Ezekiel 45:18 “This is what the Lord Yahveh says: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you are to take a young, unblemished bull and purify the sanctuary. Ezekiel 45:19 The priest is to take some of the blood from the failure offering and apply it to the house doorposts, the four corners of the altar’s ledge, and the doorposts of the gate of the inner court. Ezekiel 45:20 You are to do the same thing on the seventh day of the month for everyone who fails unintentionally or through ignorance. In this way you will make atonement for the house.
atonement for the house
Since the temple is God’s house, why did the people have to purify it, and make atonement for it with blood? The answer is human failure. That is why there had to be blood spilt — on New Years’ Day, and six days afterward. Humans fail deliberately and unintentionally. But God’s worship requires purity.
Under the new covenant, it is not the blood of bulls that is required, but the blood of Christ shed on the cross is sufficient for all sin. He made atonement for the house and all the people.
Ezekiel 45:13 “This is the contribution you are to offer: Three quarts from five bushels of wheat and three quarts from five bushels of barley. Ezekiel 45:14 The quota of oil in liquid measures will be one percent of every cor. The cor equals ten liquid measures or one standard larger capacity measure since ten liquid measures equal one standard larger capacity measure. Ezekiel 45:15 And the quota from the flock is one animal out of every two hundred from the well-watered pastures of Israel. These are for the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings, to make atonement for the people.” This is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh. Ezekiel 45:16 “All the people of the land must take part in this contribution for the prince in Israel. Ezekiel 45:17 Then the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings for the festivals, New Moons, and Sabbaths – for all the appointed times of the house of Israel – will be the prince’s responsibility. He will provide the failure offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.
the three parties of worship
The order of the contribution is significant. The people contribute to the prince. The prince provides for the offerings. This establishes a connection between the three parties of worship: the people, the leader, and the LORD. This is not a private religion. Everyone is connected. Everyone matters.
Ezekiel 45:9 “This is what the Lord Yahveh says: You have gone too far, princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of my people.” This is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh. Ezekiel 45:12 “You are to have honest scales, an honest dry measure, and an honest liquid measure. Ezekiel 45:11 The ephah and the bath should be of the same measure, the bath containing one-tenth of a homer, and the ephah one-tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. Ezekiel 45:12 The shekel will weigh twenty gerahs. Your mina will equal sixty shekels.
leading under God’s leadership
God challenges the leaders to have honest scales — to show what integrity means. We need to put away corruption, dishonesty, and greed, and lead under God’s leadership.
LORD, give us the wisdom to lead with honesty and integrity.
Ezekiel 45:7 And the prince will have the area on each side of the devoted donation of land and the city’s property, adjacent to the devoted donation and the city’s property, stretching to the west on the west side and to the east on the east side. Its length will correspond to one of the tribal portions from the western boundary to the eastern boundary. Ezekiel 45:8 This will be his land as a possession in Israel. My princes will no longer oppress my people but give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.
God’s kind of politics
The leader is to have land next to that assigned to the priests, but he is not to steal land from the people. God wants his political leaders to serve him, and protect the people. That is God’s kind of politics.
Ezekiel 45:1 “When you divide the land by lot as an inheritance, set aside a donation to Yahveh, a devoted portion of the land, 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits wide. This entire region will be devoted. Ezekiel 45:2 In this area there will be a square section for the sanctuary, 500 by 500 cubits, with 50 cubits of open space all around it. Ezekiel 45:3 From this devoted portion, you will measure off an area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide, in which the sanctuary, the most devoted place, will stand. Ezekiel 45:4 It will be a devoted area of the land to be used by the priests who minister in the sanctuary, who approach to serve Yahveh. It will be a place for their houses, as well as a devoted area for the sanctuary. Ezekiel 45:5 There will be another area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide for the Levites who minister in the house; it will be their possession for towns to live in. Ezekiel 45:6 “As the property of the city, set aside an area 5000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, adjacent to the devoted donation of land. It will be for the whole house of Israel.
a section of land
Worship was so important that a section of land was to be set aside for the priests to use. The land was the major means of wealth, so this was in itself a major sacrifice.
LORD, may we be wise enough to devote significant portions to your ministry.
Ezekiel 44:28 “This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance. You are to give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession. Ezekiel 44:29 They will eat the grain offering, the failure offering, and the guilt offering. Everything in Israel that is permanently dedicated to Yahveh will belong to them. Ezekiel 44:30 The first of all the firstfruits of every kind and contribution of every kind from all your gifts will belong to the priests. You are to give your first batch of dough to the priest so that a blessing may rest on your homes. Ezekiel 44:31 The priests may not eat any bird or animal that died naturally or was mauled by wild beasts.
the first batch goes to the priest
The people are told to bless their priests, and a corresponding blessing would rest on their homes. But if the priest got second best, there would be no blessing for the home.
God is watching to see how we really feel about those who serve him among us. We can declare all we want in the assemby, but the real test of our love for God is how we demonstrate our appreciation for him and his worship.
LORD, give us the wisdom to show our love to you by blessing your servants.
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.
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.
Ezekiel 44:4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the house. I looked, and noticed the impressive appearance of Yahveh filled his house. And I fell face-down. Ezekiel 44:5 Yahveh said to me: “Son of Adam, pay attention; look with your eyes and listen with your ears to everything I tell you about all the prescriptions and laws of Yahveh’s house. Take careful note of the entrance of the house along with all the exits of the sanctuary. Ezekiel 44:6 “Say to the rebellious people, the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord Yahveh says: I have had enough of all your repulsive practices, house of Israel. Ezekiel 44:7 When you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in both heart and flesh, to occupy my sanctuary, you defiled my house while you offered my food– the fat and the blood. You broke my covenant by all your repulsive practices. Ezekiel 44:8 You have not kept charge of my devoted things but have appointed others to keep charge of my sanctuary for you.’
no outsiders allowed
Lofthouse writes “In the old regime, prisoners of war would seem to have been used for temple servants (Joshua ix. 23), and foreigners were freely enlisted in the royal bodyguard (Ithra the Gittite, the Cherethites, and Pelethites)” (322).
This may have seemed like a profitable arrangement for the Israelites, but for God, it was an insult. His house is to be served by his covenant people — circumcised in both flesh and heart.
To be a witness to the world we must make contact with the world. But our service and worship of God are not to be shared by outsiders.
Lofthouse, W. F. Ezekiel: Introduction, Revised Version with Notes and Index. Edinburgh: T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1900.
Ezekiel 44:1 He then brought me back toward the sanctuary’s outer gate that faced east, and it was shut. Ezekiel 44:2 Yahveh said to me: “This gate will stay shut. It will not be opened, and no one will enter through it, because Yahveh, the God of Israel, has entered through it. Therefore it will stay shut. Ezekiel 44:3 The prince himself will sit in the gate to eat a meal before Yahveh. He is to enter by way of the portico of the gate and go out the same way.”
let’s keep studying
I’m still mulling this one over. Many modern writings on Ezekiel assume that this latter portion of the book refers to the future Millennial kingdom when Christ will sit on David’s throne in Jerusalem. If that is so, is Jesus the prince who will sit at the gate and eat a meal before Yahveh, and not enter through the gate because it is shut to him?
I am grateful that the major mysteries of the Bible are made clear. Let’s all keep studying and trying to put the pieces together.
Devotions 