Ezekiel 46:4, commentary and pictures

The verse prescribes the prince's burnt offering to the Lord on the Sabbath day as six lambs without blemish and one ram without blemish. It belongs to Ezekiel's vision of temple, city, land and offerings in chapters 40-48, shown fourteen years after Jerusalem's sanctuary was destroyed as a conditional offer of restoration if Israel repented and put away sin. Because Israel did not meet the conditions the sanctuary was never built and the offering was never restored as described, and what was built after Babylon was an inferior shadow falling far short of the pattern. The temple and its service will never be built or fulfilled literally after the opening of the Christian dispensation, but in spiritual meaning will be fulfilled far more gloriously in the kingdom of Jesus Christ at His second coming and in the new heavens and new earth. The prince is a mortal ruler who offers for himself, not Jesus, for Jesus as great Sacrifice and High Priest ended the Levitical sacrificial system at the cross so animal offerings can never be renewed without annulling His once-for-all offering. The day named is the weekly seventh-day Sabbath of the Lord, not a ceremonial or temporary institution and not an eighth day, and commanding work in presenting its offering proves the Sabbath was never for idleness but for activity in God's worship, rejoicing, holy convocation and abundant offerings, since the labor forbidden is our own work while the labor required is the Lord's work.

Verse Wording and Setting

The burnt offering to be presented by the prince to the Lord on the Sabbath day consists of six lambs without blemish and one ram without blemish. It is the prince's offering, required of him and made by him for himself, belonging to the sanctuary service and to the system of sacrificial types in force under the Mosaic dispensation when animal sacrifices and offerings were offered. As part of the description of offerings in the envisioned city and sanctuary, it is evidence that the worship there included sacrifices of beasts.

The verse belongs to the description of offerings, sanctuary service, temple, city, and land in Ezekiel's vision, specifically to the temple vision of chapters 40-46, to the vision of a new sanctuary and its offerings in chapters 40-48, and to the larger vision in chapters 36 to 48. The burnt offerings prescribed there stand together with the prince's sin offering and other offerings, placing the vision in the time when the Levitical sacrificial system was in force. Its animal sacrifices cannot be renewed as literal offerings, because restoration of them would return from the shadow to its fulfillment after Christ's once-for-all offering.

The sanctuary pattern was shown to Ezekiel fourteen years after Jerusalem's sanctuary was destroyed. It was offered to Israel while captive in Babylon as restoration to their own land with again a city and a temple under circumstances of wonderful glory set forth in Ezekiel 40-48, with the establishment of the sanctuary and the bringing back of the twelve tribes. The offer was made on condition that the people be ashamed of their sins and put them away.

Conditional Offer to Israel

Ezekiel 46:4 belongs to the temple vision of chapters 40-46, shown fourteen years after Jerusalem's sanctuary was destroyed as a conditional offer to captive Israel in Babylon. If the people were ashamed of their iniquities and sins, put them away with all wickedness, repented, returned wholeheartedly from captivity, obeyed God and yielded fully to Him, God would establish the sanctuary, bring back the twelve tribes, and give the sanctuary, city and land with all their promises and figures in literal fulfillment. In that case the detailed ceremonies and offerings, including the prince's Sabbath burnt offering, would have been literally fulfilled in the Mosaic dispensation when circumcision, divorce regulations, distinction in meats, offerings of beasts, the Jubilee and the Levitical priesthood were in force. Because Israel never did so, but continued in apostasy and was unwilling to meet the conditions, the glorious temple was never built and its Sabbath offering was never restored as described.

Only about forty thousand returned from Babylon, and what was erected under Zerubbabel and Ezra was an inferior, lesser temple bearing only a shadow of its greatness, falling far short of Ezekiel's pattern and only partly or feebly realizing the promises. Had Israel forsaken sin and returned wholeheartedly, the temple and worship in the restoration from Babylon would have been far more glorious than what was built after the exile, with Jehovah present with His people bringing healing and life; when Israel failed, the prophecy was fulfilled only in small part. That conditional prophecy, running from Ezekiel 36 onward, promised a new temple, a new division of the land, resurrection of the righteous dead, subjection of enemies, and divine life and healing in Palestine. In its spiritual meaning the unbuilt vision stands as a prophecy of greater things God will do for His people through Christ, pointing to a greater fulfillment at Christ's second coming and remaining faintly typical of what God will restore by His mighty power in the new heavens and new earth, not to a future restoration under the local conditions of Ezekiel's day.

