This is the heave-offering which ye shall offer the sixth part of an ephah out of a homer of wheat, and ye shall give the sixth part of an ephah out of a homer of barley;
Ezekiel's closing vision (chapters 40–48) maps out a temple, a land, and an order of worship for Israel in a day still future. At verse 13 the focus turns to what the people themselves bring, and the fixed fractions of wheat and barley raise two questions: why these exact amounts, and why sacrifices at all after the cross.
The verses just before this one call for holiness and truth in daily life. One writer traces the sequence: worship comes after right living.
First we considered the place of the Sanctuary (vv. 1-8), then the ways of holiness and truth God commands (vv. 9-12); and now the order of worship, the way of approach to God. This teaches us that right ways in practical life are the garments which must first clothe those who are to be worshippers. The removal of evil and the following of righteousness must characterise those who offer their gifts to God.
Ezekiel names measures for both dry and liquid goods, with one larger standard behind both.
Isaiah 5:10 makes clear that both liquid and dry measure are mentioned by Ezekiel, the bath being the former and the ephah the latter. The homer is made the standard for both, a measure roughly estimated at 11 bushels, or 90 gallons.
Each of the four items carries its own meaning.
The lamb needs little comment; we know it so well as the type of Christ, the Lamb of God. Oil is the well-known symbol of the Holy Spirit… We think of the grains too in relation to Christ: wheat for the Bread of Life, and barley for the food of the poor and humble — and to be that, He Himself entered into humiliation. Barley was, and still is to some extent, the food of the poor (Ruth 2:17; 2 Kings 4:42; John 6:9, 13).
"Oblation" translates a Hebrew word with a physical picture behind it, and the same word governs Israel's gifts for the tabernacle long before.
Terumah, the word for heave-offering, means a sacrifice or gift offered up — that is, raised or lifted up in presentation for acceptance, and so devoted to Jehovah's service. In the Law the usual heave-offering is the right shoulder, the type of service, and of the most effective service, since the right shoulder is the one best able to bear the burden. It is the term used for Israel's gifts for the tabernacle. There we learn what God's mind is about the inward state of those who offer: it is heart-willingness, the spirit of someone wholly yielded up to God in devoted service. The inner attitude answers to the outward act as the gift is lifted up.
Everyone in the land had a share in this offering, and the lesson reaches past Israel.
Aside from these suggestions, this heave-offering from all the people teaches us to recognise God's goodness and generous giving, from the least to the greatest form of blessing… This should be true of all God's people, whether the form of blessing is earthly or heavenly.
This offering runs between the people and their prince, and it gives each of them a place.
The religious dues come next, set out with precision… This defined the relative places of the people and the prince. There was no confusion, but their interests were shared, and could not be separated.
But who is this prince in that future kingdom?
Notice that Israel in the millennial kingdom will have a prince on earth who will go in and out of the sanctuary. Who is this prince? Certainly not the Lord Jesus, the Messiah Himself. He will be the earthly representative of Jehovah and His Christ, and of him we learn more in Ezekiel 45 and 46. Doubtless he will be a direct descendant of David, God's chosen king of Israel.
If Christ has died once for all, why offerings again?
I know it has been said that the offering of millennial sacrifices would be a going back in the ways of God. But this is not true. The sacrifices of Israel in the future will be completely different from those in the past. Those of old were types of what Christ was coming to do in sacrifice. In those future days they will be the appointed types of what Christ has accomplished by His one sacrificial offering and death.
- Clean hands. Right living comes before the gift: "the removal of evil and the following of righteousness must characterise those who offer their gifts to God."
- Lifted gift. The offering is terumah, something "raised or lifted up in presentation for acceptance." The outward act must answer to "heart-willingness" inside.
- Christ pictured. Wheat is the Bread of Life. Barley speaks of His humiliation. Oil is the Spirit. The lamb is redemption.
- Shared, not split. The people give; the prince provides the sacrifices. Their interests "could not be separated." This prince is a descendant of David, not the Messiah.
