Ezekiel 45
ZerrCBCEzekiel 45 SPECIAL TO THE LORD
THE LAND Ezekiel 45:1-8 Holy Portion (Ezekiel 45:1-4): Moreover, when you shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an oblation unto the LORD, a holy portion of the land; the length shall be the length of twenty-five thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand: it shall be holy in all the border thereof round about. (Ezekiel 45:2) Of this there shall be for the holy place five hundred in length, square round about; and fifty cubits for the suburbs thereof round about. (Ezekiel 45:3) Of this measure you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand, and a breadth of ten thousand; and in it shall be the sanctuary, which is most holy. (Ezekiel 45:4) It is a holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, that come near to minister unto the LORD; and it shall be a place for their houses, and a holy place for the sanctuary. Ezekiel anticipates an apportionment of the holy land among the tribes of Israel. The central portion of that land was to belong to the Lord. This rectangular area, twenty-five thousand by ten thousand reeds, was to be reserved for the priests and the new temple (Ezekiel 45:4). This portion of the land is viewed as more holy than the rest of the land (Ezekiel 45:1). In the center of this priestly portion of ground was a square (500 x 500 reeds) where the temple was to be located.
It was separated from the area where the priests dwelled by fifty cubits of open space (vv 2-3). Ezekiel’s vision of the promised land shows more concern for symmetry than for the realities of geography. His idealism has a pedagogical function. Pre-exilic Israel got into trouble for ignoring God. Ezekiel paints the picture of God in the center of things in the new era.
Levitical Portion (Ezekiel 45:5): And twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth, shall be unto the Levites, the ministers of the house, for a possession unto themselves, for twenty chambers. The Levites would occupy a portion of land equal in extent to and adjoining that of the priests. Scholars differ as to whether this area was north or south of the priests’ portion. At the extreme end of the Levites’ portion, twenty chambers were to be built. There were to house the gate-keepers so that they would be near the temple (Ezekiel 45:5).
City Portion (Ezekiel 45:6): You shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and twenty- five thousand long, side by side with the oblation of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel. The city of Jerusalem was allocated a rectangular portion of land (25,000 x 5,000 reeds) adjacent to the portion of the priests on the south. This section of the land could be inhabited by any Israelite without regard to tribe. The total territory of the holy portion— the territory allocated to the holy city, to the priests, Levites and temple— comprised an area 25,000 reeds square.
Prince’s Portion (Ezekiel 45:7-8)
Positioning (Ezekiel 45:7): Whatsoever is for the prince shall be on the one side and on the other side of the holy oblation and of the possession of the city, in front of the holy oblation and in front of the possession of the city, on the west side westward, and on the east side eastward; and in length answerable unto one of the portions, from the west border unto the east border. In Ezekiel’s symbolic scheme of things, the center of the land was a rectangle called the holy oblation that has been described in the previous verses. The ideal city and temple occupy this oblation. As if guarding the approaches to both, the prince’s inheritance was on either side of the oblation in the very center of the land.
Purpose (Ezekiel 45:8): In the land it shall be to him for a possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes. The law of Moses made no special inheritance provision for kings. Old Testament kings were constantly attempting to expand their personal holdings at the expense of the citizens. This will not be the case in the future envisioned by Ezekiel. The portion of the prince was equal in size to that assigned to entire tribes, except that the holy portion was carved out of his territory (cf. Ezekiel 48:21).
Taking their cue from the prince, other leaders in the future Israel (my princes) are Godfearing men. They do not oppress God’s people by trying to appropriate their inheritances. On the other hand, they see to it that all of God’s people occupied their God-given share in the holy land, i.e., the kingdom.
Ezekiel 45:9-25 At this point in his vision of the new temple, Ezekiel sets forth the regulations pertaining to (1) the rights and duties of the prince (Ezekiel 45:9-17); (2) the festival offerings (Ezekiel 45:18-25); and (3) the offerings on the Sabbath and new moon (Ezekiel 46:1-7).
Integrity in Office (Ezekiel 45:9-12) General requirement (Ezekiel 45:9): Thus says the Lord GOD: Let it suffice you, O prince of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute justice and righteousness; take away your exactions from my people (oracle of the Lord GOD). God appeals to the future rulers of his people to abandon the greed and corruption of their predecessors who did violence to the helpless. He urges them to take away their exactions— the unjust seizure of property. They must rule in justice and righteousness. Weights and measures (Ezekiel 45:10-12): You shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath. (Ezekiel 45:11) The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure. That the bath may contain the tenth part of a homer, and the ephah the tenth part of a homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer. (Ezekiel 45:12) The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh. The most common means of defrauding people was by means of unjust measures. The future leaders must eliminate this evil. They must demand that just weights and measures be used throughout the land. The ephah was a dry measure, the bath a liquid measure (Ezekiel 45:10).
