And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Ephraim.
Ezekiel 48:5 assigns Ephraim its tribal portion next to Manasseh, running from the eastern border to the western border as part of the redivision of the land among the twelve tribes. It belongs to the closing vision of Ezekiel 40 to 48 showing another sanctuary and city with its service, sacrifices and ordered tribal portions centered on a restored Jerusalem where Jehovah is there. That allotment was part of a conditional promise depending on Israel being ashamed of iniquity and returning in faith and obedience, which if met would have been fulfilled literally and in far greater measure. Israel did not meet the conditions but continued in apostasy, so the city was never built, the sanctuary was never erected, and the tribal allotment was never fulfilled except feebly in small part in the sanctuary built by Zerubbabel. It was designed for that past dispensation and not for the gospel dispensation, the thousand-year reign, or John's New Jerusalem, since its mortal prince must offer sin-offerings for himself, its Levite priests marry and die, and its burnt-offerings and Levitical priesthood were superseded at the cross by Christ the great Sacrifice and the priesthood of Melchizedek. In its spiritual aspect it stands in faint type of greater things God will do through Christ, to be more than made good in Revelation 22 in the new heaven and new earth where true Israel redeemed, including Gentiles as fellow heirs in Christ, will receive a permanent and more glorious inheritance.
Setting and Tribal Allotment
Ephraim receives a portion lying beside Manasseh, stretching from the east side to the west side, between the eastern and western borders, as one share in the redivision of the land among the twelve tribes and families of Israel. That allotment belongs to the conditional temple-and-land arrangement offered to Israel in captivity, dependent on turning from wickedness, returning wholeheartedly, and being ashamed of sins and putting them away. If those conditions had been met the allotment, like the other promises in Ezekiel 40–48, would have been fulfilled literally. Because Israel was unwilling and continued in apostasy, the promised restoration was not carried out as described, and its promises were only feebly realized in the sanctuary built by Zerubbabel.
The verse belongs to the vision of sanctuary, city, land, offerings, and glory in Ezekiel 40 to 48, also described as beginning in Ezekiel 36 or 37 and as the last nine chapters. It shows the pattern of another sanctuary and city, a glorious temple at the center of a restored Jerusalem where Jehovah is there, with its service, sacrifices, ordered tribal portions, and promised blessings. The chapters describing the division of the land also concern the new sanctuary, its offerings and glory, including instructions for sanctuary service and sacrifices. The prophecy has not been fulfilled in the sense of a city and sanctuary now standing.
The vision was given through Ezekiel while he was God's prophet among the captives carried away with King Jehoiachin in 597 B.C. to Babylonia near the river Chebar, contemporary with Jeremiah as God's prophet in Jerusalem. It came fourteen years after Jerusalem, the temple, and the sanctuary were destroyed in B.C. 588 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, thus in B.C. 574, twenty-five years into the Babylonian captivity. It was shown to the house of Israel to declare what Jerusalem and its land divisions would have become if all Israel had responded and returned.
Beyond belonging to the sanctuary and worship God would have established for Israel's promised restoration, the specific allotment for Ephraim receives no separate explanation.
Conditional Offer Rejected
The portion for Ephraim beside Manasseh belonged to a conditional promise offered to Israel in captivity, which depended on the people being ashamed of their iniquities, putting away sin, turning from wickedness, returning wholeheartedly and yielding in faith and obedience. That condition rests under the universal rule of Jeremiah 18:8-10, which applies even when a particular promise does not repeat it. If Israel had complied, the sanctuary of Ezekiel 40-48 and the tribal allotments of Ezekiel 47 and 48, including Ephraim's portion extending from the east side to the west side, would have been fulfilled literally and in far greater measure.
