Ezekiel 45:24, commentary and pictures

The verse prescribes a grain offering of an ephah for each bull and each ram, with a hin of oil for each ephah. It belongs to the pattern of another sanctuary, city, offerings and division of the land shown to Ezekiel in captivity as what God would do in restoring Israel from Babylon and rebuilding the temple. That offer was conditional upon Israel becoming ashamed of iniquities, putting away sin and returning wholeheartedly in faith and obedience, and because they did not meet the conditions it was never established as offered. It has not been fulfilled literally, for no such city or sanctuary stands today, and it will never be fulfilled literally nor be built in the future as a built sanctuary. Those grain, oil and animal offerings belonged to the time then present under the old covenant while ceremonial ordinances were in force, as shadows pointing forward to the only effectual offering made by Christ, so that to revive them after sin has been atoned for would rebuild what was destroyed and make His once-for-all offering of no effect.

Words and Measures

The verse prescribes a grain offering of an ephah for each bullock and an ephah for each ram, with a hin of oil for each ephah of grain offering. It gives the grain and oil portions and measures required for the prince's sacrifices in the temple vision and its sacrificial service. These provisions belong to the offerings in Ezekiel's sanctuary vision and show a system of animal offerings, prescribed amounts of grain and oil, and Levitical worship and priesthood in force under the Mosaic dispensation before Christ when types met their antitype. That temple arrangement and prophecy were conditional upon Israel's faith, obedience, and meeting its conditions, and because Israel did not meet them they were never fulfilled in original form and do not describe the gospel age, an immortal future state, the age to come, or a future temple. To continue those sacrifices would deny the sacrifice Christ offered.

The one commanded to prepare this offering is the prince, for the verse sets the amounts of grain offering and oil he is to prepare for himself. That prince is a mortal, sinful man who must make offering for his own sin. He is therefore not Jesus Christ, who needs no offering for Himself, nor the Prince who will reign over Israel forever in the future and in the future reign of Christ and His saints. The pattern of another sanctuary with its holy places and measurements was offered to the house of Israel while in captivity on condition that they become ashamed for their iniquities, and because only a small remnant went up at the decree of restoration the building was never erected.

The exact measured amounts appointed for the meat offering, an ephah for a bullock and an ephah for a ram with an hin of oil for an ephah, show that God is a God of order. The verse stands among the prescribed sanctuary service setting out offerings associated with the bull and ram, among instructions for the feasts and offerings and several allusions to the Sabbath of the Lord and to the festivals of the Hebrews. Those ordinances, with the feasts, the Sabbath of the Lord, and the Jubilee, were in force under the Mosaic dispensation while Israel's ceremonial ordinances were in force, in a past dispensation. They were nailed to the cross. That sanctuary and its ordinances, with the city and temple under circumstances of wonderful glory offered in Ezekiel 40-48 while the Hebrews were captive in Babylon to restore them to their own land, were offered conditionally but were never established or inherited because the condition of the offer was disregarded and the people did not meet the conditions.

Vision Context and Condition

Ezekiel 45:24 belongs to the pattern of another sanctuary, city, offerings, glory, and division of the land shown to Ezekiel while Israel was in captivity in Ezekiel 40 to 48. It was offered as what God would do in restoring Israel from Babylon and rebuilding the temple. It belongs to the temple and its service and to the detailed description of the sanctuary, city, and land that God would have given Israel.

The vision was conditional and provisional, promised only if Israel became ashamed of iniquities, put away sin, returned wholeheartedly, and yielded to God in faith and obedience. If they did so God would bring back the twelve tribes and all His scattered people to the mountains of Israel, dwell among them in glory, and give victory and manifest glory before the nations. It was given on condition that God's people put aside their sins and come up to the full measure of children of God, and it was promised to Israel if they returned from Babylonian captivity wholeheartedly. Since they were unwilling and remained apostate, the promises were forfeited.

If Israel had been faithful the promises would have been fulfilled literally on this present earth. They would have included a glorious temple as the center of a restored Jerusalem where Jehovah is present to heal barren land and impure waters, with lengthened life and peace among creatures. That restoration would have brought Palestine and the Jews to an unsurpassable and inconceivable glory, with the changed character of a true-hearted people, with the constant manifest presence of God, and with no hurting or destroying in all His holy mountain where His presence dwelt. Because they did not meet the conditions it was never established as offered.

Because only a small remnant went up at the decree of restoration, only about forty thousand returning, the city was never built and the sanctuary was never erected. What was built by Zerubbabel under Ezra was only a weak shadow and inferior to Ezekiel's pattern, falling far short of its glory except as that glory was seen in the person of Jesus Christ. The promised sanctuary and worship belonged to a far greater restoration than Israel ultimately experienced and received only a limited fulfillment. The city that would have been built if Israel had answered the calls to leave Babylon was never built because Israel failed to do its part.

The vision covers the same period and purposes toward Jerusalem as Zechariah 2 and is to be studied together with it, the man with the appearance of brass holding a line of flax and a measuring reed answering the man with the measuring line. It also describes a grand temple that might become a house of prayer for all nations. But it does not reveal the process by which the building would be carried out.

Apart from its place in that conditional offer, the verse's specific offering details receive no separate explanation.

