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©Michael Player

Chapter 45:7-12 (ESV)

Posted on April 15, 2023  - By Chris LaBelle  

Chapter 45:7-12 (ESV) - And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people, but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.

“Thus says the Lord God: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease your evictions of my people, declares the Lord God.

“You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath. The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer, and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.

Question to consider: What does it mean to have “just balances”?

The first six verses of this chapter deal again with measurements of land. While this may be good for someone to create a visual representation of the vision, I don’t want us to get bogged down with them in our study of the prince of the heavenly kingdom. Ezekiel is told of a land allotment for the prince around the holy district— the area of the kingdom set aside for worship. Do you ever think about Christ owning property in the kingdom? I know I really hadn’t ever considered it, but we know that Jesus rose bodily and ascended into this kingdom so it is perfectly reasonable to assume that He has a home there. Ever since He became incarnate through the virgin Mary, He took on a dual nature: Son of God and Son of man, and this dual nature did not go away after He rose. In fact, Luke made a point of addressing this in his gospel account, “As [the disciples] were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, ‘Peace to you!’ But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.” (Luke 24:36-43)

As Ezekiel is telling of his vision of the kingdom of heaven, he makes it known that the prince will deal justly with the people and no longer oppress them. He uses this to exhort anyone who may become an earthly prince after the exile has ended to do the same.

The example Ezekiel gave was in using honest measurements and scales. Did you know that it is unjust to offer different prices to different groups of people? We live in an economy that scales pricing by the size of the organization buying a product or the volume purchased. Although it may seem logical to offer a lower price to someone who is buying your product in bulk, think about the logical outworking of it. This promotes the success of larger businesses over smaller ones and ultimately makes it impossible for smaller businesses to compete.

We live in a time in which large corporations get tax breaks, discounted lending rates and government contracts. Government also passes regulations that favor larger companies who can handle the extra fees and steps necessary to enact them while small businesses get overwhelmed and become unprofitable. During COVID, large corporations were considered essential businesses and allowed to remain open while small businesses were shut down and driven out, sparking one of the largest transfers of wealth since Joseph was a ruler in Egypt.

In the kingdom of heaven, a worker receives his wage and business is done honestly and fairly, and the prince does not take advantage or oppress His people. We look at work as a bad thing from which we wish to retire, but we were created for work. Think about what work would be like if you did what the Lord made you to do in a land that is not cursed by sin and by people and a king that deals with you honestly and wishes you success. Our rest in Christ is from works of the Law, meaning that Christ did the work of the Law for us so that we are judged by His righteous works rather than our own. It does not say we will lay around and do nothing in the kingdom of heaven. It makes sense when we pray for these things to be done on earth because we want to live a quiet life among honest people who glorify God by their work.

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father, please bless us in our labor and help us to honor You by dealing fairly and honestly with those around us. Lead us to a vocation that uses our gifts and talents to care for our families and points others to Christ. Amen.