Ezekiel 45

REVIEW QUESTIONS

What stood at the center of Old Testament worship? What is the New Testament altar? (See Hebrews 13:10.)

What were the horns of the altar?

To what two uses was the Old Testament altar put?

What was the significance of the burnt-offering? the peace-offering? the meal-offering? Why was salt sprinkled on the burnt-offering?

Why were the Levites demoted in privilege in Ezekiel’s Temple?

What restriction would be put on aliens in the new Temple age?

How were the Zadokite priests to be dressed when they served in the Temple? What is the significance of this dress?

What duties did Ezekiel envision being performed by priests in the new Temple age?

Why did God require such strict ritual regarding priests who contacted dead bodies?

Why would the Zadokite priests receive no inheritance?

In the new apportionment of Canaan who would possess the central section of the land?

What appeal does Ezekiel make to future rulers of Israel?

What responsibility would the prince have in reference to the Temple offerings?

What various festival days does Ezekiel mention in connection with the new age?

Why was the eastern gate of the Temple forever to remain shut?

What restrictions were placed on the prince in reference to the disposition of his property?

What is symbolized by the river which flowed forth from the Temple of God? What problems do literalists have in dealing with Ezekiel’s river?

How does the original apportionment of land to the twelve tribes differ from that described by Ezekiel?

What inheritance rights would aliens have in the new Canaan?

How is Ezekiel’s description of the new Jerusalem similar to that of John in Revelation?

Ezekiel 45:1-8

5. The apportionment of the sacred portion of the land

(45:1-8)

TRANSLATION

(1) Moreover, when you shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an oblation unto the LORD, a holy portion of the land; the length shall be the length of twenty-five thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand: it shall be holy in all the border thereof round about. (2) Of this there shall be for the holy place five hundred in length, square round about; and fifty cubits for the suburbs thereof round about. (3) And of this measure you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand, and a breadth of ten thousand; and in it shall be the sanctuary, which is most holy. (4) It is a holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, that come near to minister unto the LORD; and it shall be a place for their houses, and a holy place for the sanctuary. (5) And twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth, shall be unto the Levites, the ministers of the house, for a possession unto themselves, for twenty chambers. (6) And you shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and twenty-five thousand long, side by side with the oblation of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel. (7) And whatsoever is for the prince shall be on the one side and on the other side of the holy oblation and of the possession of the city, in front of the holy oblatit)n and in front of the possession of the city, on the west side westward, and on the east side eastward; and in length answerable unto one Of the portions, from the west border unto the east border. (8) In the land it shall be to him for a possession in Israel: and My princes shall no more oppress My people; but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

COMMENTS

Ezekiel anticipates an apportionment of the Holy Land among the tribes of Israel. The central portion of that land was to belong to the Lord. This rectangular area twenty-five thousand by ten thousand reeds[525] was to be reserved for the priests and the new Temple (Ezekiel 45:4). This portion of the land is viewed as more holy than the rest of the land (Ezekiel 45:1). In the center of this priestly portion of ground was a square (500 x 500 reeds) where the Temple would be located. It was separated from the area where the priests dwelled by fifty cubits of open space (Ezekiel 45:2-3).[526]

[525] Actually the unit of measurement is missing in the Hebrew text. Some scholars think the unit is the cubit.

[526] It if not clear whether Ezekiel 45:3 refers 10 an additional portion or 25,000 x 10,000 reeds. or whether this is the same portion mentioned in Ezekiel 45:1.

The Levites would occupy a portion of land equal in extent to and adjoining that of the priests. Scholars differ as to whether this area was north or south of the priests-’ portion. At the extreme end of the Levites-’ portion twenty chambers[527] were to be built apparently to house the gate-keepers so that they would be near the Temple (Ezekiel 45:5).[528]

[527] The RSV follows the Greek Old Testament and reads *for cities to live in.

[528]* In Ezekiel 45:5 the Levites are again called ministers of the house in contrast to the priests who were ministers unto the Lord.

The city of Jerusalem was allocated a rectangular portion of land (25,000 x 5,000 reeds) adjacent to the portion of the priests on the south. This section of the land could be inhabited by any Israelite without regard to tribe (Ezekiel 45:6). The total territory of the holy portion the territory allocated to the holy city, to the priests, Levites and Temple comprised an area 25,000 reeds square.

On either side of the holy portion (lit., holy offering[529]) which has been described in the previous verses were the territories of the prince (Ezekiel 45:7). The portion of the prince was equal to that assigned to entire tribes, except that within his territory was the 25,000 reed square holy portion (cf. Ezekiel 48:21). The princes of the future would not confiscate the land of their subjects; they would respect the tribal boundaries. These princes would be God-fearing men, and they would have adequate territories to support their own needs. Therefore, they would have neither the inclination nor the need to wrong the people of God (Ezekiel 45:8).

[529] The Hebrew word translated offering is teruma. This word is frequently translated heave-offering. A more accurate translation is

levy, or compulsory contribution. See Taylor. TOTC, p. 273

C. The Regulations Concerning Worship 45:9-46:24

At this point in his vision of the new Temple Ezekiel sets forth the regulations pertaining to (1) the rights and duties of the prince (Ezekiel 45:9-17); (2) the festival offerings (Ezekiel 45:18-25); (3) the offerings on the sabbath and new moon (Ezekiel 46:1-7); (4) the entrance and exit of the worshipers (Ezekiel 46:8-10); (5) the offerings of the prince on behalf of the people (Ezekiel 46:11-15); (6) the inheritance of the prince (Ezekiel 46:16-18); and (7) the preparation of the sacrificial meals (Ezekiel 46:19-24).

