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Commentary on Ezekiel 46 verses 1–15
Whether the rules for public worship here laid down were designed to be observed, even in those things wherein they differed from the law of Moses, and were so observed under the second temple, is not certain; we find not in the history of that latter part of the Jewish church that they governed themselves in their worship by these ordinances, as one would think they should have done, but only by law of Moses, looking upon this then in the next age after as mystical, and not literal. We may observe, in these verses,
I. That the place of worship was fixed, and rules were given concerning that, both to prince and people.
1.The east gate, which was kept shut at other times, was to be opened on the sabbath days, on the moons (Eze 46:1), and whenever the prince offered a voluntary offering, Eze 46:12. Of the keeping of this gate ordinarily shut we read before (Eze 44:2); whereas the other gates of the court were opened every day, this was opened only on high days and on special occasions, when it was opened for the prince, who was to go in by the way of the porch of that gate, Eze 46:2, Eze 46:8. Some think he went in with the priests and Levites into the inner court (for into that court this gate was the entrance), and they observe that magistrates and ministers should join forces, and go the same way, hand in hand, in promoting the service of God. But it should rather seem that he did not go through the gate (as the glory of the Lord had done), though it was open, but he went by the way of the porch of the gate, stood at the post of the gate, and worshipped at the threshold of the gate (Eze 46:2), where he had a full view of the priests' performances at the altar, and signified his concurrence in them, for himself and for the people of the land, that stood behind him at the door of that gate, Eze 46:3. Thus must every prince show himself to be of David's mind, who would very willingly be a door-keeper in the house of his God, and, as the word there is, lie at the threshold, Psa 84:10. Note, The greatest of men are less than the least of the ordinances of God. Even princes themselves, when they draw near to God, must worship with reverence and godly fear, owning that even they are unworthy to approach to him. But Christ is our prince, whom God causes to draw near and approach to him, Jer 30:21.
2.As to the north gate and south gate, by which they entered into the court of the people (not into the inner court), there was this rule given, that whoever came in at the north gate should go out at the south gate, and whoever came in at the south gate should go out at the north gate, Eze 46:9. Some think this was to prevent thrusting and jostling one another; for God is the God of order, and not of confusion. We may suppose that they came in at the gate that was next their own houses, but, when they went away, God would have them go out at that gate which would lead them the furthest way about, that they might have time for meditation; being thereby obliged to go a great way round the sanctuary, they might have an opportunity to consider the palaces of it, and, if they improved their time well in fetching this circuit, they would call it the nearest way home. Some observe that this may remind us, in the service of God, to be still pressing forward (Phi 3:13) and not to look back, and, in our attendance upon ordinances, not to go back as we came, but more holy, and heavenly, and spiritual.
3.It is appointed that the people shall worship at the door of the east gate, where the prince does, he at the head and they attending him, both on the sabbath and on the new moons (Eze 46:3), and that, when they come in and go out, the prince shall be in the midst of them, Eze 46:10. Note, Great men should, by their constant and reverent attendance on God in public worship, give a good example to their inferiors, both engaging them and encouraging them to do likewise. It is a very graceful becoming thing for persons of quality to go to church with their servants, and tenants, and poor neighbours about them, and to behave themselves there with an air of seriousness and devotion; and those who thus honour God with their honour he will delight to honour.
