Friday, August 31, 2012

Ezekiel 47

“1 ¶ Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house [stood toward] the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south [side] of the altar. 2 Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. 3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters [were] to the ankles. 4 Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters [were] to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters [were] to the loins. 5 Afterward he measured a thousand; [and it was] a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. 6 And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen [this]? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. 7 Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river [were] very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: [which being] brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. 9 And it shall come to pass, [that] every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. 10 And it shall come to pass, [that] the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a [place] to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. 11 But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. 12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.”

“13 ¶ Thus saith the Lord GOD; This [shall be] the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph [shall have two] portions. 14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: [concerning] the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance. 15 And this [shall be] the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad; 16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which [is] between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which [is] by the coast of Hauran. 17 And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And [this is] the north side. 18 And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel [by] Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And [this is] the east side. 19 And the south side southward, from Tamar [even] to the waters of strife [in] Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And [this is] the south side southward. 20 The west side also [shall be] the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This [is] the west side. 21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel. 22 And it shall come to pass, [that] ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. 23 And it shall come to pass, [that] in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give [him] his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 47:1-23 AV)

*Israel’s new country – Ezekiel 47:1 to 48:29

Chapter 47

The *temple river – Ezekiel 47:1-12

v1 The man brought me back to the entrance of the *temple. And I saw that water was coming out from under the doorway. It flowed toward the east. (The front of the *temple was toward the east.) The water flowed down from the south side of the *temple and south of the *altar. v2 He then brought me out through the north gate. He led me round the outside to the outer east gate. The water came out on the south side of the gate.
v3 The man went toward the east with a line in his hand. With the line he measured 1000 *cubits. Then he led me through the stream. The water came up to my ankles. v4 He went another 1000 *cubits and he led me through the water. Now the water came up to my knees. He measured the next 1000 *cubits and he led me through the water. It was now up to my stomach. v5 He measured the next 1000 *cubits. But now the water was a river that was too deep for me to cross. The water had risen, and it was deep enough to swim. Nobody could walk across this river. v6 The man said to me, ‘*Son of man, look carefully at this.’
Then he led me back to the edge of the river. v7 As I went back, I saw many trees on both sides of the river. v8 The man said to me, ‘This water flows toward the east. It goes down into the Arabah and it enters the sea. As a result, the waters of the sea become fresh. v9 Wherever the river goes, there will be many living things. Wherever the river goes, there will be many fish. Wherever this water goes, the salty water will become fresh. So wherever the river flows, everything will live. v10 Men who fish will stand along the shore of the sea. They will spread their nets from En Gedi to En Eglaim. It will be a sea that has many kinds of fish, like the Great Sea. v11 But the muddy areas and the land that is always wet will not become fresh. They will remain there to provide salt. v12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both sides of the river. Their leaves will not dry up and die. The trees will have fresh fruit every month. This is because of the water that flows to them. This water comes from the *temple. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves to cure the people.’
Verses 1-12 Ezekiel saw water as it flowed from the *temple. It flowed toward the east. It came from the south side of the *temple and the *altar of *sacrifice, in the inner area. The water went through the outer area. Then it went along the south side of the outer east gate.
The man took Ezekiel to explore this river. At a third of a mile (538 metres) from the *temple, the depth of the water was up to the height of Ezekiel’s ankles. After another third of a mile (538 metres), it was up to his knees. At about a mile (1.6 kilometres), the water was up to Ezekiel’s stomach. At 1.3 miles (2.1 kilometres) from the *temple, the river was very deep. To cross it he would have to swim. The increase of the size of the river could not be natural. It could only be by the power of the *Lord.
The river flowed to the south and east. It flowed into the valley of the Jordan River and into the Dead Sea. Today nothing can live in the Dead Sea because of the salt. But when this river flows into the Dead Sea, it will bring pure water. Where now no fish can live then there will be many fish. Men who catch fish will spread their nets along the coast of the sea. They will catch all kinds of fish.
Where the river flows, it will bring life. Trees will grow along both sides of the river. These trees will have all kinds of fruit. Their leaves will not die. There will be fruit every month. The fruit will be good for food. And the leaves will be good medicine to cure people.
The muddy areas will remain to provide salt.
This is not the same river as in Revelation 22:1-5. That river flows from the *throne of God and of the Lamb. (A lamb is a young sheep. But in the Book of Revelation, the word ‘lamb’ is a word picture for Jesus, the *Messiah.) In the new earth, there will be no *temple (Revelation 21:22). But here in the Book of Ezekiel, the river flows from the *temple.

The country called *Israel – Ezekiel 47:13-23

v13 The *LORD your King says, ‘The country will have these borders. Divide the country into 12 parts for the *tribes of *Israel. One part shall be for each *tribe but two parts shall be for Joseph. v14 You will divide the country so that each part is the same size. I promised to give this country to your *ancestors. So, this country will be for you as family property.
v15 The country will have these borders. On the north side, the border will start at the Great Sea. It will go by way of Hethlon, toward Lebo Hamath and on to the town called Zedad. v16 It will continue through Berothah and Sibraim. These towns are on the border between Damascus and Hamath. This border will end at the town called Hazer Hatticon on the border of the country called Hauran. v17 So the border will go from the Great Sea east to the town called Hazar Enan. Here the land that belongs to Damascus and Hamath will be on the north side. This will be the northern border of the country. v18 On the east, the border goes south from a point between Hauran and Damascus. It will go along the Jordan between Gilead and the country called *Israel. It will continue to the town called Tamar on the east sea. This will be the east side of the country. v19 On the south side, the border will go east from Tamar all the way to the waters called Meribah Kadesh. Then it will go along the river of Egypt to the Great Sea. This will be the southern border of the country. v20 On the west side, the Great Sea will be the border up to a place across from Lebo Hamath. This will be the western border of your country.
v21 You will divide this country between the *tribes of *Israel. v22 You will divide the land and you will give it to your families to possess it. Those foreign families who have lived among you must have a share of the land. You must accept these foreigners the same as people born in *Israel. They must share the land with the *tribes of *Israel. v23 You will include the foreigners with the *tribes in which they live.’ This is what the *LORD your King says.
Verses 13-14 In this future period, each of the 12 *tribes of *Israel will receive a share of the country. All these shares will be the same size. The *tribe called Levi will not have a share. Their part will be in the *holy area. But the family of Joseph will be as two *tribes. Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. The 12 *tribes will include these two families. They will each receive a share.
In the *Old Testament, the *tribes selected their shares of the country. The *tribes called Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh took the country east of the Jordan River. But in this future time all the *tribes will be to the west of the Jordan River. They will not select their shares. God has fixed the share for each *tribe.
God has promised to give this country to the *Israelites (Genesis 15:18-21). They must make sure that each *tribe keeps its share of the country.
Verses 15-20 These verses mention the names of places on *Israel’s borders. These borders are similar to the ones that God gave to ancient *Israel (Numbers 34:3-12). But the names in these verses are the names of places when Ezekiel was alive. After many centuries, places often have new names. So, we do not know many of these places now.
The western border will be the Mediterranean Sea. The border to the east will be the Jordan River. The north border probably goes to the east from the mouth of the Litani River. The southern border reaches the ‘river of Egypt’. The ‘river of Egypt’ does not mean the river Nile. It means Wadi el Arish, which is at the border of *Israel and Egypt.
Verses 21-23 Foreigners who live in *Israel will also receive a share of the land. They will be as members of the *tribe among whom they live.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Ezekiel 46