Ezekiel 45:9-17

1. The rights and duties of the prince (45:9-17)

TRANSLATION

(9) Thus says the Lord GOD: Let it suffice you, O prince of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute justice and righteousness; take away your exactions from My people, (oracle of the Lord GOD). (10) You 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 a homer, and the ephah the tenth part of a homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer. (12) And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh. (13) This is the oblation that you shall offer: the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of wheat; and you shall give the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of barley; (14) and the set portion of oil, of the bath of oil, the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is ten baths, even a homer; (for ten baths are a homer;) (15) and one lamb of the flock, out of two hundred, from the well-watered pastures of Israel; for a meal-offering, and for a burnt-offering, and for peace-offerings, to make atonement for them, (oracle of the Lord GOD). (16) All the people of the land shall give unto this oblation for the prince in Israel. (17) And it shall be the prince’s part to give the burnt-offerings, and the meal-offerings, and the drink-offerings, in the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the sabbaths, in all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin-offering, and the meal-offering, and the burnt-offering, and the peace-offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.

COMMENTS

God appeals to the future rulers of His people to abandon the greed and corruption of their predecessors who did violence to the helpless and took spoil of them. He urges them to take away their exactions the unjust seizure of property; to rule in justice and righteousness (Ezekiel 45:9). The most common means of defrauding people was by means of unjust measures. The future leaders must eliminate this evil and demand that just weights and measures be used throughout the land. The ephah was a dry measure, the bath[530] a liquid measure (Ezekiel 45:10). Both were equal to a tenth of a homer,[531] which was the standard unit of measure (Ezekiel 45:11). A shekel (about 0.4 ounces) was equal to twenty gerahs. Sixty shekels made up a mina (KJV maneh).[532] The shekels were in use in denominations of twenty, twenty-five and fifteen in the days of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 45:12).

[530] An ephah and bath were equal to about five gallons. [531] Homer, literally ass-load, was equal to about six bushels.

[532] Elsewhere it is fifty shekels which equals a mina. Perhaps the Jewish shekel had been devalued during the Exile to bring it into harmony with the Babylonian shekel.

The reason for the concern about weights and measures appears in Ezekiel 45:13. The people are to present offerings to their prince. He in turn had the responsibility of supplying the needs of the Temple service. A sixth of an ephah of wheat and barley was required (Ezekiel 45:13), a tenth of each bath of oil,[533] (Ezekiel 45:14), and one lamb out of a flock of two hundred. These required dues were to be used in Temple offerings to make atonement for the people (Ezekiel 45:15).

[533] The cor was identical to the homer. Cf. Ezekiel 45:11.

The prince had the responsibility of collecting the Temple offerings from the people (Ezekiel 45:16). He in turn provided the communal sacrifices offered throughout the year, as well as those special sacrifices offered on festival days (Ezekiel 45:17).

Ezekiel 45:18-25

2. Festival offerings (45:18-25)

TRANSLATION

(18) Thus says the Lord GOD: In the first month, in the first day of the month, you shall take a young bullock without blemish; and you shall cleanse the sanctuary. (19) And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering, and put it upon the doorposts of the house, and upon the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court. (20) And so you shall do on the seventh day of the month for every one that errs, and for him that is simple: so shall you make atonement for the house. (21) In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, you 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 the seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt-offering to the l,ORD, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a he-goat daily for a sin-offering. (24) And he shall prepare a meal-offering, and ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and a hin of oil to an ephah. (25) In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, in the feast, shall he do the like seven days; according to the sin-offering, according to the burnt-offering, according to the meal-offering, and according to the oil.

COMMENTS

The regulations regarding festival offerings sketched out here presuppose the more detailed instructions found in the Pentateuch. Some of the sacrifices spoken of here and in the next Chapter s were unknown in Solomon’s Temple. Some scholars hold that the sacrifices outlined here were intended to be replacement for the Mosaic regulations regarding these holy days. Others see these sacrifices as being in addition to those stipulated in the Mosaic law. Still others see these sacrifices as authorized only for the period of the dedication of the new Temple.

Ezekiel 45:18-20 speak regarding the New Year’s celebration The blood of a bullock would be employed to purify the sanctuary on New Year’s day (Ezekiel 45:18). The blood of that sin offering would be smeared on the doorposts of the Temple, on the four corners of the greater ledge of the altar (cf. Ezekiel 43:20), and on the post of the gate[534] of the inner court (Ezekiel 45:19). These actions were to be repeated on the seventh day of the month. This ritual served to cleanse the holy area from those who through ignorance had wandered into a restricted area of the Temple courtyard.

[534] The word gate may be used here in a collective sense of all three gates of the inner court.

In Ezekiel 45:21-24 Ezekiel speaks concerning the Passover. This feast commemorated the deliverance of the Jews from Egypt. It was celebrated on the fourteenth day of Nisan, the first month. This spring festival lasted seven days during which only unleavened bread was eaten (Ezekiel 45:21). The prince was to prepare, i.e., provide, a bullock as a sin-offering for himself and for the people (Ezekiel 45:22). No such sacrifice was connected with Passover in the Mosiac dispensation. In addition to the sin-offering bullock, the prince was to provide for burnt-offerings seven bullocks and seven rams on each of the seven days of the festival, as well as a he-goat each day for a sin-offering (Ezekiel 45:23). Along with each bullock and ram the prince was to provide a ephah of grain and a hin of oil (Ezekiel 45:24).

The feast of Tabernacles (Ezekiel 45:25) was observed during Tishri, the seventh month. During this joyous seven-day festival the prince was to duplicate the offerings required during Passover.