Week 28 Ezekiel
In the last segment of his book – 47:13-48:29 – Ezekiel describes a complete redrawing of the tribal settlement boundaries of the land. Things are looking very different from the conquest distribution in Joshua’s day. For starters Israel’s national boundaries have been redrawn. The eastern border is along the Jordan River now which means that the two and a half tribes who had settled east of the Jordan are brought over to the west side along with everyone else.
Now there are only seven tribes in the north: Dan Asher Naphtali Manasseh Ephraim Reuben Judah (Judah Reuben have to move north).
The orientation of the tribal boundaries is all east-west now – like horizontal strata deposits of sediment.
Down in the south are Benjamin Simeon Issachar Zebulun Gad (it’s a change in location for most of them). Just like in the north the boundaries in the south all run east & west across the country.
Sandwiched in between are the allotments for priests and Levites, the metropolitan lands, and the crown land (48:8-22). It’s hard to say how much the northern and southern borders of the country have changed since they seemed a bit fluid before.
I finish the book not sure what to make of this new land settlement map. It’s the same not-sureness I had with the new temple.
I’ve already had to put several things in Ezekiel’s book on the back-burner and it looks like the temple and the land will go there too.
Note: see Ezekiel 48:1-7, 23-29