12. The prince ( 44:1-3; 45:7-25; 46:2-18; 48:21)

The east gate of the outer court When Ezekiel saw the glory of the God of entering the sanctuary, it entered “by way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east”1. It is for this reason that Ezekiel was told in 44:1,2 that the east gate of the outer court would be kept closed: “Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut”. This will serve to illustrate the fact that in the Age to come the glory of God will never again depart from the sanctuary - in stark contrast to , where the saw a vision of the glory of God departing from the temple, prior to its destruction at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. Note that Ezekiel’s guide - the man with the measuring reed - is given the name of Yahweh: “Then said Yahweh unto me…”. We have previously seen that this man represents God in manifestation through Christ and the saints. He explains to the prophet that in the Age to come the people visiting the sanctuary will not be able to gain admittance into the temple precincts through the east gate of the outer court. Indeed, this point was emphasized to Ezekiel: “No man shall enter in by it”. But this gate will have another, very different function, as the man with the measuring reed continued to explain to the prophet: “It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the

1 :4 115 porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same”2. If Yahweh is to be manifested in the Age to come through Christ and the saints, we conclude that the prince will have fellowship with Christ and the saints within this very gate. Once the glory of Yahweh has passed through the entrance of the gate, and the doors have been closed, the east gate will be for the exclusive use of the prince.

The identity of the prince The prophecy introduces us here to one of the key figures in the temple visions - the prince - and it is fair to say that the identity of the prince has been a source of considerable debate amongst students. Before seeking to identify the prince, it will be helpful to draw together the information that Ezekiel gives us regarding the prince and the roles that he will peform in the Kingdom: 1) He will eat bread before Yahweh in the east gate of the outer court (44:3). He goes in via the porch of the gate and leaves the same way. 2) He will receive a portion of the land for an inheritance (45:7,8; 48:21). 3) He will provide burnt offerings, meat offerings and drink offerings in the feasts, new moons and . He will thereby “make reconciliation for the house of Israel” (45:17). 4) He will receive oblations for all the people of the land, and he will have to prepare offerings for the passover and the feast of tabernacles (45:22-25). 5) He will have to prepare a bullock for a sin offering for himself (45:22). 6) On the sabbaths and the new moons he will go through the east gate of the inner court to worship, with burnt offering and peace offering (46:2). 7) He will go in and out of the temple courts with the people (46:9,10). 8) He will have sons and servants, to whom he will be able to give gifts (46:16,17). This is not the first time that Ezekiel has spoken about a prince in the Age to come. contains a prophecy regarding the time of Israel’s restoration as the Kingdom of God: “And my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant

2 :3 116 David shall be their prince for ever”3. Ezekiel speaks of this prince as “my servant David”, using the Hebrew word asn - ‘nasi’ - which means “captain, chief, ruler, governor”. He also calls him “a king over them”, and in this particular context this can refer to none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, concerning whom the angel Gabriel said to Mary: “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end”4. contains a similar prophecy concerning the future work of the Lord Jesus Christ: “And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it”5. On this basis, some have concluded that the prince in the latter chapters of Ezekiel is a reference to Jesus Christ, the Son of David6. There are also a number of other scriptures, outside of the prophecy of Ezekiel, that speak of Jesus as a prince: • “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times”7. • “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace”8.

3 Ezekiel 37:24,25

4 Luke 1:32,33

5 Ezekiel 34:23,24

6 “Jesus, The Messiah, is THE PRINCE. He is the Davidic King, our beloved shepherd mentioned in Ezekiel 37:24,25, who is to reign over Israel for ever… Jesus, the “Prince of Life”, is invested by the Father with supreme authority. The title Prince, therefore, is indicative of absolute supremacy, as pointedly expressed by the Apostle Peter, thus: “Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour” (Acts 5:31)”. The Temple of Ezekiel’s Prophecy, H Sulley, page 88

7 Daniel 9:25

8 Isaiah 9:6 117 • “But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses”9. • “Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins”10. • “John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood”11. That Jesus is rightly descibed as a prince is thus without question, and the evidence for Jesus being the prince of Ezekiel’s prophecy would seem, on face value at least, to be significant. But there are a number of difficulties with the identification of the prince with Christ, which will be discussed in detail below.

