Ezekiel 43-45

Reading for Friday September 13, 2019

Ezekiel 44: 1-2
Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east. And it was shut. And the Lord said to me, "This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut.

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Meanwhile...in another part of the Biblew

Zechariah 9;9
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Matthew 21
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.  If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once."  This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,  "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and[6] on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'"  The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.  They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.  Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"  And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?"  And the crowds said, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee."

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Jesus enters into Jerusalem riding on a donkey.  The people rejoice because they know that this is fulfillment of the scriptures of Ezekiel and Zechariah.  Jesus is the Messiah.  Today, as it has been for most of the last 1000 years, this gate is sealed.  This is the vision  of Ezekiel in verse 44.  This is the gate through which Jesus entered and now the gate is to remain shut.  The eastern gate really brings together the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the present day.