The Berean Pursuit
"This is what the Lord GOD says: 'The gate of the inner court that faces east must be kept shut during the six days of work, but on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon it shall be opened. The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico of the gateway and stand by the gatepost, while the priests sacrifice his burnt offerings and peace offerings. He is to bow in worship at the threshold of the gate and then depart, but the gate must not be shut until evening. On the Sabbaths and New Moons the people of the land are also to bow in worship before the LORD at the entrance to that gateway.
The burnt offering that the prince presents to the LORD on the Sabbath day shall be six unblemished male lambs and an unblemished ram. The grain offering with the ram shall be one ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he is able, along with a hin of oil per ephah. On the day of the New Moon he shall offer a young, unblemished bull, six lambs, and a ram without blemish. He is to provide a grain offering of an ephah with the bull, an ephah with the ram, and as much as he is able with the lambs, along with a hin of oil per ephah. When the prince enters, he shall go in through the portico of the gateway, and he shall go out the same way.
When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, whoever enters by the north gate to worship must go out by the south gate, and whoever enters by the south gate must go out by the north gate. No one is to return through the gate by which he entered, but each must go out by the opposite gate.
When the people enter, the prince shall go in with them, and when they leave, he shall leave. At the festivals and appointed feasts, the grain offering shall be an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram, and as much as one is able to give with the lambs, along with a hin of oil per ephah.
When the prince makes a freewill offering to the LORD, whether a burnt offering or a peace offering, the gate facing east must be opened for him. He is to offer his burnt offering or peace offering just as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and the gate must be closed after he goes out.
And you shall provide an unblemished year-old lamb as a daily burnt offering to the LORD; you are to offer it every morning. You are also to provide with it every morning a grain offering of a sixth of an ephah with a third of a hin of oil to moisten the fine flour-a grain offering to the LORD. This is a permanent statute. Thus they shall provide the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil every morning as a regular burnt offering.'
This is what the Lord GOD says: 'If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons as an inheritance, it will belong to his descendants. It will become their property by inheritance. But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it will belong to that servant until the year of freedom; then it will revert to the prince. His inheritance belongs only to his sons; it shall be theirs.
The prince must not take any of the inheritance of the people by evicting them from their property. He is to provide an inheritance for his sons from his own property, so that none of My people will be displaced from his property.'?"
Then the man brought me through the entrance at the side of the gate into the holy chambers facing north, which belonged to the priests, and he showed me a place there at the far western end and said to me, "This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them into the outer court and transmit holiness to the people."
Then he brought me into the outer court and led me around to its four corners, and I saw a separate court in each of its corners. In the four corners of the outer court there were enclosed courts, each forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide. Each of the four corner areas had the same dimensions. Around the inside of each of the four courts was a row of masonry with ovens built at the base of the walls on all sides.
And he said to me, "These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple will cook the sacrifices offered by the people."
Then the man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.
Next he brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and there I saw the water trickling out from the south side.
As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and led me through ankle-deep water.
Then he measured off a thousand cubits and led me through knee-deep water.
Again he measured a thousand cubits and led me through waist-deep water.
Once again he measured off a thousand cubits, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough for swimming-a river that could not be crossed on foot.
"Son of man, do you see this?" he asked. Then he led me back to the bank of the river.
When I arrived, I saw a great number of trees along both banks of the river. And he said to me, "This water flows out to the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. Wherever the river flows, there will be swarms of living creatures and a great number of fish, because it flows there and makes the waters fresh; so wherever the river flows, everything will flourish.
Fishermen will stand by the shore; from En-gedi to En-eglaim they will spread their nets to catch fish of many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.
But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of all kinds will grow. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. Each month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be used for food and their leaves for healing."
This is what the Lord GOD says: "These are the boundaries by which you are to divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel; Joseph shall receive two portions. You are to divide it equally among them. Because I swore with an uplifted hand to give it to your forefathers, this land will fall to you as an inheritance.
This shall be the boundary of the land:
On the north side it will extend from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon through Lebo-hamath to Zedad, Berothah, and Sibraim (which is on the border between Damascus and Hamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. So the border will run from the Sea to Hazar-enan, along the northern border of Damascus, with the territory of Hamath to the north. This will be the northern boundary.
On the east side the border will run between Hauran and Damascus, along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel, to the Eastern Sea and as far as Tamar. This will be the eastern boundary.
On the south side it will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, and along the Brook of Egypt to the Great Sea. This will be the southern boundary.
And on the west side, the Great Sea will be the boundary up to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This will be the western boundary.
You are to divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners who dwell among you and who have children. You are to treat them as native-born Israelites; along with you, they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe a foreigner dwells, you are to assign his inheritance there," declares the Lord GOD.
