(KJV) Ezekiel 441

<< Ezekiel 43 Ezekiel 45 >>

⥃The East Gate Assigned to the Prince

[1] Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward2 sanctuary which looketh3 toward the east; and it [was] shut. [2] Then said the Lord unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because4 the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. [3] [It is] for5 the prince6; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat7 bread before the Lord; he shall enter8 by the way of the porch of [that] gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.

[4] Then brought he me the way9 of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory10 of the Lord filled the house of the Lord: and I fell11 upon my face. [5] And the Lord said unto me, Son of man, mark well12, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning13 all the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and all the laws thereof; and mark well14 the entering15 in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary.

⥃Reproof of the Levites

[6] And thou shalt say16 to the rebellious, [even] to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice17 you of all your abominations, [7] In that ye have brought18 [into my sanctuary] strangers19, uncircumcised in heart20, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, [even] my house, when21 ye offer my bread, the fat22 and the blood, and they have broken23 my covenant because of all your abominations. [8] And ye have not24 kept the charge25 of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.

[9] [¶]Thus saith the Lord God; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that [is] among the children of Israel.26 [10] And the Levites27 that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear28 their iniquity. [11] Yet they shall be29 ministers in my sanctuary, [having] charge30 at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay31 the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they32 shall stand before them to minister unto them. [12] Because they ministered33 unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity34; therefore35 have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord God, and they shall36 bear their iniquity. [13] And they shall not37 come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy [place]: but they shall bear38 their shame, and their abominations which they have committed. [14] But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.39

⥃The Duties of the Priests

[15] [¶]But the priests the Levites, the sons40 of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when41 the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand42 before me to offer unto me the fat43 and the blood44, saith the Lord God: [16] They shall enter45 into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table46, to minister unto me, and they shall keep47 my charge.

[17] And it shall come to pass, [that] when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall48 be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. [18] They shall have linen bonnets49 upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches50 upon their loins; they shall not gird [themselves] with any thing that causeth sweat. [19] And when they go forth into the utter court, [even] into the utter court to the people, they shall put51 off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify52 the people with their garments. [20] Neither shall they shave53 their heads, nor suffer54 their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads. [21] Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.55 [22] Neither56 shall they take for their wives a widow57, nor her that is put away58: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before59. [23] And they shall teach my people [the difference] between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.60 [24] And in controversy61 they shall stand in judgment; [and] they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep62 my laws and my statutes in all63 mine assemblies; and they shall hallow64 my sabbaths. [25] And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.65 [26] And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.66 [27] And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner67 court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer68 his sin offering, saith the Lord God. [28] And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I [am] their inheritance69: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I [am] their possession. [29] They shall eat70 the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every dedicated71 thing in Israel shall be theirs. [30] And the first72 of all the firstfruits73 of all [things], and every oblation of all, of every [sort] of your oblations, shall be the priest’s: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may74 cause the blessing to rest in thine house. [31] The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast. 75

<< Ezekiel 43 Ezekiel 45 >>

  1. Ezek 44:1, The east gate assigned only to the prince; Ezek 44:4, The priests reproved for polluting the sanctuary; Ezek 44:9, Idolaters incapable of the priests office; Ezek 44:15, The sons of Zadok are accepted thereto; Ezek 44:17, Ordinances for the priests. ↩

  2. So called in opposition to the temple itself, which was the inner sanctuary. Ezek 40:6, Ezek 40:17, Ezek 42:14; 2Chr 4:9, 2Chr 20:5, 2Chr 33:5; Acts 21:28-30 ↩

  3. Ezek 43:1, Ezek 43:4, Ezek 46:1 ↩

  4. Ezek 43:2-4; Exod 24:10; Isa 6:1-5 ↩

  5. Ezek 46:2, Ezek 46:8; 2Chr 23:13, 2Chr 34:31 ↩

  6. It is probable that the prince mentioned here and elsewhere, does not mean the Messiah, but the ruler of the Jewish nation for the time being. For it is not only directed where he should sit in the temple, and eat his portion of the sacrifices, and when and how he should go out; but it is also ordered (Ezek 45:22), that at the passover he shall offer a bullock, a sin offering for himself and the people; and to guard him against any temptation of oppressing the people, he had a provision of land allotted to him (Ezek 45:8), out of which he is to give an inheritance for his sons (Ezek 46:18). These appear plainly to be political rules for common princes, and for a succession of them; but as no such rules were observed under the second temple, the fulfilment of it must still be future. Ezek 34:24, Ezek 37:25; Zech 6:12-13 ↩

