The Millennial kingdom and the River of Life that flows out of the temple are points of intrigue, but also hope as we see death swallowed up by life. Jesus is our Water of Life.
Ezekiel 46: The Prince and the Feasts
1 "Thus says the Lord GOD: The gate of the inner court that faces east shall be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.
2 The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside, and shall take his stand by the post of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening.
3 The people of the land shall bow down at the entrance of that gate before the LORD on the Sabbaths and on the new moons.
4 The burnt offering that the prince offers to the LORD on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish.
5 And the grain offering with the ram shall be an ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he is able, together with a hin of oil to each ephah.
6 On the day of the new moon he shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish, and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish.
7 As a grain offering he shall provide an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he is able, together with a hin of oil to each ephah.
8 When the prince enters, he shall enter by the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way.
9 "When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, he who enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate, and he who enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: no one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but each shall go out straight ahead.
10 When they enter, the prince shall enter with them, and when they go out, he shall go out.
11 "At the feasts and the appointed festivals, the grain offering with a young bull shall be an ephah, and with a ram an ephah, and with the lambs as much as one is able to give, together with a hin of oil to an ephah.
12 When the prince provides a freewill offering, either 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 offer his burnt offering or his peace offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out the gate shall be shut.
13 "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.
14 And you shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, one sixth of an ephah, and one third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour, as a grain offering to the LORD. This is a perpetual statute.
15 Thus the lamb and the meal offering and the oil shall be provided, morning by morning, for a regular burnt offering.
16 "Thus says the Lord GOD: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons as his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons. It is their property by inheritance.
17 But if he makes a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty. Then it shall revert to the prince; surely it is his inheritance---it shall belong to his sons.
18 The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their property. He shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people shall be scattered from his property."
Boiling Places for Offerings
19 Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, to the north row of the holy chambers for the priests, and behold, a place was there at the extreme western end of them.
20 And 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 not to bring them out into the outer court and so transmit holiness to the people."
21 Then he brought me out to the outer court and led me around to the four corners of the court. And behold, in each corner of the court there was another court---
22 in the four corners of the court were small courts, forty cubits long and thirty broad; the four were of the same size.
23 On the inside, around each of the four courts was a row of masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the rows all around.
24 Then he said to me, "These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple shall boil the sacrifices of the people."
Ezekiel 47: Water Flowing from the Temple
1 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.
2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.
3 Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep.
4 Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep.
5 Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.
6 And he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he led me back to the bank of the river.
7 As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other.
8 And he said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh.
9 And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.
10 Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.
11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt.
12 And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing."
Division of the Land
13 Thus says the Lord GOD: "This is the boundary by which you shall divide the land for inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions.
14 And you shall divide equally what I swore to give to your fathers. This land shall fall to you as your inheritance.
15 "This shall be the boundary of the land: On the north side, from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, and on to Zedad,
16 Berothah, Sibraim (which lies on the border between Damascus and Hamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran.
17 So the boundary shall run from the sea to Hazar-enan, which is on the northern border of Damascus, with the border of Hamath to the north. This shall be the north side.
18 "On the east side, the boundary shall run between Hauran and Damascus; along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel; to the eastern sea and as far as Tamar. This shall be the east side.
19 "On the south side, it shall run from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribah-kadesh, from there along the Brook of Egypt to the Great Sea. This shall be the south side.
20 "On the west side, the Great Sea shall be the boundary to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This shall be the west side.
21 "So you shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel.
22 You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
23 In whatever tribe the sojourner resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the Lord GOD.
Things to think about…
1. Look at the order which is displayed in the ministry of the prince, Ezek 46:1-18. In churches we are also asked to do things ‘decently and in order’, 1Cor 14:40. Pray for me and the Elders as well as ministry leaders that we seek after Christ’s order in our ministries.
2. Note that the gate of the inner court which faces east, Ezek 46:1 is where the Prince enters. This is not the Temple gate which remains closed. The Prince enters and leaves through this inner court gate. The people bow down at this gate. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. He is the Prince of Peace in this Millennial temple.
3. Look at these last few verses about boiling the offerings, Ezek 46:19-24. The offerings had to be contained so that holiness would not be transmitted to the people, vs 21. Surely we want holiness transmitted. What is going on here? Consider:- would Christ be accepted as a Saviour if He was polluted? He became sin, who knew no sin, that we might take on His righteousness. Remember Adam and Eve were shut out from the Tree of Life after they sinned. In the Millennium sin will still be a part of people born in Adam. Christ’s people will be like Christ, without sin, but those who are born in the Millennium will need to have holiness given to them by the grace of the Lord. No other sacrifice will do.
4. Literal or spiritual? Has to be both as you read Ezek 47:1-12. We know that the Dead Sea is still dead today. So the period described here is still in the future. Fish will fill this body of water and the dead sea will become a place of life and healing, similar to what we see will happen eternally with the River of Life described in the new earth of Revelation, Rev 22:1-5. The stream described here will flow out from under the new temple. We are told that the mountain will split in two, elsewhere we are told the city will be split into three parts, Rev 16:19. This event could certainly allow the fault line which is under the temple mount to allow the water which is presently there to flow out.
5. Note in Ezekiel 47:12 the leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations. This is because there is still the presence of sin in the Millennium. While trees are mentioned here in Ezekiel, in the new earth only one tree is mentioned “the tree of life’, Rev 22:2. Here we see the leaves WILL be for the healing of the nations, I.E. looking forward. But in Revelation the leaves on the tree of life it says WERE for the healing of the nations. It seems the tree of life in Revelation maintains healing through their presence. No healing as a result of sin is needed in the new earth as there will be no sin there. Remember the tree of life was in the garden of Eden and Adam and Eve were forbidden to take of it because of sin, Gen . In the new earth the redeemed are allowed to eat of the fruit the tree of life that it bears in season. We have full and free access to the tree of life, the river of life and the Lord of life.
6. The promises given to literal Israel were never fulfilled when Israel entered Canaan in the time of Judges. The land was not fully conquered at that time. But here we see the land is fully conquered and the people of Israel and sojourners are living in peace, Ezek 47:13-23. Jew and Gentile will live in this land together in peace. This can only be possible through Christ unifying Israel through the gospel. Pray that Christ unites both the Jew and the Palestinian and that they both see the true Messiah.
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.