“1 Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened. 2 And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of [that] gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. 3 Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons. 4 And the burnt offering that the prince shall offer unto the LORD in the sabbath day [shall be] six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish. 5 And the meat offering [shall be] an ephah for a ram, and the meat offering for the lambs as he shall be able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah. 6 And in the day of the new moon [it shall be] a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram: they shall be without blemish. 7 And he shall prepare a meat offering, an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs according as his hand shall attain unto, and an hin of oil to an ephah. 8 And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of [that] gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof. 9 But when the people of the land shall come before the LORD in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it. 10 And the prince in the midst of them, when they go in, shall go in; and when they go forth, shall go forth. 11 And in the feasts and in the solemnities the meat offering shall be an ephah to a bullock, and an ephah to a ram, and to the lambs as he is able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah. 12 Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering or peace offerings voluntarily unto the LORD, [one] shall then open him the gate that looketh toward the east, and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he did on the sabbath day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth [one] shall shut the gate. 13 Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering unto the LORD [of] a lamb of the first year without blemish: thou shalt prepare it every morning. 14 And thou shalt prepare a meat offering for it every morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of an hin of oil, to temper with the fine flour; a meat offering continually by a perpetual ordinance unto the LORD. 15 Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meat offering, and the oil, every morning [for] a continual burnt offering.”

“16 Thus saith the Lord GOD; If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons’; it [shall be] their possession by inheritance. 17 But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty; after it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall be his sons’ for them. 18 Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance by oppression, to thrust them out of their possession; [but] he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own possession: that my people be not scattered every man from his possession.”

“19 After he brought me through the entry, which [was] at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers of the priests, which looked toward the north: and, behold, there [was] a place on the two sides westward. 20 Then said he unto me, This [is] the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, where they shall bake the meat offering; that they bear [them] not out into the utter court, to sanctify the people. 21 Then he brought me forth into the utter court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and, behold, in every corner of the court [there was] a court. 22 In the four corners of the court [there were] courts joined of forty [cubits] long and thirty broad: these four corners [were] of one measure. 23 And [there was] a row [of building] round about in them, round about them four, and [it was] made with boiling places under the rows round about. 24 Then said he unto me, These [are] the places of them that boil, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.” (Ezekiel 46:1-24 AV)

Chapter 46

The rules for gifts and *sacrifices – Ezekiel 46:1-15

v1 ‘This is what the *LORD your King says. You will keep the east gate to the inner area closed for 6 days each week. But you shall open it on the *Sabbath and on the day of the new moon. v2 The prince will enter from outside through the entrance of the gate. He will stand by the gate. The priests will make his *sacrifice by fire and his *sacrifice of peace. He will *worship at the entrance of the gate. Then he will go out but the gate will be open until the evening. v3 The people from the country will *worship at the entrance of that gate. They will *worship the *LORD there on the *Sabbaths and on the day of the new moon. v4 The prince will offer a *sacrifice by fire to the *LORD on the *Sabbath day. This *sacrifice will be 6 young male sheep and one male sheep. There must be nothing wrong with any of them. v5 He must give to the priests an *ephah of grain with the male sheep. He may give to them as much grain as he wants with the young sheep. With each *ephah of grain, he must give to them a *hin of oil. v6 On the day of the new moon, he must bring *sacrifices. He will bring a young *bull, 6 young sheep and a male sheep. There must be nothing wrong with any of these animals. v7 He must give to the priests an *ephah of grain with the *bull. He must give to them an *ephah of grain with the male sheep. He may give to them as much grain as he wants with the young sheep. With each *ephah of grain, he must give to the priests a *hin of oil. v8 When the prince enters, he must go in through the hall of the gate. He must go out the same way.
v9 The people from the country will come to *worship the *LORD on the special days. Those people who enter by the north gate will leave by the south gate. Those people who enter by the south gate will leave by the north gate. None of them shall leave by the gate that they entered. They must leave by the opposite gate. v10 The prince will enter with the people when they enter. When they leave, he will leave with them.
v11 On the special days, they will offer these *sacrifices. They will bring a *bull with an *ephah of grain. They will bring a male sheep with an *ephah of grain. And they will bring the young sheep with as much grain as they want to bring. With each *ephah of grain, they will bring a *hin of oil. v12 The prince may give a *sacrifice as a special gift to the *LORD. It may be a *sacrifice by fire or a *sacrifice for peace. When he gives it to the *LORD, the inner east gate will be open for him. He must make these *sacrifices as he does on the *Sabbath day. Then he will go out. The gate must not remain open after he goes out.
v13 Every day you will give to the *LORD a year-old sheep that has nothing wrong with it. This will be a *sacrifice by fire to the *LORD. You must do this every morning. v14 You must also give to the *LORD grain with the young sheep each morning. For this, you will give a 6th of an *ephah of grain and a third of a *hin of oil. The oil will make the flour damp. You must obey this rule from now and always. v15 So you must always give to him the young sheep, together with the grain and the oil. Every morning you will give them to the *LORD as a *sacrifice by fire.’
Verses 1-8 The *Lord gave the *Sabbath to the *Israelites. They have to obey the rules of the *Sabbath for all time. They are to work for 6 days but they must rest on the 7th day. On that day, they must *worship the *Lord. The *Israelites during Ezekiel’s life refused to obey the *Sabbath day rules. In the future time, the *Israelites will obey the new rules for the *Sabbath and the new moon. The new moon is the beginning of each month by the *Israelites’ calendar. So the first day in each month is also a special day to *worship the *Lord.
The priests will open the east gate to the inner court only on the special days. These days will be the *Sabbath day and the day of the new moon. The prince will lead the people in their *worship. He will enter this gate. He will bring his *sacrifices to the priests. And he will *worship at the entrance to the gate. He must not go into the inner area. The people will *worship at this gate but they will not go in.
Verses 9-12 On these special days, the *Israelites will come to *worship. They will come into the *temple area by the north and south gates. They must not go out by the same gate as they entered. This is a practical arrangement. Large crowds will come to *worship. The people will leave without difficulty if they leave by the opposite gate.
The people must bring their *sacrifices to the priests. The prince will enter with the people. He will give his *sacrifices to the priests at the inner east gate. They will open that gate just to receive his *sacrifices. They will close the gate as soon as the prince leaves.
Verse 13-15 In addition to the special days, there will be daily *sacrifices. Each morning the prince will bring these *sacrifices to the priests.