- Looking back. The old sacrifices pointed forward to the cross. These will be "the appointed types of what Christ has accomplished by His one sacrificial offering and death."
and the set portion of oil, by the bath of oil, the tenth part of a bath out of a cor, [which is] a homer of ten baths, for ten baths are a homer;
Ezekiel 45 sets its dues down to the fraction: a sixth of an ephah from each homer of grain, and a tenth of a bath from every cor of oil. Why would God, describing a temple still future, fix the exact size of a jar of oil?
This verse sits inside a list of contributions the people owe. One writer sees in it a settlement of who owes what to whom.
Next, the religious dues are set out with precision… This defined the relative places of the people and the prince. There was no confusion, but their interests were shared, and could not be separated.
The verse names three units — bath, cor, homer — and then explains itself, because a cor and a homer are the same thing.
Isaiah 5:10 makes clear that Ezekiel mentions both liquid and dry measure: the bath is the liquid one and the ephah the dry. The homer is the standard for both, a measure estimated at about 11 bushels, or 90 gallons.
Commentators differ on the modern equivalent; a reference list in the same repository puts the cor nearer 64 gallons. The bath itself resurfaces in the New Testament, in the parable of the dishonest manager who tells a debtor to change the figure on his bill:
"Baths," a liquid measure. Ten of these went to the cor (Ezek. 45:14).
In this chapter worship comes third in order. What stands before it is not an accident.
First we considered the place of the sanctuary (verses 1–8), then the ways of holiness and truth that God commands (verses 9–12); and now comes the order of worship, the way of approach to God. This teaches us that right ways in practical life are the garments which must first clothe those who are to be worshippers. Those who offer their gifts to God must put away evil and follow righteousness. Without obedience and practical righteousness, God can take no pleasure in mere outward observance and lip worship.
Wheat, barley, oil and a lamb make up the people's contribution. Each carries a meaning drawn from the rest of Scripture.
The lamb needs little comment. We know it so well as the picture of Christ, the Lamb of God. Oil is the well-known symbol of the Holy Spirit, and here it goes with the offering of an ephah presented with the various sacrifices. We think of the grains too in relation to Christ. Wheat speaks of Him as the Bread of Life. Barley is the food of the poor and humble, and to be that food He Himself entered into humiliation.
Taken together, the four gifts add up to one act of acknowledgement, and the same writer widens it to all God's people:
This offering from all the people teaches us to recognize God's goodness and His generous giving. It runs from the lowest to the highest, from the least to the greatest form of blessing (barley, wheat). That blessing is realized in the power of the Spirit (oil), and in redemption (the lamb). This should be true of all God's people, whether the form of blessing be earthly or heavenly.
The oil does not go straight onto the altar. Someone stands between the people and the sacrifice.
The people give their offerings to him, and he administers them in providing for the ritual of sacrifice. The people do not seem to bring sacrifices themselves. The Prince gives everything for the appointed ritual, including the daily burnt offering (Ezek. 45:17). Scripture speaks of the people as doing nothing but worshipping while the Prince offers. He fills a representative position on behalf of the people, though the people still have their part, since they first present their offerings to him (Ezek. 45:13-17) and join in worship when he offers.
Animal sacrifices appear again in Ezekiel's temple, long after the cross.
Some have felt a difficulty about sacrifices being restored. The difficulty disappears once we remember that these sacrifices will belong to an earthly people and an earthly temple, and will be commemorative in character. In the old arrangement they had no power at all apart from their reference to Christ, since it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Heb. 10:4). In the coming kingdom they will look back to that one sacrifice for sin offered on the cross, just as the sacrifices under Moses pointed forward to it. So they will only recall to the grateful, worshipping hearts of God's people the blood of Jesus Christ His Son, which cleanses from all sin.
- Measure — the homer and the cor are one unit, holding ten baths. Each cor of oil owes a tenth of a bath.
- Honesty — right living comes first. Without obedience and practical righteousness, the measured gift gives God no pleasure.
- Gift — the people measure out wheat, barley, oil and a lamb: bread of life and food of the humble, the Spirit, and redemption.
- Hand-over — the gift passes to the prince. He offers on the people's behalf while they worship.
- Direction — the sacrifices these gifts supply no longer point forward. They look back to the one sacrifice already made.
and one lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, from the well-watered pastures of Israel; -- for an oblation, and for a burnt-offering, and for peace-offerings, to make atonement for them, saith the Lord Jehovah.
