances and the distinction between Israel and the stranger remained in force, and to the promised restoration of Israel's land and worship after the Babylonian captivity. It does not require a future age of probation, but shows what was in prospect for Israel in Palestine after restoration to their own land, the glorious prosperity and favor held out upon return from Babylon depending on faithfulness in representing truth in the earth. Since they did not meet the conditions, that promised inheritance will not be fulfilled as originally described, but will be fulfilled for true Israel in a future form and more glorious inheritance in the earth made new, the faithful receiving the full immortal inheritance.

Israel did not meet the stated conditions, was not ashamed of sins and iniquities, did not put them away and return to God wholeheartedly and with all the heart, and few returned from captivity and answered the calls to leave Babylon. Therefore the promised sanctuary, city, restoration of the land, and new division of the land including inheritance for those living among Israel did not occur as described. The sanctuary and its blessings were rejected and never established, realized only weakly in the temple built by Zerubbabel or only in small part and in very limited fulfillment. That city was never built because Israel failed to do its part.

That sanctuary and larger city and temple in Ezekiel's pattern never was built and never will be built literally, and that restoration with its sanctuary in Jerusalem and division of the land for an inheritance never took place and never was fulfilled because Israel never yielded to God's plan and would not yield fully to God. What God would have done then for His children if they had yielded to Him was governed by the universal condition of conditional prophecy, dependent on Israel's response and upon being ashamed and repenting. It never will be built and never can be built, because God cannot go back to the typical sacrifices which pointed forward to Jesus Christ, since Jesus Himself suffered and fulfilled all types.

It cannot be built in the future to fulfill the purpose described by a temple built after the Christian dispensation began, because its priestly system with its ceremonies, rites and offerings belongs to the former Levitical order with animal sin offerings and typical sacrifices pointing forward to Christ, while Christ's priesthood is the permanent priesthood of the new covenant pleading His own blood and His once-for-all offering. God could not approve those animal sin offerings while Christ was doing this work, and the former sanctuary service and its sacrifices cannot continue without making Christ's sacrifice void. Because sacrifices were to be offered in that temple, it is not a temple God will ordain again in the future. The vision therefore does not establish a future restoration of the Jewish people or of the Levitical sacrificial system, but treats the sanctuary and land promised to Israel as a promise for mortal Israel under the former covenant, conditional on repentance, rather than as a description of the immortal state or the present gospel age.

The promises are faint types and stand in their spiritual aspect as typical of God's general promises for His people at Christ's second coming and of greater things the Lord will do for His people through Christ. Because the people failed and were not willing, the promised privileges were forfeited for earthly Jerusalem, but God will more than make good all those precious promises to His Israel in Christ Jesus in the new heavens and new earth with its capital the New Jerusalem recorded in Revelation 22. There the faithful receive a more glorious and full immortal inheritance, where the Spirit of absolute peace presides over all nature, retaining the joy, peace and harmony of the promised future while leaving out some former local details. Its details are not a precise description of their fulfillment.