The Prince, the Levites, the Priests Ezekiel...

www.biblestudyworkshop.org

Landmark Publications, Inc., 1045 Maynor Avenue, Nashville, TN. 37216, U.S.A., John C. Sewell, Ph.D., Editor.

1

The Prince, the Levites, the Priests

Ezekiel 44:1-31



2

The Prince, the Levites, the Priests

Text:

Ezekiel 44:1-31,

1. Then he brought me back by way of the outer gate of the

sanctuary which faces east, but it was shut.

2. The Lord said to me: “This gate will be shut; it will not be

opened, and no one will enter by it. For the Lord, the God of Israel,

has entered by it; therefore it will remain shut.

3. Only the prince may sit in it to eat a sacrificial meal before the

Lord; he will enter by way of the porch of the gate and will go out

by the same way.”

4. Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the

temple. As I watched, I noticed the glory of the Lord filling the

Lord’s temple, and I threw myself face down.

5. The Lord said to me: “Son of man, pay attention, watch closely

and listen carefully to everything I tell you concerning all the

statutes of the Lord’s house and all its laws. Pay attention to the

entrances to the temple with all the exits of the sanctuary.

6. Say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the

sovereign Lord says: Enough of all your abominable practices, O

house of Israel!

7. When you bring foreigners, those uncircumcised in heart and in

flesh, into my sanctuary, you desecrate it—even my house—when

you offer my food, the fat and the blood. You have broken my

covenant by all your abominable practices.

8. You have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have

assigned foreigners to keep charge of my sanctuary for you.

9. This is what the sovereign Lord says: No foreigner, who is

uncircumcised in heart and flesh among all the foreigners who are

among the people of Israel, will enter into my sanctuary.



3

10. “‘But the Levites who went far from me, straying off from me

after their idols when Israel went astray, will be responsible for

their sin.

11. Yet they will be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at

the gates of the temple, and serving the temple. They will slaughter

the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for the people, and they will

stand before them to minister to them.

12. Because they used to minister to them before their idols, and

became a sinful obstacle to the house of Israel, consequently I have

made a vow concerning them, declares the sovereign Lord, that they

will be responsible for their sin.

13. They will not come near me to serve me as priest, nor will they

come near any of my holy things, the things which are most sacred.

They will bear the shame of the abominable deeds they have

committed.

14. Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, all of its

service and all that will be done in it.

15. “‘But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok who kept

the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray

from me, will approach me to minister to me; they will stand before

me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the sovereign Lord.

16. They will enter my sanctuary, and approach my table to minister

to me; they will keep my charge.

17. “‘When they enter the gates of the inner court, they must wear

linen garments; they must not have any wool on them when they

minister in the inner gates of the court and in the temple.

18. Linen turbans will be on their heads and linen undergarments

will be around their waists; they must not bind themselves with

anything that causes sweat.

19. When they go out to the outer court to the people, they must

remove the garments they were ministering in, and place them in

the holy chambers; they must put on other garments so that they

will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

20. “‘They must not shave their heads nor let their hair grow long;

they must only trim their heads.



4

21. No priest may drink wine when he enters the inner court.

22. They must not marry a widow or a divorcee, but they may

marry a virgin from the house of Israel or a widow who is a priest’s

widow.

23. Moreover, they will teach my people the difference between the

holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between

the ceremonially unclean and the clean.

24. “‘In a controversy they will act as judges; they will judge

according to my ordinances. They will keep my laws and my statutes

regarding all my appointed festivals and will observe my Sabbaths.

25. “‘They must not come near a dead person or they will be defiled;

however, for father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister, they

may defile themselves.

26. After a priest has become ceremonially clean, they must count

off a period of seven days for him.

27. On the day he enters the sanctuary, into the inner court to serve

in the sanctuary, he must offer his sin offering, declares the

sovereign Lord.

28. “‘This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance, and you

must give them no property in Israel; I am their property.

29. They may eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt

offering, and every devoted thing in Israel will be theirs.

30. The first of all the first fruits and all contributions of any kind

will be for the priests; you will also give to the priest the first portion

of your dough, so that a blessing may rest on your house.

31. The priests will not eat any bird or animal that has died a

natural death or was torn to pieces by a wild animal. (NET)

Introduction:

I. Coffman outlined this chapter as follows:

A. The east gate is assigned to the priests (verses 1-3).



5

B. The priesthood is reproved and condemned for their sins (verses

4-14).

C. Specific regulations are next given for cleansing and purifying

the priesthood (verses 15-31).

Commentary:

Ezekiel 44:1, Then he brought me back by way of the outer gate of

the sanctuary which faces east, but it was shut. (NET)

I. Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, the

one facing east, and it was shut.

A. Smith explained, “From the inner court in which he had

received the statutes of the altar Ezekiel was conducted back to the

eastern gate of the outer court.

1. Ezekiel 43:1, 4, Then he brought me back by way of the

outer gate of the sanctuary which faces east, but it was

shut. The glory of the Lord came into the temple by way

of the gate that faces east. (NET)

2. Ezekiel 44:1, Then he brought me back by way of the

outer gate of the sanctuary which faces east, but it was

shut. (NET)

3. “This was the principal entrance to the Temple,” Smith

further wrote.

4. Ezekiel 40:6, Then he went to the gate facing east. He

climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate

as 10½ feet deep. (NET)



6

5. This door had previously been open. Its now being closed

was a marked change.

B. The closure of a gate of the sanctuary was surprising, but the

issue is holiness, preserving the holiness produced by the entrance

of God through this gate. (See Fredenburg.)

1. Ezekiel 42:14, When the priests enter, then they will

not go out from the sanctuary to the outer court without

taking off their garments in which they minister, for these

are holy; they will put on other garments, then they will

go near the places where the people are.” (NET)

Ezekiel 44:2, The Lord said to me: “This gate will be shut; it will not

be opened, and no one will enter by it. For the Lord, the God of

Israel, has entered by it; therefore it will remain shut. (NET)

I. The Lord said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It must not be

opened; no one may enter through it.

A. This gate was to permanently remain closed. (Smith)

1. The east gate of the tabernacle and of Solomon’s temple

had always remained open.

2. Having this gate permanently closed was a major change.

II. It is to remain shut because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered

through it.

A. The God of Israel had made this gate holy by passing through it.

No human thereafter would be permitted to pollute it by passing

through it. (See Smith.)



7

1. This is to inspire an exalted conception of the sanctity of

the temple and all its belongings. (The Pulpit Commentary)

Ezekiel 44:3, Only the prince may sit in it to eat a sacrificial meal

before the Lord; he will enter by way of the porch of the gate and

will go out by the same way.” (NET)

I. The prince himself is the only one who may sit inside the gateway to

eat in the presence of the Lord.

A. The “Prince” is the Messiah, a descendant of David. He alone

could sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the Lord.

(See Smith.)

1. Ezekiel 46:1-8, “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

The gate of the inner court that faces east will be closed

six working days, but on the Sabbath day it will be

opened and on the day of the new moon it will be opened.

The prince will enter by way of the porch of the gate from

the outside, and will stand by the doorpost of the gate.

The priests will provide his burnt offering and his peace

offerings, and he will bow down at the threshold of the

gate and then go out. But the gate will not be closed until

evening. The people of the land will bow down at the

entrance of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and

on the new moons. The burnt offering which the prince

will offer to the Lord on the Sabbath day will be six

unblemished lambs and one unblemished ram. The grain

offering will be an ephah with the ram, and the grain

offering with the lambs will be as much as he is able to

give, and a gallon of olive oil with an ephah. On the day of

the new moon he will offer an unblemished young bull,

and six lambs and a ram, all without blemish. He will

provide a grain offering: an ephah with the bull and an

ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he



8

wishes, and a gallon of olive oil with each ephah of grain.

When the prince enters, he will come by way of the porch

of the gate and will go out the same way. (NET)

2. Ezekiel 43:6-9, I heard someone speaking to me from

the temple, while the man was standing beside me. He

said to me: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne

and the place for the soles of my feet, where I will live

among the people of Israel forever. The house of Israel

will no longer profane my holy name, neither they nor

their kings, by their spiritual prostitution or by the pillars

of their kings set up when they die. When they placed

their threshold by my threshold and their doorpost by my

doorpost, with only the wall between me and them, they

profaned my holy name by the abominable deeds they

committed. So I consumed them in my anger. Now they

must put away their spiritual prostitution and the pillars

of their kings far from me, and then I will live among

them forever. (NET)

3. 1 Samuel 8:6-7, But this request displeased Samuel, for

they said, “Give us a king to lead us.” So Samuel prayed

to the Lord. 7 The Lord said to Samuel, “Do everything

the people request of you. For it is not you that they have

rejected, but it is me that they have rejected as their king.

(NET)

B. The Pulpit Commentary agrees that the prince could include the

righteous Messiah, but that the prince could also include all

righteous, future rulers of Israel.

1. Ezekiel 37:25, They will live in the land I gave to my

servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; they will live

in it—they and their children and their grandchildren



9

forever. David my servant will be prince over them

forever. (NET)

C. In regard to permitting princes to eat in the presence of the

Lord, this was a major change.

III. He is to enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the

same way.”

A. The prince was to enter and leave by the porch of the gateway

gaining entrance to the outer court by either the north or south

gate.

Ezekiel 44:4, Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the

front of the temple. As I watched, I noticed the glory of the Lord

filling the Lord’s temple, and I threw myself face down. (NET)

I. Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the

temple.

A. Ezekiel was taken back to the front of the temple.

1. Ezekiel 46:1, “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

The gate of the inner court that faces east will be closed

six working days, but on the Sabbath day it will be

opened and on the day of the new moon it will be opened.

(NET)

II. I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling the temple of the Lord,

and I fell face down.

A. Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord that filled the temple and was

totally overwhelmed. (See Smith.)



10

Ezekiel 44:5, The Lord said to me: “Son of man, pay attention,

watch closely and listen carefully to everything I tell you concerning

all the statutes of the Lord’s house and all its laws. Pay attention to

the entrances to the temple with all the exits of the sanctuary.

(NET)

I. The Lord said to me, “Son of man, look carefully, listen closely and

give attention to everything I tell you concerning all the regulations

regarding the temple of the Lord.

A. These regulations designated the people who would have the

right to participate in the Temple services, what was to be done

and how. (See Smith.)

1. All, not just some, of these regulations were to be carefully

observed!

2. Ezekiel 43:11, When they are ashamed of all that they

have done, make known to them the design of the temple,

its pattern, its exits and entrances, and its whole design—

all its statutes, its entire design, and all its laws; write it

all down in their sight, so that they may observe its entire

design and all its statutes and do them. (NET)

B. Ezekiel was told to: look carefully, listen closely, and give

attention to everything the Lord told him.

1. We would do well to do likewise!

C. Those of us who would teach the gospel must look carefully,

listen closely, and give attention to everything the Lord has told us

in the Bible and be positive we speak only the truth and that in

love!



