Ezekiel 48:21-25: a reflection

21“The remainder shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy offering and of the possession of the city; in front of the twenty-five thousand of the offering toward the east border, and westward in front of the twenty-five thousand toward the west border, alongside the portions, it shall be for the prince. The holy offering and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the middle of it. 22Moreover, from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the middle of that which is the prince’s, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince. 23“As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one portion. 24“By the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one portion. 25“By the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, one portion.

In the closing vision of Ezekiel, the land is carefully apportioned among the tribes, each given its own portion: Benjamin one portion, Simeon one portion, Issachar one portion, and so on, with a portion set aside for the prince and for the sanctuary at the center. To us it reads as a dry survey; but it pictures a settled, ordered inheritance, in which every tribe has its place, and the sanctuary of God stands at the heart of it all.

Notice the order and provision in this vision. Nothing is left to chance or scramble; each tribe is given a defined portion, a place that is theirs, and the holy place, God's dwelling, is set at the center of the whole. It is a picture of God's ordered provision for his people, a place for each, and God himself at the heart. The inheritance is not a disordered free-for-all, but a settled order in which each has a portion and God is central.

That ordered vision speaks a quiet reassurance about our place in God's provision. In God's ordering of things, there is a place for each of his people, a portion appointed, and God himself at the center of it all. We need not fear that we will be left out, or have to grasp and scramble for a place; God provides a portion for each of his own, and puts himself at the heart. Rest in the assurance that God has a place for you in his ordered provision, and that he himself is at the center of it. Do not grasp anxiously, as though you had to secure your own place; the God who apportioned a portion to each tribe, with his sanctuary at the center, has a place for you, and calls you to live with him at the heart of it, as the sanctuary stood at the heart of the land.

Lord, in the closing vision of Ezekiel the land is carefully apportioned, each tribe given its own portion, with a portion for the sanctuary at the center; a picture of your ordered provision, a place for each, and yourself at the heart. Let that ordered vision reassure me about my place in your provision. In your ordering of things, there is a place for each of your people, a portion appointed, and you yourself at the center of it all. I need not fear that I will be left out, or have to grasp and scramble for a place; you provide a portion for each of your own, and put yourself at the heart. Help me rest in the assurance that you have a place for me in your ordered provision, and that you yourself are at the center of it. Keep me from grasping anxiously, as though I had to secure my own place; you, who apportioned a portion to each tribe with your sanctuary at the center, have a place for me, and call me to live with you at the heart of it. Be at the center of my life, Lord, as your sanctuary stood at the heart of the land.