Ezekiel 45:1-25
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.
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 suburbsa thereof.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 exactionsb from my people, saith the Lord GOD.
10 Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath.
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.
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:
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:
15 And one lambc 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.
16 All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ezekiel 45:18. Thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary. In the ancient tabernacle all the vessels were touched with blood, to purify and consecrate them to sacred purposes. In like manner Christ sanctifies his people, by washing them from their sins in his own blood.
REFLECTIONS.
The command to divide the land by lot, or into fair proportions on the return of the jews, differs materially from the division made by Joshua; and it is allowed that no such division was made, or even attempted, when the jews returned from Babylon. Consequently the visions here refer chiefly to happier times than Israel ever yet saw.
We find in the division of the country that a portion of the land was first reserved for the Lord. His temple required an ample space of ground, and his poor required support; and he ever lives their guardian and constant friend. If we expect the Lord's blessing, we must pay him homage down to the widow's mite. It is well therefore for men when they come to their inheritance to consecrate their fortune by a small offering to heaven in this way.
A portion was next reserved for the prince. Royalty which watches with a paternal eye for the public weal, should be amply supported in return. The king is the Lord's minister; and next to a lot of land for the Lord's house, his support is guaranteed in order, and prior to the provision for ministers of religion. His portion was adjacent to the capital, because he must reside contiguous to the court, and the bench of justice.
With regard to the various offerings here prescribed, though I do sincerely believe that these visions of the temple seen by Ezekiel were in figure the church of Christ throughout all ages, as the last Chapter s in the Revelation explain; yet as the jews are a part of that church, to whom a preference was once given, and as on their return they will not in general be converted, there is no doubt but this enlargement of the usual sacrifices will be offered to the Lord, till under the oppression of their foes they shall in some way, and probably as St. Paul in his way to Damascus, look on Him whom they have pierced: then the millennium, and the purest worship of God will commence. Hence I wonder much at certain ingenious writers, who think that the jews will make Ezekiel's vision the model of their future city and temple. If the glory of the latter day is to consist in splendid architecture, I know not how the age of Solomon can be surpassed. The temple which he built was a work of perfection; yea, the tabernacle in Shiloh was adequate to express by shadows, the spiritual glory of the church. But the forty seventh chapter seems to bear the most evident marks of being figurative, and consequently, of being understood in a spiritual sense.
There can be no doubt but the city, the holy Jerusalem, which the apostle John saw in vision, is the same as that foretold by Ezekiel; but it certainly had no appearance of a terrestrial city. Every thing about it is heavenly and divine, such as was never seen on earth, and whose only builder and maker is God. Instead of being erected in the land of Palestine, it comes “down from God out of heaven,” having no temple, neither sun nor moon to shine in it; even the earth and the sea were passed away. The Lord God and the Lamb are the temple of it, and their glory is the light thereof. Every thing shows this city to have a celestial origin, being contrasted with all the productions of human art, and with whatever is known in the present world. It can be understood only of the heavenly state, or subordinately of the church on earth in its highest perfection in the latter day, as the prelude or anticipation of the heavenly glory. It is therefore agreeable to the analogy of faith to consider the predictions of the prophet as referring to a spiritual city and temple, in accordance with the rapturous visions of the holy apostle. Compare Revelation 21:22. with Ezekiel 47, 48.