Ezekiel 44:1-31

CHAPTER 44.

ORDINANCES FOR THE PRINCE AND THE PRIESTHOOD.

Ezekiel 44:1. And he brought me again by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, that looks toward the east, and it was shut.

Ezekiel 44:2. And Jehovah said to me, This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; for Jehovah the God of Israel entered by it, and it shall be shut.

Ezekiel 44:3. For the prince he, the prince, shall sit in it, to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter through the porch of the gate, and by that way also go out.

Ezekiel 44:4. And he brought me by the way of the north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and, behold, the glory of Jehovah filled the house, and I fell upon my face.

Ezekiel 44:5. And Jehovah said to me, Son of man, set thine heart, and see with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, all that I am going to speak to thee, concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and concerning all its laws; and direct thy heart to the entrance of the house, in every approach to the sanctuary.

Ezekiel 44:6. And thou shalt say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Let it suffice you of all your abominations, O house of Israel;

Ezekiel 44:7. In that you brought strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, my house; in that you made them offer my bread, the fat and the blood: and they broke my covenant to (i.e. in addition to) all your abominations.

Ezekiel 44:8. And ye did not keep my holy charge, and ye set for keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves (i.e. such as you yourselves thought good, persons after your mind and ways, not mine).

Ezekiel 44:9. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, and un circumcised in flesh, shall come into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is in the midst of the children of Israel.

Ezekiel 44:10. But only the Levites that have gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, and (for so doing) they bear their iniquity.

Ezekiel 44:11. And they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, officers at the gates of the house, and ministers to the house: they shall slay the burnt-offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.

Ezekiel 44:12. Because they ministered for them before their idols, and were for a stumbling-block of iniquity to the house of Israel; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord Jehovah, and they bear their iniquity.

Ezekiel 44:13. And they shall not draw near to me to do the priest's office to me, and come near to any of my holy things, to the most holy place; and they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.

Ezekiel 44:14. But I appoint them keepers of the charge of the house, for all its service, and for all that is done in it.

Ezekiel 44:15. And the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall draw near to me to minister to me; and they shall stand before me to offer to me the fat, and the blood, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Ezekiel 44:16. They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall draw near to my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge.

Ezekiel 44:17. And it shall be, that when they enter into the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.

Ezekiel 44:18. Linen turbans shall they have upon their heads, and linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves in sweat.

Ezekiel 44:19. And when they go forth into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they ministered, and shall lay them in the holy chambers, and shall put on other garments: and they shall not sanctify the people in their garments (those viz. in which they ministered in the sanctuary their more peculiar priestly attire.

Ezekiel 44:20. And they shall not shave their heads, nor let the hair grow long; they shall only poll their heads.

Ezekiel 44:21. And no priest shall drink wine, when he enters into the inner court.

Ezekiel 44:22. And they shall not take to wife a widow, or her that has been put away, but only virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, and a widow that may be the widow of a priest shall they take.

Ezekiel 44:28. And they shall teach my people between holy and profane, and cause them to discern between impure and clean.

Ezekiel 44:24. And in controversy they shall stand to judge according to my judgments; and they shall give judgment; and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

Ezekiel 44:25. And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves; but they may be defiled for father and for mother, and for son and for daughter, for brother and for sister who has not had an husband.

Ezekiel 44:26. And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon to him seven days.

Ezekiel 44:27. And on the day of his going into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall bring his sin-offering, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Ezekiel 44:28. And it shall be to them for an inheritance; I am their inheritance, and ye shall give them no possession in Israel, I am their possession.

Ezekiel 44:29. The meat-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering shall they eat; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.

Ezekiel 44:30. And the first of all the first fruits wholly, and all the oblations wholly, of all your oblations, shall belong to the priests; and the first of your dough shall ye give to the priest, that the blessing may be made to rest in your house.

Ezekiel 44:31. Of no carcase, or what is torn, whether of fowl or of beast, shall the priests eat.

As the preceding chapter had disclosed the purpose of God to re-occupy, and that for ever, this new temple, and had described the necessary means and rites of consecration in order to its being a source of blessing to his people, so the present chapter lays down regulations for preventing any new desecration of the house, such as might again compel God to withdraw his gracious presence. These regulations refer successively to the prince and the priesthood the two classes through whom directly the former pollutions had been introduced into the house of God.

In regard to the former, who is simply called the prince (for the reason stated under last chapter), it is impossible for us to think of any one but the royal head, as he is throughout spoken of as an individual, and in the next chapter is directed “to prepare for himself, and for all the people of the land,” a sin-offering (Ezekiel 45:22). So that the idea of Hävernick, that the word is used collectively for the rulers and presidents generally of the people, is quite untenable. And not less so is the opinion, that by the expression is simply to be understood the Messiah; for this is utterly irreconcileable with all the prescriptions given, and in particular with those requiring the presentation of sacrifices and sin-offerings for the prince. It is to be explained precisely as the whole delineation here and in the preceding visions (Chapter s Ezekiel 34:1; Ezekiel 39:1), by viewing it as a part of an ideal description of coming realities under the form and aspect of the old relations. And no more than we expect other parts of the vision to find their accomplishment under the Gospel by a restoration of the carnal sacrifices and institutions of Judaism, should we look here for an actual prince to follow the regulations prescribed. Standing on the position he did, the prophet must speak of the future under the image of the past; and as it was by means of the earthly head of the Jewish state that many of the former corruptions had been introduced, he now shows how a repetition of such evils is to be guarded against in the future. Whether the kingly power should ever again be concentrated in one person, or should be shared by many, is of no moment as regards the substance of the truth here unfolded.

