The Lord is there. Ezekiel 48 Ezekiel's last vision The Christian Magazine. The following are some of the principal heads of prophetic instruction intended by the vision. 1. That there was to be an entire new state of things in the Church. This is intimated by the new order in the arrangement of the tribes, which is not according to the birth of the patriarchs, nor the blessing of Jacob, nor the allotments they received in the ancient division of the land by Joshua. It is farther intimated by the grant of a distinct portion to the Levites, who had formerly no inheritance among their brethren; and by the distance between the temple and the city — the former, which was anciently within the walls of the latter, being here separated from it by the intervening portion of Levi. There is also in this vision a portion on each side of the temple, the Levites, and the city, assigned to the prince. A new order of things was established by Christ and His apostles, an order very different from that which formerly existed; and by this the vision was in so far fulfilled, though there be nothing in the present state of the Church to literally conform to the subordinate parts. Nor is anything of the kind to be expected, since the New Testament constitution neither admits of a temple, Levites, or sacred metropolis, nor will ever be altered to the end of time. We may only remark, that by the double portion of the prince, our thoughts are led to Him who is the First-born among many brethren, and who is now gloriously manifested to be so in His exalted state. The figure, too, of his portion stretching on each side of the temple, the Levites, and the city, seems to coincide in meaning with those Scriptures which represent Him as in His royal character, the Lord of all sacred institutions, and the guardian of those ordinances by which the work of His priesthood is exhibited, and all its benefits realised by the children of men ( Zechariah 6:13 ; Revelation 1:13, 16 ; Ephesians 1:21, 22 ; Ephesians 2:20, 21 ). 2. That the new constitution was to be as truly Divine in its origin, and as minute and exact in its authoritative appointments, as the ancient. This is suggested by the idea of a pattern shown to Ezekiel, as was of old done to Moses. And although this was not, as in the case of the carnal ordinances, a real plan to be strictly followed, but only a visionary and symbolical exhibition, yet on this very ground it must be doctrinally instructive, the minute detail of the several parts denoting that everything pertaining to the New Testament state, its laws, ordinances, and forms, should be as exactly appointed, and as authoritatively enjoined, as any thing in the dispensation by Moses. 3. That the new constitution would far excel the former in symmetry and beauty. This is suggested by the regularity which pervades this visionary distribution of things, and which far surpasses anything in the ancient allotments of the tribes, or the structure of their city and temple. The symmetry and beauty, symbolically expressed, must of course be spiritual, but not the less visible and pleasing will it be to the eye of the Christian. 4. That the new constitution was to be far more extensive in its range than the ancient. This is intimated by the greater magnitude of the city and temple. All the twelve tribes, too, have a portion assigned them, no doubt with a reference to the future conversion of all Israel, a much grander event than the restoration of the two tribes from Babylon. But as the twelve tribes in Revelation 7 and 21 stand for the spiritual Israel or Church of God, the vision sets before us the provision made by the new constitution for the ingathering of the Jews with the fulness of the Gentiles. The gates of the city accordingly stand open in every direction. 5. That in the new constitution the Church would clearly exhibit her several aspects. Of old she was a great military body, an ecclesiastical nation, whose laws and constitution, though sacred, had necessarily a respect to what form the civil rights and privileges of man in other nations, and whose sacred censures partook in certain cases of the nature of civil punishment. Now, however, she was to be contemplated(1) As a chosen society, a peculiar people, inheriting the earth, and solacing themselves in all that abundance of spiritual privilege which was anciently prefigured by the land of promise. "They shall rejoice in their portion."(2) As a scene of worship, distinctly marked out in this light by the temple, which stands apart, and hath in its vicinity the portion of the Levites. The latter are thus represented as more fitly accommodated for their sacred service than of old, and as no longer labouring under the disadvantage of the curse on literal Levi, "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." This curse had no original connection with sacred office; it was restricted to the posterity of Levi, and ceases to display itself in the new constitution. Though ministers of the Gospel be scattered over the Church, we are taught to regard them as blessed with their portion, a body for whom provision should be made without subjecting them to any disadvantage, and as all, wherever they are, connected with the temple or system of ordinances, residing spiritually as one body in its vicinity.(3) As the seat of government — of a sacred government, such as that for which God established the thrones of judgment in Jerusalem of old — denoted by the city. Thus completed in all her form, Christ ruleth in her to the ends of the earth; and her name shall be seen and acknowledged to be Jehovah-shammah, "The Lord is there." ( The Christian Magazine. ) God's presence the Jew's heaven A. B. Davidson, D. D. As yet the Israelite had no conception of a transcendent sphere of existence for men in the fellowship of God, such as we name heaven. Man's final abode even in his perfect state, was considered to be still on the earth. God came down and dwelt with men; men were not translated to abide with God. But God's presence with men on earth gave to earth the attributes of heaven. Yet man's needs remained and God's presence was the source of all things necessary to supply them. ( A. B. Davidson, D. D. ) Honoured according to faithfulness A. R. Fausset, M. A. It is to be noticed that the places of more or less honour assigned to each tribe are regulated by the degrees of faithfulness to the Lord and His ordinances by which the tribes severally were characterised. Thus Judah and Benjamin, the tribes which adhered longest to the ordinances of the temple, and to the house of David, when the rest apostatised, shall hold the most honourable positions — Judah the place next the centre on the north; Benjamin the corresponding place of honour next the centre on the south. Dan, on the contrary, is to have the least honourable place, at the extreme north, as having been so early as the time of the judges in a great degree demoralised and heathenised. So in respect to the degrees of glory which await all the saints in the coming kingdom of God, the measure of honour will be regulated by the measure of faithfulness. He who lays out his one pound now so as to gain ten pounds for the Master's glory, shall then receive the government of ten cities; he who with his one pound gains five pounds shall have rule over five cities ( Luke 19:15-19 ). ( A. R. Fausset, M. A. ) Civic obligations Those that live in the city are said to serve the city, for wherever we are, we must study to be serviceable to the place some way or other, according as our capacity is. They must not come out of the tribes of Israel to the city to take their ease, and enjoy their pleasures, but to serve the city, to do all the good they can there, and in so doing they would have a good influence upon the country too. ( M. Henry . ) The central position of the sanctuary The sanctuary was in the midst of them. There were seven tribes to the north of it, and the Levite's, and the prince's, and the city's portion, with that of five tribes more to the south of it; so that it was, as it ought to be, in the heart of the kingdom, that it might diffuse its benign influences to the whole, and might be the centre of their unity. The tribes that lay most remote from each other would meet there in a mutual acquaintance and fellowship. Those of the same parish or congregation, though dispersed and having no occasion otherwise to know each other, yet by meeting statedly to worship God together, should have their hearts knit to each other in holy love. ( M. Henry . ) The name of the city U. R. Thomas. In the allotment of the land to the tribes, and the construction and naming of the city with which this closing vision is taken up, there may be several local and temporary significations. It may be that, as in some other of the visions, there is first of all reference to the rapidly-nearing national and religious restoration of the Jews under the leadership of Zerubbabel, and Ezra, and Nehemiah. But the spirit-stirring events that are associated with the names of these patient heroes, while they fulfil very much that Ezekiel foresaw, could not have exhausted the meaning of these predictions. For such a city was never built, the blessedness here described was never perfectly enjoyed by the Jews at any time after their captivity. There may be a further literal fulfilment of the prophecy in the connection of the