Ezekiel 44:30, commentary and pictures

The verse assigns to the priest the first of all firstfruits of every kind, every oblation of every sort, and the first of the dough within the Levitical priesthood and its dues. The firstfruits are the first and best of all increase, set apart as voluntary thank offerings distinct from the tithe before personal needs are met, and the gift of the first of the dough is given through the priest's service so that blessing may rest upon the giver's house. It belongs to the sanctuary, city, and land vision of Ezekiel 40-48, shown fourteen years after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and offered to captive Israel as a conditional promise to be possessed and built only if they were ashamed of their iniquities, repented, and returned to God in wholehearted obedience. Because Israel did not meet that condition, the temple as described was never built and its promises were never fulfilled literally, receiving at best a partial and inferior fulfillment in the temple of Zerubbabel and Ezra. Its specifications were for the past Mosaic dispensation and cannot be revived literally now or in the immortal state, since Christ has become the eternal priest after the order of Melchizedek, its mortal marrying priests, ruling prince offering for his own sin, and bulls, goats, circumcision, and clean and unclean distinctions are abolished under the gospel, and to rebuild them would deny the sufficiency of Christ's once-for-all offering; what failed for earthly Jerusalem stands in its spiritual meaning as typical of the greater glory God will give His true Israel through Christ at His second coming in the new heavens and new earth.

Conditional Temple Vision

Ezekiel 44:30 belongs to the sanctuary, city, and land vision of Ezekiel 40-48, shown to Ezekiel among the captives fourteen years after Jerusalem, the temple, and the sanctuary were destroyed in the eleventh year of Zedekiah. The destruction is dated as B.C. 588 and the vision as B.C. 574. The sanctuary so shown was offered to Israel to come into possession of if they complied with certain conditions, and it has never been built.

The vision was offered to the house of Israel in captivity as a conditional promise to be possessed, built, and glorified only if they were ashamed of their iniquities and put them away. The condition required putting away lewdness and wickedness, repenting, reforming, and returning to God wholeheartedly, obediently, and fully. If they did, God would have given them then and there all that is promised in Ezekiel 36-48, establishing the sanctuary, bringing back the twelve tribes, restoring people and land, rebuilding the temple, and establishing a glorious kingdom. So understood, the promises in these chapters would have been fulfilled literally.

Because Israel did not meet the condition, was unwilling, and did not truly and fully repent, the promised temple as described was never built and its promises were never fulfilled literally or in every detail. When the decree for return came only a few accepted, with about forty thousand returning from Babylon. The best Israel had was at most a partial, feeble, shadow fulfillment in the inferior temple built by Zerubbabel, Ezra, and others, which fell far short of Ezekiel's pattern and never saw the glory of Solomon's temple save in the person of Jesus Christ.

What was conditionally offered included restoration of people and land, a new sanctuary with its offerings and glory, a new division of the land, and a city of great glory with God's manifest presence and glory resting upon city and people. Its presence would heal all barren land, salt marshes, deserts, and impure waters and give life to all, with lengthened life, godly character reaching even the animals, peace among creatures where nothing hurts or destroys, the raising of the righteous dead, and the subjection of enemies far and near. The vision beginning in Ezekiel 40 covers the same period and purpose as Zechariah 2, the two being counterparts to be studied together, with the man with the appearance of brass holding a line of flax and a measuring reed measuring the temple and city matching the man with a measuring line measuring the breadth and length of Jerusalem. In its ultimate intent it pointed to a house of prayer for all nations.

Priests Firstfruits Blessing

The first of all firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of every sort, and the first of the dough, are assigned to the priest as his portion, presuming the Levitical priesthood and its dues within the Mosaic sacrificial system. That provision belongs to the pattern of sanctuary and city in Ezekiel 40-48, with burnt-offerings and sin-offerings of bulls and goats, literal circumcision, permitted divorce, and distinction between clean and unclean meats, showing a Levitical priesthood still receiving its portion. It was laid before literal fleshly Israel under the old covenant as wonderful blessing that would have been fulfilled in the Mosaic dispensation if they repented and met the conditions, but because Israel did not comply the sanctuary with all its fulness was never built, receiving at best only a shadow in the temple built by Zerubbabel, Ezra, and others. It does not mean a literal city with offerings and sacrifices to be built on this earth during the thousand-year reign to take the place of the heavenly Jerusalem, for the offerings of the first covenant pointed to Christ the great sin-offering, who by one offering of His body once for all perfected forever them that are sanctified and now sits at the right hand of God as Mediator of a better covenant, so that to carry them on again would be a return to the ordinances of the first covenant in a state less glorious than the present dispensation and would require a second Messiah to expiate sin.

