Chapter xlvi.

I. The Worship of the Prince.

Thus saith the Lord God; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened. And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the Lord in the sabbaths and in the new moons. And the burnt offering that the prince shall offer unto the Lord in the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish. And the meat offering shall be an ephah for a ram, and the meat offering for the lambs as he shall be able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah. And in the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram: they shall be without blemish. And he shall prepare a meat offering, an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs according as his hand shall attain unto, and an hin of oil to an ephah. And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of that gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof (verses 1-8).

Here another worship scene of the Millennium is described. The prominent eastern gate is to be closed during the six working days, but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, as well as in the day of the new moon. The Sabbath and the new moon are prominent in the worship of the Kingdom Age. The Sabbath was a type of the coming rest for the people of Israel.[55] This rest has now come. Their wanderings are ended, they are gathered from the East and from the West, from the North and South, and have found at last the promised rest (Ps. cvii:1-8). Therefore the Sabbath is especially mentioned in connection with worship. On the seventh day the gate through which the Lord and His glory passed is opened and left open till the evening. The six working days (typical of 6,000 years) are forever gone, the seventh day, the seventh thousand, the Day of the Lord, has come. And when the Millennium ends, the complete, eternal rest comes for all the people of God. The new moon is typical of Israel's re-establishment as a nation. The nation, like the moon, had waned, and disappeared, but now she shines again like the new moon.

[55] When it speaks of "my rest" in Hebrews iv it refers to the eternal rest.

The Prince is to worship at the threshold of the gate, and the people before the gate. But neither the Prince nor the people enter within. No drawing near to God is known then as we now enjoy it who worship in the Spirit through the rent veil. It is all an earthly worship, while the true worship of the Church is heavenly. The Prince in this worship enters by the outer door on the side of the east and he goes out by the same door. The Prince occupies the prominent place as the representative of the people. He presents his offerings to Jehovah, while the people stand as worshippers at the outer gate of the same entrance. The offerings the Prince is to bring on the Sabbath are larger than those commanded in the law. Both the burnt-offering and the meal offering brought by him on the Sabbath are more abundant than those offered under the old dispensation, an evidence of the higher and more perfect worship of restored Israel. Different, however, is it with the offering on the new moon. In Numbers xxviii:11-15 we read:

And in the beginnings of your months ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the Lord; two young bullocks, and one ram, seven lambs of the first year without spot; And three tenth deals of flour for a meal offering, mingled with oil, for one bullock; and two tenth deals of flour for a meal offering, mingled with oil for one ram; And a several tenth deal of flour mingled with oil for a meal offering unto one lamb; for a burnt offering of a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord. And their drink offerings shall be half an hin of wine unto a bullock, and the third part of an hin unto a ram, and a fourth part of an hin unto a lamb: this is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year. And one kid of the goats for a sin offering unto the Lord shall be offered, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.

Such are the offerings according to the law, to be brought on the new moon. But in the millennial worship these offerings are diminished. All this has a deeper meaning which will be fully known and enjoyed when this worship is carried out.

II. Further Instructions as to Worship.

But when the people of the land shall come before the Lord in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate; he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it. And the prince in the midst of them, when they go in, shall go in; and when they go forth, shall go forth. And in the feasts and in the solemnities the meal offering shall be an ephah to a bullock, and an ephah to a ram, and to the lambs as he is able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah. Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering or peace offerings voluntarily unto the Lord, one shall then open him the gate that looketh toward the east, and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he did on the sabbath day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate. Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering unto the Lord of a lamb of the first year without blemish: thou shalt prepare it every morning. And thou shalt prepare a meal offering for it every morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of an hin of oil to temper with the fine flour, a meal offering continually by a perpetual ordinance unto the Lord. Thus shall they prepare the lamb and the meal offering, and the oil, every morning for a continual burnt offering. (verses 9-15.)

Everything is divinely ordered. Here are first the special instructions for the worship of the people of the land. When they come before the Lord in the solemn feasts some will enter in to worship by the north gate and leave by the south gate, and others who enter by the south gate will leave by the way of the north gate. None is permitted to leave by the gate through which he entered. Perhaps this injunction is given to avoid confusion among the multitudes who will come to worship in those coming days, when the Lord will be universally acknowledged (Zech. xiv:9).

In the midst of these worshipping masses will be the Prince (verse 10). What a blessed reminder of Him who is the One in the midst! He was in the midst on Calvary; He is in the midst of His people during this age; in Revelation He is seen in the midst of the throne (Rev. v:6). The Prince as the representative of the King of kings is therefore in the midst of His redeemed earthly Israel. The burnt-offering and the meal offering, so prominent in this coming worship are constant memorials of His great devotion when He offered Himself, and of His holy, spotless humanity in which He suffered and glorified God.

Something else of deep interest is recorded here. The daily burnt-offerings during the old dispensation consisted of a lamb every morning and of a lamb every evening. Here no evening lamb for a burnt-offering is mentioned, but the offerings are to be brought only during the mornings. The bright morning has come, the day dawn for His people, so long in the night of suffering and dispersion. The night is gone forever and therefore the evening, preceding the night, is no longer mentioned and no provision is made for an evening burnt-offering. The night is gone and Israel's glorious morning can never be darkened again by apostasy.

III. Concerning the Prince, His Sons and Servants.

Thus saith the Lord God; If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons'; it shall be their possession by inheritance. But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty; after it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall be his sons' for them. Moreover the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance by oppression, to thrust them out of their possession; but he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own possession: that my people be not scattered every man from his possession (verses 16-18). Here we read that the Prince has sons, natural descendants, and whatever gifts he bestows upon them shall be their possession by inheritance. This is conclusive that the Prince of these last chapters of Ezekiel is not Christ. The Prince has sons and servants. As the entire final vision of this book deals with the earthly conditions of the coming age, and reveals nothing of the heavenly side of things, these sons and servants cannot mean the church-saints, who are with Christ in the New Jerusalem. As to a gift to one of the Prince's servants, it is to revert to his sons when the year of liberty or jubilee is celebrated. The jubilee year will therefore be observed during the coming age.

IV. Additional Description of Temple Buildings.

After he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers of the priests, which looked toward the north: and, behold, there was a place on the two sides westward. Then said he unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, where they shall bake the meal offering; that they bear them not out into the utter court, to sanctify the people. Then he brought me forth into the utter court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and, behold, in every corner of the court there was a court. In the four corners of the court there were courts joined of forty cubits long and thirty broad: these four corners were of one measure. And there was a row of buildings round about them, round about them four, and it was made with boiling places under the rows round about. Then said he unto me, These are the places of them that boil, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people (verses 19-24).

Again the prophet is brought by the northern gate to the side where the holy chambers of the priests are located. There he saw a place on the two sides westward. The use of this place is made known in verse 20. The final description of buildings round about the court needs no further comment.

THE VISION CONCERNING THE LAND.