SCRIPTURAE PRIMUM ET SOLUM
EZEKIEL'S TEMPLE VISION
"By means of visions from God, he brought me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain, on which there was a structure like a city to the south" (Ezekiel 40:2)
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EZEKIEL'S TEMPLE VISION VIDEO (CHAPTERS 40-43)
THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE EARTHLY PARADISE DESCRIBED IN THE EZEKIEL'S TEMPLE VISION
INTRODUCTION
This is a series of Bible study articles on Ezekiel's prophecy especially chapters 40-48 which describes in great detail how the Earth will be administered under the future direct authority of the Kingdom of God. This study will be done by themes. It will not be systematically based on the division into chapters and verses (by man) of the inspired text, but rather into the general aspect of each prophetic vision or enigma. This prophecy will be analyzed as one would do with a large fresco or a master painting, in this case prophetic, by making "zooms in", that is to say a study of certain important details and "zooms out", to examine the overview in which are this important information.
This Bible study will be paired with the exam of the book of Apocalypse or Revelation that echoes the prophecy of Ezekiel. To write things in a simple way, Ezekiel's prophecy makes an earthly description of the administration of the Kingdom of God by giving precise details about the functioning of this earthly governance (The Prince; The Priest; The Levite). And the book of Revelation presents a heavenly description of this governance of the Kingdom of God on Earth, emphasizing on the Heavenly Source of this Theocratic Authority (King Jesus Christ; The 144,000).
To understand the prophetic enigmas of Ezekiel, one must both refer to the general context of the Bible, to biblical geography, and the history that surrounds these places, the Mosaic Law by its prophetic aspect and refer to the meaning of the divine requirements regarding the Tabernacle (Temple), and the different kinds of sacrifices. And the Bible articles will endeavor to best explain this important information: “For since the Law has a shadow of the good things to come, but not the very substance of the things” (Hebrews 10:1).
The Biblical studies will be presented in simple style, with photos, hypertext links, which will enable even those who do not know the Bible to understand the general meaning of the explanations of Ezekiel's prophecy. We hope this study will strengthen your faith in the prophecies of the Bible: "All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching" (2 Timothy 3:16).
THE EZEKIEL'S TEMPLE VISION:
WORLDWIDE ADMINISTRATION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
It is written in Ezekiel 40:1,2 that the prophet had this vision in Nisan 10th, which suggests that the establishment of the direct heavenly authority of the Kingdom of God on Earth, will begin on that date, that is, seven months after the Tishri 10th (Ethanim) (including the intercalary month Ve-Adar) (Ezekiel 39:14): “In the 25th year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the 14th year after the city had fallen, on that very day the hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he took me to the city. 2 By means of visions from God, he brought me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain, on which there was a structure like a city to the south” (Ezekiel 40:1,2).
While the prophet is in exile in Babylon, the vision makes him return to the soil of Israel. He sees as the constructions of a city. The following verses describe a man measuring what is the appearance of a temple (Ezekiel 40: 3-5).
The copper aspect of the man, seems to mean that it is an angel that measures the temple. To understand the symbolic meaning of what this angel does, by measuring the temple, it is advisable to make a big "zoom out" on the whole of this prophecy: In the broad lines of chapters 40 to 48, the prophet Ezekiel is in Israel, he sees a temple, from which flows a stream that becomes a great river, which revives the Dead Sea. The vision ends with the territorial distribution of the country of Israel.
What does represent the whole of this biblical vision, which is a prophetic fresco just like the Apocalypse? It is Jesus Christ who gave the main key of understanding, which, by domino effect, makes it possible to understand the framework of Ezekiel's Vision: “Jesus said to them: “Truly I say to you, in the re-creation, when the Son of man sits down on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel”” (Matthew 19:28).
Through this teaching, we understand several things: the prophetic element of the Mosaic Law regarding the future worldwide administration of the Kingdom of God, as the apostle Paul wrote, under inspiration in Hebrews 10:1. The former Israel, prophetically represented the future worldwide territory, in the earthly paradise. It makes possible to understand the general meaning of the prophecy of Ezekiel 40-48, and the Revelation, namely: The prophetic description of the administrative authority of the Kingdom of God on earthly paradise, exercised by the Chieftain. The administration of the spiritual and priesthood authority exercised by the sons of Zadok (earthly priests), seconded by the nonpriestly Levites who will assist the priests in their priesthood authority.
