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Ezekiel Chapter 46
The Sabbath of rest is reinstituted
during the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ. Worship is opened up on
the Sabbath day.
- Ezekiel 46:2 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 a 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 a 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 a 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 a 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.
This chapter in Ezekiel continues to
describe the worship during the time after the future tribulation
when Christ is here in person ruling the earth. He sets up worship
similar to what was required under the law of Moses.
Perhaps all these things show them what
it should have been like in the days of the Old Testament and how
they could have had peace and perfect worship if they would have
wholly followed the Lord instead of turning aside and followed the
ways of the heathen.
It would seem as if the prince who some
believe is the Messiah was leading them in the worship of God.
Sabbath worship is restored as we see. This all occurs for as least
1000 years until the rebellion occurs and Satan is let loose for a
season to try to deceive all that he can.
Unfortunately many will follow Satan
and will be destroyed in the end.
During the 1000 year reign of Christ it
seems that there are natural people who are not yet what we call
saved or born again so perhaps that is why this type of worship is
set up since Jesus Christ is here ruling. Perhaps also it is a
memorial to remember the sacrifice for sins that Jesus paid for when
He came the first time similar to what occurs when we observe the
Lord's supper as a memorial of His death on the cross.
One thing we know for sure, God always
has a reason for doing what He does. It may serve as a reminder too
that sin is a serious thing and there has to be a sacrifice for sin
for the law says that the soul that sins shall die.
At this time Jesus is in His glorified
state and will not die again for sins so perhaps this is a
remembrance so that people do not forget that sin separates us from
God and they must repent of sin and desire to be free from sin in
order to be reconciled to God and be saved.
When other nations and people observe
this worship they probably will be showing that they believe and are
doing their part to observe and recognize that God is God and
whatever is required to worship God, they do.
Israel at this time has been restored
all the land that they have been promised since the days of
Abraham. No doubt Abraham is one of them ruling
in this new kingdom.
This time in the future of mankind is
one that is showing the world what the earth will be like under the
reign of the perfect one, Jesus Christ.
Those who formerly accepted Jesus,
believed in Him for their salvation and accepted the free gift of
eternal life, are in their new bodies. They cannot be tempted
neither are they in any danger of losing their souls because when
they were in their natural bodies they made their decision to follow
Christ. They no doubt will be leaders and reign with Christ over the
natural people living on the earth at that time.
This is a time of testing to show the
world what it is like to have a perfect leader. Satan is bound
during this time and cannot deceive so all will be taught the truth
of God's word.
We will understand this more as this
time approaches and God reveals to us the meaning of these things
and why this type of government is set up.
We do know in studying the book of
Revelation that this type of government and worship system will only
be in place for 1000 years. After the rebellion and final end, God
Himself comes to live among His creation.
-
Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is
he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second
death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of
Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Chapter 21 of Revelation goes on to
explain the New Heaven and New Earth that will have no need of a
temple. The lamb of God, Jesus Christ and God the Father will be
there instead of a temple, instead of the sun or the moon. It is
going to be a glorious day.
We see then that this worship we read
of in Ezekiel is not eternal.
Ezekiel Chapter 47
Ezekiel Index
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