| Back to Home Page | Back to
Book Index |
Ezekiel Chapter
Forty-five
Ezekiel 45
Chapter Summary
In the period here foretold
the worship and the
ministers of God will be provided for; the princes will rule with justice
as
holding their power under Christ; the people will live in peace
ease
and
godliness. These things seem to be represented in language taken from the
customs of the times in which the prophet wrote. Christ is our Passover that is
sacrificed for us: we celebrate the memorial of that sacrifice
and feast upon
it
triumphing in our deliverance out of the Egyptian slavery of sin
and our
preservation from the destroying sword of Divine justice
in the Lord's supper
which is our passover feast; as the whole Christian life is
and must be
the
feast of the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Ezekiel》
Ezekiel 45
Verse 2
[2] Of
this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length
with five hundred
in breadth
square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs
thereof.
Of this —
Whole portion of twenty five thousand cubits long
or twelve miles and half
and ten thousand broad
or five miles and a little more.
For the sanctuary —
For a platform for the sanctuary
both house and court.
Verse 3
[3] And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of five and twenty
thousand
and the breadth of ten thousand: and in it shall be the sanctuary and
the most holy place.
And in it — In
the center of this.
Verse 6
[6] And
ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad
and five and
twenty thousand long
over against the oblation of the holy portion: it shall
be for the whole house of Israel.
The possession —
Land to be a possession to the citizens of Jerusalem
and to be the content of
the city.
Broad —
About two miles and half broad
and twelve miles and half long.
Long —
This must run along parallel in length with the holy portion
though but half
its breadth.
For the whole house — As
the capital city
to which the tribe's resort
it must be large enough to
entertain them.
Verse 7
[7] 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.
The prince —
The king.
Our side —
One half of the prince's portion lay on the west side of those three already set
out.
The other side —
The other half lay on the east-side thereof
so the portion of the city
Levites and priests
lay in the middle.
The holy portion — Of
priests
and Levites
and sanctuary.
Before — It
lay parallel as broad as these three were broad
and so run on both sides in
its breadth from north to south
and had its length as the other
from east to
west.
Over against —
What is called now over-against
or by the side
is called before three times
together. So now you have an exact square of twenty-five thousand cubits laid
out for God
the Levites and city
which appears thus in the breadth. 10000 For
the priests. 10000 For the Levites. 5000 For the city. And the length of each
twenty-five thousand
that is twelve miles and half square.
Verse 9
[9] 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.
Let it suffice — Be
content
aim not at more.
Verse 11
[11] The
ephah and the bath shall be of one measure
that the bath may contain the tenth
part of an homer
and the ephah the tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof
shall be after the homer.
Of one measure —
One shall contain as much as the other
the ephah shall contain as many gallons
of dry
as the bath of liquid things.
An homer —
Thirty bushels. So the ephah will be three bushels in dry things
and the bath
eight gallons in liquid things.
Verse 12
[12] And
the shekel shall be twenty gerahs: twenty shekels
five and twenty shekels
fifteen shekels
shall be your maneh.
Twenty gerahs — A
gerah was one penny half-penny
the shekel then was two shillings and
six-pence
twenty shekels was two pounds ten shillings
fifteen shekels was one
pound seventeen shillings and six-pence
and twenty five was three pound two
shillings and six-pence.
Maneh — It
seems there was the small
the middle
and the great Maneh.
Verse 13
[13] This
is the oblation that ye shall offer; the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of
wheat
and ye shall give the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of barley:
Offer — In
the daily service
the morning and evening sacrifice.
Verse 14
[14]
Concerning the ordinance of oil
the bath of oil
ye shall offer the tenth part
of a bath out of the cor
which is an homer of ten baths; for ten baths are an
homer:
Bath —
Which contained about twenty-four gallons.
The cor — Or
homer; these were two names of the same measure.
Verse 16
[16] All
the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel.
With the prince — By
a common purse of prince and people.
Verse 18
[18] Thus
saith the Lord GOD; In the first month
in the first day of the month
thou
shalt take a young bullock without blemish
and cleanse the sanctuary:
Thou shalt take —
Procure
this the prince must do.
Verse 20
[20] And
so thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth
and
for him that is simple: so shall ye reconcile the house.
For every one that erreth — For all the errors of all the house of Israel
through ignorance.
For him that is simple — That is half-witted
or a fool.
Reconcile —
Cleanse
as verse 18
which legally was defiled by those errors
done in the city
or courts of the house
whither these persons might come.
Verse 21
[21] 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.
In the first month —
Nisan
which is part of March
and part of April with us.
Verse 22
[22] And
upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of
the land a bullock for a sin offering.
Upon that day —
Upon the fourteenth day
on which the passover was slain.
Verse 24
[24] And
he shall prepare a meat offering of an ephah for a bullock
and an ephah for a
ram
and an hin of oil for an ephah.
An hin —
This was about one gallon and three quarters of a pint.
Verse 25
[25] In
the seventh month
in the fifteenth day of the month
shall he do the like in
the feast of the seven days
according to the sin offering
according to the
burnt offering
and according to the meat offering
and according to the oil.
In the seventh month — According to their ecclesiastical account
which is Tisri
and answers to
part of our August and September.
In the fifteenth day — On that day the feast of tabernacles began
and continued seven days.
He — The prince.
In the feast of the seven days — Hence we also may learn the necessity of frequently repeating the same
religious exercises. Indeed the sacrifice of atonement was offered once for
all. But the sacrifice of acknowledgement
that of a broken heart
that of a
thankful heart
must be offered every day. And these spiritual sacrifices are
always acceptable to God through Christ Jesus.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Ezekiel》
45 Chapter 45
Verses 1-25
Verse 10
Ye shall have Just balances.
God requires just dealings
That our consciences may be enlightened and set right
we want a
standard
like the standard weights and measures that are kept in the Tower of
London
to which all the people in the little country villages may send up
their yard measures
and their pint pots
and their pound weights
and find out
if they are just and true. (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
And so thou shalt do . . . for everyone that erreth
and for him
that is simple.
Provision for the erring and simple
A very touching provision is here. When the services of the newly
constituted temple were in full operation
and the priests were performing the
usual rites in all the pomp and splendour of their ceremonial on the behalf of
all righteous and godly souls
there was to be special thought of the erring
and simple; for these two characters a special offering was made. Perhaps the
erring were too hardened and the simple too obtuse to bring an offering for
themselves; but they were not forgotten. The blood of the sin-offering was to
be placed on the posts of the house and on the posts of the gate of the inner
court
each seventh day of the month
on their behalf. Whenever we draw around
the altar of God
whether in the home or church
we should remember the erring
and simple. If a family misses from its ranks one erring member
its prayer and
thought are more directed towards that one than to those that have not gone
astray. Does not the child who is deficient in its intellect attract more
loving care than those who are able to care for themselves? Should it be
otherwise in God’s home? (F. B. Meyer
B. A.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》