Commentary - Ezekiel 48:23-29

Bird's-eye view

In these closing verses of Ezekiel's prophecy, we are given the final details of the tribal allotments in the restored land of Israel. After establishing the sacred portion for the priests, Levites, the city, and the prince, the prophet now lays out the inheritance for the remaining seven tribes south of that central strip. The vision is one of perfect, geometric order. Each tribe receives a precisely measured, parallel portion running from the east to the west. This is not a description of the messy, historical division of the land under Joshua; this is a picture of an idealized and perfected inheritance. The meticulous arrangement signifies the absolute equity, peace, and security of God's people in their promised rest.

The ultimate point of this vision is not to provide a literal map for a future Zionist state, but to paint a theological portrait of the kingdom of Christ. This is the geometry of the new creation. The land is the whole earth, and the tribes are the entire covenant people of God, Jew and Gentile alike, brought into the Church. The perfect order reflects the divine justice and righteousness that characterize Christ's reign. Every tribe has its place, every believer has his inheritance, and all is established and guaranteed by the sovereign declaration of Lord Yahweh. This is a blueprint of the world as it will be when the gospel has done its work, when the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.

Outline

Context In Ezekiel

This passage is the culmination of the grand vision that began in Ezekiel 40. After the Lord's glory departed from the first temple due to Israel's idolatry (Ezek 10-11), and after the subsequent judgment and exile, Ezekiel's prophecy turns to restoration. Chapters 33-39 promise a return from exile, a new heart, and a new shepherd-king. The vision of chapters 40-48 provides the spiritual architecture for this restored community. It describes a new, glorious temple (the Church), from which a river of life flows out to heal the world (Ezek 47). The final two chapters detail the reorganization of the people of God around this new center of worship. Chapter 48 first lays out the portions for the seven northern tribes, then the central sacred portion, and finally, in our text, the remaining southern tribes. The book concludes with the ultimate promise: the name of this new city, this new order, is Yahweh-Shammah, "The Lord is There" (Ezek 48:35). This division of the land is the final piece of the puzzle, showing how God's people will live in perfect order and security in the place where God's presence dwells.

Key Issues

The Geometry of a Renewed World

When we read a passage like this, our twenty-first-century minds, trained by newspapers and survey maps, immediately want to treat it as literal cartography. But that is to misread the genre entirely. This is not a surveyor's report; it is a prophet's vision. The precision is the point, but the point is theological, not geographical. The historical division of the land under Joshua was a messy affair, with borders that followed natural terrain and tribal inheritances that were unequal and often contested. It was a picture of a real-world struggle.

But Ezekiel's vision is of something else entirely. It is a picture of the world set right. The parallel strips of land, running in perfect east-west alignment, speak of a divine order imposed upon the world. There is no more jockeying for position, no more disputed territories. Every tribe has its secure and equal place. This is a portrait of the peace and equity of the Messiah's kingdom. Just as the temple vision in the preceding chapters is not a blueprint for a third stone-and-mortar temple in Jerusalem, this land division is not a map for a future political state. It is a symbolic representation of the inheritance of the saints in the light. That inheritance is the entire earth, subdued and ordered by the triumphant gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the world as God intended it to be, and as it will be, when Christ has put all His enemies under His feet.

Verse by Verse Commentary

23 “Now as for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one portion.

The accounting continues for the tribes south of the central sacred district. Benjamin is placed first, immediately adjacent to that holy portion. This is significant. In the old arrangement, Benjamin's territory was where Jerusalem was located. Here, Benjamin is nestled right up against the new center of worship, the place where God dwells with His people. Benjamin, the youngest son of Jacob, born of Rachel's sorrow but named "son of my right hand" by his father, represents those who are brought near to God's holy presence by grace. The portion runs, like all the others, in a perfect strip from east to west, signifying a complete and total inheritance.

24 And beside the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one portion.

Next comes Simeon. In the original conquest, Simeon's inheritance was not a distinct territory but was scattered within the land of Judah (Josh 19:1). This was a fulfillment of Jacob's curse-prophecy in Genesis 49:7, "I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel," because of the fierce anger of Simeon and Levi. But here, in the new creation, the curse is reversed. Simeon is no longer scattered. He is gathered and given his own secure, well-defined portion. This is a beautiful picture of the restorative power of the gospel. In Christ, old curses are broken, and those who were scattered are brought together and given a full inheritance. There are no second-class citizens in the kingdom of God.