II. That the ordinances of worship were fixed. Though the prince is supposed himself to be a very hearty zealous friend to the sanctuary, yet it is not left to him, no, not in concert with the priests, to appoint what sacrifices shall be offered, but God himself appoints them; for it is his prerogative to institute the rites and ceremonies of religious worship. 1. Every morning, as duly as the morning came, they must offer a lamb for a burnt-offering, Eze 46:13. It is strange that no mention is made of the evening sacrifice; but Christ having come, and having offered himself now in the end of the world (Heb 9:26), we are to look upon him as the evening sacrifice, about the time of the offering up of which he died. 2. On the sabbath days, whereas by the law of Moses four lambs were to be offered (Num 28:9), it is here appointed that (at the prince's charge) there shall be six lambs offered, and a ram besides (Eze 46:4), to intimate how much we should abound in sabbath work, now in gospel-time, and what plenty of the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise we should offer up to God on that day; and, if with such sacrifice God is well-pleased, surely we have a great deal of reason to be so. 3. On the new moons, in the beginning of their months, there was over and above the usual sabbath-sacrifices the additional offering of a young bullock, Eze 46:6. Those who do much for God and their souls, statedly and constantly, must yet, upon some occasions, do still more. 4. All the sacrifices were to be without blemish; so Christ, the great sacrifice, was (Pe1 1:19), and so Christians, who are to present themselves to God as living sacrifices, should aim and endeavour to be - blameless, and harmless, and without rebuke. 5. All the sacrifices were to have their meat-offerings annexed to them, for so the law of Moses had appointed, to show what a good table God keeps in his house and that we ought to honour him with the fruit of our ground as well as with the fruit of our cattle, because in both he has blessed us, Duet. Eze 28:4. In the beginning, Cain offered the one and Abel the other. Some observe that the meat-offerings here are much larger in proportion than they were by the law of Moses. Then the proportion was three tenth-deals to a bullock, and two to a ram (so many tenth parts of an ephah) and half a hin of oil at the most (Num 15:6-9); but here, for every bullock and every ram, a whole ephah and a whole hin of oil (p. 7), which intimates that under the gospel, the great atoning sacrifice having been offered, these unbloody sacrifices shall be more abounded in; or, in general, it intimates that as now, under the gospel, God abounds in the gifts of his grace to us, more than under the law, so we should abound in the returns of praise and duty to him. But it is observable that in the meat-offering for the lambs the prince is allowed to offer as he shall be able to give (Eze 46:5, Eze 46:7, Eze 46:11), as his hand shall attain unto. Note, Princess themselves must spend as they can afford; and even in that which is laid out in works of piety God expects and requires but that we should do according to our ability, every man as God has prepared him, Co1 16:2. God has not made us to serve with an offering (Isa 43:23), but considers our frame and state. Yet this will not countenance those who pretend a disability that is not real, or those who by their extravagances in other things disable themselves to do the good they should. And we find those praised who, in an extraordinary case of charity, went not only to their power, but beyond their power.
(Verse 12 and following) When the prince offers a voluntary burnt offering or a voluntary peace offering to the Lord, the gate facing east shall be opened for him, and he shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offering as is customary on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out, the gate shall be closed. He shall also offer a year-old lamb without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord every day. He shall offer it in the morning and in the evening. And he shall offer as a grain offering a sixth of an ephah of grain and a third of a hin of olive oil, mixed with the grain offering. This is a perpetual ordinance to the Lord. You will make a lamb and a sacrifice, and oil every morning, a perpetual burnt offering. Where we read immaculate, in Hebrew it is written Thamim (), which the Aquila perfectum. And where LXX Manaa (): Theodotion, sacrifice; Aquila and Symmachus, they translate as gift. But for what we said, spontaneous, LXX translated as ὁμολογίαν, that is, confession: and for prince, they translate as leader, for this Nasi () signifies. Moreover, there is still talk of a prince, about whom Isaiah speaks: Behold, I have given him as a witness to the nations, a prince and a teacher among the nations (Isaiah 55:4). And Ezekiel says: And I, the Lord, will be their God, and David will be their prince among them (Ezekiel 34:24). Therefore, when this prince acts willingly and says: May the voluntary and spontaneous offerings of my mouth be pleasing to you, Lord (Psalm 119:108): the voluntary burnt offering, which means offering oneself entirely to God, and the peaceful voluntary offerings, which are not mentioned earlier; for it is written: And the priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings: and concerning the voluntary and spontaneous offerings, which are now mentioned, it is completely silent, so that they are not done out of necessity, but out of free will: after the burnt offering, he shall offer the peaceful offerings and reconcile with God. Whereas virginity is greater than marriage (I Cor. VII), because it is not demanded, nor is it returned, but it is offered. The propitiatory offerings, which are called Selamim in Hebrew, are interpreted as salvific by the LXX: so too the reconciliation of the peace offerings is the salvation of the one offering them. Therefore, when the prince has done this, the gate will be opened to him; or