8 And you have not taken care of my holy things; but you have put them as keepers to take care of my work in my holy place.
Give orders to Aaron and to his sons to keep themselves separate from the holy things of the children of Israel which they give to me, and not to make my holy name common: I am the Lord, Say to them, If any man of all your seed through all your generations, being unclean, comes near the holy things which the children of Israel make holy to the Lord, he will be cut off from before me: I am the Lord. No man of the seed of Aaron who is a leper, or who has a flow from his body, may take of the holy food till he is clean. And any man touching anything which is unclean because of the dead, or any man whose seed goes from him; Or anyone touching any unclean thing which goes flat on the earth, or someone by whom he may be made unclean in any way whatever; Any person touching any such unclean thing will be unclean till evening, and may not take of the holy food till his flesh has been bathed in water; And when the sun has gone down he will be clean; and after that he may take part in the holy food, because it is his bread. That which comes to a natural death, or is attacked by beasts, he may not take as food, for it will make him unclean: I am the Lord. So then, let them keep what I have put into their care, for fear that sin may come on them because of it, so causing their death because they have made it common: I am the Lord, who make them holy. No outside person may take of the holy food, or one living as a guest in the priest's house, or a servant working for payment. But any person for whom the priest has given money, to make him his, may take of it with him; and those who come to birth in his house may take of his bread. And if the daughter of a priest is married to an outside person she may not take of the holy things which are lifted up as offerings. But if a priest's daughter is a widow, or parted from her husband, and has no child, and has come back to her father's house as when she was a girl, she may take of her father's bread; but no outside person may do so. And if a man takes the holy food in error, he will have to give the holy thing back to the priest, with the addition of a fifth part. And they may not make common the holy things which the children of Israel give to the Lord, So causing sin to come on them when they take their holy things for food: I am the Lord who make them holy. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron and to his sons and to all the children of Israel, If any man of the children of Israel, or of another nation living in Israel, makes an offering, given because of an oath or freely given to the Lord for a burned offering; So that it may be pleasing to the Lord, let him give a male, without any mark, from among the oxen or the sheep or the goats. But anything which has a mark you may not give; it will not make you pleasing to the Lord. And whoever makes a peace-offering to the Lord, in payment of an oath or as a free offering, from the herd or the flock, if it is to be pleasing to the Lord, let it be free from any mark or damage. Anything blind or broken or damaged or having any disease or any mark on it may not be offered to the Lord; you may not make an offering of it by fire on the altar to the Lord. An ox or a lamb which has more or less than its natural parts, may be given as a free offering; but it will not be taken in payment of an oath. An animal which has its sex parts damaged or crushed or broken or cut, may not be offered to the Lord; such a thing may not be done anywhere in your land. And from one who is not an Israelite you may not take any of these for an offering to the Lord; for they are unclean, there is a mark on them, and the Lord will not be pleased with them. And the Lord said to Moses, When an ox or a sheep or a goat is given birth, let it be with its mother for seven days; and after the eighth day it may be taken as an offering made by fire to the Lord. A cow or a sheep may not be put to death with its young on the same day. And when you make an offering of praise to the Lord, make it in a way which is pleasing to him. Let it be used for food on the same day; do not keep any part of it till the morning: I am the Lord. So then, keep my orders and do them: I am the Lord. And do not make my holy name common; so that it may be kept holy by the children of Israel: I am the Lord who make you holy, Who took you out of the land of Egypt that I might be your God: I am the Lord.
They are to do your orders and be responsible for the work of the Tent; but they may not come near the vessels of the holy place or the altar, so that death may not overtake them or you. They are to be joined with you in the care of the Tent of meeting, doing whatever is needed for the Tent: and no one of any other family may come near you. You are to be responsible for the holy place and the altar, so that wrath may never again come on the children of Israel.
So I put on one side twelve of the chiefs of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them, And gave to them by weight the silver and the gold and the vessels, all the offering for the house of our God which the king and his wise men and his captains and all Israel there present had given: Measuring into their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels, a hundred talents' weight, and a hundred talents of gold, And twenty gold basins, of a thousand darics, and two vessels of the best bright brass, equal in value to gold. And I said to them, You are holy to the Lord and the vessels are holy: and the silver and the gold are an offering freely given to the Lord, the God of your fathers. Take care of them and keep them, till you put them on the scales before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites and the chiefs of the families of Israel, in Jerusalem, in the rooms of the house of the Lord. So the priests and the Levites took the weight of silver and gold and the vessels, to take them to Jerusalem into the house of our God.
And he said to me, This room, facing south, is for the priests who have the care of the house. And the room facing north is for the priests who have the care of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok, who, from among the sons of Levi, come near to the Lord to do the work of his house.
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).