What is said in the present chapter on this subject is very little, and relates to but one point, the connection between the prince and the east gate (Ezekiel 44:1-3). Because the Lord had appeared in the vision returning by this gate, a peculiar stamp of sacredness was put upon it. It was therefore not to be open for ordinary worshippers, but only for the prince; he was to enter by it, and sit there and eat bread before the Lord. What could this import, but that the prince should feel he now occupied a place of peculiar nearness to God? As God's vicegerent and deputy among the people, it became him to be the most distinguished representative in public life of God's holiness, to tread the higher walks of spiritual communion and fellowship with Heaven, and stand pre-eminent in his zeal for the interests of truth and righteousness. Far now from usurping the authority that belonged to God, and abusing to selfish ends and purposes the power which was given by him for higher ends, all authority and power in Israel should be exercised if this Divine ideal were reduced to practice in a solemn feeling of subordination to God's majesty, and with an unfeigned desire for his glory.

2. The prophet dwells at much greater length on the priesthood, as this class had more immediately to do with God's sanctuary, and in their condition and behaviour were reflected those generally of the covenant-people. It is on account of this close connection, first between the priesthood and the sanctuary, and then between the priesthood and those whom they represented in Israel, that the prophet appears at the commencement of the passage to identify the apostacy of the nation at large with the desecrations of God's house by the priesthood. He says (Ezekiel 44:6, etc.): “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Let it suffice you of all your abominations, O house of Israel; in that you brought strangers uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, my house; in that ye made them offer my bread, the fat and the blood: and they broke my covenant to (in addition to) all our abominations. And ye did not keep my holy charge, but set for keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.” The children of Israel are spoken of as doing all this because the corrupt priesthood was inseparably connected with the sins of the people the one continually acting and re-acting on the other. And the corruption.in the priesthood, it will be observed, is expressed as if persons had been put into the office who were not of the tribe of Levi, or even of the seed of Israel, but uncircumcised heathen. Not that literally persons of this description had been admitted into the priestly office; that did not take place, not even in the kingdom of Israel, where still the Israelites were employed, though not of the family of Aaron. But the prophet is viewing all in a spiritual light, he is reading forth the import of the outward transactions as they appeared to the eye of God; and as in that respect the officiating priesthood had been no better than uncircumcised strangers, so he speaks of them as having actually been such. And if thus in regard to the past the prophet expresses the reality in the language of symbol, and must be understood according to the spiritual import, not the mere letter, of the description, it cannot certainly be otherwise when he points to the future. In reference to this he says: Not any of these uncircumcised strangers of the children of Israel, not any of the Levites who took part in the idolatrous services which had formerly been practised in the house of God not these, but only the sons of Zadok, who had stood faithful, and kept the charge of the Lord when others fell into impurities, were henceforth to minister in the Lord's house; the rest were at the most to be employed about the subordinate ministrations of the temple courts. The instruction points back to 1Sa 2:32, 1 Samuel 2:35, where the priesthood of the line of Ithamar was discharged from the office of ministering in the Lord's house, on account of its corruption, in order that another line might be chosen, who should perform the work after the Lord's mind and heart. This new line was found in Zadok and his house (1 Kings 2:35; 1 Chronicles 24:3), whose name also (the righteous) was significant of what was expected at their hand. In later times they lost the distinction implied in this name, and took part in the general apostacy; but the prophet keeps his eye upon their original state, and speaks of them as they appeared when first chosen to the office. The promise, therefore, of a priesthood of the house of Zadok, entirely corresponded to the promise of a shepherd with the name of David. It simply indicated a race of faithful and devoted servants, in whom the outward and the inward, the name and the idea, should properly coincide a priesthood serving God in newness of spirit, not in the oldness of the letter; as the people whom they represented should also have become true Israelites, themselves a royal priesthood offering up spiritual sacrifices to the Lord. In truth, it is the raising up of a people who should be such a priesthood that is meant by the description, and the sons of Zadok came into notice only because in connection with them there was an historical ground for taking them as representatives of a right-hearted spiritual community. So that it is the same truth, only under a different outward clothing, which is exhibited by Isaiah, when he speaks of the Lord's people generally in the more glorious future being taken to be priests and Levites (Isaiah 61:6; Isaiah 66:21). All was to rise into a new and higher sphere; first the kingdom of God itself, and then the people who enjoyed its distinctive privileges and experienced its blessings.

Having given promise of such a true spiritual priesthood, under the old names and historical relations, the prophet proceeds to describe, after the same manner, how the sanctity of the priesthood was to be preserved and manifested. The true import of the symbolical regulations in the law was now to be reached; and he therefore describes what was to be done under the observance of these regulations: They should wear only linen garments (emblems of cleanliness and purity), they should neither shave their heads (as mourners did), nor let their hair grow uncut (as persons unfit for active service), nor drink wine when engaged in the service of the sanctuary, lest they should be unfit for the spiritual actions required of them; nor, in short, do any of the things which under the outward restrictions of a symbolical ritual betokened a want of inward purity. Holiness to the Lord should be expressed in their whole state and procedure, as well as in the ministrations of their public service; and one pervading characteristic be found in God's house, and the servants who belonged to it.