Both were equal to a tenth of a homer, which was the standard unit of measure (Ezekiel 45:11). A shekel (about 0.4 ounces) was equal to twenty gerahs. Sixty shekels made up a mina (ASV maneh).The shekels were in use in denominations of twenty, twenty-five and fifteen in the days of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 45:12). Faithful in Temple Provisions (Ezekiel 45:13-17) Obligations of the people (Ezekiel 45:13-16): This is the oblation that you shall offer: the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of wheat; and you shall give the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of barley; (Ezekiel 45:14) and the set portion of oil, of the bath of oil, the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is ten baths, even a homer; (for ten baths are a homer); (Ezekiel 45:15) and one lamb of the flock, out of two hundred, from the well-watered pastures of Israel— for a meal-offering, and for a burnt-offering, and for peace-offerings, to make atonement for them, (oracle of the Lord GOD). (Ezekiel 45:16) All the people of the land shall give unto this oblation for the prince in Israel. The reasons for concern about weights and measures is set forth. The people are to present offerings to their prince. He in turn had the responsibility of supplying the needs of the temple service. A sixth of an ephah of wheat and barley was required (v 13), a tenth of each bath of oil out of the cor (Ezekiel 45:14), and one lamb out of a flock of two hundred. These required dues were to be used in temple offerings to make atonement for the people (v 15). When these verses are compared to the stipulations of the Mosaic law, it becomes clear that “the demands of Ezekiel’s torah surpass those of the earlier or Mosaic torah in quantity as well as quality.”
Obligations of the prince (Ezekiel 45:17): It shall be the prince’ s part to give the burnt-offerings, and the meal-offerings, and the drink-offerings, in the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the sabbaths, in all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin-offering, and the meal-offering, and the burnt-offering, and the peace-offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel. The people render special tribute to the prince (Ezekiel 45:16). He in turn provided the communal sacrifices offered throughout the year, as well as those special sacrifices offered on festival days. He will prepare the various sacrifices that result in atonement (Ezekiel 45:17). No mention is made in these chapters of the people bringing sacrifices to the temple. Apparently all offerings are given to God through the prince.
Ezekiel 45:18-25 The regulations regarding festival offerings sketched out here presuppose the more detailed instructions found in the Pentateuch. Some of the sacrifices spoken of here and in the next chapters were unknown in Solomon’ s temple. The considerable differences between Ezekiel’s ordinances and the Mosaic laws again signal that the worship system of the messianic era is substantially different from that of the mosaic era.
Some scholars hold that the sacrifices outlined here were intended to be replacement for the Mosaic regulations regarding these holy days. Others see these sacrifices as being in addition to those stipulated in the Mosaic law. Still others see these sacrifices as authorized only for the period of the dedication of the new temple. New Year (Ezekiel 45:18-20): Thus says the Lord GOD: In the first month, in the first day of the month, you shall take a young bullock without blemish; and you shall cleanse the sanctuary. (Ezekiel 45:19) The priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering, and put it upon the door-posts of the house, upon the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court. (Ezekiel 45:20) So you shall do on the seventh day of the month for every one that errs, and for him that is simple: so shall you make atonement for the house. The blood of a bullock is used to purify the sanctuary on New Year’ s day (Ezekiel 45:18). The blood of that sin offering is smeared on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the greater ledge of the altar (cf. 43:20), and on the post of the gate of the inner court (Ezekiel 45:19). These actions were to be repeated on the seventh day of the month. This ritual served to cleanse the holy area from those who through ignorance had wandered into a restricted area of the temple courtyard.Passover (Ezekiel 45:21-24) Authorization (Ezekiel 45:21): In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. Passover commemorated the deliverance of the Jews from Egypt. It was celebrated on the fourteenth day of Nisan, the first month. This spring festival lasted seven days during which only unleavened bread was eaten (v 21). Responsibility of the prince (Ezekiel 45:22-24) For Passover day (Ezekiel 45:22): Upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin-offering. The prince was to prepare, i.e., provide, a bullock as a sin-offering for himself and for the people (Ezekiel 45:22). If the prince is a messianic figure, this can only mean that (1) the prince provided the sin offering for the people; and (2) that the provision of that offering was in some sense necessary for the fulfillment of his mission. That the prince himself was a sinner is not a necessary conclusion drawn from the text. No such sacrifice was connected with Passover in the Mosiac dispensation.
