Ezekiel 48:18, commentary and pictures

The residue of ten thousand eastward and ten thousand westward beside the holy offering was set apart with its produce for food for those who serve the city, as part of the division of the land around the sanctuary and the city. It belongs to the vision of the temple, city and land in Ezekiel 40 to 48, shown to Ezekiel among the captives in Babylon fourteen years after Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed to encourage Israel. The offer was conditional on Israel turning from iniquity, returning wholly to God and leaving Babylon, and if they had obeyed it would have been fulfilled literally in the temple, its worship and the division of the land among the twelve tribes. Israel after the flesh did not meet the conditions, for only about forty thousand returned, so the sanctuary described was never erected and its literal details will never now be fulfilled, and what was built under Zerubbabel was only a feeble shadow of the pattern. By its own terms the plan was for that past dispensation and not for the gospel age or the immortal state, since Christ's unchanging priesthood and once-for-all offering replaced the Levitical system. What was promised to Jerusalem will instead be more than made good to the true Israel in Christ in the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem as its capital, to lead all to yield themselves as God's dwelling-place and to trust His unchanged purpose.

Vision Setting and Provision

The residue in length over against the oblation of the holy portion is ten thousand eastward and ten thousand westward, and its increase is for food unto them that serve the city. This allotment is part of the division of the land around the sanctuary and the city, with productive ground set apart to provide for the city's servants. The arrangement belongs to the promised redivision of the land among the twelve tribes and the restoration of Palestine in which God's presence would be continually manifest.

The verse belongs to the sanctuary, city, and land vision of Ezekiel 40 to 48, also described as extending from Ezekiel 36 onward and as the sanctuary prophecy of Ezekiel 37 to 48. It was shown to Ezekiel among the captives of Israel during the Babylonian captivity to encourage them, fourteen years after Jerusalem, the temple, and the sanctuary were destroyed in B.C. 588 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah. It was given in B.C. 574 when Israel had been in captivity twenty-five years.

The envisioned temple is called the sanctuary, and like the tabernacle and Solomon's temple it has two holy places, with the most holy place the same size as Solomon's. It stands as a grand and magnificent temple at the center of a restored Jerusalem, destined ultimately to be the house of prayer for all nations. There God's glory would rest and His presence be continually manifest to heal barren land, salt marshes, and impure waters and to give life.

Conditional Promise Unfulfilled

The land division with its provision for those serving the city belonged to a conditional prophecy and provisional offer to captive Israel, promising a new division of the land, the restoration, the glorious temple and its worship, and the city called THE LORD IS THERE if Israel turned from wickedness, was ashamed of iniquities and put them away, returned wholly to God, repented and yielded fully, lived faithfully in obedience, and responded to the calls to leave Babylon after the seventy years. The sanctuary pattern with its two holy places and its most holy place the same size as Solomon's was shown to Ezekiel among the captives to be established with the return of the twelve tribes on that condition of shame and putting away of sin. The arrangement for the city and its servants from Ezekiel 36 onward and Ezekiel 37 to 48 would have been built if Israel had so returned, but because Israel was not ashamed and did not put away sin God could not fulfill to them the promise of the city, the restoration of the land, and the rebuilding of the temple in the glorious form shown to the prophet.

Had Israel met the conditions the residue eastward and westward for food would have been fulfilled literally and in fullest detail as part of the temple, its sacrifices, and the division of the land among the twelve tribes. God would have done better for them than at their beginnings, raised them as shown in Ezekiel 37, destroyed the northern enemies shown in Ezekiel 38-39 by plagues, and brought about the building of the marvelous sanctuary with the overpowering glory of His presence dwelling among them. Israel after the flesh did not meet the conditions but continued in apostasy, loved Babylon more than Jerusalem, and rejected the offered restoration and its blessings, with only a portion of about forty thousand returning. The sanctuary described was therefore never erected and never will be built, its glorious plan was not carried out, its offered restoration was forfeited and rejected, and its literal details will never now be fulfilled.

What followed was only a feeble, inferior shadow, for the temple built by Zerubbabel, Ezra, and others fell far short of Ezekiel's pattern. The restoration fulfilled the prophecy only in small part and the promised glory had only a faint reflection in the prosperity that followed, with the promises not realized in their fullness because only about forty thousand returned. That house never saw the glory of Solomon's temple except in the person of Jesus Christ, and He could not build a temple for His name for a half-hearted people to dishonor because Israel would not yield all to God for Him to come in and dwell among them.

By its own specifications the plan was designed for the past dispensation, not for the present dispensation and not for the future dispensation which is the immortal state. It is not a description of Christ's immortal kingdom or the gospel dispensation, not the New Jerusalem, not a prediction of a future restoration of the Levitical sacrificial system or of the Jewish people, and not a literal city to be built on this sin-cursed earth during Christ's thousand-year reign with restored offerings and sacrifices. It was not to be built after the Christian dispensation began because Christ's unchanging priesthood replaced the Levitical priesthood and does not pass from one priest to another. To revive its prescribed sacrifices and first-covenant ordinances after Christ has obtained a more excellent ministry as Mediator of a better covenant and offered His once-for-all offering would conflict with His offering, make void His sacrifice, make His reign less glorious than the present dispensation, and supersede the heavenly Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven.

Greater Future Fulfillment

What was promised to Jerusalem in the ten thousand eastward and ten thousand westward with food for those serving the city will be more than made good to His Israel in Christ Jesus in the new heaven and the new earth. The capital of that renewed world is the New Jerusalem, the New City prepared for God's true people, descending upon the earth made new. There the true Israel will be redeemed and receive the fullness of the immortal inheritance of the faithful, not according to the literal details which will never now be fulfilled, but according to later revelations and in more glorious form. What would have been established gradually on this present earth as the peaceful condition of the Messiah's kingdom, with sanctuary built and marshes and deserts and salt lands healed by the water of life and wild beasts made mild under righteousness so the smallest infant would be safe, will instead be fulfilled more gloriously in the earth made new where the Spirit of absolute peace presides over all nature so no harm comes to the feeblest. The allotment of the promised land around the holy portion, including productive ground whose increase would provide food for those serving the city, was temporary in its historical setting but was designed to show God's purpose for the future world, whose lasting inheritance of the land will be permanent.

The chapter stands also as a prophecy of greater spiritual things God would do for His people through Christ. Its promises are only a faint type of God's future general promises to His people, not a detailed description of their fulfillment. What was fulfilled only in small part with only a faint reflection in the prosperity that followed will have a greater fulfillment in the glory of Christ's second coming and related events, though not under the local conditions of Ezekiel's time. God's purpose is unchanged under different times and surroundings, while Gog and Magog, representing the northern nations, will be punished in part in this world before and at the coming of Christ and in full at the end of the thousand years.

The vision was given to impress that the only holy, worthy thing is that in which God dwells and to lead man to yield himself as a dwelling-place, temple, and sanctuary of God. It teaches that Jehovah is there, and His presence would heal all barren land, all salt marshes, and all impure waters, and would give life to all. It was given during the captivity to encourage trust in God's promises, showing that Israel could have enjoyed a more glorious position, a larger city, and a more magnificent sanctuary after the captivity if the people had trusted and returned. Because Israel loved Babylon more than Jerusalem and failed to do their part, God had to prepare the holy city in heaven, and that prepared city will descend upon the earth. The three ancient calls to come out of Babylon were an object-lesson of the last call to come out of Babylon now sounding through the earth.