The property of the prince – Ezekiel 46:16-18

v16 ‘This is what the *LORD your King says. If the prince gives some of his land to any of his sons, that land will belong to the son. On the death of the son, the land will belong to his children. It is their land and it belongs to their family. v17 The prince may give some of his land to a servant. That land will belong to the servant only until the year of freedom. Then the land will belong to the prince again. So, the prince’s land will continue to belong to his family. And it will become his sons’ land. v18 The prince must not take any land from the people. He must not force any of them to leave their land. He may only give his own land to his sons. He must not separate any of my people from their own land.’
Verses 16-18 The prince will own his land. He can give it away if he wants to. However, the land must still belong to his family. If the prince gave land to another person, it would be only until the year of freedom. Then the land would come back into the possession of the family.
Each 50th year will be a year of freedom. Then the prince or his family will again own the land that he gave to another person. This rule of the year of freedom affects all *Israelites.
The prince cannot buy or receive land from another *Israelite.

The priests’ kitchens – Ezekiel 46:19-24

v19 The man led me through the entrance at the side of the gate to the rooms of the priests. These *holy rooms are toward the north. He showed me a place at the west end. v20 The man said to me, ‘Here the priests prepare the *sacrifices. Here they will boil the meat for the blame *sacrifice and for the *sacrifice because of *sin. Here they also bake the grain for the *sacrifices. They will not need to bring these *holy *sacrifices into the outer area. The *sacrifices are *holy and the people must not touch them.’
v21 Then the man brought me into the outer area. He led me to its four corners. In each corner of the outer area was a smaller area. v22 These small areas were in the 4 corners of the outer area. Each small area was the same size. They were 40 *cubits long and 30 *cubits wide. v23 And there was a stone wall round the inside of each of the 4 small areas. There were places in which to cook. They were at the base of the walls. v24 The man said to me, ‘These places are the kitchens. Here those who work in the *temple will cook the *sacrifices. These kitchens are for the *sacrifices that the people offer.’
Verses 19-24 The man took Ezekiel out of the inner area. He took him to the priests’ rooms on the north side of the *temple. In these rooms, the priests will change their clothes. In them, they will eat the *holy *sacrifices. At the west end of these rooms will be the kitchens. Here the priests will prepare some types of *sacrifices. These *sacrifices are particularly *holy. That is why the priests must cook them in a separate kitchen. People who are not priests cannot enter this area. Only priests may eat these *sacrifices.
There will be another four kitchens. They will be in the four corners of the outer area. Each of these kitchens will be 70 feet (21.5 metres) by 52½ feet (16.2 metres). Here the *temple servants will cook the *sacrifices that the people bring to them. They will cook the peace *sacrifices here. The people who bring peace *sacrifices may eat part of these *sacrifices. Another part of these *sacrifices must burn on the *altar. And the last part belongs to the priests.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Ezekiel 45

“1  Moreover, when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye shall offer an oblation unto the LORD, an holy portion of the land: the length [shall be] the length of five and twenty thousand [reeds], and the breadth [shall be] ten thousand. This [shall be] holy in all the borders thereof round about. 2 Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred [in length], with five hundred [in breadth], square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs thereof. 3 And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand: and in it shall be the sanctuary [and] the most holy [place]. 4 The holy [portion] of the land shall be for the priests the ministers of the sanctuary, which shall come near to minister unto the LORD: and it shall be a place for their houses, and an holy place for the sanctuary. 5 And the five and twenty thousand of length, and the ten thousand of breadth, shall also the Levites, the ministers of the house, have for themselves, for a possession for twenty chambers. 6 And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, over against the oblation of the holy [portion]: it shall be for the whole house of Israel. 7 And a [portion shall be] for the prince on the one side and on the other side of the oblation of the holy [portion], and of the possession of the city, before the oblation of the holy [portion], and before the possession of the city, from the west side westward, and from the east side eastward: and the length [shall be] over against one of the portions, from the west border unto the east border. 8 In the land shall be his possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; and [the rest of] the land shall they give to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”

“9 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord GOD. 10 Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath. 11 The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer. 12 And the shekel [shall be] twenty gerahs: twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh.”

“13  This [is] the oblation that ye shall offer; the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of wheat, and ye shall give the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of barley: 14 Concerning the ordinance of oil, the bath of oil, [ye shall offer] the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, [which is] an homer of ten baths; for ten baths [are] an homer: 15 And one lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the fat pastures of Israel; for a meat offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make reconciliation for them, saith the Lord GOD. 16 All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel. 17 And it shall be the prince’s part [to give] burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel. 18 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the first [month], in the first [day] of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary: 19 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. 20 And so thou shalt do the seventh [day] of the month for every one that erreth, and for [him that is] simple: so shall ye reconcile the house. 21 In the first [month], in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22 And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock [for] a sin offering. 23 And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the LORD, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily [for] a sin offering. 24 And he shall prepare a meat offering of an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and an hin of oil for an ephah. 25 In the seventh [month], in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat offering, and according to the oil.” (Ezekiel 45:1-25 AV)


Chapter 45

The *Lord’s part of the country – Ezekiel 45:1-8

v1 ‘You will divide the country between the *tribes of *Israel. You must also give to the *LORD a part of the country for a *holy area. The length of this part will be 25 000 *cubits, and the width will be 20 000 *cubits. The whole area will be *holy. v2 Inside this area, a section of 500 *cubits square shall be for the *temple. Round this section will be an open space of 50 *cubits. v3 In the *holy area, you will measure a part 25 000 *cubits long and 10 000 *cubits wide. In this area will be the most *holy place of the *temple. v4 This *holy part of the country will be for the priests who serve in the *temple. It will be for those priests who come near to the *LORD to serve him. There will be the *temple and the houses for the priests. v5 An area 25 000 *cubits long and 10 000 *cubits wide will be for the *Levites. They serve in the *temple area. This land will be for the towns in which they will live.
v6 You must give to the city an area 5000 *cubits wide and 25 000 *cubits long. This is to be along the side of the *holy area. The city will be for all the *Israelites.
v7 The prince will have land on both sides of the *holy area and the city. This land will be on the west and east sides of the *holy area and the city area. And the border of this land, from east to west, will be along the border of one of the *tribes. v8 This land will be the only property of the prince in *Israel. My rulers will never be cruel to my people again. But they will let each *tribe in the nation called *Israel have its share of the country.’

