Ezekiel 45:1-25

A description of the land to be set aside for the construction of the temple and the residence of the priests and Levites as well as the details of the offerings to be made are given in this passage.  The Lord has a plan in place for how He wants this new temple to be.  He will make every provision for this facility and His desires will be accomplished.  God has always acted in this manner with His people.  He has given instructions and then made every provision for the people to be able to follow those instructions.  Unfortunately, the people rebelled against God’s will and did not obey His Word.  Both the political and spiritual leaders exploited their position and their power for their own good instead of for God’s glory.  Things will be different in this new order.  The leaders will serve the people instead of exploit them and the people will worship the Lord in holiness instead of worshiping idols and practicing immorality.

THE DIVISION OF LAND: The area of land to be set aside for the purpose of building the temple and providing for the priests and Levites was to be 25,000 cubits by 25,000 cubits.  One portion of that land was to be set aside for the building of the temple and the sanctuary for worship.  Another portion was set aside for the priests to be able to live and have their needs met.  Another portion was for the Levites to have their homes.  The areas surrounding this sacred portion of the land were to be set aside for the possession of the prince.  God has every intention of restoring His people to the land He had promised to them.  It had to be a great encouragement for the people in captivity to know that one day there would once again be land under their control where they could make these divisions.


THE PROVISION OF OFFERINGS: The people in this new order will bring regular offerings of grain and animals for the purpose of sacrifice as well as to make provision for the priests and Levites.  It appears that the land will produce abundantly and that the people will give generously to support this new system instead of being selfish and hoarding their prosperity for themselves.  There will be special days set aside for special offerings and celebrations.  The offerings and festivals described here are similar in many ways to those described in the Mosaic Law but they are not the same.  There will still be sin amongst the people but it appears that the people will recognize this sin, repent of it and willingly give offerings and make sacrifices out of the joy of their forgiveness.  Sacred celebrations will be observed but on different days and at different times than the original calendar that was made by Moses.  There will be a true change of heart for the people as they worship the Lord.

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