Ezekiel 46:9
But when the people of the land shall come before the LORD in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it.
Those who came before the Lord at the appointed feasts were to keep moving forward in worship, entering by one gate and leaving by the opposite gate and never turning back by the way they came.
The rule belonged to the sanctuary order shown in Ezekiel 40-48, with its feasts, Sabbaths and Jubilees, its offerings, its Levitical priesthood and its laws of cleanness, marriage and inheritance in force under the Mosaic dispensation.
It was part of a conditional promise of restoration given in Babylon, offering a new temple, a new division of the land and God's glorious dwelling among a repentant and obedient people returned from captivity.
Because Israel did not repent and only about forty thousand returned, the glory offered was forfeited and the temple as described was never built, the house raised by Zerubbabel being only a feeble shadow far short of the pattern.
It cannot be built literally in the future, for to restore its blood offerings and Levitical priesthood after Christ's once-for-all sacrifice and His unchangeable priesthood after the order of Melchizedek would deny His work, while in its spiritual aspect it is fulfilled only in broad outline in what God does through Christ, the second coming and the new heavens and new earth.
Worship Order and Setting
Whoever came before the Lord at the appointed feasts to worship was to keep a fixed order of movement, entering by one gate and leaving by the opposite gate rather than turning back by the way of entry. One entering by the north gate was to go out by the south gate, and one entering by the south gate was to go forth by the north gate. The worshippers thus passed through the temple precincts from one side to the other in orderly worship.
The feasts in view belonged to a sanctuary system in which those observances were still in force, namely the Mosaic dispensation. Within that offer are allusions to the Sabbath of the Lord and to the festivals of the Hebrews, with the feasts and Jubilees described in Ezekiel belonging to that former order. Those ordinances were later nailed to the cross.
The instruction stands among the regulations for Ezekiel's sanctuary in Ezekiel 40-48, including its holy places and the size of its most holy place. It belongs with its offerings made by the prince, its Levitical priesthood and sons of Levi, and its worship and offerings described in Ezekiel 45 and 46. It stands in force at a time when circumcision, divorce, distinction in meats, offerings of beasts, the Jubilee, marriages, widows and death continued, with the prince himself a frail mortal offering a sin offering for himself.
The setting is a magnificent temple at the center of a restored Jerusalem, where God's manifest presence would dwell among His people in glory. It was to be a house of prayer for all nations, bringing unsurpassable glory to Palestine and the Jews. Healing and life would come upon barren land and impure waters, with lengthened life for the people, character that would take hold upon the animals, and life and harmony among all God's creatures where there would be no hurt or destroying.
Apart from belonging to that restoration vision, no separate explanation is given of the gate instructions in this verse. Nor is it explained how the greater temple predicted in the closing chapters of Ezekiel is to be carried out, the circumstances of its construction being secondary to the prophecy.
Conditional Promise Forfeited
Ezekiel 46:9 belongs to the detailed description of sanctuary, city and land promised to Israel from Ezekiel 36 onward, offered while the Hebrews were captive in Babylon for restoration after the return under the decree of Cyrus. It was a conditional prophecy of what God was prepared to do if the people returned wholeheartedly, became ashamed of iniquities, put them away, and obeyed, as stated in Ezekiel 43:7-11, promising resurrection of the righteous dead, subjection of enemies, a new temple, a new division of the land, and dwelling among them in glory. The temple plan and its ceremonies, including this verse, depended on Israel's acceptance or rejection, and the sanctuary arrangement would have allowed the Messiah's kingdom to be established on earth in its then-present condition if God's people had met the conditions. These promises and figures would have been literally fulfilled if Israel had yielded to God's conditions.
The city shown was what Jerusalem might have become if all Israel had answered the calls to leave Babylon. Because the Jews failed to meet the conditions, only about forty thousand returned from Babylon, the offered glory was never inherited, and the restoration across Ezekiel 36-48 was not fulfilled in its fullness.