The copper aspect of the man, seems to mean that it is an angel that measures the temple. To understand the symbolic meaning of what this angel does, by measuring the temple, it is advisable to make a big "zoom out" on the whole of this prophecy: In the broad lines of chapters 40 to 48, the prophet Ezekiel is in Israel, he sees a temple, from which flows a stream that becomes a great river, which revives the Dead Sea. The vision ends with the territorial distribution of the country of Israel.
What does represent the whole of this biblical vision, which is a prophetic fresco just like the Apocalypse? It is Jesus Christ who gave the main key of understanding, which, by domino effect, makes it possible to understand the framework of Ezekiel's Vision: “Jesus said to them: “Truly I say to you, in the re-creation, when the Son of man sits down on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel”” (Matthew 19:28).
Through this teaching, we understand several things: the prophetic element of the Mosaic Law regarding the future worldwide administration of the Kingdom of God, as the apostle Paul wrote, under inspiration in Hebrews 10:1. The former Israel, prophetically represented the future worldwide territory, in the earthly paradise. It makes possible to understand the general meaning of the prophecy of Ezekiel 40-48, and the Revelation, namely: The prophetic description of the administrative authority of the Kingdom of God on earthly paradise, exercised by the Chieftain. The administration of the spiritual and priesthood authority exercised by the sons of Zadok (earthly priests), seconded by the nonpriestly Levites who will assist the priests in their priesthood authority.
In the book of Revelation, these two forms of authority are summarized by the function of the 144,000 heavenly kings and priests associated with the King Jesus Christ: “you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth” (Revelation 5:10).
This royal authority of the 144,000 will be relayed by the "Chieftain(s)" or the "Prince(s)", who will exercise administrative authority, in connection with the territorial and demographic management of the future resurrected people by the Kingdom of God (Ezekiel 44: 3). And the priestly authority of the 144,000 will be represented on Earth by the Sons of Zadok who will administer the teaching, the judgment of the resurrected on earth, in the framework of the authority according the Temple Sanctuary. The prophecy of Ezekiel 40-48 shows how these two kinds of authorities are used by the "Chieftain", outside the Temple, and the Sons of Zadok, inside the Temple. The prophecy symbolically describes the earthly blessings of the Kingdom of God through this Great River that brings the Dead Sea back to life, which is obviously the prophetic representation of the gradual resurrection of humanity that died by the effects of the Adamic death (Ezekiel 47 : 6-10; Romans 5:12).
THE VISION OF EZEKIEL'S TEMPLE (40-48) IS A PROTOTYPE OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE EARTH BY THE KINGDOM OF GOD
"And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel"
(Apocalypse 7:4)
The 144000 Tribes
The symbolic description of this prophecy is that of the administration of the kingdom of God on earth. However, it should be specified, according to the context of this same prophecy, that this description is made in the form of a prototype or pattern, having as an example the nation of Israel and which will be extended to the whole of the paradise earth. Which means that there will be other replicas of this same model of administration, spread all over the earth.
What is the biblical basis for such an understanding? Regarding the role of the chieftain (or prince) over this prophetic model nation, he is described in the singular, as being one and only: "However, the chieftain will sit in it to eat bread before Jehovah, for he is a chieftain. He will come in through the porch of the gate, and he will go out through it" (Ezekiel 44:3; 45:7,16,17,22; 46:2,4,8,10,12,16,17,18; 48:21,22 (The list of biblical references where the function of the chieftain (prince) as being unique over this model nation of Israel).While the sons of Zadok, closely associated with the prince (chieftain) are described in the plural: "They are the sons of Zadok, those from the Levites who are assigned to approach Jehovah to minister to him" (Ezekiel 40:46; 43:19; 44:15; 48:11 (The list of Bible references describing the role of the sons of Zadok (the earthly priests), as a group of men). There is no doubt, that in the whole context, that there will be only one chieftain (or prince) and several sons of Zadok or earthly priests, according to this descriptive prototype of Israel.
