Who do Christians believe 'the Prince' in Ezekiel 44-46 is?

### Introduction Ezekiel 44-46 relates a prophecy about a restored Jerusalem with a temple which is quite different in dimensions (it's gigantic) from either the 1st or 2nd Temples. The Israelites are following the laws and regulations of God: > A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances (Ezekiel 36:26-27) The people are ruled by a prince who is of the line of David: > I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them; he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken. (Ezekiel 34:23-24) The prince provides various offering in the Temple for himself and the people: > “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the Festival of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a bull for a purification offering. And during the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days, and a male goat daily for a purification offering. He shall provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil to each ephah. In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the festival, he shall make the same provision for purification offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings and for the oil. (Ezekiel 45:18-25) This Davidic prince will also have an inheritance and children to whom he may give to. He is not allowed to take from the people and give to his children: > “Thus says the Lord God: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons out of his inheritance,[a] it shall belong to his sons; it is their holding by inheritance. But if he makes a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty; then it shall revert to the prince; only his sons may keep a gift from his inheritance. The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their holding; he shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own holding, so that none of my people shall be dispossessed of their holding.” (Ezekiel 46:16-18) ### Identity? Traditional Jewish interpretation of these passages is that the prince is the promised Messiah. Who do Christian denominations believe this prince is? Do Christians believe this is a prophecy of the future? If so, why are sacrifices occurring in the future?