Ezekiel 48:30-35
English Standard Version

The Gates of the City
30 “These shall be the exits of the city: On the north side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, 31 three gates, the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi, the gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel. 32 On the east side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan. 33 On the south side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, three gates, the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun. 34 On the west side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali. 35 The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The LORD Is There.”

In this final passage of Ezekiel, we see the layout of the walls and gates around what I believe is the post-Exilic Jerusalem, but not the New Jerusalem (the New Jerusalem is much larger in the book of Revelation with sides of 12, 000 stadia (2, 160, 000 cubits on each side).  Each wall here has a length of "only" 4, 500 cubits (2, 250 yards) and contains three gates.  The layout of the gates will be similar in the book of Revelation and probably the same tribes will have gates on each side of the city.  The interesting thing though is we clearly see a Temple here in the midst of the future Jerusalem in the book of Ezekiel and John tells us there is no Temple in the New Jerusalem, "And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb."  (Revelation 21:22).  I have yet to fully grasp this is this is my first time reading certain parts of the Bible and I will try to understand it more going forward, but I think this is one of the things that points Dispensationalists towards a future kingdom for the Jewish people that is separate from the New Jerusalem described in Revelation 21 and 22 (the eternal kingdom).

Back to the Ezekiel's description of the city which may be used by Nehemiah as he built the walls of Jerusalem.  The North Wall had the gates of Reuben, Judah and Levi.  The East Wall had the gates of Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan.  The South Wall had the gates of Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun.  The West Wall had the gates of Gad, Asher, and Naphtali.  There was a gate for each of the twelve sons of Israel (not the same as the Twelve Tribes because Levi is included and Joseph did not get a double portion by his two sons being adopted as sons of Jacob in his place).  It is sill a massive city that will be the place where the world would know that the LORD dwelled there among His people once again and scorn and shame would be erased.  No more would the name of Israel or Jerusalem or the Temple be a byword, but they would once again cause the nations to glorify and worship the name of the LORD.

Ezekiel 48:1-29
English Standard Version

48 “These are the names of the tribes: Beginning at the northern extreme, beside the way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan (which is on the northern border of Damascus over against Hamath), and extending from the east side to the west, Dan, one portion. 2 Adjoining the territory of Dan, from the east side to the west, Asher, one portion. 3 Adjoining the territory of Asher, from the east side to the west, Naphtali, one portion. 4 Adjoining the territory of Naphtali, from the east side to the west, Manasseh, one portion. 5 Adjoining the territory of Manasseh, from the east side to the west, Ephraim, one portion. 6 Adjoining the territory of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, Reuben, one portion. 7 Adjoining the territory of Reuben, from the east side to the west, Judah, one portion.

8 “Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be the portion which you shall set apart, 25,000 cubits in breadth, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the midst of it. 9 The portion that you shall set apart for the LORD shall be 25,000 cubits in length, and 20,000 in breadth. 10 These shall be the allotments of the holy portion: the priests shall have an allotment measuring 25,000 cubits on the northern side, 10,000 cubits in breadth on the western side, 10,000 in breadth on the eastern side, and 25,000 in length on the southern side, with the sanctuary of the LORD in the midst of it. 11 This shall be for the consecrated priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, as the Levites did. 12 And it shall belong to them as a special portion from the holy portion of the land, a most holy place, adjoining the territory of the Levites. 13 And alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an allotment 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in breadth. The whole length shall be 25,000 cubits and the breadth 20,000. 14 They shall not sell or exchange any of it. They shall not alienate this choice portion of the land, for it is holy to the LORD.

15 “The remainder, 5,000 cubits in breadth and 25,000 in length, shall be for common use for the city, for dwellings and for open country. In the midst of it shall be the city, 16 and these shall be its measurements: the north side 4,500 cubits, the south side 4,500, the east side 4,500, and the west side 4,500. 17 And the city shall have open land: on the north 250 cubits, on the south 250, on the east 250, and on the west 250. 18 The remainder of the length alongside the holy portion shall be 10,000 cubits to the east, and 10,000 to the west, and it shall be alongside the holy portion. Its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. 19 And the workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall till it. 20 The whole portion that you shall set apart shall be 25,000 cubits square, that is, the holy portion together with the property of the city.