However, in chapter 45 (Ezekiel), Jehovah God makes a statement, regarding the prince (chieftain), which implies that the prophetic description of the model Israel will have other replicas throughout the new paradise earth: “'And for the chieftain there will be land on both sides of the holy contribution and of the area allotted to the city. It will be next to the holy contribution and the possession of the city. It will be on the west side and on the east side. Its length from the western boundary to the eastern boundary will correspond to one of the tribal portions. This land will become his possession in Israel. My chieftains will no longer mistreat my people, and they will give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes" (Ezekiel 45:7,8). "My chieftains will no longer mistreat my people" (contrary to the former Israel (see verse 9)), seems to indicate that there will be further replicas with other chieftains or princes, of the prototype of earthly administration described prophetically, throughout the earth.
Obviously, the chieftain described in the prophecy corresponds to the role of the earthly princes over the whole earthly paradise: "Look! A king will reign for righteousness, And princes will rule for justice" (Isaiah 32:1). “Your sons will take the place of your forefathers. You will appoint them as princes in all the earth” (Psalms 45:16).
If it is a description of a single model of Israel, which will apply to the whole earth, does the Bible reveal how many replicas there will be? Logically there will be 144,000 replicas all over the face of the earth: "You made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth" (Revelation 5:10; 20:4, 6). We understand that for each of the replicas according to the model of Israel, there will be a king-priest, representing the 144,000 who will reign, through the prince (chieftain). In Psalms 45:16 (describing the marriage of the Lamb (Jesus Christ) of Revelation 19:1-8, to the New Jerusalem (the 144,000)), it is written that every prince will be sons of the 144,000. implies that there will be 144,000 earthly princes who will relay the authority of the 144,000 on earth in each of the replicas of Israel described in the prophecy of Ezekiel 40-48.
According to the statements of Christ who compares the future earthly administration of the Kingdom of God, to the "twelve tribes of Israel", we understand that these replicas will be on a tribal scale: "Jesus said to them: “Jesus said to them: “Truly I say to you, in the re-creation, when the Son of man sits down on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel"" (Matthew 19:28; 22:38-31). Thus the symbolic "twelve tribes" will be 144,000 tribes scattered throughout the earth (compare Revelation 7:4-8), with the same model administration described in Ezekiel 40-48. Every tribe will be formed by families of the resurrected one with close or distant genealogical ties (whose kinship links (more or less distant) that are represented by the twelve tribes in the model of Israel, in Ezekiel 40-48).
This understanding of the administration of the whole earth, on a tribal scale, is also confirmed by the instructions of Jehovah God to Moses, which are written in the book of Numbers regarding the chieftain of each of the twelve tribes of Israel: "And you will take one chieftain out of each tribe to divide the land as your inheritance. (…) These are the ones whom Jehovah commanded to distribute the land to the Israelites in the land of Canaan" (Numbers 34:18- 29). As we saw above, in the prophecy of Ezekiel (40-48), there will be only one chieftain (prince). This makes it possible to understand that the model of Israel is to be taken on a tribal scale, and the tribes mentioned (in this model) will be the great families of the resurrected ones. In verse 29, it is written that these chieftains will be administrators of the distribution of the landed properties of the members of the tribe. This is exactly the same function of the chieftain in the description of the model Israel, someone who will distribute the land holdings to the resurrected (Ezekiel 45:8b).
The Temple is the place of the earthly resurrection
(Ezekiel 47:1-5)
"Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and there I saw water flowing eastward from under the threshold of the temple, for the front of the temple was facing east. The water was flowing down from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. He then led me out by way of the north gate and took me outside and around to the outer gate that is facing east, and I saw water trickling from the right side. When the man went out toward the east with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off 1,000 cubits and had me pass through the water; the water was ankle deep. Then he measured off another 1,000 and had me pass through the water, and it was up to the knees. He measured off another 1,000 and had me pass through, and the water was up to the hips. When he measured off another 1,000, it was a torrent that I was unable to walk across, for the water was so deep that one had to swim, a torrent of water that could not be crossed on foot" (Ezekiel 47:1-5).
This river, which becomes a powerful torrent, flowing into the Dead Sea. This powerful torrent gives life to the Dead Sea, by the softness of the water which replaces the deadly salinity of this sea and by the living fish which will repopulate it (Ezekiel 47). The current Dead Sea in Israel has such a salinity level that almost no aquatic life is possible, there are no fish. It is clear that the Dead Sea is the symbol of present-day humanity under the effect of Adamic death (Romans 5:12). The vision explains to us that this invigorating torrent gradually restores the life to the Dead Sea by a progressive repopulation of many fish. How can we be sure that this is indeed an allusion to the future earthly resurrection? It is the book of Apocalypse (Apocalypse) which takes up the outline of this vision and gives its interpretation (indirectly): “And he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of its main street. On both sides of the river were trees of life producing 12 crops of fruit, yielding their fruit each month. And the leaves of the trees were for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:1,2).
