The identity of the prince
The prophecy introduces us here to one of the key
figures in the temple visions—the prince—and it is fair to say that the
identity of the prince has been a source of considerable debate amongst Bible
students. Before seeking to identity the prince, it will be helpful to draw
together the information that Ezekiel gives us regarding the prince and the
roles that he will perform in the Kingdom:
1) He will eat bread before Yahweh in the east gate of
the outer court (44:3). He goes in via the porch of the gate and leaves
the same way.
2) He will receive a portion of the land for an
inheritance (45:7, 8; 48:21).
3) He will provide burnt offerings, meat offerings and
drink offerings in the feasts, new moons and sabbaths. He will thereby “make
reconciliation for the house of Israel” (45:17).
4) He will receive oblations for all the people of the
land, and he will have to prepare offerings for the Passover and the feast of
tabernacles (45:22-25).
5) He will have to prepare a bullock for a sin
offering for himself (4522).
6) On the sabbaths and the new moons he will go
through the east gate of the inner court to worship, with burnt offering
and peace offering (46:2).
7) He will go in and out of the temple courts with the
people (46:9, 10).
8) He will have sons and servants to whom he will be
able to give gifts (46:16, 17). (Mark Allfree, The Restoration of the
Kingdom: An Exposition of Ezekiel 40-48 [Nottinghamshire: Bible Study Publications,
2018], 116)
