Eze 47:13-14 | KingComments | STEP | When the Lord Jesus reigns, the land promised to Abraham ( ) will be divided “among the twelve tribes of Israel” in a whole new way ( ). It is foreordained that all twelve tribes, the two and the ten tribes, reunited, will live in the land. Because Levi has no inheritance, Joseph receives two portions, for both his sons one portion: one portion for Ephraim and one portion for Manasseh. The LORD promises them the land as a security: they shall get it as an inheritance ( ). He adds that He will do it “each one equally with the other”, meaning that He will divide it “equally among brethren”, as it literally says in Hebrew. He swore an oath when He promised the land to their fathers. The matter is unshakably solid. This land will fall to them as an inheritance. This means that they will receive it by grace. The boundaries will be quite different from the division of the land by Joshua ( ; cf. ; Joshua 13-21). This is because the division between the nine and a half tribes in the land and the two and a half tribes at the other side of the Jordan will be undone. Each of the twelve tribes receives a (large) portion of the land and a (small) portion at the other side of the Jordan. This establishes the division of the land among the tribes of Israel ( ). By the way, it seems that the boundaries established here are not final. They will be constantly widened by the increasing population in the realm of peace, until the promise to Abraham is fulfilled: “On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates”” ( ).

‏ Ezekiel 47:13-14

The Boundaries of the land

When the Lord Jesus reigns, the land promised to Abraham (Gen 15:18) will be divided “among the twelve tribes of Israel” in a whole new way (Eze 47:13). It is foreordained that all twelve tribes, the two and the ten tribes, reunited, will live in the land. Because Levi has no inheritance, Joseph receives two portions, for both his sons one portion: one portion for Ephraim and one portion for Manasseh.

The LORD promises them the land as a security: they shall get it as an inheritance (Eze 47:14). He adds that He will do it “each one equally with the other”, meaning that He will divide it “equally among brethren”, as it literally says in Hebrew. He swore an oath when He promised the land to their fathers. The matter is unshakably solid. This land will fall to them as an inheritance. This means that they will receive it by grace.

The boundaries will be quite different from the division of the land by Joshua (Eze 47:15-20; cf. Num 34:1-15; Joshua 13-21). This is because the division between the nine and a half tribes in the land and the two and a half tribes at the other side of the Jordan will be undone. Each of the twelve tribes receives a (large) portion of the land and a (small) portion at the other side of the Jordan. This establishes the division of the land among the tribes of Israel (Eze 47:21).

By the way, it seems that the boundaries established here are not final. They will be constantly widened by the increasing population in the realm of peace, until the promise to Abraham is fulfilled: “On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates”” (Gen 15:18).