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Email: <lelgee@voicenet.com>Copyright © L. L. Griffith, 1971, 1996. ISBN 0-929554-01-9. This document may be reproduced in whole or in part provided that this copyright notice is reproduced on each copy made.
After Ezekiel has been conducted in vision throughout the site of the sanctuary on the mountain top, he is returned to the vicinity of the temple where he sees water flowing from under the threshold of its entrance. As it flows eastward the water forms a gradually deepening stream before it meets another impassable river. The stream then flows southward through a valley and thence into the Dead Sea. This influx of fresh water from the north revitalizes the Dead Sea, making it a haven for fishermen.
The flow of water does not exist today. It may be confidently stated that the situation which causes the water to issue forth has not happened yet, for the Dead Sea is still unquestionably dead.1 The present topography around Jerusalem does not lay on a level plane; the Mt. of Olives is in the path of the water.2 The most coherent explanation for the appearance of the water is found in the prophecy of Zechariah. He relates the events prior to the appearance of the water and in a following chapter, states; "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness," i.e., a baptismal pool. He states that "living waters shall go out of Jerusalem."3 This follows a major earthquake and visitation by the LORD. It appears that the quaking of the earth, which shakes all around Jerusalem, also re-opens a long hidden spring located within Mt. Zion.
1 Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house [stood toward] the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south [side] of the altar.
Before, Ezekiel had seen the glory of the LORD enter the house via the sanctuary's eastern gatehouse threshold; now he sees that water flows from beneath the threshold of the temple. Refer to Diagram G, The Inner North Gatehouse; H, Chambers at the Side of the Inner Gates; or K, The Porch of the Temple,for the probable location of the watercourse beneath the surface of the ground. The water comes from a source inside the mountain. That the water flows from under the threshold of the sanctuary might seem unusual, but Ezekiel makes no further comment about it. Perhaps because the prophet Zechariah has.
The prophet Joel adds, "All the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim."4 Where is the valley of Shittim? What causes this dramatic increase in water sources for Judah's use? (The shittim tree is native to the Jordan's valley north of the Dead Sea, in an area which the Arabs call the Ghor, or depression. Joel continues, "Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will avenge their blood that I have not avenged, for the LORD dwelleth in Zion."
Joel's prophecy concerning Judah and Jerusalem has not proved wholly true up to the present, for Judah has not existed as a tribe since the Babylonian destruction of the temple and city. The statements about the rivers, the water, and the fountain surely will prove true during "the last days" of Israel's troubles.
The fountain of water provides water for various uses in the sanctuary. A baptismal pool of water ("the crystal sea of glass," Revelation 4:6; 22:1) is one indication. Water is in plentiful supply throughout the house. It is available at the north gatehouse of the Inner Court, where the burnt offerings are washed by the posts of the gate. Water is used to boil the trespass and the sin offerings of the people in the four corner courts of the Outer Court of the sanctuary. The priests use water to boil in "the place" of the inner sanctum at the "two sides westward." The waste water is likely diverted to a catch basin via a sewer system leading westward. The fountain's fresh water overflow emerges from under the threshold at the east side of the sanctuary.
Edersheim provides information on the use of the water system for the second temple.5 The altar of burnt offerings had four "horns." These horns were straight, square and hollow projections at the corners of the hearth. One, at the southwest corner, had two openings with silver funnels inside. Into these funnels the drink offerings were poured. At the feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles), water from the pool of Siloam was poured into the horn.6
Through the rooms below the altar court, drains took the liquids downward and into channels. The system was flushed with water as necessary to keep them sanitary. Both blood, wine and watery refuse was flushed down into the brook of the Kidron, going down toward the king's gardens.
2 Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.
Since there is no entrance or exit through the east gatehouse, the two follow the prescribed pathway for the people. Coming in from the south they exited to the north. This verse alludes to the 50 cubit wide "open space" outside the wall of the sanctuary. At 42:20; 44:23 and 48:15 the translators called this open space the profane; but it is not a profane area, it is a common surrounding the sanctuary. The common is a plaza-like area outside the bulwark. Neither is it a moat (as has been suggested) that surrounds the wall here upon the mountain top of Zion.
Presumably the way outside bridges the water where it issues forth from beneath the east threshold of the house. This east gate was shut and sealed, remember, after the glory of the LORD enters the house. It is no longer used because the law of access dictates thereafter use of the north and south gates only. There is no west gatehouse but the way outside surrounds the sanctuary as it faces the common. Hence Ezekiel now comes round this outer way to the east gate from the direction of the north gate.7
The right side of the gate would be on the south quarter, facing the east, as he and his guide stand looking at the stream.
