Commentary - Ezekiel 45:7-9

Bird's-eye view

In this portion of Ezekiel's temple vision, the prophet receives divine instructions for the restored commonwealth of Israel, focusing on the proper allocation of land and the righteous conduct of its rulers. This is not some utopian fantasy; it is a blueprint for covenantal life, grounded in the realities of property, economics, and civil governance. God, having laid out the sacred district for the temple and the priests, now makes provision for the civil magistrate, designated here as "the prince." The key principle is that the prince's provision is divinely demarcated and limited. This is a direct remedy for the abuses of Israel's past kings, who often used their power to seize land and oppress the people. The passage culminates in a direct, thundering command from Lord Yahweh to the princes of Israel: stop the plunder, cease the violence, and start doing what God appointed you to do, which is to execute justice and righteousness. This is a foundational text for a biblical understanding of limited government and the magistrate's duty before God.

The vision is deeply Christological. The ultimate Prince who receives His portion and rules in perfect justice is the Lord Jesus Christ. But the principles laid down here apply to all civil rulers who serve under Him, whether they acknowledge it or not. God cares about real estate. He cares about just weights and measures (as the subsequent verses show). He cares about rulers who do not abuse their people. The gospel is not an ethereal concept that floats above such "earthly" concerns. No, the gospel redeems all of life, and that includes zoning laws, property rights, and the conduct of those in political office. This passage is a standing rebuke to both tyrannical governments that seize and devour, and to an antinomian church that thinks such matters are beneath her notice.

Outline

Context In Ezekiel

This passage comes in the final, glorious section of Ezekiel's prophecy (chapters 40-48), which details a vision of a new temple and a restored Israel. The first 39 chapters are largely filled with judgments against Israel's sin and the subsequent devastation of the land. But God is a covenant-keeping God, and so the book concludes not with ruin, but with restoration. This restoration is not just "spiritual"; it is comprehensive, involving the priesthood, the sacrificial system (as a memorial), the very layout of the temple, and the division of the land. Chapter 45 begins with the description of the "holy contribution" of land set apart for the Lord, the priests, and the Levites. Our text immediately follows this, showing that the civil magistrate's portion is determined in relation to God's portion. The government is not the ultimate reality; it is a subsidiary institution, established and bounded by God's holy requirements. The detailed, almost architectural nature of this vision demonstrates that God's covenant redemption has tangible, structural implications for how a society is ordered.

Key Issues

The Politics of the Gospel

It is a common and pernicious error to think that the gospel has nothing to say about politics. Some pietists want to keep Jesus safely confined to the realm of the "heart," while statists are more than happy for Him to stay there. But the Bible will have none of it. The God who commands us not to steal also commands kings not to steal. The God who requires a man to deal justly with his neighbor requires a prince to deal justly with his people. What we see in Ezekiel 45 is God laying down the law for the civil magistrate. This is not a suggestion; it is a constitutive element of the restored covenant community.

The central political problem throughout Israel's history was the abuse of power by her kings. Think of Ahab seizing Naboth's vineyard (1 Kings 21). Think of Samuel's warning about what a king would do: take your sons, your daughters, your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves (1 Sam. 8:11-17). The history of man is the history of some men using the power of the state to take things from other men. Here in Ezekiel, God provides the solution. It is not the abolition of government, but the binding of government by divine law. The prince has a legitimate role and a legitimate provision, but it is a limited one. His land is an allotment, not an entitlement to everyone else's land. This is the foundation of freedom and the only real check on tyranny.

Verse by Verse Commentary

7 “Now the prince shall have land on either side of the holy contribution and the city’s possession of land, adjacent to the holy contribution and the city’s possession of land, on the west side toward the west and on the east side toward the east, and in length comparable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.

The first thing to notice is that the prince's portion is defined in relation to the holy portion. God's allotment comes first, then the city's, and the prince's land is adjacent to both. This is a geographical illustration of a profound theological point: civil government is downstream from the worship of God. The state is not ultimate; it serves alongside the sanctuary and the city, and its boundaries are set by God. God provides for the magistrate, which legitimizes his office. He is to have his own land, his own resources. This means he is not meant to be a pauper, but it also means he is not meant to be a predator. The provision is generous but, crucially, it is fixed. It has borders. It is "comparable to one of the portions" of the tribes, meaning the prince is a stakeholder among his people, not an overlord above them.

8 This shall be his land for a possession in Israel; so My princes shall no longer mistreat My people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”

Here the purpose of the provision is made explicit. This divinely allotted land is to be the prince's possession. This is the language of property rights, given by God. And why? The reason is explicitly stated: "so My princes shall no longer mistreat My people." The old way of doing things, the way of every pagan despot and every backslidden Israelite king, was to fund their projects and their appetites by confiscating the property of the people. This is what government overreach always does; it mistreats the people by treating their property as its own. God's solution is to give the government its own defined property so that it has no excuse for plundering the populace. The remainder of the land belongs to the people, "according to their tribes." God establishes a system of widespread private ownership, and the government's first job is to respect it.

9 ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Enough, you princes of Israel; put away violence and devastation, and do justice and righteousness. Stop your eviction of My people,” declares Lord Yahweh.

After the provision comes the prohibition, and it comes with the full weight of divine authority: "Thus says Lord Yahweh." God addresses the rulers directly, and His first word is "Enough." This is the language of a father who has had it with his rebellious sons' destructive behavior. Enough of the old way. Enough of the abuse. God has reached His limit of tolerance for their misrule. He then issues a series of sharp commands. First, the negative: "put away violence and devastation." The word for violence refers to lawlessness and injustice. Devastation is plunder, robbery, the very thing Ahab did to Naboth. This is what unchecked government does; it devastates. Then comes the positive command: "do justice and righteousness." This is the magistrate's job description in a nutshell. Justice means rendering impartial judgment according to God's law. Righteousness is the moral character of that rule. Finally, He gives a specific, concrete application: "Stop your eviction of My people." This likely refers to the practice of foreclosing on family lands through unjust taxation or legal maneuvering. It is state-sanctioned theft. God calls it what it is and commands them to knock it off, and He repeats His authority, "declares Lord Yahweh," to make it clear this is not negotiable.

Application

This passage ought to be read aloud in every city council meeting and every session of congress. It stands as a permanent rebuke to the modern administrative state, which recognizes no boundaries on its authority or its appetite. God says to the prince, "This is your portion, and the rest belongs to the people." Our modern princes say, "It all belongs to us, and we will let the people keep a portion of it, provided they fill out the right forms." God commands rulers to stop their devastation and plunder. Our rulers call devastation "eminent domain" and plunder "taxation," and they do it in the name of the public good, which is a blasphemous inversion.

The application for us is twofold. First, for the Christian citizen, we must understand that limited government and secure property rights are not secular libertarian ideas; they are biblical doctrines. We have a duty to advocate for a civil order that reflects this divine pattern, one that restrains the power of the state and protects the property and liberty of the people. We are not to be anarchists, but we are to insist that the government obey God. When it steps outside its God-given boundaries, it becomes a thief and a tyrant.

Second, for any Christian who holds or aspires to civil office, this is your mandate. Your job is not to build your own kingdom or to implement your grand vision for society by force. Your job is to put away violence, to do justice, and to protect the people of God from eviction and plunder. Your authority is delegated, and you will answer to the ultimate Prince, the Lord Jesus, for how you used it. He did not come to seize the vineyards of His people, but to purchase a people for His own possession with His own blood. The only land He took was a plot for His own burial, which He then vacated three days later. A ruler who follows Him will be a protector of his people's property, not a predator.