21 “What remains on both sides of the holy portion and of the property of the city shall belong to the prince. Extending from the 25,000 cubits of the holy portion to the east border, and westward from the 25,000 cubits to the west border, parallel to the tribal portions, it shall belong to the prince. The holy portion with the sanctuary of the temple shall be in its midst. 22 It shall be separate from the property of the Levites and the property of the city, which are in the midst of that which belongs to the prince. The portion of the prince shall lie between the territory of Judah and the territory of Benjamin.

23 “As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west, Benjamin, one portion. 24 Adjoining the territory of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, Simeon, one portion. 25 Adjoining the territory of Simeon, from the east side to the west, Issachar, one portion. 26 Adjoining the territory of Issachar, from the east side to the west, Zebulun, one portion. 27 Adjoining the territory of Zebulun, from the east side to the west, Gad, one portion. 28 And adjoining the territory of Gad to the south, the boundary shall run from Tamar to the waters of Meribah-kadesh, from there along the Brook of Egypt to the Great Sea. 29 This is the land that you shall allot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, declares the Lord GOD.

Where the previous passage gave the boundaries for the entire nation, this passage gives the boundaries for each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.  Many maps show these divisions as horizontal slices that are made from north to south.  First Dan, then Asher, then Naphtali, then ​Manasseh, then ​Ephraim, then Reuben, then Judah.  We will then stop ant talk about the division of the portion for Judah a bit because it will contain the capital city of Jerusalem which will further be divided into areas for public use and a place that belongs only to the king and a holy district that belongs to the priests and Levites and a Temple district that belongs to the LORD (no one may make their home there).  The dimensions and measurements are given here, but these were already described in previous passages, so I will not rehash them here.

The allotments to the tribes then continues.  The distribution is a little different than pre-Exile as Judah is now in the "center" of the allotments making the Temple the central focus.  After Judah comes Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, and Gad.   There is still no land grant to Levi other than the holy district, and we do not discuss cities of refuge to be given to the tribe of Levi, thought I assume this practice would continue as the Levites would continue to need places to live when they were not working in the Temple and there would still need to be distribution centers for the tithes and offerings.

The next passage will be the last passage in Ezekiel, then we'll pick up with the prophet Daniel (who I am named after).  Though it is apocalyptic in genre, I believe it will still be a breath of fresh air to most of us because Ezekiel is definitely a prophecy written to the Jews (as is most of the Prophets), but Daniel definitely seems to be a book of prophecy written to the nations to let them know God's timeline for the rise and fall of several kingdoms before the final kingdom--the Kingdom of God and His Christ shall put an end to all earthly kings and kingdoms and He will reign forever and ever.

Ezekiel 47:13-23
English Standard Version

Division of the Land
13 Thus says the Lord GOD: “This is the boundary by which you shall divide the land for inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions. 14 And you shall divide equally what I swore to give to your fathers. This land shall fall to you as your inheritance.

15 “This shall be the boundary of the land: On the north side, from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, and on to Zedad, 16 Berothah, Sibraim (which lies on the border between Damascus and Hamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. 17 So the boundary shall run from the sea to Hazar-enan, which is on the northern border of Damascus, with the border of Hamath to the north. This shall be the north side.

18 “On the east side, the boundary shall run between Hauran and Damascus; along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel; to the eastern sea and as far as Tamar. This shall be the east side.

19 “On the south side, it shall run from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribah-kadesh, from there along the Brook of Egypt to the Great Sea. This shall be the south side.

20 “On the west side, the Great Sea shall be the boundary to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This shall be the west side.

21 “So you shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel. 22 You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. 23 In whatever tribe the sojourner resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the Lord GOD.

