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.