Who is the prince in Ezekiel 46?

At first, the prophet saw the gate open, but now he sees it closed. "And he brought me back toward the outer gate of the sanctuary which looked toward the east; and it was shut" (Ezek. 44:1). By His own sovereign right Jehovah, the God of Israel, had entered the sanctuary to dwell there. "And the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah." By Jehovah's command, the gate was to be shut, and no one was to enter by it, save the prince, who should 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" (Ezek. 44:2-3).

It is important to observe that Israel in the millennial kingdom will have a prince upon 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 Ezek. 45 and 46. Doubtless he will be a direct descendant of David, God's chosen king of Israel. In ch. 46, he is associated with the people in their sacrificial offerings to Jehovah.

The prophet is again brought back 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. This gives occasion for the word of Jehovah. And there is ample instruction to decide its application. "Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looks toward the east; and it was shut. Then said Jehovah to me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because Jehovah, the God of Israel, has entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before Jehovah; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same." (Ver. 1-3)

The entrance of Jehovah, the God of Israel, was enough to close it for all but His representative. But He will have a representative upon earth — the prince — and the prince shall 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. We shall learn from chapters 45 and 46 a little more about the prince. Suffice it to say that he is certainly not the Messiah, for although he is thoroughly distinguished from a priest, he needs to offer a sin-offering, and he may have sons. Doubtless it is a future prince of the house of David.

Here a dignitary is introduced who has not been mentioned before — the Prince. 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. Thus the special sanctity of this gate would be impressed upon all, and particularly upon the Prince himself, reminding him of his subordinate place; the closed gate and the limited privilege of this person who appears to be the highest secular dignitary in the nation, teaching all of the supreme place of Jehovah. We may notice that the porch is at the end of the gate-building toward the west, facing the altar and the House.

This important personage, the Prince, is apparently one of the nation, not Christ Himself: his sons are spoken of (Ezek. 46:16) and he offers a sin-offering for himself (Ezek. 45:22). It seems clear that he occupies a representative position, yet neither the same as that of the high priest, of whom Ezekiel does not speak, nor that of the king as formerly known in Israel. He is not accorded the privileges nor the power of either. He seems to occupy an intermediary place between the people and the priesthood, since he is found among the former in their seasons of worship (Ezek. 46:10), not among the priests, nor privileged to enter the inner court, yet drawing nearer than the people themselves, since he may worship in the inner east gate which opens upon the inner court, while the people worship in the outer court as gathered at the door of this gate (Ezek. 46:2). But he is responsible to supply the various offerings at the feasts, the new moons, the sabbaths, in all the solemnities of the house of Israel, and he is therefore the recipient and holder of what the people offer for these occasions; and thus too the priesthood would look to him for the provision needed to carry on the national worship (Ezek. 45:13-22). Then he is given his own special portion in the land, and he is enjoined not to take any of the people's inheritance (Ezek. 45:7-8; Ezek. 46:18; Ezek. 48:21-22). The Oblation and the Sanctuary are spoken of as in the midst of the Prince's portion.

These considerations show that the Prince occupies quite a unique place in the history of Israel. It serves to emphasize the absolute character of the theocracy as to both kingly and high priestly rule. They are vested in the Messiah Himself, not in any mere man. Priests and kings of the past may have been types, but now the Antitype has come — the substance has replaced the shadow. This world to come of which this vision treats will not be in subjection to angels, but to Him to whom all things have been made subject according to God's purpose, even Jesus (Heb. 2:5-10). Angelic hosts will then attend the Son of Man (Matt. 13:41; Matt. 24:31; Matt. 25:31; John 1:51; 2 Thess. 1:7).

But that the prince of verse 3 is not the Lord is clear. He eats bread before the Lord and enters by the porch of the east gate, the gate that no man must enter by because the Lord Himself enters in by that gate.

The prince has a special portion for his possession, east and west of the holy oblation, an immense tract of territory, bespeaking the greatness and glory of his unique position (Ezek. 45:7-8). The prince is to give burnt offerings, meat offerings, drink offerings; his is the preparation of the sin offering, etc., to make reconciliation for the house of Israel (vs. 17); his is to take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it on the posts of the house, upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court, and this is to be repeated the seventh day of every month for the one that errs, and for him that is simple (vss. 19-20).

At the Feast of the Passover the prince is to prepare a sin offering FOR HIMSELF and for all the people of the land, proving conclusively that the prince cannot be the Lord (vs. 22). He prepares likewise the burnt and meat offerings.

