Ezekiel 44:9

The law of the *temple in the *vision was clear. The *temple belonged to God. He insisted that people should obey him with their bodies. And people should love him with their hearts (or minds). Such people were the only people who could enter this *temple.

So the only people who *worshipped at the *temple in this *vision were *Israelites. Foreigners could only *worship God there if they became *Israelites first. No other people could even enter the outer gates of the *temple. This rule might seem severe. But the New Testament (the later part of the Bible) follows a similar principle. Real Christians belong to God’s nation (2 Peter 2:9). They obey God and they love him. A person can only become a real Christian if he or she is born again (John 3:3). Other people belong to the world and they do not know God (1 John 3:1). So they cannot *worship God properly.