All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel.
The verse belongs to the closing vision of restoration given in captivity, in which all the people were to share in the ordered worship by giving an offering for a mortal human prince in Israel. That whole offer was conditional upon shame for sin, repentance and wholehearted return, which Israel did not meet, so the sanctuary and city were never built and only an inferior temple was erected by the few who returned. Its literal details, including the people's contribution for the prince, will never be fulfilled as described, for the Levitical sacrifices were shadows that ended when type met antitype in Christ's once-for-all offering, and the priesthood passed forever from Levi to Christ after the order of Melchisedek. Because Israel was unwilling, the promise stands only as a prophecy of greater spiritual things through Christ, fulfilled not in literal detail but faintly and typically according to later revelation. Wherein it failed for earthly Jerusalem it will be grandly and more gloriously realized for the true Israel of God in the New City and the earth made new.
Sanctuary Vision and Terms
Ezekiel 45:16 belongs to the closing vision of Ezekiel, chapters 36 to 48 and especially chapters 40 to 48, offered while Israel was captive in Babylon. It describes a sanctuary and temple, its service and offerings, a city, the division of the land, ordered worship, glory, and what God would do after the seventy years and return from Babylon. It belongs to the plan for a new sanctuary with thousands of sheep and oxen sacrifices, and to what God was prepared to do for Israel after their return: restore them to their land and establish the promised sanctuary and kingdom. No such city or sanctuary stands today, and the sanctuary was never built because the people did not meet its conditions and failed to accept the offer to return and establish it.
The whole offer was conditional and provisional upon Israel becoming ashamed of iniquities, repenting, putting away sins and wickedness, and yielding fully to God. It required faith and obedience, returning wholeheartedly from captivity, coming up to the full measure of children of God, and answering the calls to leave Babylon under the decree of Cyrus. Whether they became ashamed and how many could have gone up determines the standing of the prophecy, for the people were to repent of their iniquities but did not meet that condition. Because Israel was unwilling and did not yield according to the flesh, the promised sanctuary and its provisions, including the people's offering for the prince, therefore were not fulfilled.
In that promised order all the people of the land were to give the oblation for the prince in Israel as part of the worship, offerings, rites, sacrifices by the sons of Levi, and national restoration. The description treats the offerings as part of a restored order with subjection of enemies and a new division of the land, and with the life and healing power of God coming upon Palestine and the earth. Within that offer are several allusions to the Sabbath of the Lord and to the festivals of the Hebrews, and the offerings are treated as a return to the ordinances of the first covenant, whose sacrifices pointed to Christ. Had the people accepted God's conditions, the promised restoration including the land and sanctuary arrangements would have brought Israel to extraordinary glory, but it was not fulfilled then and Israel's failure left it only feebly fulfilled.
The prince in this arrangement is a mortal human ruler, not Jesus Christ in a future immortal state. The people's giving an offering is for a mortal human prince within a city and its arrangements belonging to a conditional prophecy whose promised restoration was forfeited. The vision beginning in Ezekiel 40 sets forth God's purpose for Jerusalem and is the counterpart to the measuring of Jerusalem in Zechariah 2, covering the same period and representing the same purposes, so the two should be studied together. It sets forth a pattern for a temple at the center of a restored Jerusalem, where God's presence would bring life and healing, a grand and magnificent temple that Israel might build at Jerusalem after the return from exile. That temple would ultimately become a house of prayer for all nations, but it was never built because Israel would not yield itself fully to God, so God could not dwell among them.
Forfeited Literal Fulfillment
The offered glory was conditional and provisional, requiring Israel to become ashamed of iniquities, repent, put away sin, and yield fully to God in faith and obedience upon return from Babylon, but Israel continued in apostasy and did not meet that condition. Because the people failed to accept the offer, the promised sanctuary and city were never built, the larger restoration was not realized, and only about forty thousand returned. What was erected after the captivity was only an inferior temple with a shadow of its greatness, built by Zerubbabel under Ezra, falling far short of Ezekiel's pattern and only feebly realizing the plan. That sanctuary offer belonged to the past during the captivity rather than to a future or present dispensation, intended for what God would have done after the seventy years — gathering all the scattered to the mountains of Israel, dwelling among them in glory, building a far greater sanctuary, giving victory over enemies, and manifesting glory before the nations — and its fullness failed because the Jews did not obey.
