Ezekiel 44:17-18

Ritual Requirements For The Sons of Zadok.

“And it shall be that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they will be clothed with linen garments, and no wool shall come on them while they minister inside the gates of the inner court, and within. They shall have linen turbans on their heads and shall have linen breeches on their loins. They shall not wear anything that causes sweat.”

These restrictions are similar to those placed on Aaron and his sons (Exodus 28:39; Exodus 39:27). Linen was the white of purity, but it also helped to prevent sweat. Yahweh's sanctuary was not to be defiled by human earthliness. This statement about human sweat is interesting and helps to explain the ritual washings engaged in by Israelites when they came before God to be ‘made clean'. The water did not ‘cleanse', for it is always followed by the phrase ‘and shall not be clean until the evening'. They then had to wait on God until the evening to be ‘cleansed'. The water simply removed the earthiness prior to waiting on God. (It was in fact only water that was sprinkled with the ashes of a heiffer that could ‘cleanse').