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descendants’ rights

Ezekiel 33:23-29 (JDV)

Ezekiel 33:23 Then the word of Yahveh happened to me. This is what it said:
Ezekiel 33:24 “Son of Adam, those who live in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one person, yet he received possession of the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’
Ezekiel 33:25 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahveh says: You eat meat with blood in it, look to your idols, and shed blood. Should you then receive possession of the land?
Ezekiel 33:26 You have relied on your swords, you have committed repulsive acts, and each of you has defiled his neighbor’s wife. Should you then receive possession of the land? ‘
Ezekiel 33:27 “Tell them this: ‘This is what the Lord Yahveh says: As surely as I live, those who are in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the open field I have given to wild animals to be devoured, and those in the strongholds and caves will die by an epidemic.
Ezekiel 33:28 I will make the land a sinister desolation and waste, and its proud strength will be destroyed. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, with no one passing through.
Ezekiel 33:29 They will know that I am Yahveh when I make the land a sinister desolation because of all the repulsive acts they have committed.’

descendants’ rights

Jamieson, Faucett, and Brown suggest that the people are arguing that God has to give them the land because they are many, and they can all be traced back to the one — Abraham — whom God chose to bless. 1

But Ezekiel responds to that argument by saying in essence “Can you really be traced back to Abraham? Look at what you are doing. Abraham was chosen and has a right to inheritance. These rebellion descendants do not.

On what are you basing your right to the permanent inheritance? Only the blood of the Lamb counts.

1 Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, David Brown, and William Smith. A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Toledo, Ohio: J.B. Names & Co, 1882. p. 250.