Ezekiel 46:1-18--The Prince and the Feasts

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.”

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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.