Ezekiel 46:21-24

There were 4 more kitchens. These kitchens were in the public outer area of the *temple. The people could eat some of the *sacrifices for peace that they offered. These *sacrifices showed friendship with God. So this was a meal that the people shared with God. God is our master, but he is also our friend (1 John 1:3; John 15:15).

And these *sacrifices also showed friendship between God’s people. When we love God, we also love other people (1 John 4:19-21).

vision ~ something that God shows to a person but not with the physical sight. Visions are often in the form of dreams.
sacrifice ~ something that people gave to God. (or, something that people gave to a false god). It could be an animal, or grain, or oil, or wine. The priest burned all or part of the sacrifice on an altar. Sometimes people gave sacrifices in order to thank God. And sometimes people gave sacrifices so that God could forgive sin (Leviticus 4:35).
altar ~ the special table where people burn animals or offer other gifts to God or to false gods.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means, ‘He is always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
Sabbath ~ The Sabbath was the 7th day of the week. God told the Israelites to keep it as a special day.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
ephah ~ equal to 22 litres.
hin ~ equal to one gallon.
bulls ~ the male farm animals which mate with cows.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
holy ~ what God is like. He is completely different from people. He never does anything wrong. The word ‘holy’ also describes something that is separate, for God’s use only. People must never use a holy thing for ordinary purposes.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
altar ~ the special table where people burn animals or offer other gifts to God or to false gods.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
glory ~ great honour and beauty.
Israel ~ Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel. Israel became the name of the northern nation when it separated from Judah. However, Ezekiel sometimes uses the word ‘Israel’ to refer to Judah.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
vision ~ something that God shows to a person but not with the physical sight. Visions are often in the form of dreams.
cubit ~ a length of about half a metre.'

Ezekiel: “They shall know that I am God”

The Future *Temple and *Sacrifices

Ezekiel Chapter s 40 to 48

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 46

The rules for gifts and *sacrifices – Ezekiel 46:1-15

v1 ‘This is what the *LORD your King says. You will keep the east gate to the inner area closed for 6 days each week. But you shall open it on the *Sabbath and on the day of the new moon. v2 The prince will enter from outside through the entrance of the gate. He will stand by the gate. The priests will make his *sacrifice by fire and his *sacrifice of peace. He will *worship at the entrance of the gate. Then he will go out but the gate will be open until the evening. v3 The people from the country will *worship at the entrance of that gate. They will *worship the *LORD there on the *Sabbaths and on the day of the new moon. v4 The prince will offer a *sacrifice by fire to the *LORD on the *Sabbath day. This *sacrifice will be 6 young male sheep and one male sheep. There must be nothing wrong with any of them. v5 He must give to the priests an *ephah of grain with the male sheep. He may give to them as much grain as he wants with the young sheep. With each *ephah of grain, he must give to them a *hin of oil. v6 On the day of the new moon, he must bring *sacrifices. He will bring a young *bull, 6 young sheep and a male sheep. There must be nothing wrong with any of these animals. v7 He must give to the priests an *ephah of grain with the *bull. He must give to them an *ephah of grain with the male sheep. He may give to them as much grain as he wants with the young sheep. With each *ephah of grain, he must give to the priests a *hin of oil. v8 When the prince enters, he must go in through the hall of the gate. He must go out the same way.

v9 The people from the country will come to *worship the *LORD on the special days. Those people who enter by the north gate will leave by the south gate. Those people who enter by the south gate will leave by the north gate. None of them shall leave by the gate that they entered. They must leave by the opposite gate. v10 The prince will enter with the people when they enter. When they leave, he will leave with them.

v11 On the special days, they will offer these *sacrifices. They will bring a *bull with an *ephah of grain. They will bring a male sheep with an *ephah of grain. And they will bring the young sheep with as much grain as they want to bring. With each *ephah of grain, they will bring a *hin of oil. v12 The prince may give a *sacrifice as a special gift to the *LORD. It may be a *sacrifice by fire or a *sacrifice for peace. When he gives it to the *LORD, the inner east gate will be open for him. He must make these *sacrifices as he does on the *Sabbath day. Then he will go out. The gate must not remain open after he goes out.

v13 Every day you will give to the *LORD a year-old sheep that has nothing wrong with it. This will be a *sacrifice by fire to the *LORD. You must do this every morning. v14 You must also give to the *LORD grain with the young sheep each morning. For this, you will give a 6th of an *ephah of grain and a third of a *hin of oil. The oil will make the flour damp. You must obey this rule from now and always. v15 So you must always give to him the young sheep, together with the grain and the oil. Every morning you will give them to the *LORD as a *sacrifice by fire.’

Verses 1-8 The *Lord gave the *Sabbath to the *Israelites. They have to obey the rules of the *Sabbath for all time. They are to work for 6 days but they must rest on the 7th day. On that day, they must *worship the *Lord. The *Israelites during Ezekiel’s life refused to obey the *Sabbath day rules. In the future time, the *Israelites will obey the new rules for the *Sabbath and the new moon. The new moon is the beginning of each month by the *Israelites’ calendar. So the first day in each month is also a special day to *worship the *Lord.

