WHO is this Prince who receives such prominence in the vision of the Kingdom shown to Ezekiel? Those who prefer categorical answers to their questions, will find the direct answer to this question in the information communicated to a contemporary of Ezekiel forty years after the vision shown to himself.
Ezekiel was shown the Prince-vision in the twenty-fifth year of the captivity (chapter 40: 1). He was told to declare all that he saw to the house of Israel (verse 4). We must assume that he did as he was told, and that the prophecy, when reduced to writing, would be attentively studied by all in Israel who were of a faithful mind, among whom was
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Daniel, whom we find as a student of Jeremiah (Dan. 9 : 2).
Among this class it would naturally be a matter of enquiry-Who is the Prince so prominent in this vision by Ezekiel? It is no extravagant speculation that this would be among them a moot question. Daniel would desire to know, if he had not already, as is probable, made up his mind in the light of Jer. 30: 21. In this connection, the communication made to himself about forty years after the date of Ezekiel's vision, appears as a direct settlement of the question.
He had prayed, " in the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes ", about forty years after Ezekiel's "five-and-twentieth year of our captivity", for the taking away of Israel's sins, and the return of God's favour. The answer was the message by Gabriel concerning " the seventy weeks" (of years) which were to end with the crucifixion of Christ, who would " finish the transgression, make an end of sins, make reconciliation for iniquity". " Know therefore and understand ", were the angel's words, "that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the MESSIAH the Prince shall be" seventy weeks. Why should the Messiah be described here as " the Prince " except that the question who the Prince was had been for forty years in agitation among the faithful, ever since the publication of Ezekiel's prophecy? Whatever may have been the reason, here is a divine settlement of the question: Messiah is " The Prince". The Prince is the Messiah.
This conclusion is necessitated by the royal covenant of the kingdom-the covenant made with David concerning the throne which was supplementary to that made with Abraham concerning the land.
God promised a son to David who should sit on his throne for ever (2 Sam. 7: 13; Psa. 89: 35-36;
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Acts 2: 30). God fulfilled this promise in raising up Jesus, as Paul told the Jewish congregation in the synagogue of Antioch (Acts 13: 23). Peter, by the Spirit, declared on the day of Pentecost that David himself was aware that the promised son would be the Messiah: David" being a prophet, knew that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne" (Acts 2 : 29-30).
This being beyond question, we have to realize how entirely the Messiahship was an affair of Kingship in the position originally occupied by David. The Messiah was to be a sufferer; he was to be a priest ; he was to be a saviour; he was to be a conqueror. But these were but adjuncts, as we might call them, to the office and functiol1 of the Messiahship. The Messiahship itself in its foundation character is rooted in the throne of David. "Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne" (Psa. 132: 11). " The Prince of Peace . . . on the throne of David, and upon his kingdom" (Isa. 9: 6). "The Lord God shall give unto him (Jesus) the throne of his father David" (Luke 1 : 32). This is the everlasting covenant which David declares to be " all my salvation and all my desire.' (2 Sam. 23 : 5); and the things involved therein are" the sure mercies of David " which God proposes to extend to every perishing, thirsting son of Adam who will accept them on His terms (Isa.
55: 3).
Then we have to notice that it is in no ornamental, or sentimental, or honorary, or figurative, or spiritual sense that Christ is to occupy David's throne. He will be a King on that throne in the place where it was formerly established, and for the purpose for which David occupied it. David reigned (2 Sam. 8: 15); Christ will reign (Isa.
32: 1; Rev. 11: 15). David executed justice and judgment (1 Chron. 18: 14); Christ will execute
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justice and righteousness in the land (Jer. 33: 15). David made war (2 Sam. 22: 34): Christ will make war (Rev. 19: 11-15).
The throne of David was a visible institution. Any theory that puts Jesus in the place of the angel of the covenant or the glory of the Shechinah or the divine presence in the sanctuary would exclude him from the throne of David. These all pertained to David's God, but were none of them David's throne. While Christ is David's Lord and God (as he was to Thomas-John 20: 28), we must not forget that he is also David's son, and will sit on David's throne.
