Ezekiel 46:3, commentary and pictures

The people of the land are to worship before the Lord at the door of the gate on the Sabbaths and on the new moons, with the prince having his own entrance and appointed services.
The ordinance belongs to the temple, city, land and worship vision in Ezekiel 36-48 offered to Israel captive in Babylon as promise of restoration with glory, healing and the Lord dwelling among them.
That whole vision was conditional on Israel being ashamed of iniquities, putting them away and yielding wholeheartedly to God, and only then would its sanctuary and its Sabbath and new moon worship have been literally established.
Israel did not meet the conditions, so the sanctuary as described was never built and what Zerubbabel erected was only a lesser shadow of the promised glory, and it will never be built literally in the present dispensation or the glorified state but will be fulfilled in a greater spiritual way through Christ and in the new heavens and new earth.
Its thousands of sheep and oxen and Levitical offerings were only for the time then present shadowing the one effectual offering of Jesus Christ, who by dying once for all brought the Mosaic offerings to an end so there can be no more sacrifice without making his sacrifice void.

Conditional Vision's Historical Setting

Ezekiel 46:3 belongs to the great vision of temple, city, land, offerings and worship in Ezekiel 36-48, especially chapters 40-48. It was shown to Ezekiel to set before Israel while the house of Israel was in captivity in Babylon, as God's offer to restore them to their own land after captivity and give them again a city and a temple under circumstances of wonderful glory. That promised restoration centered on a glorious temple and a restored Jerusalem where the Lord would dwell among His people, with the division of the land, a new sanctuary with its offerings and glory, and healing and life flowing from His constant manifest presence. It stands together with Ezekiel 44:24, 45:17, and 46:1, 4, 12 as one of several allusions in that offer to the Lord's Sabbath and the Hebrew festivals.

The whole vision was conditional, offered only on condition that Israel become ashamed for their iniquities, put them away, turn from wrongdoing, repent and return wholeheartedly from Babylonian captivity, and yield fully to God and keep the whole form and all the ordinances of the house. Only if they met those conditions would the sanctuary described in Ezekiel 40-48, its worship by the people of the land at the door of the gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and new moons, the new temple with its ceremonies, the newly divided land, and the fuller restoration with life and healing power have been literally established in that day. In its spiritual aspect the same conditional promise pointed to greater things God would do for His people through Christ and to be fulfilled at Christ's second coming, but its literal detail belonged to the Mosaic dispensation then present.

Israel did not comply with the condition, was not ashamed and did not put away iniquities and wickedness, and would not yield fully to God. Therefore the sanctuary as described was never built and its worship arrangement on Sabbaths and new moons was never realized, and the offered glory was never inherited by them. Only about forty thousand returned from captivity when all who chose could have gone up after the decree of Cyrus, and what was erected by Zerubbabel was only a lesser shadow, a greatly diminished and reduced form and only a weak realization of the promised greatness.

Because the people failed to respond to the calls to leave Babylon, to put away sin and live up to their calling, the promised rebuilding did not happen for earthly Jerusalem. The new city grander than old Jerusalem, with a finer temple than Solomon's, cleansed of commercialism and unholiness and filled anew with the shining glory of God's visible indwelling, was never built. After that failure a night of almost midnight darkness followed for over four hundred years with no inspired prophetic voice until John and the light of the gospel of the Son of God.

Worship at the Gate

The people of the land worship before the Lord at the door of the gate on the Sabbaths and on the new moons, with the prince having his own gate of entrance and appointed services in the greater temple and its worship. That worship at the gate belongs to the sanctuary system with sacrifices and appointed feasts, promised as part of Israel's conditional restoration and to be fulfilled during the Mosaic dispensation. The Sabbath stands there among the appointed times when the people worship together with the new moons, and the offerings made on the Sabbath belong to that new temple order.

