Taught by
Stephen ArmstrongEzekiel
Ezekiel - Lesson 45B-46
Chapter 45:9-46:24
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Back to Chapter 45 and the priestly activities of the Kingdom Temple
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Beginning with the offerings and feast days in the Kingdom
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Ezek. 45:9 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Enough, you princes of Israel; put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Stop your expropriations from My people,” declares the Lord GOD.
Ezek. 45:10 “You shall have just balances, a just ephah and a just bath.
Ezek. 45:11 “The ephah and the bath shall be the same quantity, so that the bath will contain a tenth of a homer and the ephah a tenth of a homer; their standard shall be according to the homer.
Ezek. 45:12 “The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your maneh.
Ezek. 45:13 “This is the offering that you shall offer: a sixth of an ephah from a homer of wheat; a sixth of an ephah from a homer of barley;
Ezek. 45:14 and the prescribed portion of oil (namely, the bath of oil), a tenth of a bath from each kor (which is ten baths or a homer, for ten baths are a homer);
Ezek. 45:15 and one sheep from each flock of two hundred from the watering places of Israel — for a grain offering, for a burnt offering and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them,” declares the Lord GOD.
Ezek. 45:16 “All the people of the land shall give to this offering for the prince in Israel.
Ezek. 45:17 “It shall be the prince’s part to provide the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the drink offerings, at the feasts, on the new moons and on the sabbaths, at all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel; he shall provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.”
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The Lord begins with an exhortation to the leaders of Israel to treat the people justly, which we know they will do in the Kingdom
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Rather than rob from people or exploit their power, Israel’s leaders would deal fairly with the people, the Lord says
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This has always been the Lord’s expectation for those who shepherd His people
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And as we learned in previous chapters of Ezekiel, past generations of Israel were victims of corrupt leaders
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In fact, Ezekiel is sitting in exile giving these prophecies to his countrymen largely because of the damage done by corrupt leaders
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The Lord described the corruption back in Ezekiel 22
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Ezek. 22:23 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ezek. 22:24 “Son of man, say to her, ‘You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’
Ezek. 22:25 “There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her.
Ezek. 22:26 “Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
Ezek. 22:27 “Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain.
Ezek. 22:28 “Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD has not spoken.
Ezek. 22:29 “The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice.
Ezek. 22:30 “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.
Ezek. 22:31 “Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads,” declares the Lord GOD.
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The prophets were false and like roaring lions, they devoured the gullible and unsuspecting
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They took precious things from the people, which means the prophets used their influence to rob the people
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And because they lied to Israel, it led men to act according to their lies leading to their deaths when Babylon attacked
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The priests likewise did violence to the law, profaned the holy things of God
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They failed to teach the people right from wrong
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And they ignored the proper conduct of the law in observing feasts and sabbaths
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And finally, the princes (referring to the kings) were like wolves tearing prey
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They shed blood by engaging in foolish wars contrary to the Lord’s instructions
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And they fought against Babylon, who God sent to discipline His people
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This corruption left a gap, a vacuum of good leadership, and the Lord searched for someone to step into that gap He says
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But none could be found…until Messiah came
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In the Kingdom the Lord promises that Messiah’s leadership will ensure that the princes of the land serve justly
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They will not exploit nor abuse the people
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In v.10 the Lord declares that these government officials will use just balances
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In ancient times, monetary value was established on the basis of weight
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A scale or balance would be used to compare the weight of a dry good with a known weight of a precious metal
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Similar to the way we purchase vegetables by weight
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But if a corrupt merchant wanted to steal from his customers, he could literally tip the scales in his favor
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And a king or prince could do the same so that taxes were increased without the people realizing
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This had become the practice among Israel’s corrupt leaders
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But the Lord says that won’t happen in the Kingdom
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In vs.11-12 the Lord assures Israel that an ephah and a bath would be standard, dependable and consistent in that day
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An ephah is a dry measure of volume and a bath is a wet measure of volume from that day, and both will be equal in the Kingdom
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Likewise shekels, which are units of weight, would not vary
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The point is that all business dealings will be fair and trustworthy in that day…another welcome change from today
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In other words, we will never need to count our change in the Kingdom
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But by the same token, it also confirms there will be an economy in the Kingdom
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Money will change hands, goods will be sold and bought, wealth can be transferred and stored…real life!
