Eze 45:23 | KingComments | STEP | The LORD then goes on to speak in these verses about three of the seven feasts that He prescribes in Leviticus 23 for His people to keep for Him. He wants these three feasts also to be kept in the realm of peace when His Messiah reigns. The big difference from the feasts He prescribed for His people through Moses is that the feasts are now prescribed for a people with whom He has fellowship on the basis of the new covenant. They will also keep these feasts wholeheartedly. Of the other feasts mentioned in Leviticus 23, nothing is said here. The three feasts mentioned here are the three great feasts on the occasion of which the people are to go to Jerusalem ( ). God gives His precepts for those feasts. The first feast is the Passover ( ). That feast is to be celebrated “seven days”, indicating that the Passover is inseparable from the second feast, the Feast of Unleavened Bread of seven days (cf. ). This feast is the basis of all feasts and of the entire life of God’s people. The Passover symbolizes that the blessing of the realm of peace can only be enjoyed by virtue of the death of the Lamb of God. This must be borne in mind in order to live a life in which sin has no place, which is represented in the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This has emphasis here because it only speaks of the eating of the unleavened bread and not the slaughtering and eating of a paschal lamb. Leaven is everywhere in Scripture a picture of sin ( ; ; ; ; ). We too, believers of the church, owe everything to our Passover, Christ. Through Him we are able – and what is also expected of us – to live an “unleavened” life. We see this in the picture of the seven days of unleavened bread, that is a life in which sin has no place ( ). On the fourteenth day, which is the day of the Passover, the prince must provide a young bull as a sin offering ( ). That sacrifice is for himself and the entire population of the land (cf. ). Here we see clearly that this prince cannot be the Lord Jesus, for He needs no sacrifice for Himself. On each day of the seven days of the feast of Passover, the prince must bring a burnt offering to the LORD ( ). It is a great burnt offering, consisting each day of seven bulls and seven rams, without blemish. That sacrifice refers to the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus dedicated entirely to God. Also, a male goat must be offered every day as a sin offering. The Lord Jesus is also the sin offering, Who both for God and for His people has put away everything that reminds of sin, so that God can be in the midst of His people. Added to this is a grain offering along with a hin of oil which the prince must also see to it that it is brought ( ). This grain offering with the oil is counted per bull. This combination means that the bloody sacrifice and the non-bloody sacrifice are intimately connected. Spiritually, we also see this in the Lord Jesus, Who lived a perfect life through the Holy Spirit – we see this in the grain offering – and therefore could also be the perfect sacrifice on the cross to open the way to God and allow God to dwell with His people (we see this in the other sacrifices). In the seventh month, “the feast”, that is the Feast of Booth, is to be celebrated ( ). That feast also lasts seven days. On those days the prince must do the same things and offer the same sacrifices as in the first month at the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Feast of Booths is the last feast of the feasts of the LORD ( ) and speaks of the rest of the realm of peace. That a sin offering must be brought is because sin is still present, though curbed because satan is bound.

‏ Ezekiel 45:23

The Great Annual Feasts

The LORD then goes on to speak in these verses about three of the seven feasts that He prescribes in Leviticus 23 for His people to keep for Him. He wants these three feasts also to be kept in the realm of peace when His Messiah reigns. The big difference from the feasts He prescribed for His people through Moses is that the feasts are now prescribed for a people with whom He has fellowship on the basis of the new covenant. They will also keep these feasts wholeheartedly. Of the other feasts mentioned in Leviticus 23, nothing is said here. The three feasts mentioned here are the three great feasts on the occasion of which the people are to go to Jerusalem (Deu 16:16).

God gives His precepts for those feasts. The first feast is the Passover (Eze 45:21). That feast is to be celebrated “seven days”, indicating that the Passover is inseparable from the second feast, the Feast of Unleavened Bread of seven days (cf. Lk 22:1). This feast is the basis of all feasts and of the entire life of God’s people.

The Passover symbolizes that the blessing of the realm of peace can only be enjoyed by virtue of the death of the Lamb of God. This must be borne in mind in order to live a life in which sin has no place, which is represented in the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This has emphasis here because it only speaks of the eating of the unleavened bread and not the slaughtering and eating of a paschal lamb. Leaven is everywhere in Scripture a picture of sin (Mt 13:33 ; Mt 16:6 ; 11-12; Mk 8:15; Lk 12:1 ; Lk 13:21; 1Cor 5:7; Gal 5:9).

We too, believers of the church, owe everything to our Passover, Christ. Through Him we are able – and what is also expected of us – to live an “unleavened” life. We see this in the picture of the seven days of unleavened bread, that is a life in which sin has no place (1Cor 5:7-8).

On the fourteenth day, which is the day of the Passover, the prince must provide a young bull as a sin offering (Eze 45:22). That sacrifice is for himself and the entire population of the land (cf. Heb 5:3). Here we see clearly that this prince cannot be the Lord Jesus, for He needs no sacrifice for Himself.

On each day of the seven days of the feast of Passover, the prince must bring a burnt offering to the LORD (Eze 45:23). It is a great burnt offering, consisting each day of seven bulls and seven rams, without blemish. That sacrifice refers to the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus dedicated entirely to God. Also, a male goat must be offered every day as a sin offering. The Lord Jesus is also the sin offering, Who both for God and for His people has put away everything that reminds of sin, so that God can be in the midst of His people.

Added to this is a grain offering along with a hin of oil which the prince must also see to it that it is brought (Eze 45:24). This grain offering with the oil is counted per bull. This combination means that the bloody sacrifice and the non-bloody sacrifice are intimately connected. Spiritually, we also see this in the Lord Jesus, Who lived a perfect life through the Holy Spirit – we see this in the grain offering – and therefore could also be the perfect sacrifice on the cross to open the way to God and allow God to dwell with His people (we see this in the other sacrifices).

In the seventh month, “the feast”, that is the Feast of Booth, is to be celebrated (Eze 45:25). That feast also lasts seven days. On those days the prince must do the same things and offer the same sacrifices as in the first month at the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Feast of Booths is the last feast of the feasts of the LORD (Lev 23:34-43) and speaks of the rest of the realm of peace. That a sin offering must be brought is because sin is still present, though curbed because satan is bound.