The list of dues in Ezekiel 45 ends with the smallest gift of all: one sheep out of every two hundred. Two questions press on a reader here: why are animal sacrifices arranged at all after the cross, and why does the whole nation's gift pass through one man, the prince?
In verses 13-17 the people hand over wheat, barley, oil and lambs. The prince then turns these gifts into the offerings at every feast. One writer sees two roles that stay distinct, yet never come apart.
This settled the places of the people and the prince. There was no confusion, but their interests were shared and could not be separated.
The prince does not keep what he receives. He stands between the nation and the priests, supplying what worship at the temple needs.
It does not appear that the people bring sacrifices themselves. The Prince gives everything for the set ritual, including the daily burnt offering (Ezek. 45:17). Scripture speaks of the people as worshipping at the times when the Prince offers, but the act of offering is his... So he fills a representative place for the people in these particular offerings. Yet the people have their part in all of them, because they first give their offerings to the Prince (Ezek. 45:13-17), and they join in worship when he offers.
Each item in the list of gifts carries meaning.
Apart from these suggestions, this heave-offering from all the people teaches us to recognize God's goodness and generous giving, from the lowest form of blessing to the highest, from the least to the greatest (barley, wheat); made real in the power of the Spirit (oil), and in redemption (the lamb). This should be true of all God's people, whether the blessing is earthly or heavenly.
The Hebrew word for this gift is worth pausing on, and so is the plural in "peace offerings".
Terumah, the word for heave-offering, means a sacrifice or gift offered up. It is raised or lifted up and presented for acceptance, and so given over to Jehovah's service... It is the word used for Israel's gifts for the tabernacle, and there we learn God's mind about the inward state of those who offer. It is a willing heart, the spirit of a person wholly yielded to God in devoted service, the inner attitude that matches the outward act as the gift is lifted up... In Ezekiel the word is also joined to two kinds of offering, the burnt offering and the peace offerings. The peace offerings are always named in the plural, which stresses the thanksgiving and fellowship so prominent in them.
The rules about honest weights and measures come just before these gifts, and the order matters.
This teaches us that right ways in daily life are the clothes a worshipper must put on first. Those who bring their gifts to God must be marked by turning from evil and following righteousness... Where obedience and practical righteousness are missing, God can take no pleasure in outward ceremony and lip worship.
Many readers stumble at blood sacrifice in a future temple. One writer answers by pointing to the direction the worshipper looks.
Some have found it hard that sacrifices are brought back. The difficulty goes once we remember that these sacrifices belong to an earthly people and an earthly temple, and that they will be memorials. Under the old order they had no power at all except as they pointed to Christ, for it was not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins (Heb. 10:4). And in the millennium they will look back to that one sacrifice for sin offered on the cross.
Another writer names this passage and tells the reader to let Scripture settle the matter.
According to Ezekiel, animal sacrifices will be offered even in millennial days (Ezek. 43:18-28; Ezek. 45:15-25). If this is not what we would have thought, we must always be ready to correct our thoughts by Scripture... Keeping them and bringing them back is surely God's witness to the world about His way of acceptance and blessing, a way unbelief has so often mocked.
The verse names the peace offerings last. One writer shows what that offering pictures about the cross.
The peace offering represents that same unique sacrifice, seen as the basis on which we can be reconciled to God and, at peace with Him, share the food of His table.
- Lifted — The word for this gift means something raised up for acceptance. God looks for a willing heart in it, not just an animal handed over.
- Clean — Honest weights come first in the chapter. God takes no pleasure in gifts from hands that still hold on to wrongdoing.
- Shared — All the people give one lamb in two hundred, and the prince offers it. The act is his, yet the whole nation has a part and joins in the worship.
- Backward — These sacrifices look back to the cross, not forward to it. They stand as God's witness to the world of His way of acceptance.
- Enjoyed — The peace offerings come last. They show reconciliation ending at God's table, where His people eat in His company.
All the people of the land shall be [held] to this heave-offering for the prince in Israel.
Ezekiel's final vision maps out a restored land with the sanctuary at its centre. Everyone living there owes a set gift to the prince, not to the priests — so why does it travel through a man, and why sacrifice at all after the cross?
