Ezekiel 46:23
And there was a row of building round about in them, round about them four, and it was made with boiling places under the rows round about. And there was a row of building round about in them, round about them four, and it was made with boiling places under the rows round about.
The verse describes rows of building around the four courts with cooking places beneath the rows for preparing the sacrifices for the priests. It belongs to the new sanctuary with its offerings, city and land in Ezekiel 36 to 48, the pattern shown to Israel in Babylonian captivity fourteen years after the sanctuary was destroyed. The sanctuary and its detailed arrangements were a conditional offer to be literally fulfilled if Israel was ashamed of iniquities and returned wholeheartedly in faith and obedience, but Israel did not comply and forfeited what was offered, so the temple with its boiling places was never built as shown and never will be. Its sacrifices belonged to the past Levitical system that ended at Christ's cross and cannot be renewed, because His offering was made once for all and to continue the old service now would make His sacrifice void. The vision does not describe the New Jerusalem or the immortal state after the second advent and does not signify a future restoration of the Jewish people with the Levitical system. What failed for old earthly Jerusalem stands in its spiritual aspect as a type of greater things to be far more gloriously realized for the true Israel of God in Christ's kingdom at the second coming, in the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem as capital.
Vision Setting and Details
The verse describes rows of building round about in the four courts, with boiling places or cooking places made under the rows round about for preparing the sacrifices for the priests. These cooking places beneath rows of building around the sanctuary courts belong to the description of the new sanctuary and its offerings, and some treatments give no further explanation of these details beyond identifying them as part of that sanctuary description.
The verse belongs to the new sanctuary with its offerings, city, and land in Ezekiel 36 to 48, especially chapters 40 to 48. It is part of the pattern shown to Israel in Babylonian captivity fourteen years after the sanctuary was destroyed, a building with two holy places. It is set at the center of a restored Jerusalem under circumstances of wonderful glory, showing God's purpose for Jerusalem and its temple and city. That vision matches the man with the measuring line in Zechariah 2, covering the same period and the same purposes toward Jerusalem, to be studied together with it.
The section containing the verse prescribes the Mosaic sacrificial service then in force, with burnt offerings and sin offerings of bulls and goats offered by the sons of Levi. In that temple the Levites serve as priests, and the sanctuary is ultimately to be a house of prayer for all nations. The verse stands in a section containing several allusions to the Sabbath of the Lord and to the festivals of the Hebrews.
Conditional Promise and Future
Ezekiel 46:23 belongs to the city and sanctuary and restoration promised in Ezekiel 40-48, given during the return from Babylonian captivity as a conditional offer to be literally and fully fulfilled if Israel put away lewdness and wickedness, was ashamed of iniquities, returned wholeheartedly, and came up to the full measure of faith and obedience as children of God. The pattern was shown in captivity fourteen years after the sanctuary was destroyed, with two holy places, and its establishment with Israel's return was offered only on condition that the people be ashamed and put sins away. The detailed description of sanctuary, city, and land would have been built and literally fulfilled if Israel had yielded to the conditions and been faithful.
Israel did not comply and was not ashamed, and so forfeited the privileges offered, with only about forty thousand returning, so the temple with its boiling places was never built as shown and never will be built as described. What was built by Zerubbabel after the return was only a weak, limited shadow of it, and the restoration and its temple were not realized because the people continued in apostasy and would not yield fully to God. The details will not all be fulfilled as originally described, though the chapters promised in larger measure to restore all the scattered people to the mountains of Israel, dwell among them with greater glory, build a far greater sanctuary, give victory and manifest glory among the nations.
The vision does not describe the New Jerusalem or the immortal state after the second advent and does not signify a future restoration of the Jewish people with the Levitical system. Points of dissimilarity forbid identity, since here the prince is a poor frail mortal offering a sin offering for himself while there Christ is Prince and Shepherd over Israel, and here are marriages, divorces, widows and death while marriage and death are unknown in the age to come. Had the conditions been met the vision would have been fulfilled in the Mosaic dispensation when circumcision, divorce, distinction in meats, offerings of beasts, the Jubilee and the Levitical priesthood were in force. It serves only as a general, imperfect type of what God will do for His people at the second coming, not a detailed description of its fulfillment.
The sacrifices and typical atonements in the vision belonged to the past Levitical service then in force, with burnt offerings and sin offerings of bulls and goats offered by the sons of Levi, and they cannot be renewed because Christ's offering was made once for all and the earlier offerings were shadows of it. The type cannot follow the fact, remission in the gospel follows repentance and confession, and blood of bulls and goats will no longer be acceptable even as a type. When Christ was crucified and ascended the law of the priesthood changed from Levi to Christ as priest forever after the order of Melchisedec with an unchangeable priesthood that does not pass to another, contemporary with the everlasting gospel of which Christ as great High Priest is the author. When that priesthood ends there is no more probation, so to continue the old service or offer sacrifices now would make Christ's sacrifice void and annul His offering.
What failed for old earthly Jerusalem stands only in its spiritual aspect as a general, imperfect type of greater things God would do for His people through Christ. It will be far more gloriously and grandly realized for the true Israel of God in Christ's kingdom at the second coming, in the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem as capital, a holy city prepared in heaven to descend to earth, where the faithful receive future glory and immortal inheritance. Its promises included restoring all His scattered people, dwelling among them with greater glory, building a far greater sanctuary, raising their righteous dead, subjecting enemies far and near, giving victory, manifesting His glory among the nations, lengthening life, changing even animals, pouring out life and healing power so God's presence brings healing and life, and dwelling constantly so nothing hurts or destroys. It will be fulfilled under far greater conditions with much of the former detail eliminated, leaving absolute joy and peace and harmony among all God's creatures.