Browse Bible Study Resources

Daily Devotions

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 
Day 
Day 447

"This gate shall be shut"

Text: Ezekiel 44:2

THE EASTERN GATE

In this chapter, the Lord Himself gave instructions to Ezekiel. The guiding angel had done his part to explain about the 3rd Temple. The Lord spoke to Ezekiel personally.

“Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary
which faces toward the east,
but it was shut.
And the Lord said to me,
‘This gate shall be shut;
it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it,
because the Lord God of Israel has entered by it;
therefore it shall be shut.
As for the prince, because he is the prince,
he may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord;
he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gateway,
and go out the same way.”
Ezekiel 44:1-3

1. The outer gate of the sanctuary.

a) This gate faced the East.

b) Ezekiel found that the gate was shut.

2. The command of the Lord.

a) The Lord explains that this gate is to be shut.

b) No one would be allowed to enter by it.

c) The Lord Himself had entered by this gate.

d) It shall remain shut for the Lord’s exclusive use.

e) This gate became sanctified and sacred because the Lord used it.

3. The identity of “the prince”.

a) We are not told who this prince exactly is.

b) It is unwise to speculate about his identity.

c) But this prince is accorded special privileges.

i) He is allowed to sit and eat bread before the Lord.

ii) He may go in and out of the vestibule of the Temple.

iii) This special privilege was accorded to “the prince” by God Himself.