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Then in v.vs.13-17 the Lord specifies the payment the people of Israel would give to the prince, David, for his own offering at the temple
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The house of Israel makes this payment to David regularly so that he might offer it to the Lord as a sin offering
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Once again, hearing that a sin offering is made for atonement for the house of Israel indicates sin within Israel
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If there is sin, then apparently not all who are living in Israel are sinless at this point in history
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The allotment required here is significant
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One sixth of all grain produced in Israel is given in this offering
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As well as one percent of all oil and one out of every 200 animals
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Taken from everyone in Israel, this is a lot of material to sacrifice
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So as they say, nothing is certain except death and taxes
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But which of the two is the more powerful force in the Universe?
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Well, consider that in the Kingdom we will no longer experience death…but there will still be taxes!
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Next, we have regulations for feasts in the Kingdom
Ezek. 45:18 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “In the first month, on the first of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish and cleanse the sanctuary.
Ezek. 45:19 “The priest shall take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the house, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar and on the posts of the gate of the inner court.
Ezek. 45:20 “Thus you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who goes astray or is naive; so you shall make atonement for the house.
Ezek. 45:21 “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.
Ezek. 45:22 “On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering.
Ezek. 45:23 “During the seven days of the feast he shall provide as a burnt offering to the LORD seven bulls and seven rams without blemish on every day of the seven days, and a male goat daily for a sin offering.
Ezek. 45:24 “He shall provide as a grain offering an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram and a hin of oil with an ephah.
Ezek. 45:25 “In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast, he shall provide like this, seven days for the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering and the oil.”
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The first day of every year begins with the sacrifice of a young bull to cleanse the sanctuary
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Why does the Millennial temple need cleansing? Because sinners enter into it
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The blood is placed on the doorpost and four posts of the altar
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And then this ceremony is repeated on the seventh day of the first month
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The blood of the bull is applied to the doorways of the temple similar to the lamb’s blood on Passover
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This sacrifice cleansed the temple for the coming year
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Then on the seventh day of the new year, this sacrifice is repeated
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Marking the first and last day of the first week suggests Jesus, Who is the beginning of Creation and the Sabbath
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Then later that month, on the 14th, the first feast of the year is celebrated; Passover
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It begins on the same day as in the Mosaic Law but unlike the current Passover, the new one is seven days long
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Under the Mosaic Law, the nation practiced a single day feast for Passover, followed by a seven day feast of Unleavened Bread
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Now the Passover is seven days, and there is no separate feast for Unleavened Bread
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Other differences exist as well
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The Prince officiates over the ritual, instead of each family conducting their own Passover sacrifice
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The first day will be marked by sin offering only it’s a bull, not a lamb as it is today
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And because it’s a seven-day feast, the sacrifices are made daily during the event – both bulls and rams
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There are also differences in the meal offerings
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Interestingly, this feast is repeated on the seventh month, which corresponds to the feast of booths or tabernacles
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These are the only two feasts mentioned in Ezekiel
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So it seems that these are the only feasts observed in the Kingdom
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What do we make of the differences between the Passover we have now and the one to come?
>> Image 1
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First, every feast in Israel serves the purpose of a historical memorial and a prophetic picture
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Historically, these feasts commemorate the work of God on behalf of Israel
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The Passover commemorates the death of the first born of Egypt but not Israel
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The Feast of Unleavened Bread memorializes the Exodus journey in haste eating unleavened bread
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The Feast of First Fruits commemorates the bounty of the provision of the Lord in the Spring harvest, etc.
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But these feasts also look forward to a spiritual fulfillment by Christ
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Jesus is the Passover Lamb sacrificed on the 14th of Nisan
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Jesus leads us away from sin and to the Father (i.e., our Exodus), and He’s our Bread of Life who removes our sin (i.e., unleavened bread)
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And Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection, our bountiful provision, who rose from the dead on the day of First Fruits
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So looking at the feasts in the Kingdom, we find two that continue to serve the same purpose
>> Image 2
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The feasts of Passover and Tabernacles are the first and the last on the Jewish calendar
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And they are the only two that still have prophetic relevance in the Kingdom
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The Passover continues to picture Christ’s atoning death, which is still a message that has relevance for sinners in that age
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And the Feast of Tabernacles pictures God dwelling with His people in the Kingdom, which is obviously still relevant
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But the feasts that fall in between relate to events that take place between these two moments
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The resurrection of Jesus, the giving of the Law, the rapture of the church, the destruction of the Tribulation, etc.
