And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Reuben.
The allotment places Reuben next to Ephraim with a strip running the full breadth from east to west in the restored division of the land with its sanctuary, city and temple. The whole arrangement was offered only if Israel was ashamed of iniquity, turned from wickedness and yielded fully in obedience. Israel loved Babylon more than Jerusalem and slighted the calls to return, so the city and sanctuary were never erected and what was built under Zerubbabel was only a feeble shadow of the pattern. In its fullest literal detail, including the tribal portions and temple with its sacrifices, it will never be literally fulfilled on this sin-cursed earth. Though unfulfilled in detail, it stands as a faint type of greater things God will do through Christ for the faithful true Israel in the earth made new and the New City descending at His second coming.
Verse Setting and Meaning
Ezekiel 48:6 assigns Reuben a portion of the restored land lying beside the border of Ephraim and running from the east side even unto the west side, as one allotment in the division of the land among the tribes with its sanctuary, city and temple set forth in Ezekiel 40-48, especially Ezekiel 47-48. This division belonged to the sanctuary and restoration offered to the house of Israel with abundant blessing if the people would be ashamed of their sins, put them away, repent, yield fully to God and meet His conditions, and it would have been literally fulfilled if they had complied. The house of Israel was not ashamed, and when the decree for restoration went forth only about forty thousand went up, chiefly Judah and Benjamin with a portion of Levi and a few others, while the ten tribes slighted the offer of Cyrus and rejected the gracious offer, so the blessings of Ezekiel 47-48 were refused, the sanctuary was never erected, and what was built fell far short of the pattern in a partial, feeble, far inferior shadow in the temple built by Zerubbabel and Ezra. In that light the land arrangement stands also as a general type and prophecy in spiritual form, not a detailed account, of greater things to come, whose future inheritance in its full immortal measure belongs instead to the faithful and true Israel.
The sanctuary vision of Ezekiel 40-48 was given in B.C. 574, fourteen years after Jerusalem, the temple and the sanctuary were destroyed in B.C. 588 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah. It was shown to the house of Israel while Ezekiel was among the captives carried away with King Jehoiachin in 597 B.C. to Babylonia and settled near the river Chebar, while Jeremiah was God's prophet in Jerusalem. It laid out part of what the Lord would do for His people if they would yield to Him and comply, offering captive Israel possession of a remarkable sanctuary to be fulfilled in the past dispensation.
The promised city in the vision is called Jehovah-shammah, meaning Jehovah is there or Jehovah Is There. There God's overpowering presence dwelling among them in glory would heal all barren land, all salt marshes and all impure waters and give life to all. If Israel had yielded, been ashamed and confounded for their ways, been cleansed from sin and been brought back to the mountains of Israel, they would have shot forth branches and yielded fruit and been made greater than at the beginning, the resurrection of Ezekiel 37 would have taken place, the enemies from the north of Ezekiel 38-39 would have been destroyed with plagues, and Israel would have built that marvelous sanctuary with its sacrifices and portions. Because Israel never complied and would not yield all to God, that sanctuary with all its blessed fullness was never built and never will be built, for God could not come in and dwell among a half-hearted people to be dishonored, and to offer its sacrifices now would make of none effect the offering made once for all by Jesus Christ. The temple built at the restoration from Babylon fell far short of Ezekiel's pattern and never saw the glory of Solomon's temple except in the person of Jesus Christ, whom its keepers rejected, and the unbuilt temple remains an object lesson that the only holy, worthy thing is that in which God dwells, to lead man to yield himself as God's dwelling-place, temple and sanctuary.
Conditional Promise Unfulfilled
The whole land and sanctuary arrangement of which the portion for Reuben by the border of Ephraim from east to west is a part was offered only on condition that Israel be ashamed of iniquities, turn from wickedness, repent, be cleansed from sin, and obey and yield fully to God. That division of the land among the tribes with its temple and arrangements was a conditional prophecy, and because Israel did not turn and was not ashamed the great temple and land order were never carried out as promised. Israel did not meet the conditions but rejected the gracious offer and loved Babylon more than Jerusalem, so the city and sanctuary were never erected. When the decree for restoration went forth only a few accepted return, about forty thousand, chiefly Judah and Benjamin with a portion of Levi and a few others, while the ten tribes slighted the offer of Cyrus, and Israel failed to respond to the three calls to leave Babylon, after which Jerusalem was destroyed.
What was built at the restoration fell far short of the pattern and was only a partial, feeble, far inferior shadow of it in the temple built by Zerubbabel and Ezra. That restoration temple never saw the glory of Solomon's temple except in the person of Jesus Christ, whom its keepers rejected. The vision cannot belong to a future immortal state, because its prince offers a sin-offering and other offerings for himself, must remove exactions and not oppress, and has sons and servants with inheritance laws, while its order includes marriages, divorces, disease and death. Only Jesus shall be King over Israel in the glorified state, with peace for officers and righteousness for exactors and no oppression, and His sacrifice caused all others to cease.