This healing of the nations will be primarily through the earthly resurrection. What is exciting is to understand how the prophecy of Ezekiel symbolically describes the worldwide administration of this resurrection (Ezekiel 47 and 48). The miraculous water comes from the Temple Sanctuary as seen by Ezekiel, then descends southward to the symbolic Dead Sea (dead humanity) (Romans 5:12, Ezekiel 39). This miraculous water represents, the Word of God and what follows from it, that is to say the whole of the blessings of Jehovah to resurrect the dead humanity (Ephesians 5 : 26;: 12). And the main blessing of this water is the earthly resurrection of the dead (John 5: 28,29, Acts 24:15). The life that is bubbling progressively in this sea that "resurrects", is represented by the abundance of fishes. And of course, these symbolic "fish" can logically only represent the resurrected ones.
Does the fact that the living water comes directly from the temple, the source of this same living water, suggest that the earthly resurrected ones will come from the same Temple? Yes. The message of this prophecy is very clear and encouraging: the temple seen by Ezekiel (and the aftershocks ("drying yard for dragnets") through the earth) will be the place from which the earthly resurrected ones will be welcomed and then sent to their allotted place where their corresponding family will be (Ezekiel 47: 21-23, Daniel 12:13).
The Replicas of the Temple, the Places of the Earthly Resurrection (Ezekiel 47:10)
“Fishermen will stand beside it from En-gedʹi clear to En-egʹla·im, where there will be a drying yard for dragnets. There will be an abundance of many kinds of fish, like the fish of the Great Sea” (Ezekiel 47:10).
The illustration of Jesus Christ on the "dragnet", is the best illustration that shows that this "fishing" of Ezekiel's prophecy is neither more nor less than the illustration of an earthly administration of the resurrected ones reception (Compare Ezekiel 47: 9, 10 with Matthew 13: 47-50). We know that Jesus Christ compared humans who are preached or taught to "fishes": “And he said to them: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men”” (Matthew 4:19).
Many times Jesus compared the preaching and the teaching that is connected with it, to the work of fishing (Matthew 24:14, 28: 19,20, Luke 5:10). There is no doubt that the "fishes" represent the resurrected ones, the fishermen are the humans who receive them (organized as "dragnet"), to deal with them especially with the aim of teaching them the new divine commandments, written in the new scrolls (Ezekiel 40: 46:44:10, Revelation 20:12). The group of humans, fishermen of fish organized in network or dragnet of fishing, represents the general administration of the reception of the earthly resurrected ones, composed of the princes, the sons of Zadok (priests), the Levites (the rest of the great crowd) and the righteous resurrected ones.
The “drying yard for dragnets" must represent the center place where the human "networks" administration (the dragnets) are organized to receive the earthly resurrected ones: it will be the replicas of this temple seen by Ezekiel, as administrative center of the reception of the earthly resurrected ones, distributed on all the earth (in the seaside of the symbolic former “Dead Sea”).
The demographic and territorial administration, of the earthly resurrection
“But as for you, go on to the end. You will rest, but you will stand up for your lot at the end of the days”
(Daniel 12:13)
In the earthly resurrection, the resurrected ones and their families, will have a "lot" or an "allotted place" in the future paradise on Earth. In Ezekiel's prophecy chapter 47:13-48: 35, Jehovah God outlines the method of allocating territorial "lots": "This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “This is the territory that you will assign as the land inheritance of the 12 tribes of Israel, and Joseph will have two portions"" (Ezekiel 47:13).
The territorial inheritance corresponds to the alloted places given to the twelve tribes of Israel, corresponding to the whole of the world resurrected population risen, with the Great Crowd, according to Jesus Christ: "Jesus said to them: “Truly I say to you, in the re-creation, when the Son of man sits down on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel"" (Matthew 19:28).