"Now these are the names of the tribes:
At the northern frontier, Dan will have one portion bordering the road of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath and running on to Hazar-enan on the border of Damascus with Hamath to the north, and extending from the east side to the west side.
Asher will have one portion bordering the territory of Dan from east to west.
Naphtali will have one portion bordering the territory of Asher from east to west.
Manasseh will have one portion bordering the territory of Naphtali from east to west.
Ephraim will have one portion bordering the territory of Manasseh from east to west.
Reuben will have one portion bordering the territory of Ephraim from east to west.
Judah will have one portion bordering the territory of Reuben from east to west.
Bordering the territory of Judah, from east to west, will be the portion you are to set apart. It will be 25,000 cubits wide, and the length of a tribal portion from east to west. In the center will be the sanctuary.
The special portion you set apart to the LORD shall be 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide.
This will be the holy portion for the priests. It will be 25,000 cubits long on the north side, 10,000 cubits wide on the west side, 10,000 cubits wide on the east side, and 25,000 cubits long on the south side. In the center will be the sanctuary of the LORD. It will be for the consecrated priests, the descendants of Zadok, who kept My charge and did not go astray as the Levites did when the Israelites went astray. It will be a special portion for them set apart from the land, a most holy portion adjacent to the territory of the Levites.
Bordering the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide. The whole length will be 25,000 cubits, and the width 10,000 cubits. They must not sell or exchange any of it, and they must not transfer this best part of the land, for it is holy to the LORD.
The remaining area, 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, will be for common use by the city, for houses, and for pastureland. The city will be in the center of it and will have these measurements: 4,500 cubits on the north side, 4,500 cubits on the south side, 4,500 cubits on the east side, and 4,500 cubits on the west side.
The pastureland of the city will extend 250 cubits to the north, 250 cubits to the south, 250 cubits to the east, and 250 cubits to the west.
The remainder of the length bordering the holy portion and running adjacent to it will be 10,000 cubits on the east side and 10,000 cubits on the west side. Its produce will supply food for the workers of the city. The workers of the city who cultivate it will come from all the tribes of Israel.
The entire portion will be a square, 25,000 cubits by 25,000 cubits. You are to set apart the holy portion, along with the city property.
The remaining area on both sides of the holy portion and of the property of the city will belong to the prince. He will own the land adjacent to the tribal portions, extending eastward from the 25,000 cubits of the holy district toward the eastern border, and westward from the 25,000 cubits to the western border. And in the center of them will be the holy portion and the sanctuary of the temple.
So the Levitical property and the city property will lie in the center of the area belonging to the prince-the area between the borders of Judah and Benjamin.
As for the rest of the tribes:
Benjamin will have one portion extending from the east side to the west side.
Simeon will have one portion bordering the territory of Benjamin from east to west.
Issachar will have one portion bordering the territory of Simeon from east to west.
Zebulun will have one portion bordering the territory of Issachar from east to west.
And Gad will have one portion bordering the territory of Zebulun from east to west.
The southern border of Gad will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, then along the Brook of Egypt and out to the Great Sea. This is the land you are to allot as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel, and these will be their portions," declares the Lord GOD.
"These will be the exits of the city:
Beginning on the north side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, the gates of the city will be named after the tribes of Israel. On the north side there will be three gates: the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi.
On the east side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, there will be three gates: the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan.
On the south side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, there will be three gates: the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun.
And on the west side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, there will be three gates: the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali.
The perimeter of the city will be 18,000 cubits, and from that day on the name of the city will be:
THE LORD IS THERE."
"I have told you these things so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me. But I have told you these things so that when their hour comes, you will remember that I told you about them. I did not tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.
Now, however, I am going to Him who sent Me; yet none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' Instead, your hearts are filled with sorrow because I have told you these things. But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been condemned.
I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it. However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you. Everything that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take from what is Mine and disclose it to you.
In a little while you will see Me no more, and then after a little while you will see Me."
Then some of His disciples asked one another, "Why is He telling us, 'In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me' and 'Because I am going to the Father'?" They kept asking, "Why is He saying, 'a little while'? We do not understand what He is saying."
Aware that they wanted to question Him, Jesus said to them, "Are you asking one another why I said, 'In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me'? Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.
In that day you will no longer ask Me anything. Truly, truly, I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you this way, but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in My name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and entered the world. In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father."
His disciples said, "See, now You are speaking plainly and without figures of speech. Now we understand that You know all things and that You have no need for anyone to question You. Because of this, we believe that You came from God."
"Do you finally believe?" Jesus replied. "Look, an hour is coming and has already come when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and you will leave Me all alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!"