The literal details of chapters 36 to 48 and especially 40 to 48, including the people's oblation for the prince in Israel as part of the offerings, rites, and division of the land, will never be fulfilled as described or in the same local conditions. No such city or sanctuary stands today, and the literal temple with its sacrifices and oblations will never be built in any period after the opening of the Christian dispensation. This restoration did not take place because Israel was not ashamed, and the promises are fulfilled only in general and faintly typically, not in every detail but according to later revelation, as a type of what God will do for His people at the second coming in future glory and fullness of immortal inheritance to the faithful and to the true Israel. The prophecy is conditional on Israel's acceptance or rejection, would have been fulfilled more fully if the people had turned from sin and returned to God, was realized only in a small way, and though pointing to greater glory at Christ's second coming will never be built literally.
A literal renewal is impossible because the thousands of sheep and oxen sacrifices and Levitical services belonged to the time then present before Christ, when type met antitype, shadowing forth the only effectual offering of Jesus Christ and belonging to the ordinances of the first covenant that pointed to Him. Those sacrifices were fulfilled by His once-for-all sacrifice, and to renew them would build again what was destroyed, return from sunlight to shadow, make His offering of none effect, and nullify and annul His sacrifice. The unbuilt sanctuary with its old service cannot fulfill the purpose described, its sacrifices cannot continue in the Christian era without annulling Christ's offering, and its provision for offerings, including the people's offering for the prince, is part of a sacrificial system God would not ordain again, with remaining fulfillment connected with the new earth.
The law of the priesthood changed when Christ was crucified and ascended, for Levi is no longer priest. Christ became priest forever after the order of Melchisedek with an unchangeable priesthood that does not pass from one to another, as great High Priest contemporary with the everlasting gospel, which is His gospel, so that if an angel from heaven preach any other gospel let him be accursed, and when His priesthood ends there is no more probation. The appeal to Ezekiel 45 with the last nineteen chapters to teach a return of the Jews, a reign of Christ on earth, and an earthly inheritance of the saints is overthrown, for the saints are taken to heaven at the second coming of Christ when the earth is desolated.
Typical Future Fulfillment
Had the people accepted God's conditions, the restoration set forth in Ezekiel 36 onward, including the oblation of the people of the land for the prince, would have brought Israel to extraordinary glory in land and sanctuary order. He would have brought back all His scattered people from the nations to the mountains of Israel, dwelt among them in glory, built a new and far greater sanctuary, and given them worship in the sanctuary described in Ezekiel 40-48. That same promised order included victory and subjection of enemies, manifestation of His glory before the nations, a new division of the land, and the life and healing power of God coming upon Palestine and the earth. The fulfillment depended on putting away wickedness and being ashamed of iniquities, and because that condition was not met the larger restoration was not realized.
That peaceful condition of the Messiah's kingdom would have been established gradually on this present earth if the Jews had yielded to God. Ezekiel's sanctuary would have been built, and marshes and deserts and salt lands would have been healed by the water of life. Wild beasts would have been made mild under the power of righteousness, and the smallest infant would have been safe on the hole of the serpent.
Because Israel according to the flesh was unwilling and did not yield in shame and full repentance, the chapter also stands as a prophecy of greater spiritual things the Lord would do for His people through Christ. The restoration and temple were realized only in a small way, and the promises are fulfilled only in general, faintly typically, as a type of what God will do for His people at the second coming. The literal details will never be fulfilled in the same local conditions described in Ezekiel's day, but in the future fulfillment according to later revelation, not in every detail. The literal temple with its sacrifices and oblations will never be built, because Jesus Christ by His death on the cross fulfilled all sacrifices, yet the promises are faintly typical of what God will restore by His mighty power.
Wherein the prophecy failed for old earthly Jerusalem it will be grandly and more gloriously realized for the true Israel of God. Its fulfillment is connected with the new earth, the new heavens and new earth and the earth made new, and the New City that awaits the faithful. There will be future glory and the fullness of the immortal inheritance to the faithful in the greater glory of Christ's second coming. There the Spirit of absolute peace will preside over all nature so that no harm comes to the feeblest.
