Makes
reconciliation for the house of Israel
Ezekiel
45:17 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, and 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 offering (Ezekiel 46:13). 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 |
|
Feast of tabernacles (45:25) |
49 bullocks |
|
Every sabbath day (46:4) |
6 lambs |
|
Every new moon (46:6) |
1 bullock |
|
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, in a daily basis, in the performance of the ritual in
the temple. But the record is very clear that the prince gives (Ezekiel
45:17) and prepares (Ezekiel 45:17, 22, 23, 24; 46:2, 7, 12, 13, 14,15)
the offerings, but he does not offer them upon the altar. This sacred
duty is reserved from the sons of Zadok, as Ezekiel 44 makes clear: “But the
priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary
when the children if Israel went 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”
(Ezekiel 44:15, 16). Nowhere in the inspired record is the prince said to approach
unto the altar. Although the offerings he provides “makes reconciliation for
the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 45:17), 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” (Ezekiel 45:21, 22). 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”
(Leviticus 16:6).
Whilst
in the days of his flesh Jesus was “made sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians
5:21), on account of his partaking of our death-stricken nature (see Hebrews
2:14; Romans 8:3), and the therefore in need of personal redemption (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”),
and salvation (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”) the fact remains that
he has now been “highly exalted” (Philippians 2:9), and “raised . . . from the
dead, now no more to return to corruption” (Acts 13:34). When he comes gain he
will “appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:28).
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 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” (Hebrews
7:24-27). (Mark Allfree, The Restoration of the Kingdom: An Exposition of Ezekiel
40-48 [Nottinghamshire: Bible Study Publications, 2018], 121-23)
Further Reading:
Listing of Articles on Christadelphian Issues
