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Email: <lelgee@voicenet.com>Copyright © L. L. Griffith, 1971, 1996. ISBN 0-929554-01-9. This document may be reproduced in whole or in part provided that this copyright notice is reproduced on each copy made.
We are now at the point in Ezekiel's vision where the parts of the promised land that are to be set aside for the residence of Israel's king and for the estate grounds which surround His palace are described; namely, the Prince's portion.
Ezekiel 45 introduces the general description of the land of the inheritance in the LORD's portion. The portions - the oblation; the sacred offerings - are measured out in relation to the sanctuary of the LORD's house which contains the king's palace within its city frame.
The other offerings or dedications of the Holy Land are identified as the portions of the princes who will also rule alongside the Prince. As a priest and a king, each holy one is given a portion of the kingdom of the LORD to rule. See Exodus 19:6 and Revelation 1:5-6, where the "kingdom of priests" and "the ruler of the kings of the earth" are all mentioned.
The central and most notable part of the land is designated for the LORD's estate. This estate is the Son's special portion in the inheritance of the land. "The Son of man" is the chief prince of Judah's tribe, and is Israel's king. He is also the great high priest of the nation.
1 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.
Breadth, which is width, is measured north to south. All measures of the vision follow this rule.
Is it not curious that in the year 572 B.C., the land was not considered by the LORD to have been awarded for inheritance of all the things promised to Israel? Ever since Britain's mandate over the land ceased in 1948, other peoples have made claims upon the land, notably the Palestinians. The Jews, however, have successfully held onto the land - even added to it since 1948 - while the surrounding nations dispute the legitimacy of Israel's claim to the land. Who should own the West Bank? Who should have the right to the Golan Heights? What about the Gaza Strip? Who can make a just and equitable decision concerning the land? The problem of the ownership of the land remains to be solved in Israel's favor.
The Israelites never did subdue the land of Canaan or its inhabitants, according to the commandment of the LORD. Contrarily they adopted the customs and the practices of the surrounding peoples and only gave lip service to the One who had rescued them out of their slavery in Egypt.
It was, as before stated, the duty of the priests to keep the knowledge of the LORD before the people. It was the obligation of the people to obey God; to support the house of the LORD with their tithes and offerings in order to maintain the priests. And it was the duty of the king and the high priest to rule the people lawfully and rightly. Every man failed in his part! So the LORD was not able to keep the promises which He had made.
Today there is no king, no high priest, no priests, no effective law to support any claims to the land or to these offices. The nation still has a faithful GOD Who will - in the appointed time - give them a just and lawful inheritance in the land, but not until the people repent and willingly submit to His will.
The inheritance2 will be received after the apocalypse of Jesus Christ at his return from "a far country" to deliver the nation from complete destruction.
The concept of holiness required for the inheritance in the LORD eludes many because they cannot, literally, grasp the idea any differently than Eve did when the serpent introduced his comparative philosophy about the life of the Elohim. The concept of the holy spirit eludes them. Eternal life is a gift that follows the righteousness of belief in the LORD. The principle is set down in Numbers 14:21. Truth is a chief element in that belief. In the same manner in which the LORD lives - in truth, - it is His intention to fill the earth with His glory.
Consequently here in Ezekiel, the peculiar divisions of the land are shown as they will be in the kingdom; filled with the glory of the LORD in the way that He lives in all His new creation of holy ones who are made to live "after the order of Melchizedek." In this land, which the meek shall inherit, Messiah reigns as king and high priest. The holy ones, the priests, are co-rulers with him in the earth. And the LORD's sanctuary of "many mansions" is their dwelling place for the Olam; (the millennium).
2 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.
This verse is a confirmation of 42:15-20, the text which confirms the boundary surrounding all the buildings of the sanctuary, as laid out in the preceding chapters of the vision. The "structure like a city," the "city of the living God," and "Mount Zion"3 is located on the mountain in the land promised for the inheritance. The whole lot, including its suburb, is 600 cubits square.
The lot for the sanctuary must not be confused with the lot for the city of new Jerusalem. The lot for new Jerusalem is measured out in Ezekiel 48:30-35.