Israel did not meet the conditions, was not ashamed and did not put away sin but continued in apostasy, loved Babylon more than Jerusalem and refused to yield all to God. When the decree for restoration went forth and all Israel could go up, the ten tribes slighted the offer of Cyrus and the promised blessings, and only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin with a portion of Levi and a few others, about forty thousand, returned. Thus the house of Israel rejected the gracious offer, so the city was never built, the sanctuary was never erected, and the tribal allotment was never fulfilled. What was promised was only feebly or weakly realized and in small part in the sanctuary built by Zerubbabel, which fell far short of the pattern and never saw Solomon's glory except in the person of Jesus Christ whom its keepers rejected.
The vision was designed to be fulfilled in the past dispensation, not in the present dispensation, the gospel dispensation, the future immortal state, the future reign of Christ and His saints, a future literal city on this sin-cursed earth during Christ's thousand-year reign, or John's New Jerusalem and heavenly Jerusalem coming down from God. It cannot be those futures because there is to be but one Prince King over Israel in the glorified state, Jesus, while its prince must offer sin-offerings and all kinds of offerings for himself, take away exactions, have sons and servants to receive inheritance, be restricted in land and forbidden to oppress, showing a poor frail mortal unlike Christ who possesses the uttermost parts of the earth. It cannot be those futures because its priests are all Levites who marry including widows of priests and therefore marry and die unlike those immortalized at the second advent who neither marry nor die. It cannot be those futures because literal circumcision, permission of divorce, distinction between clean and unclean meats, burnt-offerings and sin-offerings of bulls and goats, and the Levitical priesthood remain in force there, all abolished or superseded at the first advent by the priesthood of Melchizedek and by Christ Himself the great Sacrifice who caused all others to cease at His cross. Such a state would be less glorious than the present dispensation, would supersede the heavenly Jerusalem, would return to the ordinances of the first covenant after Christ obtained a more excellent ministry as Mediator of a better covenant, and would require a second Messiah since the law's yearly sacrifices could never make the comers perfect while Christ by one offering perfected forever them that are sanctified.
Its prescribed sacrifices show it was not a sanctuary God would ordain again and cannot now be built to fulfill its intended purpose. Restoring animal sacrifices and typical atonements after Christ's heavenly ministration has made real atonement would deny Christ's once-for-all offering, make His sacrifice void and insufficient, and violate the order that type cannot follow fact and that repentance and confession precede remission.
Greater Fulfillment in Christ
In its spiritual aspect the allotment beside Manasseh belongs to a prophecy of greater things God will do for His people through Christ, because Israel was unwilling to return wholeheartedly and meet the conditional temple-and-land arrangement promised after captivity. Though never fulfilled in the sense of a city and sanctuary now standing, and never to be fulfilled by restoring animal sacrifices which would deny Christ's once-for-all offering, its promises will be realized in the New City for the true Israel of God and in the future glory and immortal inheritance coming to the faithful according to later revelations. All that was promised of city, land, and temple in glorious form will be more than made good in Revelation 22, in the new heaven and the new earth whose capital city is the New Jerusalem. That fulfillment will be more glorious than the peaceful condition of the Messiah's kingdom as it would have been established gradually on this earth with the sanctuary built, with marshes and deserts and salt lands healed, with wild beasts mild and infants safe, and with the Spirit of absolute peace presiding so no harm comes to the feeblest. It will come in the glory of Christ's second coming and connected events, rather than through a return to local conditions or through the fullest literal detail of land portions and temple.
The division of the promised land into temporary typical family inheritances pictured God's purpose for the future world, where each person's inheritance will be permanent, lasting, and more glorious in the earth made new. That permanent inheritance is for true Israel redeemed, including Gentiles as fellow heirs and partakers of the promise in Christ by the gospel, where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian. Had God's people heeded the prophecy the restoration would have included the promised temple and Israel would have been a light to the world, but their refusal left only a shadow of the temple and the city was never built on earth. The failure was not a change in God's mind, for God instead prepared a holy city in heaven that will descend upon the earth. The ancient calls out of Babylon were an object-lesson of the last call now sounding through the earth, and utter destruction awaits those who linger in Babylon today.
