Ezekiel Chapter 45
Ezekiel 45
Regarding the Priests of Ezekiel’s Temple
Ezekiel 45 continues the temple and kingdom order by describing the holy portion of land, the portion for the city, the portion for the prince, the call for righteous rule, honest measurements, and the offerings connected with temple worship. The chapter shows that the future temple is not isolated from the land, leadership, justice, worship, and national life of restored Israel. The LORD appoints a holy district for Himself, provides land for priests and Levites, gives the city a portion belonging to the whole house of Israel, and gives the prince a defined possession so that rulers will no longer oppress the people. The chapter then turns to offerings, atonement ceremonies, Passover, Unleavened Bread, and the feast in the seventh month. From a literal, dispensational, premillennial viewpoint, this belongs to the millennial kingdom order, where Israel worships in the land under Messiah’s reign, with sacrifices functioning as memorials and ceremonial instruction pointing back to the finished work of Christ. The uploaded notes emphasize the land allotment, the prince’s portion, justice and honest weights, the offerings administered by the prince, temple cleansing, and the future observance of Passover and the feast in the seventh month.
A. The land for the priests.
1. Ezekiel 45:1-5, The portion for the Levites.
Ezekiel 45:1, Moreover, when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye shall offer an oblation unto the LORD, an holy portion of the land: the length shall be the length of five and twenty thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand. This shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about.
Ezekiel 45:2, Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length, with five hundred in breadth, square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs thereof.
Ezekiel 45:3, And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand: and in it shall be the sanctuary and the most holy place.
Ezekiel 45:4, The holy portion of the land shall be for the priests the ministers of the sanctuary, which shall come near to minister unto the LORD: and it shall be a place for their houses, and an holy place for the sanctuary.
Ezekiel 45:5, And the five and twenty thousand of length, and the ten thousand of breadth, shall also the Levites, the ministers of the house, have for themselves, for a possession for twenty chambers.
When ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance shows that Ezekiel’s temple vision includes a real land distribution. The future worship of Israel is connected to the future inheritance of Israel. God is not only restoring a temple in abstraction; He is restoring His people in their land.
The land promise reaches back to the fathers.
Genesis 17:7, And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
Genesis 17:8, And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all-the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
Ye shall offer an oblation unto the LORD, an holy portion of the land means a portion of the land is set apart directly for the LORD. The word oblation here refers to a heave offering or contribution, a sacred portion lifted up and set apart to God.
The land belongs to the LORD first.
Leviticus 25:23, The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners-with me.
An holy portion of the land means the future land distribution will be ordered around holiness. The temple, priests, Levites, city, and prince are all placed in proper relation to the LORD’s holy portion.
The length shall be the length of five and twenty thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand gives the size of this holy district. The measurements are substantial and specific, fitting the literal and measured nature of Ezekiel 40–48.
This shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about means the entire district is set apart, not merely the inner sanctuary. Holiness marks the boundaries.
This agrees with the law of the temple already stated.
Ezekiel 43:12, This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.
Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length, with five hundred in breadth, square round about gives the square plot for the sanctuary itself. The sanctuary is central within the holy portion.
Fifty cubits round about for the suburbs thereof gives open space around the sanctuary. The holy place has a surrounding buffer, again emphasizing separation.
In it shall be the sanctuary and the most holy place means the LORD’s house stands in the appointed holy portion. Worship is centered on God’s presence.
The holy portion of the land shall be for the priests the ministers of the sanctuary means the priests receive their dwelling place in connection with the sanctuary. Their inheritance is tied to their ministry.
Which shall come near to minister unto the LORD identifies the priests as those who draw near. This repeats the privilege of the sons of Zadok in Ezekiel 44.
Ezekiel 44:15, But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the-children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they-shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:
It shall be a place for their houses, and an holy place for the sanctuary means the priests live near the sanctuary, but their dwelling is still defined by holiness. Their homes are connected to their calling.
The five and twenty thousand of length, and the ten thousand of breadth, shall also the Levites, the ministers of the house, have for themselves gives the Levites their own portion. They are distinguished from the priests but still appointed for temple service.
For a possession for twenty chambers means the Levites have chambers or dwelling/service spaces assigned to them. God orders both the worship and the provision for those who serve.
2. Ezekiel 45:6, The portion for the whole house of Israel.
Ezekiel 45:6, And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, over-against the oblation of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.
Ye shall appoint the possession of the city means the city itself receives an appointed portion. The future city is not left vague or accidental. It has measured space in relation to the holy portion.
Five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long gives the dimensions of the city’s possession.
Over against the oblation of the holy portion means the city portion is adjacent to the holy district. The city is near the sanctuary but distinct from the priestly and Levitical portions.
