Ezekiel 46:1

 Ezekiel 46:1 says, Thus saith the Lord God; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.  God said the gate to the east would be closed for six days a week but that it would be opened on the sabbath and on the new moon.  Jesus Christ is now the gateway into heaven, and there is never a day when that way is not open.  We do not have to wait until Sunday or the day of the new moon to accept His gift of entry into God’s kingdom.  

Verse two adds, And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.  God then said that the prince would come to the gate by way of the porch, and he was to worship at the threshold.  The priests would prepare the sacrifices that he brought.  He did not go into the sanctuary as the glory of God had in Moses’s day, since he was not a priest.  We enter into God’s kingdom by faith in Jesus Christ, but even though we then become a part of the priesthood of believers, we cannot enter by our own merit.  

Verse three continues, Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the Lord in the sabbaths and in the new moons.  God said that the people were to also worship before the gate on the sabbath and the new moon.  Though we have certain days set aside to worship God together, we should worship Him every day.  We will always be outside our heavenly home until Jesus returns and then we will fully enter in.  

Verse four states, And the burnt offering that the prince shall offer unto the Lord in the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish.   God then specified what the sacrifice that the prince would offer on the sabbath day would be.  It was to be six lambs and a ram, all without blemish.  Jesus Christ is the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins, and He was and always will be without blemish spiritually.  When we present ourselves as a living sacrifice to Him, we will never be without blemishes spiritually when we come to Him.  

Verse five adds, And the meat offering shall be an ephah for a ram, and the meat offering for the lambs as he shall be able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah.  God then specified what the meat offering would consist of, but we no longer have different sacrifices to offer to God for different purposes.  Jesus Christ is the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins.

Ezekiel 45:21

Ezekiel 45:21 says, 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.  Also in the first month, on the fourteenth day, they were to have the Passover meal as a reminder of what God did for them when He delivered them from slavery in Egypt.  This was after the altar had been purified.  We as followers of Christ should offer ourselves daily as a living sacrifice to God and need to confess any sin we may have committed that day.  They were to eat unleavened bread during the Passover meal, which would also remind them of their being delivered out of Egypt.  

Verse twenty-two adds, And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering.  On the day of the Passover, the prince was to offer a bull for a sin sacrifice for himself and all the people.  The morality of the prince mattered to God, and I believe the morality of leaders still matters today.  

Verse twenty-three continues, And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the Lord, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering.  God said that during the week of the Passover celebration that the prince was to daily sacrifice a bull for a burnt offering as well as a lamb, both without blemish.  He was also to offer a kid goat daily for a sin sacrifice.  We no longer are required to offer blood sacrifices for our sin, but the blood of Christ is the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins, and we simply have to accept His sacrifice by faith. 

Verse twenty-four states, And he shall prepare a meat offering of an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and an hin of oil for an ephah.  The prince was also to prepare a meat offering of a bull, a ram, and oil.   

Verse twenty-five adds, In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat offering, and according to the oil.  This was to be repeated in the seventh month.   We no longer have to offer periodic blood sacrifices to God but only have to put our faith in Jesus Christ Who offered the only acceptable sacrifice when He shed His blood for us.

Ezekiel 45:18

Ezekiel 45:18 says, Thus saith the Lord God; In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary:  God said that in the first month of the year the people were of offer a young bull without blemish to be used as a sacrifice to cleanse the temple.  This was required to be done every year, but when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we are forever cleansed from the penalty of our sins.  Still, we need to daily continue to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God so we can carry out His work in the world. 

Verse nineteen adds, And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court.  God said that the priest was to take the blood of this bull and put it on the posts of the temple, on the four corners, on the four corners of the altar, and on the gates of the inner court.  This was to be done to cleanse the temple, and today, the only way that we can be made spiritually clean is by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.    

Verse twenty continues, And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple: so shall ye reconcile the house.   God said this was to be repeated on the seventh day of the first month.to atone for those who erred and those who were simple, or not mentally capable of understanding God’s word.  As already stated, once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we are forever made spiritually clean, but if we do sin again, we need to come to Him once more in repentance and ask for His forgiveness.  I believe that those who are mentally incapable of understanding God’s word will be covered by Christ’s sacrifice. This does not mean those who simply act as though they can’t, but those who actually do not have the mental capacity to understand from birth.         

Ezekiel 45:13

 Ezekiel 46:13 says, This is the oblation that ye shall offer; the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of wheat, and ye shall give the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of barley:  God then specified what the people were to offer to Him as a sacrifice, starting with the wheat and barley.  They had given God a portion of the land, and now they were to give Him a portion of their goods, since He had blessed them with it to start with.  Matthew Henry said part of this would be used to help the needy, and I believe that it would also be used by the priests to prepare food for themselves.  We as Christians should recognize that everything already belongs to God, and when He blesses us with material things, we should want to return a portion to Him so that His work can be done.  We should also want to help those in need when God blesses us with an abundance.   

Verse fourteen continues, Concerning the ordinance of oil, the bath of oil, ye shall offer the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is an homer of ten baths; for ten baths are an homer:  After the grain, God specified the amount of oil that was to be given as an oblation to Him.  

Verse fifteen continues, And one lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the fat pastures of Israel; for a meat offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make reconciliation for them, saith the Lord God.  God then specified that they were to give one lamb out of two hundred for meat, burnt, and peace offerings to make reconciliation between the people of Israel and God.  He said this was to be done out of the fat of the land, or of the best of the lambs.  As followers of Christ, He is our sacrifice for sin, but we are to give Him the best that we have so His work can continue today. 

Verse sixteen states, All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel.  All the people were to give this oblation to the prince in Israel.  We as Christians are to give all that we have to the Prince of Israel, and then out of what He blesses us with, we are to give a portion to the church so that His work can continue.  This is to be done not because God needs anything, but it is to be done to show our thanksgiving and obedience to Him.  

Verse seventeen adds, 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, in 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.  It says that the prince was to prepare and offer these offerings to God, but I believe that he likely presented them to the priests so that they might do so.  I do know that all we can do is offer ourselves as living sacrifices to Jesus Christ, and He is the only One Who can offer an acceptable sacrifice for us.