Right alongside all this talk about returning to a new temple and a future kingdom with a future Temple where the LORD would live among His people once again is another promise that I find fascinating.  The Land that was promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as an eternal covenant to their descendants is again renewed as part of this renewal of the covenant as the people were going into Exile.  This tells us that the LORD would not destroy any of the Twelve Tribes and they would all receive their allotments of the Land.  Next, it tells us that they would possess the entirety of Canaan and Gilead (both sides of the Jordan River).  There would be to each tribe, so all of the tribes will survive the Exile.  The boundaries given are real cities, most of which we know of the ancient locations of today as we have found them with archeological digs.  These boundaries go well into what we would call modern-day Syria and Lebanon and Jordan and even portions of northern Egypt.  All the Land which the people took under the Conquest of Moses and Joshua is included in these boundaries.  It was given to them as an eternal inheritance.  Now let's see what the LORD says about anyone who would try to divide the Land, scatter the LORD's people and try to remove them from the Land or take the Land away from them.


Joel 3:2
English Standard Version
2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land.


There is far more Land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and that is a different discussion for a different time.  Suffice it to say though that I think many well-meaning people have an anti-biblical view of the Land and the People of God and are scare of being called names like Zionist or Christian Zionist.  I don't see any way to square any "Land for Peace" type deals with Joel 3:2 and I don't think Christians ever had a right to the Promised Land in the Middle Ages (during the Crusades), though I understand their wanting to push back on the Islamic Caliphate that was taking over Europe and some wanted to protect Israel (though it is the place of God and not the Church to protect His people).  Sometimes the LORD uses other nations to do so, but the pattern is obvious in Scripture that when other nations come to the aid of Israel they try to take that which rightfully belongs to Israel as "payment" for their service, and this is wrong.  There is no nation with boundaries on this earth that belongs to the Christians in the same way that the land of Israel belongs to the descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and certainly the Land of Israel does not belong to Christians (though I believe prophecy seems to indicate that one day the kingdoms of Egypt and Assyria will belong to God-fearing Gentiles who are probably Christians)  In this way, the LORD will surround His people with allies and friends who will not be a threat to them and they will have peace and security, but the Land that was always promised to them will belong to them.  Read the  Bible from cover to cover and let it mold your worldview in these matters.  I see this is a watershed issue because that's what the passage from Joel says.  It will be one of the main issues that will decide how the LORD one day judges the nations of the world.  How did we treat His people and His Land?  I would rather error on the side of caution here and let Israel exclude those who have no right to be in the Land (like the Islamic terrorists that wish to destroy them and take the Land from them) and welcome those who will live at peace with them (like Christians that believe in Israel's right to the Land and live peaceably among them), and I'll let Jesus sort it out later when He separates the sheep from the goats.  Until then, we should do what we can to have our foreign policy align with God's policy on this matter.

Ezekiel 47:1-12
English Standard Version

Water Flowing from the Temple
47 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. 2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.

3 Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. 4 Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. 5 Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. 6 And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?”

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. 9 And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. 10 Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. 11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. 12 And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

This is almost certainly the Last Temple that is in the New Jerusalem, as this is almost certainly talking about the River of Life that flows from the throne of God that we read about in the book of Revelation.  I know it's been challenging to keep it all straight with Ezekiel's visions jumping all around to different points in the future, but with us being on this side of post-Exilic Temple that was destroyed in AD 70 but not yet to the Tribulation Temple that will be present during the Tribulation and be defiled by the Antichrist, and with more prophecy about both the Millennial Kingdom and the Eternal Kingdom, we can infer which future Temple Ezekiel is talking about (though I admit it is still challenging) based off of if the Prince (the Christ) enters it, but the people are still sinful, or if the world has been made new and heaven and earth appeaser to be one again (like appears to be so with this passage).

Water flowed from the gate that only the Prince as allowed to use (the East Gate) and we are told that the Temple faced East (towards the sunrise) in case we had forgotten that.  In the New Heavens and the New Earth, it will always be day and never night, and the Lord Himself will be the Light of the City (we will not see the sun, moon, or stars, and there is some argument that they will "pass away" when their time and purpose comes to an end).