according to the Septuagint, the gate that faces the East will be opened for him; that is, that gate about which it is written: 'This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it' (Ps. CXVII, 20), and from where the sun of justice arises. And he will make his burnt offering, and his peace offerings: of which we have now spoken. He shall do it alone, because it is his spontaneous sacrifice, and the priests shall not offer these things for him, nor shall they mix the sacrifices with the people. And at any time the burnt offering or the peace offering, which is offered voluntarily, has the gate of the Lord reserved: neither shall he observe the sabbath, but all days shall be to him as a day of rest. Finally, after he has offered the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he shall immediately go out, and the door shall be closed after him, or the door shall be closed: so that his privilege as prince may be preserved, and his sacrifices may not be mixed with the people. And because he had said in general, a voluntary holocaust, or a peaceful voluntary offering to the Lord, and had not added a bull or a calf, and a ram or a sheep, and a male goat for sin, he teaches what the holocaust itself should be: saying, 'You shall make a yearling immaculate lamb a holocaust; and not on certain days, but daily, and not at any hour, but in the morning, morning he shall make it; particularly every morning, when the sun rises and the beginning of light appears.' About whom David speaks in the psalm: In the morning, you will hear my voice; in the morning, I will stand before you and see (Ps. 5:4). And in another place: Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning (Ps. 30:6). And again: O God, you are my God; early will I seek you (Ps. 63:1). But as for that spotless lamb, or perfect and year-old lamb, Isaiah explains more fully, saying: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth (Isa. 53:7). And Jeremiah: But I was like an innocent lamb led to the slaughter; I did not know (Jer. XI, 19). And John the Baptist: Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John I, 29). This is the lamb that was sacrificed in Egypt, whose blood the doorposts of faith are marked with, and the destroyer is excluded (Exod. XII). And the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of retribution. And the reader should not be surprised if he is also called prince, and priest, and calf, and ram, and lamb, since in the Holy Scriptures we read of him as Lord, and God, and man, and prophet, and staff, and root, and flower, and prince, and judge, and king, righteous, and justice, apostle, and bishop, arm, servant, ointment, shepherd, son, and child, only-begotten, and first-born, door, way, angel, arrow, wisdom, and many others, all of which, if I were to want to recount the testimonies, would require their own book. Therefore, the high priest himself will perform the sacrifice of that immaculate and yearling lamb in the holocaust, which is offered every morning. This sacrifice is called the Manaa, and it consists of a sixth part of an ephah of fine flour. A sixth part of an ephah is half a modius. For if an ephah is a tenth part of a cor, which is three modii, then undoubtedly a sixth part of an ephah makes half a modius. Of oil, a third part of a hin is offered, in order to mix it with or sprinkle it upon the sacrifice of fine flour, which is a legitimate, perpetual offering to God that is never interrupted. It is offered at all times, from the rising of the sun, so that what is written at the end of this chapter may be fulfilled: 'He shall offer a lamb for a sacrifice and oil every morning, a perpetual holocaust.'
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SUMMARY
Ezekiel 46:12 meticulously details the protocol for the prince within Ezekiel's visionary temple when presenting voluntary burnt offerings or peace offerings to the LORD. This passage outlines the precise, temporary opening and immediate closing of the sacred East Gate, emphasizing the profound reverence and strict regulation required for worship, even for freewill offerings. It highlights the prince's unique and exemplary role in leading the community in devotion, mirroring the established, meticulous practices of the Sabbath.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Ezekiel 46:12 masterfully employs several literary devices to convey its profound theological and ritualistic message. Repetition is prominently featured, particularly with the word "voluntarily" (Hebrew: nedabah), which appears twice in the opening clause. This emphatic repetition serves to underscore the paramount importance of freewill devotion and highlights that these offerings are not compulsory but stem from a willing and devoted heart. The repeated mention of "burnt offering" and "peace offerings" also reinforces the specific types of sacrifices being made. Symbolism is central to the verse, with the East Gate serving as a powerful and multifaceted symbol of God's presence, the unapproachable holiness of the sanctuary, and the controlled access to the divine. Its temporary opening and immediate closing for the prince's specific ritual signify both privileged access and the enduring sacredness of the temple space, which was previously marked by the majestic entrance of God's glory. The Prince himself functions as a symbolic figure, representing ideal, divinely appointed leadership that models piety, adherence to sacred protocols, and personal devotion. Furthermore, the precise, almost liturgical description of the sequence of actions—opening, preparing, going forth, and shutting—creates a strong sense of Ritualistic Precision, emphasizing the order, reverence, and meticulousness absolutely required in approaching and worshipping a holy God.