13 September

Bible In 365 Days 

Ezekiel 43-45

Ezekiel 43

The prophet's next vision was of Jehovah's return to the Temple. Again he beheld a vision and heard a voice. The visions which he had seen by the river Chebar appeared again. The same glory on which he had gazed when he came to destroy the city, that is, to utter his predictions concerning its destruction, appeared in this great hour of restoration, when Jehovah, so long exiled from His Temple, returned to it. The voice of Jehovah was as the sound of many waters, but in speaking to Ezekiel it became the voice of a man, and declared that Jehovah had taken up His abode in the house, that He would dwell in the midst of Israel forever, and that she should no more defile His holy name.

In the sequence of the prophecy a parenthesis occurs in which Ezekiel was charged to show the house of Israel this future glory, in order that they might be ashamed of their iniquities. To those who were ashamed, he was, moreover, charged to make known in detail the form and fashion of the house, and to declare its law.

Returning to the sequence of the message concerning the return of Jehovah, the prophet described the altar of burnt-offering, giving its measurements and a description of the ceremonies of its consecration and of its use.

Ezekiel 44

The next section described the service of the new Temple. It commenced with the command that the eastern gate, through which Jehovah entered, must be kept closed, and that no man should be allowed to pass through it. The only exception to this rule was that the prince should eat his bread in the gate of Jehovah's entrance.

Again the prophet beheld the glory of the Lord, and was solemnly charged to pay special attention to the ordinances of the house of the Lord and the laws thereof, which were about to be given to him. These ordinances provided, first, that under no circumstances should aliens or the uncircumcised in the heart or flesh serve in the sanctuary of Jehovah. This had been the sin of the past, and must not be repeated.

The Levites who had gone astray in the olden days, and who had been punished on account of their iniquity, while being excluded from the office of the priest, were, nevertheless, to be restored to the charge of the house and all its service. The sons of Zadok who had remained faithful to the charge of the sanctuary in the days of Israel's unfaithfulness and apostasy were appointed to stand as priests before Jehovah in the new Temple. They were instructed about the garments they were to wear in the exercise of their office, their duties of teaching the people to distinguish between holy and common, their purification after necessary defilement by contact with the dead, and, finally, that they were to have no inheritance among the people, finding all they needed in Jehovah and His service.

Ezekiel 45

Seeing that the priests were to have no inheritance, the next section of the prophecy dealt fittingly with the method of their support. After the distribution of the land, a description of which followed later, a lot was to be set apart at its very center as an oblation to the Lord, and was to be looked on as holy land. Of this one part was to be for the maintenance of the priests and another for the Levites. On each side of this holy square of territory, land was to be set apart for the prince, and the princes of Jehovah were to oppress the people no more.

The prophet immediately followed with Jehovah's charge to the princes. Their duty was to cease violence and taking spoil, and executing judgment and justice. The standards of weight and measurement were then given, and the provision for the offerings of the prince was described. These offerings were provided by the people for the burnt-offerings and the meal offerings and the drink-offerings, and it was the prince's duty to provide these things for the priests out of this resource.