Workers For Jesus Online Bible Study Table of Contents

About this Bible Study........The King James Version of the Bible is written in a beautiful form of the English language. It can be hard for modern English readers to understand.  In this study, you will find notes and summaries in brown just above the the verses from the Bible. We recommend that you read the notes and summaries first, and then read the verses in their KJV form. 

Timeline of the Bible

God creates the world. --- God destroys the world with the flood, but saves  Noah and his family.---  God chooses Abraham and his descendants to His people. ---Abraham's grandson, Jacob, has 12 sons who lead the 12 tribes of Israel.--- The Israelites become slaves in Egypt.--- God helps the Israelites escape and leads them to Canaan. ---The Israelites fight in wars and take control of Canaan.---Judges lead the Israelites, but the Israelites want to have kings instead of judges. --- David is Israel's greatest king.--- Israel divides into 2 parts: Israel and Judah.---► The people of Israel and Judah continue to sin and worship false gods.--- God allows the Assyrians and the Babylonians to take the Israelites out of Israel and Judah.---  ◄This book of the Bible happens during this time The Israelites (Jews) live in Babylonia and then Persia. --- When Persia defeats the Babylonians, the Jews go back to Judah.--- The Jews build God's Temple in Jerusalem again.--- Greece defeats Persia, and the Greeks control Judah (also now called Israel).--- The Jews become independent for 100 years.-- The Romans take control of Israel.--- Jesus is born. At age 30, Jesus begins his ministry. ---Jesus is crucified and then is resurrected. --- A Roman named Saul is converted to Christianity and becomes Paul.--- Christianity spreads. --- Paul write letters to Christians in other places. In the year, 70 A.D., God's Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed again.

 


 Ezekiel 44 -46
 The east gate of the Temple is for the Lord.
 How the land of Israel should be divided.
 Laws for the Israelite rulers.
Rules about land and inheritance.
The area of the Temple for the priests.


Ezekiel was one of the Israelites who got sent away (exiled) to Babylon.  He had lived in Jerusalem before the exile. He was in the first group to be exiled to Babylon.  His book starts 5 years after the exile. He was 30 years old when he began to see visions and became a prophet. Ezekiel and some of the other Israelite exiles had a camp by the river named Chebar.

 

This is a picture of the temple in Ezekiel's vision. There is a very nice and detailed slide show of the temple on this site: 
https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/ezekiel-40-temple/

Ezekiel 44

The east gate will be for the Lord only.

Then he brought me back to see the gate that faced east.  The gate was shut.
[1] Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut.


The Lord said to me, "This gate should stay shut. It should not be opened. No man can come in through it because I, the Lord God of Israel, has come in through it. So, it will now be shut.
[2] Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.

If the prince comes in to eat bread in the Lord's special place, he should come in a different way. He should come in from the porch and go out the same way.
[3] It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.

Then, He took me to the north gate of the temple. I saw the Lord's shining glory fill the temple. I went down on my knees and put my face on the ground to show worship.
[4] Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and I fell upon my face.
The Lord said to me, "Son of man, pay attention, look, and listen to what I say about the laws of the Temple. Listen about who can come into the Temple.
[5] And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary.


Tell the rebellious people of Israel that I said to stop their sinful behavior.  You have let sinful, uncircumcised people come into My Temple. They have made My Temple dirty. You offer sacrifices, but you do not obey My laws.
[6] And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations,
[7] In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations.


You have not kept My holy things under your control.  You have put other people in charge of My Temple."
[8] And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.
The Lord continued, "No stranger who is not circumcised may enter My sanctuary, even if they live in Israel.
[9] Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.


Some of the Levites did not obey Me. They went away and worshiped false idols. They will be punished.
[10] And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity.
They can do some things in the Temple but not everything.  They can guard the gates and take care of the Temple. They can kill the animals that are being sacrificed. They can be with the people who are making the sacrifices. 
[11] Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them.


But in the past, they sacrificed to false idols. They caused Israelites to sin. So, I am punishing them. They cannot come near Me. They cannot do the work of a priest. They cannot come near the holy things or the holy places in the Temple. That is because of the very bad things they did. I will make them the ones who take care of the Temple and do the work of the Temple.
[12] Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity.
[13] And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.
 [14] But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.


But the descendants of Zadok took care of My Temple even after the Israelites went away from Me. They can come near Me and minister to Me. They will stand in front of Me and offer the sacrifices.
 [15] But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:


They can come into My holy place. They can come near My table and minister to Me.
 [16] They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.


When they come into the inner part of the Temple, they will wear linen clothes. They should not wear wool when they are working in the inner court.
[17] And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.


They should wear linen hats on their heads. They should wear linen pants. They should not wear anything that causes sweat.
[18] They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.


When they go to the outside court where the people are, they should take off their holy clothes and leave them in the holy area. They should put on their other clothes. They should not keep their holy clothes on around other people.
[19] And when they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments.
The priests should not shave their heads. They should not let their hair grow long.  They should keep their hair at a good length.
 [20] Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.