“Prince” in the Firstly, it should be observed that when Daniel speaks of “Messiah the Prince” the word in Hebrew is dgn - ‘nagid’12 - not ‘nasi’. Also, when Isaiah speaks of Jesus as “the Prince of Peace”, the Hebrew word used is rs - ‘sar’13. The meaning of the Hebrew words may be similar, but the fact remains that the Spirit has chosen to use different words in the text. When we turn to the prophecy of Ezekiel, we find that ‘nasi’ is used 34 times, to refer to either a king, or other high officials within the kingdom. King Zedekiah is described as “thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end”14, but other noble officials in Judah, subordinate to the king, are also described as “the princes of Israel”15 on

9 Acts 3:14,15

10 Acts 5:31

11 Revelation 1:4,5

12 Heb. dgn - ‘nagid’ - Ruler, prince, captain, leader, governor. See 1 Samuel 9:16; 2 Samuel 7:8; 1 Kings 14:7; 1 Chronicles 12:27; Jeremiah 20:1

13 Heb. rs - ‘sar’ - Prince, ruler, leader, chief, captain, governor. Numbers 21:18; Exodus 18:21; 1 Samuel 8:12; 1 Kings 9:23; 2 Kings 23:8

14 :25

15 :1; 21:12; 22:6 118 three occasions. It is not sufficient, therefore, to conclude that Ezekiel’s reference to “the prince” in the temple visions must of necessity refer to the Lord Jesus in his capacity as King. It could equally refer to another important dignitary in the Kingdom.

Eats bread before Yahweh Ezekiel 44:2,3 indicates that the prince will eat bread before Yahweh in the east gate of the outer court: “Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same”. This reference has been used to draw the conclusion that the prince cannot be a mortal man, because whilst the record says that “no man shall enter in by it”, it also says that the east gate is for the exclusive use of the prince16. But this reasoning fails to take note of the very precise information regarding the prince’s entry into and exit from the east gate. The prince enters and leaves the gate complex via the porch of the gate. A glance at the diagram overleaf will show that the porch of the gate opens onto the outer court, not onto the outside of the temple precincts. This verse is telling us that the prince enters this gate from the outer court, not from outside. When he leaves, he passes back into the outer court, and leaves the sanctuary via one of the other gates. So even the prince is not permitted to enter the sanctuary via the east gate of the outer court. Moreover, we are told that he sits in the gate “to eat bread before Yahweh”. We have seen that in the temple visions Yahweh will be manifested in Christ and the saints. The prince can hardly therefore refer to Christ. Furthermore, the fact that the glory of Yahweh enters the sanctuary via the east gate, but that the prince is not permitted to go through this gate, suggests that the prince is himself subordinate to Yahweh, and therefore not Christ. Why do we suppose that the prince sits to eat bread in this particular gate? Ezekiel 46:1,2 tells us that on the day and on the new moons the prince is required to worship at the threshold of the east gate of the inner court: “Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in

16 ““No man shall enter in by it, because the LORD the God of Israel hath entered in by it. It is for the Prince. He shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD” (Ezek 44:3). The reason that excludes the people does not exclude the Prince. It would exclude the Prince also if he were a mere man; but as the Son of the Father, it is otherwise”. The Prince-Priest of the Age to Come, A series of articles published in The Christadelphian, 1891-1892, R Roberts 119 The east gate of the outer court

the day of the new moon it shall be opened. And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening”. Part of his worship will thus involve the presentation of peace offerings, an integral part of which includes the sharing of a fellowship meal. It is reasonable to conclude that this fellowship meal will be enjoyed by the prince in the gate that is directly opposite the east gate of the inner court, namely the east gate of the outer court. The priests themselves, who present his offerings on the altar, have their own designated chambers in which to eat of the holy things, namely the north and south chambers adjoining the inner court: “Then said he unto me, The north chambers and the south chambers, which are before the separate place, they be holy chambers, where the priests that approach unto the LORD shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy”17. Since the prince is not a priest, he will not be permitted to use these chambers to partake of the peace offering.