The chapter moves from geography to duty. It first divides the land, then sets out the coming order of worship. This verse belongs to that second part. An outline of the section reads:
(45:1-8) The division of the land in which the Lord's claim is given first place... (45:13 — 46:15). The materials for, and the order of, worship. (13-17) The gifts of the people: the people hand these to the Prince, whose charge is to provide for the sacrifices... (Note how prominent the Prince is throughout this section.)
Just before this verse, God commands honest weights and measures, and orders the rulers to stop taking from the people. One writer draws a lesson from that attention to detail:
God stoops to regulate everything for His people on earth. Nothing is beneath His notice.
William Kelly traces what the prince must do with what he receives, and what the arrangement settles:
The prince's part is to give the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the drink offerings at the feasts, the new moons and the sabbaths, at every solemn gathering of the house of Israel. He prepares the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel. (Ver. 13-17) This fixed the place of the people and the place of the prince. There was no confusion, but their interests were shared, and could not be separated.
At the Passover the same bond shows up in a single animal:
This is not thousands of oxen and sheep offered freely out of a willing heart. On the fourteenth day of the first month, one bullock for a sin offering ties the prince and all the people together as they never were before.
Who is this prince? One writer argues from the text that he cannot be Christ:
This important figure, the Prince, appears to be one of the nation, not Christ Himself. The text mentions his sons (Ezekiel 46:16), and he offers a sin offering for himself (Ezekiel 45:22). His position is not the high priest's, and not the king's as Israel knew it before; he has neither the privileges nor the power of either. He seems to hold a place between the people and the priesthood... But he must supply the various offerings at the feasts, the new moons, the sabbaths, and all the solemn gatherings of the house of Israel. So he is the one who receives and holds what the people offer for these occasions. God gives him his own portion in the land, and forbids him to take any of the people's inheritance.
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Notice what the people do not do. Their part ends when they hand the gift over:
The Prince has a unique and highly favoured position. It is his privilege to occupy the eastern gate where the glory of the Lord entered. The people give their offerings to him, and he administers them to provide for the ritual of sacrifice. It does not appear that the people bring sacrifices themselves. Instead the Prince gives everything for the set ritual, including the daily burnt offering (Ezekiel 45:17). The text speaks of the people as simply worshipping at the times when the Prince offers, but the act of offering is his.
Many readers stumble when animal offerings reappear after the cross. One writer answers that the future offerings point the other way:
The sacrifices of Israel in the future will be fundamentally different from those in the past. The old ones were pictures of what Christ was coming to do in His sacrifice. In those future days they will be the appointed pictures of what Christ has already done by His one sacrificial offering and death.
So the gift the people hand over buys nothing. It funds a memory:
These sacrifices belong to an earthly people and an earthly temple, and they are memorials. In the millennium they will look back to that one sacrifice for sin which was offered on the cross, just as the sacrifices under the law of Moses pointed forward to it. So all they will do is bring back to the grateful, worshipping hearts of God's people the blood of Jesus Christ His Son, which cleanses from all sin.
- Gift — everyone in the land owes the same duty: a set offering, handed to the prince.
- Hands — the prince receives and holds what the people give. He stands between the people and the priesthood.
- Altar — he turns what he receives into the nation's offerings. The people worship, but "the act of offering is his."
- Memory — those offerings buy nothing. They look back to the one sacrifice on the cross, as the old ones pointed forward.
- Union — the roles never blur, yet ruler and people share interests that cannot be separated.
And it shall be the prince's part [to supply] the burnt-offerings, and the oblation, and the drink-offering, at the feasts, and at the new moons, and on the sabbaths, in all the solemnities of the house of Israel it is he that shall prepare the sin-offering, and the oblation, and the burnt-offering, and the peace-offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah In the first [month], on the first of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock, without blemish, and thou shalt purge the sanctuary.
Ezekiel's long vision of a future temple turns here from measurements and land portions to the calendar of worship. Two questions press hardest: why blood at all after the cross, and why this order differs from the law of Moses.