Whilst the prince is said to prepare his burnt offerings, Ezekiel 46:2 tells us that the priests actually prepare them for him; and he worships at the threshold of the gate. Evidently from the position the prince occupies at the threshold of the gate, the same as that occupied by the people of the land, he is not of the priestly family, but will probably be of the house of David.

The glory of his position is seen in that he may return by the same gate that he enters, a privilege that is not accorded to the people of the land (vss. 8-10). Up to verse 15 of this chapter is full of instructions for the prince.

The rules applying to the prince are noticeable. In Ezek. 44:3, he has the right of entering and of leaving by the gate of the sanctuary, and also 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 (cp. Ezek. 44:2-3). But on the feast days he goes in for worship with the people in order that he should not exalt himself overmuch. "The prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate … and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate" (Ezek. 46:2). He thus takes his place with the people of Israel in rendering homage to Jehovah.

It is evident that we could not apply this regulation for the prince to the Lord Jesus without irreverence. But the prince is His delegate, and in that office he is alone, yet as one of the chosen nation of Israel he takes his part in the offerings and sacrifices of the people.

Then again, the same distinction is observable in the regulation for any disposal of the prince's property (Ezek. 46:16-18). The prince's inheritance shall be to his sons, and shall remain in the family. If he bestows any property to his servants, it must return to the family in the year of jubilee. It is impossible to think of such a rule applying to the Lord Jesus. It applies, however, throughout the millennial kingdom to His representative on the earth, who will be a scion of the house of David discovered and brought forward by Jehovah, as He discovered the sons of Zadok in the Aaronic line, and rewarded their faithfulness to Him (Ezek. 48:11).

This prince is evidently a lineal descendant of the royal house of David, in whom the promises concerning the Kingdom will be literally fulfilled. He is not said to be the King. Messiah is King, and the prince appears to be His earthly representative. He is permitted to sit in the porch of the outer east gate, and to eat bread before Jehovah (Ezek. 44:3). The priests prepare His burnt offering and peace offering: he being of the royal and not the priestly line, though he worships at the threshold, does not enter into the court of the priests as a worshipper there.

Besides the temple, for which full details are given; and besides the sacrifices and feasts (remarkable for the absence of the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Weeks), there is A PRINCE mentioned, and a portion of land allotted to him, together with the sacrifices he will offer. If these things are taken literally, all is plain and easy to be understood. Doubtless the prince will be a representative of the royal house of David.

It does not derive its light from the sun and then give it out to the earth; but, in a fuller way than the pillar of fire and the cloud, the glory of God enlightens it, and the light thereof is the Lamb, In this holy city, Jerusalem above, there is no temple; God's presence there is manifested, not shut in; but in Jerusalem below, the temple will be rebuilt, as we see by the account given at the close of Ezekiel. Though the Lord will open the millennial reign in person, yet He will not, we believe, reign exactly on the earth during that time, but over the earth, in connection with it. We would gather from Ezekiel 46 — 48 that there will be a representative, or vicegerent (as we would say) who will represent Him, in the centre of God's government at Jerusalem, and who is there called "the prince."

(c) When His seed are contemplated, and not as to Himself, as if there could be doubt as to Him, — the necessary conditions of divine holiness appear. Yet His seed too shall be established for ever, even as His throne unchangeable. But here failure is foreseen as possible, and such an event provided for. In this case, holiness must be manifested in chastening: the character of God must be maintained. Christ is not contemplated here, but David's posterity in general, spite of whose unfaithfulness, the throne will be preserved. In fact in millennial days there will be a "prince" in Israel, of whom Ezekiel speaks, who will doubtless be of David's seed; for the house of David is distinctly mentioned for blessing at that time (Zech. 12:7-8, 10, 12). That he is prince only is of course due to the fact that he is but the vice-gerent of the real and glorious King.

The city thus reviewed is now lifted into the supremacy which belongs to it: "for there are set thrones of judgment, — thrones for the house of David." Christ has His place here, as we know, though we must go to other scriptures to learn that it is so. "Thrones," in the plural. and for the house of David," imply, apparently, the vice-royalty of the simply human "prince" of that line, with whom Ezekiel makes us acquainted (ch. 46 throughout). Of the reign of the heavenly saints with Christ, with which some would connect it, it cannot possibly speak.