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Ezekiel 46 (ESV)

16 “Thus says the Lord God: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons as his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons. It is their property by inheritance. 17 But if he makes a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty. Then it shall revert to the prince; surely it is his inheritance—it shall belong to his sons. 18 The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their property. He shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people shall be scattered from his property.”

REFLECTION:

The theme of this passage is “The Limits of the Power of Princes”, which echoes the “Rights and Responsibilities of Princes” in the previous chapter. The “Year of Liberty” is the jubilee year every fifty years. In the kingdom established by God, the prince can give land to his sons and servants, and the sons can continue to own the property forever, but the servants must return the land in the Jubilee. At the same time, the prince “shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their property.” In the kingdom of God, the land has been allocated to the prince, but the prince has no right to allocate it as he wants. Because the true owner of the land is God, and the prince and the people are His tenants, God is not pleased to see people scattered from their property. Therefore, everyone who reigns should know the limits of his authority and recognize that his authority comes from God. They are not the masters of the flock, and they can only perform the mission of a shepherd within the authority granted by God. In the same way, we are all bought with a price, which is God’s choice and gift. Our lives no longer belong to us. God is the true master of our lives. Therefore, we must live to the Lord in all things and make “glorifying God” the primary purpose of our lives.

PRAYER:

Reflect before God who is the real master of your life, is it God or yourself? Pray for God to give you humility and obedience, so that you can always remember the great redemptive grace of the Lord Jesus to you, and understand that everything you have is a gift from God, so that you are willing to surrender the control of your life to God completely and live according to God’s will throughout your life. Make glorying God the primary purpose of your life.