The sanctuary is separated from the surrounding open space by the wall, Ezekiel 40:5-6. The careful measuring of the sanctuary's site proves its external length to be a line of 500 cubits and a square. The line marks the perimeter of the sanctuary proper. The measured line falls between the sanctuary and the city-wall which adjoins the 50 cubit wide "open space."
3 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].
4 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.
The priests who minister to the LORD are those mentioned in Ezekiel 43:19 and Ezekiel 44:15-16. They are of the high priest's family, seed of "the just one."
5 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.
See Ezekiel 44:28. The previous directive had been, "Ye shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession."5 In Ezekiel's vision the Levites therefore have no possession of any sort in the lots of the twelve tribes. Their inheritance falls in a section of the land closer to the lot of the LORD. Their association with Him has been redefined. The relocation of "chambers" indicates also a convenience in their separation for the work of serving in the sanctuary.
In ancient times Levi had been provided with cities - the cities of refuge - in the various tribes of Israel. Now they have been demoted in status and put under closer surveillance.
6 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.
The city's lot touches its two borders against the lots of the holy oblation which are dedicated to the two orders of priests. The lot is better defined in Ezekiel 48:8-22. It lies between the priests' lots, (which the position of "alongside" requires).
There is no indication in either Ezra or Nehemiah that the city of Jerusalem was measured out for rebuilding during their times. Their limited success in building the city's wall must be viewed in accordance with the words of all the prophets by comparing the situation of modern Jerusalem and by observing all the things which the prophets say are yet to come to pass concerning Jerusalem.
Additional information is given in Ezekiel 48:30-35.
7 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.
The Prince's part of the LORD's oblation therefore lies between the lots for the priests and adjacent to the city's lot, which is in the center of them all. The Prince's lot is divided into two sections by this arrangement. See Diagram U, The Lot for the Holy Oblation.
Having designated land set aside for the Prince, for the priests, and for the city is rather unusual in comparison to the ancient manner of allocating the land. The LORD had no estate set aside for Himself in the ancient times. Now he has established a place for the soles of His feet within a specific allotment of the land.
8 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.
This idea is found in Psalm 47. The Psalm is recited in the synagogues on the day of the New Year. It is reemphasized in 1 Peter 2:9-10, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a people of His own, ...who in time past were not a people but now are the people of God..."
Who is the Prince? Ezekiel's vision never hints at the identity of the Prince. Either we are to understand the office and position, or we must be informed later of his name and credentials. He is an individual of many facets. Whatever his titles and other names in the Holy Scriptures, whatever is affirmed of him, he becomes a most unique "prince in Israel," 45:16.
The house of Israel, the man who was first called Jacob, was established through his twelve sons. Scripture refers to them as "princes in their father's house."7
But here in Ezekiel 45, the Prince does not inherit from within the lots of the twelve tribes. He receives his inheritance of two lots alongside and within the portions of the priests. The position implies that his portion is even more worthy than those of all the tribes and more honorable than that of all the priests.
Above all this the Prince serves in the office of the high priest, 43:2, under the presence of the LORD who is resplendent over His house in the form of the Shekinah Glory. As pictured by Ezekiel, the Prince is indeed the most holy one of God. In the many references made to him in the prophets8 the glory of the LORD is present in the form of the cloud by day and in the form of the pillar of fire by night.
The chief princes of the tribes of Israel are listed in the Chronicles of the kings of Israel. It seems almost superfluous to state that these chief men were the courtiers surrounding the king for the conduct of the business of the realm; and that two of the tribes, Judah and Levi, were further distinguished above their brethren in that the princes of these two tribes were respectively, the king of Israel and the high priest of the nation.
Jewish tradition disagrees concerning the use of the term the prince, nasi and nagid in Hebrew. (See Acts 5:31 and 3:15, Greek arkon, which is translated as ruler and prince. The word generally is used of the Jewish chief rulers.) The Prince, nasi, of Israel is also referred to as a nagid. This word is particularly used of Jeroboam and Jehu, 1 Kings 14:7 and 16:2, but the last king of Israel, Zedekiah, is referred to only as a nasi, Ezekiel 21:25. The references to the Prince throughout Ezekiel's vision appear to indicate that the Prince inherits a dual title.