incarnate Christ with Jerusalem. When Simeon took the infant Jesus in his arms in the temple, when the sacred Boy of twelve inquired in that temple, — indeed, in every incident of His life and death connected with Jerusalem, — we have a revelation of what is meant by "Jehovah-shammah." But that was not perpetual. That city knew not the day of its visitation, and Jehovah Himself was as a wayfaring man and stranger to it. Others find further fulfilment of the prophecy in some future restoration of Israel. Without again noting the difficulties that seem to stand in the way of the literal interpretation of this, as of the earlier visions, we simply and gladly insist that, if there be such national restoration, the glory and blessedness of the people of its city will be in a special manifestation and abiding consciousness of the presence of God. I. CHRISTLY MEN HAVE THIS EXPERIENCE IN THE CHURCH. Any Church that may not truly be called by that name, "Jehovah-shammah," that has not in its worship, and its activities, its social fellowships and philanthropic labours, God's manifested presence, is no Church at all. An ecclesiastical society, it may be, a kindly club, a political institution; but a Church it is not. To the Church belongs by special, inalienable right, this name, "Jehovah-shammah," for the Saviour has promised, "Lo, I am with you all days, even unto the end of the world." II. CHRISTLY MEN HAVE THIS EXPERIENCE IN THE AGE. They see this name inscribed 1. On human affairs generally. In all the movements of the time towards liberty and light, in all that tends to lessen human woe and to increase human joy; in a word, in all that is true in art, science, exploration, civilisation, as well as in what is termed religion, God is felt to be moving. There is to the Christly man a keen interest and deep sacredness, for "the Lord is there." 2. In all that concerns individual life. "All things work together for good." III. CHRISTLY MEN HAVE THIS EXPERIENCE IN NATURE. Every reader of the Prophets and of the Psalms has often felt that to the ear of Hebrew piety, nature was eloquent with the voice of God. Even Greek thought, as it peopled the groves and streams and mountains with divinities, was evidently groping after "the unknown God," whose power upholds all, whose character is revealed in all, whose presence fills all, for "in Him we live and move and have our being." To the Christly man who dwells much and earnestly on Christ's teaching, who inbreathes Christ's spirit, who imitates, however humbly, Christ's life, the world, not only in its stars, in the skies that span it, or in its seas that roll around it, but in its sparrows and its lilies and its common grass, tells of God. To such a man "every common bush is on fire with God." IV. CHRISTLY MEN WILL HAVE THIS EXPERIENCE PERFECTLY IN HEAVEN. In heaven, consciousness of the devil will be known no more; the consciousness of others, that through their sin and sorrow and our weakness is often overpoweringly oppressive, will have given way to a happy and strong brotherhood; and consciousness of self, which is born of sin, and is the darkest and most inseparable shadow of Our selfishness, will be known no more. God dwells there in an effulgence of love from which none shrink. Christ is the centre of the city, and is so seen that in seeing Him all become like Him. ( U. R. Thomas. ) The ideal city and its name S. Whitehead. The prophecy of Ezekiel begins with the vision of a city. The temple in Jerusalem is destroyed, and the city laid in ruins, the land desolate, the princes dethroned, the people exiled. His prophecy closes with another vision, the reverse of this — it is a vision of the restoration of the temple, the return of Jehovah, the renewal of worship, the reestablishment of royalty, the reapportionment of the land, and the resettlement of the people. Now, this latter vision is contained in chaps, 40-48, and it is generally interpreted as a symbolical representation of the blessings and privileges of the Gospel dispensation. It cannot be taken literally. The dimension of the temple and of the city are too large for the land. The river is evidently ideal, and the equal partition of the country among the tribes impossible. We are, therefore, compelled to look upon this as symbolical. Moreover, there are certain very significant omissions. No day of atonement is known, and there is no high priest — evidently because, the great atonement of Christ having been offered, there is no need for any further sacrifice. Again, Christ is set forth not so much in His character as Priest, as in that of Prince. All these facts point to the truth that this vision represents the close of the Gospel dispensation. The state of things appears to be intermediate between the Jewish economy and the glories of the heavenly city. The temple and the city here delineated are larger than the temple and city of Jerusalem. The city is more like that which is described in the Book of Revelation, than like the ancient Jerusalem. The large space appropriated for sacred things indicates that the conditions here represented approach more nearly to the ceaseless and universal worship of the heavenly world. The glory of the city is that the Lord is there. He is enthroned and supreme. His law is obeyed. His worship is observed. His blessing is vouchsafed to His people. This is the crowning idea both of the vision and the prophecy as a whole. And it is this that is the glory of the dispensation conceived of as a city. May we not, then, infer that every city reaches its ideal, and becomes worthy to be a place of health and happiness in proportion as it answers to the description, "The Lord is there"? I. Now observe, in the first place, THAT THIS IS AN AGE OF GREAT CITIES. The growth of the city in population and in wealth is far out of proportion with the country at large; and in many places, while the country is going down, the city is rising by leaps and bounds. London is probably two thousand years old, and yet four-fifths of its growth has been added during the century just closed. And from the centre of every city there is a large and ever-increasing circumference of population stretching out wider and wider, further and further, into the country. And there are three causes for this. The application of machinery to agriculture, lessening the number of hands required for farm purposes, the substitution of machinery for muscular power, and its application to manufacture. The world's work was formerly done by muscle, and the word manufacture was applied to making by the hand; but now the word has come to be applied almost exclusively to work done by machinery. And since the machinery is in the cities it attracts the hands released from the farm. There is also the modern railway, making it easy to approach the city and supply it with food. Drummond has said that he who makes the city makes the world, and the problem of our great cities is the problem of our modern civilisation. Observe then, that there is a danger that materialism should capture the city. The great multitudes in the city seem to lower the sense of responsibility in the individual. Moral failure is not marked and reprobated as in the country home; vice is so common that it becomes less shocking, and its allurements are multiplied. The contagion of low ideas often proves deadening to the better nature. The sentiments of one person openly vicious have been enough to make for the decay of the street into the slum. Moreover, there is the increasing habit of people crowding together in such a way as to make even the decencies — to say nothing of the common comforts — of life to disappear. And this is one of the most formidable and increasing evils of the time. And it is a prolific parent of many other evils, driving men and women to the drink shops, impelling them to seek deliverance from the monotonous round of life by degrading recreations, until worldliness becomes the rule of their life. And the conditions of life are so severe, the competition so keen, the struggle so desperate, the continual tendencies among the people so unrelieved to drag them down, that multitudes are being driven down to the dregs of society. Now, unless such movements and tendencies can be checked and counteracted by moral sentiments and religious life, they will constitute a danger of appalling magnitude in many parts of the land. Saltpetre, sulphur, and some other ingredients that go to make gunpowder, are of themselves quite simple and harmless — they are non-explosive; but brought together they make gunpowder, and it has been well pointed out. that neither ignorance nor vice is revolutionary, nor is ignorance when controlled by righteousness and conscience; but ignorance, vice, and wretchedness constitute social dynamite, of which the city slum is the magazine awaiting only the casual spark to make it burst into terrible destruction. What, then, is the remedy? Will repressive measures suffice? Men turn naturally enough to law and its administration. They would curb the drinking habits and gambling craze, and settle the housing problem by legislation. Far be it from me to utter one single word against law and its administration. I hold, indeed, that by wisely-conceived and well-applied law much maybe done for the benefit of the people, and my conviction is that we have not yet exhausted its possibilities. But for