Chapter xlv.

I. The Holy Portion of the Land for the Sanctuary, the Priests, the Levites, the City and the Prince.

Moreover when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye shall offer an oblation unto the Lord, an holy portion of the land: the length shall be the length of five and twenty thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand. This shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about. Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length, with five hundred in breadth, square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs thereof. And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand; and in it shall be the sanctuary and the most holy place. The holy portion of the land shall be for the priests the ministers of the sanctuary, which shall come near to minister unto the Lord: and it shall be a place for their houses, and an holy place for the sanctuary. And the five and twenty thousand of length, and the ten thousand of breadth, shall also the Levites, the ministers of the house, have for themselves, for a possession for twenty chambers.

And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, over against the oblation of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.

And a portion shall be for the prince on the one side and on the other side of the oblation of the holy portion, and of the possession of the city, before the oblation of the holy portion, and before the possession of the city, from the west side westward, and from the east side eastward: and the length shall be over against one of the portions, from the west border unto the east border. In the land shall be his possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; and the rest of the land shall they give to the house of Israel according to their tribes (verses 1-8).

The land possessed will be divided by lot for the inheritance of the people. The special territorial division for the different tribes is recorded in the last two chapters. They are to bring an oblation of the land which the Lord so graciously restored unto them. The word "oblation" is literally an "heave-offering," because when anything was offered to Jehovah the offerer raised the hand. The dimensions of the holy portion of the land are, in length 25,000, and in breadth 10,000. But what? The Hebrew has no definite measure. The authorized version supplies the word "reeds," which seems to be correct in view of the statement in chapter xlii:16.[52] This is a very large territory, a square of some sixty miles on each side. The topography of Palestine will be entirely changed in the coming age, as we pointed out before. The land is to be greatly enlarged, while the temple-mountain will be highly exalted. These changes will make all possible which we read in these closing chapters. We must take these chapters in faith, knowing that the omnipotent Lord will accomplish all in his own time. In the center of this large area, the holy portion of the Lord, will be the sanctuary; the measurement is given in verse 2. Around this the priests have their portion; there they will have their houses. The estate of the Levites comes next; the measurement is given, and that they shall have for possession twenty chambers. The Septuagint has "cities to dwell in," habitations where they will reside. This is undoubtedly the correct meaning. Then the measurement of the city is given, which is for the whole house of Israel. Finally the portion of the Prince is recorded. "And the Prince shall have his portion on the one side and on the other side of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city over against the holy oblation, and over against the possession of the city, from the west side westward, and from the east side eastward; and in length answering to one of the portions of the tribes from the west border unto the east border." From this we learn that the estate of the Prince consists of two halves, the one on the west and the other on the east of the holy portion. He stands as the head and ruler in closest connection with the sanctuary. It is all a new order and will be brought about when the Lord has come back, and when Israel is restored to the land. They never possessed such a holy portion in the land, nor such a sanctuary. A spiritual application as to the Church is impossible to make; the literal interpretation is the only possible one which can be made.

[52] Read our comment on this verse.

III. Exhortation Addressed to the Princes.

Thus saith the Lord God; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord God. Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath. The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer. And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs: twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh[53] (verses 9-12).

[53] The sixtieth part of a talent, about fifty shekels.

The princes who used to oppress the people, shall no longer oppress (verse 8). They are to execute judgment and justice. Every measure is to be just. The time has come when righteousness reigns. "He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor" (Ps. lxxii:4). No longer will the poor be down-trodden.

IV. The Oblation for the Prince and His Offerings.

This is the oblation that ye shall offer; the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of wheat, and ye shall give the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of barley: Concerning the ordinance of oil, the bath of oil, ye shall offer the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is an homer of ten baths; for ten baths are an homer: And one lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the fat pastures of Israel; for a meat offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make reconciliation for them, saith the Lord God. All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel. And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel (verses 13-17).

What the ruling Prince, the vice-regent upon the throne of David, is to receive from the people is stated in verses 13-16. The part of the Prince is to give burnt-offerings, meal offerings, drink offerings, at the different feasts and solemnities, to make reconciliation for the House of Israel. No doubt all this has a retrospective value and meaning. These sacrifices and offerings commemorate the one great sacrifice, which is constantly and vividly kept in full view by these ceremonies.

V. The Two Great Feasts Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles.

Thus saith the Lord God; In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary: And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court. And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple: so shall ye reconcile the house. In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering. And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the Lord, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering. And he shall prepare a meat offering of an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and an hin of oil for an ephah. In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat offering, and according to the oil (verses 18-25).

First stands the cleansing of the sanctuary on the first day of the first month. The cleansing of the sanctuary therefore commences the year. And this offering of a young bullock without blemish shows forth Christ in His wonderful, unblemished devotedness as He suffered once for sin. The same sacrifice will be repeated on the seventh day, and it is then especially for everyone that erreth and for him that is simple. The precious blood of the Lamb of God is thus constantly kept in remembrance. Two great feasts will be celebrated, the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. These are the feasts of the Millennium. Very significantly the feast of weeks, that is Pentecost, is no longer mentioned. Dispensationally the Feast of Pentecost typifies the coming of the Spirit of God, to baptize believing Jews and Gentiles into one body. Pentecost ushered in this present age, and during its course the Holy Spirit is on earth fulfilling His mission in calling from Jews and Gentiles a people for His name. When this age closes with the great predicted events transpiring, the Spirit of God has finished the work for which He came. The body of Christ is taken home to glory and united with the Head. It is true the Holy Spirit will yet be poured out upon all flesh (Joel ii:28) but the dispensational aspect of Pentecost is fulfilled and can have no such meaning in millennial times.[54]

[54] The Feasts of Jehovah--Passover: The Cross and its work. First Fruits: Resurrection of Christ. Pentecost: The Gift of the Spirit and the calling of the Church. Feast of Trumpets: The Regathering of Israel. Day of Atonement: Israel's Cleansing. Feast of Tabernacles: The Millennium.

And how appropriate it is that only Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles are celebrated by Israel when the Lord has come. Passover was first kept in Egypt; its precious meaning is well known to all Christians. Redemption by blood, so fully realized in the work of the spotless Lamb of God, is blessedly seen in the Passover, while the Feast of Unleavened Bread reveals the purpose of redemption--redemption unto holiness. Israel observed this feast in the wilderness. They celebrated it when they had come into the land; then under Hezekiah and Josiah it was recovered. During their long dispersion Israel has not forgotten this feast. Though with judicial blindness upon them, eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear, the people keep once a year the Passover. Longingly the orthodox Jew looks towards the land of promise and repeats each Passover night the pious wish "This day here; next year in Jerusalem." When the nation is regathered and the Kingdom is established in their midst, they will keep this Feast anew. What meaning it will then have! What memories cluster around it! How all their history will be recalled by that Feast--started in Egypt and consummated in the Kingdom! But the observance apart from the unleavened bread is different. The Prince and all the people on the fourteenth day of the first month are identified as they never were before, in a single bullock for a sin offering, while every day for seven days the Prince prepares a complete burnt offering, a sign of perfect consecration to the Lord. What praise the Lord, the Lamb of God enthroned in glory, and His glory covering the earth, will receive in these yearly memorial feasts.

The Feast of Tabernacles is the second great feast. It was kept by Israel when the harvest and the vintage had taken place. It foreshadows the Millennium, when the harvest and the vintage (Rev. xiv) the end of the age is passed and the new age, the age of glory, has come; the great ingathering has taken place and the prophetic meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles will be realized. Zechariah xiv:16-21 tells us of its Millennial celebration.