And he brought me back toward the outer gate of the sanctuary which looked toward the east; and it was shut.
The prophet comes back to the gate on the east side of the sanctuary — the same gate he had watched standing open — and now finds it shut. Two questions follow: why must this one entrance stay closed, and who, if anyone, may use it?
One writer sets the two scenes at this gate side by side:
At first, the prophet saw the gate open, but now he sees it closed. By His own sovereign right Jehovah, the God of Israel, had entered the sanctuary to dwell there.
Earlier in the book Ezekiel had watched God's visible glory leave the temple before Jerusalem fell. It left by one road and comes back by the same road:
It is the same glory that left that now returns. It is the same Lord, who takes up His relationship with His people on earth again. When the visible glory of the Lord withdrew, His gracious presence left His people, and judgment followed. The return of the visible glory means His gracious presence comes back to them, and that the judgment, which has lasted so long, is gone forever. The glory left through the east gate, and appeared last on the mountain on the east side of the city. The return comes from the east, and the glory of the Lord enters through the east gate.
A door is shut behind someone either because he has gone out or because he is not going out again. Here it is the second:
The glory of the Lord comes back to the earth, and Jehovah returns to His house in Ezekiel 44, and returns to stay. That is why we read these striking words: "This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it, because the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut" (Ezek. 44:2).
Israel's old failure was treating God as one god among many. The sealed gate answers that failure:
In the past kings, priests, and people had fallen into the evil of treating Jehovah as though He was altogether like one of themselves. In their rebellion and idol worship He had become only one God among many, even though they might give Him first place among their gods. In the days to come, when God Himself rules, there will be one Jehovah and His name will be one. Everyone will acknowledge His absolute supremacy, and the evil of idol worship will vanish from the earth. So the shutting of the East Gate, the gate He entered His House by, underlines the majesty and unique glory of Jehovah; no one may enter or go out by that gate.
One man, called the prince, may sit in that gateway and eat a meal before the Lord. Even his privilege has limits:
He is privileged, as no other person, to occupy the porch of the east gate, sitting there to eat bread before Jehovah. But he does not pass through the gate, he enters by the porch and goes out by the same way. In this way the special holiness of this gate would strike everyone, and the Prince most of all, reminding him that his own place is a lower one.
The gate's whole history, then, belongs to one Person:
The Prince comes in to sit at the East Gate, but he is not allowed to go through it; One only will ever go through that gate — that is Jehovah Himself. Those doors open only to let in the Lord of Hosts.
Readers often take "the prince" as a title for Christ. One writer rules that out:
Jehovah, the God of Israel, entered, and that alone was enough to close the gate to everyone but His representative. But He will have a representative on earth — the prince. He is to have the honour of going in and coming out by the way of the porch of that gate. No high priest ever claimed this. It is not a priest but the prince, the earthly chief of Israel... It is enough to say that he is certainly not the Messiah. The reason is this: though he is clearly marked off from a priest, he still needs to offer a sin offering, and he may have sons. No doubt he is a future prince of the house of David.
- Departure. The glory of the Lord once left the temple through the east gate, and judgment followed; the same glory returns by the same way.
- Entry. The gate is sealed for one reason only — the God of Israel has passed through it, entering His house by His own sovereign right.
- Permanence. He does not come back for a visit. He returns to remain, so the door behind Him is never reopened.
- Supremacy. A people who once treated Him as one god among many will see His unique majesty every day in a gate no one may use.
- Limit. Even the prince, the highest man in the nation, may only sit in the porch and leave the way he came. No one stands on a level with God.
And Jehovah said unto me, This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter in by it for Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it; and it shall be shut.
The vision has moved from measuring the temple to guarding it, and Ezekiel now sees a door that will never open again. A shut gate sounds like a loss, yet here it is proof of a homecoming and a question: who may come near?
This is not the first time the prophet has stood at this spot. He had watched something pass through it. That memory gives the closed door its meaning.
The prophet is brought back again to the gate that looks toward the east. This time it was shut. When he saw it before, the glory of Jehovah came by this very way into the house, and filled it.
The shut gate is not neglect. It is deliberate, and it keeps a record.
Ezekiel 44 makes known that Jehovah has returned to His house. The memorial of His return stands in this: the door He entered by is to remain shut for ever.
The shut door raises a question of time. How long does Jehovah mean to stay?
The prophet learns that this restoration of Jehovah's presence will not be temporary. It will last for ever: "this is the place of My throne ... where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever."
(Kelly is quoting Ezekiel 43:7.)
Israel's past failure was not only idol worship. They had shrunk the distance between God and themselves, and the shut gate answers that.
In the past kings, priests, and people fell into an evil: they treated Jehovah as though He were just like one of themselves. In their rebellion and idolatry He had become one God among many. They might give Him first place in their collection of gods, but no more than that. In the coming kingdom, where God Himself rules, there will be one Jehovah and His name one. All will acknowledge His absolute supremacy, and the evil of idolatry will be gone from the earth. So the shut East Gate, the gate He entered by, marks the majesty and distinctive glory of Jehovah. No one may enter or go out by that gate.
The next verse names one man with a privilege at this gate. Even his access has a limit.