17 :13 120 Makes reconciliation for the house of Israel :17 indicates that the prince provides sacrifices including burnt offerings, meat offerings and drink offerings, in the feasts, the new moons and the sabbaths: “And it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel”. In addition, he prepares a daily burnt offering18. The number of sacrifices provided by the prince is considerable, as the chart below illustrates.

Offerings provided by the prince Occasion Offerings provided

Feast of the passover (45:22,23) 50 bullocks 49 rams 7 kids of the goats

Feast of tabernacles (45:25) 49 bullocks 49 rams 7 kids of the goats Every sabbath day (46:4) 6 lambs 1 ram

Every new moon (46:6) 1 bullock 6 lambs 1 ram Every day (46:13) 1 lamb

What this indicates is that the prince will be very busy in the sanctuary. He will be intimately involved, on a daily basis, in the performance of the ritual in the temple. But the record is very clear that the prince gives19 and prepares20 the offerings, but he does not offer them upon the altar. This sacred duty is reserved for the sons of Zadok, as Ezekiel 44 makes clear: “But the priests the , the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went

18 Ezekiel 46:13

19 Ezekiel 45:17

20 Ezekiel 45:17,22,23,24; 46:2,7,12,13,14,15 121 astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD: they shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge”21. Nowhere in the inspired record is the prince said to approach unto the altar. Although the offerings he provides “make reconciliation for the house of Israel”22, the prince is never called a priest, and he does not appear to perform the duties of a priest.

Offers a sin offering for himself and for the people One particular offering that the prince prepares on the day of the passover is a sin offering for himself and for the people: “In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering”23. Together with the people, the prince is in need of a sin offering. Clearly he is acting on behalf of the people, and in this regard a parallel can be drawn with the sin offering that Aaron had to offer on the day of atonement: “And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house”24. Whilst in the days of his flesh Jesus was “made sin for us, who knew no sin”25, on account of his partaking of our death-stricken nature26, and therefore in need of personal redemption27 and salvation28, the fact remains that he has now been

21 Ezekiel 44:15,16

22 Ezekiel 45:17

23 Ezekiel 45:21,22

24 Leviticus 16:6

25 2 Corinthians 5:21

26 See Hebrews 2:14; Romans 8:3

27 See Hebrews 9:12 RV: “Nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption”

28 See Hebrews 13:20,21: “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” 122 “highly exalted”29, and “raised… from the dead, now no more to return to corruption”30. When he comes again he will “appear the second time without sin unto salvation”31. It does not therefore seem appropriate that the immortal, perfected Christ should be required to offer sin offerings for himself. Hebrews 7 very clearly states that the exalted Christ does not need to offer any further offerings for himself: “But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself ”32.

Worships on the sabbaths and the new moons From Ezekiel 46:1-3 we learn that the east gate of the inner court also has a special function in connection with the prince: “Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened. And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons”33. For most of the time, the east gate of the inner court will be kept closed, because the glory of Yahweh will have passed through the gate on its way to the temple. But on the sabbaths and the new moons the gate is opened so that the prince can present his burnt offerings and peace offerings. The record is very precise regarding the relative positions of the prince and the people with respect to this gate. The people are not permitted any further than “the door of this gate” which opens onto the outer court, but the prince goes through the gate and worships at “the threshold of the gate”. The diagram on

