Ezekiel 46:1-2 says “Thus saith the Lord God; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened. And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.” Something happened on Nisan the 10th in A.D.33 that was missed by ancient scholars, the Prince enters the gate! Did Jesus enter the gate of Jerusalem or is this a future event? Zechariah 9:9 says “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” To understand what happened we must understand the feast days. Ezekiel 45:25 says “In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat offering, and according to the oil.” If you read the verses before, it also begins with Jerusalems first feast which happens in the first month, Nisan. There are actually twelve feasts, but seven were called “the feasts of the Lord”. After the feast of Tabernacles then the next feast that would come into view would again be the feast of the first month in Nisan (Abib) which is Passover. This is where Ezekiel 46 comes in. In Matthew 21 Jesus prepares to enter into Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan after the Sabbath which was the 8th of Nisan that year. Matthew 21:4-12 says “All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,” notice what Matthew 23:39 says “For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” Matthew 23 actually comes before Christ triumphal entry in Matthew 21. This would make perfect sense seeing that that last generation would not see him again come to the temple after his triumphal entry because they would be destroyed in its destruction in A.D.70, so this tells us the last time they saw him was the crucifixion week. Ezekiel 46 is realized when Christ enters Jerusalem, because the Jerusalem that would be in view is the heavenly Jerusalem! Ezekiel 47 then is the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost from the temple which represents the new or heavenly Jerusalem from heaven. Daniel understands as well Daniel 9:25 says “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks…” This lets us know that Christ, the Prince would appear and enter the Temple at that time, and Psalms 24:9-10 says “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.” Malachi 3:1 says “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.” And lastly, Psalms 118:19-27 says “Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord: This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter. I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.” This prophetic psalm speaks of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and that he would be bound to the altar of the cross. He is the stone the builders rejected, he came in the name of Lord, Hosanna!!! Forever!! All of these passages deal with Christ first coming. Christ’s Parousia or second coming is after his heavenly millennial reign.
-Anthony D. Booker
The GATHERING Place 