We’ve finally arrived at Ezekiel’s last chapter, Ezekiel 48.

And it begins with an interesting report of the land (in the Millennium) that will be allotted to each of the Tribes of Israel. This Millennial “map” is much more organized than was the survey given us back in the Book of Joshua.

Each Tribe gets an inheritance running directly east to west, with little irregularity. Which is the most equitable way of parceling land when a Country’s natural resources run north to south! (Think Jordan River, Mediterranean Coast, etc.) God IS All … Wise, Omniscient!

“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, Hazarenan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides EAST AND WEST; a portion for Dan. And by the border of Dan, from the EAST side unto the WEST side, a portion for Asher. And by the border of Asher, from the EAST side even unto the WEST side, a portion for Naphtali. And by the border of Naphtali, from the EAST side unto the WEST side, a portion for Manasseh. And by the border of Manasseh, from the EAST side unto the WEST side, a portion for Ephraim. And by the border of Ephraim, from the EAST side even unto the WEST side, a portion for Reuben. And by the border of Reuben, from the EAST side unto the WEST side, a portion for Judah.” Ezekiel 48:1-7

There are of course other Tribes involved, but they will not be named and their land ascribed until later in the chapter, verses 23 through 29.

The Tribes mentioned in verses 1-7 (Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh and Ephraim, Reuben and Judah) are north of the Temple and Holy Area for the priests … the remaining tribes are south of that “Holy Grant” of property. (In other words … God’s House is in the very geographical CENTER of all the people!)

The Tribes in total will be twelve, but Levi is not given any land, the Priests being nourished in another way. So representing the Tribe of Joseph are his two Grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Sounds like Joseph got a “double portion!” (Thus, with this slight “adjustment” … the number of Tribes still rests at twelve.)

One more thing today … the Tribes who sprang from Jacob’s two full-fledged Wives (Leah and Rachel) are given (it seems) priority over the children of the concubines (Bilhah and Zilpah). Notice how Joseph’s two Grandsons (representing Joseph, Son of Rachel) as well as Reuben and Judah (sons of Leah) are most near the Temple area! Wow! (Sonship has its privileges!)

The Lord willing, more tomorrow.

Ezekiel 48, really an amazing chapter, with its “ending” being phenomenal!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Today we look at the final two verses in Ezekiel 47. Essentially they cover God’s “care” for any foreigners who might have identified with Israel, particularly during her terrible ordeal at the hands of the anti-Christ. (The Tribulation, which directly preceded the Millennium.)

Our Text: “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. And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the STRANGER sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel 47:22-23

Dividing the land by lot is mostly the subject of the next chapter, Ezekiel 48. Still, the outstanding value of our two verses this morning is that “strangers” are now included in the “heritage!”

Indeed, God loves everyone!

Don’t misunderstand me here. The Lord always required Israel to care for the foreigners who CHOSE to move into her land, coming to “better” themselves. That is … if they were willing to “adopt” Israel’s ways and follow Israel’s God!

Leviticus 19:34 gives us an example of the older legislation. “But the STRANGER that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” But no land allotment was specified, not under Moses.

Yet here today, in our Text, the STANGERS are given more than every before … a land parcel, a real estate inheritance! Here it is again: “And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it (land) by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the STRANGERS that sojourn 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.” Talk about the Grace of God!

Truly, even in those grand future days … “Whosoever will may come.”

(Think how we “gentiles” have been allowed into God’s Family, too. I speak now of our very salvation! And we also have been placed in God’s “Will,” and given an abundant inheritance “in Christ,” in Jesus our Lord!)

“Heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ,” Romans 8:17, as I preached two nights ago in Revival! How’s that for taking care of strangers?

Wow!

Then … one more thing stands out in today’s lesson. About these strangers, who (by the way) have obviously (voluntarily) come under the Rule of Jesus, Who will be occupying the Throne of the whole earth for those 1,000 years, for the millennium. Sitting on the Throne of David! Our dear Lord as KING!

And that “thing” is … still from today’s verses, this short line … “the STRANGERS that sojourn among you, which SHALL BEGET CHILDREN among you ….”

Children will be born during the Millennium!

We (us Christians, the Church) will be here as well, but in our glorified bodies. No children for us, those days (of physicality) being gone.

But the inhabitants of the earth who have not yet received their glorified bodies, the surviving Jews (the Remnant) and a few others (gentiles, strangers) who did not try to massacre Israel at Armageddon, will live those thousand years in human bodies … Noah nearly did (930 years), as well as Methuselah (969 years) … AND APPARENTLY BEAR CHILDREN IF THEY SO CHOOSE!

Wow!

The original inhabitants of the Millennium, natural citizens of earth under Jesus’ Rule, will have all been saved. Or so I believe. But these children (multitudes will be born in those ten centuries of peace and welfare) may not have yet received Jesus as Saviour!

Apparently not all of them (ever) do … because Satan (once released from the bottomless Pit where he had been imprisoned for 1,000 years) will lead some of earth’s citizens (who obviously have not submitted to Jesus as Saviour) in a great (final) rebellion!

Here’s John’s account of the failed coup … “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out TO DECEIVE THE NATIONS (STRANGERS, GENTILES) which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog (perennial enemies of God), to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and FIRE came down from God out of heaven, and DEVOURED them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Revelation 20:7-10

Wow!

That may have been more than I should have discussed today. But those “children” born during the Millennium spawned my thoughts. (Children and Grandchildren and Great-grandchildren and so forth, for ten centuries!)

The Lord willing, more tomorrow, beginning Ezekiel chapter 48. The final verses in this great prophecy, truly “MAJOR” in every sense of the word!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

The “borders” of the land, of national Israel … during the Millennium. That’s what today’s divinely inspired paragraph reveals, Ezekiel 47:13-21.