such evils as those of which I have been speaking law is no remedy. Indeed, the causes of these evils lie beyond the reach of civil government and its scope. They can reach to the actions of men, but not, to the inward principles from which they flow. They may check, but they cannot eradicate, the moral evil. Will social nostrums prevail? Equalise labour, and make all resources common; mete out from the general stock an adequate supply to each individual — and you will establish contentment and happiness. Will you? But what of the selfishness which demands this all-things-common policy? It is really a selfishness as portentous and mischievous as that of the most unprincipled employer who exploits the working classes. What is the real desire of those who put this policy forward, but that they may escape the penalty of their own indulgence? Will education and refinement be effective? We are counselled to increase and improve education, to open museums and picture galleries, to establish settlements and found libraries, and who but must say "All hail!" to such proposals? What are they but honest attempts on the part of those who enjoy the advantages of education, the opportunities of station and fortune, to share those advantages, as far as they can, with those less fortunate than themselves? Their aim is to elevate men's minds and to strengthen the deep foundations of moral character by love of justice and truth and mercy, and their tendency must be, I think, to increase the desire for elevating enjoyments, and correspondingly to make disgusting the low and degrading pleasures that embrute men. They will have their influence, we cannot doubt; they are the offspring of charity; they are Christian principles attempted to be applied for the benefit of society; their tendency must be, to a certain extent, to check the advance of vice. But when these things are proposed as remedies for moral evil, then we feel that they are inadequate. You may have the highest knowledge and the most exalted refinement in connection with the lowest and most degrading vices. Vice is no monopoly of the poor and toiling classes. It has appeared among the privileged, and among those in elevated stations, in forms almost more shocking than among the common people. Not here can we find the relief we want. What remains then? That the city be pure and prosperous, and delivered from the evils which threaten its happiness and prosperity, it must answer the description, "The Lord is there." Religion must have free course, must be permitted to work out its transforming and purifying effects. Christian principles must be applied to social problems as well as to personal character and life. Nor is the reason of this difficult to understand. It is the degradation of the heart that produces viciousness of life, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ enters the heart and changes and purifies it, and thus commands and sanctifies the life. All the repressive and educating and refining agencies may leave the moral inclinations untouched, though they work in the same direction as the religion of Jesus Christ. But it is the grace of Christ which changes the devices of the mind and the desires of the heart, and turns the affections and inclinations from evil to good thoughts, and upward tendencies and desires. The religion of the Saviour, therefore, is just that which we need in order to bring about the changes for which the world — this part of the world — is waiting at the present time. It was the mighty, regenerating influences of this Holy Gospel which converted the old Roman Empire into a new world. It was this, after the failure of many other agencies, which changed the England of the eighteenth century, which was marked by almost unexampled irreligion, and made it to be in the main, a Sabbath-keeping and God-fearing nation. The most neutral historians confess with admiration the great moral reformation which followed the evangelical revival. The rough toilers in the coal pits of the North were melted to tears of penitence as they listened to the Gospel from the lips of Wesley; and the Cornish miners, warned by his faithful words, gave themselves to God at their work, hearing above them the sobbing of the sea. The sweater, the exploiter of labour, and the grinder of the poor, will speedily disappear, and with him all the sullenness and discontent of the toiling masses. No more will there be hatred of masters, restrictions of output, scamped work. There will be mutual trust and mutual confidence; selfishness and greed will gradually disappear before self-respect and self-restraint; and the higher and nobler element of self-sacrifice. A sweetness will breathe through the speech and" life of the people, that shall tell of heaven; and men will be brought almost instinctively to say, "The name of the city is, The Lord is there." Now, these things being so, what are the suggestions for our practical guidance? Surely it becomes us to bring our own spirit into harmony with the great realities of religion, that we ourselves may be the converted and sanctified children of God, that from us there may go out on every hand an influence that shall be a blessing to the community. And does it not follow that, this being realised, we must take the Gospel of salvation to the people? In addition to this, we may learn that Christian men should not shrink from public duties. There has, perhaps, been a tendency too marked for educated and refined and Christian men to shrink from taking their part in the life of the city; they shrink from the rude heckling of the election, or the rude encounter of the council chamber. The consequence is that men selfish and ignorant are apt to push into offices that men better qualified to occupy these positions ought to have. The danger is that there may come the rule of the worst for the worst. If our city councils, for instance, are not pure; if they abet and do not abate the evils and dangers of our people; if their influence is used to sustain those institutions that enrich the few for the permanent degradation of the many, then our cities may become cesspools of evil. Can we make our city pure? is the question every man should put to himself. With this object the mind must think, the hand must work, the purse must pay. We need also Christian altruism among our leading public men. In our age it is coming to be felt more and more that the hero is the man that stands forth armed not with sword and spear, but with love and kindness, and sympathy and generosity. In our age we are coming better to understand the principles of our holy religion, and to apply them. Let us see to it that our sympathy and generosity is of this Christlike and self-denying type, and we shall do something to hasten the period when the words of this ancient prophecy shall be brought to fulfilment, and "the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there." The Lord is there! Then righteousness shall be there, and justice, and peace! And if the Lord be there, and His law be obeyed by the people, and they all come under the influence of His character and Spirit's power, then will men be gracious to each other, kindness and goodwill will everywhere present themselves. The Lord is there! Heavenly dispositions will then be there, kindness of heart, nobility of life; and men will realise more and more that it is a blessed thing to know and reverence, and love and serve Him. Let us realise the great truth that God in our day is bringing to pass the fulfilment of this prophecy in this city. May we not say, "The Lord is there"? He is commanding the minds and touching the hearts of multitudes within the bounds of this city today. Let us not despair! There are terrible social evils and various other evils abroad, and sometimes men are downcast and heavy laden, and feel as though the Lord had forgotten. Never! Not for a moment! His purposes are marching towards their accomplishment all the time through all events. We are not under a government of blind chance. Let us never think that affairs have lost their connection with the government of God. ( S. Whitehead. ) The ideal city J. Wallace. I. If God is there, there are SOME THINGS THAT WILL BE FOUND ALONG WITH HIM. 1. Light. Men go to the sanctuary oppressed by the same questions as of old. Deep calleth unto deep from age to age. In God's house should be the answers to the heart's deepest needs. 2. Life. Where God comes, death is vanquished. Spiritual life is like physical, and a mystery, but it must be fed; and a table is spread in the house of God. 3. Liberty. In the city of God all are free. In His house men are manumitted. To set the captives free is the first aim of the Gospel. II. But if God is there, there ARE SOME THINGS THAT WILL NOT BE THERE. 1. Divisions. Some Churches torn by factions. What is aimed at is not unity in the faith — that will never be gained — but unity in the spirit. 2. Defections. It is sad when men leave church, but sadder when they leave Christ. If God is there, life becomes richer, service fuller, and love true to death. 