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The Bible Breakdown
Ezekiel 48: The Lord is Here
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. Ezekiel, chapter 48, the big finale, and today's title is the Lord is here. The Lord is here. We're going to finish this with a bang. It's going to be awesome, it's going to be great.
Speaker 0:So, if you have your Bibles, want to open up with me to Ezekiel, chapter 48. While you're doing that, make sure you take a moment to like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. You can pause it right now. I promise I won't go anywhere, but we need you to do that. It helps us get the word out. It does the whole algorithm thing that I don't really care about. I do care about more people finding out about our podcast and YouTube channel. So please make sure you do that. That really does help us get the word out and it's free to you. Also, make sure you go to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. There's some amazing people doing wonderful work and, as always, the more we dig, the more we find.
Speaker 0:Well, we are finishing up our series today on Ezekiel. And remember, the title is God's Promise of Faithfulness, of Renewal. Excuse me, god's Promise of Renewal. I've only said that 48 times I had to mess it up at least once. Right, and to kind of remind you, the overall idea behind this is, when we first started Ezekiel, god called Ezekiel and he said hey, listen, this is going to be rough. These folks are crazy, so I'm going to make you just as crazy as they are, and can we just say he did? Ezekiel's a mean joker, but he absolutely, though is very entertaining, and there was even a place, if you remember, where the Bible said that people would just come to see Ezekiel, just to see what he was going to do, and he did all kinds of stuff. He went late on one side for like ever, and then turned over again, and he was like this is an example of this, that and the other, and then, and then, he, he, um. He used one part where he talked about donkeys and horses. You remember that one.
Speaker 0:We got a whole lot closer together through that chapter, and then there was a place where he talked about how these two different cities were like two different prostitutes. I mean, it just is what it is right, but the great thing is, it was Ezekiel's way of really trying to rattle the people and help them understand what was going on Because God had a promise of renewal. And then we started to watch the tide turn and God said I'm going to put a new heart and a new spirit within you. And then he likened them to a valley full of dead bones, but yet he brought them back to life again. And over the past few chapters he was talking about this is what it's going to look like when my renewal happens and the glory returns. Well, now, as we're finishing this chapter, yesterday we talked about the river of life that flows through, and now he's going to talk about dividing up the land again. And remember why this is such a big deal. It's such a big deal because the nation of Israel is now scattered all over the place and there is absolutely no promise that they're ever going to come back together again, other than the promise of the Lord. And so he is saying if I told you, you're going to come back again, you can count on it. And so he's going and telling them this is what's going to happen after you come back together again. So this would have been wildly encouraging to them to realize that God has already decreed that it's all going to be all right.
Speaker 0:So here we go, chapter 48, verse 1. Let's finish this with a bang. God's Word says in verse 1, here is the list of tribes of Israel and the territory each is to receive. The territory of Dan is in the extreme north. The boundary line follows Hethlon Road to Lebo, hamath, and then runs to Hazar-Inan to the border of Damascus Hamath in the north, hamath in the north, with Hamath in the north. Dan's territory extends all the way across the land of Israel from east to west to west. Asher's territory lies to the south of Dan's and also extends from east to west. Naphtali's land lies south of Asher's, also extending from east to west. Then comes Manasseh, which will be south of Naphtali, and their territory also extends from east to west. South of Manasseh is Ephraim, then is Reuben, then is Judah, and whose boundaries extend from east to west.
Speaker 0:South of Judah is the land set aside for a special purpose. It will be eight and one-third miles wide and will extend as far east as the tribal territories, with the temple at the center. The area set aside for the Lord's temple will be eight and three-fourths mile long, six and two-third miles wide. This area is set aside for the ordained priest, the descendants of Zadok, who served me faithfully and did not go astray, with the people of Israel and the rest of the other Levites, it will be their special portion. When the land is distributed the most sacred land of all Next to the priest territory will lie the land where the other Levites will live. The land allotted to the Levites will be the same size and shape as belonging to the priest eight and one-third miles long, three and one-third miles wide. Together, these portions of land will measure eight and a third miles long and six and two-thirds miles wide. None of this special land may ever be sold or traded or used by others, for it belongs to the Lord and it is set apart as holy.
Speaker 0:An additional strip of land, eight and one-third miles long and one and two-thirds miles wide, south of the sacred temple area, will be allotted for public use homes, pasture lands and common lands, with a city at the center. The city will measure 1, 1⁄2 miles on each side north, south, east and west. Open lands will surround the city for 150 yards in every direction. Outside the city there will be a farming area that will stretch 3, 1, 3rd miles to the east, 3, 1, 3rd miles to the west, along the border of the sacred area. This farmland will produce food for the people working in the city. Those who come from the various tribes to work in the city may farm it. The entire area, including sacred lands of the city, it is a square that measures eight and one-third miles on each side.