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Ezekiel 46:12, while detailing specific temple rituals, offers profound and enduring theological insights into the very nature of worship, the essence of leadership, and the unapproachable holiness of God. It teaches that true worship, even when arising from a voluntary heart, must be offered with intentionality, profound reverence, and in strict adherence to divine order. The prince's exemplary role embodies a form of leadership that models deep devotion and unwavering adherence to sacred protocols, demonstrating that spiritual authority is intrinsically intertwined with personal piety and obedience. The strict control over the East Gate powerfully underscores the absolute holiness of God and the sacredness of His dwelling place, reminding humanity that access to the divine presence is an immense privilege, not an inherent right, and is always granted strictly on God's terms. This visionary passage ultimately foreshadows a future time of perfect worship and communion, where both spontaneous, heartfelt devotion and divinely established order seamlessly coexist in perfect harmony.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Ezekiel 46:12, though deeply rooted in ancient temple rituals and a specific prophetic vision, offers timeless and profoundly relevant principles for contemporary believers. The powerful emphasis on "voluntary" offerings challenges us to deeply examine the true motivation behind our acts of worship, service, and generosity. Are we giving of ourselves, our time, our talents, and our resources out of mere obligation, or from a heart overflowing with genuine love, profound gratitude, and unreserved devotion for God? True devotion is not simply about fulfilling duties or adhering to external requirements, but about offering ourselves freely, joyfully, and spontaneously to the LORD. Furthermore, the meticulous procedures surrounding the East Gate serve as a potent reminder of the profound and majestic holiness of God. We are called to approach Him with reverence, awe, and intentionality, recognizing that our access to His glorious presence is an immeasurable, sacred privilege, made possible only through the finished work of Christ. Leaders, much like the prince in this vision, are especially called to model sincere, unreserved devotion, inspiring and guiding others through their personal commitment to God and their adherence to His divine principles. Our worship, whether expressed corporately in community or individually in solitude, should consistently reflect both heartfelt spontaneity and a deep, abiding respect for God's majestic order and holiness.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What is the significance of the East Gate in Ezekiel's vision?
Answer: The East Gate is profoundly significant in Ezekiel's temple vision because it was the exclusive gateway through which the glory of the LORD entered the temple (Ezekiel 43:4), signifying God's re-entry and abiding presence. Consequently, Ezekiel 44:1-2 explicitly states that this gate was to remain permanently shut as a perpetual testament to God's enduring presence and the inviolable sacredness of the sanctuary. Its temporary and highly controlled opening for the prince's specific voluntary offerings in Ezekiel 46:12 highlights the exceptional nature of this access and the profound holiness of the space, emphasizing that even the prince's privileged access is strictly regulated, temporary, and only for divinely ordained purposes.
How does the "prince" in Ezekiel's vision differ from a king or a high priest?
Answer: The "prince" (nâsîy') in Ezekiel's vision is a unique and distinct figure, set apart from both the pre-exilic kings of Israel and the high priests. Unlike the kings who often wielded absolute political and religious authority, the prince's authority is primarily administrative and cultic, focused specifically on the temple and its offerings, rather than comprehensive political rule over the nation. He is responsible for providing offerings for the people and for himself, but he does not perform the priestly functions of atonement or sacrifice directly—those sacred duties are exclusively reserved for the priests (e.g., Ezekiel 44:15-16). He also has specific land allocations and regulations (e.g., Ezekiel 45:7-8), which further define his unique role. This clear distinction emphasizes a purified leadership structure in the restored community, designed to avoid the abuses of power seen in earlier monarchies and to maintain a clear, divinely ordained separation between priestly and lay roles.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Ezekiel 46:12, with its meticulous regulations for the prince's voluntary offerings and the strictly controlled access to the sacred East Gate, finds its ultimate fulfillment and glorious transformation in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The "prince" in Ezekiel's vision, a lay leader who provides offerings and models devotion, serves as a poignant foreshadowing of Christ, who is not merely a prince but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16). Yet, unlike the earthly prince who offers sacrifices for himself and the people, Jesus is uniquely both the perfect High Priest and the ultimate, once-for-all sacrifice (Hebrews 9:11-14). His offering was not merely "voluntary" but utterly perfect, complete, and given out of infinite love and absolute obedience to the Father's will (John 10:17-18). The East Gate, once shut and opened only under the most stringent conditions, powerfully symbolizes the impenetrable barrier between a holy God and sinful humanity. In Christ, this barrier is eternally removed. Through His sacrificial death and glorious resurrection, Jesus, our great High Priest, has opened a new and living way into the very presence of God (Hebrews 10:19-20), granting us permanent, unhindered access that was utterly impossible under the Old Covenant. Thus, the shadow of the prince's limited and temporary access gives way to the glorious reality of Christ, who is our direct, eternal, and all-sufficient access to the Father, enabling us to offer spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, not through ritual gates, but directly through Him (1 Peter 2:5).