The stream appears to flow eastward through the Prince's portion of the land. From the opening to the outer east gate, the man now proceeds to measure the length of the watercourse as Ezekiel indicates its depth.
3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters [were] to the ankles.
The water is from two to four inches deep in the distance measured. This depth does not indicate a moat, nor that the stream bed declines very rapidly. The slope is very gentle in its beginning. The water's beginning is upon a table or plateau on the top of the mountain range, and beneath the sanctuary of the LORD's house.
4 Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters [were] to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters [were] to the loins.
From the depth of 2-4 inches the water's depth has increased to about 20-24 inches; then increases to about 34 inches deep. The water is almost waist-deep and the distance is approximately one mile, (this depends upon the actual length of the cubit). At this point of measure a drop by 34 inches to the bed of the stream indicates that the water is flowing through a gently sloping water course.
After another measure the bed of the stream abruptly drops off at its eastern end.
5 Afterward he measured a thousand; [and it was] a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.
After 4,000 cubits are measured off to the east, the stream has become an impassable depth, a river. Several possibilities exist. But it seems likely that the water has reached another brink and level, for the stream bed drops abruptly here. See Diagrams R, The Sanctuary of the LORD's House, and S, The River. This water is a single stream flowing eastward from the house, and thence south to the Dead Sea.
6 And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen [this]? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river.
Ezekiel's guide obviously attaches some importance to the activity which has just been displayed for his attention. Are you carefully watching what is being done? The natural scene has its spiritual application! ...The admonition recalls the one mentioned ar 43:1-12. See Jeremiah 31:38-40, a prophecy that came to the people about fourteen years earlier. Israel is not to be left a desolate nor barren land.
7 Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river [were] very many trees on the one side and on the other.
Of the very many trees the quantity and kind are not disclosed. The planting is probably after the manner of an orchard or forest that is connected with an irrigation system. The river flows on the right side of the way that looks eastward, 47:2.
8 Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: [which being] brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.
In the day of the LORD there are major earthquakes in the land; in The Revelation five distinct and separate earthquakes can be accounted for. Old Testament prophecies speak of these different earthquakes.
The Arabah is the rift valley of the Jordan River9, the low narrow plateau immediately alongside the Jordan. This rift valley is the greatest earthquake fault upon the face of the earth. Beginning somewhere above the Lebanon mountains and passing through the Dead Sea, going southward to Elat into the Gulf of Aqaba, it then goes out into the Red Sea and into the ocean beyond the gulf, to become the deepest submarine fault within the ocean's floor.
It is not presently possible for a stream of water such as Ezekiel describes to flow 4,000 cubits directly eastward to go down into the Arabah. The Mount of Olives blocks the passage. That is, if the Dome of the Rock is the site where the sanctuary of the LORD's house is to be built. The present terrain does not agree with that as shown in Ezekiel's vision. But, earthquakes alter the mountains and valleys around Jerusalem in the coming Day.
The final earthquake, the earthshock, that clears the way for the site construction and emergence of the water, will cleave the Mount of Olives "in the midst toward the east and toward the west, a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north and half of it toward the south."10 It will have literal earth-shaking consequences. Jerusalem will be a cup of trembling - from after shocks, too - to all the nations surrounding her.11 The Dome of the Rock is doomed.
The high evaporation rate of the water of the Dead Sea contributes to its salinity. Mineral salts abound around the sea and in the bogs of the shore, but the inflow of the water from the sanctuary of the LORD's house will dilute and sweeten the water. It will no longer be saturated to the point where a larger form of aquatic life is impossible.
9 And it shall come to pass, [that] every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.
At present, the land temperature combined with the vapors which rise from the sea offers the good reason for the desolation of all kinds of life in the area of Sodom. Even the workers of the potash factories live at a distance away upon the cooler ridges west of the works. The fishing industry will flourish. The area will produce minerals for the cultivation of food for the dwellers in the new city of Jerusalem.
10 And it shall come to pass, [that] the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a [place] to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.
En-gedi is located on the western shore of the Dead Sea about 30 miles southeast of Jerusalem. En-Eglaim is located on the west bank of the Jordan, north of the sea. The wells are named for the indigenous wild goat and antelope. The area between is created by the influx of the water from the temple merging with the water of the Jordan. It is to become a marina for net fishermen.
