But when the people of the land shall come before the Lord 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. And the prince in
the midst of them, when they go in, shall go in; and when they go
forth, shall go forth. And in the feasts and in the solemnities the
meal offering shall be an ephah to a bullock, and an ephah to a ram,
and to the lambs as he is able to give, and an hin of oil to an
ephah. Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering
or peace offerings voluntarily unto the Lord, one shall then open
him the gate that looketh toward the east, and he shall prepare his
burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he did on the sabbath
day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall
shut the gate. 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. And thou shalt prepare a meal 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 meal offering
continually by a perpetual ordinance unto the Lord. Thus shall they
prepare the lamb and the meal offering, and the oil, every morning
for a continual burnt offering. (verses 9-15.)
Everything is divinely ordered. Here are first the special instructions
for the worship of the people of the land. When they come before the
Lord in the solemn feasts some will enter in to worship by the north
gate and leave by the south gate, and others who enter by the south gate
will leave by the way of the north gate. None is permitted to leave by
the gate through which he entered. Perhaps this injunction is given to
avoid confusion among the multitudes who will come to worship in those
coming days, when the Lord will be universally acknowledged (Zech.
xiv:9).
In the midst of these worshipping masses will be the Prince (verse 10).
What a blessed reminder of Him who is the One in the midst! He was in
the midst on Calvary; He is in the midst of His people during this age;
in Revelation He is seen in the midst of the throne (Rev. v:6). The
Prince as the representative of the King of kings is therefore in the
midst of His redeemed earthly Israel. The burnt-offering and the meal
offering, so prominent in this coming worship are constant memorials of
His great devotion when He offered Himself, and of His holy, spotless
humanity in which He suffered and glorified God.
Something else of deep interest is recorded here. The daily
burnt-offerings during the old dispensation consisted of a lamb every
morning and of a lamb every evening. Here no evening lamb for a
burnt-offering is mentioned, but the offerings are to be brought only
during the mornings. The bright morning has come, the day dawn for His
people, so long in the night of suffering and dispersion. The night is
gone forever and therefore the evening, preceding the night, is no
longer mentioned and no provision is made for an evening burnt-offering.
The night is gone and Israel's glorious morning can never be darkened
again by apostasy.