The inheritance of the children.
The prophet was locking forward to the restoration of his fellow-countrymen to the land given by God to their fathers. The temple and all that concerns its services and ministrations having been described, Ezekiel naturally turns in the next place to picture the repossessed and apportioned inheritances. There are difficulties in interpreting this passage relating to the territories given to the several tribes; but there can be no doubt that the prophet foretold the renewed occupation of the soil by the descendants of Abraham. It seems probable that all the while Ezekiel had in his mind the spiritual Israel of which the chosen people were the type. There is an inheritance for the whole Israel of God.
I. A DIVINELY APPOINTED INHERITANCE. Whatever are the possessions and privileges of God's people, this is certain, that they are the gift of God's goodness. What have we that we did not receive? All things are of God. If we as Christians have entered upon a heritage of knowledge, of liberty, of purity, of peace, this is because the Lord has dealt bountifully with us.
II. AN ESPECIAL INHERITANCE FOR EACH. In the settlement of the tribes in the Holy Land nothing was left to accident or to ambition; the lot of each tribe was marked out by Divine appointment. All Christians may appropriate the language of the psalmist, "The lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage." To one the great Head of the Church assigns an inheritance of conflict; to another, an inheritance of peace. One section of the Church is distinguished for its thinkers; another, for its workers. But each has his own ministry and responsibility, and it becomes each to be content and to refrain from envying the lot of another.
III. A SUFFICIENT INHERITANCE FOR ALL. Palestine, though comparatively a small country, was large enough to contain all the tribes. In the Church of Christ there is abundant accommodation and provision for all the members of that Church. "All things are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." There is no limitation to the Divine resources or to the Divine liberality.
IV. A PERPETUAL INHERITANCE. Israel retained possession of the laud of promise for generations, for centuries; but that possession, nevertheless, came to an end. In this respect, there is a contrast between the temporal and the spiritual inheritance. None of God's people can ever be dispossessed from God's favor, or deprived of the privileges which are secured to them by the faithful promises of God. Those promises have respect, not to time only, but to eternity. Theirs is an "inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away."—T.
The inheritance of the strangers.
It was certainly a provision of remarkable interest and liberality that is recorded in these verses. Considering the exclusive and clannish spirit which so largely distinguished the Hebrew people, we cannot but read with wonder as well as with gratification that aliens were permitted to partake with them the possession and enjoyment of the land of promise. Those of other blood, but of the same religion, who during the Captivity had cultivated the soil, were to be suffered to retain their inheritance equally with the returning exiles. Probably there was abundant room for all, for the numbers of the Israelites may well have been diminished during their exile. Strangers thus coalesced with the sons of Israel in the several tribes that went to make up the nation. In the same manner, upon a larger scale, an amalgamation of Jews and Gentiles took place in the constitution of the Israel of God—the Church of Christ.
I. THE EQUAL INHERITANCE OF ALL CHRIST'S PEOPLE IN CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES IS NOT OWING TO NATURE, BUT IS THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE GRACE OF GOD.
II. THE EQUAL INHERITANCE INVOLVES A SIMILAR SPIRITUAL PREPARATION AND ADAPTATION.
III. THE EQUAL INHERITANCE ENTITLES ALL THE MEMBERS OF CHRIST'S CHURCH TO EQUAL PRIVILEGES.
APPLICATION.
1. All distinctions of an hereditary, secular, and educational character are of little importance in the Christian community. Boasting is excluded where all is of grace, and where none has any claim of right.
2. Mutual consideration and forbearance should obtain within the boundaries of the Church. Every Christian has some especial office and gift; perhaps every Christian has some special infirmity and imperfection.
3. It is profitable and delightful to look forward to the perfect fulfillment of the Savior's purpose and prayer, to anticipate the time when all shall be one—one flock under one Shepherd. The inheritance of all God's people is known only by the common designation: "the inheritance of the saints in light."—T.