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” (Ezekiel 45:8, 9). 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, and
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 princes (Heb. נשׂא—‘nasi’) of
Israel, being twelve men: each one was for the house of his fathers”
(Numbers 1:1-4, 44). 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 day of Ezekiel: “Behold,
the prince 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 the destroy souls, to get dishonest gain” (Ezekiel 22:6, 27). 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 the needy, and shall break
in pieces the oppressor” (Psalm 72:2-4). There are other scriptures that
indicate that in the Kingdom there will be mortal rulers who will be subject to
the righteous rulership of Christ:
·
“Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye
judges of the earth (Heb. ארצ—‘erets’). 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” (Psalm 2:10-12).
·
“Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall
serve him” (Psalm 72:11).
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 or 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 to 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”
(Hebrews 10:10). The sacrifices that the prince presents will “make reconciliation
for the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 45:17), and this will memorialise the
work that Jesus accomplished in making “reconciliation for the sins of
the people” (Hebrews 2:17). At the same time, the prince is portrayed as representative
of the people. He enters and exists the sanctuary with them (Ezekiel
46:8-10), he offers a sin offering for himself and for the people of the land
(Ezekiel 45:22), and on the sabbaths and the new moons both he and the people
assemble together to worship (Ezekiel 46:2, 3). 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” (Hebrews
2:17).
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 be 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” (Ezekiel 46:13, 14). 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” (Ezekiel 46:15).
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.
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. (Mark Allfree, The
Restoration of the Kingdom: An Exposition of Ezekiel 40-48 [Nottinghamshire:
Bible Study Publications, 2018], 126-29)
