Ezekiel 45:6, commentary and pictures

The verse appoints a measured district for the city, five thousand broad by five and twenty thousand long, lying alongside the holy offering and belonging to the whole house of Israel. It belongs to the vision of Ezekiel 40-48 of a new sanctuary, its worship and division of the land, whose center is God's presence and the peace of the Messiah's kingdom, offered as a literal restoration in their own land when Israel was captive in Babylon. That plan, including the city and its land, was conditional on Israel being ashamed of iniquity, putting away sin and yielding fully to God, and because they did not meet the conditions it was never built. It will never be built literally in the future, for its Levitical sacrifices of sheep and oxen would make Christ's once-for-all offering of none effect and return from sunlight to shadow. In its spiritual aspect it is fulfilled under the new covenant to Israel by faith in Christ, and what failed for earthly Jerusalem will be grandly realized in the holy city that descends to the earth made new, where God is present.

Words and Historical Setting

The appointment is for a city possession five thousand broad and five and twenty thousand long, set over against the oblation of the holy portion, for the whole house of Israel. That measured area for the city lies alongside the holy portion as part of the detailed sanctuary, city, and land provisions.

The verse belongs to the vision of Ezekiel 40-48 concerning a new sanctuary and temple with its offerings, its glory, its holy places, and the division of the land including the possession of the city. Its center and defining truth is that God is present, with the temple as the center of a restored Jerusalem. It shows the peaceful condition of the Messiah's kingdom to have been established gradually on this present earth, with marshes and deserts and salt lands healed by the water of life and wild beasts made mild under righteousness so the smallest infant is safe.

The vision was given while Israel was captive in Babylon, fourteen years after Jerusalem's sanctuary was destroyed, and was offered as a literal restoration in their own land. That restoration was to come when the decree for restoration went forth under Cyrus and all who chose could go up, and the Jerusalem shown would have been built if all Israel had answered the calls to leave Babylon. The pattern of another sanctuary with holy places including a most holy of stated size was offered to the house of Israel where they then were on conditions, calling them to become ashamed for their iniquities.

The exact breadth, length, and placement appointed for the possession of the city over against the holy oblation show that God is a God of order. Within that same offer are allusions to the Sabbath of the Lord and also to the festivals, including Ezekiel 44:24, Ezekiel 45:17, and Ezekiel 46:1, 3, 4, 12.

Conditional Promise Unfulfilled

The whole plan for restoration after the Babylonian exile, including the city with its allotted land beside the holy portion, the sanctuary, its worship and the return of the twelve tribes, was offered to Israel in captivity on condition that the people be ashamed of their iniquities, recognize and put away sins and wickedness, obey and yield fully to God, return wholeheartedly and come up to the full measure of children of God. The vision was given fourteen years after Jerusalem's sanctuary was destroyed as a literal restoration in their own land, with the city allotment for the whole house of Israel set as part of that conditional promise for Israel in the Mosaic dispensation, not as a description of the present or immortal future age. If Israel had been faithful and had met those terms, God would have established the city and sanctuary described beginning in chapter 40 and brought the tribes back, but their unrepentance and unwillingness prevented fulfillment as described. In its spiritual aspect the unfulfilled temple vision therefore stands as a prophecy of greater things God will do for His people through Christ, and God will fulfill His promises to His people in Christ in the new earth and the New Jerusalem.

Because Israel remained unashamed, continued in apostasy, did not meet the conditions, and few returned when opportunity was offered under Cyrus, the sanctuary and city as described were never built. The proposed new and larger city and temple belonged to the time before Christ when type met antitype, intended to apply in the past under the old covenant and not in the present or immortal future. No such city or sanctuary stands today, so the vision has not been fulfilled, and its final fulfillment is in the new earth rather than in a literal future rebuilding.

What was received was only a limited, partial fulfillment, for after the return from Babylon only about forty thousand returned and only a small part of the described glory was received. Instead of the glorious temple shown to Ezekiel, only a temple that was a shadow of its greatness was erected by Zerubbabel, because the people refused to heed God's words and continued in apostasy. The conditional prophecy from Ezekiel 36 onward had promised far greater glory than that limited restoration, including the raising of the righteous dead, the subjection of the kings of the North and all enemies far and near, a new temple, a new division of the land including the possession of the city, and the life and healing power of God coming upon Palestine and the earth as never before, on terms of putting away wickedness and being ashamed of iniquities. Those promises would have been fulfilled in greater measure if the conditions had been met, but they were not realized in fullness, and the land promise remains only faintly typical of what God will restore in the new heavens and new earth by His mighty power.

No Literal Future Fulfillment

The sanctuary and the city described with it were never built, and they will never be built literally in the fullest detail, whether after the Christian dispensation began or as a literal national arrangement for Israel. That allotment for the city belonged to a conditional promise for Israel in the Mosaic dispensation, made dependent on turning from sins and being ashamed of iniquities, which the people did not meet, and it is therefore not a description of the future age. No such city or sanctuary stands today, and only a partial realization followed in the temple erected by Zerubbabel, which bore merely a shadow of the greatness shown. After Christ its application is under the new covenant and concerns Israel by faith, including Gentiles who share God's promise in Christ.