The priests will open the east gate to the inner court only on the special days. These days will be the *Sabbath day and the day of the new moon. The prince will lead the people in their *worship. He will enter this gate. He will bring his *sacrifices to the priests. And he will *worship at the entrance to the gate. He must not go into the inner area. The people will *worship at this gate but they will not go in.

Verses 9-12 On these special days, the *Israelites will come to *worship. They will come into the *temple area by the north and south gates. They must not go out by the same gate as they entered. This is a practical arrangement. Large crowds will come to *worship. The people will leave without difficulty if they leave by the opposite gate.

The people must bring their *sacrifices to the priests. The prince will enter with the people. He will give his *sacrifices to the priests at the inner east gate. They will open that gate just to receive his *sacrifices. They will close the gate as soon as the prince leaves.

Verse 13-15 In addition to the special days, there will be daily *sacrifices. Each morning the prince will bring these *sacrifices to the priests.

The property of the prince – Ezekiel 46:16-18

v16 ‘This is what the *LORD your King says. If the prince gives some of his land to any of his sons, that land will belong to the son. On the death of the son, the land will belong to his children. It is their land and it belongs to their family. v17 The prince may give some of his land to a servant. That land will belong to the servant only until the year of freedom. Then the land will belong to the prince again. So, the prince’s land will continue to belong to his family. And it will become his sons’ land. v18 The prince must not take any land from the people. He must not force any of them to leave their land. He may only give his own land to his sons. He must not separate any of my people from their own land.’

Verses 16-18 The prince will own his land. He can give it away if he wants to. However, the land must still belong to his family. If the prince gave land to another person, it would be only until the year of freedom. Then the land would come back into the possession of the family.

Each 50th year will be a year of freedom. Then the prince or his family will again own the land that he gave to another person. This rule of the year of freedom affects all *Israelites.

The prince cannot buy or receive land from another *Israelite.

The priests’ kitchens – Ezekiel 46:19-24

v19 The man led me through the entrance at the side of the gate to the rooms of the priests. These *holy rooms are toward the north. He showed me a place at the west end. v20 The man said to me, ‘Here the priests prepare the *sacrifices. Here they will boil the meat for the blame *sacrifice and for the *sacrifice because of *sin. Here they also bake the grain for the *sacrifices. They will not need to bring these *holy *sacrifices into the outer area. The *sacrifices are *holy and the people must not touch them.’

v21 Then the man brought me into the outer area. He led me to its four corners. In each corner of the outer area was a smaller area. v22 These small areas were in the 4 corners of the outer area. Each small area was the same size. They were 40 *cubits long and 30 *cubits wide. v23 And there was a stone wall round the inside of each of the 4 small areas. There were places in which to cook. They were at the base of the walls. v24 The man said to me, ‘These places are the kitchens. Here those who work in the *temple will cook the *sacrifices. These kitchens are for the *sacrifices that the people offer.’

Verses 19-24 The man took Ezekiel out of the inner area. He took him to the priests’ rooms on the north side of the *temple. In these rooms, the priests will change their clothes. In them, they will eat the *holy *sacrifices. At the west end of these rooms will be the kitchens. Here the priests will prepare some types of *sacrifices. These *sacrifices are particularly *holy. That is why the priests must cook them in a separate kitchen. People who are not priests cannot enter this area. Only priests may eat these *sacrifices.

There will be another four kitchens. They will be in the four corners of the outer area. Each of these kitchens will be 70 feet (21.5 metres) by 52½ feet (16.2 metres). Here the *temple servants will cook the *sacrifices that the people bring to them. They will cook the peace *sacrifices here. The people who bring peace *sacrifices may eat part of these *sacrifices. Another part of these *sacrifices must burn on the *altar. And the last part belongs to the priests.

*Israel’s new country – Ezekiel 47:1-48

temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
sacrifice ~ The priests killed a special animal and they burned it on an altar. That animal was called a sacrifice. They offered a sacrifice when they asked God to forgive sins. When Jesus died, he was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Animals or people whom God or other people kill for a purpose are also sacrifices (see Ezekiel 39:17). And people also made sacrifices to false gods.
altar ~ the special table where people burn animals or offer other gifts to God or to false gods.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
sacrifice ~ The priests killed a special animal and they burned it on an altar. That animal was called a sacrifice. They offered a sacrifice when they asked God to forgive sins. When Jesus died, he was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Animals or people whom God or other people kill for a purpose are also sacrifices (see Ezekiel 39:17). And people also made sacrifices to false gods.
altar ~ the special table where people burn animals or offer other gifts to God or to false gods.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
Sabbath ~ The Sabbath was the 7th day of the week. God told the Israelites to keep it as a special day.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
ephah ~ equal to 22 litres.
hin ~ equal to one gallon.
bulls ~ the male farm animals which mate with cows.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
holy ~ a holy object is special; it is only for religion. God himself and his name are also called ‘holy’. This means that God and his name are perfect, in fact, even more than perfect.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
cubit ~ a length of about half a metre.
altar ~ the special table where people burn animals or offer other gifts to God or to false gods.
Israel ~ Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel. Israel became the name of the northern nation when it separated from Judah. However, Ezekiel sometimes uses the word ‘Israel’ to refer to Judah.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.