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These are events that no longer have meaning in the Kingdom
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Therefore, it makes sense that in the Kingdom we only remember the two feasts connected to the Kingdom
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The first explains how you enter into the rest of God and the second pictures how that rest will be experienced
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Now we move into Chapter 46 looking at the Sabbath observance and new moon festivals
Ezek. 46:1 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “The gate of the inner court facing east shall be shut the six working days; but it shall be opened on the sabbath day and opened on the day of the new moon.
Ezek. 46:2 “The prince shall enter by way of the porch of the gate from outside and stand by the post of the gate. Then the priests shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and then go out; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.
Ezek. 46:3 “The people of the land shall also worship at the doorway of that gate before the LORD on the sabbaths and on the new moons.
Ezek. 46:4 “The burnt offering which the prince shall offer to the LORD on the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish;
Ezek. 46:5 and the grain offering shall be an ephah with the ram, and the grain offering with the lambs as much as he is able to give, and a hin of oil with an ephah.
Ezek. 46:6 “On the day of the new moon he shall offer a young bull without blemish, also six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish.
Ezek. 46:7 “And he shall provide a grain offering, an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he is able, and a hin of oil with an ephah.
Ezek. 46:8 “When the prince enters, he shall go in by way of the porch of the gate and go out by the same way.
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The Sabbath observance will continue in the Kingdom, as it did under the Mosaic Law
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But there are unique details here, of course
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>> Image 3
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First, we learn that the inner court’s east door is closed six days of the week
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Remember, the outer court east door is always closed, but now we learn that the inner door is also closed most of the time
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With that door closed, there is no way for anyone visiting the temple to see the glory of the Lord six days a week
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But on the seventh day, the day of rest, the door is opened
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So visitors to the temple on that day will be able to stand in front of that gate and look through
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>> Image 4
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And presumably they might glimpse the glory of the Lord back in the deep recesses of the temple
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Remember that only believers will have access to the temple, as we learned earlier, so unbelievers will never see the glory
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On the Sabbath, special sacrifices take place but they differ than under the Mosaic Law
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Under the Mosaic Law, there are two lambs and a ram for a total of three sheep
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Under the Kingdom law, there are six lambs and a ram for total of seven
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The meaning of this change in Sabbath sacrifices isn’t immediately clear
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The new moon festivals also include a change in offerings
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Though again the meaning of the change is unclear except to distinguish it from the Mosaic system
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But the significance of the glory of God being visible on the Sabbath (and the meaning of the Sabbath itself) is clear
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According to Hebrews 4, the Sabbath is a picture of resting in the work of Christ done on our behalf
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So that when we believe in Christ as Messiah, we enter His rest and we rest from our own works – spiritually speaking
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So it makes sense that the inner east door opens on the Sabbath, picturing our access to Christ through our Sabbath rest in Him
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Also notice that the one officiating in this ceremony is the prince, David
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Remember, the inner courtyard is the place for the priests to minister
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And now we know that the east door leading into the inner court is open only one day of the week
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Which means that most days the only way into the inner court is by the north and south gates leading into the priests’ chambers
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So only priests enter into the court six days a week
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And on the seventh day, the east gate is opened for David only
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This means that we will not see the glory even in our resurrected state, unless you believe Gentiles will be priests
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The one passage that suggests such an outcome is Isaiah 66
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Is. 66:18 “For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory.
Is. 66:19 “I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations.
Is. 66:20 “Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the LORD, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.
Is. 66:21 “I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,” says the LORD.
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Depending on the reading of this passage, the Lord is either promising to make some Gentiles into priests
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Or else the “them” in v. 21 refers to the brethren, meaning Jews, which is where I lean
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Now we consider how the people of the Kingdom will engage in worship in the temple
Ezek. 46:9 “But when the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, he who enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate. And he who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. No one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered but shall go straight out.
Ezek. 46:10 “When they go in, the prince shall go in among them; and when they go out, he shall go out.
Ezek. 46:11 “At the festivals and the appointed feasts the grain offering shall be an ephah with a bull and an ephah with a ram, and with the lambs as much as one is able to give, and a hin of oil with an ephah.
Ezek. 46:12 “When the prince provides a freewill offering, a burnt offering, or peace offerings as a freewill offering to the LORD, the gate facing east shall be opened for him. And he shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings as he does on the sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and the gate shall be shut after he goes out.