The vision cannot belong to the gospel dispensation and was not to be built after the Christian dispensation began, because its Levitical priesthood, literal circumcision, distinction between clean and unclean meats, divorce rules, and burnt-offerings and sin-offerings of bulls and goats were abolished or superseded at the first advent and cross by Christ's crucifixion and ascension. To continue or reinstate its old service and sacrifices now would make Christ's once-for-all offering void. This refutes the age-to-come theory of a literal building by men on this sin-cursed earth during Christ's thousand-year reign that would revive ancient Jerusalem, reinstate first-covenant sacrifices, supersede the heavenly Jerusalem that John saw coming down from God and Paul called above and free, and return to shadow ordinances after Christ offered His body once for all and sat at God's right hand. In its fullest literal detail, including the tribal portions and temple with sacrifices, it will never be literally fulfilled, for like all ancient prophecies concerning Israel it was conditioned on faith and obedience which ancient Israel did not meet.
Future Hope Foreshadowed
Though never carried out in its described detail, the closing chapters stand as faint types and a prophecy in spiritual form and a general type, not a detailed account, of greater things God will do for His people through Christ in the new heavens and the new earth. The division of the land tribe by tribe, with Reuben assigned a portion extending from the eastern boundary to the western boundary beside Ephraim, belonged to the restoration God was prepared to bring about after the return from Babylon. That restoration and its blessings depended on Israel returning wholeheartedly from captivity, turning from wickedness, repenting and being ashamed of sins, and because they were unwilling it was not fulfilled and the great temple and land arrangement were not carried out as promised. What was built by Zerubbabel was only a shadow of the one described.
If the people had met the conditions, the allotment beside Ephraim from the east side to the west side would have been literally fulfilled on the present earth as part of the blessings promised to the house of Israel with abundant blessing. Had they complied, been ashamed and confounded for their ways, been cleansed from sin, and been brought back to the mountains of Israel to shoot forth branches and yield fruit and be made greater than at the beginning, the resurrection described in Ezekiel 37 would have taken place. The enemies from the north described in Ezekiel 38 and 39 would have been destroyed with plagues falling upon them, Gog and Magog overthrown, all enemies far and near conquered, and the faithful in Israel who slept brought back from the dead. Then Israel would have built that marvelous sanctuary with its sacrifices and portions where the presence of God would dwell among them in overpowering glory, and Jerusalem would have been made a praise in the earth with the name Jehovah Is There. When the decree for restoration went forth all Israel could go up, but the ten tribes slighted the offer of Cyrus and only Judah and Benjamin with a portion of Levi and a few others went up, so Israel rejected the gracious offer and this sanctuary was never erected.
Because Israel did not fully repent and yield to God, these promises will not be fulfilled in all their described details but will be fulfilled more gloriously in the new earth. The future inheritance will instead be given to the faithful in its full, immortal measure, to true Israel redeemed and given a more glorious inheritance, the earth made new. What was purposed for the city on condition His people put away sins and obey Him was not realized for earthly Jerusalem, and its purpose will instead be fulfilled in the New City prepared for God's true Israel, prepared in heaven to descend upon the earth. The ancient prophecies concerning Israel must be read in light of the New Testament revelation that Gentiles are fellow heirs and partakers of the promise in Christ by the gospel, in which there is no Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian and Scythian. Its ultimate fulfillment belongs to the greater glory of Christ's second coming and related events, not to the local conditions of Ezekiel's day, while Gog and Magog, representing the northern nations, will be punished in part in this world and fully at the coming of Christ and ultimately at the end of the 1,000 years. The city was never built on earth, not because God changed His mind, but because Israel loved Babylon more than Jerusalem, failed to do its part in responding to the three calls to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem, and Jerusalem was destroyed.
The temporary land inheritance, with Reuben's portion beside Ephraim's as part of the apportionment among Israel's families, was designed to show God's purpose for the future world. Each person's inheritance will be permanent, and the redeemed will enjoy their work in a lasting home throughout eternity. The pattern of a glorious temple at the center of a restored Jerusalem was given as an object lesson that the only holy, worthy thing is that in which God dwells, to lead man to yield himself as a dwelling-place, temple and sanctuary of God. God's presence there would heal all barren land, all salt marshes and all impure waters, and would give life to all, because Jehovah is there. The ancient calls out of Babylon were an object-lesson of the last call now sounding through the earth to come out of Babylon before utter destruction falls on those who linger there.