Ezekiel 48:5 assigns Ephraim its tribal portion next to Manasseh, running from the eastern border to the western border as part of the redivision of the land among the twelve tribes. It belongs to the closing vision of Ezekiel 40 to 48 showing another sanctuary and city with its service, sacrifices and ordered tribal portions centered on a restored Jerusalem where Jehovah is there. That allotment was part of a conditional promise depending on Israel being ashamed of iniquity and returning in faith and obedience, which if met would have been fulfilled literally and in far greater measure. Israel did not meet the conditions but continued in apostasy, so the city was never built, the sanctuary was never erected, and the tribal allotment was never fulfilled except feebly in small part in the sanctuary built by Zerubbabel. It was designed for that past dispensation and not for the gospel dispensation, the thousand-year reign, or John's New Jerusalem, since its mortal prince must offer sin-offerings for himself, its Levite priests marry and die, and its burnt-offerings and Levitical priesthood were superseded at the cross by Christ the great Sacrifice and the priesthood of Melchizedek. In its spiritual aspect it stands in faint type of greater things God will do through Christ, to be more than made good in Revelation 22 in the new heaven and new earth where true Israel redeemed, including Gentiles as fellow heirs in Christ, will receive a permanent and more glorious inheritance.
Setting and Tribal Allotment
Ephraim receives a portion lying beside Manasseh, stretching from the east side to the west side, between the eastern and western borders, as one share in the redivision of the land among the twelve tribes and families of Israel. That allotment belongs to the conditional temple-and-land arrangement offered to Israel in captivity, dependent on turning from wickedness, returning wholeheartedly, and being ashamed of sins and putting them away. If those conditions had been met the allotment, like the other promises in Ezekiel 40–48, would have been fulfilled literally. Because Israel was unwilling and continued in apostasy, the promised restoration was not carried out as described, and its promises were only feebly realized in the sanctuary built by Zerubbabel.
The verse belongs to the vision of sanctuary, city, land, offerings, and glory in Ezekiel 40 to 48, also described as beginning in Ezekiel 36 or 37 and as the last nine chapters. It shows the pattern of another sanctuary and city, a glorious temple at the center of a restored Jerusalem where Jehovah is there, with its service, sacrifices, ordered tribal portions, and promised blessings. The chapters describing the division of the land also concern the new sanctuary, its offerings and glory, including instructions for sanctuary service and sacrifices. The prophecy has not been fulfilled in the sense of a city and sanctuary now standing.
The vision was given through Ezekiel while he was God's prophet among the captives carried away with King Jehoiachin in 597 B.C. to Babylonia near the river Chebar, contemporary with Jeremiah as God's prophet in Jerusalem. It came fourteen years after Jerusalem, the temple, and the sanctuary were destroyed in B.C. 588 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, thus in B.C. 574, twenty-five years into the Babylonian captivity. It was shown to the house of Israel to declare what Jerusalem and its land divisions would have become if all Israel had responded and returned.
Beyond belonging to the sanctuary and worship God would have established for Israel's promised restoration, the specific allotment for Ephraim receives no separate explanation.
Conditional Offer Rejected
The portion for Ephraim beside Manasseh belonged to a conditional promise offered to Israel in captivity, which depended on the people being ashamed of their iniquities, putting away sin, turning from wickedness, returning wholeheartedly and yielding in faith and obedience. That condition rests under the universal rule of Jeremiah 18:8-10, which applies even when a particular promise does not repeat it. If Israel had complied, the sanctuary of Ezekiel 40-48 and the tribal allotments of Ezekiel 47 and 48, including Ephraim's portion extending from the east side to the west side, would have been fulfilled literally and in far greater measure.