Ezekiel was led out of the Temple through the North Gate that the people were supposed to use and then the LORD led him over to the East side of the Temple to see the River that flowed from the East Gate.  It was just a trickle at its source here, but it would become deeper and deeper as the LORD led Ezekiel on a journey to follow these waters.  1000 cubits later (500 yards later) it was ankle-deep.; another 1000 cubits later it was knee-deep; another thousand cubits later it was waist deep.  Finally, after 4000 cubits, it was a rushing river that Ezekiel could not walk through, but it was deep enough to swim in--as I said before, this is probably the River of Life that is talked about as coming from the Throne of God in Revelation 22:1-4.

The LORD led Ezekiel back to the bank of the River and there were trees on both sides of the River (John talks about The Tree of Life being on both sides of the River in Revelation 22, so they are probably having a similar vision here).  The River would flow through the wilderness and all that is "dead" near the Dead Sea to the region south of the Dead Sea called Arabah, just north of the portion of the Red Sea called the Gulf of Agaba.  The LORD said that the River of Life would bring life where there was no life and it would make the salt-water that it touches to become fresh water (which is miraculous because saltwater contaminates fresh water, fresh water does not "cleanse" salt water and make it fresh).  This is meant to make us realize the picture of supernatural healing and regeneration that is occurring.

The Red Sea will become full of fish because of the waters of the River of Life and many of the Gentile nations will fish there for their food because of it.  Apparently they will never be able to overfish the region as it will always supply enough food for them. The LORD will not get rid of all of the salt because salt is also necessary in many applications, so He will leave the salty marshes that border the River as a source of salt for the people.  All along the River, there will be fruit-bearing trees on both sides that will feed the people.  They will bear fresh fruit every month.  John spoke of a specific tree which bore a different kind of fruit every month (12 types of fruit for the twelve months, which seems to be the only way to keep track of time in the Eternal Kingdom, unless we also celebrate the Feasts and Festivals).  Their leaves of these fruit trees will not wither and their fruit will not fall and it will always be the season for good fruit from them.  Nor will the fruit spoil or rot or become overripe.  John says the leaves of the Tree of Life will be for the healing of the nations (like they had some life-giving property or medicinal use).  I'm not exactly sure if that means we will get the benefits by eating them in a salad or if they will be changed into some kind of herbs to season everything with or if they will be used to make some kind of balm like aloe.  It is just clear that these trees are special and not quite like anything we have here and now, but maybe they were what the LORD intended us to have all along, but nature was corrupted by sin and the Fall.

We can infer from the link between this passage and the Revelation 22 that this River has its source at the Temple and also at the Lord's throne, so the Lord's throne must be in or at the Eastern Gate to the Temple.  This must also be the River that flows through the City called The New Jerusalem (which is missive) and there is probably a specific tree that is the Tree of Life just like there were many trees in the Garden of Eden, but there was one tree that was the The Tree of Life that was in the midst of the Garden.  What is not there in either of these images of the future is The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  That tree seems to be gone forever.  I think you see now why I am saying that Ezekiel must be seeing snapshots of different points in the future and he does not realize when he has shifted from one era to another--the only consistent thing in all of his visions is the Temple, but they were actually different Temples--some built by human hands and some built by the LORD Himself as His dwelling place to live among His people forever and ever.

Ezekiel 46:19-24
English Standard Version

Boiling Places for Offerings
19 Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, to the north row of the holy chambers for the priests, and behold, a place was there at the extreme western end of them. 20 And he said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, in order not to bring them out into the outer court and so transmit holiness to the people.”

21 Then he brought me out to the outer court and led me around to the four corners of the court. And behold, in each corner of the court there was another court— 22 in the four corners of the court were small courts, forty cubits long and thirty broad; the four were of the same size. 23 On the inside, around each of the four courts was a row of masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the rows all around. 24 Then he said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple shall boil the sacrifices of the people.”

The LORD thought of everything with this design, including where the priests were going to take the meat from the sacrifices and boil it to cook it to feed their families.  The places for boiling the meat were on the west side of the northern row of living quarters for the priests.  They will boil their portion of the guilt offering and sin offering here and they will bake the grain offering here.  They had to keep the food inside the outer courtyard--they could not take it outside the gates of the Temple as it might transmit the holiness of God to the people and they might become sick or die because of their sin.  The holy things of God needed to remain within His holy Temple for the protection of His people.