The allotment places Reuben next to Ephraim with a strip running the full breadth from east to west in the restored division of the land with its sanctuary, city and temple. The whole arrangement was offered only if Israel was ashamed of iniquity, turned from wickedness and yielded fully in obedience. Israel loved Babylon more than Jerusalem and slighted the calls to return, so the city and sanctuary were never erected and what was built under Zerubbabel was only a feeble shadow of the pattern. In its fullest literal detail, including the tribal portions and temple with its sacrifices, it will never be literally fulfilled on this sin-cursed earth. Though unfulfilled in detail, it stands as a faint type of greater things God will do through Christ for the faithful true Israel in the earth made new and the New City descending at His second coming.
Verse Setting and Meaning
Ezekiel 48:6 assigns Reuben a portion of the restored land lying beside the border of Ephraim and running from the east side even unto the west side, as one allotment in the division of the land among the tribes with its sanctuary, city and temple set forth in Ezekiel 40-48, especially Ezekiel 47-48. This division belonged to the sanctuary and restoration offered to the house of Israel with abundant blessing if the people would be ashamed of their sins, put them away, repent, yield fully to God and meet His conditions, and it would have been literally fulfilled if they had complied. The house of Israel was not ashamed, and when the decree for restoration went forth only about forty thousand went up, chiefly Judah and Benjamin with a portion of Levi and a few others, while the ten tribes slighted the offer of Cyrus and rejected the gracious offer, so the blessings of Ezekiel 47-48 were refused, the sanctuary was never erected, and what was built fell far short of the pattern in a partial, feeble, far inferior shadow in the temple built by Zerubbabel and Ezra. In that light the land arrangement stands also as a general type and prophecy in spiritual form, not a detailed account, of greater things to come, whose future inheritance in its full immortal measure belongs instead to the faithful and true Israel.
The sanctuary vision of Ezekiel 40-48 was given in B.C. 574, fourteen years after Jerusalem, the temple and the sanctuary were destroyed in B.C. 588 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah. It was shown to the house of Israel while Ezekiel was among the captives carried away with King Jehoiachin in 597 B.C. to Babylonia and settled near the river Chebar, while Jeremiah was God's prophet in Jerusalem. It laid out part of what the Lord would do for His people if they would yield to Him and comply, offering captive Israel possession of a remarkable sanctuary to be fulfilled in the past dispensation.
The promised city in the vision is called Jehovah-shammah, meaning Jehovah is there or Jehovah Is There. There God's overpowering presence dwelling among them in glory would heal all barren land, all salt marshes and all impure waters and give life to all. If Israel had yielded, been ashamed and confounded for their ways, been cleansed from sin and been brought back to the mountains of Israel, they would have shot forth branches and yielded fruit and been made greater than at the beginning, the resurrection of Ezekiel 37 would have taken place, the enemies from the north of Ezekiel 38-39 would have been destroyed with plagues, and Israel would have built that marvelous sanctuary with its sacrifices and portions. Because Israel never complied and would not yield all to God, that sanctuary with all its blessed fullness was never built and never will be built, for God could not come in and dwell among a half-hearted people to be dishonored, and to offer its sacrifices now would make of none effect the offering made once for all by Jesus Christ. The temple built at the restoration from Babylon fell far short of Ezekiel's pattern and never saw the glory of Solomon's temple except in the person of Jesus Christ, whom its keepers rejected, and the unbuilt temple remains an object lesson that the only holy, worthy thing is that in which God dwells, to lead man to yield himself as God's dwelling-place, temple and sanctuary.
Conditional Promise Unfulfilled
The whole land and sanctuary arrangement of which the portion for Reuben by the border of Ephraim from east to west is a part was offered only on condition that Israel be ashamed of iniquities, turn from wickedness, repent, be cleansed from sin, and obey and yield fully to God. That division of the land among the tribes with its temple and arrangements was a conditional prophecy, and because Israel did not turn and was not ashamed the great temple and land order were never carried out as promised. Israel did not meet the conditions but rejected the gracious offer and loved Babylon more than Jerusalem, so the city and sanctuary were never erected. When the decree for restoration went forth only a few accepted return, about forty thousand, chiefly Judah and Benjamin with a portion of Levi and a few others, while the ten tribes slighted the offer of Cyrus, and Israel failed to respond to the three calls to leave Babylon, after which Jerusalem was destroyed.
What was built at the restoration fell far short of the pattern and was only a partial, feeble, far inferior shadow of it in the temple built by Zerubbabel and Ezra. That restoration temple never saw the glory of Solomon's temple except in the person of Jesus Christ, whom its keepers rejected. The vision cannot belong to a future immortal state, because its prince offers a sin-offering and other offerings for himself, must remove exactions and not oppress, and has sons and servants with inheritance laws, while its order includes marriages, divorces, disease and death. Only Jesus shall be King over Israel in the glorified state, with peace for officers and righteousness for exactors and no oppression, and His sacrifice caused all others to cease.