For Passover week (Ezekiel 45:23-24): The 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 he-goat daily for a sin-offering. (24) He shall prepare a meal-offering, and ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and a hin of oil to an ephah. In the future worship, Ezekiel has the sin offering coming before, and presumably taking precedence over, the Paschal feast proper. Clearly the sin offering is more prominent in the new age. Messiah was made to be a sin offering for guilty men (2 Corinthians 5:21). He accomplished all that the animal sin offerings of the old covenant could not accomplish. In addition to the sin-offering bullock, the prince was to provide seven bullocks and seven rams for burnt-offerings on each of the seven days of the festival.
He was also to provide a he-goat each day for a sin-offering (Ezekiel 45:23). Along with each bullock and ram the prince was to provide an ephah of grain and a hin of oil (Ezekiel 45:24).
Tabernacles (Ezekiel 45:25): In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, in the feast, shall he do the like seven days; according to the sin-offering, according to the burnt-offering, according to the meal-offering, and according to the oil. The feast of Tabernacles was observed during Tishri, the seventh month. During this joyous seven-day festival the prince was to duplicate the offerings required during Passover. Ezekiel Chapter Forty-Five Verse 1 This gives instructions for the provision of land for the sanctuary and temple grounds, and then for dividing up the remainder of the Holy Land to the Twelve Tribes of Israel. An appeal is made for the kings of Israel to refrain from violence and from false trading. Specifications for certain animal sacrifices are also made.Jehovah’ s Appointments This chapter deals particularly with the apportionment of the land for the Lord, His priests the Levites and the people, all in connection with the site of the sanctuary and its court. It is an ideal picture of Jehovah dwelling in the midst of His saints. “ Moreover, when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye shall offer an oblation unto Jehovah, a holy portion of the land; the length shall be the length of five and twenty thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand: it shall be holy in all the border thereof round about. Of this there shall be for the holy place five hundred in length by five hundred in breadth, square round about; and fifty cubits for the suburbs thereof round about. And of this measure shalt thou measure a length of five and twenty thousand, and a breadth of ten thousand: and in it shall be the sanctuary, which is most holy. It is a holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, that come near to minister unto Jehovah; and it shall be a place for their houses, and a holy place for the sanctuary. And five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth, shall be unto the Levites, the ministers of the house, for a possession unto themselves, for twenty chambers. And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, side by side with the oblation of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.
And whatsoever is for the prince shall be on the one side and on the other side of the holy oblation and of the possession of the city, in front of the holy oblation and in front of the possession of the city, on the west side westward, and on the east side eastward; and in length answerable unto one of the portions, from the west border unto the east border. In the land it shall be to him for a possession in Israel: and My princes shall no more oppress My people; but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes” -Ezekiel 45:1-8. Of old the land of Palestine was divided by lot among the children of Israel. The lot was an Old Testament way of determining the mind of God, “ The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord” (Proverbs 16:33). The last use of this method was that in connection with the choice of one to take the place of Judas, as recorded in Acts 1:26. This was before Pentecost. Since then God guides and directs His people by the Spirit and the Word. As one reads the dimensions given which are somewhat indefinite owing to the fact that we are not told whether cubits or reeds are intended, the impression left on the mind is one of spaciousness, as though God would indicate that He has large things in store for His people in the coming day. The divisions for the tribes are given in chapter 48 and are altogether different from those of old. The portion for the prince has been before us already in the previous chapter but is enlarged upon here. All shall be holy unto the Lord. “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute justice and righteousness; take away your exactions from My people, saith the Lord Jehovah. 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 a homer, and the ephah the tenth part of a 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” -Ezekiel 45:9-12. Government was established by God. It is He who puts men in places of authority. But all down through the centuries princes and rulers have been prone to misuse their God-given privileges and to forget their responsibilities. The later kings of Judah were fla- grantly recreant to their duty, and God judged them for it. Here principles are laid down which all in positions of authority should heed, and which will characterize those who are associated with Christ in ruling in Israel, and over the entire world in the kingdom age. “ This is the oblation that ye shall offer: the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of wheat; and ye shall give the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of barley; and the set portion of oil, of the bath of