Because Israel did not repent, was not ashamed, and continued in apostasy, the sanctuary described in Ezekiel 40-48 was never built and never will be built as described. The temple built after the return by Zerubbabel was only a lesser, feeble, shadowy realization, erected with a shadow of its greatness and falling far short of Ezekiel's pattern and of the far grander temple shown. By the principle that God repents of promised good when a nation fails to do its part, that glorious temple never will be built.
By forfeiture for disobedience the promises do not describe the future as written, and the details will not all be fulfilled as described. The temple arrangements and attendant sacrifices, including the setting for the worshipers' entrance and exit in this verse, will never be fulfilled as described, and this sanctuary cannot now be built to fulfill the purpose described because offering further sacrifices would make void the sacrifice Christ offered. The future glory and immortal inheritance will come to the faithful through later prophetic revelations.
In its spiritual aspect the vision stands as a prophecy of greater things God would do for His people through Christ. Because Israel was unwilling and did not repent, the restoration was not fulfilled as described but remains a type of God's future work, fulfilled in broad outline at the second coming rather than in every detail. Its fulfillment awaits the New City for the true Israel of God and the new heavens and new earth, where all those promises remain faintly typical of what will take place when God restores them by His mighty power. It will be fulfilled under far greater conditions with much of the former local detail eliminated, leaving absolute joy and peace and harmony among all God's creatures, with unsurpassable glory, lengthened life, and the constant manifest presence of God.
No Future Literal Restoration
The sacrificial system of the chapter belonged to the time when such offerings were in force, and it was brought to an end by the sacrifice of Christ. To rebuild that sanctuary literally in any period after the opening of the Christian dispensation and again offer the blood of bulls and goats, even as a type, would deny Christ's once-for-all offering, annul His offering, make void the sacrifice He offered, and show it was not a temple God would ordain again. The plan was provisional and conditional upon the people being ashamed of their sins, putting away iniquity and turning from apostasy, but they did not meet that condition, so the glorious temple described was never built and only a temple with a shadow of its greatness, a lesser, feeble realization far short of the pattern, was erected by Zerubbabel. By the principle that God repents of promised good when a nation fails to do its part, that temple never will be built as described, and its provision for sacrifices ended because Jesus Christ fulfilled all sacrifices by dying on the cross, while the promises remain only faintly typical of what will take place in the new heavens and new earth when God restores them by His mighty power. The same vision has been claimed for a future age to restore the sacrificial practices of the first covenant despite Christ's once-for-all sacrifice and the establishment of the better covenant.
A revival of the types after Christ's heavenly ministration closes before His coming is impossible, since a typical atonement cannot follow a real atonement already made and remission already granted. The past offerings pointed forward to Christ, who fulfilled all sacrifices by dying on the cross. Its law for coming before the LORD in the solemn feasts belongs to a system in which Levites serve as priests, but that priesthood ended when Christ was crucified and ascended, the law of the priesthood was changed, and Christ became a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. His priesthood is unchangeable and does not pass from one to another, He is the great High Priest, and His priesthood is contemporary with the everlasting gospel which is His gospel. When His priesthood ends there is no more probation, so to restore Ezekiel's system would be another gospel, and though an angel from heaven preach any other gospel, let him be accursed.
The feasts and related ordinances, with the Jubilees, belonged to the former order offered to Israel in the past when those observances were still in force in the Mosaic dispensation, and they were later nailed to the cross. The vision does not belong to the future glorified age, for there Christ is Prince and Shepherd over Israel, while here the prince is a poor frail mortal who offers a sin offering for himself. Here marriages, divorces, widows and death continue, which will be unknown in the age to come. Had the conditions of being ashamed of iniquities and putting them away 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.
The verse does not prove the city is the same as the New Jerusalem of Revelation, for similarity does not prove identity and points of dissimilarity forbid identity. Nor does it signify restoration of the sacrificial system of Leviticus or restoration of the Jewish people, as claimed for a future age under the first covenant despite Christ's once-for-all sacrifice and the better covenant.