11 But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.
The region southward of the Dead Sea is said to be volcanic; although, Genesis 19 states that the brimstone and fire was also rained from out of the heavens by the LORD. During the episode of the upheaval, Lot's wife, being loathe to leave Sodom, was encrusted and entombed in a salt deposit somewhere in the region.
The land southwest of the Dead Sea is today under the control of the kingdom of Jordan by a United Nations Mandate. The Moabites change not. It is an area which the Hebrew prophets declare will be made a desolate wilderness on account of the despicable and careless attitude that will be shown toward the Jewish people in the last time of Israel's great tribulation.
12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.
These are not magical trees; they are evergreen and perennial. The weather evidently is suited toward their continual cultivation and production of fruit. An incident in the life of Hezekiah, king of Judah, illustrates the curative property of fruit. Hezekiah was at the point of death - a message from the LORD by Isaiah the prophet had informed the king of his near death - but after his prayer to the LORD was heard, Isaiah was again sent to him, to tell his doctors, "Let them take a lump of figs and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover."12
Hezekiah lived, and subsequently became the father of Manasseh.
The first incident in the Scriptures alludes to the health- giving properties of fruit trees. See Genesis 2:8 through 3:1. The disobedient act of eating from the "fruit" of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, produced the LORD's judgment for death upon all mankind.
The similarities between the wood of fruit trees beside the river, in Ezekiel's vision and in the description of the garden and rivers in Eden, (in Genesis 2) are striking. If the picture as shown in Genesis is just an amusing story for children to believe, why does the LORD reinforce the literality of such a place by showing Ezekiel this vision in a setting of a wood of fruit trees, of the sanctuary and the flowing water? If this was meant to be a pretty tale of thousands of years ago, what was it meant to be in 572 B.C., when the Jews were yearning to return to their native land?
Another pretty but empty tale? Hardly, if we believe what the Scriptures say concerning the gardens. Consider this: If the vision shown to Ezekiel does not refer to a literal, down to earth temple and dominion of the LORD, complete with the garden of the Prince's possession, then to what does this other incident in the New Testament refer to?
"Now one of the malefactors who had been hanged railed at him, saying, 'If thou art the Messiah, save thyself and us.' But answering, the other rebuked him, saying, 'Dost not thou even fear God, that art under the same judgment? And we indeed justly; for we receive a due recompense for what we did, but this one did nothing amiss.' And he said unto Jesus, 'Remember me, Lord, when thou comest in thy dominion.' And Jesus said to him, 'Verily I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in the paradise,'" Luke 23:39- 43.13
Was his reference to the paradise an allusion to an ethereal dominion in the skies, or was the Lord assuring his companion of a place with him in his future place of inheritance here upon the earth? It is generally understood that the word paradise is the English translation of a word which the Hebrews had borrowed from the Persians during inter-testamentary times.
Bullinger14 defines the word as. a large pleasure garden with trees; or, park of an Eastern monarch. Horowitz15 defines the word as, an orange grove or tree garden. The LXX uses the word paradeisos to describe the garden of Eden.16
The word incidentally appears in the original texts always with the definite article: as, the paradise.
A second reference to the paradise appears in the book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ at the conclusion of the message to the church of Ephesus. In the time of Christ Ephesus was one of the most opulent cities of Asia Minor. It was built on the Cayster River, and had a large harbor. In the city was the temple of Diana, which enshrined "the (stone) which fell down from Jupiter," Acts 19:24-35, one of the seven wonders of the world. The city probably contained parks and gardens while under the subjection of the Persians and later rulers.
Considering these surroundings, how relevant was the Lord's warning to the church there? "To him that overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God." A reasonable conclusion would be that if the paradise of God is non-existent and a mythical place, then the tree of life is non-existent and that Jesus lied when he made the promise to the malefactor and to the church at Ephesus. But if he lied, was Ezekiel shown an hallucination and not a true vision of the garden of the LORD? No! The LORD does not lie, nor ever did His son.
The hanging gardens of Babylon were a feature which Nebuchadnezzar added to the city because his queen of was from the upper country of Mittani. The terraced parks of the royal dwelling place were to remind her of the mountain regions of her homeland.
A third reference to the paradise is in 2 Corinthians 12:3-4. The passage is said by some to be the testimony of Paul, the apostle to the nations, and about himself. He wrote: "And I know such a man (whether in body or out of the body I know not, God knows) that he was caught away to the paradise and heard unutterable sayings, which it is not permitted man to speak." Paul equates the paradise with the third order of the heavenly rule on earth, similar to the way Jesus made reference.
