The Prince shall live here. There are a few things in this chapter that are difficult to reconcile with the once and for all sacrifice for Christ. But the Prince rules and reigns from this temple.
Ezekiel 44: The Gate for the Prince
1 Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east. And it was shut.
2 And the LORD said to me, "This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut.
3 Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD. He shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way."
4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD. And I fell on my face.
5 And the LORD said to me, "Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning all the statutes of the temple of the LORD and all its laws. And mark well the entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary.
6 And say to the rebellious house, to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: O house of Israel, enough of all your abominations,
7 in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations.
8 And you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.
9 "Thus says the Lord GOD: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary.
10 But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment.
11 They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before the people, to minister to them.
12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn concerning them, declares the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their punishment.
13 They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed.
14 Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its service and all that is to be done in it.
Rules for Levitical Priests
15 "But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord GOD.
16 They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge.
17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within.
18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat.
19 And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers. And they shall put on other garments, lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments.
20 They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads.
21 No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.
22 They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.
23 They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.
24 In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy.
25 They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves.
26 After he has become clean, they shall count seven days for him.
27 And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord GOD.
28 "This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.
29 They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.
30 And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, that a blessing may rest on your house.
31 The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.
Ezekiel 45: The Holy District
1 "When you allot the land as an inheritance, you shall set apart for the LORD a portion of the land as a holy district, 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits broad. It shall be holy throughout its whole extent.
2 Of this a square plot of 500 by 500 cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it.
3 And from this measured district you shall measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 broad, in which shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.
4 It shall be the holy portion of the land. It shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the LORD to minister to him, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.
5 Another section, 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in.
6 "Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign for the property of the city an area 5,000 cubits broad and 25,000 cubits long. It shall belong to the whole house of Israel.
The Portion for the Prince
7 "And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary
8 of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people, but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.
9 "Thus says the Lord GOD: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease your evictions of my people, declares the Lord GOD.
10 "You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath.
11 The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer, and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure.
12 The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.
13 "This is the offering that you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley,
14 and as the fixed portion of oil, measured in baths, one tenth of a bath from each cor (the cor, like the homer, contains ten baths).
15 And one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them, declares the Lord GOD.
16 All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel.
17 It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.
18 "Thus says the Lord GOD: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull from the herd without blemish, and purify the sanctuary.
19 The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court.
20 You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple.
21 "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten.
22 On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering.
23 And on the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the LORD seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering.
24 And he shall provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil to each ephah.
25 In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the feast, he shall make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and for the oil.
Things to think about…
1. The east gate – even though this temple has not been built, this gate is sealed shut even today, Ezek 44:1,2. Note that the God of Israel ‘has entered by it’. Jesus entered Jerusalem by the Eastern gate or Golden Gate in His earthly ministry – mind you, it was a different gate to the present one the Suliman the Moslem blocked off in the 1200’s because the Romans destroyed the original walls in AD70. But even after the next temple is built, this gate will remain shut. The Jews desperately want this temple built. Have a look online to see what they have done so far www.templeinstitute.org. As we have said Ezekiel’s temple area far exceeds what is presently available on the temple mount today. The topography will be far different when Jesus returns. Does the Lord want the law of Moses to be filled perfectly? Remember the words of Christ “I have not come to destroy the law but fulfil the law”. Mt 5:17.
2. Note that the prince shall sit in it, Ezek 44:3. While Jesus is the Prince of Peace as Isaiah tells us in Isa 9:6, the prince here is not Jesus. This prince needs to atone for his sin every week, Ezek 45:20as we shall see in Ezek 46:12 and has sons who will inherit after him Ezek 46:16. Jesus will be glorified at this period, as will we. The prince, the priesthood and the people here are redeemed Jews but unglorified.