The princes of Israel are now enjoined concerning certain laws and ordinances which they are charged to administer faithfully under the restored national economy.
9 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.
Fifty years after this prophecy was recorded by Ezekiel, Nehemiah found this type of situation prevalent in the community of the people who were returned from the Babylonian captivity. Under Nehemiah's leadership the situation was somewhat relieved, but the reform was too late and not sufficient to prevent more judgment to come from the LORD.
Until the time came that the prophet Samuel was aged, the people of Israel had no temporal king but were ruled by the judges whom God raised up for their help. "The thing displeased Samuel when they said, 'Give us a king to judge us.' And Samuel prayed unto the LORD and the LORD said unto Samuel, 'Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me that I should not reign over them',"9 Consequently the people were solemnly warned concerning the manner of the kings who should rule over them.
However, the request for a king had been in accordance with the whole purpose of the LORD from the beginning.
The prayer of Hannah, Samuel's mother, - who like the other notable, but infertile, women of the Old Testament rejoiced at the birth of a son through the power for conception that came through their faith in God, - when she weaned the boy, prophetically concluded with "The LORD shall judge the ends of the earth and He shall give strength to His king and exalt the horn of His anointed."10 The LORD patiently bore the sins of the kings of Israel, continuing to send His Word to them by the holy prophets. Despite the LORD's desire for their good, the rulers remained hardened to His Word; so the kingdom was completely overturned and emptied out of inhabitants when Zedekiah, king of Judah, was deposed by God and sent away from Israel and from Jerusalem.
The people continued to suffer under their rulers until the nation was brought under the domination of the Roman empire. Rome took all that remained of the Hellenized nation, and trampled it underfoot, where it remained until the nation's rebirth in 1948. That year was exactly 2,520 years after Ezekiel received this prophecy concerning the sanctuary of the LORD's house on the mountain of Zion.
10 Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath.
The balance is a measure of equal weight used for coins primarily. The ephah and bath are measures of liquid and dry weights of equal volume. This injunction is a repeat of Leviticus 19:36. A system of legal weight and measure is critical to the good economy and management of any business. So too for the government of the nation. In order to be just, ethics must also be moral, and lawfully followed.
The principle of using unjust measures destroys both productivity and people: "Hear this, O ye who swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, saying 'When will the new moon be gone that we may sell grain? And the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat?'- making the ephah small and the shekel great and falsifying the balances by deceit. 'That we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat.' The LORD has sworn by the excellency of Jacob, 'Surely I will never forget any of their works.'"11
Amos made this observation almost 200 years before Ezekiel's vision of the future, better kingdom of the LORD.
11 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.
12 And the shekel [shall be] twenty gerahs: twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh.
See Exodus 30:13, which affirms the size of the shekel; then Luke 19:13, where mina is translated as pounds. Ten minas would equal 600 shekels. In gold the value the pound is about $3,300 and in silver about $450.00. 12
13 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:
This is the law for the offering of the grain; the meal offering.
In the King James Authorized Version translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, terumah is translated both as "oblation" and as "heave offering." The method of the heave (offering) is shown in Exodus 29:27-28; Leviticus 7:14, 32, 34; 10:14-15; Numbers 6:20; 15:19-21; Numbers 18:8-29; 31:29, 41; Deuteronomy 12:6-17. The word also frequently appears simply as offerings. In Ezekiel's vision the word is translated consistently as oblation.
It does not appear whether the size of the grain-based offerings to be offered before the LORD was previously mandated under the Law...
14 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:
The cor is the measuring vessel. It is the container out of which both the liquid and the dry measures are taken. As stated at 45:11, the ephah and the bath shall be "of one measure." Cor is translated as measures in 1 Kings 4:22; 5:11; 2 Chronicles 2:20; 27:5. Its transliteration here is another bad example of the inconsistency of the English translators.
15 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.