oil, the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is ten baths, even a homer (for ten baths are a homer); and one lamb of the flock, out of two hundred, from the well-watered pastures of Israel;-for a meal-offering, and for a burnt-offering, and for peace-offerings, to make atonement for them, saith the Lord Jehovah. All the people of the land shall give unto this oblation for the prince of Israel. And it shall be the prince’ s part to give the burnt-offerings, and the meal-offerings, and the drink-offerings, in the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the sabbaths, in all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin-offering, and the meal-offering, and the burnt-offering, and the peace-offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel” -Ezekiel 45:13-17. As before we may see in the instruction given here a picture of the worship in which princes and people shall participate in the day of the Lord’ s manifested authority. Christ Himself as set forth typically in these offerings, will be the joy of the hearts of His people. The perfection of His work will be remembered forever by those who have been brought into fellowship with Him on the basis of the blood of the cross.“ Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish; and thou shalt cleanse the sanctuary. And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering, and put it upon the door-posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court. And so thou shalt do on the seventh, day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple: so shall ye make atonement for the house” -Ezekiel 45:18-20. In Leviticus 23 we have the feasts or appointed seasons of the Lord. Here our attention is directed to these set times, some of which will no doubt be observed in millennial days. The feast of Pentecost is omitted however. It has had its complete fulfilment in the Church, of which it was the type. The new moons, the passover, and the tabernacles or feast of ingathering, all have their place telling us that all Israel’ s future blessing rests upon and is the result of the work of the cross. Christ died as the paschal lamb, not for the Church of this age alone but for Israel and the nations as a whole. All who are ever saved in any age or in accordance with any dispensation will owe everything for eternity to the blood of the Lamb of God. “ 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 the seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt-offering to Jehovah, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a he-goat daily for a sin-offering. And he shall prepare a meal-offering, an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and a hin of oil to an ephah. In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, in the feast, shall he do the like the seven days; according to the sin-offering, according to the burnt-offering, and according to the meal-offering, and according to the oil” -Ezekiel 45:21-25. The feast of tabernacles or booths, celebrated after the harvest was gathered in, very aptly typifies full blessings from God, as we see here and in Zechariah 14. These appointed seasons will be observed as memorials of what God has wrought through the work of His Son, but it is not necessary to think of the sacrifices and offerings as being reinstituted; rather that of which they speak will be the joy of the hearts of the people of God forever.
Ezekiel 45:1
Ezekiel 45:1. The figures and descriptions are so out of proportion to what the literal meaning could be here, I shall Insist that the reader again see the KEY at the beginning of chapter 40. The whole passage is still an ideal and figurative description of the restoration work that was to be done after the release from Babylonian captivity. But although that is the overall subject with perhaps very little significance attached to the details of the description, I shall try to explain the meaning of them. This verse begins the redistribution of the land which is an allusion to the division that was made by Joshua after the entrance of the children of Israel into Palestine. Almost all important operations that the Israelites performed were started with a sacrifice of some kind which is the meaning of oblation.
The first portion was to be allotted to the Lord and it Is called an holy portion. Reeds has no word in the original, but Moffatt’s translation renders the numbers of this verse as eight and a third by six and two-thirds miles. This tract was to be regarded as holy ground.
Ezekiel 45:2
Ezekiel 45:2. Within the plot of holy ground described in the preceding verse there was to be a space reserved for the sanctuary (holy place) that was 500 reeds square, and It was to have some “spare” space of 50 cubits or 75 feet all around.
Ezekiel 45:3
Ezekiel 45:3. This verse states the same dimensions as in the first verse and adds some particulars as to its use, that it was to be used as a holy place.
Ezekiel 45:4
Ezekiel 45:4. The priests were the ones who had charge of the holy things and they were to have their dwelling places within this territory.
Ezekiel 45:5
Ezekiel 45:5. The extra space extending beyond the plot described for the sanctuary but within that measured off in verses 1 and 3 was to be used for the priests in which they would have erected 20 chambers or rooms.
Ezekiel 45:6
Ezekiel 45:6. This verse designates a strip of land to lie alongside that which is assigned to the priests, and it was to be for the use Of the whole house of Israel, something like an open campus or common grounds.
Ezekiel 45:7
Ezekiel 45:7. The measurements of this verse are virtually within the restrictions already Indicated. The added thought is the use to be made of this strip which is for the prince, which means the man in a leading position before the people.
