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Ezekiel 48:15-20 The holy portion - Day 288

Good afternoon friends,

As Ezekiel concludes, I come back to the thought that prophetic writings are different than any other forms in the Bible.  Are they "literal" or "figurative/symbolic" or a mixture?  This last chapter seems to say Yes to all these options.

Blessings,

Jeff

Last words from Ezekiel describe the distribution of the twelve tribes, giving Joseph's 2 sons shares and excluding Levi.  But most of the chapter is about the "new" holy portion for the city, temple, Levites, priests and prince.

Observations

In this new Israel, all the tribes are regathered and have essentially equal strips of land.  This is another difficult thing to understand.  The 10 northern tribes (Israel) were dispersed and tribal purity was almost certainly lost.  So how do these tribes become reconstituted?  Judah and Benjamin were intact up to the time of the exile.  Benjamin seems to have some ongoing identity into New Testament times as Paul proclaims that he is a member of Benjamin.  

Only the dimensions of the holy portion are given and then in great detail.  

Only the  line of Zadok are allowed to be priests.  All other priestly lines went astray..  

ESV study Bible notes: 

No matter which interpretation one adopts, certain primary emphases are quite clear. The whole vision may be understood as describing the actual presence of God within the temple of the new community: chs. 40-42 prepare for it; ch. 43 realizes it; chs. 44-46 provide the rules for it; ch. 47 describes its effects; and ch. 48 lays out access to it. The vision thus also presupposes threads and themes of earlier oracles: the supremacy of God; the requirements necessitated by his holiness; revitalization by the Spirit of God; honoring God by living in accord with his holiness; and ensuring the sanctity of the community by maintaining divine justice. Ezekiel 40:1

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