Ezekiel 48:1-35

[doreen]

Hi,

I have been reading this part in the book Ezekiel in the Bible and I just wanted to know if I'm understanding it correctly.  Does this verse refer to what is to come?

1  Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Ha'zar–e'nan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides east and west; a portion for Dan.

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 Naph'tali.

4  And by the border of Naph'tali, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Manas'seh.

5  And by the border of Manas'seh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for E'phra-im.

6  And by the border of E'phra-im, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Reuben.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city, for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof.

16  And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.

17  And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty.

18  And the residue in length over against the oblation of the holy portion shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand 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.

19  And they that serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel.

20  All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city.

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 five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand 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.

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.

23  As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin shall have a portion.

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, Is'sachar a portion.

26  And by the border of Is'sachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zeb'ulun a portion.

27  And by the border of Zeb'ulun, 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.

29  This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, saith the Lord GOD.

30  And these are the goings out of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures.

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.

32  And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.

33  And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Is'sachar, one gate of Zeb'ulun.

34  At the west side four thousand and five hundred, with their three gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naph'tali. Rev. 21.12, 13

35  It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.

[doreen]

Er...is anyone familiar with these verses? 

[josh]

Doreen,

Hi. I noticed your post earlier this morning... but have been busy at work and have not had the time today to take a stab at helping you find the answer to your question. However, I understand how frustrating it is to come to what seems to be a brick wall in your understanding of the scriptures, especially when you ask the question aloud and no one seems to have a satisfactory answer or, even worse, no answer at all.

Let me also say that you have asked a very vague question about a very large amount of scripture... you ask "Does this verse [referring to a chapter of Ezekiel which you did not list, followed by 35 verses rather than "a" verse as you originally stated] refer to what is to come?

Does what verse refer to what is to come when? Is the question I would like to ask 

If you don't mind I would like to offer you a suggestion... have you read the "Twelve Truths to Understanding His Word" found on the main page of BT? I believe it would be beneficial to your understanding of not only the scripture verse which you ask about, but also to future questions that may arise.

Here is the link: http://bible-truths.com/twelve.htm

Your originial question: "Does this verse refer to what is to come?" fails to recognize the "is,was and will be" nature of Christ/The Word of God. We cannot limit the Word of God to only an event in the future, nor in the past. He IS, WAS and WILL BE.

Here is a section from the TWELVE TRUTHS paper that explains this and will hopefully wet your appetite to read more:

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TRUTH NUMBER 11

"Grace be into you, and peace, from Him which IS and which WAS, and which IS TO COME..." - Rev. 1:4

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which IS, and which WAS, and which IS TO COME, THE almighty" - Rev. 1:8

"Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which WAS, and IS, and IS TO COME" - Rev. 4:8

"Jesus Christ the same YESTERDAY, and TODAY, and FOR EVER" - Hebrews 13:8

When God wants to emphasis something, He repeats it. When He really wants to emphasize something, He repeats it again. When He really, really, really wants to emphasize something, He repeats it multiple times. Let's count the times God uses this phrase:


1.   "Him which IS, and which WAS, and which IS TO COME" - Rev. 1:4

2.   "I AM alpha and Omega, the BEGINNING and the ENDING, which IS, and which WAS, and which IS TO COME" - Rev. 1:8

3.   "I am Alpha and Omega, the FIRST and the LAST" - Rev. 21:6
 
4.   "I am the FIRST and the LAST" - Rev. 1:17
 
5.   "I am He that LIVES, and WAS DEAD; and, behold, I AM ALIVE" - Rev. 1:18
 
6.   "the FIRST and the LAST, which was DEAD, and is ALIVE" - Rev. 2:8
 
7.   "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which WAS, and IS, and IS TO COME" - Rev. 4:8
 
8.   "Oh Lord God Almighty, which ART, and WAS, and ARE TO COME" - Rev. 11:17
 
9.   "Thou art righteous, O Lord, which ARE, and WAS, and SHALL BE" - Rev. 16:5
 
10.   "I am Alpha and Omega, the BEGINNING and the END" - Rev. 22:13

Let's try reading a few verses together with this spiritual understanding of what is "spiritual," and what still, "is, was, and will be." A couple of years ago I presented the following in one of my Lake of Fire Installments:

"The [spiritual] Revelation [that is, was, and will be] of [spiritual] Jesus Christ [who is, was, and will be], which God gave unto Him, to show unto His [spiritual] servants [which are were and will be] [spiritual] things [which are, were, and will be] which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and [spiritually] signified [what is, was, and will be] by His [spiritual] angel [which is, was, and will be] unto His [spiritual] servant [which is, was, and will be] John.

Who bare [spiritual] record of [what is, was, and will be] of the [spiritual] word [which is, was, and will be] of [spiritual] God [who is, was, and will be], and of the [spiritual] testimony [which is, was, and will be] of [spiritual] Jesus Christ [Who lives, was dead, and am alive; Who is, was, and will be; the Alpha and the Omega; the beginning and the end; Who is, was, and is to come], and of all [spiritual] things [which are, were, and will be], that he [spiritually] saw [things that are, and were, and will be].

[Spiritually] Blessed is he [who is, was, and will be] that [spiritually] reads [what is, was, and will be], and they that [spiritually] hear [what is, was, and will be] the [spiritual] words of this [spiritual] prophecy [which is, was, and will be], and [spiritually] keep those things [which are, were, and will be] which are [spiritually] written therein: for the [spiritual] time [that is, was, and will be] is [spiritually] at hand" - Rev. 1:1-3

If anyone thinks this is funny, he is laughing at God, not at me. Once one thoroughly understands this spiritual truth of what is, was, and will be, it is not necessary to read the entire Book in the way I have stated it above. Neither is it necessary to repeat the words of James when he instructs us to always be aware of the fact that "If the Lord will, we shall do this, or that" (James 4:15).

The testimony of Jesus Christ does not change, and Christ Himself does not change, and therefore His dealings with humanity do not change, other than that there is coming a consummations of sin and death. Christ is not changed, but WE WILL BE CHANGED to conform to the Image of Jesus Christ.

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Hope this helps some.
Josh

ps. perhaps after you take the time to read the paper, if you would like to restate your question a bit more specifically some here at the forum would be able to offer you some help.

It's a long road to understanding real truth doreen and none of us here claim to have arrived at the finish line... but that is our common goal.

[doreen]

Hi Josh,

Thanks for your reply.  I was actually refering to the whole chapter.  It might be better to read chapter 47 as well to get a better idea.

I have also read the info on Ray's website.  I will re-read it again.