Verses 1-6 When the *Israelites first came to the country, each *tribe received a part of it (Joshua chapters 17 to 19). In this future time, they will receive parts of the country again. Chapter 48 describes these parts. In addition to the parts of the *tribes, there will be a part for the *Lord.
The *Lord’s part of the land will be for the priests and the *temple. The size of this area will be 8.3 miles (13.4 kilometres) by 6.6 miles (10.6 kilometres). This area will be in two smaller parts. Each part will be 8.3 miles (13.4 kilometres) by 3.3 miles (5.3 kilometres).
One of these parts will be for the priests, who must be from the family of Zadok. They will live in this area. And they will serve the *Lord in the *temple. In the centre of this part will be the *temple area. This *temple area will be 875 feet (269.2 metres) square. Round this *temple area, there will be a clear piece of land 875 feet (269.2 metres) wide.
The other part will be for the *Levites. This will be to the north of the part where the Zadok priests (priests from Zadok’s family) live. The *Levites will assist the Zadok priests in the *temple. The *Levites will have their homes and towns in this part.
There will be another area to the south of the part where the Zadok priests live. It will be 8.3 miles (13.4 kilometres) long and 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometres) wide. In this area will be the city for the *Israelites. The city will be in the centre of this area. It will be 1½ miles (2.4 kilometres) square. The rest of the area will be agricultural land where the people will produce food.
Verses 7-8 The areas for the *Levites, the Zadok priests and the city form a square of 8.3 miles (13.4 kilometres). The land to the east and to the west of this square will belong to the prince. He will own no other property.
In the past, the rulers had been cruel to the people. They had made themselves rich when they took property from the people. God did not want them to do this. And in this future time, the rulers will not do these things. So, the prince will have his own land. And the *tribes will have their shares in the country.

Rulers must be honest – Ezekiel 45:9-12

v9 ‘The *LORD your King says this: You are responsible for too many *sins, you rulers of *Israel. Do not be cruel and do not hurt people. Do what is right and fair. You must not force my people to leave their land. I, the *LORD, have spoken. v10 You must be honest when you weigh things. You must give good weight for both dry and liquid goods. v11 The dry measurement and the liquid measurement will be the same. The *ephah and the *bath should hold the same as a 10th of a *homer. The *homer must be the standard measurement. v12 The *shekel will be worth 20 *gerahs, and a *mina will be worth 60 *shekels.’

Verses 9-12 The leaders of *Israel in Ezekiel’s time did not care about the people. They had robbed the people of their land. They had cheated them in the market place. They used false weights when they sold their goods. They had been cruel and they did not defend the poor people. This kind of behaviour must stop and God will not allow it in the future of *Israel.
God’s people must always be honest and fair. This is for all times and not just for the future.
The standard measurement was the *homer. The dry measurement was the *ephah, which was a 10th of a *homer. The liquid measurement was the *bath, which was also a 10th of a *homer. The *shekel was the standard money value. They must use these standard measurements.

*Sacrifices on behalf of the people – Ezekiel 45:13-20

 Gifts to the prince for *sacrifices – Ezekiel 45:13-17
v13 ‘The gift you should give to me is a 6th of an *ephah from every *homer of wheat. You should also give to me a 6th of an *ephah from every *homer of *barley. v14 The amount of oil that you are to offer is a 10th of a *bath from each 10 baths. (10 baths is equal to one *homer). v15 You should give to me one sheep from each 200 sheep. The sheep are from the fields in *Israel which the rain waters. All of these sheep are to be for the *sacrifices. These *sacrifices are the grain *sacrifice, the *sacrifice by fire, and the peace *sacrifice. These *sacrifices are because of the *sin of the people, so that I may forgive them. That is what the *LORD your King says. v16 All people in the country will give this gift to the prince of *Israel. v17 It will be the duty of the prince to provide for the *sacrifice by fire. He must also provide the grain and drink *sacrifices. All of these *sacrifices are for the special days, the new moons and the *Sabbaths. These days are the special days for the *Israelites. The prince will provide for the *sin, grain, *burnt and peace *sacrifices so that I may forgive the *Israelites.’
Verses 13-17 The *Israelites will bring their gifts to the prince. These gifts will be grain, oil and sheep. From the harvest of grain, out of each *homer they will bring a 6th of an *ephah. From their oil, they will bring a 10th of a *bath from every *homer that they had. From their sheep, they will bring one sheep in every 200 sheep.
From these gifts, the prince will make the *sacrifices on behalf of the people. These *sacrifices are grain *sacrifices, *sacrifices by fire and the drink *sacrifices. He will do this at each of the special days. The special days include the new moon (in other words, the beginning of each month) and the *Sabbath days.
These *sacrifices are to remind the people about what the *Messiah has done. They are acts of *worship to God. God will forgive their *sins because of their belief in *Messiah. His death is the only *sacrifice by which God forgives *sin.
In the New Testament (the second part of the Bible) we read that no animal or grain *sacrifices could take away *sin. Jesus the *Messiah achieved it when he died for us. His death is the perfect *sacrifice for *sin. So it is only by his death that God forgives *sin.

A new *sacrifice to the *Lord – Ezekiel 45:18-20

v18 ‘This is what the *LORD your King says. On the first day of the first month, take a young *bull that has nothing wrong with it. Use it to make the *temple *clean and ready. v19 The priest will take some of the blood from this *sin *sacrifice. He will put some of it by the side of the *temple door. He will put some on the 4 corners of the upper edge of the *altar. And he will put some on the wall at the side of the gate to the inner area. v20 You will do the same thing on the 7th day of the month. This is for anyone who has *sinned because of lack of knowledge. Also, for anyone who has *sinned but did not intend to do so. By this, my *temple will remain *holy.’
Verses 18-20 On the first day of the year, the prince must bring a young *bull to the *temple. The blood is to *clean the *temple from the *sins of the people. The priests will kill this *bull. They will put some of the blood round the *temple doors. And they will put some of the blood on the *horns of the *altar. By means of this ceremony, the *temple remains *clean and *holy.
Also, he will bring a young *bull on the 7th day of the year. The priests will kill this *bull. This is for *sins that the people do not know about.
If people are aware of their *sins, they will remember those *sins by means of the *sin *sacrifices. But sometimes people do not know about their *sins. The blood of these *bulls is because of these *sins. God forgives all these *sins, because of the perfect *sacrifice of Jesus the *Messiah.

*Passover week and the week in shelters – Ezekiel 45:21-25

v21 ‘On the 14th of the first month will be the *Passover. This event will last for 7 days. During the *Passover, you will eat bread without *yeast. v22 On that day, the prince must give to the priests a *bull. It is a *sacrifice because of *sin on behalf of the prince and all the people in the country. v23 During the 7 days, he must give to the priests 7 *bulls. Also, he must give to them 7 male sheep. These animals must have nothing wrong with them. They will be *sacrifices by fire to the *LORD. The prince will offer these *sacrifices on each of the 7 days. Also he must give to the priests a male goat every day as a *sacrifice because of *sin. v24 He shall provide grain for the *sacrifices. He will give to the priests an *ephah of grain for each *bull. He will give to the priests an *ephah of grain for each male sheep. And he will give to the priests a *hin of oil for each *ephah of grain.
v25 From the 15th day of the 7th month, there will be another 7 special days. The prince will make the same provision as for the *Passover. He will provide the animals, the grain and the oil. These things will be for *sacrifices because of *sin, *sacrifices by fire and the grain *sacrifices.’
Verses 21-25 During the *Passover, the *Israelites remember how God brought them out of Egypt (Exodus chapter 12). The *Passover was on the 14th day of the first month. This month is about March to April in our calendar. For 7 days, the people will eat bread without *yeast. During these 7 days, the prince will provide for the *sacrifices.
In the 7th month, there will be the week in shelters. The 7th month is about October in our calendar. During this week, the people remember the time when the *Israelites lived in shelters. For 40 years, the *Israelites were in the desert before they came into their country. As for the *Passover week, the prince will provide for the *sacrifices.
These rules are similar to the rules that God gave to Moses. Every year the *Israelites remembered what God had done. They thanked God for his goodness.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Ezekiel 44

“1 Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it [was] shut. 2 Then said the LORD unto me; 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, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. 3 [It is] for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of [that] gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.”

