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an example and an explanation

Ezekiel 44:15-27 (JDV)

Ezekiel 44:15 “But the Levitical priests descended from Zadok, who kept charge of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, will approach me to serve me. They will stand before me to offer me fat and blood.” This is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh.
Ezekiel 44:16 “They are the ones who may enter my sanctuary and approach my table to serve me. They will keep my mandate.
Ezekiel 44:17 When they enter the gates of the inner court they are to wear linen garments; they must not have on them anything made of wool when they minister at the gates of the inner court and within it.
Ezekiel 44:18 They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They are not to put on anything that makes them sweat.
Ezekiel 44:19 Before they go out to the outer court, to the people, they must take off the clothes they have been ministering in, leave them in the devoted chambers, and dress in other clothes so that they do not transmit devotion to the people through their clothes.
Ezekiel 44:20 “They may not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but are to carefully trim their hair.
Ezekiel 44:21 No priest may drink wine before he enters the inner court.
Ezekiel 44:22 He is not to marry a widow or a divorced woman but may marry only a virgin from the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.
Ezekiel 44:23 They are to teach my people the difference between the devoted and the common and explain to them the difference between the clean and the unclean.
Ezekiel 44:24 “In a dispute, they will officiate as judges and decide the case according to my rules. They are to observe my laws and prescriptions regarding all my appointed festivals and keep my Sabbaths sacred.
Ezekiel 44:25 A priest may not come near a dead person so that he becomes defiled. However, he may defile himself for a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, or an unmarried sister.
Ezekiel 44:26 After he is cleansed, he is to count off seven days for himself.
Ezekiel 44:27 On the day he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court to minister in the sanctuary, he is to present his failure offering.” This is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh.

an example and an explanation

Craigie writes ” In their dress, appearance, and personal hygiene, the priests were to be clean, both literally and in terms of ritual purity. The same sense of cleanliness was to be maintained in such matters as marriage and encounters with the dead. They had responsibility for religious education, legal consulting and adjudication, and the conduct of worship at the temple’s altar. Their whole life was to be the service of God…” (297).

What would our world be like if all believers (priests under the new covenant) would set themselves a higher standard of living? We could be an example and an explanation to unbelievers as to what holiness is and who God is.

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Craigie, Peter C. Ezekiel. Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 1983.