It reads like a geography text, too.

“¹³Thus 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. 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. 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; ¹⁶ Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran. 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. 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. 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. ²⁰ The WEST SIDE shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side. ²¹ So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.”

Essentially, the scholars tell us this is basically the same expanse of land God promised Israel long ago … with one notable exception. (Read with me Genesis 15:18-21 for the background, the initial “land grant” promise. “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

(We will learn more about Jacob’s “two portions” when we discuss Ezekiel chapter 48, in a few days.) Meanwhile, the “exception” I earlier noted deals with the “EAST SIDE” of Israel’s property. In the Millennium it seems to extend only to the Jordan River!

Whereas originally God it was said to reach the “great river,” the Euphrates!

Wow!

A lot less land, if I am understanding this correctly. And I have consulted a few of the “experts” on the issue. Any Bible map will show you the difference, somewhere around 10,000 square miles less territory, one encyclopedia calculates.

But the question is, WHY?

As I’ve prayed and thought … the only answer I can derive is that in the Millennium Israel as a Nation will be a lot smaller that her original potential during the days of Abraham.

Only a “remnant” of her will have survived the Tribulation!

And a small fraction of Jewish people will not NEED that much land, all the way to the Euphrates.

Talk about a lesson on the “costs” of sin!

Diminished potential!

Still, and let me be clear about this, God KEEPS His Promises to Israel, all of them. The Nation will in no way be “crowded!”

And in that coming glorious Day … Isaiah 11:9 will also be a reality. “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” The “whole” earth, I might add … including trans-Jordan!

Praise the Lord.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

What an interesting paragraph of Scripture!

Describing a (future) River, and it environs … Ezekiel 47:1-12.

But today (already having discussed the chapter’s first 5 verses) we notice verses 6-12. “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. 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. 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. 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. 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. ¹¹ But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. 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.”

I have purposely left the verse markers in place, the numbers. (I don’t always do that.) But here they will help as I discuss the specifics of the Paragraph.

The pronoun “he” in verse 6 is merely the angel who has been showing Ezekiel much about the Millennial earth, especially its buildings and topography.

That this experience is a “vision” is clear. “And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? And the whole Event here is yet future. That’s specifically called a “prophetic vision.” (You can read the opening paragraph of Ezekiel 40 for the “context” of this ultra-long “vision.”)

The work “brink” is in Hebrew (“saphah”) a noun meaning “edge, bank, side,” but is linked to certain words for “speech,” being translated “language” 7 times in the Old Testament. (A River telling a story, giving a message?)

There Ezekiel sees “trees,” many trees in fact. (As in the Garden of Eden there were trees! As in New Jerusalem there will be trees! Perhaps even … as Christianity exists because of what Jesus did on a “Tree!” The Cross of Calvary.)

Verse 8 is astounding, describing the “flow” of the River. “These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down (south) into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.” Meandering straight toward the (once) Dead Sea! And it “heals” the (salty) waters of that body of water, producing teeming life! (That’s why I spoke of a changed topography for the Holy Land, during the glorious millennium.)

As is further illuminated in verse 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.” That (once) dead sea is now a living sea! Notice also that apparently this river is now forking into other rivers, the plural (“rivers”) being used here in verse 9. Sounds like “life abundant!”

But verse 10 adds more about the “fish.” I am interested. “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.” Engedi and Eneglaim are both actually places (cities, oases) located near the Dead Sea of today. (Remember that much of the ocean/river life would have been destroyed during the tribulation. During all those seals and trumpets and vials of judgment!) But with Jesus having returned to earth … everything is back! He IS The Creator, you know.

All “kinds” of fish! Reminds me of us being “fishers of men.” Soul-winners! And of John 21:11, another Biblical “fishing” account! “Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an HUNDRED and FIFTY and THREE: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.” Many “kinds” of fishes! (I believe all this is emblematic of the fact that multitudes will be saved and found worshipping Jesus during the Millennium! “Seas” (oceans) in the Bible often represent the (once lost) “nations” of the world.

Wow!

Verse 11, a word about “salt.” There MUST be some, for the temple sacrifices (which most often included salt as a mandate). For cooking and eating as well. “But the miry places thereof and the marishes (meaning “pits”) thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to SALT.”

Remember Jesus once said, “Salt is good.” Luke 14:34, there’s a whole sermon there!

Then verse 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 (so much “fruit” that it could never be all 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.”

Trees whose “fruit” is edible and “leaves” medicinal. Bearing that fruit monthly! (And clearly described in terms similar to Psalm 1:3, another river! “And he (the godly man who loves the Word) shall be like a TREE planted by the RIVERS of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

Wow!

Are you saved?

If so , during the Millennium maybe we can sit by that River and discuss today’s Lesson, in more detail!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Yes, it’s time for another Ezekiel Lesson. “Every morning except Sunday,” or so it’s been for years.

But today, a Saturday, no Lesson.

We will be right back to it Monday, the Lord willing.

Today we drive from Tunnel Hill, Georgia, about 25 miles south of Chattanooga, Tennessee … to Covington, Indiana … close to 500 miles. (And we are excited about the Revival beginning there tomorrow morning, at the Maranatha Baptist Church.)

Here we are ready to pack Thursday morning … in Pensacola, Florida. The Lord gave a sweet Meeting there last week, 5 verse-by-verse Sermons!

Now here we are this morning, ready to pack for the trip northward. Pray with us please that God will grant us a safe journey. We enjoy the traveling.

The drive home Thursday was rainy, at times anyway. Still, (before the rain started) I made this photo out the car window and thought of Nahum 1:3. “The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the CLOUDS are the DUST of his feet.”

The Lord is good.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Talk to you via the printed page Monday morning, Lord willing.