Who will fix the border limits of each tribe? First of all, we must remember the important idea that the model of Israel is to be taken on a tribal scale, that is, the twelve tribes mentioned (in the model) will be great families of resurrected ones. We must return to the instructions of Jehovah God, which are in the book of Numbers in chapters 34 and 35. According to Numbers chapter 34, it was directly Jehovah God who set the borders for the nation of Israel. This means that the outer borders of each tribe will be fixed by King Jesus Christ, through each of the 144,000 kings and priests, who will administer the 144,000 tribes spread over all the earth.
Regarding the great borders within the territory of the tribe, it is written this, in Numbers 34:17: "These are the names of the men who will divide the land for you to possess: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun". This means that, in the earthly paradise, the chieftain (prince) and the sons of Zadok (the future earthly priests), will set the general territorial limits of the great families of the resurrected ones, within the territory of the tribe (which correspond, on the model, to the inner borders of the twelve tribes of Israel). While, the distribution of the plots, within each territory of the great families, will be administered by the chieftain (prince) (Compare Numbers 34:18-29 with Ezekiel 45:8b).
The summary of the method of allocating territories on the surface of the earth is portrayed in the form of general recommendations which takes as a model or as a "prototype" of the nation of Israel. For this the word "nation" will be used. To better visualize and understand the biblical explanations of Ezekiel 47:13-48: 35, please refer to the photo below.
Analysis of the map of Israel from the prophecy of Ezekiel
This map is a prototype of the methods of distribution of the future resuscitated worldwide population and as well as the territorial lots which will be attributed to them. Therefore, in the context of Ezekiel's prophecy (47:13 to 48:35), the Israel of the map represents the entire world territory. However, as explained above, this planetary territory will be divided into 144,000 tribes, of which these same modalities will be applied in each of them. In this case, the prototype tribe among the 144,000 tribes corresponds to the entire map of prophetic Israel. However, in the context of the explanation of this prophecy, the prophetic Israel of the map will be referred to as a nation. The names in each of the territorial strips are those of the sons of Jacob, whom he had with his two wives Leah and Rachel and his two concubines, Bilhah and Zilpah.
However, of the twelve sons of Jacob, the names of Levi and Joseph are missing. The tribe of Levi will live on the central strip of the territory of the prince, especially on the part, where the temple and its surrounding territory will be located. The Levites will in fact be the surviving class of the great tribulation, called the Great Crowd (Revelation 7:9-17). Among these Levites there will be the Sons of Zadoc, the earthly priests and the nonpriestly Levites, who will assist the Sons of Zadoc, in their priestly function. The name of the tribe of Joseph is replaced by those of his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh.
The detailed explanations below will show that the names of the tribes of this prophetic map correspond to the great families of the resurrected, who will occupy each of the 144,000 tribes spread over the earth. It is the prince who will take care of the territorial distribution according to family ties. When the genealogical link of the resuscitated is determined, he will be directed to the territory that will correspond to his family. The strips of territories bearing the name of a son of a wife (Leah or Rachel), the relationship will be considered as determined and close to all the families that make up this prophetic nation of Israel. The closer the genealogical link, the more the resuscitated will be directed to a strip of territory not far from the prince territory. In the opposite case, he will be directed to a distant territorial strip, bearing, this time, the names of the sons of the two concubines of Jacob.
It seems that of the resuscitated who will have no identified genealogical link, with the whole of the nation, he will have the status of foreigner, and his territorial lot will be in the remote part, very to the north or to the very south, of the central territory of the prince, bearing the name of one of the sons of Jacob's concubines. According to Ezekiel 47:23, those resurrected one, whose genealogical ties will be indeterminate, will also have to inherit a territorial lot: "You should give the foreign resident an inheritance in the territory of the tribe where he has taken up residence,” declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah”.
Nevertheless, the status of foreigner can have a spiritual meaning and not necessarily linked the family ties: "This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “No foreigner living in Israel who is uncircumcised in heart and in flesh may enter my sanctuary”” (Ezekiel 44:9). The spiritual uncircumcision of the foreigners, most likely alludes to unrighteous resurrected status (John 5:28,29; Acts 24:15). The methods for determining the borders of the territory, are explained at the end of this part.