They should not drink wine when they are going into the inner court.
[21] Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.


They should not marry a divorced woman. Priests should only marry Israelite women who have never been married.  They can also marry widows if  their husbands were priests.
 [22] Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.


They should teach My people what is holy and what is unholy. They should teach them how to tell if something is dirty or clean.
[23] And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.


When there are disagreements, the priests will be the judges.  They will make the decisions according to My laws.  They will lead the Jewish festivals. They will honor the Sabbaths.
[24] And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.
They should not go near any dead people. That would make them unclean. But if the dead person is their father, mother, son, daughter, or unmarried sister, they may go near them. They would then be unclean. They would need to stay away for 7 days. On the day when they go back to the Temple to work, they should make sin offerings.
[25] And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.
[26] And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.
[27] And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, saith the Lord GOD.

They should not own any possessions.  God will be their possession. He will be their inheritance.
[28] And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession.


They may eat the meat offerings, the sin offerings, and the trespass offerings. Everything dedicated to God in Israel will belong to them.
[29] They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.

They should have the first of the firstfruits (the first crops or animals from the farms).  The first part of everything goes to God and the priests. This will cause your homes to be blessed. 
[30] And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest's: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house.


The priests should not eat anything that died on its own or was killed by another animal.
[31] The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.

Ezekiel 45


How the land of Israel should be divided.


When the land of Israel is divided into 12 parts for the 12 tribes, you should give a part of the land to the Lord. That part of land should be 25 miles long and 12.5 miles wide. The Temple will be on a part of that land. The Temple land will be 255 yards square. There should be 25 yards around the Temple on all sides. This land border around the Temple should be empty.
[1] Moreover, when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye shall offer an oblation unto the LORD, an holy portion of the land: the length shall be the length of five and twenty thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand. This shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about.
[2] Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length, with five hundred in breadth, square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs thereof.
[3] And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand: and in it shall be the sanctuary and the most holy place.


Half of the Lord's land will be for the priests to live in.  The other half will be for the Levites to live in.
[4] The holy portion of the land shall be for the priests the ministers of the sanctuary, which shall come near to minister unto the LORD: and it shall be a place for their houses, and an holy place for the sanctuary.
[5] And the five and twenty thousand of length, and the ten thousand of breadth, shall also the Levites, the ministers of the house, have for themselves, for a possession for twenty chambers.


The land next to God's land will be 12.5 miles long and 3 miles wide. This land will belong to everyone in Israel. This is where the city of Jerusalem is.
[6] And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, over against the oblation of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.

Part of this land will be for the prince. He will have the areas east and west of God's sacred land and the city of Jerusalem. He will have the area between the western side of God's land and the Mediterranean Sea. The east side will go from the eastern side of God's land to the Jordan River. The length of the prince's land  will be the same as the land given to the 12 tribes.
[7] And a portion shall be for the prince on the one side and on the other side of the oblation of the holy portion, and of the possession of the city, before the oblation of the holy portion, and before the possession of the city, from the west side westward, and from the east side eastward: and the length shall be over against one of the portions, from the west border unto the east border.


This land will always belong to the king or prince in charge of Israel.  This will be given to them so they will always be fair to God's people. God's people will live in peace in their tribes' lands.
[8] In the land shall be his possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; and the rest of the land shall they give to the house of Israel according to their tribes.


Laws for the Israelite rulers.
The Lord God said, "You must treat My people well and stop taking advantage of them. You should use fair measurements.
[9] Thus saith the Lord GOD; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord GOD.
[10] Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath.


The ephah will be the measurement. The ephah measures dry things, and the bath measures liquids.  They are each 1/10 of a homer.
 [11] The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer.

The shekel will measure the weight of things.  1 shekel is the same as 20 gerahs.  A manneh is the  same as 60 shekels.
[12] And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs: twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your manneh.


This the offering you should bring: 1/6 of an ephah of a homer of wheat, 1/6 of an ephah of a homer of barley,  1/10 of a bath of a cor (liquid measure), and 1 lamb per 200 sheep in the flock. You should also bring a meat offering, a burnt offering, and a peace offering. The offerings make you right with God again.
[13] This is the oblation that ye shall offer; the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of wheat, and ye shall give the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of barley:
[14] Concerning the ordinance of oil, the bath of oil, ye shall offer the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is an homer of ten baths; for ten baths are an homer:
[15] And one lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the fat pastures of Israel; for a meat offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make reconciliation for them, saith the Lord GOD.
All  of the people in Israel should give their offerings to the prince.
[16] All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel.


It will be up to the prince to give the burnt, meat, and drink offerings on the special holy days (festivals, new moons, sabbaths). He will prepare the sin, meat, burnt, and peace offerings to show God the people in Israel are sorry for their sins.
[17] And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel.

This is what God says, "In the first month, on the first day of the month, you will take a perfect young bull and clean the sanctuary.
[18] Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary:

The priest will take the blood of the sin offering and put it on the posts of the house.  He will also put it on the 4 corners of the altar and the gate posts of the inner court.
[19] And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court.
He should also do this on the 7th day of the month for everyone who sinned but didn't realize they had sinned. That will keep the house of Israel clean.
 [20] And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple: so shall ye reconcile the house.

