the prince

The new temple (part 10)

The new temple described by Ezekiel in chapters 40-48 of his book was clearly meant to be established on earth, but there were some aspects of the temple that appeared to be linked to eternal life. For instance, the prince who was identified as a leader of the congregation was recognized as the LORD’s servant, David and Ezekiel said, “And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever (Ezekiel 37:25).

It has been suggested that the reference to “my servant David” (Ezekiel 34:23 and note) was not an indication that king David himself would be the prince, but that it would be a ruler like David, probably someone from his line of descendants. It seems unlikely that after the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ there would be a reinstatement of David’s birth line. It can only be assumed that the prince Ezekiel was referring to would actually be the resurrected king David or merely a human form of Jesus. What is certain about the prince is that he will have “sons” (Ezekiel 46:16) that receive an inheritance from him.

John’s gospel opens with a detailed description of how Jesus, the son of God, became human. John said, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). John also prescribed a method whereby all humans could become sons of God. He said of Jesus, “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:10-13).

The process the apostle John referred to in John 1:13 was later referred to by Jesus as being born again (John 3:7). Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). It seems reasonable to assume that the prince associated with the new temple will be a human form of Jesus because after all, Jesus was a man that walked on the earth and his flesh was not destroyed when he was crucified. There is no other explanation in the Bible as to what happened to the human part of Jesus or why he became a man in the first place, other than, so that he could reign as a man over the kingdom of God on earth during the millennium.

The new temple (part 7)

The gates of the new temple described by Ezekiel in Chapters 40 – 48 of his book were designed to limit access to the area where God dwelt. Ezekiel recorded, “And the glory of the LORD came into the house by way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east” (Ezekiel 43:4). After the glory of the LORD entered the temple, Ezekiel recorded, “Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut” (Ezekiel 44:1-2).

After announcing that the east gate would be shut, the LORD told Ezekiel that a prince would enter the temple and eat bread with him, and added, ” he shall enter by way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same” (Ezekiel 44:3). The prince that would enter and eat bread with the LORD was most likely king David or one of his descendants. The prince was first mentioned in Ezekiel 21:25-27 where it says, “And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn and it shall be no more until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.”

God’s plan to replace the evil kings of Israel with one that would obey him, specifically, king David was identified in Ezekiel 34:23-24 where it says, “And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.” According to this passage, The new temple Ezekiel was shown was one that would not only exist in the future, but one that would include both living and resurrected members of God’s kingdom. It says in Ezekiel 37: 25, “they shall dwell in the land…even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.

The title “prince” was a reference to a human that would rule over God’s kingdom. Although it seems obvious that the mention of David’s name was meant to be taken literally, it is possible the use of the title prince was actually a reference to the Messiah, a man who was expected to establish God’s kingdom on earth. Jesus was expected to do that before he was crucified. Shortly before his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus told a parable about a certain nobleman that went into a far country to receive a kingdom for himself (Luke 19:12). It says in Luke 19:11 that Jesus told the parable because his disciples “thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.”

A clue to the true identity of the prince may be found in Ezekiel 44:5. Ezekiel was told to “mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary.” The Hebrew phrase “mark well” means to put it in your heart (7760/3820). In other words, Ezekiel was to pay close attention to or remember which of the gates the prince went into and came out of. The Hebrew word translated entering in, mabo means sunset or the west (3996) and going forth or matso means the rising of the sun or the east (4161). Since there was no gate on the west side of the temple and the east gate was permanently shut, if Ezekiel saw someone entering in from the west and going out through the east gate, that person would have to be able to walk through walls as Jesus did after his resurrection (John 20:26).