Ezekiel 48:9, commentary and pictures

The holy portion set apart for the Lord was to measure twenty-five thousand by ten thousand as part of the division of the land around the sanctuary. It was a conditional promise to captive Israel that would have been carried out in full literal detail with a glorious temple, city and restored land if the people had repented and obeyed with all their hearts. Because Israel clung to Babylon and only a small remnant returned, that glory was forfeited and the sanctuary was never erected, leaving only the far inferior temple of Zerubbabel, and it will never be built literally in this dispensation or in Christ's thousand-year reign. Its offerings can never mean a future renewal of animal sacrifices, for those shadows pointed to Jesus Christ and to offer them now would deny His once-for-all sacrifice. In its spiritual aspect it points beyond a temporary inheritance to what God will do through Christ in the new heavens and new earth, the New Jerusalem, and the permanent inheritance of the redeemed.

Text and Historical Setting

The holy offering to be set apart for the Lord measures twenty-five thousand in length and ten thousand in breadth, as part of the ordered arrangement of the land for the sanctuary in Ezekiel 40-48. It belongs to the promised restoration of land, city and temple offered to the exiles in Babylon, which would have been literally given to Israel if they had met God's conditions. That promised glory was not inherited because the people disregarded the stated conditions and did not turn from their iniquities.

The verse stands within the vision of a new sanctuary with its offerings, a restored Jerusalem and city with a glorious temple at its center, and the division of the land among the tribes. Its meaning is Jehovah dwelling among His people, whose presence would heal all barren land, salt marshes and impure waters and give life to all. That grand and magnificent temple at Jerusalem would ultimately be a house of prayer for all nations. The prescribed oblation belongs to the plan for the land's division and the new temple in a restoration that would have followed if Israel had obeyed God and met the conditions for the Messiah's kingdom on earth in its then-present condition.

The pattern was offered to captive Israel in B.C. 574, fourteen years after Jerusalem, the temple and the sanctuary were destroyed in the eleventh year of Zedekiah in B.C. 588, to be possessed on condition of compliance. It was given when Israel had been in Babylonian captivity twenty-five years, showing the city and its holy oblation as they would have been built on earth if all Israel had responded. The measurements belong to God's plan to make Jerusalem a wonder in the earth with the Lord as a wall of fire round about and the glory in her midst.

No separate explanation of the meaning of the oblation's dimensions is given, and its specified dimensions are not explained beyond their place in the vision of the new sanctuary, its offerings, and the division of the land. The closing chapters seem to predict the building of a greater temple, with God regathering His scattered people, restoring them to the mountains of Israel, dwelling among them in great glory and providing a new and greater sanctuary, but they do not explain how the work would be carried out.

Conditional Prophecy and Fulfillment

The whole plan of Ezekiel 40-48 was a conditional prophecy offered to captive Israel, belonging to the past dispensation and not to the present dispensation nor to the future dispensation of the immortal state. It was shown to Israel in Babylonian captivity in B.C. 574, fourteen years after Jerusalem, the temple and the sanctuary were destroyed in the eleventh year of Zedekiah in B.C. 588, to be possessed on condition of compliance, repentance, faith, obedience and wholehearted return, with blessing repeatedly based on being ashamed of sins and putting them away. Had Israel met those conditions, the measured oblation of 25,000 in length and 10,000 in breadth set apart as an offering to the Lord, with its land arrangement for the sanctuary, its city, its temple and its attendant sacrifices, would have been literally given and fulfilled in fullest literal detail as what the Lord would do for the Messiah's kingdom on earth in its then-present condition.

Because the people did not turn from iniquities, be ashamed of their sins and put them away, or yield fully to God, the promised glory was forfeited and the sanctuary with all its blessed fullness was never erected. The ten tribes slighted the offer of Cyrus and the promised blessings of God, loving Babylon more than Jerusalem, and only Judah and Benjamin with a portion of Levi and a few others went up, only about forty thousand returning, so the house of Israel rejected the gracious offer. What was built instead was only a partial, feeble, shadow fulfillment in the far less grand, inferior temple built by Zerubbabel, Ezra and others, which fell far short of Ezekiel's pattern and never knew the glory of Solomon's temple. If all God's people had returned with all their hearts, forsaken their sins, been cleansed and obeyed, they would have built that marvelous sanctuary and the presence of God would have dwelt among them in overpowering glory, healing barren land, salt marshes and impure waters and giving life.