Ezek. 46:13 “And you shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to the LORD daily; morning by morning you shall provide it.
Ezek. 46:14 “Also you shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, a sixth of an ephah and a third of a hin of oil to moisten the fine flour, a grain offering to the LORD continually by a perpetual ordinance.
Ezek. 46:15 “Thus they shall provide the lamb, the grain offering and the oil, morning by morning, for a continual burnt offering.”
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First, the Lord says that all who enter into the court to worship must come in one gate and exit another
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The worship mentioned here is that which takes place on the two feast days described above
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And the prince leads the people in worship
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And the offerings in v.11 are to be the same as on the Sabbath or new moon
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But on those days, the worshippers must enter and exit in a specific way
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Remember, there are only three gates in total in the outer wall
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And we know that the east gate was permanently closed after the Lord’s glory entered
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So that leaves only the north and south gates accessible
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You enter by one, but you must leave by the other
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>> Image 5
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Why does the Lord have these worship requirements?
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Take a look at the illustration of a group of worshippers crossing to exit the opposite gate
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Notice they have to pass in front of the east gate of the inner court to reach the exit regardless of which gate they use
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As they pass the east gate, they will be able to look into the inner court because the gate will be open on this feast day
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So as they pass they will catch sight of the glory of the Lord
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The point of the rule is to remind the worshippers of Whom they worship
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The prince’s role to lead the people reminds us that the leader of God’s people is also the worship leader
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Technically, a musician may lead the worship in our church
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But spiritually, the pastor is the worship leader of the congregation
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He leads worship in the word, of course, but he also has authority over the worship in song
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So a pastor should always take an active, leading role in both, to some degree, just as we see David leading God’s people here
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Looking at freewill offerings in vs.12-15 the Prince brings voluntary offerings to the east gate
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The east gate will be opened for a voluntary offering like on a Sabbath day
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As well, the priests were making daily sacrifices in the temple as is done in the tabernacle of Moses
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In the Mosaic system, there is a lamb at the beginning of the day and another in the evening
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In this system, there is only one at the beginning of the day
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This is another difference that defies easy explanation
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Next, we look at the gifts the prince may give to others
Ezek. 46:16 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “If the prince gives a gift out of his inheritance to any of his sons, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance.
Ezek. 46:17 “But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his until the year of liberty; then it shall return to the prince. His inheritance shall be only his sons’; it shall belong to them.
Ezek. 46:18 “The prince shall not take from the people’s inheritance, thrusting them out of their possession; he shall give his sons inheritance from his own possession so that My people will not be scattered, anyone from his possession.”’”
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This passage describes how the prince, David, would share his wealth with his “sons”
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Now this passage is intriguing on many levels
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First, there is the simple issue of sharing an inheritance
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We know from New Testament teaching that each believer receives an inheritance from the Lord personally
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So when Ezekiel talks about the prince sharing his inheritance, it must mean transferring wealth
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David is taking wealth that the Lord gave him and transferring it to his sons for whatever reason
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Secondly, the Lord will not allow the allotment of inheritance in the land to change hands across tribal or family boundaries
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David can give his wealth to his sons but not to other Jews in other tribes
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And this rule is true for all Jews in all tribes
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Thirdly, any wealth assigned to a servant must revert back to David when the servant gains his freedom
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This detail tells us that there may be those in the Kingdom who serve others for a period of time to learn freedom from that service
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In ancient Israel, a person would become an indentured slave or servant because of a debt owed
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When the debt was repaid, the service could end
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The same seems to be true in the Kingdom
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It seems as though someone might serve the prince to repay a debt, and at a certain point they earn their freedom
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Could these be glorified Jews? Natural Gentiles? We can’t be sure
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But that leads us to the conversation (again) about natural vs. glorified Israel, and the mention of prince David offers us another look at that dilemma
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As you’ve heard me say before, there are scripture verses that seem to say that all Israel will be glorified; which means no death and no marriage or children
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But then there are passages like those we studied last week that seem to indicate that Israel can experience death and sin and have children
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Death and sin are characteristics that only natural human beings can share, so that would argue that at least some in Israel are not glorified
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But other passages seem to suggest that all Israel knows and follows the Lord perfectly, which requires glorification
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Here we find another passage that suggests Israel has natural people within it
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David is said to have sons, which implies marriage
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But in this case, we have a second reason to pause because we know David will be glorified in the Kingdom
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He has died, so he has left his natural body behind
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So the only body remaining for him is a glorified new body
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So we know David cannot marry or have children in the Kingdom, according to Luke 20:34-36
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So how can he have sons?