Literal and Greater Fulfillment

The temple and its service will never be built or fulfilled literally as described in any period after the opening of the Christian dispensation. The offering belonged to a temple vision given on the conditional promise that Israel should be ashamed of iniquities and put them away, and because Israel continued in apostasy and did not meet the conditions of faith, obedience, repentance and return, the sanctuary was never built and the Sabbath offering was never restored. What was built after the exile under Zerubbabel was only a partial, lesser realization, far short of the pattern. It would have been fulfilled in the Mosaic dispensation had the conditions been complied with, when circumcision, divorce regulations, distinction in meats, offerings of beasts, the Jubilee, and the Levitical priesthood with Levites serving as priests were in force. It does not belong to the future glorified age, for there Christ is Prince and Shepherd over Israel, not a frail mortal prince who makes offerings for himself including a sin offering, and marriage and death are unknown, whereas the vision includes marriages, divorces, widows and death.

The law of the priesthood changed when Christ was crucified and ascended, 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. His priesthood lasts as long as probation lasts and is contemporary with the everlasting gospel which is His gospel, and if an angel from heaven preach any other gospel let him be accursed. Christ's death brought the Mosaic-era system to an end, and His once-for-all death on the cross fulfilled all sacrifices. The prescribed animal sacrifices show this sanctuary was not a future temple, for offering sacrifices now would annul and make void what Christ offered, and the blood of bulls and goats is no longer acceptable to God even as a type.

In its spiritual meaning the unfulfilled temple vision stands as a prophecy of greater things God will do for His people through Christ, faintly pointing to and remaining only faintly typical of God's future work and restoration. The sanctuary with its ceremonies, ordinances and offerings belonged to the restoration God was prepared to bring about for Israel after the return from Babylon if they returned wholeheartedly, fully repented and yielded to God, but Israel was unwilling, so the sanctuary was never built and the promises were fulfilled only in small part and not in all their stated details. The conditional prophecy from Ezekiel 36 onward promised a new temple, a new division of the land, resurrection of the righteous dead, subjection of enemies, and divine life and healing in Palestine, with the prince's Sabbath burnt offering of six unblemished lambs and one unblemished ram as part of the sacrifices for that glorious temple on condition that Israel put away wickedness and was ashamed of iniquities. Because Israel did not put away iniquities and was not ashamed, the glorious temple was not built, and only a lesser temple with a shadow of its greatness was erected by Zerubbabel. The future glory and immortal inheritance belong to the faithful, but are described through later revelations rather than by carrying out every detail of the prophecy.

The promise will be fulfilled under far greater conditions, even more gloriously in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. It points to a greater fulfillment at Christ's second coming, not to a future restoration under the local conditions of Ezekiel's day. It will be fulfilled 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, in the new heavens and new earth by His mighty power. The unsurpassable glory promised in Palestine on condition of obedience included lengthened life, a true-hearted people whose character would take hold upon the animals, and the manifest presence of God constantly seen so there would be no hurting or destroying in all His holy mountain. That city and worship could have been established and would then have been far more glorious than what was built after the exile if Israel had forsaken sins, responded to the calls to leave Babylon, and returned wholeheartedly to God, but Israel failed to do its part so the city was never built then. God's purpose did not change, and He prepared the holy city in heaven to descend to earth. The temple Herod built is presented as a possible fulfillment of the prophecy's prediction of a greater temple with its worship and offerings.

