And the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before Jehovah on the sabbaths and on the new moons.
In Ezekiel's vision of a future temple, the inner east gate stays shut all week and opens on two days only. Why those two days, and why do the people of the land worship at its doorway instead of going inside?
Commentators read this chapter as worship still ahead, not worship in the prophet's own day. One writer names who takes part, and when:
We now have further details about the public worship of the coming day of glory in the sanctuary. It affects the prince, the people, and the priests. The sabbaths and the new moons stand out most.
These two days carry meaning beyond the calendar. One writer explains why each one matters in that age:
The reason these two occasions now hold such a marked place is clear. Those who are God's are no longer entering into rest; they have gone in. The day has come. Sabbath-keeping no longer remains for the people of God. Glory dwells in the land. Israel are gathered there out of the lands, from east and west, from north and south... So the sabbath is now made much of. But so is the new moon. Israel had long waned and disappeared. Now she renews her light, never again to withdraw. The new moon fittingly marks Israel restored, now and for evermore.
So this worship rests on what God has already given:
They stood in this way before Jehovah. They knew the rest which God had given to Israel, and His grace in showing His people in the light again.
The place of worship matters as much as the timing. One writer notes how far each worshipper may go, and what the open gate faces:
Now come the rules for the weekly and monthly feasts — sabbaths and new moons. With them a distinctive feature appears in the east inner gate. It stays closed for the six working days, but opens on the sabbath and on the day of the new moon. At this open gate the Prince and people worship. Only the Prince may enter its porch. He stands there to worship during the offering of his sacrifices. This brings these acts of worship into line with the great altar and the entrance of the House, right before the indwelling glory.
This verse puts the people at the same gate on the same days as the prince in verse 2. The distinction between them remains, but neither goes inside:
It was fitting for prince and people to worship before Jehovah in this way, with this distinction between them. But even the prince does not go inside; he stands by the post of the gate, he worships at the threshold.
One writer contrasts the prince's own privilege with what he does on the feast days:
The prince has the right of entering and leaving by the gate of the sanctuary, and of sitting there to eat bread before Jehovah. No one else uses this gate but himself, for he is the prince of the house of David. But on the feast days he goes in for worship with the people, so that he should not exalt himself too much... So he takes his place with the people of Israel in giving honour to Jehovah.
The words "at the entrance of that gate" mark the limit of that worship. The blessing is real, but it stops at a doorway:
There is no drawing near as we now do in the Holy Spirit through the rent veil. It is a people blessed on earth, not in the heavenly places.
Another writer asks which figure in the scene matches the believer today:
In the millennium the people will not have access in the same sense: the true figure for the Christian attitude is that of the priest, not that of the people.
- Rest first. The sabbath here does not reach toward rest. The rest has come. The day is here, and glory dwells in the land.
- Light restored. The new moon marks a nation that had waned and vanished now shining again, never to withdraw.
- Gate opened. The east inner gate stays shut six working days and opens on these two. That opening lines the worshipper up with the altar and the house of the glory.
- Prince lowered. The one man with his own gate worships at the same threshold as the crowd, so he does not exalt himself.
- Threshold reached. Prince and people alike stop at the door. They are blessed on earth. Yet they do not enter God's presence as the believer does now through the rent veil.
And the burnt-offering that the prince shall present unto Jehovah on the sabbath-day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish.
Ezekiel 46 sets out worship for a restored Israel in a coming day, and verse 4 fixes the prince's Sabbath offering. Two questions press at once: who is this prince, and why do animals still die after the cross?
The chapter singles out two days for worship: the Sabbath and the new moon. One writer explains why the Sabbath weighs so much now; he calls God Jehovah, the name printed above as the LORD.
It is clear why these two occasions now have such a marked place. Those who are of God are no longer entering into rest; they have gone in. The day is come. A Sabbath rest no longer remains ahead for the people of God. Glory dwells in the land, and Israel is gathered there out of the lands — from the east and the west, from the north and the south. They had wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. This is all past — past for ever.
The verse calls the offerer the prince. One writer works out who he is, and who he is not.
Jehovah will have a representative upon earth — the prince — and the prince is to sit "to eat bread before Jehovah." He is to have the honour of entering in and going out by the way of the porch of that gate. No high priest ever claimed this. Indeed it is not a priest but the prince, the earthly chief of Israel. He is certainly not the Messiah. Although he is clearly marked off from a priest, he still needs to offer a sin offering, and he may have sons. Doubtless it is a future prince of the house of David.
The verse twice insists on animals without blemish. One writer shows whom such an animal pictures.
In the burnt offering we have the Lord Jesus Christ, in all His fullness and perfections. He offers Himself without spot to God, and He is also accepted before God for us. In this He was found to be "a male without blemish." It was so true of Him that the One in whose sight the very heavens are not clean could say, "with whom I am well pleased," and again, "my chosen, in whom my soul delights."
The size of the offering carries meaning of its own.
This new order of sacrifices gives greater prominence to the sabbath. The greatly increased offering in every case may point to the greater fruitfulness and prosperity of those Millennial days. The stress on the sabbath suggests that what the sabbath means for the earth and creation is then blessedly realised in the righteousness, peace, rest and abundant blessing of the kingdom. The enlarged offerings picture Christ's Person in its human perfection. They may well speak of a fuller appreciation of Him in that day, when He will no longer be One who has no beauty that we should desire Him. The offerings are increased threefold, for redemption brings the full realisation of the victory of good over evil in the sabbath-keeping of that coming day.