11

II. Give attention to the entrance of the temple and all the exits of the

sanctuary.

A. Details in this section reveal Yahweh’s care, concern and

control over all aspects of the Temple including the entrances and

exits.

1. Ezekiel 40:1, In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the

beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in

the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on this

very day, the hand of the Lord was on me, and he

brought me there. (NET)

2. Ezekiel 43:11, When they are ashamed of all that they

have done, make known to them the design of the temple,

its pattern, its exits and entrances, and its whole design—

all its statutes, its entire design, and all its laws; write it

all down in their sight, so that they may observe its entire

design and all its statutes and do them. (NET)

Ezekiel 44:6, Say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, ‘This is

what the sovereign Lord says: Enough of all your abominable

practices, O house of Israel! (NET)

I. Say to the rebellious house of Israel, “This is what the Sovereign Lord

says: . . .

A. Ezekiel was to deliver the exact word of the Lord to the

rebellious Israelites.

1. Preachers have always proclaimed the word of the Lord to

all manner of people.

a. Consider the kinds of people to whom Jesus

preached.



12

II. Enough of your detestable practices, O house of Israel!

A. The Lord had had enough of Israel’s detestable practices!

1. We can be sure God has had more than enough of our

detestable practices also.

B. It is far beyond time for Israel to repent!

1. Ezekiel 8:5, He said to me, “Son of man, look up

toward the north.” So I looked up toward the north, and I

noticed to the north of the altar gate was this statue of

jealousy at the entrance. (NET)

2. It is far beyond time for us to repent!

Ezekiel 44:7, When you bring foreigners, those uncircumcised in

heart and in flesh, into my sanctuary, you desecrate it—even my

house—when you offer my food, the fat and the blood. You have

broken my covenant by all your abominable practices. (NET)

I. In addition to all your other detestable practices, you brought

foreigners uncircumcised in heart and flesh into my sanctuary, . . .

A. One of the detestable practices that had especially grieved the

Lord was the bringing of uncircumcised heathens into the

sanctuary (See Smith.) to perform religious duties!

B. This and other sinful departures from God’s laws would not be

tolerated. (See Fredenburg.)

1. Unqualified personnel nullified the worship and activity

associated with their temple leadership. (See Fredenburg.)



13

a. Ezekiel 43:26, For seven days they will make

atonement for the altar and cleanse it, so they will

consecrate it. (NET)

b. 2 Kings 11:4-8, In the seventh year Jehoiada

summoned the officers of the units of hundreds of

the Carians and the royal bodyguard. He met with

them in the Lord’s temple. He made an agreement

with them and made them swear an oath of

allegiance in the Lord’s temple. Then he showed

them the king’s son. He ordered them, “This is what

you must do. One third of the unit that is on duty

during the Sabbath will guard the royal palace.

Another third of you will be stationed at the

Foundation Gate. Still another third of you will be

stationed at the gate behind the royal guard. You

will take turns guarding the palace. The two units

who are off duty on the Sabbath will guard the

Lord’s temple and protect the king. You must

surround the king. Each of you must hold his

weapon in his hand. Whoever approaches your

ranks must be killed. You must accompany the king

wherever he goes.” (NET)

c. Exodus 12:43-48, The Lord said to Moses and

Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover. No

foreigner may share in eating it. But everyone’s

servant who is bought for money, after you have

circumcised him, may eat it. A foreigner and a hired

worker must not eat it. It must be eaten in one

house; you must not bring any of the meat outside

the house, and you must not break a bone of it. The

whole community of Israel must observe it. “When a

foreigner lives with you and wants to observe the

Passover to the Lord, all his males must be



14

circumcised, and then he may approach and observe

it, and he will be like one who is born in the land—

but no uncircumcised person may eat of it. (NET)

d. Deuteronomy 23:3-8, An Ammonite or Moabite

may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth

generation none of their descendants shall ever do

so, for they did not meet you with food and water on

the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore,

they hired Balaam son of Beor of Pethor in Aram

Naharaim to curse you. But the Lord your God

refused to listen to Balaam and changed the curse to

a blessing, for the Lord your God loves you. You

must not seek peace and prosperity for them

through all the ages to come. You must not hate an

Edomite, for he is your relative; you must not hate

an Egyptian, for you lived as a foreigner in his land.

Children of the third generation born to them may

enter the assembly of the Lord. (NET)

2. “The rulers for the new temple were more stringent than

for the old: no non-Israelite, not even those favorably

disposed to Israel and Yahweh, were to enter Yahweh’s

sanctuary,” Fredenburg wrote.

II. desecrating my temple while you offered me food, fat and blood, and

you broke my covenant.

A. Those Israelites had blatantly disobeyed the commands of the

Lord while hypocritically offering sacrifices to God.

1. 1 Kings 12:19, 31, So Israel has been in rebellion

against the Davidic dynasty to this very day. He built

temples on the high places and appointed as priests

people who were not Levites. (NET)



15

2. 2 Chronicles 11:15, Jeroboam appointed his own

priests to serve at the worship centers and to lead in the

worship of the goat idols and calf idols he had made.

(NET)

3. 2 Kings 16:3-4, 10-15, He followed in the footsteps of

the kings of Israel. He passed his son through the fire, a

horrible sin practiced by the nations whom the Lord

drove out from before the Israelites. He offered sacrifices

and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and

under every green tree. When King Ahaz went to meet

with King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria in Damascus, he saw

the altar there. King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a

drawing of the altar and a blueprint for its design. Uriah

the priest built an altar in conformity to the plans King

Ahaz had sent from Damascus. Uriah the priest finished

it before King Ahaz arrived back from Damascus. When

the king arrived back from Damascus and saw the altar,

he approached it and offered a sacrifice on it. He offered

his burnt sacrifice and his grain offering. He poured out

his libation and sprinkled the blood from his peace

offerings on the altar. He moved the bronze altar that

stood in the Lord’s presence from the front of the temple

(between the altar and the Lord’s temple) and put it on

the north side of the new altar. King Ahaz ordered Uriah

the priest, “On the large altar offer the morning burnt

sacrifice, the evening grain offering, the royal burnt

sacrifices and grain offering, the burnt sacrifice for all the

people of Israel, their grain offering, and their libations.

Sprinkle all the blood of the burnt sacrifice and other

sacrifices on it. The bronze altar will be for my personal

use.” (NET)



16

4. 2 Chronicles 28:2-4, 23-25, He followed in the footsteps

of the kings of Israel; he also made images of the Baals.

He offered sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and

passed his sons through the fire, a horrible sin practiced

by the nations whom the Lord drove out before the

Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the

high places, on the hills, and under every green tree. He

offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus whom he

thought had defeated him. He reasoned, “Since the gods

of the kings of Damascus helped them, I will sacrifice to

them so they will help me.” But they caused him and all

Israel to stumble. Ahaz gathered the items in God’s

temple and removed them. He shut the doors of the

Lord’s temple and erected altars on every street corner in

Jerusalem. In every city throughout Judah he set up high

places to offer sacrifices to other gods. He angered the

Lord God of his ancestors. (NET)

5. 2 Kings 21:2-7, 11, 15, He did evil in the sight of the

Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by

the nations whom the Lord drove out from before the

Israelites. He rebuilt the high places that his father

Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and

made an Asherah pole just like King Ahab of Israel had

done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky and

worshiped them. He built altars in the Lord’s temple,

about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my

home.” In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he

built altars for all the stars in the sky. He passed his son

through the fire and practiced divination and omen

reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld

spirits, and appointed magicians to supervise it. He did a

great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking

him to anger. He put an idol of Asherah he had made in

the temple, about which the Lord had said to David and



17

to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I

have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my

permanent home. “King Manasseh of Judah has

committed horrible sins. He has sinned more than the

Amorites before him and has encouraged Judah to sin by

worshiping his disgusting idols. because they have done

evil in my sight and have angered me from the time their

ancestors left Egypt right up to this very day!’” (NET)

6. 2 Chronicles 33:2-7, He did evil in the sight of the Lord

and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the

nations whom the Lord drove out ahead of the Israelites.

He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had

destroyed; he set up altars for the Baals and made

Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky

and worshiped them. He built altars in the Lord’s temple,

about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my

permanent home.” In the two courtyards of the Lord’s

temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. He

passed his sons through the fire in the Valley of Ben

Hinnom and practiced divination, omen reading, and

sorcery. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld

spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it. He did a

great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord and angered

him. He put an idolatrous image he had made in God’s

temple, about which God had said to David and to his son

Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen

out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home.

(NET)

7. Exodus 12:48-49, “When a foreigner lives with you and

wants to observe the Passover to the Lord, all his males

must be circumcised, and then he may approach and

observe it, and he will be like one who is born in the

land—but no uncircumcised person may eat of it. The



18

same law will apply to the person who is native-born and

to the foreigner who lives among you.” (NET)

8. Leviticus 17: 8, 10, 12, “You are to say to them: ‘Any

man from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who

reside in their midst, who offers a burnt offering or a

sacrifice “‘Any man from the house of Israel or from the

foreigners who reside in their midst who eats any blood, I

will set my face against that person who eats the blood,

and I will cut him off from the midst of his people,

Therefore, I have said to the Israelites: No person among

you is to eat blood, and no resident foreigner who lives

among you is to eat blood. (NET)

9. Exodus 20:10, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the

Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or

your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your

female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner

who is in your gates. (NET)

10. Leviticus 18:26, You yourselves must obey my statutes

and my regulations and must not do any of these

abominations, both the native citizen and the resident

foreigner in your midst, (NET)

11. Numbers 15:14, 29, If a resident foreigner is living

with you—or whoever is among you in future

generations—and prepares an offering made by fire as a

pleasing aroma to the Lord, he must do it the same way

you are to do it. You must have one law for the person

who sins unintentionally, both for the native-born among

the Israelites and for the resident foreigner who lives

among them. (NET)



19

Ezekiel 44:8, You have not kept charge of my holy things, but you

have assigned foreigners to keep charge of my sanctuary for you.

(NET)

I. Instead of carrying out your duty in regard to my holy things, you put

others in charge of sanctuary.

A. Worse yet these uncircumcised heathens were used as assistants

of the priests!

Ezekiel 44:9, This is what the sovereign Lord says: No foreigner,

who is uncircumcised in heart and flesh among all the foreigners

who are among the people of Israel, will enter into my sanctuary.

(NET)

I. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: . . .

A. The Lord most certainly had something to say to the rebellious

Israelites.

II. No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh is to enter my

sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among the Israelites.

