The sons of Zadok kept the charge, they were faithful when the children of Israel went astray, and the Lord is now announcing the reward for their faithfulness. The earthly priesthood as it was once is re-established and vested in the sons of Zadok. These are to come near unto Jehovah and offer in His presence. How they are to come in, the garments they shall wear, is made known to the prophet. They are not to shave their heads, "neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court." They are forbidden to take for wives a widow or one that has been put away. Maidens of Israel or a priest's widow they could marry. All this will be literally fulfilled and done when this new and true worship is instituted in the coming age. It has nothing whatever to do with our age. No such special class of an earthly priesthood exists during this age of grace. All believers constitute a holy and a royal priesthood; the priests of ritualistic Christendom are an invention. But when the Lord has restored Israel to their land and this great place of worship stands, priestly ministrations will be resumed. Neither will this be a denial of Him who is priest forever after the order of Melchizedec. While the spurious, man-made priesthood of this Christian age denies the Lord and His finished work, the future priesthood ministering in the millennial temple will glorify Him.
These priests will also be teachers and exercise judicial authority (verses 23-24). The law of defilement will be enforced, though there will be less possibility of such defilement, for death during the millennium will not be the rule as it is now, but a rare and exceptional occurrence. Finally we read of the inheritance of the priests who minister before the Lord. "I am their inheritance, and ye shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession." While many of these appointments in priestly ministry during the millennium are obscure to us who enjoy the heavenly things, we may rest assured that the Lord in His own time "in that day" will bring about the accomplishment of all He has spoken.
Chapter xlv.
I. The Holy Portion of the Land for the Sanctuary, the Priests, the Levites, the City and the Prince.
Moreover when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye shall offer an oblation unto the Lord, an holy portion of the land: the length shall be the length of five and twenty thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand. This shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about. Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length, with five hundred in breadth, square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs thereof. And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand; and in it shall be the sanctuary and the most holy place. The holy portion of the land shall be for the priests the ministers of the sanctuary, which shall come near to minister unto the Lord: and it shall be a place for their houses, and an holy place for the sanctuary. And the five and twenty thousand of length, and the ten thousand of breadth, shall also the Levites, the ministers of the house, have for themselves, for a possession for twenty chambers.
And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, over against the oblation of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.
And a portion shall be for the prince on the one side and on the other side of the oblation of the holy portion, and of the possession of the city, before the oblation of the holy portion, and before the possession of the city, from the west side westward, and from the east side eastward: and the length shall be over against one of the portions, from the west border unto the east border. In the land shall be his possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; and the rest of the land shall they give to the house of Israel according to their tribes (verses 1-8).
The land possessed will be divided by lot for the inheritance of the people. The special territorial division for the different tribes is recorded in the last two chapters. They are to bring an oblation of the land which the Lord so graciously restored unto them. The word "oblation" is literally an "heave-offering," because when anything was offered to Jehovah the offerer raised the hand. The dimensions of the holy portion of the land are, in length 25,000, and in breadth 10,000. But what? The Hebrew has no definite measure. The authorized version supplies the word "reeds," which seems to be correct in view of the statement in chapter xlii:16.[52] This is a very large territory, a square of some sixty miles on each side. The topography of Palestine will be entirely changed in the coming age, as we pointed out before. The land is to be greatly enlarged, while the temple-mountain will be highly exalted. These changes will make all possible which we read in these closing chapters. We must take these chapters in faith, knowing that the omnipotent Lord will accomplish all in his own time. In the center of this large area, the holy portion of the Lord, will be the sanctuary; the measurement is given in verse 2. Around this the priests have their portion; there they will have their houses. The estate of the Levites comes next; the measurement is given, and that they shall have for possession twenty chambers. The Septuagint has "cities to dwell in," habitations where they will reside. This is undoubtedly the correct meaning. Then the measurement of the city is given, which is for the whole house of Israel. Finally the portion of the Prince is recorded. "And the Prince shall have his portion on the one side and on the other side of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city over against the holy oblation, and over against the possession of the city, from the west side westward, and from the east side eastward; and in length answering to one of the portions of the tribes from the west border unto the east border." From this we learn that the estate of the Prince consists of two halves, the one on the west and the other on the east of the holy portion. He stands as the head and ruler in closest connection with the sanctuary. It is all a new order and will be brought about when the Lord has come back, and when Israel is restored to the land. They never possessed such a holy portion in the land, nor such a sanctuary. A spiritual application as to the Church is impossible to make; the literal interpretation is the only possible one which can be made.
III. Exhortation Addressed to the Princes.
Thus saith the Lord God; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord God. Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath. The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer. And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs: twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh[53] (verses 9-12).
The princes who used to oppress the people, shall no longer oppress (verse 8). They are to execute judgment and justice. Every measure is to be just. The time has come when righteousness reigns. "He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor" (Ps. lxxii:4). No longer will the poor be down-trodden.
IV. The Oblation for the Prince and His Offerings.