As we consider the often-debated question of the land promises in Scripture, Ezekiel 47 offers a striking and perhaps unexpected insight. Nestled within the prophet’s vision of Israel’s restored land is a brief yet powerful statement that significantly shapes our understanding of God’s redemptive purposes. In verses 21–23, the Lord instructs the people of Israel not only to divide the land among the tribes but also to include sojourners—non-Israelites—who dwell among them.
“So you shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel. You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe the sojourner resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 47:21–23, ESV)
This passage is remarkable in its scope and generosity. The sojourner, typically viewed in the Mosaic law as someone outside the covenant community, is here elevated to full inclusion: “They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel.” That is, they are to be treated not as temporary guests or tolerated foreigners, but as full inheritors of the land—the very promise that was given to Abraham and his descendants.
What are we to make of this? At the very least, it indicates that the promise of land was never intended to be narrowly or ethnically exclusive. Even under the old covenant, the inheritance was open to those outside of Israel by birth, provided they dwelled among the people and shared in their life. This anticipates a key theme in the New Testament: the inclusion of the Gentiles into the people of God.
Paul, in Ephesians 2, reflects on the former condition of Gentiles as “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise.” But in Christ, these once-far-off people have been brought near. He writes, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” (Ephesians 2:19)
In the same spirit, Paul declares in Galatians 3:29 that “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” Here, the ultimate inheritance—of which the land was a type—is secured not by ethnicity but by union with Christ. Those who belong to Him are the true heirs of Abraham, regardless of their genealogy.
This understanding not only aligns with Ezekiel’s vision but also helps us see how the land promise finds its true fulfillment. It was never an end in itself, but a shadow of the greater inheritance to come—Christ Himself, and in Him, the new creation (Romans 4:13; Hebrews 11:10, 16). The land in Ezekiel, like the temple and priesthood, is part of a broader typological system pointing forward to the consummation of all things in Christ.
This insight also has implications for how we evaluate certain systems of interpretation, particularly Dispensationalism. Dispensationalism often insists that the land promises to ethnic Israel must be fulfilled in a literal, future, geopolitical restoration. But Ezekiel 47 undermines that rigidity. The inclusion of Gentile sojourners into the land inheritance shows that even under the old covenant framework, the promises were never solely about national or ethnic Israel. Rather, they pointed forward to a broader and more glorious fulfillment.
In sum, Ezekiel 47:21–23 quietly but powerfully reinforces the biblical truth that God’s redemptive plan has always been aimed at gathering a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. It affirms the spiritual unity of God’s people, anticipates the ingrafting of Gentiles, and points us forward to the final inheritance—life with God in the new heavens and new earth, secured through the blood of Christ and shared equally by all who are united to Him by faith.
@Monergism Answers