The verse belongs to the closing vision of restoration given in captivity, in which all the people were to share in the ordered worship by giving an offering for a mortal human prince in Israel. That whole offer was conditional upon shame for sin, repentance and wholehearted return, which Israel did not meet, so the sanctuary and city were never built and only an inferior temple was erected by the few who returned. Its literal details, including the people's contribution for the prince, will never be fulfilled as described, for the Levitical sacrifices were shadows that ended when type met antitype in Christ's once-for-all offering, and the priesthood passed forever from Levi to Christ after the order of Melchisedek. Because Israel was unwilling, the promise stands only as a prophecy of greater spiritual things through Christ, fulfilled not in literal detail but faintly and typically according to later revelation. Wherein it failed for earthly Jerusalem it will be grandly and more gloriously realized for the true Israel of God in the New City and the earth made new.
Sanctuary Vision and Terms
Ezekiel 45:16 belongs to the closing vision of Ezekiel, chapters 36 to 48 and especially chapters 40 to 48, offered while Israel was captive in Babylon. It describes a sanctuary and temple, its service and offerings, a city, the division of the land, ordered worship, glory, and what God would do after the seventy years and return from Babylon. It belongs to the plan for a new sanctuary with thousands of sheep and oxen sacrifices, and to what God was prepared to do for Israel after their return: restore them to their land and establish the promised sanctuary and kingdom. No such city or sanctuary stands today, and the sanctuary was never built because the people did not meet its conditions and failed to accept the offer to return and establish it.
The whole offer was conditional and provisional upon Israel becoming ashamed of iniquities, repenting, putting away sins and wickedness, and yielding fully to God. It required faith and obedience, returning wholeheartedly from captivity, coming up to the full measure of children of God, and answering the calls to leave Babylon under the decree of Cyrus. Whether they became ashamed and how many could have gone up determines the standing of the prophecy, for the people were to repent of their iniquities but did not meet that condition. Because Israel was unwilling and did not yield according to the flesh, the promised sanctuary and its provisions, including the people's offering for the prince, therefore were not fulfilled.
In that promised order all the people of the land were to give the oblation for the prince in Israel as part of the worship, offerings, rites, sacrifices by the sons of Levi, and national restoration. The description treats the offerings as part of a restored order with subjection of enemies and a new division of the land, and with the life and healing power of God coming upon Palestine and the earth. Within that offer are several allusions to the Sabbath of the Lord and to the festivals of the Hebrews, and the offerings are treated as a return to the ordinances of the first covenant, whose sacrifices pointed to Christ. Had the people accepted God's conditions, the promised restoration including the land and sanctuary arrangements would have brought Israel to extraordinary glory, but it was not fulfilled then and Israel's failure left it only feebly fulfilled.
The prince in this arrangement is a mortal human ruler, not Jesus Christ in a future immortal state. The people's giving an offering is for a mortal human prince within a city and its arrangements belonging to a conditional prophecy whose promised restoration was forfeited. The vision beginning in Ezekiel 40 sets forth God's purpose for Jerusalem and is the counterpart to the measuring of Jerusalem in Zechariah 2, covering the same period and representing the same purposes, so the two should be studied together. It sets forth a pattern for a temple at the center of a restored Jerusalem, where God's presence would bring life and healing, a grand and magnificent temple that Israel might build at Jerusalem after the return from exile. That temple would ultimately become a house of prayer for all nations, but it was never built because Israel would not yield itself fully to God, so God could not dwell among them.
Forfeited Literal Fulfillment
The offered glory was conditional and provisional, requiring Israel to become ashamed of iniquities, repent, put away sin, and yield fully to God in faith and obedience upon return from Babylon, but Israel continued in apostasy and did not meet that condition. Because the people failed to accept the offer, the promised sanctuary and city were never built, the larger restoration was not realized, and only about forty thousand returned. What was erected after the captivity was only an inferior temple with a shadow of its greatness, built by Zerubbabel under Ezra, falling far short of Ezekiel's pattern and only feebly realizing the plan. That sanctuary offer belonged to the past during the captivity rather than to a future or present dispensation, intended for what God would have done after the seventy years — gathering all the scattered to the mountains of Israel, dwelling among them in glory, building a far greater sanctuary, giving victory over enemies, and manifesting glory before the nations — and its fullness failed because the Jews did not obey.
