Thus saith the Lord God; If the prince give a gift unto any of his
sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons'; it shall be their
possession by inheritance. But if he give a gift of his inheritance
to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty;
after it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall be
his sons' for them. Moreover the prince shall not take of the
people's inheritance by oppression, to thrust them out of their
possession; but he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own
possession: that my people be not scattered every man from his
possession (verses 16-18).
Here we read that the Prince has sons, natural descendants, and whatever
gifts he bestows upon them shall be their possession by inheritance.
This is conclusive that the Prince of these last chapters of Ezekiel is
not Christ. The Prince has sons and servants. As the entire final vision
of this book deals with the earthly conditions of the coming age, and
reveals nothing of the heavenly side of things, these sons and servants
cannot mean the church-saints, who are with Christ in the New Jerusalem.
As to a gift to one of the Prince's servants, it is to revert to his
sons when the year of liberty or jubilee is celebrated. The jubilee year
will therefore be observed during the coming age.