The first of the dough is to be given to the priest so that through his service he may cause blessing to rest in the giver's house. The priest's receiving of firstfruits, oblations, and the first of the dough was part of that blessed fulness by which blessing would rest on houses. The firstfruits are the first and best of every kind of increase and offering, belonging to God and given to the priest, including the first of the dough, so that blessing may rest in the giver's house.

These firstfruits are voluntary thank offerings distinct from the tithe, to be set apart before providing for personal needs, with no kind of increase exempt, and withholding this offering is robbing God. Beyond placing the verse in the closing chapters on the greater temple and the conditional restoration offered to the exiled Hebrews as a return to their land with a city and temple of great glory, whose promised glory was not inherited because the condition was disregarded, no specific explanation of its instructions about offerings to the priests is given in some places where it is cited.

No Future Literal Fulfillment

The detailed sanctuary, city, and land pattern belongs to a past Mosaic order, not to the present gospel order and not to the future immortal state. It was shown while Israel was captive, fourteen years after Jerusalem, the temple, and the sanctuary were destroyed in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, reckoned as B.C. 588 for the destruction and B.C. 574 for the vision, and it was offered to Israel to possess only on condition of shame for iniquity and putting sin away. Its directions for firstfruits, oblations of every sort, and the first of the dough presume a continuing Levitical priesthood with its dues inside the Mosaic sacrificial system. That priesthood has been superseded, for after His death and ascension Christ became eternal priest after the order of Melchizedek, whose priesthood does not pass to another.

The pattern cannot literally portray the immortal state, the New Jerusalem of Revelation, the thousand-year reign, or a future restoration of the Jewish people with a Levitical system. Its priests are mortal Levites who marry, even widows of priests, and can die, unlike those made immortal at the second advent who neither marry nor die. Its ruling prince must offer a sin offering for himself and is forbidden to take the people's possession to give to his sons, so he cannot be Christ. The same order retains literal circumcision, permitted divorce, burnt offerings and sin offerings of bulls and goats, and a distinction between clean and unclean meats, all abolished, done away, unrecognized, or unacceptable in the gospel order where Jesus alone is King over Israel in peace and righteousness without oppression. The temple so described was never built, and the inferior sanctuary later built under Ezra and Zerubbabel was at best a partial realization if all had returned wholeheartedly.

Its sacrifices, offerings, and temple services cannot now be restored or revived literally. No such city or sanctuary stands today, and to renew thousands of sheep and oxen would make Christ's one offering of His body once for all of none effect, building again what was destroyed and returning from sunlight to shadow and from the better covenant to the first. The offerings of the first covenant pointed to Christ the great sin offering and shadowed forth the only effectual offering of Jesus Christ for the time then present. To carry them on again would deny the sufficiency of Christ's offering, make void the sacrifice He offered, take away the more excellent ministry of the Mediator of the better covenant who took away the first to establish the second and perfected forever the sanctified, and would require a second Messiah to expiate sin. The types were fulfilled when Jesus Christ died upon the cross, pointing forward to His ministration in heaven and real atonement which closes before His coming, so they cannot be revived afterward to make a typical atonement in figure for sin already atoned for in fact and already remitted upon repentance and confession.

What was forfeited for old earthly Jerusalem through Israel's failure will yet be grandly realized, but not according to the literal details, which because of that failure will never be fulfilled. The conditional temple with its ceremonies and offerings, promised if Israel returned wholeheartedly from Babylon, stands in its spiritual meaning as prophecy of greater things God will do for His people through Christ. The promises to the true Israel will still be fulfilled, with the future glory and fulness of the immortal inheritance coming to the faithful in fullest measure according to later revelation. That coming glory is only faintly typified by the former promises, to be restored by God's mighty power in the new heavens and new earth with absolute joy, peace, and harmony where nothing hurts or destroys, lengthened life, godly character, and healing power upon land and earth. The vision of the measured temple and city of God, counterpart to Zechariah 2 with the man of brass holding a line of flax and a measuring reed matching the man with the measuring line, covers the same period and purpose concerning Jerusalem's future and awaits the true Israel in the New City.