Jacob, his four wives and twelve children
"So there were 12 sons of Jacob. The sons by Leʹah were Jacob’s firstborn Reuʹben, then Simʹe·on, Leʹvi, Judah, Isʹsa·char, and Zebʹu·lun. The sons by Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. And the sons by Bilʹhah, Rachel’s servant, were Dan and Naphʹta·li. And the sons by Zilʹpah, Leʹah’s servant, were Gad and Ashʹer. These are Jacob’s sons, who were born to him in Padʹdan-aʹram" (Genesis 35: 22b-26).
Initially Jacob wanted to marry only with Rachel, nevertheless by a ploy of his father (of Rachel), Laban made sure that he married to Leah (the firstborn daughter). And then, he gave to Jacob, Rachel (the second daughter). So Jacob, despite himself, found himself with two wives, Leah and Rachel (Genesis 29: 21-19). Rachel had a servant, Bilhah, whom she gave as an additional wife to her husband, so that she might give birth for her, to give to Jacob, children because she was provisionally barren (at the beginning of the marriage) (Genesis 30: 1-8). Leah, Rachel's sister, did the same with her servant, Zilpah, she gave her to Jacob, to give him more children, in her name (Genesis 30: 9-13).
Jacob's first wife: Leah
Her children: Ruben (firstborn, stripped of his birthright), Simeon, Levi (did not inherit a "lot", but he did his ministry in the temple), Judah, Issachar, Zabulon.
Jacob's second wife: Rachel
Her children: Joseph (inheritance of the birthright, lost by his older brother, Ruben, and thereby obtains a double territorial share for his two sons (Ephraim (firstborn) and Manasseh. Together they represented the tribe of "Joseph" (Ezekiel 47:13)). Benjamin second son of Rachel).
Jacob's third wife: Bilha (Rachel's servant who would have children in the name Rachel)
Her children: Dan and Nephtali.
Jacob's fourth wife: Zilpa (Leah's servant who would have children in the name of Leah)
Her children: Gad and Asher.
The two tribes who represented the royalty in Israel
To understand the logic of the territorial distribution of the map above, mentioned in Ezekiel's prophecy, which will serve as a model for the worldwide distribution of territories to the future resurrected ones, it is convenient to exam the written history of Israel, in the Bible. For this it will begin with the territorial strip of the prince (or chieftain), who is in the center of the map of Israel, with the temple in the middle. To the north of this strip, is the tribe of Judah (son of Leah) and in the south of Benjamin (son of Rachel). Why are these two tribes next to the prince's strip of land? There are two complementary biblical explanations. First, there are two tribes who represented the kingship of Israel. Second, during the division of the kingdom of Israel, these two tribes were allied and constituted the kingdom of Judah.
On the basis of these two information, this juxtaposition seems to indicate the kinship relationship of these two tribes with that of the prince who will be an earthly representative of the heavenly kingship of the 144,000 (Revelation 5:10 and Psalms 45:16). The resurrected ones who have a proven relationship with the prince (chieftain), will inherit the lots that will be next to the prince's strip. Nevertheless, regarding the prince's sons, it is written in the prophecy that the chieftain (the prince) will have to give them a lot in the alloted place of his own territory: "The chieftain should not take any of the inheritance of the people by forcing them off their property. He should give his sons an inheritance from his own property, so that no one among my people may be driven from his property" (Ezekiel 46:18). It is the prince (or chieftain) who will administer the distribution of the lots of the "land", for the resurrected ones who will be under his administration.
The family of the resurrected ones and the foreigners
For this, we must rely on the family or genealogical relationship of the resurrected ones. The genealogical process will be (according Ezekiel’s prophecy): The closer to the family of the family of the prince (chieftain), will be to the closer territorial (to the prince's strip). On the contrary, the distant genealogical relationship will be, maybe nonexistent, the remote away the territorial strip will be (see Ezekiel 47:22: the "foreigners" could refer to the resurrected ones who will have a distant genealogical relationship with the whole family of the "country" of "Israel" (as prototype). To verify the accuracy of this interpretation, we must compare the picture above, with the children of Jacob's four wives.