“4 Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and I fell upon my face. 5 And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary. 6 And thou shalt say to the rebellious, [even] to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations, 7 In that ye have brought [into my sanctuary] strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, [even] my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations. 8 And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves. 9 Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that [is] among the children of Israel.”

“10 And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity. 11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, [having] charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them. 12 Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity. 13 And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy [place]: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed. 14 But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein. 15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD: 16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.”

“17 And it shall come to pass, [that] when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. 18 They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird [themselves] with any thing that causeth sweat. 19 And when they go forth into the utter court, [even] into the utter court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments. 20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads. 21 Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court. 22 Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before. 23 And they shall teach my people [the difference] between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. 24 And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; [and] they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths. 25 And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves. 26 And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days. 27 And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, saith the Lord GOD. 28 And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I [am] their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I [am] their possession. 29 They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 And the first of all the firstfruits of all [things], and every oblation of all, of every [sort] of your oblations, shall be the priest’s: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house. 31 The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.” (Ezekiel 44:1-31 AV)


Priests and *sacrifices – Ezekiel 44:1 to 46:24

Chapter 44

The East Gate – Ezekiel 44:1-3

v1 Then the man brought me back to the outer gate east of the *temple. But the gate was closed. v2 The *LORD said to me, ‘This gate must remain closed. Nobody may open it or enter by it. The *LORD, the God of *Israel, has entered by it so it must remain closed. v3 Only the prince may enter this gate. He will sit there and he will eat in front of the *LORD. The prince will enter through the hall of this gate. And he will go out the same way.’

Verses 1-3 The East Gate was a special gate. The *Lord had entered the *temple by this gate. Only the prince could go into this gate. There he could eat bread in front of the *Lord.
The prince will be the leader of the people. He will not be Christ because the prince needs to make a *sacrifice because of his own *sins (45:22). Christ does not need such a *sacrifice because he has no *sin. Unlike Christ, the prince has natural children (46:16). He will not be a priest but Christ will be the chief priest. Christ will be the king. So, this man will lead the people as Christ orders him.
The prince will be from the family of David. He will be a man who will be like David. The prince will love the *Lord as David did. And he will serve the *Lord as David did. God promised David that his family would rule his people (see 2 Samuel 7:16).

The priests who work in the *temple – Ezekiel 44:4-16

v4 Then the man brought me through the outer north gate to the front of the *temple. As I looked, I saw the *LORD’s *glory. It filled the *temple of the *LORD. And I fell down with my face to the ground.
v5 The *LORD said to me, ‘*Son of man, concentrate your mind. Look carefully. Listen well. Listen to all that I say to you. I will tell you all about the rules and regulations of the *LORD’s *temple. Look carefully at the entrance to the *temple and all the exits from the *temple area. v6 Then speak to those people who refuse to obey me. Say to the *Israelites: This is what the *LORD your King says to you. *Israelites, you must not do all those evil things that I hate. v7 You brought foreigners into my *holy place where they should not be. They have not received *circumcision in either their hearts or their bodies. They do not *worship me. You have ruined the honour of my *temple. You made *sacrifices of food, fat and blood to me. But you have not obeyed me. v8 You did not take care of my *holy things. But you gave foreigners control over my *temple. v9 This is what the *LORD your King says. Foreigners, who have not received *circumcision in their hearts and bodies, must not enter my *temple. Not even those foreigners who live among the *Israelites can enter.
v10 Some *Levites went far away from me when *Israel *turned from me. They followed their false gods. I will punish these *Levites because of their *sin. v11 These *Levites will be servants in my *holy place. They will guard the gates of the *temple. They will serve in the *temple area. They will kill the animals for the *burnt *sacrifices. They will make *sacrifices on behalf of the people. They will stand in front of the people to serve them. v12 But these *Levites helped the people to *worship their false gods. They caused the *Israelites to *sin. So, I have lifted up my hand as I made this judgement against them. I, the *LORD your King, will cause them to suffer the punishment because of their *sin. v13 They will not come near me to serve as priests. They will not come near any of my *holy things. They will not come near my most *holy *sacrifices. They will be ashamed of the things that they did. I hate those things. v14 But, I will appoint them so that they will be responsible for the duties in the *temple. They will take care of all the work that they must do in it.
v15 But some priests who are *Levites by Zadok their *ancestor were loyal to me. These *Levites did their duty to me in my *temple when the *Israelites *turned away from me. They will come near to serve me. They will stand in front of me to offer the fat and blood of the animals. They will make the *sacrifices to me, says the *LORD your King. v16 They are the only ones who may enter my *holy place. Only they may come near my table to serve me. They will take care of the things that I give to them to do.’

Verses 4-5 The *Lord’s *glory filled the *temple. The effect on Ezekiel was very powerful. The *glory was so great that it caused him to fall down with his face to the ground. Then the *Lord spoke to him. Ezekiel would see and hear the rules for the new *temple. God would tell to Ezekiel the rules for the priests. Ezekiel must tell these rules to the people.
Verses 6-9 Foreigners and strangers could bring their gifts to the *Lord. But they could not act as priests in the *temple. Neither could they be servants in the *temple. The priests and *temple servants had to be from the family of Levi.
In the old *temple, foreigners did come in. The priests of *Israel let them come in. The priests even let foreigners serve in the *temple. This was against the law that God gave to Moses. In the end, the *Israelites were even *worshipping foreign gods in the *temple (Ezekiel chapter 8). Such things must never happen in the *temple that Ezekiel saw.
God told Abraham to *circumcise all the males in his family. Afterwards, *circumcision was the sign of the special promise that God had made to *Israel. Every boy had to receive *circumcision when he was 8 days old. No male could be an *Israelite without *circumcision. All the foreigners who joined *Israel had to receive *circumcision. In this act, they had to obey God. But this is only a physical sign. It is even more important to obey God from the heart. Ezekiel calls this the *circumcision of the heart. Those who would enter the *temple to *worship God must receive *circumcision of heart and body. Christians do not need *circumcision in the body. But they must have the heart attitude that obeys God.
Verses 10-14 As a group, the *Levites had *turned away from God. They had served false gods. In this, they led the *Israelites to *sin. So, the *Lord will punish them. And they will be ashamed of what they did. In future, the families of these *Levites will not be priests. They will not serve at the *altar. They will not go into the *holy place.
The *Levites will guard the *temple gates. There will be strict rules about the people who may come into the *temple. And the *Levites will make sure that the people obey those rules.
The *Levites will be the servants in the *temple. They will be responsible for all the work in the *temple. Also, the *Levites will kill the animals that the people bring to them for *sacrifices.
Verses 15-16 When all the *Israelites *turned from God, some priests remained loyal to God. The *ancestor of these priests was Zadok. Zadok was a priest at the time of David. He remained loyal to David when David’s sons, Absalom and Adonijah, tried to oppose their father (2 Samuel 8:17; 2 Samuel 15:24-29; 1 Kings 1:8). David’s son Solomon appointed Zadok to be the chief priest (1 Kings 2:35).
Because they were loyal, the *Lord will reward the Zadok priests in the new *temple. Only they will be able to serve the *Lord in the *holy place. They will make the *sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. The *Lord will not allow other people to come into the *holy place.