Each corner of the courtyard had a smaller courtyard that was 40 cubits by 30 cubits (60 feet by 45 feet or 20 yards by 15 yards).  There was stonework around each of these smaller courtyards that made suitable ovens for cooking for those who ministered in the Temple  It was yet another place for them to boil the sacrifices that were given to them as their portion.

Ezekiel 46:1-18
English Standard Version

The Prince and the Feasts
46 “Thus says the Lord GOD: The gate of the inner court that faces east shall be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. 2 The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside, and shall take his stand by the post of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening. 3 The people of the land shall bow down at the entrance of that gate before the LORD on the Sabbaths and on the new moons. 4 The burnt offering that the prince offers to the LORD on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish. 5 And the grain offering with the ram shall be an ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he is able, together with a hin of oil to each ephah. 6 On the day of the new moon he shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish, and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish. 7 As a grain offering he shall provide an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he is able, together with a hin of oil to each ephah. 8 When the prince enters, he shall enter by the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way.

9 “When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, he who enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate, and he who enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: no one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but each shall go out straight ahead. 10 When they enter, the prince shall enter with them, and when they go out, he shall go out.

11 “At the feasts and the appointed festivals, the grain offering with a young bull shall be an ephah, and with a ram an ephah, and with the lambs as much as one is able to give, together with a hin of oil to an ephah. 12 When the prince provides a freewill offering, either a burnt offering or peace offerings as a freewill offering to the LORD, the gate facing east shall be opened for him. And he shall offer his burnt offering or his peace offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out the gate shall be shut.

13 “You shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to the LORD daily; morning by morning you shall provide it. 14 And you shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, one sixth of an ephah, and one third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour, as a grain offering to the LORD. This is a perpetual statute. 15 Thus the lamb and the meal offering and the oil shall be provided, morning by morning, for a regular burnt offering.

16 “Thus says the Lord GOD: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons as his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons. It is their property by inheritance. 17 But if he makes a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty. Then it shall revert to the prince; surely it is his inheritance—it shall belong to his sons. 18 The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their property. He shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people shall be scattered from his property.”

Remember that only the prince (the king) could enter by the East Gate, and there was no need for Him to come into the inner court most days because His business in the Temple took place at the East Gate and its vestibule.  However, on the Sabbath Day and at every New Moon when there were feasts to attend, the gate to the inner courtyard would be opened from the way of the East Gate and prince will enter.  The priests will offer the offering(s) that He brings on behalf of the people--whatever is required for that day, He will provide.  The people will bow down and worship the LORD as they face the East Gate and they will worship the LORD by offering worship to His Christ.  Once the ceremony is over, He will go out the same way He came in and the gate will be closed and kept shut until the next time He is to enter the Temple for an appointed feast or festival.

The people that come to worship the LORD at these times will either enter by the North Gate and leave by the South Gate or enter by the South Gate and leave by the North Gate.  Each person will leave by the opposite gate from which He entered with the exception of the prince that will leave by the same gate (the East Gate).  No one will turn around to leave but will walk straight ahead to leave.  

In addition to the weekly and monthly offerings provided by the prince, there were daily offerings offered by the priests which were provided by the people.  There were also offerings of grain and oil which accompanied these daily offerings both morning and evening.

Last, but not least, the king could gift anything that he wanted to His sons and it would be theirs forever, but if he would gift something to a servant, it would only belong to the servant until the year of Jubilee, then it would return to the family of the king so that the king's family would always maintain everything that belonged to the family.  The prince was not to take land or any inheritance from the people and rob them of what the LORD gave to the tribes and clans and families as an eternal inheritance.  Both the king and the people were protected by the year of Jubilee.  His sons will receive their inheritance out of what belongs to the king--the people will not be asked to provide an inheritance for his sons.  None of the LORD's people should have their land taken away from them--not by foreigners and not by their kinds or governors.

Ezekiel 45:7-25
English Standard Version

The Portion for the Prince
7 “And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary 8 of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people, but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.

9 “Thus says the Lord GOD: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease your evictions of my people, declares the Lord GOD.

