1 Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looks toward the east; and it was shut.
2 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, has entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.
3 "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."
Because the Glory of God had entered the Temple through that gate, only the prince would be allowed to use it.
4 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.
5 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."
Write all this down.
6 "And thou shall say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations,'"
“Stop the sinning already!”
7 "'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.'"
God is speaking to all the descendants of Jacob. He is calling them Israel, but referring to the Temple which was in Judah. He obviously considers them all one people.
They had defiled the Temple with sinners, and offered the wrong things on the altar.
8 "'And ye have not kept the charge of Mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of My charge in My sanctuary for yourselves.'"
They were disrespectful.
9 "'Thus says 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.'"
Only true believers can enter God’s Church, no matter who comes into the physical building.
10 "'And 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.'"
God will punish the evil ministers. Many,many of the Levites, including many of the actual priests had been the worst of the sinners in Israel/Judah.
11 "'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.'"
Yet God will bring a small number of them back to their homeland. Only a small number repented. Those will become the caretakers of the Temple, but won’t actually serve in the priestly offices.
12 "'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, says the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity.'"
Their callings of Priest have been removed because they misused it and defiled it.
13 "'And 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 place: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.
14 "'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.'"
For those who repent, there will be a place of service, but it will be a reduced office.
15 "'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, says the Lord God:'"
One family of priests didn’t fall into sin. They will continue to serve God through the priestly office.
16 "'They shall enter into My sanctuary, and they shall come near to My table, to minister unto Me, and they shall keep My charge.
17 "'And 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.'"
Wool is itchy and hot, causing the wearer to sweat. It often attracts pests such as moths and lice, and it is heavy. It comes from an animal. The sheep has to be fleeced (sheered, given a haircut) to provide it.
Linen is smooth and cool. It doesn’t attract pests and is made from plant matter. Linen is also much more valuable.
Under the covenant of Grace, we don’t need to be covered in an animal’s sacrifice anymore. We have Jesus instead. We can’t be infested with the evils of this world. And His yoke is easy. His path is light. Jesus is far more valuable than any common man.
And the ministry should NEVER fleece the flock.
18 "'They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat.'"
These bonnets were more like turbans than “Little House on the Prairie” bonnets.
19 "'And 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.
20 "'Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.'"
The priests are to be nice and trim, not extreme in their looks. It is common in false religions for the priests to be required to look extreme; either shaggy and unkempt or completely shaved and Spartan. God wants neither.
We are to attract attention to God by our behavior, not to ourselves by our looks. We should not be extreme.
21 "'Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.'"
God wants His people alert for His service. He doesn’t want their brains and their judgment clouded.
Do notice, this does not say the priests are to never drink wine. Only that they are to not drink while worshiping God. It is common for mind altering substances to be part of pagan ceremonies. God does not want that in the worship of Him. However, the Bible does not condemn a glass of wine with supper, drinking in moderation outside the church.
22 "'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.'"
God wants purity in every area of our lives. This was symbolized with the priest’s marriages.
We are all priests and kings with Christ. We are also not to marry outside the nation Israel (the Christian Church). We are to choose mates who are pure (virgins) and not defiled by previous, ungodly marriages.
Now, since we all become New Creatures when we come to God, the slate is automatically wiped clean. Any sins committed before salvation no longer exist. So a man or woman who lived in sin, was married to a sinner and/or divorced before salvation is still counted as a virgin once they commit to God. They are pure through the Blood of Christ. So someone who has just committed their life to Jesus is the purest of virgins even if they were a prostitute before salvation.
23 "'And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.'"
We are all given a conscious to know right from wrong, but our society makes up its own rules that often confuse us. Is littering a sin? How about killing baby seals for their fur? Abortion? Pre-marital sex? How do you know?
The Bible set up system where older Christians are supposed to teach newer Christians what the Bible says is right and wrong. They are supposed to help the newbies learn to walk the path of righteousness just as a parent helps a baby learn to walk on his physical feet.
24 "'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.'"
“Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world?” 1 Corinthians 6:2, 2:15
Of course here in Ezekiel, God is setting up the national judicial system. The priests were the criminal and civil judges.
But we are told that it is our job to judge (decide between good and evil in) this world.
25 "'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 has had no husband, they may defile themselves.'"
Moses gave strict commands that anyone who touched a dead body had to wash and stay separated from the rest of the people for a time. This would have cut way down on the spread of disease.
The priests were given the above rule at that time; that they are not to mourn or attend the funeral of anyone except a very near relative. The priesthood especially was to be free from disease.
This was not only for their health, but symbolic to us. We are not to defile ourselves with those who are dead to Christ.
“Be you not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion has light with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14.
Now, of course, this doesn’t mean we can’t talk to the unsaved. We would have to all become hermits if that were the truth, and we couldn’t fulfill Christ’s command to teach the whole world about Him.
It means that we are not to have any formal ties to the unsaved. We are not to marry them, form business partnerships, or enter into any other binding agreement with them. Their goals and our goals are not the same and such coupling can only end in bad feelings and disaster or with the loss of salvation for the Christian.
26 "'And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.'"
A good long time is given to recover from uncleanness.
27 "'And in the day that he goes into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord God.'"
When a priest is defiled due to mourning for the death of a close loved one, he is to bring a cleansing sacrifice to God.
28 "'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.'"
“This world is not my home. I’m just a stranger here” as the song says. We are only pilgrims on this planet. Our real home is yet to come. Heaven and God are our inheritance.
29 "'They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering: and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.'"
The blessings of service to God belong to us just like they did to the priests.
“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:5
This also means that those who serve God full time such as the pastors of churches should be supported by their churches. It is good and right that their congregations pay them a living wage with their tithes and offerings.
30 "'And 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.'"
When the shepherd (“Pastor” is Latin for “shepherd.”) of a church is supported by the church, he can devote all his energy to the spiritual well-being of his people. He isn’t distracted by worldly things like jobs. Those who object to paying their pastor are “cutting off their own nose to spite their own face.” They are shorting themselves spiritually.
31 The priests shall not eat of anything that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.
Things that die by themselves or that are killed by other animals are way more likely to be disease ridden. Moses, in fact, ruled that no Israelite was to eat such meat but that they could sell it to non-Israelites (early germ warfare?)