Borders
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, and say
unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land that shall
fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan with the coasts thereof:)
Numbers 34:1 (Spoke 4, Cycle 1)
Thus saith the Lord GOD; This shall be the border, whereby ye
shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two
portions. And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I lifted up
mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance.
Ezekiel 47:13 (Spoke 4, Cycle 2)
Walls, borders, limits, restrictions - these ideas are naturally subsumed
in the numerical category defined by the Number 4.
Just think of an enclosing square and you will see what I mean. Thus we find the
establishment of borders to
be a major theme uniting Numbers and Ezekiel in God's design of Spoke 4.
 | KeyLink: The Land of Inheritance | Numbers Ezekiel |
There are many KeyLinks between the books of Numbers and Ezekiel based on the content of the borders passages. For
example, there are two and only two verses in the KJV that contain the set (land, fall, inheritance) [Verify].
They are both quoted above. Thus we have a Spoke 4 KeyLink.
This theme also integrates with the maximization on Spoke 4 of the Four Directions
This KeyLink is between the opening verses of the border passages of Numbers and Ezekiel. I have found a few
others that depend on the geographical description of the borders, but don't have time to detail them
right now. It would make an excellent project for the interested student. I would
be delighted to receive any interesting discoveries that may be made.
Three books - Numbers, Ezekiel, and Joshua - contain the majority (64%) of verses containing the
word "border". In both Numbers and Ezekiel
we see God Himself declaring the borders which the twelve tribes will divide by lot. This forms the
basis of a great thematic unity between Numbers and Ezekiel. They both speak of the same thing! This has
already been seen in the pattern of the camp in the form of a Cross
in the Wilderness. This differs markedly from Joshua,
which is the hisorical record of conquest of Canaan. It contains many verses that speak of the borders
that existed before the conquest and how they were then distributed by lot amongst the tribes.
The distribution of the word "border" on the Bible
wheel shows the strong correlation between Numbers and Ezekiel.
The word "border" itself, while central to the common theme of Numbers and Ezekiel, is not quite specific
enough to distinguish the Spoke 4 theme of God setting up the borders from the theme in Joshua of the
distribution of land. But that doesn't present any problem, since an examination of the text makes the
difference perfectly clear.
Here now are the parallel passages from Numbers and Ezekiel dislayed side-by-side so
the supernatural structure can display itself. Oh! How I love the Bible - its teachings are so plain, I
really need do nothing but let it speak for itself! Amen.
| The Borders of the Land |
| Numbers (vss. 34.3f) | Ezekiel (vss. 47.13f) |
| 3 Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of
Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of
the salt sea eastward: 4 And your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of
Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin: and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea,
and shall go on to Hazaraddar, and pass on to Azmon: 5 And the border shall fetch
a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea.
6 And as for the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall
be your west border. 7 And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall
point out for you mount Hor: 8 From mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance
of Hamath; and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad: 9 And the border shall
go on to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan: this shall be your
north border. 10 And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham: 11 And the
coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border
shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward: 12 And
the border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea:
this shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about. |
Thus saith the Lord GOD; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according
to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions. 14 And ye shall
inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to
give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance. 15 And this shall
be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon,
as men go to Zedad; 16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and
the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran. 17 And
the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and
the border of Hamath. And this is the north side. 18 And the east side ye shall
measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by
Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side. 19 And
the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the
river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward. 20 The west side also
shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side.
21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel. |
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Borders
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