One gate for the LORD God
44
📚Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut. 2 📚Then the LORD said to me, “This gate shall be kept shut. It shall not be opened, and no man shall enter through it, because the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered through it; therefore it shall be kept shut.44:1-2 The shut eastern gate would be a constant reminder to the people that the glory of God had entered by it. It should also remind them of God’s promise not to leave again (Ezek 43:7, 9), as He had once done by the east gate of the old temple (Ezek 10:19; 11:23).⚜
Glory fills the temple
4 📚Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. And I looked and saw that the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD, and I prostrated myself.
Regulations regarding worship
5 📚And the LORD said to me, “Son of man, pay close attention, and see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the ordinances of the temple of the LORD, and all its laws; and pay close attention to the entrance of the temple, and all the exits of the sanctuary.
44:5 God was impressing Ezekiel with the importance of the details of His revelation.⚜
6 📚“And you shall say to the rebellious ones, that is, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, let all your abominations 📖 be enough for you. 7 📚For you brought foreigners into my sanctuary, uncircumcised in heart 📖 and uncircumcised in flesh, defiling it, my house, when you offered my food, the fat and the blood, and because of all your abominations, they made my covenant void. 8 📚And you did not keep charge of my holy things; you put keepers in charge of my sanctuary instead of yourselves.
44:8 If we try to put off on others what God has given us to do we prove ourselves unworthy of His service.⚜
9 📚Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, of all the foreigners among the children of Israel, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, will enter my sanctuary.
44:9 This indicates that at the time of the fulfillment of this vision there will be such people living in the midst of Israel. There is a lesson here for our times as well. Those who are not cleansed by the blood of Christ, not in living relationship with God, should have no place in the Church.⚜
Levites and priests
10 📚“‘And as for the Levites who went far away from me 📖, when Israel went astray, who strayed from me after their idols, they will bear 📖 their guilt. 11 📚Yet they will be servants in my sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple, and ministering in the temple. They will slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and stand before them to minister to them. 12 📚But because they ministered for them in front of their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into wickedness, I have lifted up my hand with an oath against them, says the Lord God, and they will bear the consequences of their wickedness. 13 📚And they shall not come near me to serve me as priests, or to approach any of my holy things in the Most Holy Place, but they will bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed. 14 📚But I will have them keep charge of the temple, for all its service, and for everything done in it.
15 📚“‘But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, shall approach me to serve me, and shall stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God. 16 📚They shall enter my sanctuary, and approach my table to serve me, and they shall keep my charge.
44:15-16 Only the descendants of one man, Zadok, remained faithful. They would be rewarded. On Zadok see 2 Sam 8:17; 15:24-29; 20:25. As believers our service in this life will have eternal reward – or lack of it (1 Cor 3:12-14).⚜
17 📚“‘And it shall be like this: When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool is to come on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court and inside. 18 📚They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments on their loins. They shall not dress themselves with anything that makes them sweat. 19 📚And when they go to the outer court, to the people in the outer court, they shall take off the garments in which they ministered, and put them in the holy rooms, and put on other garments, and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments.
20 📚“‘Nor shall they shave their heads, or allow their hair to grow long. They shall keep the hair of their heads trimmed. 21 📚Nor shall any priest drink wine when they enter the inner court. 22 📚Nor shall they take a widow or a divorced woman as a wife, but shall take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or widows of priests. 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.
24 📚“‘And in a dispute they shall take their stand as judges, and judge it in accordance with my judgments. And they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my assemblies. And they shall keep my Sabbaths holy.
25 📚“‘And they shall not approach any dead person, so defiling themselves; except that they may defile themselves for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has had no husband. 26 📚And after he has been cleansed, they shall count off seven days for him. 27 📚And on the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the inner court, to serve in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord God.
28 📚“‘And as for the inheritance they are to have, I am their inheritance. And you shall give them no possession in Israel. I am their possession. 29 📚They shall eat the grain offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.
30 📚And the best of all the firstfruits of everything, and every offering of every kind from all of your offerings, shall belong to the priest. You shall also give to the priest the first part of your dough, so that he may cause the blessing to rest on your house. 31 📚The priests shall not eat anything that dies of itself, or has been torn by animals, whether it is bird or beast.
44:17-31 These instructions for the priests are similar to instructions in the law of Moses (Ex 39:27-29; Lev 6:10; 10:9; 15:31; 21:1-5, 7; Deut 17:8-9; Lev 23; 21:1-3; Num 18:20, 23, 24). Observe that the vision speaks of a time when there will still be a distinction between holy and common, clean and unclean (v 23), a time when disputes and death will still be in the world (vs 24,25,31). It cannot, therefore, refer to the redeemed in eternity, when there will be no such things.⚜