Who can argue that the apostle was not speaking of one who had been transported, like Ezekiel, in vision to the day of the LORD's dominion over Israel? To the tree garden of the Prince of Ezekiel's vision, where he heard things which were still sealed up to men's understanding? Of things which are still not fully revealed to Israel or to the nations? But which soon shall be. For, "'as it is written, Eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him,' but, God hath revealed unto us by His spirit..."17 What the paradise is, is not a mystery to the elect of God.
It may confidently be assumed that the garden with its stream of water, described by the holy prophets as being in the garden of the LORD, is in this place within the holy offering of the land promised to Israel. The garden is a place set aside exclusively for the communal use of the LORD's chosen holy ones when he reappears in the glory upon Mt. Zion in the new Jerusalem.
It is not possible because of destined changes in the topography of the land around Jerusalem to assign specific boundaries to the innermost portions of this offering.
The city of new Jerusalem and the house of the LORD will be built upon the correct sites. "For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of My people, Israel and Judah, saith the LORD; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers and they shall possess it," Jeremiah 30. The whole chapter deserves careful reading in order to receive the full import of God's intentions toward the Jewish remnant during Messiah's rule. "For I will restore health unto thee and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD, because they called thee an outcast, saying, This is Zion whom no man seeks after."18
Jeremiah says further, "Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy upon his dwelling places; and the city shall be built upon its own heap; and the high place shall remain after its own manner. And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who make merry. And I will multiply them and they shall not be few. I will also glorify them and they shall not be small. Their children shall also be as before and their congregations shall be established before Me, and I will punish all that oppress them. And their nobles shall be of themselves and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near and he shall approach unto Me; for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto Me?, saith the LORD. And you shall be My People and I will be your God... The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return until He has done and until He has performed the intents of His heart; in the latter days ye shall consider it."
The restoration of Israel, as before a kingdom, is assured. No Scripture other than Ezekiel which speaks of all these things together: the land, the people, the temple, the priests, the congregation of the people, the nobles of themselves, the governor from their midst who approaches unto the LORD as the Prince is shown to do, in Ezekiel's vision of the restored sanctuary of the LORD's house on Mt Zion.
The lots for the twelve tribes of Israel are laid out outside of the holy offering of the promised land. Portions are divided out to the north and to the south of it. The corner boundaries of the inheritance in the promised lands are established by Ezekiel 47:13- 23, as follows:
13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This [shall be] the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph [shall have two] portions.
The two lots for Joseph will be those for Ephraim and Manasseh. See Deuteronomy 33:13-17 for the blessings to come upon Joseph's sons.
14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: [concerning] the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance.
The promise of the inheritance of the land therefore, is renewed in 572 B.C. The original promise had been affirmed about 1,000 years earlier, during the Exodus from Egypt. Ezekiel's vision of the allotment of the land comes at a time when the nation had reached its lowest point in history.19
The promise assuredly cannot be fulfilled until the advent of Israel's Messiah - "when he comes in the glory of his father with the holy angels."20
Refer to Ezekiel 20 for the judgments due upon the nation before the promise is completely fulfilled. Particularly note the things that must happen before the Jewish people are accepted again by God, "Ye shall know" (recognize) "that I am the LORD when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I lifted up My hand to give to your fathers. And there you shall remember your ways and all your doings in which you have been defiled and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed. And you21 shall" (recognize) "that I am the LORD when I have wrought for My names's sake - not according to your wicked ways nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD."22
See Zechariah 12:10-14 which describes these things in the same fashion as Ezekiel does. The fortunes of the people and the government will be brought down again, to the point on which the prophets speak.
In the New Testament Scriptures the Letter to the Hebrews speaks about "another day" when the inheritance of the promised land will be accomplished fact. Joshua, it says, did not give 'rest' to the tribes as the LORD had promised, nor inheritance of the land; for according to the book of the Judges "the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and He said, 'Because this people has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers and have not hearkened unto My voice, I will henceforth also not drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died, that through them I may test Israel whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein as their fathers did keep; or not.' Therefore the LORD left those nations without driving them out hastily, neither delivered He them into the hand of Joshua."23
Today these same nations are still not driven out. Perhaps the final test?