A. “The exclusion of foreigners” in this passage “differs from the

rule in Isaiah 56:1-8. (Hamilton)

1. Isaiah 56:1-8, This is what the Lord says, “Promote

justice! Do what is right! For I am ready to deliver you; I

am ready to vindicate you openly. The people who do this

will be blessed, the people who commit themselves to

obedience, who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. No

foreigner who becomes a follower of the Lord should say,

‘The Lord will certainly exclude me from his people.’ The

eunuch should not say, ‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’”



20

For this is what the Lord says: “For the eunuchs who

observe my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and are

faithful to my covenant, I will set up within my temple

and my walls a monument that will be better than sons

and daughters. I will set up a permanent monument for

them that will remain. As for foreigners who become

followers of the Lord and serve him, who love the name of

the Lord and want to be his servants—all who observe

the Sabbath and do not defile it, and who are faithful to

my covenant—I will bring them to my holy mountain; I

will make them happy in the temple where people pray to

me. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted

on my altar, for my temple will be known as a temple

where all nations may pray.” The sovereign Lord says

this, the one who gathers the dispersed of Israel: “I will

still gather them up.” (NET)

B. In this new temple, all the Lord’s regulations were to be

carefully observed and the holiness of the temple preserved.

C. The Israelites had sinfully formulated their own rules pertaining

to the temple.

1. God makes it plain that this would no longer be tolerated,

that he alone would stipulate all regulations pertaining to the

temple.

2. My friends, this is also true of the church!

3. All male Israelites were to be circumcised physically on

the eighth day following birth, but those entering the temple

were required also to be circumcised in heart, truly devoted

to God and the doing of his will.



21

4. Regrettably, many baptized believers in the church are not

“circumcised in heart,” do not live righteously and godly in

this present world.

Ezekiel 44:10, “‘But the Levites who went far from me, straying off

from me after their idols when Israel went astray, will be

responsible for their sin. (NET)

I. “The Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray and who

wandered from me after their idols must bear the consequences of their

sin.

A. “Ezekiel 44:10-16 explains the postexilic distinction between

priests and Levites, which does not seem to have been so hard and

fast in the preexilic era,” Hamilton wrote.

B. Levites were descendants of Levi, one of the sons of Jacob.

Levites served as assistants to the Priests in the worship system of

the nation of Israel. (Youngblood)

C. Clarke wrote that, "This refers to the schism of Jeroboam, who,

when he set up a new worship, got as many of the priests and

Levites to join him in his idolatry as he could.”

D. The Pulpit Commentary reads, “The Levites were Levi’s

descendants, who were chosen by Jehovah for service in the

tabernacle, to minister to the priests when these sacrificed in the

tabernacle, and in particular to keep the charge of the tabernacle,

i.e., of the house and all its vessels, as distinguished from the

charge of the sanctuary and the altar, which pertained to Aaron and

his sons alone as priests.

1. Numbers 3:6-13, “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and

present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve

him. They are responsible for his needs and the needs of



22

the whole community before the tent of meeting, by

attending to the service of the tabernacle. And they are

responsible for all the furnishings of the tent of meeting,

and for the needs of the Israelites, as they serve in the

tabernacle. You are to assign the Levites to Aaron and

his sons; they will be assigned exclusively to him out of all

the Israelites. So you are to appoint Aaron and his sons,

and they will be responsible for their priesthood, but the

unauthorized person who comes near must be put to

death.” Then the Lord spoke to Moses: “Look, I myself

have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead

of every firstborn who opens the womb among the

Israelites. So the Levites belong to me, because all the

firstborn are mine. When I destroyed all the firstborn in

the land of Egypt, I set apart for myself all the firstborn

in Israel, both man and beast. They belong to me. I am

the Lord.” (NET)

2. Numbers 16:9, Does it seem too small a thing to you

that the God of Israel has separated you from the

community of Israel to bring you near to himself, to

perform the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to

stand before the community to minister to them? (NET)

3. Numbers 8:19, I have given the Levites as a gift to

Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to do the

work for the Israelites in the tent of meeting, and to make

atonement for the Israelites, so there will be no plague

among the Israelites when the Israelites come near the

sanctuary.” (NET)

4. Numbers 1:53, But the Levites must camp around the

tabernacle of the testimony, so that the Lord’s anger will

not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are



23

responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the

testimony.” (NET)

5. Numbers 18:2-6, 23, “Bring with you your brothers, the

tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may

join with you and minister to you while you and your sons

with you are before the tent of the testimony. They must

be responsible to care for you and to care for the entire

tabernacle. However, they must not come near the

furnishings of the sanctuary and the altar, or both they

and you will die. They must join with you, and they will

be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting, for all

the service of the tent, but no unauthorized person may

approach you. You will be responsible for the care of the

sanctuary and the care of the altar, so that there will be

no more wrath on the Israelites. I myself have chosen

your brothers the Levites from among the Israelites. They

are given to you as a gift from the Lord, to perform the

duties of the tent of meeting. But the Levites must

perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they must

bear their iniquity. It will be a perpetual ordinance

throughout your generations that among the Israelites the

Levites have no inheritance. (NET)

6. Deuteronomy 10:8, At that time the Lord set apart the

tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to

stand before the Lord to serve him, and to formulate

blessings in his name, as they do to this very day. (NET)

7. Deuteronomy 18:1, 3, 6, The Levitical priests—indeed,

the entire tribe of Levi—will have no allotment or

inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings

of the Lord and of his inheritance. This shall be the

priests’ fair allotment from the people who offer

sacrifices, whether bull or sheep—they must give to the



24

priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach. Suppose a

Levite comes by his own free will from one of your

villages, from any part of Israel where he is living, to the

place the Lord chooses (NET)

8. 2 Samuel 15:24, Zadok and all the Levites who were

with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God.

When they positioned the ark of God, Abiathar offered

sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving the city.

(NET)

9. 1 Kings 8:4, The priests and Levites carried the ark of

the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy items in the

tent. (NET)

10. Ezra 1:5, 62, Then the leaders of Judah and

Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites—all

those whose mind God had stirred—got ready to go up in

order to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. (No

verse #62..?) (NET)

11. Ezra 3:8, 10, In the second year after they had come to

the temple of God in Jerusalem, in the second month,

Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of

Jozadak initiated the work, along with the rest of their

associates, the priests and the Levites, and all those who

were coming to Jerusalem from the exile. They appointed

the Levites who were at least twenty years old to take

charge of the work on the Lord’s temple. When the

builders established the Lord’s temple, the priests,

ceremonially attired and with their clarions, and the

Levites (the sons of Asaph) with their cymbals, stood to

praise the Lord according to the instructions left by King

David of Israel. (NET)



25

12. Ezra 6:20, The priests and the Levites had purified

themselves, every last one, and they all were ceremonially

pure. They sacrificed the Passover lamb for all the exiles,

for their colleagues the priests, and for themselves.

(NET)

13. 1 Kings 11:4-8, When Solomon became old, his wives

shifted his allegiance to other gods; he was not

wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father

David had been. Solomon worshiped the Sidonian

goddess Astarte and the detestable Ammonite god

Milcom. Solomon did evil in the Lord’s sight; he did not

remain loyal to the Lord, like his father David had.

Furthermore, on the hill east of Jerusalem Solomon built

a high place for the detestable Moabite god Chemosh and

for the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. He built high

places for all his foreign wives so they could burn incense

and make sacrifices to their gods. (NET)

14. Jeremiah 26:7, 11, The priests, the prophets, and all

the people heard Jeremiah say these things in the Lord’s

temple. Then the priests and the prophets made their

charges before the officials and all the people. They said,

“This man should be condemned to die because he

prophesied against this city. You have heard him do so

with your own ears.” (NET)

15. 2 Kings 16:11-16, Uriah the priest built an altar in

conformity to the plans King Ahaz had sent from

Damascus. Uriah the priest finished it before King Ahaz

arrived back from Damascus. When the king arrived

back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it

and offered a sacrifice on it. He offered his burnt sacrifice

and his grain offering. He poured out his libation and

sprinkled the blood from his peace offerings on the altar.



26

He moved the bronze altar that stood in the Lord’s

presence from the front of the temple (between the altar

and the Lord’s temple) and put it on the north side of the

new altar. King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest, “On the

large altar offer the morning burnt sacrifice, the evening

grain offering, the royal burnt sacrifices and grain

offering, the burnt sacrifice for all the people of Israel,

their grain offering, and their libations. Sprinkle all the

blood of the burnt sacrifice and other sacrifices on it. The

bronze altar will be for my personal use.” So Uriah the

priest did exactly as King Ahaz ordered. (NET)

16. Zephaniah 1:4, “I will attack Judah and all who live

in Jerusalem. I will remove from this place every trace of

Baal worship, as well as the very memory of the pagan

priests. (NET)

Ezekiel 44:11, Yet they will be ministers in my sanctuary, having

oversight at the gates of the temple, and serving the temple. They

will slaughter the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for the people,

and they will stand before them to minister to them. (NET)

I. They may serve in my sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the

temple and serving in it; . . .

A. The degree of holiness increased from the outside of the Temple

compound to the outer court, to the inner court to the temple

building itself. (Fredenburg)

B. The Levites were, because of their former transgressions,

subject to increasing levels of clearance the closer they served to

the Temple and Yahweh’s personal presence. (See Fredenburg.)

1. Levites “are to serve in Yahweh’s outer sanctuary, have

charges of the gates, slaughter the burnt offerings and



27

sacrifices for the people and stand before the people and

serve them,” Fredenburg wrote.

2. The sinful Levites, because of their transgressions, were

demoted and were restricted as to the duties they were

permitted to perform in and about the temple.

II. They may slaughter the burnt offerings and sacrifices for the people

and stand before the people and serve them.

A. Because of their previous sins, their functions were henceforth

limited to the performance of only menial tasks.

Ezekiel 44:12, Because they used to minister to them before their

idols, and became a sinful obstacle to the house of Israel,

consequently I have made a vow concerning them, declares the

sovereign Lord, that they will be responsible for their sin. (NET)

I. But because they served them (the people) in the presence of their

idols and made the house of Israel fall into sin, . . .

A. Previously certain Levites had sinned grievously in both

worshiping idols and leading Israel into sin.

II. therefore I have sworn with uplifted hand that they must bear the

consequences of their sin, declares the Sovereign Lord.

A. These wayward Levites had to bear the consequences of their

sins, bear their iniquity.