29 Philippians 2:9

30 Acts 13:34

31 Hebrews 9:28

32 Hebrews 7:24-27

33 Ezekiel 46:1-3 123 page 174 illustrates the relative positions that the prince and the people will occupy in the gate. This arrangement will highlight to the people the principles of separation and sanctification. But at the same time, on the sabbaths and the new moons the people will be taught that it is possible to draw near to God through dedication to Him, and the forgiveness of sins, achieved by the shedding of the blood of Christ, because after the prince has finished worshipping at the threshold the gate will remain open all day. Whilst the people are not permitted beyond the door of the gate, they will be able to look through the gate into the inner court, and witness the sacrifices of the prince being consumed upon the altar. At the same time, it must be noted that the record very clearly indicates that whilst the prince is able to advance through the gate further than the people, he never enters the inner court. He does not progress any further than the threshold of the gate. We are told exactly where he stands to worship: “And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate”34. Furthermore, whilst 46:4 speaks about “the burnt offering that the prince shall offer unto the LORD in the sabbath day”, it is clear that he does not personally approach the altar to offer the sacrifice. This duty is performed by the priests, according to 46:2: “And the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate”. Whilst the prince worships at the threshold of the gate, the priests offer his offerings upon the altar. This is a critical point to observe - that throughout Ezekiel’s visions of the temple of the Age to come, there is no evidence that the prince advances any further into the sanctuary than the threshold of the east gate of the inner court. He is never seen in the inner court itself, or indeed in the house. This is not consistent with the suggestion that the prince is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Furthermore, the record goes out of its way to emphasize to us that the prince comes and goes into the temple precincts with the people as if to convey the impression that the prince is one with them: “And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of that gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof. 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. And the prince in the

34 Ezekiel 46:2 124 midst of them, when they go in, shall go in; and when they go forth, shall go forth”35.

The inheritance of the prince The prince will receive a portion of the land of Israel for a possession. According to 45:7,8 and 48:21 he will be given a strip of land either side of the “holy oblation”, which is where the sanctuary itself will be built: • “And a portion shall be for the prince on the one side and on the other side of the oblation of the holy portion, and of the possession of the city, before the oblation of the holy portion, and before the possession of the city, from the west side westward, and from the east side eastward: and the length shall be over against one of the portions, from the west border unto the east border. In the land shall be his possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; and the rest of the land shall they give to the house of Israel according to their tribes”36. • “And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city, over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince: and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof ”37. Reference to the map on page 221 indicates that this will represent quite a small portion of the land of Israel in the Age to come. In contrast to this, the Lord Jesus Christ is to receive the whole of the promised land for a possession, for God said to , “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever”38. Ezekiel 46:16,17 says that the prince may give of his inheritance to his servants, and to his sons. If he gives land to his servants, then they must give it back in the year of liberty, but his sons may keep the inheritance for ever: “Thus saith the Lord GOD; If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof

35 Ezekiel 46:8-10

36 Ezekiel 45:7,8

37 :21

38 Genesis 13:14,15 125 shall be his sons’; it shall be their possession by inheritance. But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty; after it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall be his sons’ for them”. The law is based upon Leviticus 25:10: “And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family”. It is difficult to understand this injunction in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ, who has no sons. It is clearly intended to be understood literally, and its function will be to preserve the inheritance of families in the Kingdom of Israel in the Age to come.

There will be more than one prince From what Ezekiel is told regarding the inheritance of the prince, there is an indication that there will in fact be more than one prince in the Age to come. God says, “In the land shall be his possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; and the rest of the land shall they give to the house of Israel according to their tribes. Thus saith the Lord GOD; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord GOD”39. The arrangement in the Kingdom may be similar to the Mosaic arrangement, where there were twelve princes over each of the twelve tribes: “And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai… saying, Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls; from twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies. And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers… These are those that were numbered, which Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes40 of Israel, being twelve men: each one was for the house of his fathers”41. Alternatively, there may be one singular prince, with subordinate princes under him. God commands the princes that they must not be guilty of injustice, violence and spoil, unlike the princes in the days of Ezekiel: “Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood… Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to

39 Ezekiel 45:8,9

40 Heb. asn - ‘nasi’

41 Numbers 1:1-4,44 126 get dishonest gain”42. Such immoral behaviour will not be tolerated in the future Age. The dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ will be based on justice and righteousness: “He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor”43. There are other scriptures that indicate that in the Kingdom there will be mortal rulers who will be expected to be subject to the righteous rulership of Christ: • “Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth44. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him”45. • “Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him”46.