That described sanctuary will never be built literally, for it was never built after the Christian dispensation began and never will be built. It does not belong to a future sanctuary, to the future reign of Christ and His saints, or to a literal city to be built on this earth during Christ's thousand-year reign. Its vision of city and sanctuary, including its prescribed offering with animal sacrifices, was conditional on Israel's repentance and was forfeited, so its details do not establish a restored Levitical system and Jewish people.

In its spiritual aspect and broad promises the prophecy faintly points to greater things God will do for His people through Christ. What was proposed for earthly Jerusalem if Israel had returned wholeheartedly will be accomplished in the new heavens and new earth, the new earth and the New Jerusalem, the glory of Christ's second coming, and the full immortal inheritance and more glorious inheritance of the earth made new for true Israel and the faithful. The land division, with its temporary inheritance apportioned among the tribes, points beyond itself to God's purpose for the future world where the land will be apportioned to the redeemed families and their inheritance will be permanent rather than temporary, fulfilled in a different way as later revelations describe under changed times and surroundings.

Because Israel failed to do its part, though the city with its holy oblation was shown as it would have been built on earth to make Jerusalem a wonder with the Lord as a wall of fire round about and the glory in her midst if all Israel had responded to the three calls to leave Babylon, the city was never built and Jerusalem was destroyed, not because God's mind changed but because Israel loved Babylon more than the Jerusalem they professed to love. Because Israel failed, God had to prepare the holy city in heaven instead, and that prepared city will descend upon the earth. The ancient calls out of Babylon stand as an object-lesson of the last call now sounding for Zion to deliver herself from Babylon before utter destruction falls on those who linger.

Christ and False Applications

The oblation belongs to a vision of a new sanctuary with its offerings and division of the land, whose specified dimensions are given without separate explanation, and its offerings cannot mean a literal renewal of animal sacrifices. The earlier offerings served their time as shadows pointing to Jesus Christ, who suffered and fulfilled the types, and to restore the old sanctuary service and offer animal sacrifices now would deny Christ's once-for-all offering, make of none effect the offering made once for all by Jesus Christ, annul His offering and make void His sacrifice. The very fact that sacrifices were to be offered in it shows it was not a sanctuary God would ordain again, and it is not for a future sanctuary. Because Israel never complied with the conditions of faithfulness, cleansing from sin and shame for its ways, that sanctuary with all its blessed fullness was never built, and the best possessed was only a shadow of it in the inferior temple built by Zerubbabel, Ezra and others.

Its details do not establish that the New Jerusalem is Ezekiel's city or that the Levitical sacrificial system and the Jewish people will be restored. It does not mean a literal city will be built on this earth during Christ's thousand-year reign with offerings and sacrifices carried on again to give an undeveloped class another chance, superseding the heavenly Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven. That application returns to the ordinances of the first covenant, makes the reign of Christ less glorious than the present dispensation, and denies Christ the great sin-offering. The offerings of the first covenant pointed to Him, and His one sacrifice for sins forever perfected them that are sanctified, after which He sat down at the right hand of God expecting till His enemies are made His footstool. To do the sacrificial work again would require a second Messiah at the end of the thousand years, whereas Christ offers His body once for all and when He leaves His Father's throne takes His own throne, David's throne, and comes King of kings and Lord of lords. The sanctuary and land blessings were offered to the house of Israel in captivity on condition that they be ashamed of their iniquities and put them away, with promise that God would establish the building and cause the twelve tribes to return, but the ten tribes slighted the offer of Cyrus and only Judah and Benjamin with a portion of Levi and a few others went up, so the house of Israel rejected the gracious offer and the sanctuary described was never erected. Hence the verse does not belong to the future reign of Christ and His saints, its promises being conditional on Israel's repentance and forfeited.

The pattern was of a glorious temple at the center of a restored Jerusalem meaning Jehovah dwelling among His people to heal barren land, salt marshes and impure waters and give life, but conditional on Israel yielding fully to God. Because Israel would not yield all to God He could not come to dwell among them nor build a temple for His name for a half-hearted people to dishonor, so Jerusalem was never thus restored and that temple was never built and never will be built. The temple built after the return from Babylon fell far short of Ezekiel's pattern and never knew the glory of Solomon's temple except in the person of Jesus Christ, whom its keepers rejected. If Israel had yielded, they would have built that marvelous sanctuary and the presence of God would have dwelt among them in overpowering glory.