Yes, in that Millennial Temple (from it) flows a river!

“Afterward he (the Prophet’s angelic guide) brought me again unto the door of the house (the Temple); and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront (face) of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. And when the man (an angelic surveyor) that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ANKLES. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the KNEES. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the LOINS. Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters TO SWIM IN, a river that could not be passed over.” Ezekiel 47:1-5

Wow!

Let me first remind you that everywhere God lives … there will be a river flowing therefrom!

There was in Eden!

There will be in this Millennial Temple!

And … there will also be a River in New Jerusalem!

Plus … out of the heart of every Believer in Jesus there flows a (spiritual) River! “Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow RIVERS of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive, the Holy Ghost ….” John 7:37-39

Wow!

But this Ezekiel 47 River is unique.

The further it flows (with absolutely no “hint” of a  tributary feeding it, not a shred of evidence) … the deeper it becomes!

Ankles, knees, waists, then “waters to swim in!”

What is the implication here?

The River is flowing toward the desert!

Toward the Dead Sea!

Where the land is arid, the crops nonexistent, the wildlife struggling!

So … as the River gets further and further into that desolate environment … the more abundant becomes the supply of its life-giving power!

Wow!

And so is it with Jesus our Lord!

The longer I serve Him … the sweeter He grows!

Every day with Jesus IS sweeter than the day before!

And the longer I study my Bible … the deeper and deeper its truths become, truly over my head! Waters to (delightfully) swim in … from here to eternity!

And the more wicked this world becomes … the greater God’s ability to save! At least the deeper Holy Spirit conviction can become!

None ever worry about exhausting the Supply of Almighty God!

(Astronomers tell us the universe is expanding daily! More and more rapidly! Well, so is the River of Life Ezekiel has so gracefully depicted this morning.)

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

How “deep” are you today, my friend?

Knee deep?

Or in “over your head?”

By the way, the verb used in verse 2 of this River (where the waters first “ran out”), at its very source, is “pakah” in Hebrew. It means “to trickle!” But by the time we are waist deep (and more) the waters are “issuing” forth! Flowing abundantly!

Often with God … “trickles” become “floods!”

Hallelujah!

 

Today … one more Lesson from Ezekiel 46, this being the fourth in a row! (I would have never thought so, not even a week ago, when I first read this chapter in preparation for this Series of Articles.)

Remembering that the “prince” (mentioned 8 times in Ezekiel 46, more than in any other chapter in the whole Book) is some sort of good, governmental leader … verses 16 and 17 give us an interesting “rule” concerning “family status,” not only in ancient Israel, but the future earth, during the Millennium.

“Thus saith the Lord GOD; If the prince give a gift unto any of his SONS, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons’; it shall be their possession by inheritance. But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his SERVANTS, then it shall be his to the year of liberty; after (that) it shall return to the prince. But his inheritance shall be his sons’ for them.” Ezekiel 46:16-17

Here’s the “gist” of this law. (Remember how Ezekiel is FULL of legislation, much like the Book of Exodus, or even the whole Pentateuch. And that in well over a dozen ways Ezekiel seems to be much like Moses!)

If the prince gives something to one of his servants … the “gift” is “temporary!” A servant can never possess anything more than forty-nine years and eleven months or so. (Because the year of liberty occurred every fifty years, also called the year of jubilee in Scripture. And when that year arrived … all “gifted” things returned to their original owner!)

So favors (gifts) for slaves are to be relatively short lived, certainly not permanent! They ultimately revert to the prince’s ownership … because in time … those sons inherit it all!

Yes … to a son, it’s different! “If the prince give a gift unto any of his SONS, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons’. Perpetually!

Wow!

That’s why I entitled today’s little lesson … “The Privileges of Sonship!”

Now to apply this spiritually.

I once was a slave … to sin.

I now am set free (via redemption) by the Blood of Jesus Christ!

And I have been “adopted” into His Family, the Family of God!

That makes me a “son” of God, through my relationship with Jesus.

I have/enjoy things (“gifts” innumerable) now (having been made an heir of God, a joint-heir with Jesus Christ) forevermore!

First John 3:1 captures this truth well, expressing it like this: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the SONS of God.”

Wow!