3. Defeat. Strong weapons are being used against it. Criticism, indifference, ridicule, are doing their best. But the cause must go on to victory, because "the Lord is there." ( J. Wallace. ) The Lord is there W. H. M. H. Aitken, M. A. Between the fruits of natural and of spiritual religion there will always be considerable apparent resemblance. The amiability and generosity of the natural man will not be distinguished by the superficial observer from the charity of the Christian; nor are we called upon to disparage that which is beautiful and excellent in natural morality. At the same time, while there may be much in the uurenewed heart that is lovely and attractive, we must not shut our eyes to its true state before God, or refuse to recognise the radical deficiency which runs through all systems of natural religion or morality. We may love, we may even admire, but if the heart be really unrenewed, we must own the melancholy fact — the Lord is not there. Again and again, throughout the Word of God, we have it directly asserted, or incidentally implied, that God dwells, by His Holy Spirit, in the hearts of true believers, and that He dwells in them to form within them the New Adam, to develop the nature and spirit of Christ. "Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost," and "Christ is in us, except we be reprobate," and the mystery of our calling is "Christ in us the hope of glory." Do these words mean anything? Can they mean what their natural sense implies? or are they simply high-sounding flights of Eastern rhetoric? I must press on you the question, Can it be truly said of your heart, "The Lord is there"? Does your religion consist only of doctrines and observances, or has a new power entered your soul? and are you conscious of a reverent and sacred intimacy with your Divine Guest? What is religion without this? Take away my Lord, and earth becomes a dreary desert, time a cruel taskmaster, and eternity an abysmal gulf of horrible gloom. But, as it is true of every real Christian that the Lord is there, so it is the law of the life of the unrenewed that the Lord is not there. The man of the world awakes in the morning with no sense of the presence of his God: he may hurry through some form of devotion, but the Lord is not there. The world rushes in with all its thronging cares and busy excitements, and the battle of the day is fought, but the Lord is not there; and when he lays his head on his pillow at night, while he forms his schemes for the future, or congratulates himself on the past, it still remains true the Lord is not there. Years roll on, and the life without God draws towards its close; human nature loses its charms, the affections become paralysed, the genial enthusiasm of youth is a dream of the past, the barren routine of habit has fossilised all the higher faculties of the soul; but while the transient loveliness of humanity fades away, the sad truth still remains, "the Lord is not there." When the last scene comes, there may be weeping friends around the bedside of the dying sinner, and some may speak oft the kindliness of his disposition, and some may tell how he ever did his duty to wife, and child, and friend; but the curtain falls upon the last scene in the sad drama of a wasted life, inscribed with the melancholy sentence, "The Lord is not there!" Follow his receding form, if your inward sight can penetrate so far into the dreary regions of eternal hopelessness, and as you gaze with horror into the blank solitude into which he plunges, can you not catch that distant cry, of agony which wanders like an everlasting echo through the deep night of hell, "The Lord is not here!" "The Lord is not here!" Gladly I turn to the other side of the picture. The prophet Ezekiel had been gazing at a wondrous revelation of future glory, and doubtless the mystic temple and city in every point of their elaborate details had been full of interest and instruction for his delighted soul; but as we raise the cornerstone only when the rest of the entire building is completed, so it was reserved for the last word of the Divine Interpreter to touch the deepest chord of joy within the prophet's heart, and, as it were, to put the crown of glory upon the entire description in those marvellous words which I have read to you. We cannot doubt but that, in a further sense than we at present experience, those words will one day be fulfilled; at the same time, the blessed privileges to which we are heirs under this dispensation justify us in applying the description, and above all the crowning words, to the Christian Church. It, too, is a new Jerusalem that has come down to earth out of heaven, and its greatest glory is that "the Lord is there." ( W. H. M. H. Aitken, M. A. ) Th

Benson Commentary Ezekiel 48:1 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. Ezekiel 48:1-2 . These are the names of the tribes: from the north end, &c. — As the description of the boundaries of the land began on the north, so the portion of that tribe to which the most northern lot fell is first named, which is Dan. For these are his sides east and west — These are the boundaries belonging to that tribe, from the east point, near mount Libanus and Gilead, to the west point, bounded by the Mediterranean sea. And by the border of Dan a portion for Asher — All along from thee south side of Dan, measuring from east to west, shall the share of Asher be. Ezekiel 48:2 And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Asher. Ezekiel 48:3 And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Naphtali. Ezekiel 48:4 And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Manasseh. Ezekiel 48:5 And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Ephraim. Ezekiel 48:6 And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Reuben. Ezekiel 48:7 And by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Judah. Ezekiel 48:7 . And by the border of Reuben, &c., a portion for Judah — From the 1st verse to the 7th, the situation of seven of the twelve tribes is described, which were placed on the north side of the holy portion, the length of Judea, from north to south, being divided into twelve equal parts, (see Ezekiel 47:14 ,) besides the allotment for the holy portion and for the prince, and the city and temple being placed where they formerly stood. Hence it was necessary that there should be seven shares on the north side of that allotment, and but five on the south side; Jerusalem not standing in the middle of the Holy Land, but more toward the south, as will appear to any one that consults an accurate map of Judea. Many learned men are of opinion, that this particular description of the several portions allotted to the tribes, relates to the settlement of the Jews in their own country, after their conversion to Christianity. Certainly several passages in the prophets bear this aspect: see particularly chap. 36. and 37. of this prophecy. “But without laying too great a stress upon this opinion, we may reasonably suppose that some mystical sense is contained under this description. By the twelve tribes the pure Christian Church is sometimes signified in the New Testament: see Luke 22:3 ; Revelation 7:4 , in which latter book twelve is a hieroglyphical number, denoting the true church, built upon the doctrine of the twelve apostles: see Revelation 12:1 ; Revelation 21:14 . By the same analogy, the number of a hundred and forty and four thousand, ( Revelation 7:4 ; Revelation 14:1 ,) signifies the church of true Christians, who continue steadfast in the apostolical doctrine, twelve being the square root out of which that number arises; so this division of the land among the twelve tribes may imply, that all true Christians shall be equally sharers in the privileges of the gospel.” Ezekiel 48:8 And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the offering which ye shall offer of five and twenty thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the other parts, from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it. Ezekiel 48:8 . By the border of Judah, &c., shall be the offering, &c. — Next to the border of Judah, which runs in length from east to west, shall be the offering ye shall set apart for the service of God, Ezekiel 45:1 . The word reeds, it must be observed, is not in the original text, either here or in that place, and, as we have there noticed, many learned men think it more probable, that the measure of cubits is intended in both passages: see the note there. And in the length as in one of the other parts — Given to the adjoining tribes. From the east side unto the west side — Which was likewise twenty-five thousand reeds, or cubits, according to the dimensions of the holy portion, set down Ezekiel 45:1-6 , for the oblation was to be four-square, consisting of twenty-five thousand, multiplied by twenty-five thousand. Ezekiel 48:9 The oblation that ye shall offer unto the LORD shall be of five and twenty thousand in length, and of ten thousand in breadth. Ezekiel 48:9-10 . The oblation ye shall offer unto the Lord — For his sanctuary and priests: see Ezekiel 45:1 : shall be five and twenty thousand in length — See note on Ezekiel 45:3-4 . Toward the north five and twenty thousand in length — The dimensions from east to west are called by the name of breadth here, but of length, Ezekiel 48:8 , and so they truly are, as may appear from the description given of the whole in the notes on the xlvth chapter. But Houbigant reads this verse more intelligibly, as follows: “Toward the north the length shall be twenty-five thousand cubits; likewise toward the south the length shall be twenty-five thousand cubits; and the breadth toward the east shall be ten thousand