Friday, January 27, 2023

Seder 131: Ezekiel 45-48---Vision of a Future Restoration of Israel

 The mysterious vision recorded at the end of the book of Ezekiel has some links with Numbers 34.  For one thing, the boundaries given in Ezekiel 47:13-20 mention some of the same places listed in Numbers 34.

Numbers 48 describes a division of the land among the twelve tribes.  Included is a holy district within which a square block of land 25,000 cubits on a side is to be allotted for a sanctuary, a place for priests and Levites to live, and a special city to be set up.  To the east and west of this special square block will be land for the prince, a civil leader, to keep flocks for sacrifices (Ezek 45:1-8; 48:8-22).  

The special city will also have  the dimensions of a square.  There will be 3 gates on each of the four sides, one for each of the tribes. The city will be known as "the Lord is there."  It sound like a kind of forerunner of the New Jerusalem pictured at the end of the book of Revelation.   

It's not clear whether Ezekiel's vision is describing things that will happen fairly literally on the ground at some future date.  It is safe to say, though, that the vision communicated some key spiritual messages to Ezekiiel and his contemporaries in images that they could understand.  

One of those messages is that Israel would be restored to the Promised Land, and God would be present there among his people.  Civil government would no longer exploit people but would instead serve God and the people (45:8-17).  True worship would occur regularly, with holiness of the land, sanctuary, and city maintained.  

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