Fulfillment and Future Hope

The vision of the new sanctuary, its offerings, its glory, and the division of the land in Ezekiel 40 to 48 has not been fulfilled literally, for no such city or sanctuary stands today. It will never be fulfilled literally nor be built in the future as a built sanctuary, for its temple arrangements belonged to a prophecy conditioned on ancient Israel's faith and obedience which Israel did not meet. The temple that Zerubbabel built was only a shadow of the one described and fell far short of its pattern, and the glorious temple shown as the center of a restored Jerusalem where Jehovah's presence would heal barren land, salt marshes, and impure waters was never built and never will be built for a half-hearted people. To renew its sacrifices of thousands of sheep and oxen with their prescribed grain and oil offerings would make Christ's once-for-all offering of no effect, rebuilding what was destroyed and returning from sunlight to shadow.

It does not describe the gospel age or an immortal future state, for its system of animal offerings and Levitical worship belonged to the Mosaic dispensation when those ordinances and that priesthood were in force. It does not describe the New Jerusalem of Revelation and does not signify a future restoration of the Levitical sacrificial system and the Jewish people, nor a future temple or the age to come, nor does it belong to the future reign of Christ and His saints. The prince commanded to prepare the offering is a mortal sinful man who must make offering for his own sin, and therefore is not Jesus Christ who needs no offering for Himself nor the Prince who will reign over Israel forever. Its grain and oil offerings were shadows pointing forward to the real atonement made by the heavenly ministration of Christ, which closes before His coming, and to revive them after sin has been atoned for in fact and remitted upon repentance and confession would put the figure after the fact and the sign after the thing signified, which is absurd and impossible.

Its prescribed offerings belong to the specific restoration details that will not be fulfilled as described, because Israel failed to yield to God. Wherein the promise failed for old earthly Jerusalem because the people failed to meet the standard and forfeited its privileges, it will be grandly realized in the New City that awaits the true Israel of God. That sanctuary and division of the land had promised to restore Palestine and the Jews to unsurpassable glory with lengthened life, the constant manifest presence of God, and no hurting or destroying in all His holy mountain, and because Israel did not accept God's conditions it was not fulfilled then. The promises for God's true people will be fulfilled in later revelations, but not according to these details, fulfilled under far greater conditions with more or less of the former detail eliminated, leaving as a reminder of the new earth state only absolute joy and peace and harmony among all God's creatures. The vision covers the same period and represents the same purposes toward Jerusalem as Zechariah 2, with the man with the appearance of brass holding a line of flax and a measuring reed answering the man with the measuring line, and the two are counterparts to be studied together.

That restoration from Babylon and the temple's promised glory were realized only in small part, yet the prophecy points beyond the local conditions of that time to a greater fulfillment connected with Christ's second coming. What would have been built on this present earth as part of the gradual establishment of the Messiah's peaceful kingdom if the Jews had yielded to God was not built then, but the peaceful kingdom it belonged to will be fulfilled more gloriously in the earth made new. There the Spirit of absolute peace presides over all nature so no harm comes to the feeblest, and the promises associated with the prophecy will instead be fulfilled more gloriously in Christ's kingdom, since animal sacrifices are no longer acceptable even as a type and will not be repeated in the future. The chapter's conditional temple with its ceremonies and offerings, promised if Israel returned from captivity wholeheartedly, also stands as a spiritual prophecy of greater things God would do for His people through Christ.

Shadow and Substance in Christ

The ephah of grain for each bull and each ram with its hin of oil belonged to the time then present under the old covenant, when animal offerings and the Levitical priesthood were in force with the ceremonial ordinances, the feasts and the Jubilee that were nailed to the cross. They were meant to apply before Christ, when the types met their antitype, and being conditional they were not fulfilled because Israel did not meet the conditions, so they describe neither a future temple nor the age to come. They were shadows pointing forward to the only effectual offering and the real atonement made by the heavenly ministration of Christ, which closes before His coming. That shadow was fulfilled by His death, to which the sacrifices pointed.

When Christ was crucified and ascended the law of the priesthood was changed, so Levi is no longer priest and Christ became priest forever after the order of Melchisedec, with an unchangeable priesthood that does not pass from one to another. To revive these sacrifices after sin has been atoned for in fact and remitted upon repentance and confession would put the figure after the fact and the sign after the thing signified. Such renewal would rebuild what was destroyed and return from sunlight to shadow, which is absurd and impossible.

To renew sacrifices of thousands of sheep and oxen, including the prescribed grain and oil offerings, would make Christ's once-for-all offering of no effect and would conflict with and deny the sacrifice He offered. Animal sacrifices are no longer acceptable even as a type, which shows this is not a temple God would ordain again. This refutes the expectation that sacrifices will resume in a future earthly age, for its sacrifices are not a future system under the old covenant. The conditional offerings would have been made by the sons of Levi and belonged to the sanctuary worship of restored Israel in its promised restoration, which Israel forfeited by failing to meet God's conditions. That sanctuary and worship belonged to a far greater restoration than Israel ultimately experienced and received only a limited fulfillment, and they will not be repeated in the future, since the promises associated with them will instead be fulfilled more gloriously in Christ's kingdom.