25 And beside the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, one portion.

Issachar follows Simeon. Jacob's prophecy concerning Issachar was that he was "a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds. When he saw that a resting place was good and that the land was pleasant, he bowed his shoulder to bear burdens, and became a slave at forced labor" (Gen 49:14-15). He was a tribe that valued comfort and ease to the point of servitude. But in this new arrangement, Issachar receives his portion not as a slave, but as a free heir. His rest is no longer one of compromised servitude, but one of secure inheritance, granted by the Lord. The gospel frees us from our bondage to comfort and gives us a true and lasting rest.

26 And beside the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun, one portion.

Zebulun's portion is next. Zebulun and Issachar were full brothers, sons of Leah, and were often associated with one another. In the Old Testament, Zebulun's territory was in the northern region of Galilee. It was in "the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali... Galilee of the Gentiles" that the great light of the Messiah's ministry first dawned (Isa 9:1-2; Matt 4:15-16). Here, Zebulun is brought into this new, southern configuration, a part of the whole. It signifies that the light which dawned in Galilee has now filled the whole land. All the people of God, from every corner, are brought into this unified and perfected kingdom.

27 And beside the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, Gad, one portion.

The last of the southern tribes listed is Gad. In the original settlement, Gad, along with Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh, chose to take their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan, outside the proper bounds of the promised land (Num 32). While they participated in the conquest, they remained geographically separate. This was a spiritually precarious position. But here, in the final restoration, Gad is brought fully into the land. There are no more tribes on the fringe, no more living on the other side of the river. All of God's people are brought into the heart of the inheritance, fully integrated into the life of the covenant community. The gospel leaves no one on the outside.

28 And beside the border of Gad, at the south side toward the south, the border shall be from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, to the Great Sea.

Here the prophet defines the absolute southern boundary of the entire inheritance. These landmarks correspond roughly to the southern border promised to Abraham and described under Moses (Gen 15:18; Num 34:3-5). Meribath-kadesh was the place of strife, where Israel contended with the Lord and Moses struck the rock in disobedience. The brook of Egypt was the traditional southern limit of Israel's territory. By marking this as the final border, God is indicating the full and complete possession of the entire promised inheritance. All the failures of the past, like the sin at Meribath-kadesh, are overcome. The promise is finally and fully realized. The kingdom of God will extend to its uttermost, God-ordained bounds.

29 “This is the land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel for an inheritance, and these are their several portions,” declares Lord Yahweh.

This concluding verse is the divine signature on the deed. The phrase "declares Lord Yahweh" stamps the entire vision with unshakable, sovereign authority. This is not a proposal; it is a declaration. The land is to be divided "by lot," which in the Old Testament was a means of discerning God's will, free from human manipulation. But here, the "lot" is simply a figure for the divine assignment. God Himself has determined these portions. And it is an inheritance. It is not earned by conquest or merit; it is a gift of grace from a covenant-keeping God to His people. This is the final word on the matter. The security of the saints does not rest in their own strength, but in the immutable declaration of God Almighty.

Application

It is easy to get lost in the weeds of a passage like this and miss the forest for the trees. The application for us is not to try and draw this map on a modern globe. The application is to see the kind of world that the gospel is creating. We live in a world of chaos, of shifting borders, of injustice and inequality. We see strife between nations and factions within the church. This passage is God's promise of what He is building in the midst of all that.

First, the kingdom of Christ brings divine order out of human chaos. The gospel straightens crooked lines. It establishes perfect equity and justice. Second, the gospel is restorative. It takes a scattered tribe like Simeon and gives it a home. It takes a compromised tribe like Issachar and makes it free. It takes a fringe tribe like Gad and brings it into the center. Whatever your past, whatever your family's story of failure or curse, the grace of Christ gives you a new, secure, and full inheritance. Third, this inheritance is absolutely certain. It is guaranteed by the declaration of Lord Yahweh Himself. Our hope is not in our ability to hold on, but in His promise to hold us fast.

Therefore, we are called to live as citizens of this new creation now. We are to pursue the justice, peace, and order of God in our families, our churches, and our communities. We are to live as those who have received a secure inheritance, not grasping and fighting for scraps, but living in the confident peace that comes from knowing our portion is assigned and guaranteed by God. This is our land, our inheritance, and it is the whole world, for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, and He is giving it to His Son as an inheritance.