The vision shifts here. The prophet has finished with the land and its portions. Now he turns to times and seasons, and the first date on the calendar is the cleansing of God's house. One writer draws out what the animal itself pictures, and why the seventh day repeats the act:
There is no longer a testimony at the beginning of their months, and no longer an atonement in the seventh month. The year opens on its first day with an offering. That offering shows Christ in His full, unblemished devotedness, yet suffering for sin. The same is done again on the seventh day, for everyone who errs and for the one who is simple. So no one of that sort is shut out from the enjoyment of God and His privileges.
Anyone who knows Leviticus will notice a change. The yearly day of atonement in the seventh month is gone. Two occasions in the first month appear to take its place, with fewer victims and blood in new places:
This is a striking departure from the order given in Leviticus. The great day of atonement is not mentioned, and these two occasions in the first month seem to take its place. Only the bull is offered here. In Leviticus 16 there are the bull and two goats, as well as two rams for burnt offerings. Yet the aim is similar: cleansing and atonement for the House and for those who err. We hear of no ark or mercy seat here, as there was in the past, with the blood sprinkled on it. Instead the blood is put on the doorposts of the House, on the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court.
Under the law of Moses, Israel gathered up a whole year's defilements and dealt with them in the seventh month. Here the order runs the other way, and that is the point:
The cleansing of the sanctuary starts the year. It is no longer an atonement at the end of seven months to take away the defilements that have been accumulating. The year opens with an already accomplished cleansing. Then, on the seventh day of the month, another offering is made for everyone who errs and everyone who is simple. This lets all share in the sufferings of the Passover Lamb.
Many readers stumble here. They assume that any return of animal sacrifice must undo the work of Christ. Commentators answer that these offerings look back, not forward:
Some have felt a difficulty about sacrifices being restored. The difficulty disappears once we remember what these sacrifices are. They will belong to an earthly people and an earthly temple, and they will be memorials. Under the old order they had no power at all apart from their reference to Christ, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Hebrews 10:4). In the millennium they will look back to that one sacrifice for sin offered on the cross, just as the sacrifices under the law of Moses pointed forward to it.
Another writer turns the objection into a question and answers it:
Will people then find that the work of the Lord on the cross was faulty, or that something more is needed? Thank God, that will never be the case. No one will question the perfection of His work in that day… The earthly people, though, will still offer sacrifices on the altar at Jerusalem. That has always been the normal kind of worship for people whose portion is on earth, and it will stay so right through the millennium.
What the calendar leaves out matters as much as what it keeps. Each missing feast points back to something already finished:
There is no Pentecost any more, for it is already fulfilled in the church. There is no feast of trumpets, for the people have already been called and gathered. There is no day of atonement any longer, for the work was done. They had truly mourned in their souls when they looked to Him whom they pierced. But the Passover remains the memorial of redemption, and the feast of Tabernacles will mark their place and blessing.
- Cleansed first. The year begins with the sanctuary already clean. Defilement no longer piles up toward a day of reckoning in the seventh month.
- Christ pictured. The unblemished bull shows Christ in full devotedness, yet suffering for sin. He is the one sacrifice these rites point back to.
- Blood placed. It goes on the doorposts, the altar's corners and the inner gate. There is no ark or mercy seat now, because the object is cleansing the house.
- Nobody excluded. The offering is repeated on the seventh day for the one who errs and the simple. No one is shut out from God's presence and privileges.
- Nothing added. These offerings only look back; they add nothing. The missing day of atonement is itself the proof that the work is done.
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.
In Ezekiel's vision of a future temple, the year opens with blood rather than a celebration. Two questions press on the reader: why does a sanctuary need cleansing at all, and why do animal sacrifices reappear after the cross?
The old calendar put the great day of atonement in the seventh month. Here the cleansing stands at the head of the year.
We notice a new order for cleansing the sanctuary… There is no longer a testimony at the beginning of their months, nor an atonement in the seventh month. The year opens on its first day with an offering. That offering shows Christ in His full unblemished devotedness, yet suffering for sin. The same offering comes again on the seventh day, for everyone who errs and for the simple. This way no such person is shut out from the enjoyment of God and His privileges.
The places named in this verse are not the places Leviticus named.
The chapter mentions two occasions: the first and the seventh of the first month. This is a striking change from the order in Leviticus. It says nothing of the great day of atonement, and these two occasions in the first month seem to take its place. Only the bullock is offered here, while in Leviticus 16 there are the bullock and two goats, as well as the two rams for burnt offerings. Yet the aim is similar: cleansing and atonement for the House and for those who err. We hear of no ark or mercy seat, as of old, with the blood sprinkled on it. Instead the blood goes on the posts of the House, on the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court.
