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demotion among the Levites

Ezekiel 44:9-14 (JDV)

Ezekiel 44:9 “This is what the Lord Yahveh says: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, may enter my sanctuary, not even a foreigner who is among the Israelites.
Ezekiel 44:10 Surely the Levites who wandered away from me when Israel went astray, and who strayed from me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their violation.
Ezekiel 44:11 Yet they will occupy my sanctuary, serving as guards at the house gates and ministering at the house. They will slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people and will stand before them to serve them.
Ezekiel 44:12 Because they ministered to the house of Israel before their idols and became a failing stumbling block to them, therefore I swore an oath against them”– this is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh– “that they would bear the consequences of their violation.
Ezekiel 44:13 They must not approach me to serve me as priests or come near any of my devoted things or the most devoted things. They will bear their disgrace and the consequences of the repulsive acts they committed.
Ezekiel 44:14 Yet I will make them responsible for the duties of the house – for all its work and everything done in it.

demotion among the Levites

The penalty for having tolerated and committed idolatry as Levites was that they were no longer allowed to serve as priests. Instead, they would “bear their disgrace” by serving in the menial tasks that they had farmed out to foreigners.

It is a shameful thing for a minister of God to tolerate sin in his temple. A change of status — a demotion — is a fitting penalty for such a crime.