8 And ye have not kept the charge of my holy things; but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.
Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, which they hallow unto me, and that they profane not my holy name: I am Jehovah. Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed throughout your generations, that approacheth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto Jehovah, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from before me: I am Jehovah. What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath an issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth anything that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him; or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath; the soul that toucheth any such shall be unclean until the even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he bathe his flesh in water. And when the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his bread. That which dieth of itself, or is torn of beasts, he shall not eat, to defile himself therewith: I am Jehovah. They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it, and die therein, if they profane it: I am Jehovah who sanctifieth them. There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest's, or a hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing. But if a priest buy any soul, the purchase of his money, he shall eat of it; and such as are born in his house, they shall eat of his bread. And if a priest's daughter be married unto a stranger, she shall not eat of the heave-offering of the holy things. But if a priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and be returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's bread: but there shall no stranger eat thereof. And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth part thereof unto it, and shall give unto the priest the holy thing. And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto Jehovah, and `so' cause them to bear the iniquity that bringeth guilt, when they eat their holy things: for I am Jehovah who sanctifieth them. And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whosoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the sojourners in Israel, that offereth his oblation, whether it be any of their vows, or any of their freewill-offerings, which they offer unto Jehovah for a burnt-offering; that ye may be accepted, `ye shall offer' a male without blemish, of the bullocks, of the sheep, or of the goats. But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you. And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace-offerings unto Jehovah to accomplish a vow, or for a freewill-offering, of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein. Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto Jehovah, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto Jehovah. Either a bullock or a lamb that hath anything superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill-offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted. That which hath its stones bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut, ye shall not offer unto Jehovah; neither shall ye do `thus' in your land. Neither from the hand of a foreigner shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, there is a blemish in them: they shall not be accepted for you. And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for the oblation of an offering made by fire unto Jehovah. And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and its young both in one day. And when ye sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto Jehovah, ye shall sacrifice it that ye may be accepted. On the same day it shall be eaten; ye shall leave none of it until the morning: I am Jehovah. Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am Jehovah. And ye shall not profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am Jehovah who halloweth you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am Jehovah.
And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the Tent: only they shall not come nigh unto the vessels of the sanctuary and unto the altar, that they die not, neither they, nor ye. And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the Tent: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you. And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar; that there be wrath no more upon the children of Israel.
Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them, and weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered: I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels a hundred talents; of gold a hundred talents; and twenty bowls of gold, of a thousand darics; and two vessels of fine bright brass, precious as gold. And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto Jehovah, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill-offering unto Jehovah, the God of your fathers. Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the princes of the fathers' `houses' of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Jehovah. So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.
And he said unto me, This chamber, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house; and the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok, who from among the sons of Levi come near to Jehovah to minister unto him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 44
Commentary on Ezekiel 44 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 44
Eze 44:1-31. Ordinances for the Prince and the Priests.
2. shut … not be opened—(Job 12:14; Isa 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).
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).
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" (Jer 5:31; Ho 4:9).
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.
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].
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" (Ps 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.
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.
17. linen—symbolical of purity. Wool soon induces perspiration in the sultry East and so becomes uncleanly.
18. bonnets—turbans.
19. not sanctify the people with their garments—namely, those peculiarly priestly vestments in which they ministered in the sanctuary.
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].
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).
28. I am their inheritance—(Nu 18:20; De 10:9; 18:1; Jos 13:14, 32).
30. give … priest the first … that he may cause the blessing to rest—(Pr 3:9, 10; Mal 3:10).