“When you allot the land as an inheritance, you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits broad. It shall be holy throughout its whole extent. 2 Of this a square plot of 500 by 500 cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. 3 And from this measured district you shall measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 broad, in which shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 4 It shall be the holy portion of the land. It shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. 5 Another section, 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in.
6 “Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign for the property of the city an area 5,000 cubits broad and 25,000 cubits long. It shall belong to the whole house of Israel.
This passage is all about apportioning off a part of the land for the temple, the most holy, a place for the priests to live, what God calls the Holy District. A part of the land set aside for him and his use
What catches my eye is in the first verse. "When you allot the land as an inheritance, you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits broad. It shall be holy throughout its whole extent." When I looked to the commentaries to explain they talked about how God was the inheritance of the people and how it was a duty for them to set aside this land for him.
When I first read this passage though and saw the word inheritance I thought about how special it was. They had all this land given to them, it was their inheritance. Something they receive as... well I think of what an inheritance is... a gifting to you from someone who died. Or you can think of your future inheritance...which again is something you get when someone dies.
This land they are given is their inheritance.
And part of that, God is saying, needs to be set aside for him and his use of it. A holy section...which will be a good call (I should imagine) for people to remember where all their land comes from. It is an inheritance promised by God. He demands part of it be set aside for him. For his temple, his priests, his city that is for ALL the people.
I dunno... I just think it's rather important you know. To remember that our inheritance is from te Lord and he calls us to remember that in designating part of it for his use. Kinda like what we do when we tithe.
We're saying here Lord, this is for you. This part reminds us of all that you have given and done for us, this part is for use by you and the church, this part is holy.
Makes me think to myself... do I see my tithe as a holy portion fit for the Lord to use? I often think of it only as a duty and not as the reminder that it is.
How about you?
You can read more in my Ezekiel Studies here and here.
This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/
Good thoughts. It is so easy to fall into the "have to" trap instead of setting our hearts on God first and giving of that abundance and joy and love. It also made me think of the allotting of land that Joshua did. Again, setting aside that which is God's. Good thoughts, here. - Lori
ReplyDeleteThanks Lori. Made me think for sure.
Delete