CHAPTER 44

1 Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. 2 Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. 3 It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.

God has said that He will teach us little by little (Isaiah 28:13). Here, Ezekiel is brought a THIRD time to the Eastern Gate.

Whatever principals or precepts God HAS taught us, we should REVIEW. Each time we go over what God has ALREADY taught, we learn something NEW.

The Eastern Gate is to be shut up in honor of Christ our Lord Who entered that Gate. It shall only be entered again by Him.

However, the "Prince" could come and SIT in the gate. He must first enter by the "porch of that gate" not through the main entrance of it.

God has given Christians a great honor by making us "princes" (Revelation 1:6) and causing us to "sit in heavenly places" (Ephesians 2:6). With this honor, we are to be SERVANTS to others. We are never to take the place of our Lord and DECIDE for others, nor or we to decide ABOUT them.

4 Then brought he me 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 thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary. 6 And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations, 7 In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations. 8 And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves. 9 Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel.

Notice that the glory of the Lord FILLED the temple! God's holiness is more than we can imagine, and more than any temple can hold!

God put a great importance upon living in holiness before Him. Holiness means to surrender to God and strive to be obedient to Him. The Old Testament and the New Testament both have MANY Scriptures relating to living in holiness. God says here that He didn't want anybody in His temple that wasn't circumcised in HEART and FLESH. In other words, they must be SURRENDERED and OBEDIENT.

If a person has never truly SURRENDERED to Christ, that person has never been JUSTIFIED and consecrated as holy before God. Though outward obedience may be demonstrated to man, God sees the HEART. He knows whether we have truly SURRENDERED to Him as Lord of our lives.

God doesn't want SERVICE from someone who is not SURRENDERED. For that service is only offered in self-righteousness, and is as "filthy rags before Him" (Isaiah 64:6).

Paul indicated that this was a reason why some of the people in church were sick and weak. They partook of the Lord's Supper "unworthily" (1Corinthians 11:26-30).

10 And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity. 11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to 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 caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity. 13 And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed. 14 But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein. 15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD: 16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.

The Levites had been charged with ministering to the people for the Lord. They were to "have no other gods" before Him (Exodus 20:3). But they had placed idols in the sanctuary and in the court, and were ministering to the people in the name of other gods also!

Therefore, God instructs Ezekiel to tell the Levites they will be reduced to caring for the temple itself (housecleaning), and they will no longer be able to minister to the people in His Name.

God also made provisions for the "sons of Zadok" to continue their ministry because they had been faithful (verses 16-17).

Just as many did in the Old Testament, so it happens today with some purported believers. They lead others astray by not being consecrated wholly to God (2Peter 2:1-3).

17 And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. 18 They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat. 19 And when they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments. 20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads. 21 Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court. 22 Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before. 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 controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths. 25 And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves. 26 And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days. 27 And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, saith the Lord GOD. 28 And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession. 29 They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest's: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house. 31 The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.

God gives instructions as to the manner in which the priests were to conduct themselves in the temple.
First, they were to dress in garments which didn't induce sweating (verses 17-19). They were to wear garments of holiness as they ministered to the Lord.
Second, they were to keep their hair short. It was not to be shaven, nor was it to grow long (verse 20).
Third, they should not drink wine when ministering (verse 21).
Fourth, they were not to marry women who had been married before (verse 22). AND they were not to marry OUTSIDE the faith family.
Fifth, they were to TEACH (verse 23). They were to teach the people the Word of God so that they would know proper conduct.
Sixth, when "controversy" occured, they were to judge according to God's Word, and not be partisan (verse 24). This verse also commands that they KEEP (observe) all holy days.
Seventh, they were to keep themselves away from dead persons. Exceptions were given for those of their immediate family (verses 25-27). And, if they were defiled because of an immediate family member's death, there was a waiting period before they could reenter service.

God says that their position shall be their "inheritance" in Israel. They shall need no land or possessions. They shall live from the tithes and offerings given by the people. God is ENOUGH!! (verses 28-30).

When we surrender fully to the Lord, He takes care of us. Today, Christians are called "priests" (Revelation 1:6); but we are allowed possessions and are to use them for ministering to the Lord, our families, and the needy.

But when we have God, we have ENOUGH! He Himself is MORE than we shall ever need.

PLEASE CONTINUE IN BIBLE STUDY WITH US TOMORROW.