Ladies (who are saved) … you are “in” too!

“Sons” and “Daughters” of God, His little “Children!”

First John 3:2 may even be better: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

Eternity!

What “gifts” He bestows … forever!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Ezekiel 46 is replete with information/instructions about the many “sacrifices” that will be offered (to the Lord) during the Millennium. (These are not redemptive in nature, but serve as a “memorial” of the Lamb of God, Jesus the Son of God, His Death on the Cross. Sort of like “The Lord’s Supper” does today.)

In noticing these sacrifices, offerings, I spotted a truth. An exciting one! Let me share it with you this Wednesday morning.

The word “morning” occurs in Ezekiel chapter 46 three times. Consecutively in verses 13 and 14 and 15. In fact, the word occurs in this chapter of Ezekiel more than anywhere else in his whole Book, in all 48 chapters!

Here are all three:

“Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering unto the LORD of a lamb of the first year without blemish: thou shalt prepare it every MORNING.” Verse 13, the daily morning sacrifice, no doubt. Really, Israel was supposed to have been practicing this ritual since the days of Moses!

“And thou shalt prepare a meat offering for it every MORNING, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of an hin of oil, to temper with the fine flour; a meat offering continually by a perpetual ordinance unto the LORD.” Verse 14, the meal offering, every MORNING!

Then verse 15: “Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meat offering, and the oil, every MORNING for a continual burnt offering.” Repetitious perhaps, but summarizing the whole scheme.

“EVERY MORNING,” we can’t miss that, can we?

But now notice this. Not a single “hint” at an evening sacrifice!

An evening sacrifice that was equally binding under the Law of Moses!

(As in Exodus 29:39-41 … “The one lamb thou shalt offer in the MORNING; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at EVEN: and with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering. And the other lamb thou shalt offer at EVEN (EVENING), and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.” Word for word, King James Version. If the morning offering was given … so would the evening offering follow near sunset!

Amazing!

So, clearly … in the Millennium, the morning offering continues.

Yet in the same Millennium, the evening sacrifice does not continue! It’s not mentioned anywhere in the Book, that I can find anyway. And I have looked diligently.

WHY?

Here’s the reason.

Although a limited form (or at least a different form … than Moses’ Law … at least in some ways) of sacrifice is instituted for the 1,000 year Millennium … NO EVENING SACRIFCES WILL BE HELD … because that’s precisely when Jesus paid for our sin debt on Calvary!

Yes, Jesus died on Calvary at the very hour the “evening sacrifice” would have been prepared and offered! “And about the NINTH HOUR Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46 … around 3:00 pm, the very time of the “evening sacrifice!”

Mark 15:34 agrees. “And at the NINTH HOUR Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

Wow!

Let’s read Mark 15:34-38. To get the whole context. “And at the ninth hour (time of evening sacrifice) Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost (exhaled His last Breath). And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.”

Jesus died (exactly) at the time of the evening sacrifice, folks!

And the (unbelieving) Jewish priests on duty (at the Temple) the day our Lord died … would have been near that Veil (some of the priests, anyway) when it “was rent (torn) in twain!”

What a testimony to Jesus’ Deity, Power, Efficacious Sacrifice … they would have witnessed!

So I believe there will be not evening sacrifices during the Millennium because the Real Evening Sacrifice has already been offered, Jesus Christ my Saviour!

Anyone alive then, during the Millennium … instead of going to an altar (no matter how special) … can just walk over to the Throne Room and look at the (still scarred) Saviour. Who became our Evening Sacrifice on Calvary!

Hallelujah!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

On earth, during the Millennium, multitudes will live!

Think of society experiencing a thousand years of peace! Not a single war, not until the end of that long period anyway. And that one will be “quick!”

Jesus will be there.

So will we, the saved people of all the ages!

And Israel, that little Nation who trusted Christ at the end of the Tribulation, when about to be decimated by the armies of the world, at Armageddon!

And as well, many citizens of far-flung nations … the few who “befriended” Israel to some degree! During her long, dark Ordeal! (Study the “Judgment of the Nations” in Matthew 25.)

On top of that, the humans (still in their natural bodies) living on earth during that era will continue functioning as normal, having children and raising families! (Plus it looks like life expectancy reverts to that of the days of Adam, people not dying until hundreds of years old!)