The purpose stated a verse later is that the house be reconciled — and that word carries its own weight.
"So shall you (atone, or) reconcile the house" (Ezek. 45:20; also 15 and 17).
Why a building should need this is drawn out in a comment on the parallel ritual in Leviticus.
The claims of the sanctuary must be met. Jehovah's courts, as well as His throne, must bear witness to the value of the blood… The priests and their service, the place of worship, and everything in it, must stand in the power of the blood. Without the power of the blood, the Holy One could not have stayed among the people for a moment! It was the blood that left Him free to dwell, and act, and rule, among an erring people.
This verse names the priest as the one who takes the blood and puts it on. The chapter gives the supply of the offering to the prince.
The prince is to give burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings. He is to prepare the sin offering and the rest, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel (v. 17). He is to take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the posts of the house, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court. He is to do this again on the seventh day of every month, for the one who errs and for the one who is simple (vv. 19-20).
Many readers stumble at sacrifices coming back in a future age. The answer is that these offerings point backwards, not forwards.
Some have found a difficulty in sacrifices being restored. The difficulty disappears once we remember two things. These sacrifices belong to an earthly people and an earthly temple, and they will be memorials. Under the old order they had no power at all apart from their reference to Christ, for it was not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins (Heb. 10:4). In the millennium they will look back to that one sacrifice for sin offered on the cross, just as the sacrifices under the law of Moses pointed forward to it.
These offerings also say something about the people who bring them.
The arrangements for killing the burnt offerings, sin offerings and trespass offerings show that even in the Millennium perfection is not reached. So there is this provision for relationship with God and for holiness, for a people who are still able to sin.
- Blood first. The year opens with a sin offering, not a festival. The offering shows Christ in unblemished devotedness, yet suffering for sin.
- Blood on the house. This time there is no ark or mercy seat. The blood goes on the doorposts, the altar's corners and the inner gate.
- Blood makes God's dwelling possible. The courts as well as the throne must bear witness to its value. Without it the Holy One could not stay among an erring people.
- Blood reaches the weakest. The repetition on the seventh day is for the one who errs and the simple, so that none of them are shut out from God's privileges.
- Blood already shed. These offerings look back to the one sacrifice of the cross. They belong to an age where perfection is not yet reached and people can still sin.
So thou shalt do also on the seventh of the month for every one that erreth, and for the simple; and ye shall make atonement for the house.
Ezekiel 45:20 belongs to the closing vision of a restored temple, with its priests, its prince and its calendar of offerings. It sets a second day in the first month for the same sin offering — so why does this future calendar still call for atonement, when Christ has died once for all?
One writer walks through the whole passage and lands on the purpose of this second day. The repeated offering is not there to leave anyone outside.
At once we notice a new order for cleansing the sanctuary… The year opens on its first day with an offering which shows Christ in His full, spotless devotion, yet suffering for sin. The same offering comes again on the seventh day, for everyone who errs and for the simple. This is so that no such person should be shut out from the enjoyment of God and His privileges.
The older calendar waited seven months for its great day of cleansing. This one does the opposite, and it links the second offering to the Passover lamb.
The cleansing of the sanctuary starts the year. It is no longer an atonement at the end of seven months to take away the defilements that have been building up. The year opens with a cleansing already accomplished. Afterwards comes an offering on the seventh day of the month, for everyone who errs and everyone who is simple (v. 20). Its purpose is that all may share in the sufferings of the Passover Lamb.
The calendar here does not simply copy Moses. One commentary notes what is missing and what has moved in to fill the gap — and how the blood is now applied.
This is a remarkable deviation from the Levitical order. The great day of atonement is not mentioned, and these two occasions in the first month seem to take its place. Only the bullock is offered, whereas in Lev. 16 there are the bullock and two goats, as well as the two rams for burnt offerings. Yet the object in view is similar: cleansing and atonement for the House and for those who err. We hear of no ark or mercy seat, as of old, with blood sprinkled on it. Instead the blood goes on the posts of the House, on the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court.