The literal details of chapters 36 to 48 and especially 40 to 48, including the people's oblation for the prince in Israel as part of the offerings, rites, and division of the land, will never be fulfilled as described or in the same local conditions. No such city or sanctuary stands today, and the literal temple with its sacrifices and oblations will never be built in any period after the opening of the Christian dispensation. This restoration did not take place because Israel was not ashamed, and the promises are fulfilled only in general and faintly typically, not in every detail but according to later revelation, as a type of what God will do for His people at the second coming in future glory and fullness of immortal inheritance to the faithful and to the true Israel. The prophecy is conditional on Israel's acceptance or rejection, would have been fulfilled more fully if the people had turned from sin and returned to God, was realized only in a small way, and though pointing to greater glory at Christ's second coming will never be built literally.
A literal renewal is impossible because the thousands of sheep and oxen sacrifices and Levitical services belonged to the time then present before Christ, when type met antitype, shadowing forth the only effectual offering of Jesus Christ and belonging to the ordinances of the first covenant that pointed to Him. Those sacrifices were fulfilled by His once-for-all sacrifice, and to renew them would build again what was destroyed, return from sunlight to shadow, make His offering of none effect, and nullify and annul His sacrifice. The unbuilt sanctuary with its old service cannot fulfill the purpose described, its sacrifices cannot continue in the Christian era without annulling Christ's offering, and its provision for offerings, including the people's offering for the prince, is part of a sacrificial system God would not ordain again, with remaining fulfillment connected with the new earth.
The law of the priesthood changed when Christ was crucified and ascended, for Levi is no longer priest. Christ became priest forever after the order of Melchisedek with an unchangeable priesthood that does not pass from one to another, as great High Priest contemporary with the everlasting gospel, which is His gospel, so that if an angel from heaven preach any other gospel let him be accursed, and when His priesthood ends there is no more probation. The appeal to Ezekiel 45 with the last nineteen chapters to teach a return of the Jews, a reign of Christ on earth, and an earthly inheritance of the saints is overthrown, for the saints are taken to heaven at the second coming of Christ when the earth is desolated.
Typical Future Fulfillment
Had the people accepted God's conditions, the restoration set forth in Ezekiel 36 onward, including the oblation of the people of the land for the prince, would have brought Israel to extraordinary glory in land and sanctuary order. He would have brought back all His scattered people from the nations to the mountains of Israel, dwelt among them in glory, built a new and far greater sanctuary, and given them worship in the sanctuary described in Ezekiel 40-48. That same promised order included victory and subjection of enemies, manifestation of His glory before the nations, a new division of the land, and the life and healing power of God coming upon Palestine and the earth. The fulfillment depended on putting away wickedness and being ashamed of iniquities, and because that condition was not met the larger restoration was not realized.
That peaceful condition of the Messiah's kingdom would have been established gradually on this present earth if the Jews had yielded to God. Ezekiel's sanctuary would have been built, and marshes and deserts and salt lands would have been healed by the water of life. Wild beasts would have been made mild under the power of righteousness, and the smallest infant would have been safe on the hole of the serpent.
Because Israel according to the flesh was unwilling and did not yield in shame and full repentance, the chapter also stands as a prophecy of greater spiritual things the Lord would do for His people through Christ. The restoration and temple were realized only in a small way, and the promises are fulfilled only in general, faintly typically, as a type of what God will do for His people at the second coming. The literal details will never be fulfilled in the same local conditions described in Ezekiel's day, but in the future fulfillment according to later revelation, not in every detail. The literal temple with its sacrifices and oblations will never be built, because Jesus Christ by His death on the cross fulfilled all sacrifices, yet the promises are faintly typical of what God will restore by His mighty power.
Wherein the prophecy failed for old earthly Jerusalem it will be grandly and more gloriously realized for the true Israel of God. Its fulfillment is connected with the new earth, the new heavens and new earth and the earth made new, and the New City that awaits the faithful. There will be future glory and the fullness of the immortal inheritance to the faithful in the greater glory of Christ's second coming. There the Spirit of absolute peace will preside over all nature so that no harm comes to the feeblest.