Ezekiel 44

²Then 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.

Eze 44:1-31. Ordinances for the Prince and the Priests. 2. shut ... not be opened--(Job 12:14; Is 22:22; Re 3:7). “Shut” to the people (Ex 19:21, 22), but open to “the prince” (Eze 44:3), he holding the place of God in political concerns, as the priests do in spiritual. As a mark of respect to an Eastern monarch, the gate by which he enters is thenceforth shut to all other persons (compare Ex 19:24).

³It 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.

3. the prince--not King Messiah, as He never would offer a burnt offering for Himself, as the prince is to do (Eze 46:4). The prince must mean the civil ruler under Messiah. His connection with the east gate (by which the Lord had returned to His temple) implies, that, as ruling under God, he is to stand in a place of peculiar nearness to God. He represents Messiah, who entered heaven, the true sanctuary, by a way that none other could, namely, by His own holiness; all others must enter as sinners by faith in His blood, through grace. eat bread before the Lord--a custom connected with sacrifices (Ge 31:54; Ex 18:12; 24:11; 1Co 10:18).

⁴Then 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.

⁵And 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.

⁶And 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,

4-6. Directions as to the priests. Their acts of desecration are attributed to “the house of Israel” (Eze 44:6, 7), as the sins of the priesthood and of the people acted and reacted on one another; “like people, like priest” (Jr 5:31; Ho 4:9).

⁷In 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.

7. uncircumcised in heart--Israelites circumcised outwardly, but wanting the true circumcision of the heart (De 10:16; Ac 7:51). uncircumcised in flesh--not having even the outward badge of the covenant-people.

⁸And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.

8. keepers ... for yourselves--such as you yourselves thought fit, not such as I approve of. Or else, “Ye have not yourselves kept the charge of My holy things, but have set others as keepers of My charge in My sanctuary for yourselves” [Maurer].

¹⁰And 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.

¹¹Yet 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.

10-11. Levites ... shall ... bear--namely, the punishment of their iniquity ... Yet they shall be ministers--So Mark, a Levite, nephew of Barnabas (Ac 4:36), was punished by Paul for losing an opportunity of bearing the cross of Christ, and yet was afterwards admitted into his friendship again, and showed his zeal (Ac 13:13; 15:37; Col 4:10; 2Ti 4:11). One may be a believer, and that too in a distinguished place, and yet lose some special honor--be acknowledged as pious, yet be excluded from some dignity [Bengel]. charge at the gates--Better to be “a doorkeeper in the house of God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness” (Psa 84:10). Though standing as a mere doorkeeper, it is in the house of God, which hath foundations: whereas he who dwells with the wicked, dwells in but shifting tents.

¹⁵But 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:

15. Zadok--The priests of the line of Ithamar were to be discharged from ministrations in the temple, because of their corruptions, following in the steps of Eli’s sons, against whom the same denunciation was uttered (1Sa 2:32, 35). Zadok, according to his name (which means “righteous”) and his line, were to succeed (1Ki 2:35; 1Ch 24:3), as they did not take part in the general apostasy to the same degree, and perhaps [Fairbairn] the prophet, referring to their original state, speaks of them as they appeared when first chosen to the office.

¹⁷And 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.

17. linen--symbolical of purity. Wool soon induces perspiration in the sultry East and so becomes uncleanly.

¹⁸They 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.

18. bonnets--turbans.

¹⁹And 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.

19. not sanctify the people with their garments--namely, those peculiarly priestly vestments in which they ministered in the sanctuary.

²⁰Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.

20. Neither ... shave ... heads--as mourners do (Le 21:1-5). The worshippers of the Egyptian idols Serapis and Isis shaved their heads; another reason why Jehovah’s priests are not to do so. nor suffer ... locks to grow long--as the luxurious, barbarians, and soldiers in warfare did [Jerome].

²¹Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.

21. Neither ... wine--lest the holy enthusiasm of their devotion should be mistaken for inebriation, as in Peter’s case (Ac 2:13, 15, 18).

²⁸And 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.

28. I am their inheritance--(Nu 18:20; De 10:9; 18:1; Jos 13:14, 32).

³⁰And 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.

30. give ... priest the first ... that he may cause the blessing to rest--(Pr 3:9, 10; Mal 3:10).