Many readers stumble at animal sacrifice returning after the cross. One writer meets the difficulty head on.
Some have found a difficulty in the restoring of sacrifices. The difficulty vanishes once you remember that these sacrifices belong to an earthly people and an earthly temple, and that they will be commemorative in character. 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, as those under the law of Moses foreshadowed it.
The prince has a place in this worship that no one else has. Even so, he goes only so far.
It was fitting that prince and people should worship before Jehovah, and with this distinction between them. But even the prince does not go within; he stands by the post of the gate, he worships at the threshold. There is no drawing near as we now do in the Holy Spirit through the torn curtain. It is a people blessed on earth, not in the heavenly places.
- Rest reached. Israel keeps this Sabbath inside the rest, not waiting for it. The glory dwells in the land.
- Prince, not Messiah. The offerer is a coming descendant of David, Jehovah's representative on earth. He needs a sin offering himself, so he cannot be the Messiah.
- Unblemished. Six lambs and a ram must be flawless. The burnt offering pictures Christ, who offered Himself without spot to God and is accepted for us.
- Enlarged. The offering is increased threefold. That points to the fruitfulness of that day, and to a deeper appreciation of Christ than the world once gave Him.
- Backward-looking. These offerings add nothing to the cross. They remember it, as the older ones pointed forward to it. And the worship stays at the threshold, on earth — not the nearness believers know now.
And the oblation shall be an ephah for a ram, and the oblation for the lambs as he shall be able to give; and oil, a hin for an ephah.
Ezekiel's vision of a future temple sets exact measures for the Sabbath offerings. Why are sacrifices back after the cross, and why does God fix one amount but leave another open?
Ezekiel's closing chapters describe a temple and its services still to come. Readers find that hard to square with the cross. Commentators answer by asking who these offerings are for, and which way they look.
The temple and its services will return in surpassing splendour. Some have felt a difficulty about restoring sacrifices. The difficulty disappears when we remember that these sacrifices belong to an earthly people and an earthly temple. They will be memorials. Under the old order they had no power at all apart from their reference to Christ. The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins. In the millennium they will look back to the one sacrifice for sin offered on the cross, just as the sacrifices under Moses pointed forward to it.
The ephah here measures flour, not blood. This grain offering, which commentators call the meal offering, is flour mixed with oil. They find a distinct picture in each ingredient.
The meal offering is a picture of Christ in His perfect humanity and His holy, devoted character. It was not for atonement, just as the holy humanity of Christ and the devotedness of His life could not atone for sins. The fine flour is sifted and pure, and it comes from the grain of wheat. It makes a fitting and beautiful picture of His perfect humanity. The oil, so prominent in this offering, is a picture of the Holy Spirit.
The amounts here run well above the old requirements. Commentators see meaning in the increase itself.
This new order of sacrifices gives greater prominence to the sabbath. The greatly increased offering in every case may point to the increased fruitfulness and prosperity of those millennial days... The enlarged offerings answer to the meal offerings of old and picture Christ's Person in its human perfection. They may well speak of the heightened appreciation of Him in that day, when men will no longer look at Him and see no beauty to desire Him... The larger proportion of the oil shows the greater fulness of the Spirit, and so a fuller grasp of Christ.
With the ram the amount is fixed; with the lambs it is not. The same freedom appears in the law of Moses, where some offerings had no fixed amount.
All the earlier offerings in Leviticus 1–3 — the burnt offering, the grain offering and the peace offering — were left to the heart of the giver. Each was open, with the fullest allowance for what a person could afford. God would make no burden of what should be a joy. Here the heart gave to Him something it might have prized for itself, and the gift showed at least how much it valued the Lord.
But freedom over the amount is not permission to bring less than you can. God measures the gift against the giver.
We must take care to bring to God at least what each of us is able to give. God does not expect a young believer to value Christ as a mature Christian does. But He would not accept a turtledove from someone who could afford much more... However small our appreciation of the Lord Jesus may be, God knows our hearts, and He alone knows the full value of His Person and work.
One ratio never changes. However much flour you bring, the oil rises with it. Commentators tie that fixed proportion to growth in the knowledge of Christ.
Can we know the work done for us better without also growing in the knowledge of Him who did the work? And with the knowledge of Him, if it is real, grows that joy in Him which the drink offering pictures. It is a joy shown not in words or feelings only, but in spending and being spent for Him. The measure of the oil for the meal offering is the measure of the wine for the drink offering. The measure of the Spirit in our grasp of Christ is the measure of our joy and devotedness.
- Measure looking back. The sacrifices of this future temple belong to an earthly people. They are memorials, looking back to the one sacrifice on the cross.
- Measure of Christ. The ephah is flour and oil — a picture of His perfect humanity and of the Spirit, not an offering for atonement.
- Measure enlarged. The amounts are greatly increased, pointing to how much more He will be appreciated in that day.
- Measure left free. With the lambs the amount is the giver's own. God makes no burden of what should be a joy.
- Measure of the Spirit. The hin to an ephah never changes. More of the Spirit means a fuller grasp of Christ, and with it more joy and devotedness.