It cannot be built again because its provisions retained the old sanctuary service with its sacrifices of thousands of sheep and oxen to continue through the sons of Levi. To renew those offerings would make Christ's offering once for all of none effect, annul His sacrifice, build again what was destroyed, and return from sunlight to shadow, since those offerings belonged to the time then present shadowing forth the only effectual offering of Jesus Christ fulfilled by His death on the cross. The change from the Levitical priesthood to Christ's unchanging priesthood makes that temple service obsolete, and the sacrifices prescribed show that God would not ordain it again. What was promised from Ezekiel 36 onward — the raising of the righteous dead, the subjection of the kings of the North and all enemies far and near, a new temple, a new division of the land including the possession of the city, and the life and healing power of God coming upon Palestine and the earth — depended on Israel putting away wickedness, and because Israel was not ashamed the glorious temple was not built; the promise of the land remains only faintly typical of what God will restore in the new heavens and new earth.

The measured portion for the city for the whole house of Israel does not describe a future restoration of the Jewish people, an earthly Jewish kingdom, a city to be built in a future age, or the New Jerusalem. It cannot mean a future special work for the literal Jews, but must be explained in harmony with the whole Bible. God's promises to Israel were conditional on obedience, and Israel's failure to accept the offered blessings does not oblige God to fulfill them later. The saints are taken to heaven at the second coming of Christ when the earth is left desolate.

Gospel and New Earth Fulfillment

In its spiritual aspect the temple vision is a prophecy of greater things to be done for the people through Christ, for after Christ its application stands under the new covenant and concerns Israel by faith, including Gentiles who share the promise in Christ. God will fulfill His promises to His people in Christ, in the new earth and the New Jerusalem. The city portion appointed beside the holy portion for all Israel belongs to unfulfilled promises of restoration after the Babylonian exile that were not fulfilled in detail because Israel did not repent.

In a general way those promises serve as a type of what will be done for the people at the second coming, though the details will not all be fulfilled as described. The promise of future glory and the full immortal inheritance will be fulfilled for the faithful, and true Israel will be redeemed and given a more glorious inheritance, the earth made new. The vision belonged to the time before Christ when type met antitype, its provisions depended on Israel's obedience which was not met so it was not fulfilled then, and its final fulfillment is in the new earth. Its promised glory will instead be fulfilled more fully in Christ's kingdom, in the new heavens and new earth restored by mighty power.

What failed for old earthly Jerusalem will be grandly realized in the New City that awaits the true Israel of God. The city shown was never built because the people failed and forfeited those privileges, not because the purpose changed, and instead God prepared a holy city in heaven that will descend to earth. That pattern made the temple the center whose defining truth is that God is present, and had the conditions been met the sanctuary would have been built with blessed worship and glory resting on the city. The promised restoration received only a limited fulfillment because of failure to yield fully to God.

That fulfillment will come under far greater conditions, with more or less of the former detail eliminated and with far greater glory than the limited restoration under Zerubbabel, in which only a small part of what was described was received and only a temple that was a shadow of its greatness was erected. It will bring unsurpassable and inconceivable glory with absolute joy and peace and harmony among all creatures in the new earth state. There will be lengthened life, with the manifest presence of God constantly seen, and the life and healing power of God coming upon the earth as never before. Marshes and deserts and salt lands will be healed by the water of life, and absolute peace will preside over nature so that there is no hurting or destroying, wild beasts are made mild under righteousness, and no harm comes to the feeblest, so that even the smallest infant is safe.

Links to Other Scriptures

The vision that begins in Ezekiel 40 is the counterpart to Zechariah 2 and covers the same period and the same purposes of God toward Jerusalem. The measuring of the temple and the city of God by a man with the appearance of brass holding a line of flax and a measuring reed matches the man with a measuring line measuring the breadth and length of Jerusalem. The appointed possession of the city belongs to that measuring and to the promise concerning the future of Jerusalem given on condition that God's people put aside sins and come up to the full measure of children of God.

The closing chapters are connected with the prediction of a greater temple, though they do not explain how it would be built. It is the grand and magnificent temple that Israel might build at Jerusalem after returning from exile, which would ultimately become a house of prayer for all nations. It is the pattern of another sanctuary offered to the house of Israel where they then were on conditions, calling them to become ashamed for their iniquities, in connection with the restoration when the decree for restoration went forth under Cyrus and all who chose could go up. The pattern has holy places including a most holy of a stated size, and the word sanctuary is applied to the building a stated number of times. The description of the temple and its surrounding allotments assigns a defined tract of land to the city beside the holy portion, for the whole house of Israel.

From Ezekiel 36 onward God promised the raising of the righteous dead, the subjection of the kings of the North and all enemies far and near, a new temple, a new division of the land including the possession of the city, and the life and healing power of God coming upon Palestine and the earth as never before. That offer was made while the Hebrews were captive in Babylon to restore them to their own land and give them again a city and a temple under circumstances of wonderful glory described in Ezekiel 40-48. Its fulfillment depended on the terms stated in Ezekiel 43:7-11, requiring Israel to put away wickedness and be ashamed of iniquities. Within that same offer are allusions to the Sabbath of the Lord and also to the festivals, including Ezekiel 44:24, Ezekiel 45:17, and Ezekiel 46:1, 3, 4, 12. The verse is included in the prophetic portion describing what God would do for His people if they yielded to Him, assigning the measured portion without further explanation of the land allotment.