1. Exodus 28:38, 43, It will be on Aaron’s forehead, and

Aaron will bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the

Israelites are to sanctify by all their holy gifts; it will

always be on his forehead, for their acceptance before the

Lord. These must be on Aaron and his sons when they



28

enter to the tent of meeting, or when they approach the

altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they bear no

iniquity and die. It is to be a perpetual ordinance for him

and for his descendants after him. (NET)

2. Leviticus 5:1, “‘When a person sins in that he hears a

public curse against one who fails to testify and he is a

witness (he either saw or knew what had happened) and

he does not make it known, then he will bear his

punishment for iniquity. (NET)

3. Leviticus 10:17, “Why did you not eat the sin offering

in the sanctuary? For it is most holy and he gave it to you

to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make

atonement on their behalf before the Lord. (NET)

4. Leviticus 20:19, You must not expose the nakedness of

your mother’s sister and your father’s sister, for such a

person has laid bare his own close relative. They must

bear their punishment for iniquity. (NET)

5. Numbers 5:31, Then the man will be free from iniquity,

but that woman will bear the consequences of her

iniquity.’” (NET)

6. Numbers 18:1, The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your

sons and your tribe with you must bear the iniquity of the

sanctuary, and you and your sons with you must bear the

iniquity of your priesthood. (NET)

7. Ezekiel 16:52, 54, So now, bear your disgrace, because

you have given your sisters reason to justify their

behavior. Because the sins you have committed were

more abominable than those of your sisters; they have

become more righteous than you. So now, be ashamed



29

and bear the disgrace of making your sisters appear

righteous. so that you may bear your disgrace and be

ashamed of all you have done in consoling them. (NET)

8. Ezekiel 32:30, “All the leaders of the north are there,

along with all the Sidonians; despite their might they

have gone down in shameful terror with the dead. They

lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword, and

bear their shame with those who descend to the Pit.

(NET)

9. Ezekiel 36:7, So this is what the sovereign Lord says: I

vow that the nations around you will endure insults as

well. (NET)

Ezekiel 44:13, They will not come near me to serve me as priest, nor

will they come near any of my holy things, the things which are most

sacred. They will bear the shame of the abominable deeds they have

committed. (NET)

I. They are not to come near to serve me as priests or come near any of

my holy things or my most holy offerings; . . .

A. All priests were Levites, but not all Levites were priests.

Priests, in addition to being descendants of Levi, were also

required to be sons of the Levite, Aaron, brother of Moses. (See

Hamilton.)

II. they must bear the shame of their detestable practices.

A. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap!

B. Shame is a rare quality in today’s world.



30

1. People are “proud” of some of the most disgraceful

behaviors.

2. We live in a world that has been turned upside down!

Ezekiel 44:14, Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple,

all of its service and all that will be done in it. (NET)

I. Yet I will put them in charge of the duties of the temple and all the

work that is to be done in it.

A. Those Levites who were repentant were given a second chance.

1. They were put in charge of the duties of the temple and all

the work that was to be done it.

B. Thanks be to God that he also extends to us second, third, . . .

chances!

Ezekiel 44:15, “‘But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok

who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went

astray from me, will approach me to minister to me; they will stand

before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the sovereign

Lord. (NET)

I. “‘But the priests, who are Levites and descendants of Zadok and who

faithfully carried out the duties of my sanctuary when the Israelites went

astray from me, are to come near to minister before me; . . .

A. The High Priest at this time was of the family, descendants of

Zadok. The ancestors of Abiathar had been chief priests dating

back to Eli and the early days of Samuel. Both Abiathar and

Zadok served as priests in the days of David. Abiathar was

deposed due to his supporting the wrong candidate to succeed



31

David as king. Thereafter Zadok and his descendants were priests

in Israel. (See Youngblood.)

B. Because the descendants of Zadok had been faithful during a

time of gross unfaithfulness, they were assigned the role of the

priesthood. (See Smith.)

C. “The Zadokites ascended to prominence among the descendants

of Aaron after the fall of Eli’s house. Zadok’s political support of

Solomon over Adonijah helped secure his clan’s place within

Solomon’s temple service,” Fredenburg wrote. Perhaps any

Zadokite could serve as high priest.

1. 1 Samuel 3:11-15, The Lord said to Samuel, “Look! I

am about to do something in Israel; when anyone hears

about it, both of his ears will tingle. On that day I will

carry out against Eli everything that I spoke about his

house—from start to finish! You should tell him that I am

about to judge his house forever because of the sin that he

knew about. For his sons were cursing God, and he did

not rebuke them. Therefore I swore an oath to the house

of Eli, ‘The sin of the house of Eli can never be forgiven

by sacrifice or by grain offering.’” So Samuel lay down

until morning. Then he opened the doors of the Lord’s

house. But Samuel was afraid to tell Eli about the vision.

(NET)

2. 2 Samuel 8:17, Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son

of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was scribe; (NET)

3. 1 Kings 1:8, But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of

Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David’s

elite warriors did not ally themselves with Adonijah.

(NET)



32

D. All priests and assistants to the priests were of the tribe of Levi.

1. “The priesthood, at its institution, having been entrusted to

Aaron and his sons, on Aaron’s death the high priesthood

passed into the hands of Eleazar, his eldest (living) son, and

after Eleazar’s death into those of Phinehas, his eldest son”

(The Pulpit Comentary)

2. “In the last days of the judges, when the ark and tabernacle

stood at Shiloh, the high priesthood belonged to Eli, of the

line of Ithamar within which line it continued till the reign of

David, when it was held conjointly by Abiathar (called also

Ahimelech) of the line of Ithamar, and Zadok of the line of

Eleazar.” (The Pulpit Commentary)

3. “This arrangement, however, Solomon eventually

overturned, by deposing the former for espousing Adonijah’s

pretensions to the throne, and from that time forward till the

exile the high priesthood remained with Zadok and has sons.”

(The Pulpit Commentary)

4. In Ezekiel’s visionary temple, the descendants of Zadok

continued to serve as priests.

II. They are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat and blood,

declares the Sovereign Lord.

A. Faithfulness is divinely rewarded.

B. Notice that all the Zadokites were not priests nor permitted to

serve as priests, but only those who or whose ancestors had

remained faithful when the Israelites went astray would serve.

Ezekiel 44:16, They will enter my sanctuary, and approach my table

to minister to me; they will keep my charge. (NET)



33

I. They alone are to enter my sanctuary; they alone are to come near my

table to minister before me and perform my service.

A. This reference to “my table” may refer to the table of

showbread and/or the altar of incense, Clarke wrote.

B. These particular priests were alone permitted to enter and serve

in the sanctuary.

Ezekiel 44:17, “‘When they enter the gates of the inner court, they

must wear linen garments; they must not have any wool on them

when they minister in the inner gates of the court and in the temple.

I. “‘When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen

clothes; . . .

A. Smith noted, “Definite regulations were stipulated regarding

priests’ garments, hair style, sobriety and marital status.

1. Clean, white “linen garments” were emblematic of purity.

(See Smith.)

a. Revelation 19:8, 14, She was permitted to be

dressed in bright, clean, fine linen” (for the fine

linen is the righteous deeds of the saints). The

armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean,

fine linen, were following him on white horses.

(NET)

B. Emphasis was on purity and holiness in verses 17-31.

(Fredenburg)

1. Yahweh regulates seven areas of Zadokite priestly life in

this passage: clothing, hair, wine, marriage, public



34

administration, corpse contact, and food maintenance.

(Fredenburg)

C. Scriptures related to priestly attire:

1. Exodus 28:40-43, “For Aaron’s sons you are to make

tunics, sashes, and headbands for glory and for beauty.

“You are to clothe them—your brother Aaron and his

sons with him—and anoint them and ordain them and set

them apart as holy, so that they may minister as my

priests. Make for them linen undergarments to cover

their naked bodies; they must cover from the waist to the

thighs. These must be on Aaron and his sons when they

enter to the tent of meeting, or when they approach the

altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they bear no

iniquity and die. It is to be a perpetual ordinance for him

and for his descendants after him. (NET)

2. Exodus 39:27-29, They made tunics of fine linen—the

work of a weaver, for Aaron and for his sons—and the

turban of fine linen, the headbands of fine linen, and the

undergarments of fine twisted linen. The sash was of fine

twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, the work

of an embroiderer, just as the Lord had commanded

Moses. (NET)

3. Leviticus 6:10, Then the priest must put on his linen

robe and must put linen leggings over his bare flesh, and

he must take up the fatty ashes of the burnt offering that

the fire consumed on the altar, and he must place them

beside the altar. (NET)

4. Leviticus 13:47-48, “When a garment has a diseased

infection in it, whether a wool or linen garment, 48 or in



35

the warp or woof of the linen or the wool, or in leather or

anything made of leather, (NET)

5. Deuteronomy 22:11, You must not wear clothing made

with wool and linen meshed together. (NET)

6. Jeremiah 13:1, The Lord said to me, “Go and buy some

linen shorts and put them on. Do not put them in water.”

(NET)

II. they must not wear any woolen garment while ministering at the gates

of the inner court or inside the temple.

A. Woolen garments were forbidden because they would promote

perspiration which would cause ceremonial uncleanness, impurity.

(Fredenburg)

B. Clarke added that woolen garments were more likely than linen

to contract dirt and breed insects. Also, linen was a vegetable

product while wool was an animal product.

Ezekiel 44:18, Linen turbans will be on their heads and linen

undergarments will be around their waists; they must not bind

themselves with anything that causes sweat. (NET)

I. They are to wear linen turbans (tiara) on their head and linen

undergarments around their waists.

A. Exodus 28:40, “For Aaron’s sons you are to make tunics,

sashes, and headbands for glory and for beauty. (NET)

B. Exodus 29:9, and wrap the sashes around Aaron and his

sons and put headbands on them, and so the ministry of

priesthood will belong to them by a perpetual ordinance. Thus

you are to consecrate Aaron and his sons. (NET)



36

C. Exodus 39:28, and the turban of fine linen, the headbands of

fine linen, and the undergarments of fine twisted linen. (NET)

D. Isaiah 61:10, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; I will be

overjoyed because of my God. For he clothes me in garments of

deliverance; he puts on me a robe symbolizing vindication. I

look like a bridegroom when he wears a turban as a priest

would; I look like a bride when she puts on her jewelry. (NET)

E. Ezekiel 24:17, 23, Groan in silence for the dead, but do not

perform mourning rites. Bind on your turban and put your

sandals on your feet. Do not cover your lip and do not eat food

brought by others.” Your turbans will be on your heads and

your sandals on your feet; you will not mourn or weep, but you

will rot for your iniquities and groan among yourselves. (NET)

II. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire.

A. Smith explained that perspiration would make the priest

ceremonially unclean.

Ezekiel 44:19, When they go out to the outer court to the people,

they must remove the garments they were ministering in, and place

them in the holy chambers; they must put on other garments so that

they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

(NET)

I. When they go out into the outer court where the people are, they are to

take off the clothes they have been ministering in and are to leave them

in the sacred rooms, and . . .

A. The Putpit Commentary reads, “When the priests retired from

the inner court, and before they passed in to the outer court to

mingle with the people, they were enjoined to lay aside their



37

official robes, depositing them in the holy chambers already

described, and to put on their ordinary clothes.

1. Ezekiel 42:1-14, Then he led me out to the outer court,

toward the north, and brought me to the chamber which

was opposite the courtyard and opposite the building on

the north. Its length was 175 feet on the north side, and its

width 87½ feet. Opposite the 35 feet that belonged to the

inner court, and opposite the pavement which belonged to

the outer court, gallery faced gallery in the three stories.