"For if Joshua had given them 'rest,' then would He not afterward have spoken of another day," Hebrews 4:8. And, in Galatians 3:18-19, "For if the inheritance be of the Law, it is no more of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore, then, serves the Law? It was added because of transgressions till the seed should come to whom the promise was made;23A, and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator."
Now it is plain that the fortune of the nation of Israel is not now and was not from the beginning then dependent upon a rigorous observation of the Law of Moses for their true destiny was based on "the covenant which I commanded their fathers," which covenant the book of Genesis relates. For this reason the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews made his presentation for "another day" future when the land shall be inherited by Abraham's singular "seed," and the people, in righteousness and in full obedience of belief in the LORD and in the One Sent in His name.
[This is a hard present to accept, accustomed as the Jews are to the belief that the mainstream Catholic and Protestant Christianity view truly represents the Lord, Jesus Christ, in the true light of all the Holy Scriptures. This they do not, for corrupted Christianity has heaped evil traditions and false teachings upon the name of Jesus Christ in the same way as the Jews themselves first did!]
What then about the Law? Is the Law to be abolished? No, because the prophet has said that the law shall be magnified and made honorable, fulfilled in Abraham's seed.
The coming inheritance of the land will be governed by God's law; having a better thing than those certain ordinances of law which were ill served during the nation's prior dominion of God. Ezekiel's account of the changes to the law are made likewise because of transgressions of the prior word from God. Wherever mankind exists, there will be transgression of His Word until mortal man exists no more.
Another "day" comes, for both Israel and the nations, for His judgment.
Trouble, it seems, most often comes upon Israel "from the north."
...What extent of the land has Israel acquired there - to the north - today?
15 And this [shall be] the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad;
It is likely that the way of Hethlon is the mountain pass at the northern end of Lebanon. The village may be Heitela which is on the way to Zedad. Also, Numbers 34:8 identifies the place as the entrance to Hamath. Zedad is the modern city of Sadad. It is an outpost city on the northern border with Syria. The city is southwest of Homs, on the way from Riblah that leads to Palmyra.
16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which [is] between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which [is] by the coast of Hauran.
Hamath is located in the Orontes River valley at the foot of the Lebanon mountains. The modern name is Hamah. Berothah, or Berothai, "the wells," is located about 35 miles north of the city of Damascus. It has been identified as Bereitan, in the valley. Sibraim is unknown except possibly being the same as Ziphron24 which is mentioned in Numbers 34:9. Hazar-hatticon is not identifiable as a village; the name means something like "midst of the fountains" or "between the enclosures." The verse may be read as, 'Hamath, the wells; Ziphron which lies on the border of the districts of Damascus and Hamath, between the fountains, by the border of the district of Haran.'
17 And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And [this is] the north side.
Both Damascus and Hamath are cities/districts having their capital city/district called by the same name. Hazar-Enan is identified as Kiryatein which is on the road to Palmyra. The name translates as village of fountains; and the city has fountains of water. The border apparently follows the water holes of the way through the country side.
This border area, north and northwest, is an arena for Israel's greatest test. There is no way that Israel alone can secure this border, and still manage to survive as a nation. History will repeat when the "ten horns" of the Revelation" yield their power "one hour" to "the Beast" to deal as he wishes. While "the beast of Baghdad" (Saddam Hussein) has already made his mind known in regard to the nation of Israel and Jerusalem, the Syrian leader plays a waiting game....
18 And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel [by] Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And [this is] the east side.
Hauran; Haran is not a city of village. It is the basalt plateau eastward and above the sea of Galilee, south of Damascus and Hermon. The region is representative of Old Testament Bashan. The region is fertile and forms a natural granary. The southern end of the east border goes westward along the area of Gilead to the sea, where it reaches the southern tip of the Dead Sea.
That the eastern border in part is measured "from the land of Israel by Jordan from the border of the eastern sea" presupposes that Israel has annexed the West Bank and gained some of the eastern shore. The inference may soon prove true. The north border of the land is partly in control of Lebanon and Syria. Guerilla warfare in the buffer zone, around Damascus, may be watched with increased interest. Indeed in all the area mentioned here by Ezekiel. Gilead, once called Peraea, lies east of the Jordan river. It is a section of land about 20 miles wide and about 60 miles long. And, it is presently Jordanian territory, called Jebel Jelud.
Haran is held by the Syrian power. But since the 1967 War the Golan has been under the control of the Israelis. Israel has a shortage of wheat. The shortage should be alleviated by the acquisition of the territory of Haran.25
19 And the south side southward, from Tamar [even] to the waters of strife [in] Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And [this is] the south side southward.
