When the prince enters, he shall go in through the portico of the gateway, and he shall go out the same way. Sermons
1. Here are minute and positive prescriptions, requiring exact conformity and allowing no deviation. The burnt offering was to be six lambs and one ram - no more and no less (ver. 4). In the day of the new moon - at that particular time - the offering was to include a young bullock (ver. 6). They who entered in by the north gate were to go out by the south gate, and vice versa (ver. 9). These (and other) instructions were in full and careful detail, and there was to be no departure from them. 2. On the other hand, the prince might, at certain hours and on occasion, bring an offering that was purely "voluntary;" one that was "voluntarily" presented unto the Lord (ver. 12). Room was left for spontaneity, even in the midst of these very specific requirements. In the kingdom of Jesus Christ we have these two orders of service - the obligatory and the optional, the plainly and positively enjoined, and the voluntary; and that Christian life is not complete which is lacking in either. I. THE OBLIGATORY. Of those things pertaining to our Christian life which are indispensable there are: 1. At its entrance: (1) humility (or penitence); and (2) faith, that living faith in Jesus Christ which includes the acceptance of him as the Savior of the soul and the Lord of the life. 2. Throughout its course: (1) worship, or the approach of the human spirit to the Divine in prayer, in thanksgiving, in consecration; (2) obedience, or the conformity of conduct to those precepts which are an essential part of Christian morals; (3) love, including not only the "love of the brethren," or a special attachment to those who are the friends and followers of Jesus Christ, but also a genuine pity for those who are far from him and need to be brought nigh, and a practical determination to seek and to win these erring souls. II. THE OPTIONAL. There is room for the voluntary as well as for the necessary in our Christian life. 1. In the particulars of our worship. We have one main principle binding upon all men everywhere (John 4:23, 24), but it is left to our individual choice - to our own judgment and conscience - at what times, in what forms, within what buildings, with what kind of human ministry, we shall draw nigh to God in true and pure devotion. 2. In the minutiae of obedience. What shall be the rules and the regulations we shall lay down for the observance of the great principles of purity, of temperance, of equity, of veracity, of reverential speech, of courtesy., - these are not to be found in any Christian directory; they are to be decided upon m the sanctuary of every consecrated spirit and of every cultivated conscience. 3. In the measure and methods of loving service. What proportion of our income, what amount of our time, what order of personal effort, we shall devote to the cause of Christ and in the interest of our fellow-men, - this rests with every individual Christian man to decide. These must be, in some sense and degree, "voluntary offerings." - C.
Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering unto the Lord. The old legend that the Grecian host lay weather bound in their port, vainly waiting for a wind to come and carry them to conquest; and that they were obliged to slay a human sacrifice ere the heavens would be propitious and fill their sails, — may be translated into the deepest verity of the Christian life. We may see in it that solemn lesson — no prosperous voyage, and no final conquest until the natural life has been offered up on the altar of hourly self-denial.(A. Maclaren, D. D.) (A. Maclaren, D. D.). People Ephah, EzekielPlaces Most Holy PlaceTopics Covered, Doorway, Enter, Enters, Forth, Gate, Gateway, Porch, Portico, Prince, Ruler, Thereof, VestibuleOutline 1. Ordinances for the prince in his worship9. and for the people 16. An order for the prince's inheritance 19. The courts for boiling and baking Dictionary of Bible Themes Ezekiel 46:5-7Library Chel. The Court of the Women. The Court of the Gentiles compassed the Temple and the courts on every side. The same also did Chel, or the Ante-murale. "That space was ten cubits broad, divided from the Court of the Gentiles by a fence, ten hand-breadths high; in which were thirteen breaches, which the kings of Greece had made: but the Jews had again repaired them, and had appointed thirteen adorations answering to them." Maimonides writes: "Inwards" (from the Court of the Gentiles) "was a fence, that encompassed on every side, … John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Things to be Meditated on as Thou Goest to the Church. Questions About the Nature and Perpetuity of the Seventh-Day Sabbath. Ezekiel Links Ezekiel 46:8 NIVEzekiel 46:8 NLT Ezekiel 46:8 ESV Ezekiel 46:8 NASB Ezekiel 46:8 KJV Ezekiel 46:8 Bible Apps Ezekiel 46:8 Parallel Ezekiel 46:8 Biblia Paralela Ezekiel 46:8 Chinese Bible Ezekiel 46:8 French Bible Ezekiel 46:8 German Bible Ezekiel 46:8 Commentaries Bible Hub |