It shall be for the whole house of Israel is important. The city does not belong to one tribe alone. It belongs to all Israel. In the future restoration, the whole house of Israel is in view, just as Ezekiel 37 taught.
Ezekiel 37:11, Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they-say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
Ezekiel 37:21, And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from-among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their-own land:
The city’s portion belonging to the whole house of Israel fits the reunification promised in Ezekiel 37. Israel will no longer be divided into two kingdoms but restored as one people before the LORD.
3. Ezekiel 45:7-8, The portion of the prince.
Ezekiel 45:7, 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.
Ezekiel 45:8, 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.
A portion shall be for the prince gives the prince a defined inheritance. The prince already appeared in Ezekiel 44 with special privilege at the east gate.
Ezekiel 44:3, It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD;-he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of-the same.
The prince is likely David, resurrected and serving as prince over restored Israel under Messiah’s supreme reign. Ezekiel previously identified David as prince.
Ezekiel 34:24, And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the-LORD have spoken it.
Ezekiel 37:25, And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have-dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and-my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
On the one side and on the other side of the oblation of the holy portion, and of the possession of the city means the prince’s land borders the holy portion and city portion on both sides, east and west.
From the west side westward, and from the east side eastward gives the extension of his portion. His inheritance is real land, defined in relation to the sacred district.
In the land shall be his possession in Israel confirms the prince has an appointed possession within Israel.
My princes shall no more oppress my people gives the moral purpose. In Israel’s past, rulers often abused power, seized land, and oppressed the people. In the future kingdom order, that will end.
Ahab’s seizure of Naboth’s vineyard is a classic example of royal oppression.
1 Kings 21:2, And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden-of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than-it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.
1 Kings 21:3, And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my-fathers unto thee.
1 Kings 21:15, And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel-said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to-give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.
The prophets condemned those who seized property unjustly.
Isaiah 5:8, Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no-place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!
Micah 2:1, Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light,-they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
Micah 2:2, And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they-oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
The rest of the land shall they give to the house of Israel according to their tribes means the remaining land is distributed to the tribes. The prince’s portion prevents rulers from needing or claiming the people’s inheritance. God’s future order protects the people from royal exploitation.
B. The offerings of the temple priests.
1. Ezekiel 45:9-12, A call for justice and fairness.
Ezekiel 45:9, 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.
Ezekiel 45:10, Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath.
Ezekiel 45:11, 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.
Ezekiel 45:12, And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs: twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be-your maneh.
Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel means, enough. The LORD calls the rulers to stop the violence, exploitation, and corruption that had marked Israel’s past.
Remove violence and spoil means rulers must stop using power to take from the people. Violence and plunder are not merely street crimes; they can be sins of leadership.
Execute judgment and justice gives the positive duty of rulers. They must rule by righteousness and justice, not self-interest.
God had always required justice from Israel’s leaders.
Isaiah 1:16, Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease-to do evil;
Isaiah 1:17, Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Jeremiah 22:3, Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand-of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow,-neither shed innocent blood in this place.
Take away your exactions from my people means rulers must stop dispossessing, taxing unjustly, extorting, or seizing from the people. The people belong to the LORD, not to the princes.
Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath moves from land justice to commercial justice. Worship and righteousness are not separated. A holy temple must be matched by honest dealings.
The law required honest measures.
Leviticus 19:35, Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.
Leviticus 19:36, Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the-LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Proverbs also condemns dishonest measures.
Proverbs 11:1, A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.
Proverbs 20:10, Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.
Proverbs 20:23, Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good.
The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure means the dry and liquid measures are standardized in relation to the homer.
The bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer defines honest measurement.
The shekel shall be twenty gerahs defines honest weight.
Twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh gives the standard for the maneh. The point is that in the kingdom order, worship, leadership, economics, and justice are all under the holiness of the LORD.
2. Ezekiel 45:13-17, The offering of the prince.
Ezekiel 45:13, 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:
Ezekiel 45:14, 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:
Ezekiel 45:15, 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.
Ezekiel 45:16, All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel.
Ezekiel 45:17, 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.
This is the oblation that ye shall offer introduces the contributions used for temple worship. The people bring offerings that are administered through the prince for public worship.
The sixth part of an ephah of an homer of wheat and the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of barley describe grain contributions.
Concerning the ordinance of oil gives the required portion of oil.
One lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the fat pastures of Israel gives the animal contribution.
For a meat offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings identifies the uses of these contributions. In KJV language, meat offering refers to the grain offering. The burnt offering speaks of consecration, and the peace offering speaks of fellowship and communion.
To make reconciliation for them means the offerings are connected with atonement or reconciliation. In the millennial context, these sacrifices do not compete with the finished work of Christ. They are memorial, ceremonial, and instructional, pointing back to the one true sacrifice of Messiah.