Speaker 0:The areas that remain from east to west of the sacred lands in the city, those will belong to the prince. Each of these areas will be eight and one-third miles wide, extending the opposite direction to the eastern and western borders of Israel. With the sacred lands, the sanctuary of the temple will be in the center. So the priest lands will include everything between the territories allotted to Judah and Benjamin, except for the area set aside for the sacred lands and the city. These are the territories allotted to the rest of the tribes. Benjamin's territory lies south of the prince's land and it extends across the entire land from east to west. South of Benjamin's territory lies that of Simeon, also extending the land from east to west, next to the territory of Issachar and the same eastern and western boundaries. Then comes the territory of Zebulon, which also extends across the land from east to west. The territory of Gad is just south of Zebulon, with the same borders from east to west, and the southern border of Gad runs from Tamar to the waters of Meribah and Kadesh and flows to the brook of Egypt, to the Mediterranean. These are the allotments that will be set aside for each tribe's exclusive possession. I, the sovereign Lord, have spoken. Here we go, let's finish it up.
Speaker 0:The gates of the city, verse 30. These will be the exits to the city. On the north wall, which is one and a half miles long, there will be three gates, one named after a tribe of Israel. The first will be named Reuben, the second will be Judah and the third will be Levi. On the east wall, also one and a half miles long, the gates will be named Joseph, benjamin and Dan. On the south wall will be one and a half miles long, the gates will be named Simeon, issachar and Zebulun. On the west wall, one and a half miles long, the gates will be named Gad, asher and Naphtali, and the distance around the entire city will be six miles. From that day, the name of the city will be the Lord is there.
Speaker 0:Wow, well, we did it. We finished Ezekiel 48. And with that, finished all of Ezekiel. And so, as we get ready to leave this, I love that. The very last words of Ezekiel is promise fulfilled. Because, remember, the overall goal of Ezekiel is God's promise of renewal, and the very last thing he said is the Lord will be there.
Speaker 0:Now, if you remember, at the very beginning, ezekiel saw this crazy vision of this wheel within this wheel, and it was the presence of God. And then, over the course of this long journey that we have been on, there's been times when God's presence literally just left. He was like I'm out, you know, and just went on. But then he has come full circle to when it ends. He says God's presence literally just left. He was like I'm out, which went on, but then he has come full circle to when it ends. He says God's presence is there.
Speaker 0:And as we finish this up, I would love to think about this in the terms of our lives, over the course of our lives, and that is this that throughout the life of Ezekiel and remember this is 48 chapters, this wasn't over the course of a weekend, it's over the course of Ezekiel, and remember, this is 48 chapters, this wasn't over the course of a weekend so over the course of his entire life, he, just as he, continued to worship and serve God. The continual message he had is God's going to renew us, no matter how bad we are. And sometimes the message was God's going to about kill us first, but then he's going to renew us. But then he comes full circle and over the course of our life, our lives are going to ebb and flow the way Ezekiel's prophecies did. There's going to be seasons when God is just for us, man, and you can tell, and it's good, and we're living in the presence of God and the river of life and just praise the Lord, right.
Speaker 0:There's also going to be seasons when, for a thousand reasons, we tend to grow cold in our relationship with God. We continue to have a season where we walk away from Him. But you know what was amazing? I never saw in any of these chapters where God just said I'm never going to have anything to do with you, ever again. You're gone forever. None of this.
Speaker 0:There were times of judgment, times of God's justice, but it was always with one day I'm going to bring you back. And what that means for us is is that when we go through those seasons, there may be seasons of justice, there may be seasons where we have to reap what we have sown. But the amazing thing about God is he's never going to give up on us, no matter how difficult, no matter how dark it gets. That river of life is coming and that wonderful idea at the very end is that we get to the very end of our life if we have Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Our legacy is going to be that, through it all, the Lord has been and is there. Let's pray together right now.
Speaker 0:God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, for the book of Ezekiel. Lord, it's been hard at some places. It's been a joy at other places. And God isn't that like life? Life ebbs and flows, just like that. There's good moments, there's bad moments, but the great thing is is you're always there, you're always speaking, you're always moving, you're always being real with us, and I'm thankful for that. You're always being real with us and I'm thankful for that.
Speaker 0:I pray God, as we leave Ezekiel and we go on to all the things. I pray, lord, that you will put at least one thing from Ezekiel deep down in our hearts, and that is your word where it says you will give us a new spirit, you will put your life within us and it will cause us to live again and to realize, god, that if we have you in our life, we never truly die. We may pass from this world to the next, we may go through different seasons where it feels like all is gone, but God, you're with us and so all things are possible. We celebrate that today. Thank you for the book of Ezekiel.
Speaker 0:In Jesus' name we pray Amen, amen, but one more time. God's word says in Ezekiel, chapter 37, verse 14, I will put my spirit in you and you will live again. My prayer is that you will allow the Holy Spirit to fill you up fresh and new every day, and he will constantly bring to life any dead area that you have. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for the very first and only chapter of 2nd John.