That worship stands within a Mosaic-era sanctuary order with sacrifices and offerings of beasts, appointed feasts, circumcision, distinction in meats, divorce, the Jubilee, and Levites serving as priests with lengthened mortal life. It was offered to Israel after the captivity as a sanctuary service in which the people worshiped before the Lord on Sabbaths and new moons, whose worship arrangements in Ezekiel 40-48 included that regular worship. Had Israel yielded to God and been ashamed of evil doings and put away iniquities, that worship and the offerings by the sons of Levi in Ezekiel 45 and 46 would still have been made in the Mosaic dispensation when those ordinances were in force.

The prince in this order is a poor frail mortal ruler commanded to offer sacrifices including offerings for himself, even a sin offering for himself. This shows he is not Jesus reigning in an immortal state as Prince and Shepherd over Israel in the future glorified state. The same order includes marriages, divorces, widows and death, which will be unknown in the age to come.

The promised sanctuary is portrayed as a glorious place where God's constant manifest presence brings life and healing upon Palestine and the earth as never before, with a true-hearted people, harmony among creatures even to character taking hold upon the animals, subjection of enemies far and near, and resurrection of the righteous dead. That glory includes regular worship at the sanctuary gate as part of the holy mountain where there is no hurt nor destroying, with a new temple built and the land newly divided and worship before the Lord at the door of the gate on Sabbaths and new moons. It is pictured as a new city grander than old Jerusalem with a finer temple than Solomon's, cleansed of commercialism and unholiness and filled anew with the shining glory of God's presence, to be built only if God's people put away sins and kept the whole form and all the ordinances of the house, with its sacrifices and oblations and priesthood and prince standing before Israel until Messiah the Prince come.

No Future Literal Fulfillment

The city and sanctuary described in Ezekiel 40 to 48, to which worship at the door of the gate on Sabbaths and new moons belongs, has never been fulfilled as written, and no such city or sanctuary stands today. It was never rebuilt after the decree of Cyrus for restoration, even though all who chose could have gone up, and whether Israel became ashamed for its iniquities decides its meaning. The temple and its worship would have been established if Israel had been ashamed, but they were not, so the prophecy is not fulfilled in every detail.

It will never be built literally in any period after the opening of the Christian dispensation, neither in the present dispensation nor in the future glorified state. It does not belong to the future reign of Christ and his saints, nor will it arise as a future earthly Jewish temple, because the saints are taken to heaven at the second coming when the earth is desolated. In that temple the Levites serve as priests, but when Christ was crucified and ascended the law of the priesthood changed, 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. When the priesthood of Christ ends there is no more probation, and that priesthood and the everlasting gospel are contemporary, so that though an angel from heaven preach any other gospel let him be accursed. The unbuilt sanctuary can never be built to fill the place God designed, because provision was made not only for the sanctuary but for the old sanctuary service including sacrifices, and there can be no more sacrifice without making void the sacrifice Christ offered. The worship before the Lord at the gate on Sabbaths and new moons stands within the Mosaic-era sanctuary system whose offerings Christ brought to an end at his death, and Ezekiel's sanctuary regulations are therefore rejected for the future state and the present dispensation. Because the temple prophecy in the latter part of Ezekiel was conditional on ancient Israel's faith, obedience, shame and repentance, and Israel did not meet those conditions, the temple worship described there including worship on Sabbaths and new moons will never be fulfilled as originally offered and will never be built.

It cannot return as a revival of first-covenant ordinances in a future age, for renewing its thousands of sheep and oxen sacrifices would make Christ's once-for-all offering of no effect. Such a renewal would build again what was destroyed and return from sunlight to shadow, since the offerings of the past were only for the time then present, shadowing forth the one effectual offering of Jesus Christ. The verse's worship at the city is therefore part of a proposed return to ancient ordinances, but Christ's one offering has already fulfilled the sacrificial system so those ordinances are not to be revived, and the sacrifices prescribed show God would not ordain that sanctuary again.

