Ezek 47:22

“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 Eze 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 same Gospel church state with the believing Jews: which shall beget children among you; not only in a natural, but in a spiritual sense; be the means of begetting many souls again to the lively hope of a glorious inheritance: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; that is, the children begotten by the Gentiles shall be considered all one as those of the children of Israel, being born again of the same Spirit and grace; and so have an equal right to the same privileges, and to which they shall be admitted: they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel; this is a new thing, and what in a literal sense was never granted; for though in the times of Moses and onward, and by his direction from the Lord, such as have been called proselytes of the gate, and proselytes of righteousness, have been admitted to various privileges, by conforming to certain rules, rites, and ceremonies, yet never were allowed to have any inheritance in the land; and, after the captivity, Ezra and Nehemiah drove out the strangers, who by affinity with some had got among them: but this respects Gospel times, and the coalition of Jews and Gentiles in the same church state; where there is no difference, but Christ is all in all; where they are admitted to the same ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper; partake of the same blessings of grace, and promises of the word, and have an equal right to the heavenly inheritance: Eph 3:6, is the best commentary on this passage; which contains the same mystery the Apostle Paul was acquainted with, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel; See Gill on Eph 3:6. See Eph 2:12.”

“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.”

“Strangers. This was never done by the Jews. It signifies that Christ would give an inheritance, in the true land of promise [in heaven], (Calmet) to all nations which should practice his religion, Romans x. 12. (Haydock) Bible Text & Cross-references: The vision of the holy waters issuing out from under the temple: the borders of the land to be divided among the twelve tribes. 1 And he brought me again to the gate of the house, and behold waters issued out from under the threshold of the house toward the east: for the forefront, of the house looked toward the east: but the waters came down to the right side of the temple, to the south part of the altar. 2 And he led me out by the way of the north gate, and he caused me to turn to the way without the outward gate, to the way that looked toward the east: and behold there ran out waters on the right side. 3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went out towards the east, he measured a thousand cubits: and he brought me through the water up to the ancles. 4 And again he measured a thousand, and he brought me through the water up to the knees. 5 And he measured a thousand, and he brought me through the water up to the loins. And he measured a thousand, and it was a torrent, which I could not pass over: for the waters were risen so as to make a deep torrent, which could not be passed over. 6 And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man. And he brought me out, and he caused me to turn to the bank of the torrent. 7 And when I had turned myself, behold on the bank of the torrent were very many trees on both sides. 8 And he said to me: These waters that issue forth toward the hillocks of sand to the east, and go down to the plains of the desert, shall go into the sea, and shall go out, and the waters shall be healed. 9 And every living creature that creepeth whithersoever the torrent shall come, shall live: and there shall be fishes in abundance after these waters shall come thither, and they shall be healed, and all things shall live to which the torrent shall come. 10 And the fishers shall stand over these waters , from Engaddi even to Engallim there shall be drying of nets: there shall be many sorts of the fishes thereof, as the fishes of the great sea, a very great multitude: 11 But on the shore thereof, and in the fenny places they shall not be healed, because they shall be turned into salt pits. 12 And by the torrent on the banks thereof, on both sides, shall grow all trees that bear fruit: their leaf shall not fall off, and their fruit shall not fail: every month shall they bring forth first-fruits, because the waters thereof shall issue out of the sanctuary: and the fruits thereof shall be for food, and the leaves thereof for medicine. 13 Thus saith the Lord God: This is the border, by which you shall possess the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: for Joseph hath a double portion. 14 And you shall possess it, every man in like manner as his brother: concerning which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for a possession. 15 And this is the border of the land: toward the north side, from the great sea by the way of Hethalon, as men go to Sedada. 16 Emath, Berotha, Sabarim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Emath, the house of Tichon, which is by the border of Auran. 17 And the border from the sea even to the court of Enon, shall be the border of Damascus, and from the north to the north: the border of Emath, this is the north side. 18 And the east side is from the midst of Auran, and from the midst of Damascus, and from the midst of Galaad, and from the midst of the land of Israel, Jordan making the bound to the east sea, and thus you shall measure the east side. 19 And the south side southward is from Thamar, even to the waters of contradiction of Cades: and the torrent, even to the great sea: and this is the south side southward. 20 And the side toward the sea, is the great sea, from the borders straight on, till thou come to Emath: this is the side of the sea. 21 And you shall divide this land unto you by the tribes of Israel: 22 And you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you, and to the strangers that shall come over to you, that shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as men of the same country born among the children of Israel: they shall divide the possession with you in the midst of the tribes of Israel. 23 And in what tribe soever the stranger shall be, there shall you give him possession, saith the Lord God. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48”

“to the strangers--It is altogether unprecedented under the old covenant, that "strangers" should have "inheritance" among the tribes. There would not be room locally 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 (Rom 10:12; Gal 3:28; Eph 3:6; Col 3:11; Rev 7:9-10). Still, "sojourneth," in Eze 47:23, implies that in Canaan, the covenant people are regarded as at home, the strangers as settlers. Next: Ezekiel Chapter 48”