Ezekiel 44:4-14

2. The qualifications of the temple ministers (44:4-14)

TRANSLATION

(4) Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and I fell upon my face. (5) And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I say unto you concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entrance of the house, with every egress of the sanctuary. (6) And you shall say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: O house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations, (7) in that you have brought in foreigners uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary, to profane it, even My house, when you offer My bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken My covenant, to add unto all your abominations. (8) And you have not kept the charge of My holy things; but you have set keepers of My charge in My sanctuary for yourselves. (9) Thus says the Lord GOD, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary, of any foreigners that are among the children of Israel. (10) But the Levites that went far from me, when Israel went astray, that went astray from me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity. (11) Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house: they shall slay the burnt-offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them. (12) Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and became a stumblingblock of iniquity unto the house of Israel; therefore have I lifted up My hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity. (13) And they shall not come near unto Me, to execute the office of priest unto Me, nor to come near to any of My holy things, unto the things that are most holy; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed. (14) Yet will I make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.

COMMENTS

From the outer court the prophet was led by his angelic guide around through the northern gate (the eastern gate was to be kept perpetually closed) to the inner court. There the prophet again observed the glory of God filling the house (Ezekiel 44:4). At this juncture God spoke to him again, this time concerning the qualifications of those who might approach Him in His holy Temple. Ezekiel was bidden to make careful note of these ordinances, particularly those laws governing the approaches to the house (Ezekiel 44:5).

In the former Temple aliens had been permitted to discharge priestly functions. This was an abomination (Ezekiel 44:6) which must not persist in the age of the new Temple. Those uncircumcised in heart and flesh profaned the holiness of that sacred shrine. God's bread, i.e., sacrifices of fat and blood, was not to be offered by those who did not wear in the flesh the badge of the covenant. To allow them to do so was to violate the covenant and commit abomination (Ezekiel 44:7). Apparently the use of foreign Temple servants such as the Carites (2 Kings 11:4) is here being proscribed. It may have been that in times when the priesthood was at low ebb some priestly duties actually had been assigned to these foreigners. In so doing, God's people had been more concerned about what was convenient to them rather than what conformed to the instructions of God (Ezekiel 44:8).

The menial Temple work formerly done by aliens must in the future be performed by the Levites (Ezekiel 44:9). The duties of the Levites in Ezekiel's Temple were threefold: (1) they were to have charge of the Temple gates, i.e., they were to police the crowds who entered for worship; (2) they were to minister in the house, i.e., courtyard, by slaying the sacrificial animals;[519] and (3) they were to stand before the worshipers to minister to them by helping them in their ritual responsibilities (Ezekiel 44:11).

[519] The slaughtering of the animal for sacrifice was not a priestly function and could be performed by a layman,

The demotion of the Levites in the new Temple was a punishment for previous transgression on their part. They had gone far away from God and had involved themselves in idolatry (Ezekiel 44:10). They had ministered to the people at idolatrous shrines and thus had become stumblingblocks to the people of God. God had taken an oath (lifted up My hand) against the Levites that they would bear the consequences of their iniquity in the new Temple age(Ezekiel 44:12).

In effect, the penalty against the once wayward Levites was reduction in status to that of lay servants in the Temple. They would not be allowed to come near the Lord, i.e., enter the inner courtyard, nor to minister at the sacrificial service, nor come near any holy thing in the Temple (Ezekiel 44:13). They would be keepers of the charge of the house, i.e., they would be restricted to functions in the outer court (Ezekiel 44:14).