In front of the chambers was a walkway on the inner side,

17½ feet wide at a distance of 1¾ feet, and their entrances

were on the north. Now the upper chambers were

narrower, because the galleries took more space from

them than from the lower and middle chambers of the

building. For they were in three stories and had no pillars

like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper

chambers were set back from the ground more than the

lower and upper ones. As for the outer wall by the side of

the chambers, toward the outer court facing the

chambers, it was 87½ feet long. For the chambers on the

outer court were 87½ feet long, while those facing the

temple were 175 feet long. Below these chambers was a

passage on the east side as one enters from the outer

court. At the beginning of the wall of the court toward the

south, facing the courtyard and the building, were

chambers with a passage in front of them. They looked

like the chambers on the north. Of the same length and

width, and all their exits according to their arrangements

and entrances were the chambers which were toward the

south. There was an opening at the head of the passage,

the passage in front of the corresponding wall toward the

east when one enters. Then he said to me, “The north

chambers and the south chambers which face the

courtyard are holy chambers where the priests who



38

approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There

they will place the most holy offerings—the grain

offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, because

the place is holy. When the priests enter, then they will

not go out from the sanctuary to the outer court without

taking off their garments in which they minister, for these

are holy; they will put on other garments, then they will

go near the places where the people are.” (NET)

2. Leviticus 6:11, Then he must take off his clothes and

put on other clothes, and he must bring the fatty ashes

outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place, (NET)

II. put on other clothes, so that they do not consecrate the people by

means of their garments.

A. These priestly garments could transmit a temporary state of

holiness to the people outside the temple which would render them

unfit to perform their ordinary duties of daily life, Smith advised.

1. Ezekiel 46:20, He said to me, “This is the place where

the priests will boil the guilt offering and the sin offering,

and where they will bake the grain offering, so that they

do not bring them out to the outer court to transmit

holiness to the people.” (NET)

2. If the people touched the priestly garments, this would

impart to them a ritualistic holiness, sanctity which would

disqualify them for a time to attend to the common duties of

life. (The Pulpit Commentary)

a. Leviticus 6:18, 27, Every male among the sons of

Aaron may eat it. It is a perpetual allotted portion

throughout your generations from the gifts of the

Lord. Anyone who touches these gifts must be



39

holy.’” Anyone who touches its meat must be holy,

and whoever spatters some of its blood on a

garment, you must wash whatever he spatters it on

in a holy place. (NET)

b. Exodus 29:37, For seven days you are to make

atonement for the altar and set it apart as holy.

Then the altar will be most holy. Anything that

touches the altar will be holy. (NET)

c. Exodus 30:29, So you are to sanctify them, and

they will be most holy; anything that touches them

will be holy. (NET)

Ezekiel 44:20, “‘They must not shave their heads nor let their hair

grow long; they must only trim their heads. (NET)

I. “‘They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but they

are to keep the hair of their heads trimmed.

A. Leviticus 21:1-5, The Lord said to Moses: “Say to the

priests, the sons of Aaron—say to them, ‘For a dead person no

priest is to defile himself among his people, except for his close

relative who is near to him: his mother, his father, his son, his

daughter, his brother, and his virgin sister who is near to him,

who has no husband; he may defile himself for her. He must

not defile himself as a husband among his people so as to

profane himself. Priests must not have a bald spot shaved on

their head, they must not shave the corner of their beard, and

they must not cut slashes in their body. (NET)

B. “A shaved head was a sign of mourning among non-Israelites,”

Fredenburg wrote, “and was also associated with ancestor

worship.”



40

1. Ezekiel 27:31, they will tear out their hair because of

you and put on sackcloth, and they will weep bitterly over

you with intense mourning. (NET)

2. Leviticus 10:6, Then Moses said to Aaron and to

Eleazar and Ithamar his other two sons, “Do not dishevel

the hair of your heads and do not tear your garments, so

that you do not die and so that wrath does not come on

the whole congregation. Your brothers, all the house of

Israel, are to mourn the burning which the Lord has

caused, (NET)

3. “Shaved hair was also used by Babylonian priests for

divining messages from their gods.” (Fredenburg)

a. Ezekiel 5:1-4, “As for you, son of man, take a

sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor. Shave

off some of the hair from your head and your beard.

Then take scales and divide up the hair you cut off.

Burn a third of it in the fire inside the city when the

days of your siege are completed. Take a third and

slash it with a sword all around the city. Scatter a

third to the wind, and I will unleash a sword behind

them. But take a few strands of hair from those and

tie them in the ends of your garment. Again, take

more of them and throw them into the fire, and

burn them up. From there a fire will spread to all

the house of Israel. (NET)

4. The Zodokite priests were to keep the hair of their head

trimmed (Fredenburg), but not shaved. (Clarke)

C. In contrasts with these priestly regulations, heathen priests of

Egypt’s Iris shaved their heads close to the skin. (See Clarke.)



41

D. Priests were to avoid extremes in how they wore their hair.

1. Both shaving the head and wearing the hair long were

forbidden.

a. Leviticus 21:5, Priests must not have a bald spot

shaved on their head, they must not shave the corner

of their beard, and they must not cut slashes in their

body. (NET)

b. Leviticus 10:6, Then Moses said to Aaron and to

Eleazar and Ithamar his other two sons, “Do not

dishevel the hair of your heads and do not tear your

garments, so that you do not die and so that wrath

does not come on the whole congregation. Your

brothers, all the house of Israel, are to mourn the

burning which the Lord has caused, (NET)

c. Leviticus 21:10, “‘The high priest—who is greater

than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is

poured, who has been ordained to wear the priestly

garments—must neither dishevel the hair of his

head nor tear his garments. (NET)

Ezekiel 44:21, No priest may drink wine when he enters the inner

court. (NET)

I. No priest is to drink wine when he enters the inner court.

A. Performances of priestly duties and respect for Yahweh

demanded sobriety. (Fredenburg)

1. Leviticus 10:1-11, Then Aaron’s sons, Nadab and

Abihu, each took his fire pan and put fire in it, set incense

on it, and presented strange fire before the Lord, which



42

he had not commanded them to do. So fire went out from

the presence of the Lord and consumed them so that they

died before the Lord. Moses then said to Aaron, “This is

what the Lord spoke: ‘Among the ones close to me I will

show myself holy, and in the presence of all the people I

will be honored.’” So Aaron kept silent. Moses then called

to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron’s

uncle, and said to them, “Come near, carry your brothers

away from the front of the sanctuary to a place outside

the camp.” So they came near and carried them away in

their tunics to a place outside the camp just as Moses had

spoken. Then Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and

Ithamar his other two sons, “Do not dishevel the hair of

your heads and do not tear your garments, so that you do

not die and so that wrath does not come on the whole

congregation. Your brothers, all the house of Israel, are

to mourn the burning which the Lord has caused, but you

must not go out from the entrance of the Meeting Tent

lest you die, for the Lord’s anointing oil is on you.” So

they acted according to the word of Moses. Then the Lord

spoke to Aaron, “Do not drink wine or strong drink, you

and your sons with you, when you enter into the Meeting

Tent, so that you do not die, which is a perpetual statute

throughout your generations, as well as to distinguish

between the holy and the common, and between the

unclean and the clean, and to teach the Israelites all the

statutes that the Lord has spoken to them through

Moses.” (NET)

B. Priests were not forbidden to abstain from wine when not on

duty.

Ezekiel 44:22, They must not marry a widow or a divorcee, but they

may marry a virgin from the house of Israel or a widow who is a

priest’s widow. (NET)



43

I. They must not marry widows or divorced women; they may marry

only virgins of Israelite descent or widows of priests.

A. Here the Zadokite priests were able to marry Israelite virgins of

any tribe, not just those of the tribe of Levi as had been the case

originally.

1. Leviticus 21:7, 13-15, They must not take a wife defiled

by prostitution, nor are they to take a wife divorced from

her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. He must

take a wife who is a virgin. 14 He must not marry a

widow, a divorced woman, or one profaned by

prostitution; he may only take a virgin from his people as

a wife. 15 He must not profane his children among his

people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’” (NET)

B. However, they were not permitted to marry widows except

those who were widows of priests.

1. Originally priests could marry widows, except for the high

priests who was even then forbidden to marry widows.

C. Priests were forbidden to marry divorced women.

Ezekiel 44:23, Moreover, they will teach my people the difference

between the holy and the common, and show them how to

distinguish between the ceremonially unclean and the clean. (NET)

I. they are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the

common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the

clean.



44

A. Priests were to educate the people as to how to distinguish

between the clean and the unclean, the holy and the common. (See

Smith and Fredenburg.)

1. Deuteronomy 33:10, They will teach Jacob your

ordinances and Israel your law; they will offer incense as

a pleasant odor, and a whole offering on your altar.

(NET)

2. Leviticus 10:10, as well as to distinguish between the

holy and the common, and between the unclean and the

clean, (NET)

3. Deuteronomy 24:8, Be careful during an outbreak of

leprosy to follow precisely all that the Levitical priests

instruct you; as I have commanded them, so you should

do. (NET)

4. Malachi 2:7-9, For the lips of a priest should preserve

knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek

instruction from him because he is the messenger of the

Lord who rules over all. You, however, have turned from

the way. You have caused many to violate the law; you

have corrupted the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord

who rules over all. “Therefore, I have caused you to be

ignored and belittled before all people to the extent to

which you are not following after me and are showing

partiality in your instruction.” (NET)

Ezekiel 44:24, “‘In a controversy they will act as judges; they will

judge according to my ordinances. They will keep my laws and my

statutes regarding all my appointed festivals and will observe my

Sabbaths.



45

I. “‘In any dispute, the priests are to serve as judges and decide it

according to my ordinances.

A. The priests were to serve as judicial officers. (See smith.)

1. The priests knew the law of Moses and were ideal people

to adjudicate legal cases, to serve as judges.

a. Deuteronomy 17:8-13, If a matter is too difficult

for you to judge—bloodshed, legal claim, or

assault—matters of controversy in your villages—

you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord

your God chooses. You will go to the Levitical

priests and the judge in office in those days and seek

a solution; they will render a verdict. You must then

do as they have determined at that place the Lord

chooses. Be careful to do just as you are taught. You

must do what you are instructed, and the verdict

they pronounce to you, without fail. Do not deviate

right or left from what they tell you. The person who

pays no attention to the priest currently serving the

Lord your God there, or to the verdict—that person

must die, so that you may purge evil from Israel.

Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and not

be so presumptuous again. (NET)

b. Deuteronomy 19:15-21, A single witness may not

testify against another person for any trespass or sin

that he commits. A matter may be legally

established only on the testimony of two or three

witnesses. If a false witness testifies against another

person and accuses him of a crime, then both parties

to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that

is, before the priests and judges who will be in office

in those days. The judges will thoroughly investigate



46

the matter, and if the witness should prove to be

false and to have given false testimony against the

accused, you must do to him what he had intended

to do to the accused. In this way you will purge evil

from among you. The rest of the people will hear

and become afraid to keep doing such evil among

you. You must not show pity; the principle will be a

life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a

hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot. (NET)

c. Deuteronomy 21:1-9, If a homicide victim should

be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your

God is giving you, and no one knows who killed him,

your elders and judges must go out and measure

how far it is to the cities in the vicinity of the corpse.

Then the elders of the city nearest to the corpse must

take from the herd a heifer that has not been

worked—that has never pulled with the yoke—and

bring the heifer down to a wadi with flowing water,

to a valley that is neither plowed nor sown. There at

the wadi they are to break the heifer’s neck. Then

the Levitical priests will approach (for the Lord

your God has chosen them to serve him and to

pronounce blessings in his name, and to decide every

judicial verdict) and all the elders of that city

nearest the corpse must wash their hands over the

heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. Then

they must proclaim, “Our hands have not spilled

this blood, nor have we witnessed the crime. Do not

blame your people Israel whom you redeemed, O

Lord, and do not hold them accountable for the

bloodshed of an innocent person.” Then atonement

will be made for the bloodshed. In this manner you

will purge out the guilt of innocent blood from



47

among you, for you must do what is right before the

Lord. (NET)

d. Numbers 5:14-31, and if jealous feelings come

over him and he becomes suspicious of his wife,

when she is defiled; or if jealous feelings come over

him and he becomes suspicious of his wife, when she

is not defiled—then the man must bring his wife to

the priest, and he must bring the offering required

for her, one tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he

must not pour olive oil on it or put frankincense on

it, because it is a grain offering of suspicion, a grain

offering for remembering, for bringing iniquity to

remembrance. “‘Then the priest will bring her near

and have her stand before the Lord. The priest will

then take holy water in a pottery jar, and take some

of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle, and

put it into the water. Then the priest will have the

woman stand before the Lord, uncover the woman’s

head, and put the grain offering for remembering in

her hands, which is the grain offering of suspicion.

The priest will hold in his hand the bitter water that

brings a curse. Then the priest will put the woman

under oath and say to her, “If no other man has had

sexual relations with you, and if you have not gone

astray and become defiled while under your

husband’s authority, may you be free from this

bitter water that brings a curse. But if you have

gone astray while under your husband’s authority,

and if you have defiled yourself and some man other

than your husband has had sexual relations with

you….” Then the priest will put the woman under

the oath of the curse and will say to her, “The Lord

make you an attested curse among your people, if

the Lord makes your thigh fall away and your



48

abdomen swell; and this water that causes the curse

will go into your stomach, and make your abdomen

swell and your thigh rot.” Then the woman must

say, “Amen, amen.” “‘Then the priest will write

these curses on a scroll and then scrape them off into

the bitter water. He will make the woman drink the

bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that

brings a curse will enter her to produce bitterness.

The priest will take the grain offering of suspicion

from the woman’s hand, wave the grain offering

before the Lord, and bring it to the altar. Then the

priest will take a handful of the grain offering as its

memorial portion, burn it on the altar, and

afterward make the woman drink the water. When

he has made her drink the water, then, if she has

defiled herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her

husband, the water that brings a curse will enter her

to produce bitterness—her abdomen will swell, her

thigh will fall away, and the woman will become a

curse among her people. But if the woman has not

defiled herself, and is clean, then she will be free of

ill effects and will be able to bear children. “‘This is

the law for cases of jealousy, when a wife, while

under her husband’s authority, goes astray and

defiles herself, or when jealous feelings come over a

man and he becomes suspicious of his wife; then he

must have the woman stand before the Lord, and

the priest will carry out all this law upon her. Then

the man will be free from iniquity, but that woman

will bear the consequences of her iniquity.’” (NET)

e. Hosea 4:6, You have destroyed my people by

failing to acknowledge me! Because you refuse to

acknowledge me, I will reject you as my priests.



49

Because you reject the law of your God, I will reject

your descendants. (NET)

f. Micah 3:11, Her leaders take bribes when they

decide legal cases, her priests proclaim rulings for

profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet

they claim to trust the Lord and say, “The Lord is

among us. Disaster will not overtake us!” (NET)

g. Isaiah 28:7, Even these men stagger because of

wine, they stumble around because of beer— priests

and prophets stagger because of beer, they are

confused because of wine, they stumble around

because of beer; they stagger while seeing prophetic

visions, they totter while making legal decisions.

(NET)

h. Jeremiah 18:18, Then some people said, “Come

on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah!

There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to

give us advice, and prophets to declare God’s word.

Come on! Let’s bring charges against him and get

rid of him! Then we will not need to pay attention to

anything he says.” (NET)

i. 2 Chronicles 17:17-19, From Benjamin, Eliada, a

skilled warrior, led 200,000 men who were equipped

with bows and shields, and Jehozabad led 180,000

trained warriors. These were the ones who served

the king, besides those whom the king placed in the

fortified cities throughout Judah. (NET)

j. 2 Chronicles 19:5-11, He appointed judges

throughout the land and in each of the fortified

cities of Judah. He told the judges, “Be careful what



50

you do, for you are not judging for men, but for the

Lord, who will be with you when you make judicial

decisions. Respect the Lord and make careful

decisions, for the Lord our God disapproves of

injustice, partiality, and bribery.” In Jerusalem

Jehoshaphat appointed some Levites, priests, and

Israelite family leaders to judge on behalf of the

Lord and to settle disputes among the residents of

Jerusalem. He commanded them: “Carry out your

duties with respect for the Lord, with honesty, and

with pure motives. Whenever your countrymen who

live in the cities bring a case before you (whether it

involves a violent crime or other matters related to

the law, commandments, rules, and regulations),

warn them that they must not sin against the Lord.

If you fail to do so, God will be angry with you and

your colleagues, but if you obey, you will be free of

guilt. You will report to Amariah the chief priest in

all matters pertaining to the Lord’s law, and to

Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the family of

Judah, in all matters pertaining to the king. The

Levites will serve as officials before you. Confidently

carry out your duties! May the Lord be with those

who do well!” (NET)

II. They are to keep my laws and my decrees for all my appointed feasts,

and they are to keep my Sabbath holy.

A. Priests were to officiate, regulate all feasts and Sabbaths in

keeping with God’s decrees. (See Smith.)

B. The priests were to be sure all feasts, Sabbaths and Holy Days

were observed in keeping with the laws of the Lord. (See

Fredenburg.)



51

1. Previous priests had overlooked Sabbath violations. (See

Fredenburg.)

a. Ezekiel 22:26, Her priests abuse my law and have

desecrated my holy things. They do not distinguish

between the holy and the profane, or recognize any

distinction between the unclean and the clean. They

ignore my Sabbaths and I am profaned in their

midst. (NET)

2. Fredenburg observed that God was the authority behind all

that was to be done.

a. The Lord spoke of my ordinances, my laws, my

decrees, my appointed feasts, my sabbaths.

b. What was done was to be in strict keeping with the

will of the Lord!

c. This is certainly true today in regard to the church.

C. Keeping all the laws of God relating to feast days and Sabbath

days was absolutely essential, required!

1. Exodus 20:8-11, “Remember the Sabbath day to set it

apart as holy. For six days you may labor and do all your

work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your

God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or

your daughter, or your male servant, or your female

servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in

your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens

and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he

rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the

Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. (NET)



52

2. Exodus 31:13-17, “Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must

keep my Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you

throughout your generations, that you may know that I

am the Lord who sanctifies you. So you must keep the

Sabbath, for it is holy for you. Everyone who defiles it

must surely be put to death; indeed, if anyone does any

work on it, then that person will be cut off from among

his people. Six days work may be done, but on the seventh

day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord;

anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must surely be

put to death. The Israelites must keep the Sabbath by

observing the Sabbath throughout their generations as a

perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the

Israelites forever; for in six days the Lord made the

heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested

and was refreshed.’” (NET)

3. Leviticus 23:3, “‘Six days work may be done, but on

the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest,

a holy assembly. You must not do any work; it is a

Sabbath to the Lord in all the places where you live.

(NET)

4. Leviticus 24:8, Each Sabbath day Aaron must arrange

it before the LORD continually; this portion is from the

Israelites as a perpetual covenant. (NET)

5. Numbers 28:9, “‘On the Sabbath day, you must offer

two unblemished lambs a year old, and two-tenths of an

ephah of finely ground flour as a grain offering, mixed

with olive oil, along with its drink offering. (NET)

6. Ezekiel 20:12, 13, 20, 21, I also gave them my Sabbaths

as a reminder of our relationship, so that they would

know that I, the Lord, sanctify them. But the house of



53

Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; they did not

follow my statutes and they rejected my regulations (the

one who obeys them will live by them), and they utterly

desecrated my Sabbaths. So I decided to pour out my

rage on them in the wilderness and destroy them. Treat

my Sabbaths as holy and they will be a reminder of our

relationship, and then you will know that I am the Lord

your God.” “‘But the children rebelled against me, did

not follow my statutes, did not observe my regulations by

carrying them out (the one who obeys them will live by

them), and desecrated my Sabbaths. I decided to pour out

my rage on them and fully vent my anger against them in

the wilderness. (NET)

7. Ezekiel 22:8, You have despised my holy things and

desecrated my Sabbaths! (NET)

Ezekiel 44:25, “‘They must not come near a dead person or they will

be defiled; however, for father, mother, son, daughter, brother or

sister, they may defile themselves. (NET)

I. “‘A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person; . . .

A. Priests were required to maintain purity, cleanliness, holiness

and to avoid all things which could contaminate them. (See

Fredenburg.)

1. Leviticus 21:1-4, The Lord said to Moses: “Say to the

priests, the sons of Aaron—say to them, ‘For a dead

person no priest is to defile himself among his people,

except for his close relative who is near to him: his

mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, and

his virgin sister who is near to him, who has no husband;

he may defile himself for her. He must not defile himself



54

as a husband among his people so as to profane himself.

(NET)

2. Leviticus 24:18-19, One who beats an animal to death

must make restitution for it, life for life. If a man inflicts

an injury on his fellow citizen, just as he has done it must

be done to him— (NET)

3. Numbers 19:1-22, The Lord spoke to Moses and

Aaron: “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord

has commanded: ‘Instruct the Israelites to bring you a

red heifer without blemish, which has no defect and has

never carried a yoke. You must give it to Eleazar the

priest so that he can take it outside the camp, and it must

be slaughtered before him. Eleazar the priest is to take

some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of the

blood seven times directly in front of the tent of meeting.