The verse assumes people who still go wrong. That tells us something about the coming age, the Millennium.
The arrangements for killing the burnt offerings, sin offerings and trespass offerings show that even in the Millennium perfection is not reached. So this provision for relationship with God and for holiness is made for a people who are still able to sin.
Animal sacrifices after the cross trouble many readers. Two things settle it: who these offerings belong to, and what they are for.
Some have felt a difficulty about sacrifices being restored. The difficulty vanishes when we remember that these sacrifices will belong to an earthly people and an earthly temple, and will be acts of remembrance. Under the law they had no power at all apart from what they pointed to in Christ, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Hebrews 10:4). In the millennium they will look back to that one sacrifice for sin which was offered on the cross, as those under the law of Moses foreshadowed it.
This future day still has an atonement for the temple, or "the house" in older wording. Does the cross then need something added?
Will it then be discovered that the work of the Lord on the cross was defective, or that something will be needed in addition? Thank God, that will never be found to be the case. The perfectness of His work will never be questioned in that day… In this way they will celebrate and call to mind that one perfect sacrifice which holds good for us, and will be seen to hold good for them.
- Cleansed first. The year opens with the sanctuary already cleansed. It no longer waits seven months while defilement piles up.
- Cleansed again. The seventh day repeats the offering. It shuts no one out of God's presence — not the one who strays, not the simple.
- Cleansing relocated. The Day of Atonement is absent. Two days in the first month take its place, and the blood goes on the posts, the altar and the inner gate.
- Cleansing still needed. Even in that age perfection is not reached. The people can still sin, so the offering stands ready.
- Cleansing remembered. The sacrifices look back to the cross, not forward to it. They never hint that the work done there was incomplete.
In the first [month], on the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten.
Ezekiel's vision of the future temple does not stop at measurements and land boundaries — it also sets out a calendar, and the year opens with the Passover. So why does God bring back this feast, and its sacrifices, long after the cross?
This feast runs through Israel's whole history, and Ezekiel shows it kept again in the kingdom to come.
God re-enacts the Passover. It is the great unchanging institution for His people. It began in Egypt. Israel observed it in the wilderness and celebrated it in the land. After long indifference Hezekiah recovered it, and Josiah did so again. Now we see once more that in the kingdom Israel are still to keep the feast of seven days with unleavened bread.
Many readers stumble at animal sacrifices in a scene set long after the cross. Commentators answer that these offerings face the opposite direction from the ones Moses gave.
Clearly we cannot see these sacrifices that open the year in the same light as the old ones. These point back to the basic work of redemption at the Cross, while those of the past pointed forward to it. Those looked ahead to it; these are a memorial of it. At the same time they are a constant reminder of God's holiness, which must take notice of the least departure.
Another writer answers by naming who these sacrifices are for and what they bring to mind.
Some have found it hard that sacrifices come back. The difficulty disappears once we remember that these sacrifices belong to an earthly people and an earthly temple, and that they look back in remembrance… So they will only recall to the grateful, worshipping hearts of God's people the blood of Jesus Christ His Son, which cleanses from all sin.
The offerings for these seven days are heavier than the Law asked, and one animal is missing.
Ezekiel calls for seven bulls and seven rams on each of the seven days, and no lambs… It is enough to notice here that the offerings are much richer than under the Law. This stresses the fulness of obedience in service (the bull) and consecration (the ram). Leaving out the lambs would fix attention on the one lamb of this feast — the Passover lamb, and so on Christ, the Lamb of God.
The chapter also gives a role to a ruler called the prince. What he has to bring settles who he is not:
At the Feast of the Passover the prince is to prepare a sin offering for himself as well as for all the people of the land. This proves that the prince cannot be the Lord.
The seven days of unleavened bread follow the Passover and take their meaning from it. Redemption comes first, and the way God's people live answers it.
The moment we are redeemed God claims us, and He wants us to answer His claim by holy lives — separation from evil, and separation to Himself. The feast lasted seven days: a perfect period, standing for the whole span of our lives. So in the Old Testament as in the New, all God's claims on His people rest on redemption.
In that day Israel keeps the Passover, though a different feast marks the age.