cubits; and toward the west ten thousand cubits,” &c. Ezekiel 48:10 And for them, even for the priests, shall be this holy oblation; toward the north five and twenty thousand in length , and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the midst thereof. Ezekiel 48:11 It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray. Ezekiel 48:11-12 . It shall be for the priests of the sons of Zadok — See note on Ezekiel 44:10 ; Ezekiel 44:15 . Which went not astray as the Levites — Or, as the other Levites went astray. “The word Levites is here used in its greatest latitude, and comprehends the priests, as well as those who were properly called Levites. Many of these had defiled themselves with idolatry, for which crime they were to be degraded from the honours due to those priests who had continued faithful in their office.” — Lowth. This oblation shall be unto them a thing most holy — As all things dedicated to God were. By the border of the Levites — It shall lie next to the portion of the Levites which lay southward between the priests’ and the city’s portion. Ezekiel 48:12 And this oblation of the land that is offered shall be unto them a thing most holy by the border of the Levites. Ezekiel 48:13 And over against the border of the priests the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand. Ezekiel 48:13-14 . Over against the border of the priests — It might be better translated, just by, or beside the border of the priests. The words import, that the border of the Levites should run parallel to that of the priests. And in the same sense the words should be translated in the 15th, 18th, and 21st verses of this chapter. And they shall not sell it, neither exchange — Or, transfer, &c. As it was God’s portion, they were not to sell, or part with it, upon any pretence of advantage, or of greater convenience. This portion of land is called the first-fruits, as it is styled an oblation, Ezekiel 48:8 ; Ezekiel 48:12 , to denote that the whole land was God’s property. Ezekiel 48:14 And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the firstfruits of the land: for it is holy unto the LORD. Ezekiel 48:15 And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city, for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof. Ezekiel 48:15-17 . And the five thousand that are left in the breadth over against [or beside, see Ezekiel 48:13 ] the five and twenty thousand — This five thousand, added to the twenty-five thousand in length, and two ten thousands in breadth, mentioned Ezekiel 48:10 , makes up a square of twenty- five thousand every way: see Ezekiel 48:20 . Shall be a profane place for the city, &c. — It is called a profane place comparatively, because it was not so holy as the temple and the sanctuary. And the city, shall be in the midst thereof — A square piece of ground, of four thousand five hundred cubits on every side, shall be taken out of the middle of the twenty-five thousand cubits in length, for the area of the city. The north side four thousand five hundred, &c. — It shall be an equilateral square, every side being exactly of the same measure, consisting in all of eighteen thousand measures, as is expressed Ezekiel 48:35 . According to Josephus, Bell. Jud., 5: 43, Jerusalem was thirty-three stadia in circuit, which the square here described does not greatly exceed. And the suburbs shall be toward the north two hundred and fifty — The city and suburbs together making a square of five thousand. Ezekiel 48:16 And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred. Ezekiel 48:17 And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty. Ezekiel 48:18 And the residue in length over against the oblation of the holy portion shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward: and it shall be over against the oblation of the holy portion ; and the increase thereof shall be for food unto them that serve the city. Ezekiel 48:18-20 . And the residue in length over against [or beside ] the oblation of the holy portion shall be ten thousand eastward and ten thousand westward — These two dimensions, of ten thousand in length both eastward and westward, remain on each side of the area, which is five thousand cubits square, and set apart for the site of the city. It shall be over against [or beside ] the oblation of the holy portion — It shall join to the Levites’ portion, both on the east and west side; and it shall lie parallel with the two portions belonging to the priests and Levites. And the increase thereof shall be for food unto them that serve the city — Perform burdensome offices of public utility, whether of a higher or lower kind. They that serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes — This service being a burden, it was fit that all the tribes should bear their part in it. All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand, &c. — That is, twenty-five thousand in length, multiplied by twenty-five thousand in breadth. Ye shall offer the oblation four-square — So the heavenly Jerusalem is described, Revelation 21:16 , as lying four-square, a square figure being the emblem of perpetuity, strength, and solidity. With the possession of the city — Or the land assigned for the site of the city; which was a square of five thousand cubits, and being added to the portion of the priests and Levites, made their twice ten thousand to be twenty-five thousand in breadth. Ezekiel 48:19 And they that serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel. Ezekiel 48:20 All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city. Ezekiel 48:21 And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city, over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince: and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof. Ezekiel 48:21 . The residue shall be for the prince on the one side and on the other, &c. — The prince’s part shall be extended, both on the east and west side of the several allotments belonging to the priests, the Levites, and the city. Over against the five and twenty thousand, &c. — The particle ?? ??? , translated over against, is rendered before, in the parallel text, Ezekiel 45:7 , and thus interpreted makes the sense clearer, the words then importing, that the prince’s portion was to run along eastward and westward, like a frontier before the holy portions; and to extend eastward to Jordan, or the Dead sea, and westward to the great sea, retaining its breadth of twenty-five thousand cubits from north to south. Ezekiel 48:22 Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince. Ezekiel 48:22 . Moreover from, or rather, beyond, the possession of the Levites, and beyond the possession of the city — That is, the possessions belonging to the priests and Levites, and the city, were to be bounded on the east and west side with the prince’s portion; so those were to lie in the middle, and this beyond them. Between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin shall be for the prince — The border of Judah was to extend from east to west, next to the holy portion, on the north side, (see Ezekiel 48:1-8 ,) and the border of Benjamin from east to west, next the allotment set apart for the city, on the south side: see Ezekiel 48:23-28 . The several portions allotted for the priests, the Levites, and the city, were to extend only to the length of twenty-five thousand cubits from east to west; so that wherever ground ran in a parallel line eastward and westward beyond that boundary, even to the land’s end, was to belong to the prince. And, supposing the whole country to be sixty miles in breadth, and the holy portion about seven miles square, there will remain above twenty-six miles, both on the east and west side, for the prince’s share. Ezekiel 48:23 As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin shall have a portion . Ezekiel 48:23-28 . As for the rest of the tribes, &c. — The portion assigned for Judah being situate next to the holy portion on the north side, that assigned to Benjamin lay next to the ground allotted to the city on the south side. All these allotments ran from east to west in length, and from north to south in breadth. In the 24th and the next three verses, the four remaining tribes have their allotments assigned them, lying on the south side of the holy portion. Ezekiel 48:24 And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon shall have a portion . Ezekiel 48:25 And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar a portion . Ezekiel 48:26 And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun a portion . Ezekiel 48:27 And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad a portion . Ezekiel 48:28 And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar unto the waters of strife in Kadesh, and to the river toward the great sea. Ezekiel 48:29 This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, saith the Lord GOD. Ezekiel 48:30 And these are the goings out of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures. Ezekiel 48:31 And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi. Ezekiel 48:31 . And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel — It had twelve gates in all, three on each side, which was very proper, since it lay four-square; and these twelve gates were inscribed to the twelve tribes. Because the city was to be served out of all the tribes of Israel, Ezekiel 48:19 , it was fit that each tribe should