Then the heifer must be burned in his sight—its skin, its

flesh, its blood, and its offal is to be burned. And the

priest must take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool

and throw them into the midst of the fire where the heifer

is burning. Then the priest must wash his clothes and

bathe himself in water, and afterward he may come into

the camp, but the priest will be ceremonially unclean

until evening. The one who burns it must wash his clothes

in water and bathe himself in water. He will be

ceremonially unclean until evening. “‘Then a man who is

ceremonially clean must gather up the ashes of the red

heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside

the camp. They must be kept for the community of the

Israelites for use in the water of purification—it is a

purification for sin. The one who gathers the ashes of the

heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean

until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both

for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives



55

among them. “‘Whoever touches the corpse of any person

will be ceremonially unclean seven days. He must purify

himself with water on the third day and on the seventh

day, and so will be clean. But if he does not purify himself

on the third day and the seventh day, then he will not be

clean. Anyone who touches the corpse of any dead person

and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the

Lord. And that person must be cut off from Israel,

because the water of purification was not sprinkled on

him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.

“‘This is the law: When a man dies in a tent, anyone who

comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be

ceremonially unclean seven days. And every open

container that has no covering fastened on it is unclean.

And whoever touches the body of someone killed with a

sword in the open fields, or the body of someone who died

of natural causes, or a human bone, or a grave, will be

unclean seven days. “‘For a ceremonially unclean person

you must take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for

purification from sin and pour fresh running water over

them in a vessel. Then a ceremonially clean person must

take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the

tent, on all its furnishings, and on the people who were

there, or on the one who touched a bone, or one killed, or

one who died, or a grave. And the clean person must

sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh

day; and on the seventh day he must purify him, and then

he must wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and he will

be clean in the evening. But the man who is unclean and

does not purify himself, that person must be cut off from

among the community, because he has polluted the

sanctuary of the Lord; the water of purification was not

sprinkled on him, so he is unclean. “‘So this will be a

perpetual ordinance for them: The one who sprinkles the

water of purification must wash his clothes, and the one



56

who touches the water of purification will be unclean

until evening. And whatever the unclean person touches

will be unclean, and the person who touches it will be

unclean until evening.’” (NET)

Ezekiel 44:25b, however, for father, mother, son, daughter, brother

or sister, they may defile themselves. (NET)

II. however, if the dead person was his father or mother, son or daughter,

brother or unmarried sister, then he may defile himself.

A. Does this mean a priest could not defile himself for his

deceased wife? (See Fredenburg.)

1. The Pulpit Commentary suggested that touching a

deceased wife would be included in “his kin that is near unto

him.” and . . .

a. Leviticus 21:1-4, The Lord said to Moses: “Say to

the priests, the sons of Aaron—say to them, ‘For a

dead person no priest is to defile himself among his

people, except for his close relative who is near to

him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his

brother, and his virgin sister who is near to him,

who has no husband; he may defile himself for her.

He must not defile himself as a husband among his

people so as to profane himself. (NET)

2. that defilement could not be avoided in the case of a wife

and was therefore tacitly allowed.

a. Ezekiel 24:15-18, The word of Lord came to me:

“Son of man, realize that I am about to take the

delight of your eyes away from you with a jolt, but

you must not mourn or weep or shed tears. Groan in



57

silence for the dead, but do not perform mourning

rites. Bind on your turban and put your sandals on

your feet. Do not cover your lip and do not eat food

brought by others.” So I spoke to the people in the

morning, and my wife died in the evening. In the

morning I acted just as I was commanded. (NET)

Ezekiel 44:26, After a priest has become ceremonially clean, they

must count off a period of seven days for him. (NET)

I. After he is cleansed, he must wait seven days.

A. The ceremonial cleansing process took seven days and, before

resuming his priestly duties in the inner court he is to offer a

purification (sin) offering for himself first. (Fredenburg)

Ezekiel 44:27, On the day he enters the sanctuary, into the inner

court to serve in the sanctuary, he must offer his sin offering,

declares the sovereign Lord. (NET)

I. On the day he goes into the inner court of the sanctuary to minister in

the sanctuary, he is to offer a sin offering for himself, declares the

Sovereign Lord.

A. Even the priests were required to offer a sin offering for himself

because he was human and subject to all the sins of any other

person and that, before performing the duties of a priest, he had to

purify himself.

B. The sin offering was to absolve the priests’ defilement produced

by contacting a dead body.

Ezekiel 44:28, “‘This will be their inheritance: I am their

inheritance, and you must give them no property in Israel; I am

their property.



58

I. “‘I am to be the only inheritance the priests have.

A. Priests were to have no territorial possession, but were to rely

solely on Yahweh for their support. (Fredenburg)

1. Numbers 18:20, The Lord spoke to Aaron, “You will

have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any

portion of property among them—I am your portion and

your inheritance among the Israelites. (NET)

2. Deuteronomy 10:9, Therefore Levi has no allotment or

inheritance among his brothers; the Lord is his

inheritance just as the Lord your God told him. (NET)

3. Deuteronomy 18:1-2, The Levitical priests—indeed, the

entire tribe of Levi—will have no allotment or inheritance

with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord

and of his inheritance. They will have no inheritance in

the midst of their fellow Israelites; the Lord alone is their

inheritance, just as he had told them. (NET)

4. Ezekiel 45:4, It will be a holy portion of the land; it will

be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary who

approach the Lord to minister to him. It will be a place

for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.

(NET)

II. You are to give them no possession in Israel: I will be their

possession.

A. This refers to a land possession as was given to the Levites.



59

Ezekiel 44:29, They may eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and

the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel will be theirs.

(NET)

I. They will eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings and the guilt

offerings; and everything in Israel devoted to the Lord will belong to

them.

A. This most certainly would support the priests well.

1. Numbers 15:20-21, You must offer up a cake of the

first of your finely ground flour as a raised offering; as

you offer the raised offering of the threshing floor, so you

must offer it up. You must give to the Lord some of the

first of your finely ground flour as a raised offering in

your future generations. (NET)

2. Numbers 18:8-20, The Lord spoke to Aaron, “See, I

have given you the responsibility for my raised offerings;

I have given all the holy things of the Israelites to you as

your priestly portion and to your sons as a perpetual

ordinance. Of all the most holy offerings reserved from

the fire this will be yours: Every offering of theirs,

whether from every grain offering or from every

purification offering or from every reparation offering

which they bring to me, will be most holy for you and for

your sons. You are to eat it as a most holy offering; every

male may eat it. It will be holy to you. “And this is yours:

the raised offering of their gift, along with all the wave

offerings of the Israelites. I have given them to you and to

your sons and daughters with you as a perpetual

ordinance. Everyone who is ceremonially clean in your

household may eat of it. “All the best of the olive oil and

all the best of the wine and of the wheat, the first fruits of

these things that they give to the Lord, I have given to



60

you. And whatever first ripe fruit in their land they bring

to the Lord will be yours; everyone who is ceremonially

clean in your household may eat of it. “Everything

devoted in Israel will be yours. The firstborn of every

womb which they present to the Lord, whether human or

animal, will be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn sons you

must redeem, and the firstborn males of unclean animals

you must redeem. And those that must be redeemed you

are to redeem when they are a month old, according to

your estimation, for five shekels of silver according to the

sanctuary shekel (which is twenty gerahs). But you must

not redeem the firstborn of a cow or a sheep or a goat;

they are holy. You must splash their blood on the altar

and burn their fat for an offering made by fire for a

pleasing aroma to the Lord. And their meat will be yours,

just as the breast and the right hip of the raised offering

is yours. All the raised offerings of the holy things that the

Israelites offer to the Lord, I have given to you, and to

your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual

ordinance. It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord

for you and for your descendants with you.” The Lord

spoke to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their

land, nor will you have any portion of property among

them—I am your portion and your inheritance among the

Israelites. (NET)

Ezekiel 44:30, The first of all the first fruits and all contributions of

any kind will be for the priests; you will also give to the priest the

first portion of your dough, so that a blessing may rest on your

house. (NET)

I. The best of all the firstfruits and of all your special gifts will belong to

the priests.



61

A. Leviticus 2:1-16, “‘When a person presents a grain offering

to the Lord, his offering must consist of choice wheat flour, and

he must pour olive oil on it and put frankincense on it. Then he

must bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests, and the priest

must scoop out from there a handful of its choice wheat flour

and some of its olive oil in addition to all of its frankincense,

and the priest must offer its memorial portion up in smoke on

the altar—it is a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord. The

remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and to his

sons—it is most holy from the gifts of the Lord. “‘When you

present an offering of grain baked in an oven, it must be made

of choice wheat flour baked into unleavened loaves mixed with

olive oil or unleavened wafers smeared with olive oil. If your

offering is a grain offering made on the griddle, it must be

choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil, unleavened. Crumble it

in pieces and pour olive oil on it—it is a grain offering. If your

offering is a grain offering made in a pan, it must be made of

choice wheat flour deep fried in olive oil. “‘You must bring the

grain offering that must be made from these to the Lord.

Present it to the priest, and he will bring it to the altar. Then

the priest must take up from the grain offering its memorial

portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar—it is a gift of a

soothing aroma to the Lord. The remainder of the grain

offering belongs to Aaron and to his sons—it is most holy from

the gifts of the Lord. “‘No grain offering which you present to

the Lord can be made with yeast, for you must not offer up in

smoke any yeast or honey as a gift to the Lord. You can

present them to the Lord as an offering of first fruit, but they

must not go up to the altar for a soothing aroma. Moreover,

you must season every one of your grain offerings with salt;

you must not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be

missing from your grain offering—on every one of your grain

offerings you must present salt. “‘If you present a grain

offering of first ripe grain to the Lord, you must present your

grain offering of first ripe grain as soft kernels roasted in



62

fire—crushed bits of fresh grain. And you must put olive oil on

it and set frankincense on it—it is a grain offering. 16 Then the

priest must offer its memorial portion up in smoke—some of

its crushed bits, some of its olive oil, in addition to all of its

frankincense—it is a gift to the Lord. (NET)

B. Leviticus 6:16, Aaron and his sons are to eat what is left

over from it. It must be eaten unleavened in a holy place; they

are to eat it in the courtyard of the Meeting Tent. (NET)

C. Numbers 28:12-13, with three-tenths of an ephah of finely

ground flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering for each

bull, and two-tenths of an ephah of finely ground flour mixed

with olive oil as a grain offering for the ram, 13 and one-tenth

of an ephah of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil as a

grain offering for each lamb, as a burnt offering for a pleasing

aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord. (NET)

D. Leviticus 6:25-29, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the law

of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is

slaughtered the sin offering must be slaughtered before the

Lord. It is most holy. The priest who offers it for sin is to eat it.

It must be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the Meeting

Tent. Anyone who touches its meat must be holy, and whoever

spatters some of its blood on a garment, you must wash

whatever he spatters it on in a holy place. Any clay vessel it is

boiled in must be broken, and if it was boiled in a bronze

vessel, then that vessel must be rubbed out and rinsed in water.