It is one of the peculiar glories of Christ that he blends in himself many things that were never before combined: he is both God and man; the king and his son: the priest and the sacrifice: the Ruler and the servant; Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending: the first and the last. We must by no means exclude him from the occupancy of David's throne. In this position, he will be " ruler in Israel", as testified in Micah 5 : 2; he will reign in righteousness (Isa. 32: 1), he will be visible in his beauty (Isa. 33: 17). Kings and princes will come from afar to do him homage (Psa. 45 : 12; 72: 11).
At his manifestation, even some who know him not will enquire about the wounds in his hands (Zech. 13: 6). Others will claim his recognition on the ground of a previous acquaintance, saying, "We have eaten and drunk, in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets" (Luke 13: 26). His relation to all the affairs of his kingdom will be as real and practical as was his relation to the affairs of his humiliation and sacrifice. He will not be in the background in the day of his glory: "Every eye shall see him ".
In his hands, the throne of David will be established for ever. Read Psalm 45 for the picture of his kingly glory. "Life, length of days for ever and
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ever." "There was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom . . . his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (Dan. 7: 14).
But there is one feature of his position that did not appertain to David. David was not a priest, though in his typical capacity he even offered sacrifices, "girt with a linen ephod" (2 Sam. 6: 14, 18; 24: 18, 25). But of Christ, his son and everlasting successor, it is written, "The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek" (Psa. 110 : 4 ; Heb. 7: 17). This priesthood of Melchizedek combined both the kingly and sacerdotal elements, and was divinely conferred on Melchizedek, and not by law of heredity. He was made. priest not because of "father or mother", but because of his appointment by God. Christ is a priest after this order and not after the order of Aaron, which was constituted by birth and bounded by a limitation of age. Christ, in being after this order, is therefore a priestly prince or a princely priest, which is a perfect fulness of character. How glorious a head for Israel and mankind-a man to whom God has not only given all the authoritative and executive power of a temporal prince in matters of law and property, but whom He has also invested with the tender character of an Intercessory Friend in things pertainmg to God-and all this, after a suffering life in which
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he loved righteousness and hated iniquity".
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Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows."
He is the priest-prince of the age to come. His name as prince is of frequent occurrence; "The Prince of the kings of the earth " (Rev. 1 : 5). The Prince of Peace (Isa. 9: 6). Messiah, the Prince (Dan. 9: 25). The Prince of Life (Acts 3: 15). A Prince and a Saviour (Acts 5: 31).
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.. Messiah the Prince" in the day of his glory by reason of his Melchizedek character is .. a priest upon his throne". This is expressly testified in Zechariah... The man whose name is THE BRANCH ... He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne" (Zech. 6: 12-13).
That "the Prince" should be the Son of God is necessitated by the office assigned to him: he is to approach to the Lord and "make reconciliation for the house of Israel " (Ezek. 45 : 17). Who could fill this part in the day of Christ but Christ himself ? This question is suggested by God Himself in the word by Jeremiah: "I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after . . . And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them: and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the Lord" (Jer. 30: 17, 21). Here is emphasis placed upon the fact that the governor of Israel under the restored regime should draw near to God in the capacity of a mediator. It is noted as a matter of surprise that a governor " proceeding from the midst of Israel " should be qualified for such an honourable place. It was a way of calling attention beforehand to the fact that such a one must be provided by God Himself. That Jesus is this governor is made certain by Micah's prophecy applied apostolically to Christ: "Out of thee (Bethelehem) shall come a Governor that shall rule my people Israel" (Matt. 2: 6; Micah 5: 2). When we learn that this governor is the Word made flesh-" the power of the Highest" manifested in the seed of David-we see the answer to the question, .. Who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me ?" It is one who is worthy, and who alone is worthy: "My beloved Son,
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in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3 : 17). "Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners" (Heb.
7: 26). "My servant, whom I uphold; mine elect,
·in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. . . . He shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law" (Isa. 42 : 1-4).
At present (" a great high priest ") he is " passed into the heavens"; but his own promise and the many-times revealed purpose of God is that he will come again in the sense and manner of his departure (John 14: 3, 28; Dan. 7: 13; Acts 1: 11). He remains as and where he is "until the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the prophets" when "God SHALL send him" (Acts 3 : 19-21). He is coming to sit on the throne of David, and to be a priest upon his throne (Isa. 9 : 6; Zech.
6: 13). Who could be the Prince-Priest but he?