have its gate; and Levi being here taken in to keep to the number twelve, Ephraim and Manasseh are made one in Joseph. Conformable to this, in St. John’s vision, Revelation 21:12-13 , the New Jerusalem (for so the holy city is called there, though not here) has twelve gates, three on a side, and on them are written the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. Observe, reader, into the church of Christ, whether militant or triumphant, there is a free access by faith for all that come, of every tribe, from every quarter. Christ has opened the kingdom of heaven for all believers. Whoever will may come, and take of the water of life, and of the tree of life, freely. Ezekiel 48:32 And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan. Ezekiel 48:33 And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun. Ezekiel 48:34 At the west side four thousand and five hundred, with their three gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali. Ezekiel 48:35 It was round about eighteen thousand measures : and the name of the city from that day shall be , The LORD is there. Ezekiel 48:35 . The name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there — It is very frequently said in Scripture, that a person or thing should be called by a certain name, when it was to be invested with qualities which might entitle it to that denomination. Thus Isaiah, foretelling the coming of the Messiah, says, His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace, because he was to possess the qualities which should serve as a foundation for all those titles. In like manner, 2 Samuel 12:25 , it is said, that Solomon should be called Jedidiah, or, the Beloved of the Lord; and, Isaiah 1:26 ; Isaiah 62:4 ; Isaiah 62:12 , that Jerusalem should be called The City of Righteousness, The Faithful City, Hephzibah, or the Lord’s Delight, Sought Out, A City not forsaken. Not that it was to quit its ancient name, and assume all these; but it was to be crowned with the favours of heaven in such a manner as to draw upon itself all these honourable titles. Here the prophetic declaration, that the name of the city should be THE LORD IS THERE, might be intended to signify, 1st, That the captives, after their return, should have manifest tokens of God’s presence with them, and of his residence among them, both in his ordinances and in his providences; so that they should have no occasion to ask, as their fathers did, Is the Lord among us or not? for they should see and acknowledge that he was among them of a truth. And then, though their troubles should be many and threatening, they would be like the bush which burned, but was not consumed, because the Lord was there. More especially it was meant to signify, 2d, That the gospel church should have the presence of God in it; though not in the Shechinah, or cloud of glory, as of old, yet in a token no less sure, namely, that of the Holy Spirit in his gifts and graces. Where the gospel is faithfully preached, gospel ordinances duly administered, and God worshipped in the name of Jesus Christ only, it may be truly said, The Lord is there; for, faithful is he that hath promised, and will fulfil his word, Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. The Lord is in his church, to rule and govern it, to protect and defend it, and graciously to own, accept, and bless his sincere worshippers, and to show himself nigh unto them in all that they call upon him for. This should engage us to keep close to the communion of saints, and not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together; for where two or three are met in the name of Jesus, he is there. Nay, the Lord is present with and in every true and genuine Christian: God dwells in him, and he in God. It may be truly said of every one who has a living principle of grace in his soul, The Lord is there. And, as this is the chief privilege, glory, and happiness of the church militant, that the Lord is present with and in her; Song of Solomon , 3 d, It is the principal blessing of the church triumphant. That the pure in heart shall there see God; shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads; that God himself, who sits on the throne, shall be with them, and dwell among them, ( Revelation 7:2 , and Revelation 21:3 ,) is the crowning blessing of the heavenly city, and the consummation of the felicity of all its inhabitants. For in his presence is fulness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore. Let us therefore give all diligence to secure to ourselves a place in that city, that we may be for ever with the Lord. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Ezekiel 48:1 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. RENEWAL AND ALLOTMENT OF THE LAND Ezekiel 47:1-23 ; Ezekiel 48:1-35 IN the first part of the forty-seventh chapter the visionary form of the revelation, which had been interrupted by the important series of communications on which we have been so long engaged, is again resumed. The prophet, once more under the direction of his angelic guide, sees a stream of water issuing from the Temple buildings and flowing eastward into the Dead Sea. Afterwards he receives another series of directions relating to the boundaries of the land and its division among the twelve tribes. With this the vision and the book find their appropriate close. I. The Temple stream, to which Ezekiel’s attention is now for the first time directed, is a symbol of the miraculous transformation which the land of Canaan is to undergo in order to fit it for the habitation of Jehovah’s ransomed people. Anticipations of a renewal of the face of nature are a common feature of Messianic prophecy. They have their roots in the religious interpretation of the possession of the land as the chief token of the Divine blessing on the nation. In the vicissitudes of agricultural or pastoral life the Israelite read the reflection of Jehovah’s attitude towards Himself and His people: fertile seasons and luxuriant harvests were the sign of His favour; drought and famine were the proof that He was offended. Even at the best of times, however, the condition of Palestine left much to be desired from the husbandman’s point of view, especially in the kingdom of Judah. Nature was often stern and unpropitious, the cultivation of the soil was always attended with hardship and uncertainty, large tracts of the country were given over to irreclaimable barrenness. There was always a vision of better things possible, and in the last days the prophets cherished the expectation that that vision would be realised. When all causes of offence are removed from Israel and Jehovah smiles on His people, the land will blossom into supernatural fertility, the ploughman overtaking the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed, the mountains dropping new wine and the hills melting. { Amos 9:13 } Such idyllic pictures of universal plenty and comfort abound in the writings of the prophets, and are not wanting in the pages of Ezekiel. We have already had one in the description of the blessings of the Messianic kingdom; and we shall see that in this closing vision a complete remodelling of the land is presupposed, rendering it all alike suitable for the habitation of the tribes of Israel. The river of life is the most striking presentation of this general conception of Messianic felicity. It is one of those vivid images from Eastern life which, through the Apocalypse, have passed into the symbolism of Christian eschatology. "And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruits every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." { Revelation 22:1-2 } So writes the seer of Patmos, in words whose music charms the ear even of those to whom running water means much less than it did to a native of thirsty Palestine. But John had read of the mystic river in the pages of his favourite prophet before he saw it in vision. The close resemblance between the two pictures leaves no doubt that the origin of the conception is to be sought in Ezekiel’s vision. The underlying religious truth is the same in both representations, that the presence of God is the source from which the influences flow forth that renew and purify human existence. The tree of life on each bank of the river, which yields its fruit every month and whose leaves are for healing, is a detail transferred directly from Ezekiel’s imagery to fill out the description of the glorious city of God into which the nations of them that are saved are gathered. But with all its idealism, Ezekiel’s conception presents many points of contact with the actual physiography of Palestine; it is less universal and abstract in its significance than that of the Apocalypse. The first thing that might have suggested the idea to the prophet is that the Temple mount had at least one small stream, whose "soft-flowing" waters were already regarded as a symbol of the silent and unobtrusive influence of the Divine presence in Israel. { Isaiah 8:6 } The waters of this stream flowed eastward, but they were too scanty to have any appreciable effect on the fertility of the region through which they passed. Further, to the southeast of Jerusalem, between it and the Dead Sea, stretched the great wilderness of Judah, the most desolate and inhospitable tract in the whole country. There the steep declivity of the limestone range refuses to detain sufficient