Ezekiel 47:22

And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. _ Ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers. It is altogether unprecedented under the old covenant that "strangers" should have "inheritance" among the tribes. There would not be locally room within Canaan for more than the tribes. The literal sense must therefore be modified, as expressing that Gentiles are not to be excluded from settling among the covenant-people, and that spiritually their privileges are not to be less than those of Israel (_ ;...

Verse Ezekiel 47:22. _AND TO THE STRANGERS THAT SOJOURN_] In former divisions of the land, no place was given to _strangers_; but in this division, (which seems to have no other reference than to the Gospel, for literally such a division never took place,) the _strangers_ are to have an _inheritance_; intimating the calling of the Gentiles into the Church of Christ, to an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. Glory be to God for his unspeakable gift! Amen. Amen....

AND TO THE STRANGERS - Here is quite a new feature in the distribution of the land. Not only the Israelites by descent, but those who join themselves to Israel by allegiance to the true God, shall have a right of inheritance. Here are opened out the blessings which were to accrue to the Gentiles through the seed of Abraham. Compare Romans 9:24, following. The difference which existed under the old covenant between Jew and Gentile is now at last done away. But while pagandom thus unites itself with God’s people, Israel is still as ever the chosen people, the center of this union. No new Church is founded side by side with the old. Pagandom is absorbed in Israel - the standard which God has set up for the nations - i. e., in the One True Church, which has subsisted from the beginning, and will subsist in eternity....

EXPOSITION As the first part of Ezekiel's vision (Ezekiel 40-43.) dealt with the temple, or "house," and the second (Ezekiel 44-47.) with the ritual, or "worship," so the third, which beans with the present chapter (Ezekiel 47:1; Ezekiel 48:1.), treats of the land, or "inheritance" setting forth first its relation to the temple (verses 1-12) and to outlying countries (verses 13-21), and secondly its division among the tribes, inclusive of the priests, Levites, sanctuary, prince, and city (Ezekiel 48:1), with a statement of the dimensions and gates of the last (verses 24-35). The opening section of the present chapter (verses 1-12) is by Kliefoth and others connected with the second part as a conclusio

AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS,.... In the last days, under the Gospel dispensation: THAT YE SHALL DIVIDE IT BY LOT FOR AN INHERITANCE UNTO YOU; who were Israelites, both by natural descent, and by the Spirit and grace of God: the Gospel was first preached to Israel after the flesh, and made effectual to the conversion of many of them; and the first churches were made up of them, and they shared all the blessings and privileges thereof; as they also will in the latter day, when converted: AND TO THE STRANGERS THAT SOJOURN AMONG THEM; not such as were strangers to spiritual and divine things; for this would contradict the rule in Ezekiel 44:9, but converted Gentiles, so called because of their natural descent and civil state, being, with respect to both, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; yet were to be, as they have been, and will be, taken into the sam

III. THE VISION CONCERNING THE LAND (47-48) CHAPTER 4 7 _ 1. The waters of healing from the temple (Ezekiel 47:1) _ 2. Borders of the land (Ezekiel 47:13) 3. Concerning the stranger in the land (Ezekiel 47:22)...

THE LAW OF THE ALIEN. For the purposes of the allotment, resident aliens who had families were to be reckoned as native Israelites....

STRANGERS. foreign sojourners. CHILDREN. sons....

The land so bounded shall be divided equally among the tribes; and strangers sojourning in Israel shall inherit just as those born in the land. The stranger shall have his inheritance among the members of the tribe in which he sojourns....

C. The Place of Aliens in the Land 47:22-23 TRANSLATION (22) And it shall come to pass, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you and to the strangers that sojourn among you, who shall beget children among you; and they shall be unto you as the home-born among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. (23) And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourns, there shall you give him his inheritance, (oracle of the Lord GOD. COMMENTS Aliens who lived among the Israelites would receive an inheritance within the restored Israel of the future (Ezekiel 47:22-23). Proselytes who embraced the worship of the true God would have the same privileges as native-born Israelites. Similar broadminded statements are found in...