Israel did not meet the conditions, was not ashamed and did not put away sin but continued in apostasy, loved Babylon more than Jerusalem and refused to yield all to God. When the decree for restoration went forth and all Israel could go up, the ten tribes slighted the offer of Cyrus and the promised blessings, and only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin with a portion of Levi and a few others, about forty thousand, returned. Thus the house of Israel rejected the gracious offer, so the city was never built, the sanctuary was never erected, and the tribal allotment was never fulfilled. What was promised was only feebly or weakly realized and in small part in the sanctuary built by Zerubbabel, which fell far short of the pattern and never saw Solomon's glory except in the person of Jesus Christ whom its keepers rejected.
The vision was designed to be fulfilled in the past dispensation, not in the present dispensation, the gospel dispensation, the future immortal state, the future reign of Christ and His saints, a future literal city on this sin-cursed earth during Christ's thousand-year reign, or John's New Jerusalem and heavenly Jerusalem coming down from God. It cannot be those futures because there is to be but one Prince King over Israel in the glorified state, Jesus, while its prince must offer sin-offerings and all kinds of offerings for himself, take away exactions, have sons and servants to receive inheritance, be restricted in land and forbidden to oppress, showing a poor frail mortal unlike Christ who possesses the uttermost parts of the earth. It cannot be those futures because its priests are all Levites who marry including widows of priests and therefore marry and die unlike those immortalized at the second advent who neither marry nor die. It cannot be those futures because literal circumcision, permission of divorce, distinction between clean and unclean meats, burnt-offerings and sin-offerings of bulls and goats, and the Levitical priesthood remain in force there, all abolished or superseded at the first advent by the priesthood of Melchizedek and by Christ Himself the great Sacrifice who caused all others to cease at His cross. Such a state would be less glorious than the present dispensation, would supersede the heavenly Jerusalem, would return to the ordinances of the first covenant after Christ obtained a more excellent ministry as Mediator of a better covenant, and would require a second Messiah since the law's yearly sacrifices could never make the comers perfect while Christ by one offering perfected forever them that are sanctified.
Its prescribed sacrifices show it was not a sanctuary God would ordain again and cannot now be built to fulfill its intended purpose. Restoring animal sacrifices and typical atonements after Christ's heavenly ministration has made real atonement would deny Christ's once-for-all offering, make His sacrifice void and insufficient, and violate the order that type cannot follow fact and that repentance and confession precede remission.
Greater Fulfillment in Christ
In its spiritual aspect the allotment beside Manasseh belongs to a prophecy of greater things God will do for His people through Christ, because Israel was unwilling to return wholeheartedly and meet the conditional temple-and-land arrangement promised after captivity. Though never fulfilled in the sense of a city and sanctuary now standing, and never to be fulfilled by restoring animal sacrifices which would deny Christ's once-for-all offering, its promises will be realized in the New City for the true Israel of God and in the future glory and immortal inheritance coming to the faithful according to later revelations. All that was promised of city, land, and temple in glorious form will be more than made good in Revelation 22, in the new heaven and the new earth whose capital city is the New Jerusalem. That fulfillment will be more glorious than the peaceful condition of the Messiah's kingdom as it would have been established gradually on this earth with the sanctuary built, with marshes and deserts and salt lands healed, with wild beasts mild and infants safe, and with the Spirit of absolute peace presiding so no harm comes to the feeblest. It will come in the glory of Christ's second coming and connected events, rather than through a return to local conditions or through the fullest literal detail of land portions and temple.
The division of the promised land into temporary typical family inheritances pictured God's purpose for the future world, where each person's inheritance will be permanent, lasting, and more glorious in the earth made new. That permanent inheritance is for true Israel redeemed, including Gentiles as fellow heirs and partakers of the promise in Christ by the gospel, where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian. Had God's people heeded the prophecy the restoration would have included the promised temple and Israel would have been a light to the world, but their refusal left only a shadow of the temple and the city was never built on earth. The failure was not a change in God's mind, for God instead prepared a holy city in heaven that will descend upon the earth. The ancient calls out of Babylon were an object-lesson of the last call now sounding through the earth, and utter destruction awaits those who linger in Babylon today.