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It must be that sons refers to his resurrected descendants who are also present in the Kingdom
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They are David’s sons in the sense that they came from his family line
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It’s likely that this is speaking about later good kings like Asa or Jehoshaphat
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So David can share some of the immense wealth the Lord gives him with his sons or servants but only the sons may keep the inheritance
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And also the Lord says that the princes of Israel will take wealth from the citizens of the Kingdom
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Though David and the others may share their wealth with each other or servants, they may not take from the wealth of the people
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The leaders cannot steal the people’s possessions to make themselves richer
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Each tribe in Israel has their part of the inheritance that the Lord has assigned to them and no more
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Next, the Lord tells Ezekiel how the priests will work with the sacrificed meat in the temple inner court
Ezek. 46:19 Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which faced north; and behold, there was a place at the extreme rear toward the west.
Ezek. 46:20 He 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, in order that they may not bring them out into the outer court to transmit holiness to the people.”
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We’re inside one of those side buildings that flank the temple inside the inner court wall, the priests’ quarters, specifically the one on the south side
>> Images 6-8
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And in those buildings the priests boil the offerings and bake the grains offered to the Lord
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Like their garments, these sacrifices can’t leave the inner court to be exposed to the people outside
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Again, it seems these things are held in secret to keep people outside the temple seeing the glory of the Lord so that faith is required
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Ezek. 46:21 Then he brought me out into the outer court and led me across to the four corners of the court; and behold, in every corner of the court there was a small court.
Ezek. 46:22 In the four corners of the court there were enclosed courts, forty cubits long and thirty wide; these four in the corners were the same size.
Ezek. 46:23 There was a row of masonry round about in them, around the four of them, and boiling places were made under the rows round about.
Ezek. 46:24 Then he said to me, “These are the boiling places where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifices of the people.”
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In contrast to the secret sacrifice boiling in the priests’ quarters, there were public areas for preparing the sacrifices in the outer court
>> Images 9-10
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In v.21 we’re told there are courtyards created in the four corners of the large outer court wall
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These corner courtyards were 40x30 cubits in size
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Surrounding the courtyards was a masonry wall that formed a series of fireplaces for cooking
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And on those fires, the priests were boiling the sacrifices that the people brought to the temple
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Since these sacrifices were not offered by the priests inside the inner court, they did not possess the glory of the Lord
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Furthermore, the sacrificial process required the worshipper to eat some of the sacrifice
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So all this activity took place in the outer court away from the glory of the Lord
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So looking at the Kingdom sacrificial system compared to Moses, we find similarities and differences
>> Image 11
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Both systems include:
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A physical Temple with God’s glory
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Altars & sprinkling of blood
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Burnt, meal, peace, sin, and drink offerings
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Priests and ritual cleansing
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Sabbaths and new moon offerings
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Morning sacrifices
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Feasts of Passover & Tabernacles
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Year of Jubilee (release of servants & return of property)
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But the Millennial system does NOT have:
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Feasts of Pentecost, First Fruits, Trumpets and Atonement
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High priest
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Ark
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Veil
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Menorah & Showbread
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Evening sacrifices
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Zechariah gives us a concise overview of how worship at this temple will go from the perspective of other nations
Zech. 14:16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Zech. 14:17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them.
Zech. 14:18 If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Zech. 14:19 This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Zech. 14:20 In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the LORD’S house will be like the bowls before the altar.
Zech. 14:21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the LORD of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts in that day.
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Notice that the feast of booths is mentioned here but not the other Millennial feast of Passover
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So it’s unclear if Gentiles celebrate that feast or only Jews
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But in the case of Booths, the feast is mandatory for all Gentile nations
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In fact, any Gentile nation that doesn’t go up will suffer drought
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And the result of the drought will be a plague that results in nations dying
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Obviously, this would refer to natural (unglorified) unbelievers
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Finally, Zechariah confirms the worshippers will join together in the outer court cooking their sacrifices as Ezekiel described
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But no Canaanite will be in the house of the Lord in that day
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Presumably, a Canaanite refers to a pagan unbeliever
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From here we will move into the topographical changes and tribal borders of the Kingdom…