Rules for the priests from Zadok’s family – Ezekiel 44:17-31

v17 ‘When the priests enter the gates of the inner area, they must wear special clothes. The material of the clothes must be the material called linen. They must not wear any wool. So, they may serve me at the gates of the inner area, or inside the *temple. v18 They must wear special hats on their heads. These hats must also be of the material called linen. And the clothes that they wear round their bodies must also be linen. They must not wear anything that will make them damp. v19 When they go out from the inner area, they must remove the special clothes. They must leave these clothes in the *holy rooms and they must put on other clothes. Then they may go out to the people in the outer area. Their special clothes are *holy, and the people must not touch those clothes.
v20 The priests must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long. They must only cut their hair to keep it at a proper length. v21 None of the priests may drink wine when he enters the inner area. v22 The priests must not marry widows. And the priests must not marry women who have received a divorce from their husbands. Priests may marry only women who have not had sex. And these women must be from the *Israelites. But they may marry the widow of a priest. v23 They must teach my people the difference between *holy things, and things that are not *holy. They must help my people to know what is not *clean. And they must show them what is *clean.
v24 When there are legal arguments, the priests shall be the judges. They must decide these arguments by the rules that I have taught. They must obey my laws and my rules for all my special meals. They must keep my *Sabbath days *holy.
v25 Priests must not go near a dead person. If they do, they will not be *clean. If the dead person belonged to the priest’s close family, the priest may go near. The priest may do this for his father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or for his unmarried sister. The priest will not be *clean but he may do this. v26 After a priest has become *clean again, he must wait for 7 days. v27 Then he may go into the inner area to serve in the *temple. But he must make a *sacrifice because of his *sin’, says the *LORD your King.
v28 ‘The priests will have no land to own in *Israel. They will have me instead of property. I will be their possession. v29 They will eat the grain, *sin and blame *sacrifices. Everything that *Israel gives to me, the *LORD, will be theirs. v30 The best fruits of all the first harvests will belong to the priests. And all the special gifts that you give to me will belong to the priests. You will also give to the priests the first part of the flour from your mill. If you do this, God will show his kindness to your family. v31 The priests must not eat any bird or animal that they find dead already. They must not eat anything that wild animals have killed.’
Verses 17-19 God is *holy. Before the priests approach God in the inner area, they must put on special clothes. The material of these clothes must not make the priests hot. They could not be of wool because it would cause them to sweat. (That is, to be damp from the warmth.) So, the material must be linen. Linen is a good quality cloth.
As soon as the priests go out from the inner area, they must change their clothes. These clothes are *holy. The priests must wear them in the inner area only. They must take off these clothes in special *holy rooms (42:13-14). Then other people cannot touch these clothes by accident. People who are not priests must not even touch these clothes.
Verses 20-22 There are several extra rules for the Zadok priests (that is, the priests from Zadok’s family). They must not shave their heads. The priests of false gods often shaved their heads. They gave their hair as a gift to the gods. This may be one of the reasons for this rule.
They must not have long hair. Long hair could mean that a person was sad at the death of someone. The Zadok priests will not be sad. They will serve the *Lord with joy.
These rules about hair are to show that the Zadok priests are *holy to the *Lord.
When the Zadok priest serves in the *temple, he must have complete control of himself. Therefore, while he is on duty he must not drink wine.
He can marry. But his bride must be a woman who has not had sex with a man. But he can marry the widow of another priest. He must not marry any other widow. He must not marry a woman who has left her husband.
These rules are like the rules for the chief priest in the old *temple. But here the rules apply to all the priests from Zadok’s family. This passage does not mention a chief priest because the *Messiah will be the chief priest.
Verses 23-24 These rules show what it means to be *holy. The priests must teach the people to be *holy. They themselves must be *holy. And by their own lives, they must show the people how to live. They must help people to know what is right.
The priests will be the experts in God’s laws. They will be the judges of any problems among the people. They will decide what is right. The *Lord will teach them his laws. And they must use those laws when they make decisions.
They must obey God’s laws themselves. They must obey all the rules about special meals. And they must obey the rules for the *Sabbaths.
Verses 25-27 A priest should not go near to a dead person. He could not go into the *temple’s inner area if he had been near a dead person. He would not be *clean. He could not serve the *Lord as a priest.
He could go near if the dead person belonged to his family. Family here means his parents, his children, his brothers and his sisters. But if his sister is married, she is not part of his family. He must not go near to her body when she dies.
If he did go near a dead relative, he would not be *clean. So, he must get himself *clean. (There are rules about this in Numbers 19:11-13.) When he is *clean again, he must wait 7 days. At the end of the 7 days, he must make a *sacrifice. To go near a dead person is like *sin because by it the priest is not *clean. After he is *clean then he may serve the *Lord in the inner area.
Verses 28-31 The priests will own no property in *Israel. They will depend on the *Lord for all that they need. Their food will come from the *sacrifices that the people give to the *Lord. But they must not eat the meat from birds or animals that they find dead already. And they must not eat anything that wild animals have killed. All that the people give to the *Lord will belong to the priests.
The people must give to the *Lord the first part of their harvests. That part under the old rules would be a 10th of the harvest. Then the *Lord will show his kindness to their families.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Ezekiel 43

“1 Afterward he brought me to the gate, [even] the gate that looketh toward the east:2 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice [was] like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. 3 And [it was] according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, [even] according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions [were] like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. 4 And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect [is] toward the east. 5 So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house. 6 And I heard [him] speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me.”

“7 And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, [neither] they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places. 8 In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger. 9 Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever. 10 Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. 11 And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write [it] in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them. 12 This [is] the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about [shall be] most holy. Behold, this [is] the law of the house.”