  7. Gen 31:54; Exod 24:9-11; Deut 12:7, Deut 12:17-18; Isa 23:18, Isa 62:9; 1Cor 10:18-33; Rev 3:20 ↩

  8. Ezek 40:9, Ezek 46:2, Ezek 46:8-10 ↩

  9. Ezek 40:20, Ezek 40:40 ↩

  10. Ezek 3:23, Ezek 10:4, Ezek 10:18-19, Ezek 11:22-23, Ezek 43:4-5; Isa 6:3-4; Hag 2:7; Mal 3:1 ↩

  11. Ezek 1:28, Ezek 43:3; Gen 17:3; Num 16:42-45; Ps 89:7; Rev 1:17 ↩

  12. Heb. set thine heart, Ezek 40:4; Exod 9:21 marg. Deut 32:46; 1Chr 22:19; 2Chr 11:16; Prov 24:32 marg. Dan 10:12 ↩

  13. Ezek 43:10-11; Deut 12:32; Matt 28:20 ↩

  14. Ps 119:4 ↩

  15. Ps 96:8-9; Acts 8:37 ↩

  16. Ezek 2:5-8, Ezek 3:9, Ezek 3:26-27 ↩

  17. Ezek 45:9; 1Pet 4:3 ↩

  18. Ezek 44:9, Ezek 7:20, Ezek 22:26, Ezek 43:7-8; Lev 22:25; Acts 21:28 ↩

  19. Heb. children of a stranger, Isa 56:6-7 ↩

  20. The introduction of uncircumcised persons to eat of the peace offerings and oblations, would have been a gross violation of the Mosaic law; but, as there was no law to exclude "the uncircumcised of heart," who were circumcised and ritually clean, this seems to point out a new and different constitution. Lev 26:41; Deut 10:16, Deut 30:6; Jer 4:4, Jer 9:26; Acts 7:51; Rom 2:28-29; Col 2:11-13 ↩

  21. Lev 3:16, Lev 21:6, Lev 21:8, Lev 21:17, Lev 21:21, Lev 22:25; Mal 1:7, Mal 1:12-14; John 6:52-58 ↩

  22. Lev 3:13-17, Lev 17:11 ↩

  23. Gen 17:14; Lev 26:15; Deut 31:16, Deut 31:20; Isa 24:5; Jer 11:10, Jer 31:32; Heb 8:9 ↩

  24. Lev 22:2-33; Num 18:3-5; Acts 7:53; 1Tim 6:13; 2Tim 4:1 ↩

  25. or, ward, or ordinance, and so Ezek 44:14, Ezek 44:16, Ezek 40:45-46; 1Chr 23:32; Ezra 8:24-30 ↩

  26. Ezek 44:7; Ps 50:16, Ps 93:5; Joel 3:17; Zech 14:21; Mark 16:16; John 3:3-5; Titus 1:5-9 ↩

  27. Ezek 44:15, Ezek 22:26, Ezek 48:11; 2Kgs 23:8-9; 2Chr 29:4-5; Neh 9:34; Jer 23:11; Zeph 3:4; 1Tim 5:22 ↩

  28. Gen 4:13; Lev 19:8; Num 5:31; Ps 38:4; Isa 53:11 ↩

  29. As few, if any, of those who, before the captivity, had been guilty in these respects, lived to witness the restoration of the temple service; and as it does not appear that their descendants were thus degraded for the idolatry of their ancestors; it is probable that a thorough reformation of the whole church, or the prevalence of pure religion among the converted Jews, is here predicted. ↩