Who will the prince be? For the reasons advanced above, we believe that the prince in the Age to come will be a mortal ruler in Israel, who will be expected to rule with righteous judgment. He must not rule with oppression. He will receive a portion of the land for an inheritance, and he will have sons and servants, to whom he will be able to give portions of his inheritance. He will have specific duties to perform in the sanctuary, including the offering of sacrifices in the feast days, the new moons and the sabbaths. He will have to offer a sin offering for himself and for the people on the day of the passover. Indeed, much of his time will be spent in the sanctuary. Whilst we do not believe the prince is Christ, we suggest that he will, in fact, stand as a representative of Christ to the mortal population in the Kingdom. His involvement in the sacrifices will help people bring to mind the work of the Lord Jesus Christ that was accomplished in the days of his flesh, when he offered himself “once for all”47. The sacrifices that the prince presents will “make

42 :6,27

43 Psalm 72:2-4

44 Heb. Ura - ‘erets’

45 Palm 2:10-12

46 Psalm 72:11

47 Hebrews 10:10 127 reconciliation for the house of Israel”48, and this will memorialise the work that Jesus accomplished in making “reconciliation for the sins of the people”49. At the same time, the prince is portrayed as representative of the people. He enters and exits the sanctuary with them50, he offers a sin offering for himself and for the people of the land51, and on the sabbaths and the new moons both he and the people assemble together to worship52. In this way, he will represent the Lord Jesus Christ who in the days of his flesh was “made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people”53. Ezekiel 45:17 indicates that “it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moon, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel”. In addition, Ezekiel 46:12 indicates that the prince may prepare a voluntary burnt offering or peace offering, and on such an occasion the east gate of the inner court will be opened for him, just as it will on the sabbath days. A daily burnt offering must also be offered every morning, but significantly when this offering is described, the man with the measuring reed says to Ezekiel, “Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering unto the LORD of a lamb of the first year without blemish: thou shalt prepare it every morning. And thou shalt prepare a meat offering for it every morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of an hin of oil, to temper with the fine flour; a meat offering continually by a perpetual ordinance unto the LORD”54. The record is inviting us to make an association between the prince and Ezekiel, the son of man, who stands in the temple visions as representative of the Lord Jesus Christ in the days of his flesh. Furthermore, concerning this continual burnt offering, offered every morning, Ezekiel is told, “Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meat offering, and the oil, every morning for a continual burnt offering”55. In this way we are being told that the prince stands on the one hand as representative of Christ, and on the other hand as representative of the people.

48 Ezekiel 45:17

49 Hebrews 2:17

50 Ezekiel 46:8-10

51 Ezekiel 45:22

52 Ezekiel 46:2,3

53 Hebrews 2:17

54 Ezekiel 46:13,14

55 Ezekiel 46:15 128 This approach to an understanding of the prince and his work helps to explain why some of the language used of the prince appears reminiscent of the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet other features of the work of the prince indicate that he has to be a mortal ruler.

The priesthood of Christ It must be emphasized that notwithstanding the work that the prince will do in the sanctuary, none of the future work of the prince will negate the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is our High Priest now, and nowhere is the prince called a priest. Jesus is described as a “high priest…touched with the feeling of our infirmities”56. He is “a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec”57. The teaching of the epistle to the Hebrews is that the priesthood of Christ is altogether separate from, and superior to, the Mosaic priesthood. He has a “more excellent ministry”, and is “the mediator of a better covenant”58. He is “a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man”59. His priesthood “continueth ever”, in contrast to the Mosaic priests, who “were not suffered to continue by reason of death”60. The priesthood of Christ is not Levitical, since “it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood”61. This being so, we would not expect the Lord Jesus Christ to be involved in the offering of sacrifices in the temple, since the system of worship that will be introduced in the Age to come will be a Levitical system, very much based upon the Mosaic Law, albeit with certain amendments. There is only one sacrifice under the Melchizedek priesthood, and that is the sacrifice of Christ, which was offered “once for all”62.

56 Hebrews 4:15

57 Hebrews 5:6

58 Hebrews 8:6

59 Hebrews 8:2

60 Hebrews 7:23,24

61 Hebrews 7:14

62 Hebrews 10:10 129