The prince comes in to sit at the East Gate, but he is not allowed to go through it. One only will ever go through that gate — that is Jehovah Himself. Those doors open only to let in the Lord of Hosts.
Is this prince the Messiah? The nearby chapters answer that.
The entrance of Jehovah, the God of Israel, was enough to close the gate to all but His representative. But He will have a representative on earth — the prince — and the prince shall sit "to eat bread before Jehovah." He is to have the honour of entering and going out by the way of the porch of that gate. No high priest ever claimed this. He is not a priest but the prince, the earthly chief of Israel. We shall learn from chapters 45 and 46 a little more about him. It is enough to say that he is not the Messiah. Though he is quite distinct from a priest, he needs to offer a sin offering, and he may have sons.
The verse names the one who entered: the God of Israel. Commentators press further — who is He?
The glory in the cloud was the God of Israel (Ezekiel 43:4; 44:2). The God of Israel was Jesus of Nazareth (Isaiah 6:1; John 12:41). The Nazarene was like the cloud that veiled a light. In its full brightness no one can approach that light, though faith discovers it.
- Entered. The gate is shut because someone came through it. The glory of the LORD entered His house from the east, and the prophet saw it.
- Remembered. The sealed door keeps that entrance on record. Jehovah's return is not a visit but for ever.
- Exalted. A gate no one may reuse teaches what Israel had lost: God is not one among many, and no king or priest stands on His level.
- Limited. The prince gets the closest place of any man, eating bread before Jehovah. Yet he may not pass through, and his sin offering and sons show he is not the Messiah.
- Revealed. The glory that passed through was the God of Israel. Commentators name Him as Jesus of Nazareth — the light no one can approach, veiled so faith can see it.
As for the prince, he, the prince, shall sit in it to eat bread before Jehovah he shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.
Ezekiel 44 shuts the east gate, with one exception: a man called "the prince" may sit there and eat bread before the LORD. Commentators see a picture of the future kingdom, and they ask who this prince is and why his privilege is so limited.
God's glory came in by this gate, and shutting it keeps that fact in view. The rule holds for the prince too.
It is no surprise that this passage brings the divine glory before us again. There is a lasting witness to that glory entering the house, and to the essential preeminence of Jehovah. No one, not even the Prince, may enter by the east gate through which Ezekiel saw the glory come in.
This is the first time the prince appears, and readers ask whether he is Christ. One writer answers from what the prince still needs and still has.
But He will have a representative on earth — the prince — and the prince shall sit "to eat bread before the LORD." He has the honour of entering and leaving by the porch of that gate. No high priest ever claimed this. In fact he is not a priest but the prince, the earthly chief of Israel… He is certainly not the Messiah. Though he is clearly distinct from a priest, he still needs to offer a sin-offering, and he may have sons. No doubt it is a future prince of the house of David.
Commentators differ over how far to press that description into a title. One writer warns against a label Scripture never uses, while agreeing about his line:
Scripture has no such term as "the Prince of the house of David." It does speak of the Prince, and we do not doubt that he will be of the line of David. There will be an earthly representative. But there is something greater, for the glory of the Lord will fill the temple. The Prince comes in to sit at the East Gate, but he is not allowed to go through it. Only One will ever go through that gate — Jehovah Himself. Those doors open only to let in the Lord of Hosts.
The older wording calls the vestibule the porch. His route there, and how far he may go, both mark his rank.
Here we meet a leading figure not named before — the Prince. He alone may occupy the porch of the east gate, sitting there to eat bread before Jehovah. But he does not pass through the gate. He enters by the porch and goes out the same way. This would impress the special holiness of the gate on everyone, and above all on the Prince himself, reminding him of his subordinate place. He seems to be the nation's highest leader outside the priesthood, yet the shut gate and his limited privilege teach everyone the supreme place of Jehovah. His place seems to lie between the people and the priesthood: he is not a priest and may not enter the inner court, yet he draws nearer than the people do.
The prince stands in for the people, so what he shares at that meal reaches further than himself.
Still, the Prince may share a sacrificial feast in the porch of this gate. That hints at the link between the saved nation and the glory of God, which has made this gate holy in a special way. In his position he is surely representative of the nation. His communion is with God, whose glory entered by that gate and now dwells in His house among them. Seen in him, the nation shares that communion — a holy, happy, wholesome lesson.
A rule in a later chapter keeps this honour from lifting him above the people.
On the feast days he goes in for worship with the people, so that he should not exalt himself too much. "The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside… and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate" (Ezek. 46:2). He takes his place with the people of Israel in giving homage to Jehovah.
The highest man in that nation still stops at the threshold. One writer sets that beside the access believers already have.
Still it remains true that neither the people nor the Prince entered inside. In that day of blessing, those most blessed on earth will never have the access into God's presence that we have. We go in by the Spirit, through the veil.
- Glory first. The gate is shut because God's glory went in by it; every rule that follows about the prince exists to guard that fact.
- One place. The prince alone may sit in that gate — the single exception to a shut door.
- A limited place. He enters and leaves by the porch. He never passes through, and that marks his lower rank.
- A shared place. Eating bread there, he represents the nation, so his communion with God is theirs too.
- A lesser place than ours. Prince and people still worship at a threshold; believers now go in through the veil by the Spirit.