Scripture Reading: Ezek. 45:1-8; 47:13-20; 48:8-20, 31-35; Rev. 21:12-13
In this message we come to the end of Ezekiel, and we will consider two matters — the holy land and the holy city.
We need to see something further concerning the holy land. Apart from the land, there can be no temple. We may appreciate the temple very much, but we need to realize that the temple is in the land and that without the land there cannot be a temple. The temple, which typifies the church, is the issue of the land, which typifies Christ. Thus, the temple depends on the land. If we do not have the experience of Christ, it is impossible for us to have the church. The church is the issue of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ.
The land is first mentioned in Genesis 1:9. On the third day of the Lord’s recovery of His creation, the land was recovered, for on this day the land emerged from the waters of death. Prior to that time, the land had been under the death waters. But on the third day the Lord caused the land to rise up out of the waters of death. The land here in Genesis 1 typifies Christ, who was resurrected from the dead on the third day as the all-inclusive land. Every kind of life — plant life, animal life, and human life — came out of this land. All manner of living beings issued out of the land. Since the land signifies Christ, this means that all these living things came out of Christ.
Christ is the good land which God prepared for man. However, man fell and became degraded, and this caused God to judge the earth again. During the time of Noah, the land was flooded and again was covered by the waters of death (7:19). As a result, the human race lost the land. But the Lord again brought the land out of the death waters, and the family of Noah was given the right to enjoy the land.
Human history is a record of man’s fall. In the course of this history, the descendants of Noah fell and eventually gathered at Babel to build a tower of rebellion against God (11:1-9). Then “the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth” (v. 8a). Later God called Abraham out from the land of Babel and brought him into Canaan, the good land (12:1-8). Eventually, however, the descendants of Abraham fell from the good land into Egypt. The whole house of Israel went down into Egypt, and thus they lost the good land.
Four hundred years later, by God’s deliverance, the people of Israel experienced the passover, left Egypt, and passed through the Red Sea (Exo. 12—14). After forty years of wandering in the wilderness, they crossed the Jordan into the good land. Fighting against the inhabitants of the land, they recovered their lost land. Upon the recovered land they built the temple, and God’s glory filled it (2 Chron. 5:14). Later, due to their falling away from the Lord and their degradation, they were carried away from the land and lost it once again.
In the midst of the captivity, Ezekiel was brought back to the land by the Spirit and saw the land. In our reading of Ezekiel, we need to pay attention to the fact that many times the Lord promised to bring His people back to the land (chs. 11, 33, 34, 36, 37). He even promised to bring them back to the top of the mountain of Israel (34:14). This indicates a recovery of the land.
It is crucial for us to realize that before we can have the recovery of the building, we need to have the recovery of the land. The recovery of the land signifies the recovery of the enjoyment of Christ. Christ Himself cannot be lost, but in our experience Christ can be lost. When we were saved, we received Christ. However, not long afterward we fell away and lost Christ in our experience. The recovery of the land is the recovery of the experiences of the riches of Christ. Once the land has been recovered, the house can be built on the land.
The land, with all its riches, is called a land “flowing with milk and honey” (20:6). Milk and honey are both the product of two lives working together — the vegetable life and the animal life. It takes both the vegetable life and the animal life to produce milk and honey. To produce milk we need cattle, the animal life, and also the pasture, the vegetable life. Milk is therefore the product of these two lives working together. The principle is the same with honey. Honey is produced by bees, but the bees need the flowers of many different kinds of plants. Therefore, both milk and honey are the produce of these two kinds of lives.
As our good land, Christ has two kinds of lives; He has the vegetable life and the animal life. The Gospel of John indicates this. On the one hand, the Lord Jesus said that He was a grain of wheat (12:24); this is the vegetable life. On the other hand, this Gospel says that Christ is the Lamb of God (1:29); this is the animal life. The animal life is for being slain so that blood may be shed for redemption, whereas the vegetable life is for producing and generating life. One grain of wheat falls into the ground, dies, grows up, and multiplies into many grains. Thus, with Christ we have the animal life for redemption and the vegetable life for germination. Out of these two lives mingled together, we have the riches of Christ — the milk and honey — for our enjoyment.
Ezekiel presents the borders of the good land in a particular yet wonderful way. He says that the border on the west is the Great Sea (47:20). This indicates that the coast of the Mediterranean Sea is the western border. Ezekiel tells us that there is also a sea on the east side (v. 18). The sea on the east is not the Great Sea; it is the Dead Sea. At the top of the Dead Sea is the river Jordan, which proceeds northward to another sea, the Sea of Galilee, or the Sea of Tiberias. Another river, the river of Egypt, is the border of the good land on the south (v. 19).