The meal offering is minhah; a gift or present to the LORD. The word appears at 42:13; 44:29; 45:15, 17-25; 46:5-20. The minhah's measure was defined at 45:13. It has nothing to do with meat, except that it is prescribed to accompany the burnt and peace offerings and the wine which were presented to the priest. The minhah is prepared in accordance with the Law's ordinances, being made into a bread or flour, or as variations permitted, and with salt. The meal offering is a kind of tithe required from the goods acquired by an individual by the beneficent of God's favor upon him. A portion of what he received from the LORD's favor was thus shared with the Giver of all good things, benefitting both God and man in the process
See John 4:32-36 and 6:53-58, where other food from heaven is spoken of. The analogy with the tithe was recognized by David in 1 Chronicles 29:10-18; "Of thine own have we given Thee." The Lord's parable of the pound, Luke 19:11-27, reveals this principle in all its comparable degrees.
16 All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel.
These offerings of the people are therefore the daily "bread" for the maintenance of the priests who serve the people. The law does not discriminate against the circumcised alien.
Whether this law was followed when Nehemiah had assembled the people of the land to Jerusalem in 444 B.C. for the rehearsal of the Law and the renewal of the temple service is difficult to determine. There was a certain lack of its obedience at the time of Christ.
These meal offerings cannot be resumed until the altar of the sanctuary of the LORD's house is built, cleansed, and prepared with the flesh upon the tables.
17 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.
The Prince, as presumed from New Testament doctrine, is both high priest and king of Israel. The two offices will be consolidated into one, according to the prophecy of Zechariah.
The first law applies to the sanctuary itself:
18 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:
The procedure for the cleansing is next explained.
19 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.
20 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.
The date for the cleansing of the sanctuary is the first of Nisan/Abib. (On the tenth day of Abib the Passover lamb is selected for the feast of the 14th day.)
The final cleansing of the sanctuary was a perplexing question to Daniel, the prophet. He relates this, "Then I heard one holy one speaking and another holy one said unto that certain holy one who spoke, 'How long shall the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation - to give both the sanctuary and the service to be trampled underfoot?' And he said unto me, 'Unto 2,300 days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.'"16
There are numerous books written concerning "the last days." However, most of them reflect a common Christian point of view; i.e., they follow the 'continuous Church age' which has less than 2,000 years of existence. Another closely related view is called 'the continuous historical interpretation.' This view claims to find a continual path through history for its particular Christian tradition of belief. So many views, but only one Church? What is the truth?
Because of the supersessionist theory, neither the Protestant sects nor the Catholic 'mother' of the churches have much consideration for what the holy prophets of Israel have spoken concerning the whole Word of God. Because they hold less to the Holy Scriptures, it is easy to see why the churches have so many similar views, and have such differing beliefs.
This law applies to the feast of the Passover.
21 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.
So the Passover date remains unchanged for the beginning of the religious new year. The matzo shall be eaten as a reminder of their deliverance from slavery...
22 And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock [for] a sin offering.
See Leviticus 23:9-14. This sin offering differs from the original law.
23 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.
24 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.
The volume of the hin was specified at 45:14. The hin is one tenth of a bath taken out of the cor. The oil, presumably, is olive oil. Ezekiel does not describe it further. Unleavened bread is eaten.
Be attentive to the changes from original law in the legal details of the vision.
The third law applies to the feast of the gathering in of the people, which is the feast of tabernacles.
25 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.
By tradition the judgment of the people - for sin and for good - occurs during this week of Tishri/Ethanim. Atonement is, or is not, made by the individual during the prior Passover days.
This seventh month is the beginning of the civil new year. The feast of Sukkot - booths - celebrates the joy of forgiveness and reconciliation with God
This is the one feast of the Law that will be applied to the nations in the future. "And it shall come to pass that every one that is left out of the nations that came against Jerusalem shall go up, from year to year, to worship the king, the Eternal of Hosts; and to keep the feast of tabernacles."17 This gathering to worship the Lord; and the LORD is then required on an annual basis.
According to Ezekiel's vision this is the manner in which both the Passover festival and the feast of Sukkot are directed to be observed by the Prince, the priests, and the people of the land when the temple service is restored on Mount Zion in the new Jerusalem.
"The LORD is the portion of Mine inheritance and of My Cup; Thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. Yea; I have a goodly heritage."
- Psalm 15:5-6
