Ezekiel 46
COMMENTARY:
: 2 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 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. (5387 “prince” [nasiy] means captain, chief, ruler, governor, one lifted up, a male member of a royal family other than the sovereign, or leader)
DEVOTION: The people of Israel were to come to the Temple on Saturday or the Sabbath to worship the LORD. This was to be a weekly event for them. They were to come and then go home in the evening. They were to bring sacrifices with them for the LORD. Also other places in the Bible inform us that they came to these weekly events singing as they came.
The Prince, seems to be the leader of the people that bring them to a time of worship of the LORD during the Millennial kingdom. We might not understand who he is or the purpose of the worship during this time period but it is something that the Word of God teaches regarding the future. All believers will be worshiping the LORD JESUS CHRIST during this time period.
Today we are commanded to go to church each Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. HE died on the cross and three days later HE was resurrected from the dead.
When we enter a church that preaches the Bible, we should come prepared to worship the LORD through our singing, fellowship and our giving. Our singing should be presenting a joyful noise before the LORD if our singing voice is not good like mine. There are those who have good singing voices that make the worship service so much better. If those who can sing just watch as others sing it is not a good worship service to the LORD. I have witnessed many individuals who do not sing in worship services. This takes away from the congregation and themselves in their worship of the LORD. God wants us to sing praises no matter what our ability is in this regard.
The singing helps the pastor present the message from the LORD. If it is no so good it gives him a rough start to his message. But if is good singing it will lift his heart to know that people came prepared to worship.
Also there is a time of giving in each service. The children of Israel brought animal sacrifices for the priests to prepare before the LORD. We bring our tithes and offerings to the LORD each time we are paid to show our thanks to the LORD for his provision of salvation and for the ability to work.
There is a fellowship aspect to our worship. Before the service and after the service we should be encouraging one another through a hand shake and conversation. We need to ask each other how we can pray for them during the week. Also if there are those who are discouraged we can try to encourage them before they reenter the world.
If we come to worship the LORD in these three ways we can return home with joy in our heart from our singing HIS praises, hearing the preaching of the Word of God and encouraging the brethren. We can thank the LORD for our instruction and with the knowledge that we have given a sacrificial gift to the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Participation is necessary for true worship to the LORD. Sitting in a pew and doing nothing is not worship.
: 3 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. (7812 “worship” [shachah] means bow down, obeisance, reverence, prostrate oneself, act of respect or honor, or allegiance to a deity.)
DEVOTION: Ezekiel continued to receive instructions regarding what the children of Israel were to do in the future. They had not been good in their service to the LORD throughout their history but now it was expected to change.
It seems that someone who loved the LORD wouldn’t have any trouble bowing down before HIM in a time when they should be honoring the LORD for all the gifts HE has given them.
One of the problems is that people like to look at other people and compare their worship to them. This can cause people to not be involved in the time in church when everyone gathers to learn from the Word of God.
The children of Israel came on Saturday to reverence HIM. They were to do no work on that day. They were not to travel very far to give HIM honor on Saturday. They were not to cook on Saturday. The only activity of the day was to spend time with the LORD.
Today we do a lot of things on Sunday. We watch sports. We go shopping. Our children are busy will all kinds of sports activities. It is not a day of rest as it was designated in the Old Testament.
We don’t come together today on Saturday but on Sunday to remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is all different. We are too busy. Sometimes even church can be too busy and there is not time to quietly spend a time of silence before the LORD. Too often everyone is in conversation before the serve, sometimes during the service and definitely after the service. Quiet times with God on Sunday can be rare but they can happen.
CHALLENGE: Before church this Sunday bow your head and quiet your heart before you listen to the message from the Word of God. You can even read a passage of Scripture while you are waiting for the service to begin.
: 12 Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering or peace offerings voluntarily unto the LORD, one shall then open him the gate that looks toward the east, and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he did on the sabbath day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate. (5071 “voluntary” [nadabah] means free motivation, a voluntary offering made to the God of Israel, whether of sacrifices or produce or other objects, free-will, free inclination, or free-will offering.)
DEVOTION: The prince was to set an example in front of the people as to what was expected of them if they were to genuinely worship the LORD.
Leaders have to set the example to be followed if those who are watching them are to see what needs to be done. If the leaders of the people of Israel were not worshiping the LORD, then the people would follow their example of not honoring the LORD with their lives and sacrifices.
This doesn’t mean that if the prince didn’t worship the LORD properly that they had an excuse to not worship the LORD. It was just good for them to see a good example to follow from those in leadership.
We are all held accountable to the LORD for our own actions, just like each member of the children of Israel has to stand before the LORD for their actions. Leaders are held in a higher regard because they are supposed to give a good example to those who are under their leadership.
Leaders have to answer for their actions because they can lead the people away from the LORD instead of closer to the LORD. Every leader has to confess their sin and ask the LORD for forgiveness and then lead by example again before the people.
Many times, the LORD judged the leaders in front of the people to show that they were held to higher standard.
CHALLENGE: If we want to be leaders, we have to confess our sins and ask the LORD to give us the strength to continue to worship HIM in spirit and in truth in front of others to help them see what is necessary in true worship.
: 13 You shall daily prepare a burnt offering unto the LORD of a lamb of the first year without blemish: thou shalt prepare it every morning. (3117 “daily” [yowm] means time, period, 24 hours, or year.)
DEVOTION: During this time period there was to be an, every morning sacrifice given by the people and the prince. These morning sacrifices, are described in detail in this chapter. They were always to be given to the LORD. They were always to be without blemish. Every detail is important to the LORD to explain to Ezekiel how worship was to be conducted.
The prince was the only one to enter by the east gate and exit by the same. The people were to come in one gate and leave in the opposite direction. The priests were to prepare the sacrifices according to the instructions given. The LORD is a God of detail. Nothing is left to guess work. Too often when the children of Israel played with the guidelines the LORD gave it always got them in trouble.
Every detail of our worship is important to the LORD. HE gives us special instructions regarding our sacrifices that we are to offer to HIM on a daily basis.
We are to offer sacrifices of our bodies, praise, and thanksgiving to mention a few. We are to present our bodies as living sacrifices daily. We are to daily take up our cross and follow the LORD. We are to keep short accounts with the LORD. The Old Testament informs us that the LORD’S mercies are new every morning.
Are we every morning offering the LORD our bodies as living sacrifices? Are we every morning offering praise to the LORD? Are we every morning offering thanksgiving to the LORD?
Only we can answer these questions. Each day is a new day with the LORD. Each day we receive new mercies from the LORD. Are we giving mercy to those around us each day? Do we expect the LORD to give us mercy when we don’t give it to others? Remember our responsibility is to forgive and encourage those around us daily!!!
CHALLENGE: Daily talks with someone regarding your personal walk with the LORD for one week and see what it does to your times alone with the LORD.
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