The *glory of God returns to the *temple – Ezekiel 43:1-12

v1 Then the man led me to the east gate. v2 I saw the *glory of the God of *Israel, which came from the east. His voice was like the sound of rushing water. And the earth shone from his *glory. v3 I saw this in a *vision. And this *vision was like the *vision that I had seen before. Then the *vision was of the *LORD when he came to destroy the city. This *vision was also like the *vision that I had by the river called Chebar. I fell with my face to the ground. v4 The *glory of the *LORD came into the *temple area through the east gate. v5 Then the Spirit picked me up. He brought me into the inner area. There the *glory of the *LORD filled the *temple.
v6 The man stood by my side. Then I heard a voice, which spoke to me from the *temple. v7 That voice said, ‘*Son of man, this is the place of my *throne. This is where I rest my feet. I will live here among the *Israelites always. The *Israelites will never again cause my *holy name to seem like something unclean. They and their kings will not *worship the kings’ false gods, which have no life. They carried out that evil behaviour on the mountains, like *prostitutes. v8 They caused my *holy name to seem like something unclean. They did this when they put their doors next to my door. They made their entrances next to mine. There was only a small wall between them and me. There they did those things that I hate. This caused my *holy name to seem like something unclean. And so, I killed them because of my anger. v9 Now let them stop their *prostitution. They must destroy their kings’ false gods, which have no life. Then I will come and I will live among them for all time.’
v10 ‘*Son of man, describe the *temple to the *Israelites. Then they will be ashamed of their *sins. Let them think about the plan of the *temple. v11 Maybe they are ashamed of all that they have done. If so, tell them about the design of the *temple. Tell them its design, its entrances and exits. Tell them its shape and the plan of everything in it. Give to them all its rules and regulations. Write these things down in front of them. Then they can be accurate about its design. And then they can follow all its regulations.
v12 This is the law of the *temple. All the area round about the top of the mountain is very *holy. This is the law of the *temple.’

Verses 1-5 The man led Ezekiel to the east gate of the outer area. They looked towards the east. Ezekiel saw the *glory of God come from the east. It was like the *glory that he had seen by the Chebar River. And he had seen that same *glory when God left the old *temple. That *glory had gone through the east gate of that *temple. God’s *glory would not return until this *temple was ready for him.
The *glory of God went through the east gate into the *temple. The Spirit took Ezekiel into the inner court. There he saw that the *glory filled the *temple.
This *prophecy has not yet happened. It is still future. I believe that, one day, there will be this *temple. Then God’s *glory will come and he will fill the *temple.

Verses 6-9 The voice that spoke from the *temple in verse 6 was the *Lord’s voice. He entered the *temple and he was speaking from his *throne. So the words in verses 7 to 26 are the *Lord’s words.
The new *temple will be God’s *throne. It will be God’s house for all time. The *Israelites will serve the real God. They will never *turn to false gods again.
These verses show why God gave this *vision to Ezekiel. He desires to live with his people. He wants them to serve him. They must never *turn to false gods again.
God compares the *worship of false gods to *prostitution. He does this for two reasons. The people were not loyal to God, even as a *prostitute is not loyal to her husband. And *sins of sex were part of the false religions that the *Israelites followed during Ezekiel’s life. God says that this *prostitution must end. The *Israelites must be completely loyal to him.

Verses 10-12 When Ezekiel told the people about the new *temple, they should be ashamed. They knew that God had left the old *temple. Then the *Babylonians had destroyed it. They knew that the reason for this was the *sin of the *Israelites.
The people would think about the plans of the new *temple. And maybe they would *repent of their *sins.

The area of the new *temple will be much larger then the old one. The whole area will be a *holy place. This includes the top of the mountain beyond the *temple area.

“13 And these [are] the measures of the altar after the cubits: The cubit [is] a cubit and an hand breadth; even the bottom [shall be] a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge thereof round about [shall be] a span: and this [shall be] the higher place of the altar. 14 And from the bottom [upon] the ground [even] to the lower settle [shall be] two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser settle [even] to the greater settle [shall be] four cubits, and the breadth [one] cubit. 15 So the altar [shall be] four cubits; and from the altar and upward [shall be] four horns. 16 And the altar [shall be] twelve [cubits] long, twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof. 17 And the settle [shall be] fourteen [cubits] long and fourteen broad in the four squares thereof; and the border about it [shall be] half a cubit; and the bottom thereof [shall be] a cubit about; and his stairs shall look toward the east. 18 And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; These [are] the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon. 19 And thou shalt give to the priests the Levites that be of the seed of Zadok, which approach unto me, to minister unto me, saith the Lord GOD, a young bullock for a sin offering. 20 And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put [it] on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it. 21 Thou shalt take the bullock also of the sin offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place of the house, without the sanctuary. 22 And on the second day thou shalt offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they did cleanse [it] with the bullock. 23 When thou hast made an end of cleansing [it], thou shalt offer a young bullock without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish. 24 And thou shalt offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up [for] a burnt offering unto the LORD. 25 Seven days shalt thou prepare every day a goat [for] a sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bullock, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish. 26 Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves. 27 And when these days are expired, it shall be, [that] upon the eighth day, and [so] forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 43:1-27 AV)

The *altar for *sacrifices – Ezekiel 43:13-27

v13 ‘This is the size of the *altar in long *cubits. These long *cubits are a *cubit plus the width of a hand. Its ditch will be one *cubit deep and one *cubit wide. It will have a lip on its edge of half a *cubit. So, this will be the height of the base of the *altar. v14 From the ground up to a lower lip will be two *cubits high and one *cubit wide. From the smaller lip to the larger lip will be 4 *cubits high and one *cubit wide. v15 The place where the priest burns the *sacrifice on the *altar will be 4 *cubits high. Above this, there will a *horn at each of the 4 corners of the *altar. v16 The top of the *altar will be 12 *cubits long and 12 *cubits wide. It will be square. v17 The upper edge of the *altar will be 14 *cubits long and 14 *cubits wide. There will be a lip all round of half a *cubit. And there will be a ditch of one *cubit all round. The steps to the *altar will be on the east side.’
v18 Then he said this to me. ‘*Son of man, this is what the *LORD your King says. These are the rules for the *altar on its first day of use. The *altar will be the place where the priests burn the *sacrifices. They will throw some of the blood against the *altar. v19 You must give to the priests a young *bull as a *sacrifice because of *sin. These priests belong to the family of their *ancestor Zadok who was a *descendant of Levi. They shall come near to me in order to serve me, says the *LORD your King. v20 You must take some of its blood and put it on the 4 *horns of the *altar. You must put some blood on the 4 corners of the upper lip and all round the edge. This is how you will make the *altar *clean and ready. Then God will accept it. v21 Then you must take the *bull and burn it as a *sacrifice because of *sin. You must burn it in the proper place. This is in the *temple area outside the *holy place.
v22 On the second day, bring a male goat that has nothing wrong with it. It will be a *sacrifice because of *sin. The priests will make the *altar *clean and ready as they did with the young *bull. v23 When the *altar is *clean and ready, *sacrifice a young *bull and a male sheep. These animals must have nothing wrong with them. v24 You must *sacrifice them in front of the *LORD. The priests must throw salt on them. Then the priests must burn them as *burnt *sacrifices to the *LORD.
v25 You must bring a goat every day for 7 days as a *sacrifice because of *sin. You must bring a young *bull and a male sheep. There must be nothing wrong with these animals. v26 For 7 days, the priests must make the *altar *clean and ready. Then they will give to God the *altar. v27 After these 7 days, on the 8th day and afterwards, this is what the priests must do. They must bring to the *altar your *burnt *sacrifices. They must also bring your *sacrifices for peace and they must put them on the *altar. Then I will accept you, says the *LORD your King.’