The position of the good land between the waters of the Great Sea on the west and the waters of the Dead Sea on the east is significant. For the good land to be surrounded by water indicates that it is surrounded by death. In the Dead Sea there is nothing but death, and in the Great Sea there is salt water, which signifies death. Furthermore, in typology the Jordan River signifies death. Thus, the good land is surrounded by death, but it is not overflooded by death. This reminds us of the land that came up out of the waters of death on the third day, thereby signifying the resurrected Christ.
Certain portions of the Word indicate that the good land of Canaan is an elevated land (Deut. 32:13; Ezek. 20:40-42; 34:13-15; 37:22). The good land is a raised-up land, typifying Christ being raised, elevated, from the dead. Hence, the good land is not a low land but a high land. Whereas the Dead Sea is hundreds of feet below sea level, Mount Zion is hundreds of feet above sea level. This signifies that the good land, as a type of the resurrected Christ, is an elevated land.
On the north side of the good land, there is no river as a border; instead, there is Mount Hermon. According to Psalm 133 the dew comes down from Mount Hermon and descends upon the mountains of Zion. This signifies that grace comes down from the heavens and descends upon all the local churches. This elevated land with Mount Hermon signifies the resurrected Christ, who has ascended to the heavens. Now there is not only resurrection but also ascension, for Christ is not only the resurrected Christ but also the ascended Christ. He is above the death waters, and He has ascended to the high mountain, Mount Hermon.
Regarding the subdivisions of the land, seven of the tribes of Israel were in the north and five were in the south. (See figure 5: The Distribution of the Holy Land.) Of all the twelve tribes, Judah and Benjamin were most dear to the Lord. When the twelve tribes were divided, only Judah and Benjamin remained with the Lord and did not participate in division. For this reason they were located close to the Lord’s habitation. Because of Gad’s poor condition, the tribe of Gad was placed in the extreme southern portion of the land.
We should have confidence in the Lord’s judgment and estimation concerning us. Others may be mistaken concerning us, but the Lord cannot be mistaken. He is fair, and He knows whether to put us in the north or in the south. He can never be wrong. With respect to the church life, we do not know where we should be, but the Lord knows where to put us. For example, no matter how much attention we may give to where we should go in the migration for the spread of the church life, eventually we will be in the best place under the Lord’s sovereignty. He knows whether we are Dan or Benjamin, Judah or Gad. We should not blame others but recognize and submit to the Lord’s sovereignty.
Dan, however, was never satisfied with where he was placed. In Revelation 7 the name of Dan is not mentioned in the list of the tribes of Israel because of Dan’s idolatry and degradation (Judg. 18). Temporarily the Lord removed his name from the list of the tribes.
Ezekiel tells us that the whole land of Canaan was divided into three portions. The northern portion was for seven tribes (48:1-8), the southern portion was for five tribes (vv. 23-28), and the middle portion, the holy portion, was an offering to God. Because the Lord gave the people of Israel the whole land of Canaan as their possession, He asked them to heave the middle portion back to Him as an offering. Therefore, the middle portion of the land was a heave offering, heaved up by the people to God (vv. 8-12).
In the middle portion there was a square twenty-five thousand reeds long and twenty-five thousand reeds wide. One reed equals six cubits. The twenty-five thousand reeds indicates five, the number of responsibility, multiplied by five thousand. What a great amount of responsibility this indicates!
This square is called the holy heave offering and is divided into three strips. The middle strip is twenty-five thousand reeds long from east to west and ten thousand reeds broad from north to south. This was the part for the temple; it was also the part given to the priests, especially to the sons of Zadok, because of their faithfulness (v. 11). This middle part became their inheritance, in which was the lot for the temple. This indicates that the priests, the sons of Zadok, were the ones who were closest to the Lord. The Lord even lived on their inheritance, their lot. Their inheritance was the Lord’s dwelling place.
The second part, on the south, was also twenty-five thousand reeds long and ten thousand reeds broad. This part belonged to the Levites who ministered to the house and to the people and who helped in all the business of the service with the offerings. The Levites were close to the Lord but not as close as the priests were (v. 13).
The third portion, on the north side, measured twenty-five thousand reeds by five thousand reeds. This portion was for the city (v. 15). The city was in the middle part of this northern portion. The remainder of this portion belonged to the laborers, the workers, in the city. From all this we see that the land for the holy heave offering was divided into three parts: one part for the priests, one part for the Levites, and one part for the city with all of its workers.
The map showing the distribution of the holy land indicates that besides the land for the holy heave offering, there was still some remainder of the land on the west and on the east. These two pieces of land as a residue were assigned and allotted to the king, to the royal family (v. 21).
The allotment of the land and the placement of the tribes upon their particular portion of the land are quite significant. This picture shows us that from Dan in the north to Gad in the south, all the Israelites enjoyed Christ, but their nearness to Christ was not the same. The closest ones to Christ were the priests, the faithful sons of Zadok. Next to them were the Levites and those who worked in the city. Next to these were the royal family. Thus, each tribe enjoyed Christ, but their distance from Christ varied.