Ezekiel 45:8
Ezekiel 45:8. Prince is from nasty and Strong defines it, “Properly an exalted one, i.e„ a king or sheik.” In the King James version of the Bible it has been translated by captain, chief, governor, prince, ruler and others. It may or may not designate an official, but among the Jews it was used for both. The use of it in our present passage means one who has some niie over the people. The Lord predicts that his people would not be oppressed by this class of head men after the return from the captivity.
Ezekiel 45:9
Ezekiel 45:9. At the time this scripture was being written the people of Judah (or Israel) were in captivity and the princes did not have the opportunity to oppress them. The warning admonition was to chastise the wicked head men for their past wrong doing and to command them about their conduct in the future.
Ezekiel 45:10
Ezekiel 45:10. The ephah and hath were measures of quantity in ancient times. The princes used fraudulent standards and thus imposed upon the people under them. God decreed and predicted that such transactions would not be repeated after the return.
Ezekiel 45:11
Ezekiel 45:11. The Lord not only commanded that just measurements should be used, but gave instructions about what would constitute such standards. Strong says that an ephah is “a measure in general.” It seems that some of the units of capacity were allowed to vary at different times and plaees, and that would give rise to questions as to justice in dealing with the people. The Lord put such disputes at rest by setting the standard for weights and measures. He ordained that whether the ephah or hath be used in a transaction ft should be the same capacity which was a tenth of a homer.
Ezekiel 45:12
Ezekiel 45:12. Mamelt Is a unit of indefinite capacity and was to be recognized according to the custom in force in any given community. A shekel was to consist of 20 gerahs, but as to the number of shekels required to make up a maneh, whether 20, 25 or 15, the prevailing practice must be observed by the princes in their dealing with the people.
Ezekiel 45:13
Ezekiel 45:13, An oblation means an offering for the service of the Lord. If it consisted of grain it must be measured according to the standard set in verse 11.
Ezekiel 45:14
Ezekiel 45:14. The oil in use was olive oil and it was valuable because of its many purposes. It furnished light, was used as food and was valuable for medical treatment. The offering of it was therefore the giving of a thing of value. A cor was “ a deep round vessel” in which the olive oil was stored.
Ezekiel 45:15
Ezekiel 45:15. The animal sacrifices had been instituted under the Mosaic law and the regulations are written in the beginning chapters of Leviticus. In the present case the Ia>rd was very lenient and required them to offer only one lamb out of each two hundred. However, the requirements were the same as formerly in that the animal must be one that was well fed, which is the idea in the phrase out of the fat pastures of Israel.
Ezekiel 45:16
Ezekiel 45:16. All the people means the foregoing offering was to be for the congregation in general; none were excused from the obligation.
Ezekiel 45:17
Ezekiel 45:17. The prince in this case would be the priest “ on duty” at the time. The people were to bring their gifts to headquarters for the service, then the priest would officiate or preside in the services at the altar.
Ezekiel 45:18
Ezekiel 45:18. The first day of the month was a special holy time under the Mosaic law, and that was the date stipulated by the Lord for this service of consecration of the land after returning from the Babylonian captivity.
Ezekiel 45:19
Ezekiel 45:19. Putting blood upon the door posts of a house is a forma! way of consecrating the house. It is also a signal of the importance attached to the inside of the house. This recalls the ceremonies that took place in Egypt on the night of tbe first passover when the first born of the families was to be slain (Exodus 12).
Ezekiel 45:20
Ezekiel 45:20. The word simple is from PETj.iAiv which Strong defines, “ Silly (i.e., seducible)," It is used in this verse to denote one who does not use his mind about his conduct, not that he is really lacking in brain power. Such a person is not regarded with as much criticism as one who deliberately does wrong.
Ezekiel 45:21
Ezekiel 45:21. This feast, is identical with that prescribed in the law of Moses. The details of that feast are recorded in Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23.
Ezekiel 45:22
Ezekiel 45:22. The prince would be the priest in active service in this case.
Ezekiel 45:23
Ezekiel 45:23. This 7-day feast is also described in Leviticus 23.
Ezekiel 45:24
Ezekiel 45:24. The word meat means “ meal" and it is so rendered in the margins of some Bibles. The formula for this offering, which was wholly vegetable except the salt, may be found in Leviticus 2. It was to be added to the animal sacriflees named.
Ezekiel 45:25
Ezekiel 45:25. This feast of 7 days in the seventh month is called the feast of tabernacles in Leviticus 23; 34. It was instituted to commemorate the experience of the children of Israel who dwelt in tents or tabernacles during the 40 years they were going through the wilderness.