Today I finished the Book of Ezekiel!
The Prince and the Feasts
The Lord said that the inner court that faced the east would be shut on the six working days, and only opened on the Sabbath and the day of the new moon. The prince would enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside, and would take his stand by the post of the gate.
The priests would offer their burnt offerings, and would worship at the threshold of the gate. Then they would go out, but the gate would not be shut until evening.
The people of Israel would bow down at the entrance of the gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and the new moons. The burnt offering that the prince offered to the Lord on those days would be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish.
The grain offering with the ram would be an ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs would be as much as he was able, together with a hin of oil to each ephah.
On the day of the new moon he would offer a bull from the herd without blemish, and six lambs and a ram, which would be without blemish. As a grain offering he would provide an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram. With the lambs would be as much as he was able, together with a hin of oil to each ephah.
When the prince entered he would enter by the vestibule of the gate, and he would go out by the same way.
When the people of the land came before the Lord at the appointed feasts, those that entered by the north gate to worship would go out the south gate, and those who entered by the south gate would go out through the north gate. “No one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but each shall go out straight ahead.” -Ezekiel 46:9
I liked this part in thinking that we should always be moving forward and not looking back. We can’t dwell or live in the past, and need to always be moving straight ahead.
When they entered, the prince would enter with them, and when they went out, he would go out.
At the feasts, when the prince provided a free-will offering to the Lord, either a burnt offering or peace offerings, the gate facing east would be opened for him. And he would offer those as he did on the Sabbath days. Then he would go out, and after he had gone the gate would be shut.
Daily, they were to provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to the Lord. Morning by morning they would provide it. With it they would provide a grain offering to the Lord, one sixth of an ephah, and one third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour. This was a perpetual statute.
The Lord said that if the prince made a gift to any of his sons as an inheritance, it would belong to his sons. But if he made a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it would be his to the year of liberty. Then it would revert back to the prince; for surely it was his inheritance, so it would belong to his sons.
The prince could not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their property. He would give his sons their inheritance out of his own, so that none of the Lord’s people would be scattered from his property.
Boiling Place for Offerings
Then they saw the place where the priests would boil the guilt offering and the sin offering. This was where they would bake the grain offering, in order not to bring them out into the outer court and to transmit holiness to the people.
They went around the four corners of the court, and in each corner of the court there was another court. In the four corners were small courts, forty cubits long and thirty broad; and all four were the same size.
On the inside, around each of the four courts was a row of masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the rows all around. Those were the kitchens where those who ministered at the temple would boil the sacrifices of the people.
Water Flowing from the Temple
Then they saw at the back door of the temple, that water was flowing from below the threshold toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple. Then they went out and saw the water trickling.
Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and led Ezekiel through the water, and it was ankle-deep. They did this again and again until it had become a river and they could no longer pass through and it was deep enough to swim in.
Then they went back to the bank of the river and saw that many trees were on both sides of it. That water flowed toward the eastern region and went down into Arabah, and entered the sea. When the water flowed down and entered the sea, it would become fresh.
Wherever the river went, every living creature that swarmed it would live, and there would be many fish. Everything would live where the water went.
Fisherman would stand beside the sea and spread nets to catch many kinds of fish like that of the Great Sea. But the swamps and marshes would not become fresh and would remain with salt.
On the banks of both sides of the river, would grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves would not wither, nor their fruit fail, but would bear fruit every month, because the water for them flowed from the sanctuary. Their fruit would be for food, and their leaves for healing.
Division of the Land
This next section went on to explain the division of the land for the twelve tribes of Israel and their inheritance. Joseph would have two portions, and it would all be divided equally as the Lord had sworn to give their fathers.
The boundaries of the land were discussed with all the locations and borders in all directions.
So the land would be divided among them according to the tribes of Israel, and they would allot an inheritance for themselves and for sojourners who resided among them. They would be to them as native-born children of Israel. In whatever tribe the sojourner resided there they would be assigned their inheritance.
The Gates of the City
Lastly, they described the exits of the city. The gates were named after the tribes of Israel having three in each direction. The circumference of the city would be 18,000 cubits, and the name of the city from that time on would be, “The Lord Is There.”