moisture to nourish the most meagre vegetation, although the few spots where wells are found, as at Engedi, are clothed with almost tropical luxuriance. To reclaim these barren slopes and render them fit for human industry, the Temple waters are sent eastward, making the desert to blossom as the rose. Lastly, there was the Dead Sea itself, in whose bitter waters no living thing can exist, the natural emblem of resistance to the purposes of Him who is the God of life. These different elements of the physical reality were familiar to Ezekiel, and come back to mind as he follows the course of the new Temple river, and observes the wonderful transformation which it is destined to effect. He first sees it breaking forth from the wall of the Temple at the right-hand side of the entrance, and flowing eastward through the courts by the south side of the altar. Then at the outer wall he meets it rushing from the south side of the eastern gate, and still pursuing its easterly course. At a thousand cubits from the sanctuary it is only ankle-deep, but at successive distances of a thousand cubits it reaches to the knees, to the loins, and becomes finally an impassable river. The stream is of course miraculous from source to mouth. Earthly rivers do not thus broaden and deepen as they flow, except by the accession of tributaries, and tributaries are out of the question here. Thus it flows on, with its swelling volume of water, through "the eastern circuit," "down to the Arabah" (the trough of the Jordan and the Dead Sea), and reaching the sea it sweetens its waters so that they teem with fishes of all kinds like those of the Mediterranean. Its uninviting shores become the scene of a busy and thriving industry; fishermen ply their craft from Engedi to Eneglaim, and the food supply of the country is materially increased. The prophet may not have been greatly concerned about this, but one characteristic detail illustrates his careful forethought in matters of practical utility. It is from the Dead Sea that Jerusalem has always obtained its supply of salt. The purification of this lake might have its drawbacks if the production of this indispensable commodity should be interfered with. Salt, besides its culinary uses, played an important part in the Temple ritual, and Ezekiel was not likely to forget it. Hence the strange but eminently practical provision that the shallows and marshes at the south end of the lake shall be exempted from the influence of the healing waters. "They are given for salt." ( Ezekiel 47:11 ). We may venture to draw one lesson for our own instruction from this beautiful prophetic image of the blessings that flow from a pure religion. The river of God has its source high up in the mount where Jehovah dwells in inaccessible holiness, and where the white-robed priests minister ceaselessly before Him; but in its descent it seeks out the most desolate and unpromising region in the country and turns it into a garden of the Lord. While the whole land of Israel is to be renewed and made to minister to the good of man in fellowship with God, the main stream of fertility is expended in the apparently hopeless task of reclaiming the Judean desert and purifying the Dead Sea. It is an emblem of the earthly ministry of Him who made Himself the friend of publicans and sinners, and lavished the resources of His grace and the wealth of His affection on those who were deemed beyond ordinary possibility of salvation. It is to be feared, however, that the practice of most Churches has been too much the reverse of this. They have been tempted to confine the water of life within fairly respectable channels, amongst the prosperous and contented, the occupants of happy homes, where the advantages of religion are most likely to be appreciated. That seems to have been found the line of least resistance, and in times when spiritual life has run low it has been counted enough to keep the old ruts filled and leave the waste places and stagnant waters of our civilisation ill provided with the means of grace. Nowadays we are sometimes reminded that the Dead Sea must be drained before the gospel can have a fair chance of influencing human lives, and there may be much wisdom in the suggestion. A vast deal of social drainage may have to be accomplished before the word of God has free course. Unhealthy and impure conditions of life may be mitigated by wise legislation, temptations to vice may be removed, and vested interests that thrive on the degradation of human lives may be crushed by the strong arm of the community. But the true spirit of Christianity can neither be confined to the watercourses of religious habit, nor wait for the schemes of the social reformer. Nor will it display its powers of social salvation until it carries the energies of the Church into the lowest haunts of vice and misery with an earnest desire to seek and to save that which is lost. Ezekiel had his vision, and he believed in it. He believed in the reality of God’s presence in the sanctuary and in the stream of blessings that flowed from His throne, and he believed in the possibility of reclaiming the waste places of his country for the kingdom of God. When Christians are united in like faith in the power of Christ and the abiding presence of His Spirit, we may expect to see times of refreshing from the presence of God and the whole earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. II. Ezekiel’s map of Palestine is marked by something of the same mathematical regularity which was exhibited in his plan of the Temple. His boundaries are like those we sometimes see on the map of a newly settled country like America or Australia-that is to say, they largely follow the meridian lines and parallels of latitude, but take advantage here and there of natural frontiers supplied by rivers and mountain ranges. This is absolutely true of the internal divisions of the land between the tribes. Here the northern and southern boundaries are straight lines running east and west over hill and dale, and terminating at the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan Valley, which form of course the western and eastern limits. As to the external delimitation of the country it is unfortunately not possible to speak with certainty. The eastern frontier is fixed by the Jordan and the Dead Sea so far as they go, and the western is the sea. But on the north and south the lines of demarcation cannot be traced, the places mentioned being nearly all unknown. The north frontier extends from the sea to a place called Hazar-enon, said to lie on the border of Hauran. It passes the "entrance to Hamath," and has to the north not only Hamath, but also the territory of Damascus. But none of the towns through which it passes-Hethlon, Berotha, Sibraim-can be identified, and even its general direction is altogether uncertain. From Hazar-enon the eastern border stretches southward till it reaches the Jordan, and is prolonged south of the Dead Sea to a place called Tamar, also unknown. From this we proceed westwards by Kadesh till we strike the river of Egypt, the Wady el-Arish, which carries the boundary to the sea. It will be seen that Ezekiel, for reasons on which it is idle to speculate, excludes the transjordanic territory from the Holy Land. Speaking broadly, we may say that he treats Palestine as a rectangular strip of country, which he divides into transverse sections of indeterminate breadth, and then proceeds to parcel out these amongst the twelve tribes. A similar obscurity rests on the motives which determined the disposition of the different tribes within the sacred territory. We can understand, indeed, why seven tribes are placed to the north and only five to the south of the capital and the sanctuary. Jerusalem lay much nearer the south of the land, and in the original distribution all the tribes had their settlements to the north of it except Judah and Simeon. Ezekiel’s arrangement seems thus to combine a desire for symmetry with a recognition of the claims of historical and geographic reality. We can also see that to a certain extent the relative positions of the tribes correspond with those they held before the Exile, although of course the system requires that they shall lie in a regular series from north to south. Dan, Asher, and Naphtali are left in the extreme north, Manasseh and Ephraim to the south of them, while Simeon lies as of old in the south with one tribe between it and the capital. But we cannot tell why Benjamin should be placed to the south and Judah to the north of Jerusalem, why Issachar and Zebulun are transferred from the far north to the south, or why Reuben and Gad are taken from the east of the Jordan to be settled one to the north and the other to the south of the city. Some principle of arrangement there must have been in the mind of the prophet, and several have been suggested; but it is perhaps better to confess that we have lost the key to his meaning. The prophet’s interest is centred on the strip of land reserved for the sanctuary and public purposes, which is subdivided and measured out with the utmost precision. It is twenty-five thousand cubits (about eight and one-third miles) broad, and extends right across the country. The two extremities east and west are the crown lands assigned to the prince for the purposes we have already seen. In the middle a square of twenty-five thousand cubits