10 “You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath. 11 The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer, and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. 12 The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.

13 “This is the offering that you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, 14 and as the fixed portion of oil, measured in baths, one tenth of a bath from each cor (the cor, like the homer, contains ten baths). 15 And one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them, declares the Lord GOD. 16 All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel. 17 It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

18 “Thus says the Lord GOD: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull from the herd without blemish, and purify the sanctuary. 19 The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court. 20 You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple.

21 “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22 On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. 23 And on the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the LORD seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering. 24 And he shall provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil to each ephah. 25 In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the feast, he shall make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and for the oil.

"The prince" is what the king of Israel is called.  Interestingly enough, Israel never had another "king" after the Exile.  They had "governors," but no more "princes" or "kings" (other than the puppet governments established by the occupying forces like Rome that established the Herods as "kings," but they had no right to the throne of David).  So, this probably means that we now are looking forward to something prophetic about the land that will be given to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords--Jesus, the Messiah when He comes into His kingdom (same Land, different Temple).

In this day and time, the people will live within their tribal allotments and will no longer war with each other and try to take land from one another.  This future king will be just and will no longer oppress  and mistreat the LORD's people because of pride, ambition, or selfishness.  He will do away with all violence and will rule with justice according to the Law of the LORD.  No longer will the people use unjust weights and measures to cheat one another in the marketplace, and all the people will willingly give their children to the Lord as His servants.

The people will willingly offer all of the required grain offerings, and the accompanying oil and wine and the animals for the grain offering and peace offerings.  The prince will himself provide all the animals for the burnt offerings (this could literally be true that Jesus will offer burnt offerings from the animals that are without spot or blemish that belong to Him, or it could be a way of saying that He has already paid the penalty that would be paid by the burnt offerings by offering Himself as substitutionary atonement on the cross because He is the propitiation for our sins.  I lean towards the former because it is the most obvious meaning and because of what is said shortly hereafter that we are at a point in time where people can still accidently sin--we are not to the point in history yet where all sin is abolished, so the need for these burnt offerings may still have meaning and purpose for those who believe themselves to be under the Old Covenant).  The people will still give an extra tithe to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords separate from the tithe that they give to take care of the Levites and the Temple.

The priests will still practice the Day of Atonement, though if we are talking about the future Temple.  It would seem at whatever time this text is speaking of (possibly during the Millennial Kingdom, but before the New Heavens and the New Earth) that sin still exists and there as I mentioned earlier.  This is the perfect version of the theocracy that Israel never achieved.  There will be a time when the LORD will be their King and Jesus will be the Prince of Peace, King of Kings and Lord of Lords and He will shepherd and protect His people and teach them to walk in the ways of the LORD.

They will also celebrate the Passover on its assigned day.  It will have a different meaning for all those who realize that Jesus fulfilled it and provided a better Exodus, not just for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles.  The prince will provide the required offerings for that day on behalf of the nation.  He will also do the same for the feast of Pentecost and the Feast of Trumpets (and any of the other feasts that I have forgotten to name).  He Himself will stand in place of the nation and pay all the debt that they owe to make them clean and holy before the LORD, though they are still personally responsible to choose to love and obey Him.  I know some people like to say they don't believe in a separate Millennial Kingdom, but I see no other way to interprets this particular text.  It has to be talking about Jesus in the future, but it has to also be at a point in the future where sin still exists, but it would seem that people are more obedient because it does not appear that they are committing any high-handed sins of rebellion, just accidently sinning when they are ignorant of the Law or are caught off-guard in the moment and they later realize that they errored.  There is a time coming when sin will be abolished, but it seems that has not happened yet--it is not good enough to simply bind Satan.  People will not suddenly stop sinning, though it would seem that they would have prolonged life and blessing.  Is that enough for the LORD?  I don't think so--He allows one final rebellion where Satan, sin and death are all destroyed and all God's people are gloried and made to be perfectly like Christ so that we are always obedient and will never again sin.  All things will be made new and beautiful and the perfection of the Garden of Eden will exist again, but this time with an uncountable number of people that the Lord has redeemed to make a people for Himself.