In the first month, on the 14th day of the month, you will have passover. This will last for 7 days. You will only eat bread with no yeast.
[21] In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.

On that day, the prince will prepare a bull for a sin offering. This offering will be for the people of Israel and the prince himself.
[22] And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering.

For 7 days of the feast, the prince will prepare a burnt offer to the Lord.  The burnt offering will be 7 perfect bulls each day. He will make a sin offering each day of a baby goat.
[23] And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the LORD, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering.

With each bull and ram, he will make an offering of grain and oil.
[24] And he shall prepare a meat offering of an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and an hin of oil for an ephah.

In the 7th month, on the 15th day of the month will be the Feast of Shelters. He will make the same offerings as he did for passover.
 [25] 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.


Ezekiel 46

The east gate

The Lord God said, "The inner court gate that looks east will be closed for the 6 working days. It will be open on the sabbath and on the day of the new moon.
 [1] 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.
The prince will go in through that gate and stand by the gate post while the priests make the burnt and peace offerings.  He will worship, then he will leave. But the gate will not be closed until the evening.
[2] 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.

The same way, the people will worship the Lord at this gate on the sabbaths and in the new moons.
[3] Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons.

These are the offerings that the prince will offer to the Lord on the sabbath: the burnt offering will be 6 perfect lambs and a perfect ram.
[4] And the burnt offering that the prince shall offer unto the LORD in the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish.

The meat offering will be an ephah for the ram and a hin of oil to an ephah of wheat for the lambs.
[5] And the meat offering shall be an ephah for a ram, and the meat offering for the lambs as he shall be able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah.

When it is an offering for a new moon, he should offer a perfect young bull, 6 perfect lambs, and a perfect ram. He should give an ephah of meat offering with the bull and an ephah with the ram.  He should give a hin of oil to an ephah with the lambs.
[6] And in the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram: they shall be without blemish.
 [7] And he shall prepare a meat offering, an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs according as his hand shall attain unto, and an hin of oil to an ephah.

When the prince enters, he should come through the east gate. When he leaves, he should go out the same way.
[8] And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of that gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof.

But when the Israelite people come in through one gate, they should leave by the opposite gate.  If they enter through the north gate, they should leave through the south gate.
 [9] 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.

The ruler should enter the same time as the people.  And he should leave when they leave.
[10] And the prince in the midst of them, when they go in, shall go in; and when they go forth, shall go forth.


On the holy days and sabbath days, the meat offering should be an ephah with each bull and an ephah with each ram.  With lambs, they should give as much as they can. They should give a hin with each ephah of meat offering.
[11] And in the feast and in the solemnities the meat offering shall be an ephah to a bullock, and ephah to a ram, and to the lambs as he is able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah.

 
When the prince comes to give his offerings, someone should open the gate that faces east and let him in.  He should make his burnt offering and peace offering like he does on the sabbath.  Then, he should leave. After he leaves, someone should close the gate behind him.
[12] 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.

You should make a burnt offering to the Lord every day. It should be a young lamb under a year old that is perfect.
[13] 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.

You should prepare a meat offering every morning. It should be a sixth of an ephah of grain and a third of a hin of oil. You should do this from now on. It is a rule from God.
[14] And thou shalt prepare a meat 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 meat offering continually by a perpetual ordinance unto the LORD.

You should prepare the lamb, grain, and oil every morning without stopping.
[15] Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meat offering, and the oil, every morning for a continual burnt offering.


Rules about land.

The Lord God said, "If a prince gives land to any of his sons, it belongs to the son even after the father dies.  But if a prince gives land to one of his servants, the land belongs to the servant until the Year of Celebration. Then, the land goes back to the prince's family.
 [16] 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.
[17] 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.

The prince should not take land away from his people to give to his sons. If he wants to give his sons some land, he should give them some of his own land.
[18] 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.



The area of the Temple for the priests.


Then he brought me through the entry way by the side of the gate. It was the area of the priests that looked north. I could see 2 sides to the west.  Then, he told me that this is the place where the priest boil the trespass offerings and sin offerings and bake the grain offering. They cook them here and don't take the food outside into the outer area.
[19] After he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers of the priests, which looked toward the north: and, behold, there was a place on the two sides westward.
[20] Then said he unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, where they shall bake the meat offering; that they bear them not out into the utter court, to sanctify the people.

Then, he brought me out into the outer court where I passed the 4 corners of the court. There were courts in every corner of the courts. They were 20 yards by 15 yards.
[21] Then he brought me forth into the utter court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and, behold, in every corner of the court there was a court.
 [22] In the four corners of the court there were courts joined of forty cubits long and thirty broad: these four corners were of one measure.

I saw the places where the temple workers boiled the sacrifices.
[23] And there was a row of building round about in them, round about them four, and it was made with boiling places under the rows round about.
[24] Then said he unto me, These are the places of them that boil, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.