The vision cannot belong to the gospel dispensation and was not to be built after the Christian dispensation began, because its Levitical priesthood, literal circumcision, distinction between clean and unclean meats, divorce rules, and burnt-offerings and sin-offerings of bulls and goats were abolished or superseded at the first advent and cross by Christ's crucifixion and ascension. To continue or reinstate its old service and sacrifices now would make Christ's once-for-all offering void. This refutes the age-to-come theory of a literal building by men on this sin-cursed earth during Christ's thousand-year reign that would revive ancient Jerusalem, reinstate first-covenant sacrifices, supersede the heavenly Jerusalem that John saw coming down from God and Paul called above and free, and return to shadow ordinances after Christ offered His body once for all and sat at God's right hand. In its fullest literal detail, including the tribal portions and temple with sacrifices, it will never be literally fulfilled, for like all ancient prophecies concerning Israel it was conditioned on faith and obedience which ancient Israel did not meet.
Future Hope Foreshadowed
Though never carried out in its described detail, the closing chapters stand as faint types and a prophecy in spiritual form and a general type, not a detailed account, of greater things God will do for His people through Christ in the new heavens and the new earth. The division of the land tribe by tribe, with Reuben assigned a portion extending from the eastern boundary to the western boundary beside Ephraim, belonged to the restoration God was prepared to bring about after the return from Babylon. That restoration and its blessings depended on Israel returning wholeheartedly from captivity, turning from wickedness, repenting and being ashamed of sins, and because they were unwilling it was not fulfilled and the great temple and land arrangement were not carried out as promised. What was built by Zerubbabel was only a shadow of the one described.
If the people had met the conditions, the allotment beside Ephraim from the east side to the west side would have been literally fulfilled on the present earth as part of the blessings promised to the house of Israel with abundant blessing. Had they complied, been ashamed and confounded for their ways, been cleansed from sin, and been brought back to the mountains of Israel to shoot forth branches and yield fruit and be made greater than at the beginning, the resurrection described in Ezekiel 37 would have taken place. The enemies from the north described in Ezekiel 38 and 39 would have been destroyed with plagues falling upon them, Gog and Magog overthrown, all enemies far and near conquered, and the faithful in Israel who slept brought back from the dead. Then Israel would have built that marvelous sanctuary with its sacrifices and portions where the presence of God would dwell among them in overpowering glory, and Jerusalem would have been made a praise in the earth with the name Jehovah Is There. When the decree for restoration went forth all Israel could go up, but the ten tribes slighted the offer of Cyrus and only Judah and Benjamin with a portion of Levi and a few others went up, so Israel rejected the gracious offer and this sanctuary was never erected.
Because Israel did not fully repent and yield to God, these promises will not be fulfilled in all their described details but will be fulfilled more gloriously in the new earth. The future inheritance will instead be given to the faithful in its full, immortal measure, to true Israel redeemed and given a more glorious inheritance, the earth made new. What was purposed for the city on condition His people put away sins and obey Him was not realized for earthly Jerusalem, and its purpose will instead be fulfilled in the New City prepared for God's true Israel, prepared in heaven to descend upon the earth. The ancient prophecies concerning Israel must be read in light of the New Testament revelation that Gentiles are fellow heirs and partakers of the promise in Christ by the gospel, in which there is no Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian and Scythian. Its ultimate fulfillment belongs to the greater glory of Christ's second coming and related events, not to the local conditions of Ezekiel's day, while Gog and Magog, representing the northern nations, will be punished in part in this world and fully at the coming of Christ and ultimately at the end of the 1,000 years. The city was never built on earth, not because God changed His mind, but because Israel loved Babylon more than Jerusalem, failed to do its part in responding to the three calls to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem, and Jerusalem was destroyed.
The temporary land inheritance, with Reuben's portion beside Ephraim's as part of the apportionment among Israel's families, was designed to show God's purpose for the future world. Each person's inheritance will be permanent, and the redeemed will enjoy their work in a lasting home throughout eternity. The pattern of a glorious temple at the center of a restored Jerusalem was given as an object lesson that the only holy, worthy thing is that in which God dwells, to lead man to yield himself as a dwelling-place, temple and sanctuary of God. God's presence there would heal all barren land, all salt marshes and all impure waters, and would give life to all, because Jehovah is there. The ancient calls out of Babylon were an object-lesson of the last call now sounding through the earth to come out of Babylon before utter destruction falls on those who linger there.