Tamar; Thamara lies near the southern end of the Dead Sea. It is on the road from Hebron, going to the port of Elat on the gulf of the Red Sea. The river is, and can only be, identified as the brook of Egypt, which is otherwise known as the Wadi El-Arish, which seasonally floods and flows its torrent into the Mediterranean Sea. This land portion was reclaimed by the Israelis in the 1967 War also. The area north of the wadi is well watered and the most livable part of the Sinai peninsula.26 The lower Sinai has been returned to Egypt by treaty. The area has no water supply and cannot be developed for agriculture.
The river site is the ancient location of "the city of Amalek." Saul captured this border city; but faltered in faith, and lost the kingdom as a result.
This new border for Israel will encompass all the existing camps of the Palestinians. Under Israeli control the camps may promise an effective solution to "the problem" which the powers of the U.N.O. have evaded for so long. Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, stand to lose substantial land area to the future kingdom of the LORD.
20 The west side also [shall be] the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This [is] the west side.
The beginning point was stated at 47:15; here it ends. The curious reader may turn up Numbers 34:1-2 to compare with Ezekiel's text. The borders described are identical and the facts in full agreement with Ezekiel 47:14.
This is the land first promised for the inheritance of Abraham, Isaac, and the sons of Israel. It is the land which the tribes will inherit fully only when the days of the Gentile (alien nations) domination cease from over the territories as described. For, if Joshua had given them 'rest,' then would the LORD again - here in Ezekiel - have repeated the manner in which the land is to be divided to the tribes? In 572 B.C.?!
21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.
There is a Jewish tradition that tells of thirteen tribes during Messiah's rule in glory. The land set apart for the LORD's portion and for the priests beside the Prince's portions seems to be the origination for this idea. The holy offering is two and one half times larger in width than the portions for the other twelve tribes. The Scripture however only emphasizes the most holy nature of the thirteenth area of the land, and the character of the individuals who will reside there and serve in its most holy places.
Ezekiel 47 concludes with a consideration for the aliens (which today consists of many refugees from the lands of the north...) who live among the tribes at the time of the division of the land. No such allowance had been made when Moses divided the land following the Exodus from Egypt. The allowance is made according to prophecy concerning the people from all nations who would find the LORD, who were not looking for Him but did answer when He called to go to Israel!
22 And it shall come to pass, [that] ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
This law pertains to a matter which is now a bone of contention among the people in the land in respect to "Palestinians." Rights to property are not finally legislated, and we can expect much more violence because of the contention about dividing the land. There should be no question as to whether the Jews will oppress the Arabs, the Lebanese or the Syrian, etc., who chooses to live within the true borders of the land. The Prince is forbidden to oppress anyone in regard to land rights. The bellicose attitude of all individuals will be subdued under the rule of Messiah
. 23 And it shall come to pass, [that] in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give [him] his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD.
This right of the alien is guaranteed by this law and places no condition or restriction upon the right.
However, the inheritance of the land does have a qualifier. Jewish tradition made the resident alien to be a proselyte to the Hebrew religion, the Ger Toshabh, proselytes of the gate.
But this tradition is not strictly so, for in Isaiah 14:1-32, the prophecy
says: "For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob and will yet choose Israel
and set them in their own land; and the aliens shall be joined unto them and
they shall cling to the house of Jacob. And the peoples shall take them and
bring them to their place and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land
of the LORD, for servants and handmaids.27 And they shall take them captives
whose captives they were, and they shall rule over their oppressors. And it
shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow
and from the hard bondage in which thou wast made to serve...
What shall
then answer the messengers of the nations? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and
the poor of His people shall trust in it."
Isaiah's context indicates that the land has been in a condition of "sorrow" and "hard bondage" prior to the time when Israel at last receives these "sojourners" as subservient residents in the land, probably during the condition referred to as "the time of Jacob's trouble."
The prophecy of Isaiah has not been fulfilled in its varied points. Certainly the verb yasad refers to the laying of a literal foundation for Zion's house (and comprehends that the spiritual element has been fully formed within) in the sanctuary of the LORD. The inheritance of the alien may be subject to other limitations but Ezekiel as usual does not elaborate. The finer points of Isaiah's prophecy indicate that "another day" than Isaiah's day was spoken of.
"Thou visitest the Land and watered it. Thou greatly enriched it with the river of God, which is full of water. Thou preparest them grain, when Thou hast so provided for it."
- Psalm 65:9
