Chapter xliv.
Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. 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. 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 (verses 1-3).
In the previous chapter the prophet was in the inner court (xliii:5). It was there he heard the voice of the Lord and received the message and saw the great altar and its ordinances. From the inner court he is led back by the man to the eastern gate. This gate he finds no longer open. As they arrived it was shut. The last time that gate was seen it was open, and the glory of the Lord entered through this eastern gateway. The reason why this gate is to be shut is stated by the Lord in His address to Ezekiel. "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 shall it be shut." The Lord who entered with His glory is the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and here His full glory is made known. He is the Lord, the God of Israel, He "whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" (Micah v:2). The gate is now to serve another purpose. "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." Who is this prince? Some say that this prince is the Lord Himself. Our Lord is repeatedly called a prince (Isaiah ix:6, 7, lv:4[51]; Dan. ix:25; Rev. i:5). In chapters xxxiv and xxxvii Messiah, Christ, is meant by the One Shepherd "My servant David," who will be King and Prince over them. But now in the closing chapters of this book a prince is mentioned seventeen times. But not once is he spoken of as "David" or "my servant David." This prince is not the Messiah, our Lord; nor is he the high priest as others claim. The best evidence that this prince is not Christ is learned from the ordinances he is to observe as revealed in chapter xlvi, where we read that he is to worship himself and that he must bring burnt offerings and peace offerings; we also read of this prince having sons. All this shows that the prince is not identical with the Lord. Who is he then? He is the viceregent of the King, a future prince of the house of David, who will represent the Lord on earth. David's throne will be established in Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus Christ will reign supreme over all; His throne is above the earth in the New Jerusalem. He will visit the earth and manifest His glory as King of kings and Lord of lords. This probably will be during the great celebrations of the feast of Tabernacles, when the nations send their representatives to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts (Zech. xiv:16). Upon David's throne will sit this prince of David as viceregent. The enemy anticipating this has counterfeited this vice-regency in the spurious claims of the Roman pope.
This prince as the vice-regent, has to enter by the way of the porch of the eastern gateway, and he must also go out the same way (see also xlvi:2-8.)
II. Concerning the Strangers and the Levites in Relation to the Temple Worship.
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. 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. 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. 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. And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.
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. And the Levites that are gone away from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols: they shall even bear their iniquity. 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. 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. And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, not 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. 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. (verses 4-14).
Brought again through the north gate of the inner court, the prophet is face to face with the glory of the Lord which filled the house of the Lord, and Ezekiel fell on his face. Then the Lord addressed him. He is to mark well what he sees and what he hears concerning the ordinances and the laws of the house of the Lord. The temple is now repeatedly called the house of the Lord, the place where His glory dwells, exalted above the hills, to which the nations shall come (Isaiah ii:2). Israel in this message is reminded of the past. They were a rebellious house. This was the burden of the opening messages of the prophet (chapter ii, etc.). But now all must be and will be different. The abominations of the past, the pollution of His house and all else will now be put away. "Let it suffice you of all your abominations." They will no longer be tolerated, nor will converted Israel backslide again. He reminds them of their sinful past and of the demands of holiness for His house; all abominations and failures will cease. Uncircumcised in heart and in flesh shall not enter into the sanctuary of the Lord. Zechariah bears the same testimony: "In that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts" (Zech. xiv:21). His people will then be holy; their new birth has taken place, the uncircumcised, stony heart is taken away and His Spirit is poured out upon them (chapter xxxvi:25-27).
Verses 10-14 concern the Levites; they are to bear their iniquity and be degraded as to their office. What Levites are meant, and when did they go away from the Lord? It cannot mean past generations of Levites. The offence must have been committed by them before the Lord appeared in glory. It must be explained by what happened among the people before the Lord came, during the days of the false Messiah. At that time Israel will go far astray from the Lord and turn again to idols. In this apostasy the Levites have a share. "They ministered unto them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity." When the Lord comes, when their sins are forgiven and they are cleansed, the Lord will deal accordingly with these Levites as announced in these verses. They shall bear their iniquity for their unfaithfulness. "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; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed." Yet there will be service for them. "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."
III. Concerning the Priests, the sons of Zadok, and their Duties.
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: They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.
And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, and 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. They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causeth sweat. And when they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer 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. Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads. Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court. 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. And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. 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. 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. And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days. 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. 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. They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. And the first of all the first fruits of all things and every oblation of all of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priests': ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house. The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast (verses 15-31).