3. If the words of Ezek 44:15-31 are true and this is still future, where we see Jews commanded to carry out the law, how does this affect the words of the Apostle Paul who says that the law is a shadow of the things to come, the old has gone. The writer of the Hebrews says these things were wearing old and are fading. Surely the Lord does not want the Jews to return back to the law, He wants them to turn to Christ, so what is happening here in Ezekiel, how do we interpret this passage? I confess these are difficult passages to interpret. My only comment on this is that our Lord’s fulfillment of the law is seen perfectly expressed through these unglorified Levitical priests who carry out the law and sacrifices the way they were originally intended to be carried out. Israel was called to be a light to the nations but was led astray through corruption. But here we have 1000 years of faithful Levitical service showing the nations what the law should have been. Yeshua – the King of glory is of course the only way into eternal life. Even these princes and priests would ultimately have to come through Him and these offerings and sacrifices ultimately have to point to Him, the same way we remember through the bread and wine at communion.
4. Christ will administer the law perfectly through the priests, keeping his charge Ezek 45:16. The glory of the Lord fills the temple, Ezek 44:4 because Christ is there ministering through this holy Levitical priesthood. In the same way we are to reflect Christ’s glory through our words and actions. Our lives should be living sacrifices worthy of His praise.
5. Ezek 45:1-6 lists out the two portions – one is holy which contains the temple and separate to, but encompassing this area, is the portion of the prince. This land has not been divided up before in the history of Israel – this division is still future and will remain for the Millennial rule of Christ. These are difficult passages to decipher, but as with all scripture, we need to see what the Lord is saying through them. A casual observation is that He is separate from all earthly origins. We also need to be separated from the world and sinful pursuits.
6. The prince – the ruling monarch, is to be provided for and as a result, provides the means for the feast days and sacrifices. This is very similar to what we read in the reign of Solomon. In like manner churches need to be given an allotment from tithes and offerings in order to carry out their service of ministering the Word of God. As with Abraham, a sacrifice will be provided. Indeed, it has been provided through His Son – Jesus. Pray that the Lord would continue to bless the word of God at CBC. Please continue to pray for me to continue to administer His word faithfully.
Vision Point for cell groups
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Title was “Dry bones and the one stick” – Reading Ezekiel 37.
1. The ‘dry bones’ passage is very interesting to study. Ezekiel says it refers to Israel being restored. They were restored back to the land after 70 years in captivity in Babylon, but why is this likely not what Ezekiel is speaking about.
2. When Israel went into exile the northern 10 tribes were already taken by the Assyrians 100 years before in 722BC. Babylon takes the 2 southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin in 586BC. Ezekiel speaks of one stick being joined, Joseph and Judah to make one stick. How has this happened, or is it still happening?
3. The Holy Spirit is needed to make someone alive in Christ, either Jew or Gentile. We can be alive like Ezekiel’s bones with flesh on them but still be without the Spirit. What is the role of the church in making this happen. A second question is what is the role of the Gentile church to make Israel embrace the Spirit and acknowledge Jesus (Yeshua) as Saviour?
4. Pray for each other and the outreach of the gospel.
Prayer Points
1. AGM – 6th Nov after the service – next Sunday.
2. Carols service 18th December – Family fun Day afternoon/evening 3pm-7pm.
3. Christmas Day Service 25th Dec – on a Sunday this year – service will start at 9:00am.
4. Pray for the leadership of our country.
5. Pray for the people of Iran and Ukraine.
6. The right choice for a full time Youth and Young Adults Pastor to start Jan 2023 and the finances to support them.
7. Health of Ross Goltz
8. More young families and youth into the church.
9. Ministry leaders within the church.
10. Our One for Israel ministry.
11. Pray for other building projects – café roof, the repair of the house roof.
12. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. Praise God for Graham’s faithful word on Sunday.
2. The faithful service of Ross Goltz for 9 years as CBC’s treasurer!
3. Worship on Sunday – thankyou Paul, Suzy, Zac. Bec on Words and Doug on sound. Thankyou. Suzy and Maddison in café. Thankyou for those who welcomed at the door.
4. All those who faithfully serve in ministries, Worship, Sound/Technical/Kids Church/ Cell Groups/Admin - Bulletins/Finances/Property/Welcoming/Spiritual Leadership/Cafe
5. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Members Meeting – AGM 6th November after the service.
2. Carols service – 18th Dec 3pm to 7pm.
3. Christmas Day service – 9am Dec 25th.
4. Remember to check your duty rosters.
5. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
6. Tune in again this week on our youtube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