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Thus, one could consider that the names of the tribes whose children born directly from Rachel (later) and Leah are related in the "first degree", while the names of the tribes of the sons of the two servants who gave birth in the name of their mistress, were related to the "second degree". Regarding the children of these two women (Bilha and Zilpah) (Dan and Nephtali for Bilha and Gad and Asher for Zilpah), the corresponding lots are in the remotest territorial strips, both north and south of the prince's lot. The observation is that the two brothers of the same mother (Zilpa), Gad and Asher, have separate lots, one in the far north (Asher) and the other in the far south (Gad). In addition, the lots of Dan and Nephtali, two brothers of the same mother (Bilha), have a strip still separated by the Asher band. This seems to confirm that these lots will be given to the resurrected "foreigners" (in the far north or in the far south), according to Ezekiel 47:22, as genealogical remotest relationship with de chieftain or the whole "Israel" (as propotype), in the "nation" they will be resurrected. Nevertheless, the fact that they are gathered together in the same tribe (in the same strip), means that these resuscitated people will be gathered with their family, even if they will be very small.
North and then south
Taking into account the order of birth of the twelve sons of Jacob, we can understand how the chieftain (prince) will administer the distributions of lots of land of the nation for which he will be responsible:
For his kinship (other than his sons), he will first assign lots in the "Judah" strip, north because Judah was born before Benjamin (see the map).
Still regarding his kinship, when the lots (in the whole strip) have been completely distributed in the north, he will award lots, this time in the southern part, the "Benjamin's strip" (who was born after Judah).
This logical process (first north-last south) of attribution is repeated twice: With regard to the strips of land, "Reuben" (firstborn of Leah), "Ephraim and Manasseh" (Son of Joseph, firstborn of Rachel), their respective lot , is in the north (like Judah, who was born before Benjamin). This seems to indicate that the "firstborn" of the resurrection, having a proven family relationship with the prince's nation, will inherit first from the northern part of the prince's strip, starting from the "Judah" strip (at North).
As for the "foreigners", the logic of distribution seems different: The first resuscitated whose kinship with the nation "Israel" will be very distant, or not proven, the prince will assign them lots from both ends border of the country : from the far-north end of the nation, to the far-south end of the nation. Why ? Dan was the firstborn of Bilha, whose strip is at the northern limit of the nation (in the map). While Gad was Zilpa's firstborn, whose strip is at the southern edge of the nation. This distribution of the allotted places between the resurrected ones with a known kinship and the resurrected ones whose kinship is not determined (foreigners), is logical. Why ?
The prince (or chieftain) is not supposed to know the number of the resurrected ones of his own nation, especially, between these two categories, with known ancestry and distant ancestry (maybe unknown). Therefore, it will be in his best interest to maximize the buffer zone between these two categories, in order to better organize the distributions among these two great categories, as the resurrected people are coming in his "lot" as "nation" or "country" (Ezekiel 47:21).
Looking at the map, we understand that the prince will give lots first in the northern part (regarding from his own strip), in the direction of north for the people with kinship known. And for the "foreigners", people with unknown kinship (or far kinship), (also in the northern part) from the far-north to the south. Then, when all the lots, in the northern part will be allotted (to the two groups of the first resurrected), the prince will begin to give the lots in southern part in the same process (regarding from his strip): from "Benjamin's strip", direction towards the south. Why ? In examining the map, Simeon was born before Issachar, who himself was born before Zabulon (for the group of kinship known), and the last group of unknown kinship, in the far-southern part of the country.
Border modalities
They will be fixed by God who will determine the size of the country, and the size of the tribes (Ezekiel 47 and 48). Nevertheless, it is the prince who will concretely apply the border modalities: "The chieftain should not take any of the inheritance of the people by forcing them off their property. He should give his sons an inheritance from his own property, so that no one among my people may be driven from his property" (Ezekiel 46:18). If, in this biblical text, it is not directly written that it is the prince (chieftain) who will administer the distribution of lots (or alloted places) to the resurrected people, the fact that he could unjustly dispossess someone of his property, demonstrates that he will have this authority given by God. However, it is directly written in Ezekiel 45: 8: "This land will become his possession in Israel. My chieftains will no longer mistreat my people, and they will give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes" (Ezekiel 45: 8).
According to the narrative of Ezekiel 47:13-48:35, also referring to the picture above to better understand, the general border requirements will be simple. The north-south boundaries separating the tribes will be linear and equitably divided : "You will inherit it and receive equal shares. I swore to give this land to your forefathers, and now it is assigned to you as an inheritance" (Ezekiel 47:14). The east-west borders will be natural, seas or oceans, rivers or inland seas. The lakes can be an integral part of a tribal lot. And of course the borderline with other nations (east-west or north-south).