The nearness of the tribes to Christ determined their importance. The most important people were the priests, who were the closest to Christ and who maintained the fellowship between the people and the Lord. The Levites were next in nearness to the Lord, and they maintained a service to the Lord. Service to the Lord is good, but it is not as good as fellowship is. Their service, which was necessary, was not as dear and precious as fellowship was. Then the workers for the city were the third closest to the Lord. The city is the symbol of the divine government, so there was a work to maintain God’s government. Here we can see the fellowship, the service, and the work to maintain the divine government. In addition, there was the royal family with the king and the kingship.
Ezekiel’s record indicates that the temple was not within the city but was separated from the city. Whereas the city signifies the government of God, the temple signifies the fellowship of God. The temple is God’s house, God’s dwelling place, for His rest, and the city is God’s kingdom for His authority.
It is crucial for us to realize that all these things — the fellowship of the priests, the service of the Levites, the work to maintain God’s government, and the kingship — all come out of the riches of the land. This means that all the fellowship, service, work, government, royalty, lordship, and kingship come out of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ.
The more we enjoy Christ, the closer we are to Him, and the closer we are to Him, the more important we are in His purpose. We may be like Dan or Gad, far away from His presence, yet we still enjoy His riches. However, we are not so important to His economy because of the distance between us and Him. The priests, on the contrary, are extremely crucial. Their lot, their portion, is the Lord’s dwelling place. We all should aspire to be in the position of the priests. There is no need for us to be concerned about who will be in the place of Dan. The Lord will take care of that.
We should desire and exercise not only to be priests but also to be kings. Revelation 1:6 says that the Lord has made us a kingdom, priests to God and His Father. As kings and priests we have been predestined to be very close to the Lord. Hence, we should not be content to be like Dan, far away at the northern extreme of the land. We must be priests, the sons of Zadok, and the kings who are very close to the Lord. In eternity we will all be kings and priests (20:6; 22:3b-5). We will enjoy the milk and the honey — all the riches of Christ.
Today we need to learn to enjoy Christ. Instead of caring so much for teachings and gifts, we should care for the riches of Christ. We have not been predestined to teachings and gifts; we have been predestined to the enjoyment of Christ. Therefore, we need to learn to enjoy the riches of Christ as the good land. Day by day we should enjoy Christ by eating, drinking, and breathing Him. This is the way for us to go on.
Both Ezekiel and Revelation end with a city, Jerusalem. Only one city in the Bible has twelve gates with the twelve names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is the city of Jerusalem.
Because we will eventually become the New Jerusalem, we should apply to ourselves the things mentioned in Ezekiel. This means that we should not regard the words of Ezekiel merely as prophecies. Although the book of Ezekiel contains prophecies, we should apply this record primarily to ourselves, applying the points in Ezekiel not merely to the future but also to the present.
With this city there is the number twelve, which is composed not of six times two but of three times four. It is three times four because there are three gates on four sides, making a total of twelve gates. We need to remember that four is the number of the creature and that three is the number of the Triune God. Thus, twelve signifies the mingling of the Triune God with the creatures.
Eventually, this city is not only a mingling but also a perfect government with a complete administration. In the Bible the number twelve also indicates a perfect government and administration in completion. It is not only a mingling of divinity with humanity; it is also a perfect government which comes out of this mingling. This mingling is for eternity. This city, which issues from the mingling, will exercise full authority for God’s complete administration.
The church should be like this today. This means that the church should be the mingling of God with man. Out of such a mingling there will be the church government for God’s administration on earth.
The fact that the city has four sides with three gates on each side also indicates that no matter from which side we enter the city, we will be in the same city. No matter which gate we enter, we will be one. In this city we cannot be divided.
Revelation 21:21 shows us that in the New Jerusalem there is only one street. No matter what direction we come from and no matter what gate we enter through, we will all be on the same street. On this street there is the one flow, the one river, with the one drink and the one tree of life (22:1-2). In this city we all are one. We have one street, one river, one flow, one drink, one tree of life. In every way we are one.
The book of Ezekiel concludes with the words, “The name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there” (48:35b). God dwells in the temple, and He dwells also in the city. In the temple God has fellowship with His people, and in the city God reigns among His people. This indicates that God has come down from heaven to live with man.
We hope that this will be the situation in all the local churches. In the church as His building today, God has His temple, His dwelling place, and He also has His city for His administration. In this way, the church becomes the center for the fellowship with God and for the reigning of God. If we have the adequate enjoyment of Christ as the good land, there will be an issue — the temple and the city. When there is the temple and the city in the good land, God will have His expression, we will enjoy God and God will enjoy us, and we and God will have mutual satisfaction.