Hebrews is clear that animal sacrifices never truly took away sin.
Hebrews 10:4, For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Christ’s sacrifice is final.
Hebrews 10:10, By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Hebrews 10:12, But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand-of God;
Hebrews 10:14, For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
Therefore these sacrifices must be understood as memorials in the kingdom age, much as the Lord’s Supper is a memorial now.
1 Corinthians 11:24, And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body,-which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
1 Corinthians 11:25, After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the-new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel means the people contribute, and the prince administers the offerings on behalf of Israel.
It shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings means the prince has a worship responsibility. He is not merely a political ruler. He has representative duties connected with Israel’s temple worship.
In the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel means the offerings are tied to Israel’s appointed worship calendar in the kingdom order.
He shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings means the prince ensures the required offerings are provided.
To make reconciliation for the house of Israel shows the offerings concern the nation corporately. Again, this reconciliation must be read in light of Christ’s finished atonement, not as a rival means of salvation.
3. Ezekiel 45:18-20, Atonement for sins done in ignorance.
Ezekiel 45:18, 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:
Ezekiel 45:19, 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.
Ezekiel 45:20, 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.
In the first month, in the first day of the month introduces a cleansing ceremony for the sanctuary at the beginning of the year.
Thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary means the sanctuary is ceremonially cleansed. This is not because God’s glory is unclean, but because human service around holy things requires purification.
This ceremony is not identical to the Mosaic Day of Atonement. Ezekiel’s temple order differs from the Mosaic system because it belongs to the future kingdom age.
The priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering means blood is applied in connection with purification.
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 describes the places where the blood is applied: the temple, altar, and inner court gate. The sanctuary complex is ceremonially cleansed.
The tabernacle also required blood purification.
Leviticus 16:18, And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for-it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put-it upon the horns of the altar round about.
Leviticus 16:19, And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow-it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
Hebrews explains that earthly patterns required purification, but the final heavenly reality is tied to Christ’s better sacrifice.
Hebrews 9:22, And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no-remission.
Hebrews 9:23, It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the-heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
So thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple means a similar provision is made for sins of ignorance, error, or simplicity. God makes provision not only for deliberate confession but also for human weakness, dullness, and unrecognized contamination.
David understood the need for cleansing from hidden faults.
Psalm 19:12, Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
So shall ye reconcile the house means the house is ceremonially covered, cleansed, or reconciled. The temple worship is kept holy because the God who dwells there is holy.
4. Ezekiel 45:21-25, The Passover offering.
Ezekiel 45:21, 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.
Ezekiel 45:22, And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a-bullock for a sin offering.
Ezekiel 45:23, 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.
Ezekiel 45:24, 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.
Ezekiel 45:25, 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.
In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover means Passover continues in the future temple order. Israel’s redemption from Egypt will still be remembered, and beyond that, the greater redemption accomplished by Christ, the true Passover Lamb, will be honored.
The original Passover was established in Exodus.
Exodus 12:13, And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I-see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you,-when I smite the land of Egypt.
Exodus 12:14, And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the-LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
Christ is the fulfillment of the Passover.
1 Corinthians 5:7, Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened.-For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
A feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten connects Passover with the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Unleavened bread speaks of separation from corruption and the life of holiness that follows redemption.
Upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering again shows the prince is not Christ Himself. He prepares an offering for himself and for the people. Christ has no sin and needs no sin offering.
Hebrews 7:26, For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made-higher than the heavens;
Hebrews 7:27, Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins,-and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
Seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the LORD means the prince continues offering throughout the feast.
Seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days gives the daily offering.
A kid of the goats daily for a sin offering adds the sin offering.
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 gives the grain and oil portions.
In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days refers to the feast in the seventh month, corresponding to the Feast of Tabernacles. This feast also continues in the kingdom order.
Zechariah speaks of future kingdom worship connected with Tabernacles.
Zechariah 14:16, And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against-Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep-the feast of tabernacles.
Zechariah 14:17, And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto-Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
According to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat offering, and according to the oil means the prince follows the same offering pattern for that feast.
Ezekiel 45 shows that the future temple order includes land, justice, priestly provision, the prince’s responsibilities, honest measures, offerings, cleansing, Passover, and the feast in the seventh month. The LORD’s holy portion stands at the center of the land, with the sanctuary, priests, Levites, city, prince, and tribes all ordered around Him. The prince receives a defined possession so that rulers will no longer oppress the people. The LORD also demands just balances and honest measures, proving that temple holiness must shape public righteousness. The offerings and feasts point back to the finished work of Christ and instruct restored Israel in redemption, consecration, fellowship, cleansing, and covenant worship. In the kingdom, Israel’s land, leadership, worship, and justice will all be brought under the holy order of the LORD.