Prince Priesthood and Sacrifice

The prince who presents six unblemished lambs and an unblemished ram as a Sabbath burnt offering is a frail mortal ruler who also makes offerings for himself including a sin offering, not Jesus, for Jesus is the great Sacrifice and the great High Priest who brought the sacrificial system to an end at the cross. The offerings prescribed around him place the vision in the time when the Levitical sacrificial system was in force, not in the gospel age or the future immortal state. In the glorified age Christ is Prince and Shepherd over Israel and marriage and death are unknown, whereas this vision includes marriages, divorces, widows and death, along with circumcision, distinction in meats, divorce regulations, the Jubilee, offerings of beasts and the Levitical priesthood that belonged to the Mosaic dispensation had its conditions been met.

The animal sacrifices of the new sanctuary vision in chapters 40-48 cannot be renewed as literal offerings or revived as a system of atonement, because Christ's once-for-all offering fulfilled all sacrifices and is the only effective sacrifice. To restore them would undo what His offering accomplished, annul His atonement in fact, make void the sacrifice Christ offered, and return from the fulfillment to the shadow. The blood of bulls and goats is no longer acceptable to God even as a type, and the prescribed Sabbath burnt offering belonged to a sanctuary service that would have been in force under the Mosaic dispensation and to an unbuilt sanctuary that can never fulfill the purpose designed for it. Because Israel did not put away sins and become ashamed of them and turn back to God, the sanctuary was never built and what was built by Zerubbabel only partly realized its promises, so the verse does not establish that animal sacrifices remain in force.

When Christ was crucified and ascended the law of the priesthood changed so that 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. His priesthood as great High Priest lasts as long as probation lasts and is contemporary with the everlasting gospel which is His gospel, and if an angel from heaven preach any other gospel let him be accursed. The temple and service requiring Levites serving as priests is therefore never to be built in any period after the opening of the Christian dispensation.

Each lamb offered under the former dispensation represented the Lamb of God, while in the present dispensation sacrifices take the form of offering oneself to God and offering praise. The Sabbath sacrifices were typical of the coming of the one great sacrifice, Jesus Christ the great High Priest. The days in themselves cast no shadow apart from what transpired on them, but because typical sacrifices were offered on every Sabbath with no exception for the seventh day, all Sabbaths are shadows reaching to Christ as the substance and terminating when He came.

Sabbath Identity and Observance

The verse concerns the weekly seventh-day Sabbath, the Sabbath of the Lord, distinct from festival days and sabbaths of the land. It stands as one of several allusions in Ezekiel 40-48 to the Sabbath of the Lord and to the Hebrew festivals, belonging to the offer made while Israel was captive in Babylon to restore them to their own land with a city and temple under circumstances of wonderful glory, an offer that was conditional and whose glory was never inherited because the condition was disregarded. Under the Levitical dispensation offerings were made on the Sabbath, and the prince's Sabbath burnt offering consisted of six unblemished lambs and one unblemished ram.

The surrounding passage distinguishes the Sabbath from the six working days and describes offerings made on the Sabbath, yet prescribing offerings for that day does not make the seventh-day Sabbath a ceremonial or temporary institution. The verse does not describe an eighth day of the week nor establish a Sabbath observance. The eighth day belongs to Ezekiel 43, not to this verse, being the day after seven days of altar purification when regular offerings began, and it has no connection to the Sabbath; the sanctuary service of Ezekiel 40-48 describes a temple and city promised if Israel returned wholeheartedly to God but never built because they refused to repent, while the temple later built under Ezra and Zerubbabel was inferior.

The Sabbath was never intended to be spent in idleness but is a day of activity in the worship of God. The verse commands work to be done in presenting the Sabbath burnt offering, proving that some kinds of labor are not only lawful on the Sabbath but commanded. The enlarged Sabbath burnt offering proves the priests did more work of sacrifice on the Sabbath than on any other day of the week. The labor forbidden by the fourth commandment is our own work, while the labor required here is the Lord's work. The Sabbath is not a day of idleness, fasting and afflicting self but a day of rejoicing to be looked forward to with pleasure for its added blessings, so Sabbath keeping includes active worship in holy convocation, renewed consecration to service, and abundant gifts and offerings showing appreciation for the blessings for which the Sabbath stands as memorial and sign.