is marked off; this is the "oblation" or sacred offering of land, in the middle of which the Temple stands. This again is subdivided into three parallel sections, as shown in the accompanying diagram. The most northerly, ten thousand cubits in breadth, is assigned to the Levites; the central portion, including the sanctuary, to the priests; and the remaining five thousand cubits is a "profane place" for the city and its common lands. The city itself is a square of four thousand five hundred cubits, situated in the middle of this southmost section of the oblation. With its free space of two hundred and fifty cubits in width belting the wall it fills the entire breadth of the section: the communal possessions flanking it on either hand, just as the prince’s domain does the "oblation" as a whole. The produce of these lands is "for food to them that ‘serve’ ( i.e ., inhabit) the city." ( Ezekiel 48:18 ) Residence in the capital, it appears, is to be regarded as a public service. The maintenance of the civic life of Jerusalem was an object in which the whole nation was interested, a truth symbolised by naming its twelve gates after the twelve sons of Jacob. Hence, also, its population is to be representative of all the tribes of Israel, and whoever comes to dwell there is to have a share in the land belonging to the city. ( Ezekiel 48:19 ) But evidently the legislation on this point is incomplete. How were the inhabitants of the capital to be chosen out of all the tribes? Would its citizenship be regarded as a privilege or as a onerous responsibility? Would it be necessary to make a selection out of a host of applications, or would special inducements have to be offered to procure a sufficient population? To these questions the vision furnishes no answer, and there is nothing to show whether Ezekiel contemplated the possibility that residence in the new city might present few attractions and many disadvantages to an agricultural community such as he had in view. It is a curious incident of the return from the Exile that the problem of peopling Jerusalem emerged in a more serious form than Ezekiel from his ideal point of view could have foreseen. We read that "the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem, the holy city, and nine parts in [other] cities. And the people blessed all the men that willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem." { Nehemiah 11:1-2 } There may have been causes for this general reluctance which are unknown to us, but the principal reason was doubtless the one which has been hinted at, that the new colony lived mainly by agriculture, and the district in the immediate vicinity of the capital was not sufficiently fertile to support a large agricultural population. The new Jerusalem was at first a somewhat artificial foundation, and a city too largely developed for the resources of the community of which it was the centre. Its existence was necessary more for the protection and support of the Temple than for the ordinary ends of civilisation; and hence to dwell in it was for the majority an act of self-sacrifice by which a man was felt to deserve well of his country. And the only important difference between the actual reality and Ezekiel’s ideal is that in the latter the supernatural fertility of the land and the reign of universal peace obviate the difficulties which the founders of the post-exilic theocracy had to encounter. This seeming indifference of the prophet to the secular interests represented by the metropolis strikes us as a singular feature in his programme. It is strange that the man who was so thoughtful about the salt-pans of the Dead Sea should pass so lightly over the details of the reconstruction of a city. But we have had several intimations that this is not the department of things in which Ezekiel’s hold on reality is most conspicuous. We have already remarked on the boldness of the conception which changes the site of the capital in order to guard the sanctity of the Temple. And now, when its situation and form are accurately defined, we have no sketch of municipal institutions, no hint of the purposes for which the city exists, and no glimpse of the busy and varied activities which we naturally connect with the name. If Ezekiel thought of it at all, except as existing on paper, he was probably interested in it as furnishing the representative congregation on minor occasions of public worship, such as the Sabbaths and new moons, When the whole people could not be expected to assemble. The truth is that the idea of the city in the vision is simply an abstract religious symbol, a sort of epitome and concentration of theocratic life. Like the figure of the prince in earlier chapters, it is taken from the national institutions which perished at the Exile; the outline is retained, the typical significance is enhanced, but the form is shadowy and indistinct, the colour and variety of concrete reality are absent. It was perhaps a stage through which political conceptions had to pass before their religious meaning could be apprehended. And yet the fact that the symbol of the Holy City is preserved is deeply suggestive and indeed scarcely less important in its own way than the retention of the type of the king. Ezekiel can no more think of the land without a capital than of the state without a prince. The word "city"-synonym of the fullest and most intense form of life, of life regulated by law and elevated by devotion to a common ideal, in which every worthy faculty of human nature is quickened by the close and varied intercourse of men with each other-has definitely taken its place in the vocabulary of religion. It is there, not to be superseded, but to be refined and spiritualised, until the city of God, glorified in the praises of Israel, becomes the inspiration of the loftiest thought and the most ardent longing of Christendom. And even for the perplexing problems that the Church has to face at this day there is hardly a more profitable exercise of the Christian imagination than to dream with practical intent of the consecration of civic life through the subjection of all its influences to the ends of the Redeemer’s kingdom. On the other hand we must surely recognise that this vision of a Temple and a city separated from each other-where religious and secular interests are as it were concentrated at different points, so that the one may be more effectually subordinated to the other-is not the final and perfect vision of the kingdom of God. That ideal has played a leading and influential part in the history of Christianity. It is essentially the ideal formulated in Augustine’s great work on the city of God, which ruled the ecclesiastical polity of the mediaeval Church. The State is an unholy institution; it is an embodiment of the power of this present evil world: the true city of God is the visible Catholic Church, and only by subjection to the Church can the State be redeemed from itself and be made a means of blessing. That theory served a providential purpose in preserving the traditions of Christianity through dark and troubled ages, and training the rude nations of Europe in purity and righteousness and reverence for that by which God makes Himself known. But the Reformation was, amongst other things, a protest against this conception of the relation of Church to State, of the sacred to the secular. By asserting the right of each believer to deal with Christ directly, without the mediation of Church or priest it broke down the middle wall of partition between religion and everyday duty; it sanctified common life by showing how a man may serve God as a citizen in the family or the workshop better than in the cloister or at the altar. It made the kingdom of God to be a present power wherever there are lives transformed by love to Christ and serving their fellow men for His sake. And if Catholicism may find some plausible support for its theory in Ezekiel and the Old Testament theocracy in general, Protestants may perhaps with better right appeal to the grander ideal represented by the new Jerusalem of the Apocalypse-the city that needs no Temple, because the Lord Himself is in her midst. "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." { Revelation 21:2-3 ; Revelation 21:22-23 } It may be difficult for us amid the entanglements of the present to read that vision aright-difficult to say whether it is on earth or in heaven that we are to look for the city in which there is no Temple. Worship is an essential function of the Church of Christ; and so long as we are in our earthly abode worship will require external symbols and a visible organisation. But this at least we know, that the will of God must be done on earth as it is in heaven. The true kingdom of God is within us; and His presence with men is realised, not in special religious services which stand apart from our common life, but in the constant influence of His Spirit, forming our characters after the image of Christ, and permeating all the channels of social intercourse and public action, until everything done on earth is to the glory of our Father which is in heaven. That is the ideal set forth by the coming of the holy city of God, and only in this way. can we look for the fulfilment of the promise embodied in the new name of Ezekiel’s city, Jehovah-shammah, - THE LORD IS THERE. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.