A veritable population “explosion!”

Back to my opening sentence today … during the Millennium, multitudes will be alive!

And they will ALL come to Jerusalem periodically and worship the King, adore the Lord Jesus!

So much so that Ezekiel 46:9 gives (in advance) instructions of how to enter and leave the Temple of God … during the Millennial Reign of Christ Jesus.

“But when the people of the land (earth) shall COME BEFORE THE LORD (to worship) in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it.”

Wow!

Crowd control, I think!

Here’s Zechariah 14:6, a “proof” Text indeed! “And it shall come to pass (in the Millennium), that every one that is left of all the nations which came against JERUSALEM shall even go up from year to year TO WORSHIP THE KING, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.”

Wow, again!

And Isaiah 27:13 may be helpful here. “And it shall come to pass IN THAT DAY (THE MILLENNIUM), that the great trumpet shall be blown, and THEY SHALL COME which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD in the HOLY MOUNT (TEMPLE) at Jerusalem.”

Wonderful!

How thorough will be this “Revival?” Isaiah hints: “They (the multitudes) shall not hurt nor destroy (no crime) in all my holy mountain (Jerusalem and Temple): for THE EARTH SHALL BE FULL OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11:9

And folks, that’s no doubt why the Holy Spirit had Ezekiel gIve “instructions” on how to enter and exit this great Millennial Temple in that grand coming Age!

Truly … every knee will bow and every tongue confess!

In Isaiah 45:23 God Himself says so! “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me EVERY KNEE shall bow, EVERY TONGUE shall swear.”

Paul thought so too, quoting Isaiah! “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee SHALL BOW to me, and every tongue SHALL CONFESS to God.” Romans 14:11

This too … “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that EVERY TONGUE SHOULD CONFESS that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11

Praise be to God!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

This last thought … maybe you’d better look at those empty church pews Sunday! (If you have none, your Church is unusually blessed.) Some day thousands upon thousands (if not millions) will be crowding around to see Jesus, to adore and worship Him! No empty spaces!

 

More than any other chapter in the Book, Ezekiel 46 talks about the person called “the prince.” In fact, 8 times I see his name (title) there.

I earlier wrote that he may be a “type” of God’s Read Prince, the Lord Jesus Christ! I still think that may be so, symbolically speaking.

But He is NOT literally the Son of God!

(However in Isaiah 9:6 the “Prince” is Jesus, the Messiah. That’s for sure! “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, THE PRINCE OF PEACE.” Amen!)

How do I know Ezekiel’s “prince” is not Jesus?

Several reasons, one being he has “sons,” literal offspring. Read with me verses 16 and 17 of our chapter, Ezekiel 46. “Thus saith the Lord GOD; If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons’; it shall be their possession by inheritance. But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty; after it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall be his sons’ for them.” These are literal sons, physical offspring! (We are the sons of God, but spiritually, not literally.)

Another reason being that God seems to order him around a lot! Telling him many things to do, how to worship … all through the chapter. This seems to me to be a way God the Father does not treat God the Son, the Trinity is perfectly harmonious and co-equal. Read with me now verses 4-7. “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. 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. And in the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram: they shall be without blemish. And he shall prepare a meat offering, an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs according as his hand shall attain unto, and an hin of oil to an ephah.” Wow!

And a third (and most compelling) reason is that the “prince” offers a sin offering both for himself and for the people! Ezekiel 45:22 tells: “And upon that day shall the prince prepare FOR HIMSELF and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering.” Case closed!

Then, who is this “prince?”

I suspect a good (godly) administrator!

One (in a limited sense) leading the Jews during the Millennium, giving the people law and order.

At least that’s the best answer I can give to the question.

And as I write I am realizing that (even though Jesus the Messiah will be the King of all earth during this 1,000 year period) Ezekiel does not emphasize HIS PRESENCE, HIS IDENTITY as clearly as does, for example, John in the Book of Revelation! Revelation 20:6 being an example. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Surprising!

More about this prince tomorrow, Lord willing.

When we shall still be in this same chapter.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Because … I have seen a couple of other Bible “principles” from this part of Ezekiel (chapter 46) that I’d like to share with you.