Its purposes will instead be fulfilled in a greater, spiritual way through Christ, for because Israel was unwilling to return wholeheartedly from Babylonian captivity the conditional temple vision in Ezekiel 41-48 stands as a prophecy in its spiritual aspect of greater things God would do for his people through Christ. Because they failed to put away sins and live up to their calling, the promised restoration was not realized for earthly Jerusalem and was realized only in a greatly reduced form, but its purposes will be fulfilled in the New City. The promises in Ezekiel 36-48 were originally given to Israel in connection with restoration from Babylonian captivity with dependence on Israel yielding to God, and because Israel did not fully repent the promises concerning true Israel will be fulfilled in the future but not in every detail as described in Ezekiel. The faithful will receive the future glory and the fullness of the immortal inheritance at Christ's second coming and related events, though not under the local conditions of Ezekiel's day, serving only as a faint type of God's broader promises to be fulfilled at Christ's second coming. The promise of unsurpassable glory with lengthened life, character affecting the animals, a true-hearted people, and the constant manifest presence of God with regular worship at the sanctuary gate as part of the holy mountain where there is no hurt nor destroying was conditional and unfulfilled then, and it will be fulfilled under far greater conditions with more or less of the former detail eliminated, leaving only absolute joy and peace and harmony among all God's creatures in the new earth state and in the new heavens and new earth.

In that ultimate sense the grand temple described in detail to be built at Jerusalem becomes a house of prayer for all nations.

Christ Ended Sacrificial System

The thousands of sheep and oxen and the Levitical offerings appointed in this vision belonged only to the time then present, shadowing forth the one effectual offering of Jesus Christ. They were typical of His coming as the one great sacrifice and great high priest, and being fulfilled by His one offering they are not to be revived as ancient ordinances in a future age. To renew them literally would be to build again what was destroyed and to return from sunlight to shadow.

By dying on the cross Jesus Christ fulfilled all sacrifices once for all and brought the Mosaic offerings to an end at His death. That unbuilt sanctuary provided not only for a building but for the old sanctuary service including sacrifices, and it can never now be built to fill the place designed for it for that reason. There can be no more sacrifice even as a type without making void the sacrifice Christ offered and making His once-for-all offering of no effect. What was faintly typical of restoration will instead be fulfilled even more gloriously in the kingdom of Jesus Christ and in the new heavens and new earth.

These ordinances are therefore no longer acceptable to God, and the sacrifices prescribed for that sanctuary show He would not ordain it again. When Christ was crucified and ascended the law of the priesthood changed, Levi is no longer priest, and Christ became priest forever after the order of Melchisedec. His priesthood is unchangeable and does not pass from one to another, and when His priesthood ends there is no more probation. That priesthood and the everlasting gospel are contemporary, and though an angel from heaven preach any other gospel let him be accursed.

Sabbath and New Moons

The verse belongs with Ezekiel 44:24, 45:17, and 46:1, 4, 12 as one of several allusions in the offer made while captive in Babylon to restore to land, city and temple under wonderful glory in Ezekiel 40-48, all referring to the Sabbath of the Lord and to the Hebrew festivals. That offer was conditional and because disregarded was never inherited, and this verse is singled out for the distinctness with which it discriminates the Sabbath from the six working days. Ezekiel 46:1-7 distinguishes the Sabbath from the six working days and describes offerings made on the Sabbath.

Ezekiel 46:1-5 presents the new temple as a place of Sabbath worship, showing the Sabbath remains a recognized time for worship in the vision. The Sabbath is included among the appointed times when the people of the land worship before the Lord at the gate, and verse 3 also names the new moons as occasions for this worship together with the Sabbaths. The passage describes offerings made on the Sabbath in that worship at the gate.

The sabbaths in the verse stand alongside worship on the new moons and were connected with feast observances that would cease, unlike the Lord's holy Sabbath which remains perpetual. They are ceremonial sabbaths, distinct from the weekly seventh-day Sabbath of the Lord. Describing offerings on the Sabbath does not make the seventh-day Sabbath itself ceremonial or support classifying it with temporary ceremonies. Those who held otherwise taught that sacrifices were offered on the Sabbaths, the seventh day not excepted, and all were typical of Jesus Christ as the one great sacrifice and great high priest, so that the seventh-day Sabbath, blessed and sanctified and made holy by God like all Sabbaths, is a shadow of things to come whose body is Christ, reaching to Christ as substance and then terminating with no binding force after He came.