Ezekiel 45-48, Psalm 44

Hey, we’ve finished the book of Ezekiel! But don’t worry, the next time you read it, it will be just as confusing and weird as it was this time. I’ve learned that this is how the Bible works. The story is always a little bit stranger than you think it is.

Yesterday I talked about the new Temple and the (I believe deliberate) confusion surrounding it. The Temple was one of the major institutions of Israelite society that was lost in the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the kingdom of Judah. The other was the office of King, occupied by the descendant of David. It was not just a matter of national pride that this role be restored, it is pretty much key to God’s promises to the people of Israel. The descendant of David was also the descendant of Jacob, Abraham, and Eve. All the promises of God were to fall on this guy, but now the kingdom is gone and there are no kings. What is Israel to do with that?

In his vision of a new Temple, Ezekiel is also given a vision of a Prince. This is not exactly a demotion from King in the way we might think of it- we are heavily influenced by medieval feudalism in the way we think about royalty- it is more a role definition. Both Saul and David were called Prince of Israel by God. The Prince is the one who fights the battles of his people. The representative of the king. The active form of the royal house. David was king and prince simultaneously. Sounds weird, but there you go.

So what is this new Prince up to? We don’t get a ton of information, but what we do get indicates he will be very different from the kings that have come before. We already have heard he will be the one Good Shepherd, set over the people back in Ezekiel 34. Now we hear that he will be wholly just, with fair scales in all things. He will not steal property as the kings did before. Perhaps most alarmingly to anyone wishing to occupy the role is 35:17:

It shall be the prince’s duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

Now here is an interesting tidbit. The Prince will provide all the offerings to be made at this new Temple. While kings like Solomon provided enormous amounts of offerings for the prior temple, this is another level. Assuming we are carrying over the requirements from the books of Moses, there were constant sacrifices going on, all day every day, at the Temple. The Prince was to provide for them all. No wonder there wasn’t any hurry to adopt this Temple’s rules by the returned exiles when they did rebuild the first temple. Anyone claiming leadership would have had quite an expense on their hands.

The closing chapters of the book deal with the River of Life, which we have seen before in Genesis 2-3, and which we will see again in the book of Revelation, and the allotment of land. The River of Life bit seems pretty clear- the new Temple will restore Eden. It is the means of the new creation. The allotment of land seems out of place, but in the day and time in which this was written, it was a way of expressing that everyone would have the means to live. Land was the ultimate possession in ancient culture because it was the means by which one could live. Literally land equaled survival. The equal division of the land to the tribes, small or large, is a way of saying that everyone would have enough. In conjunction with the River of Life is means an end to scarcity.

The closing line of the book tells us that Jerusalem will be getting a new name. When all this is accomplished- when the Prince rules and provides all the sacrifices for his people, when scarcity is at an end, when the curse on the ground is undone, when Eden is restored- the name of the city will be “Yahweh is There.” Humans and God will be in the same space again.