Any male among the priests may eat it. It is most holy. (NET)

E. Leviticus 7:6, Any male among the priests may eat it. It

must be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy. (NET)

F. Numbers 18:9-10, Of all the most holy offerings reserved

from the fire this will be yours: Every offering of theirs,



63

whether from every grain offering or from every purification

offering or from every reparation offering which they bring to

me, will be most holy for you and for your sons. You are to eat

it as a most holy offering; every male may eat it. It will be holy

to you. (NET)

G. Leviticus 7:28-38, Then the Lord spoke to Moses: “Tell the

Israelites, ‘The one who presents his peace offering sacrifice to

the Lord must bring his offering to the Lord from his peace

offering sacrifice. With his own hands he must bring the

Lord’s gifts. He must bring the fat with the breast to wave the

breast as a wave offering before the Lord, and the priest must

offer the fat up in smoke on the altar, but the breast will belong

to Aaron and his sons. The right thigh you must give as a

contribution offering to the priest from your peace offering

sacrifices. The one from Aaron’s sons who presents the blood

of the peace offering and fat will have the right thigh as his

share, for the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the

contribution offering I have taken from the Israelites out of

their peace offering sacrifices and have given them to Aaron

the priest and to his sons from the people of Israel as a

perpetual allotted portion.’” This is the allotment of Aaron and

the allotment of his sons from the Lord’s gifts on the day

Moses presented them to serve as priests to the Lord. This is

what the Lord commanded to give to them from the Israelites

on the day Moses anointed them—a perpetual allotted portion

throughout their generations. This is the law for the burnt

offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering,

the ordination offering, and the peace offering sacrifice, which

the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day he

commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the Lord

in the wilderness of Sinai. (NET)



64

H. Leviticus 27:21, When it reverts in the jubilee, the field will

be holy to the Lord like a permanently dedicated field; it will

become the priest’s property. (NET)

I. Numbers 18:14, “Everything devoted in Israel will be yours.

(NET)

II. You are to give them the first portion of your ground meal so that a

blessing may rest on your household.

A. Deuteronomy 18:3, This shall be the priests’ fair allotment

from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep—

they must give to the priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the

stomach. (NET)

B. Giving here is said to bless both the giver and the recipients of

the gifts.

C. Related scriptures:

1. Exodus 23:19, The first of the firstfruits of your soil

you must bring to the house of the Lord your God. “You

must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk. (NET)

2. Exodus 34:26, “The first of the firstfruits of your soil

you must bring to the house of the Lord your God. You

must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.” (NET)

3. Numbers 18:13, And whatever first ripe fruit in their

land they bring to the Lord will be yours; everyone who is

ceremonially clean in your household may eat of it.

(NET)



65

4. Deuteronomy 18:4, You must give them the best of

your grain, new wine, and olive oil, as well as the best of

your wool when you shear your flocks. (NET)

5. Numbers 15:19, and you eat some of the food of the

land, you must offer up a raised offering to the Lord.

(NET)

6. Numbers 18:19, All the raised offerings of the holy

things that the Israelites offer to the Lord, I have given to

you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a

perpetual ordinance. It is a covenant of salt forever

before the Lord for you and for your descendants with

you.” (NET)

Ezekiel 44:31, The priests will not eat any bird or animal that has

died a natural death or was torn to pieces by a wild animal. (NET)

I. The priests must not eat anything, bird or animal, found dead or torn

by wild animals.

A. Leviticus 22:8, He must not eat an animal that has died of

natural causes or an animal torn by beasts and thus become

unclean by it. I am the Lord. (NET)

B. Numbers 6:22-27, The Lord spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron

and his sons, ‘This is the way you are to bless the Israelites. Say

to them: “The Lord bless you and protect you; The Lord make

his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord

lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”’ So they

will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

(NET)

C. Leviticus 17:15, “‘Any person who eats an animal that has

died of natural causes or an animal torn by beasts, whether a



66

native citizen or a foreigner, must wash his clothes, bathe in

water, and be unclean until evening; then he becomes clean.

(NET)

D. Leviticus 22:8, He must not eat an animal that has died of

natural causes or an animal torn by beasts and thus become

unclean by it. I am the Lord. (NET)

E. Deuteronomy 14:21, You may not eat any corpse, though

you may give it to the resident foreigner who is living in your

villages and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. You

are a people holy to the Lord your God. Do not boil a young

goat in its mother’s milk. (NET)

Conclusion:

I. Temple purity was the responsibility of all Israel, not just the

responsibility of the priests. (Fredenburg)

A. This is certainly also true of Christians and the church.

1. It is the responsibility of all Christians, not just elders,

deacons and ministers, to keep the church pure in life and

teaching!

B. God tells us as he did the ancient rebellious house of Israel,

“Enough of your detestable practices.”

1. Evil doers will bear the shame and the consequences of

their sins.

II. The duties and responsibilities of priests were specified in great

detail.



67

A. Linen clothes were to be worn when performing their sacred

duties.

B. Their heads were not to be shaved. Their hair was not to grow

long, but was to be kept trimmed.

C. They were to drink no wine while on duty. They were not to eat

anything found dead or torn by wild animals.

D. Whom they were to marry and not marry was specifically

specified.

E. They were to teach the people the will of God.

F. They were to serve as judges when disputes arise, decisions to

be made in keeping with God’s ordinances.



68

Questions

on

Ezekiel 44:1-31

1. How would you have liked to serve as a priest in ancient Israel? What

do you regard as advantages and disadvantages of this position? ______

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

2. In Ezekiel 44, what is specifically said about the high priest? _______

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

3. How did Coffman outline Ezekiel 44? _________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

4. Why was the outer gate of the sanctuary facing east left permanently

shut? _____________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________



69

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

5. Identify the “prince” mentioned in verse 3. What was he alone

permitted to do? ____________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

6. What was Ezekiel’s response to seeing the glory of the Lord? ______

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

7. When in your life have you been overwhelmed with the glory of God?

What was your response on those occasions? _____________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

8. God told Ezekiel, “_____________ of _____________, ___________

_____________, _____________ _____________ and _____________

____________ to _____________ I tell you concerning _____________

the ___________ regarding the ____________ of the _____________.”

9. In view of question 8, if God were speaking to Christians, what would

he say? ___________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________



70

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

10. Verse 5 reveals ____________’s ____________, ____________ and

___________ over ____________ ____________ of the ____________.

11. Preachers have always proclaimed the word of the Lord to all

manner of people. List the kinds of people to whom Jesus preached. __

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

12. ______________ had had ______________ of ______________’s

_____________ ____________! We can be sure ____________ has had

___________ than ____________ of our ____________ ____________

also. It is for ____________ ____________ for ____________ and for

____________ to ____________.

13. Of what detestable practices had Israel been guilty? _____________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

14. Of what detestable practices is our society guilty? ______________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________



71

15. Those ______________ had ______________ ______________ the

__________ of the ____________ while ____________ ____________

______________ to ______________.

16. Instead of ______________ out their ______________ in regard to

God’s ____________ ____________, they put others in ____________

of ______________’s ______________.

17. Who were the “others” who were put in charge of the sanctuary? Be

specific. ___________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

18. No ________________ ______________ in ______________ and

_________________ is to enter my ______________, not even the

_________________ who live among the ______________.

19. What does it mean to be uncircumcised in heart? Cite people Jesus

encountered who could be described as “uncircumcised in heart.” _____

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

20. The Israelites had sinfully formulated their own rules pertaining to

the temple. How do some church members sinfully formulate their own

rules pertaining to the church? _________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________



72

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

21. Who were the Levites and what were their religious responsibilities?

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

22. Who were the priests and what were their religious responsibilities?

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

23. The ____________ ____________, because of their ____________,

were ____________ and were ____________ as to the ______________

they were ______________ to ______________ ______________ and

______________ the ______________.

24. Because of their ____________ ____________, their ____________

were henceforth ______________ to the ______________ of only

______________ ______________.

25. Because they ________________ the ______________ in the

____________ of their ______________ and made the ______________

of ______________ ______________ into ______________, therefore I

have ______________ with ______________ ______________ that

they must ____________ the _____________ of their ______________,

declares the ______________.

26. Explain the statement: “All priests were Levites, but not all Levites

were priests.” ______________________________________________



73

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

27. The sinful Israelites ____________ ____________ the ___________

of their ___________ ____________. ____________ is a ___________

______________ in today’s ______________.

28. Some people in today’s world are “proud” of some of the most

disgraceful behaviors. What are some of these “disgraceful behaviors?”

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

29. Identify Aaron, Abiathar and Zadok. Narrate their biographies.

How did they relate to each other and to the priesthood? ____________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

30. For what was the “table” mentioned in verse 16 used? ___________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________



74

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

31. Who alone could enter the Lord’s sanctuary? Identify “sanctuary”._

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

32. Where and why were the priests to wear linen clothes? ___________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

33. Why were the priests forbidden to wear woolen clothes while on

duty in the sanctuary? ________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

34. When the priests completed their duties on a given day, where were

they to change clothes? Why was it so important that priestly garments

not be worn among the people in the outer court? __________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________



75

35. How were priests to wear their hair? Why was this hair style

required? __________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

36. When and where could priests drink wine? When and where could

priests not drink wine? _______________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

37. Whom could priests marry? Whom could priests not marry? What

was the rationale for these stipulations? _________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

38. What are the differences between the holy and the common? How

could a person distinguish between the unclean and the clean? ________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

39. _______________ were to serve as ______________ to adjudicate

______________ according to God’s ______________.



76

40. The ____________ were to be sure all ___________, ____________

and ______________ ______________ were observed in keeping with

the ______________ of the ______________.

41. __________ were required to maintain ___________, ___________,

______________ and to ______________ ______________ things

which could ____________ them such as ____________ ____________

a ______________ ______________.

42. For what dead persons were priests permitted to defile themselves?

Were priests permitted to defile themselves for a decreased wife? _____

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

43. What would a defiled priest be required to do to cleanse himself of

his uncleanness? ____________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

44. What was the priests’ inheritance? Why were they not given a land

possession? ________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

45. What resulted from the Israelites’ giving the first portion of their

ground meal to the priests? ____________________________________



77

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

46. How does giving bless both the giver and the recipient of the gift? _

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

47. ____________ were forbidden to _____________ ______________,

___________ or ____________, found ____________ or ____________

by ______________ ______________.

48. ______________ ______________ was the ______________ of all

______________, not just the ______________ of the ______________.

___________ ____________ is the ____________ of all ____________,

not just the ______________ of the ______________, ______________

and ______________.

49. ____________’s ____________ and ___________ for ___________

are ______________ and must be ______________ ______________.

50. ____________ ____________ will ___________ the ____________

and the ______________ of their sins.

The Prince, the Levites, the Priests Ezekiel...

Documents

Transcript of The Prince, the Levites, the Priests Ezekiel...