Verses 13-17 The *altar was in front of the main *temple building. It was in the inner area. Ezekiel describes the *altar from the bottom to the top. Round the base of the *altar, there was a ditch. This ditch was 2 feet (0.6 metres) deep and 2 feet (0.6 metres) wide. The edge of the ditch had a lip of nearly a foot (about 0.25 metres).
Above the base, the *altar was in three sections. The first section was 3½ feet (1.1 metres) high. The *altar was square. This section was 28 feet (8.6 metres) long on each side. The second section was 7 feet (2.2 metres) high. It was 24½ feet (7.5 metres) long on each side. It had a lip on the top of nearly a foot (about 0.25 metres) wide. The third section was 7 feet (2.2 metres) high. It was 21 feet (6.5 metres) long on each side. On this section, there were *horns on each corner.
There were steps up to the top of the *altar from the east side.

Verses 18-27 After they had built the *altar, the priests had to make it ready for use. This process took 7 days. On the first day, the priests must kill a young *bull as a *sacrifice because of *sin. They must take some of the blood of the *bull. They must put it on the 4 *horns and all round the top edge of the *altar.
Then, on each of the other days, the priests must *sacrifice a goat. This goat must be a male and it must be perfect. Then, on each of the days, they must *sacrifice a young *bull and a male sheep. They must put salt on these animals and burn them.
After the 7 days, the *altar will be ready for daily use. When people decide to offer *sacrifices, they will bring their animals to the priests. The priests will *sacrifice the animals on the *altar on behalf of the people.


Saturday, August 25, 2012

Ezekiel 42

“1 Then he brought me forth into the utter court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the chamber that [was] over against the separate place, and which [was] before the building toward the north. 2 Before the length of an hundred cubits [was] the north door, and the breadth [was] fifty cubits. 3 Over against the twenty [cubits] which [were] for the inner court, and over against the pavement which [was] for the utter court, [was] gallery against gallery in three [stories]. 4 And before the chambers [was] a walk of ten cubits breadth inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors toward the north. 5 Now the upper chambers [were] shorter: for the galleries were higher than these, than the lower, and than the middlemost of the building. 6 For they [were] in three [stories], but had not pillars as the pillars of the courts: therefore [the building] was straitened more than the lowest and the middlemost from the ground. 7 And the wall that [was] without over against the chambers, toward the utter court on the forepart of the chambers, the length thereof [was] fifty cubits. 8 For the length of the chambers that [were] in the utter court [was] fifty cubits: and, lo, before the temple [were] an hundred cubits. 9 And from under these chambers [was] the entry on the east side, as one goeth into them from the utter court. 10 The chambers [were] in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, over against the separate place, and over against the building. 11 And the way before them [was] like the appearance of the chambers which [were] toward the north, as long as they, [and] as broad as they: and all their goings out [were] both according to their fashions, and according to their doors. 12 And according to the doors of the chambers that [were] toward the south [was] a door in the head of the way, [even] the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one entereth into them. 13 Then said he unto me, The north chambers [and] the south chambers, which [are] before the separate place, they [be] holy chambers, where the priests that approach unto the LORD shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place [is] holy. 14 When the priests enter therein, then shall they not go out of the holy [place] into the utter court, but there they shall lay their garments wherein they minister; for they [are] holy; and shall put on other garments, and shall approach to [those things] which [are] for the people.”

“15 Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth toward the gate whose prospect [is] toward the east, and measured it round about. 16 He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about. 17 He measured the north side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about. 18 He measured the south side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed. 19 He turned about to the west side, [and] measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. 20 He measured it by the four sides: it had a wall round about, five hundred [reeds] long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.” (Ezekiel 42:1-20 AV)

Friday, August 24, 2012

Ezekiel 41

“1 Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, [which was] the breadth of the tabernacle. 2 And the breadth of the door [was] ten cubits; and the sides of the door [were] five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits: and the breadth, twenty cubits. 3 Then went he inward, and measured the post of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits. 4 So he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This [is] the most holy [place]. 5 After he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of [every] side chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side. 6 And the side chambers [were] three, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which [was] of the house for the side chambers round about, that they might have hold, but they had not hold in the wall of the house. 7 And [there was] an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house [was still] upward, and so increased [from] the lowest [chamber] to the highest by the midst. 8 I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the side chambers [were] a full reed of six great cubits. 9 The thickness of the wall, which [was] for the side chamber without, [was] five cubits: and [that] which [was] left [was] the place of the side chambers that [were] within. 10 And between the chambers [was] the wideness of twenty cubits round about the house on every side. 11 And the doors of the side chambers [were] toward [the place that was] left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left [was] five cubits round about.”

“12 Now the building that [was] before the separate place at the end toward the west [was] seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building [was] five cubits thick round about, and the length thereof ninety cubits. 13 So he measured the house, an hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, an hundred cubits long; 14 Also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, an hundred cubits. 15 And he measured the length of the building over against the separate place which [was] behind it, and the galleries thereof on the one side and on the other side, an hundred cubits, with the inner temple, and the porches of the court; 16 The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the door, cieled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows [were] covered; 17 To that above the door, even unto the inner house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, by measure. 18 And [it was] made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree [was] between a cherub and a cherub; and [every] cherub had two faces; 19 So that the face of a man [was] toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: [it was] made through all the house round about. 20 From the ground unto above the door [were] cherubims and palm trees made, and [on] the wall of the temple. 21 The posts of the temple [were] squared, [and] the face of the sanctuary; the appearance [of the one] as the appearance [of the other]. 22 The altar of wood [was] three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, [were] of wood: and he said unto me, This [is] the table that [is] before the LORD. 23 And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors. 24 And the doors had two leaves [apiece], two turning leaves; two [leaves] for the one door, and two leaves for the other [door]. 25 And [there were] made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubims and palm trees, like as [were] made upon the walls; and [there were] thick planks upon the face of the porch without. 26 And [there were] narrow windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and [upon] the side chambers of the house, and thick planks.” (Ezekiel 41:1-26 AV)