They will have the Passover. No one can do without that sign of Christ sacrificed. Earthly people or heavenly, it makes no difference: the Lamb and the Lamb's blood are essential for anyone to be in living relationship with God… But their distinctive feast in that day will be the feast of Tabernacles… because it is the day when glory will dwell in the land.
Pentecost, though, drops out of the list. One writer traces that to the day we live in now.
The gift of the Spirit has been, and still is, the mark of this day of grace, when we have to walk in faith and patience. It is not the mark of the day when the kingdom comes in power. This does not mean the Holy Spirit will not be poured out on all flesh then. The prophets say plainly that He will be in that day.
- Foundation. The Passover never changes. Israel kept it in Egypt, the wilderness and the land, and will keep it again in the kingdom.
- Direction. The old sacrifices looked ahead to the cross. These look back to it, a memorial of finished work.
- Focus. Ezekiel's richer offerings drop the lambs, so attention falls on the one Lamb of the feast.
- Response. Redemption comes first. The seven days without leaven stand for a whole life kept from evil and given to God.
- Reach. Passover stays because no one can do without the Lamb's blood. Pentecost is missing because it marks this present day.
And upon that day shall the prince offer for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin-offering.
The scene is Passover day in the temple of Ezekiel's vision. A figure called "the prince" brings a bull as a sin offering — first for himself, then for the whole nation. Two questions press. Who is this prince? And why does anyone still kill a sin offering after the cross?
One feast returns in the kingdom, and one yearly day of mourning drops away. What Israel will finally know about atonement explains why.
"In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves," they had been told (Lev. 16:29). But on that day, Israel knew the atonement covered just one year. For the remnant this affliction of soul will happen once for all when they come to know true atonement. During the thousand-year reign of Christ, there will be no more room for the Day of Atonement. Only the Passover will remain, as a memorial of the sacrifice of the Lamb.
One bull is brought for the ruler and the whole nation together. Kelly places that single victim inside Israel's long history with this feast.
God re-enacts the Passover. It is the great unchanging institution for His people. It began in Egypt. Israel kept it in the wilderness and celebrated it in the land. Hezekiah brought it back after long neglect, and Josiah after him. Now once more we see that in the kingdom Israel are still to keep the feast of seven days with unleavened bread… Here there are no thousands of oxen and sheep offered gladly out of a willing heart. Instead the prince and all the people, on the fourteenth day of the first month, are joined together as they never were before in one single bull for a sin offering. And on every one of the seven days the prince prepares a complete burnt offering, with its sign of perfect consecration to Jehovah, and its daily sin offering.
Who is this prince? Two details in the text rule out the most popular answer.
He is certainly not the Messiah. Though he is clearly set apart 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.
If he is neither king nor priest, where does he stand?
It seems clear that he holds a representative position. But it is not the position of the high priest, whom Ezekiel does not mention. Nor is it the position of the king as Israel knew him in the past. He has neither the privileges nor the power of either. He seems to hold a middle place between the people and the priesthood. He is found among the people in their times of worship, not among the priests. He may not enter the inner court, yet he comes nearer than the people do, since he may worship in the inner east gate that opens onto the inner court, while the people worship in the outer court. But he is responsible to supply the offerings at the feasts, the new moons, the sabbaths, and at all the solemn gatherings of the house of Israel. So he receives and holds what the people offer for these occasions.
Why blood again, after the cross? The answer turns on direction: these offerings look back, where the old ones looked forward.
Some have felt a difficulty about the return of sacrifices. But the difficulty disappears when we remember two things. These sacrifices belong to an earthly people and an earthly temple, and they are commemorative in character. Under the old order they had no power at all apart from their reference to Christ, "for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Heb. 10:4). In the millennium they will look back to that one sacrifice for sin offered on the cross, just as those under the law of Moses pointed forward to it.
- Feast — Passover returns in the kingdom as Israel's unchanging institution. The Day of Atonement does not; its work is finished.
- Prince — He needs a sin offering for himself and can have sons. So he is not Christ, but a future prince of David's house.
- Place — He stands between the people and the priests. He holds neither office, yet he supplies what the nation brings to God.
- Offering — One bull covers ruler and people together. It joins them as they never were joined before.
- Backward look — The blood no longer points ahead. It recalls the one sacrifice already made on the cross.