The Bible says in Ezekiel 45:7-17, 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 manneh.[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. The previous passage
was about providing the needs of the priests and Levites, and this passage is
about providing for the material needs of the princes and the leaders of the
country. God has established a hierarchy in the world. God wanted the princes
to be in charge in Israel, just like God wants the leaders that He has put in
your country. God has put them there, and God wants the citizens to take care
of them. That is why it says in Romans 13:1-7, Let
every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God:
the powers that be are ordained of God.[2]
Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and
they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.[3] For rulers
are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid
of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt
have praise of the same:[4] For he is the minister of God to thee for
good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the
sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon
him that doeth evil.[5] Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for
wrath, but also for conscience sake.[6] For for this cause pay ye
tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this
very thing.[7] Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom
tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
All of the leaders of every country
will give an answer to God about how they conducted their leadership. The
princes of Israel were told in Ezekiel 45:8, my princes shall no more oppress
my people; and the rest of the land shall they give to the house of Israel. Gods
purpose for rulers is to help the people, not oppress them. The princes should
be given enough for their own livelihood, but everything else should be given
to the people. The government should not own any more than necessary. The
people should own. This is capitalism: the type of economic system that God
encourages.
The princes of Israel were also told
in verse 9, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute
judgment and justice. This verse is talking about the responsibility to punish and
remove evil-doers. Those who commit acts of violence and those who steal in any
way from their fellow-citizens should get a proper punishment. No one should be
let go who is guilty. Romans 13:3 says the same thing,
For
rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. People in
authority at all levels will one day answer to God for how well they punished
evil doers and thus protected the innocent citizens. Of course, the best ruler
will be Jesus when He rules on the throne of David for a thousand years. Talking
about the Messianic Kingdom it says in the first part of Isaiah 11:9, They shall
not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 45:18-25, 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. The Passover
is mentioned in verse 21. Of course, the Passover was one of the great events
of the Old Testament, and God did not want the Israelites to forget it. For
Gods judgment to pass over the Israelites, animal sacrifices were required. Without
the shedding of blood of the innocent ones, there was no remission of sin.
Jesus was crucified on the Passover for a reason: Jesus was the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sins of the world. During the Passover, the Jewish people
were required to kill many animals. Those animal sacrifices did not really take
away sin. They were only symbolic of the sacrifice of Christ. What a wonderful
Savior we have who was willing to come to this world of woe and die for our
sins.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 46:1-7, 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. These verses show one
of the differences between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old
Testament the temple symbolized the closest presence of God. His glory filled
the temple, but access to the temple was extremely limited. Even access to the
inner court of the temple was controlled and limited. Nothing like that exists
in the New Testament covenant under which we live by faith in Jesus. Now every
believer in Jesus can come boldly to the throne of grace and find grace to help
in time of need. Of course, in the Old Testament even the limited access
required constant sacrifices of animals. Jesus sacrificed Himself once for all.
What a great Savior we have, and what a great opportunity to know God during
this age of grace.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 46:8-10, 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.
Verse 9 makes an interesting statement to which we can give a good spiritual
application. It says that the people who entered into the temple area could not
go out by the way the came: they had to leave by a different way than they
came. Great numbers of people would visit the temple, especially on certain
special feast days. Aside from the very practical reason for this for crowd
control, there is a spiritual application. When you go Gods way for you, do
not turn back. Do not go back to the old life. Do not make any plan or any
allowance for that. You must understand that one of your problems was your
associations with those who influenced you in the wrong ways. It says in First
Corinthians 15:33, Be not deceived, evil
communications corrupt good manners.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 46:11-15, And in the
feast and in the solemnities the meat offering shall be an ephah to a bullock,
and 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. There is an interesting phrase in verse 11 about giving.
It says, as he is able to give.
This concept is re-stated in verse 12 when it speaks of a voluntary burnt offering. And so we see that in the Old Testament under the Old Covenant the
Israelites were required to gives tithes (10 percent), but they also had this
teaching that was entirely voluntary what they gave. In the New Testament under
the new covenant the tithing part is removed because we are no longer under
law, but the voluntary part remains. That is why it says in Second Corinthians
9:7, Every man according as he purposeth in
his heart so let him give; not grudgingly or of necessity: for God loveth a
cheerful giver. There is a practical side to
Christianity, and some Christians have the means and the desire to give and to
have a part in spreading the gospel from the practical side. They know that
they will be rewarded for that, and they know that God has blessed them
materially for a reason. Jesus said in Mark 9:41, For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in
my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose
his reward.
The second part of these verses in
Ezekiel chapter 46 talk about the continual sacrifices that the Israelites were
required to give. They were required to make those sacrifices every morning
because of their daily sins. We are all sinners. We sin frequently. We fail
God. In the time of the Old Testament the sacrifices of yesterday were not
enough, and so they needed more sacrifices and more sacrifices all the time.
But we have the Lord Jesus as our sacrifice. Even though we fail God in some
way every day, we have Jesus to always look to as our sacrifice. Because of
Jesus we are accepted by God. Because of Jesus today the Lord is pleased with
me. Because of Jesus there is nothing between my soul and the Savior.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2017 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved