THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Ezekiel: Effective Ministry To The Spiritually Rebellious

Part LXVI: The Millennial Kingdom Offerings: The Offerings For Israel's Regular Calendar Dates

(Ezekiel 46:1-15)

I. Introduction

A. Ezekiel chapters 40-48 predict God's restoration of Israel following His many prophecies of judgment on the nation for sin, and Ezekiel 44:1-46:24 predicts the temple ministers and their ministries in the Kingdom.

B. This section reveals God's great holiness in the realm of the temple ministries to the Hebrew people of Ezekiel's day in sharp contrast to the way they had profaned and desecrated the temple ministries in Jerusalem.

C. We thus view Ezekiel 46:1-15 on the offerings for Israel's future Millennial Kingdom regular calendar dates:

II. The Millennial Kingdom Offerings: The Offerings For Israel's Regular Calendar Dates, Ezekiel 46:1-15.

A. The east gate from the outer to the inner court of the temple will be closed six days of the week, but it will be opened on the Sabbath Day and the day of the New Moon (new month), Ezekiel 46:1.

B. On these Sabbath Days and New Moon days, the prince, the resurrected king David, will be permitted to stand at the gatepost of the east gate when the sacrifice is brought on behalf of the people (Ezekiel 46:2). The people will bow down at the entrance of that gate before the Lord to worship God there, Ezekiel 46:3.

C. On the Sabbath Days, the prince will offer six lambs and a ram, each without blemish, and the grain offering with the ram will be an ephah while the grain offering with the lambs will be as much as the prince is able to bring, together with an hin of olive mixed with each ephah that is offered, Ezekiel 46:4-5.

D. On the New Moon observances, the prince will offer a bull, six lambs and a ram, each without blemish, Ezekiel 46:6. With the bull and with the ram the prince will offer an ephah of grain each, and with the lambs he will offer as much as he is financially able to offer along with a hin of olive oil mixed with each ephah that is offered, Ezekiel 46:7. When the prince enters the temple area to worship, he will enter by the vestibule of the gate and leave the same way, Ezekiel 46:8.

E. Regarding the people, God will require that since there will be no west gate to the temple, and the east gate will be closed in respect for God Who sanctified it by entering the temple complex through it, the worshippers who enter at the north gate will pass through the temple courts to exit at the south gate and those who enter at the south gate must pass through the temple courts to exit at the north gate, Ezekiel 46:9. The prince will enter and exit the vestibule to the east gate when the people make their entrances and exits, showing respect for the Lord by how everyone enters and leaves as directed by the Lord for His glory, Ezekiel 46:9-10 ESV.

F. At the feasts and appointed festivals, the grain offering with a bull and with a ram will be an ephah each, and with the lambs it will be as much as the prince is financially able to give, together with an hin of olive oil mixed with each ephah of grain that is offered, Ezekiel 46:11.

G. If the prince desires to make a freewill offering to the Lord, the gate facing east is to be opened for him to give his offering, but after he is finished giving his offering, the gate will again be closed, Ezekiel 46:12.

H. For the daily sacrifices, a lamb a year old without blemish will be offered as a burnt offering each morning, and a grain offering will be offered with it each morning, and one sixth of an ephah of grain and one third of an hin of olive oil to moisten the flour, and that perpetually, Ezekiel 46:13-15. No evening daily sacrifice is described in the text, but the prophet might have been giving just the highlights of the sacrificial system, assuming that "his readers would apply the same regulations to the evening sacrifice," Ibid.

Lesson: (1) Though the Sabbath Day and New Moon observances were regular events, their observance was very important to God, seen His requirement of faithfulness and consistency in His worshippers concerning these occasions that was so absent in apostate Israel, cf. Ezekiel 20:12-13, 16, 21, 24; 22:8, 26. (2) Though the Sabbath Day and New Moon observances were regular events, they were to be observed in an orderly manner, the conduct of the people and the prince being prescribed, for God wants His people to worship Him in a respectful manner.

Application: (1) May we believers rely on the Holy Spirit to remain consistent and faithful in how we worship God on our regular days of worship, cf. Galatians 5:16, 23b; 1 Corinthians 16:15-16. (2) May we believers rely on the Holy Spirit to remain orderly in our ministries and worship practices, for God is a God of decency and of order, cf. Galatians 5:16, 22; 1 Corinthians 14:40. (3) In view of the repeat emphases on sacrifices in even the regular calendar observances of the temple worship that recall Christ's death for sin, may we believers consistently recall Christ's atonement as our whole basis of relating to God, and in our worship, always praise Him for His grace.