  30. Ezek 44:14, Ezek 40:45; 1Chr 26:1-19 ↩

  31. 2Chr 29:34, 2Chr 30:17, 2Chr 35:10-11 ↩

  32. Num 16:9, Num 18:6 ↩

  33. 1Sam 2:29-30; 2Kgs 16:10-16; Isa 9:16; Hos 4:6, Hos 5:1; Mal 2:8-9 ↩

  34. Heb. were for a stumbling-block of iniquity unto, etc. Ezek 14:3-4 ↩

  35. Ezek 20:6, Ezek 20:15, Ezek 20:23, Ezek 20:28; Deut 32:40-42; Ps 106:26; Amos 8:7; Rev 10:5-6 ↩

  36. Ezek 44:10, Ezek 44:13 ↩

  37. Num 18:3; 2Kgs 23:9 ↩

  38. Ezek 32:20, Ezek 36:7 ↩

  39. Num 18:4; 1Chr 23:28-32 ↩

  40. Ezek 40:46, Ezek 43:19, Ezek 48:11; 1Sam 2:35; 1Kgs 2:35; 1Tim 3:3-10; 2Tim 2:2; Rev 2:1, Rev 2:8, Rev 2:12, Rev 2:18, Rev 3:1, Rev 3:7, Rev 3:14, Rev 3:22 ↩

  41. Ezek 44:10 ↩

  42. Deut 10:8; Zech 3:1-7 ↩

  43. Ezek 44:7; Lev 3:16-17 ↩

  44. Lev 17:5-6 ↩

  45. Rev 1:6 ↩

  46. To place the shew-bread there. It is observable, that the table in the sanctuary is mentioned rather than the altar of incense; perhaps intimating the change in the external institutions of Divine worship which should take place before the accomplishment of the prophecy. It is not easy to determine, whether any external regulations, with respect to Divine ordinances, answerable to these predictions, will be made among the converted Jews, when reinstated in their own land, or not. Ezek 41:22; Mal 1:7, Mal 1:12 ↩

  47. Num 18:7-8; Deut 33:8-10 ↩

  48. Exod 28:39-40, Exod 28:43, Exod 39:27-29; Lev 16:4; Rev 4:4, Rev 19:8 ↩

  49. Exod 28:40-41, Exod 39:28; 1Cor 11:4-10 ↩

  50. Exod 28:42-43; 1Cor 14:40, with anything that causeth sweat, or, in sweating places, Heb. in, or with sweat. ↩

  51. Ezek 42:13-14; Lev 6:10-11 ↩

  52. Ezek 46:20; Exod 29:37, Exod 30:29; Lev 6:27; Matt 23:17-19; 1Cor 3:5-6 ↩

  53. Lev 21:5-24; Deut 14:1 ↩

  54. Num 6:5; 1Cor 11:14 ↩

  55. Lev 10:9; Luke 1:15; 1Tim 3:8, 1Tim 5:23; Titus 1:7-8 ↩

  56. This was prohibited only to the high priest under the law; but is here extended to all the priests, perhaps to intimate the superior sanctity of the times to which it refers. ↩

  57. Lev 21:7, Lev 21:13-14; 1Tim 3:2, 1Tim 3:4-5, 1Tim 3:11-12; Titus 1:6 ↩

  58. Heb. thrust forth, Deut 24:1-4 ↩

  59. Heb. from a priest ↩

  60. Ezek 22:26; Lev 10:10-11; Deut 33:10; Hos 4:6; Mic 3:9-11; Zeph 3:4; Hag 2:11-13; Mal 2:6-9; 2Tim 2:24-25; Titus 1:9-11 ↩

  61. This seems to intimate, that controversies, in the period predicted, will be generally decided by arbitration, according to the law of God; and not by litigations before human tribunals, according to the laws of man. Deut 17:8-13; 1Chr 23:4; 2Chr 19:8-10; Ezra 2:63 ↩

  62. 1Tim 3:15 ↩

  63. Lev 23:1-44; Num. 28:1-29:40; Neh 8:1-18 ↩

  64. Ezek 22:26; Isa 58:13-14 ↩

  65. Lev 21:1-6, Lev 22:4; Matt 8:21-22; Luke 9:59-60; 2Cor 5:16; 1Thess 4:13-15 ↩

  66. Num 6:10-21, Num 19:11-13; Heb 9:13-14 ↩

  67. Ezek 44:17 ↩

  68. Lev 4:3-35, Lev 8:14-36; Num 6:9-11; Heb 7:26-28 ↩

  69. Ezek 45:4, Ezek 48:9-11; Num 18:20; Deut 10:9, Deut 18:1-2; Josh 13:14, Josh 13:33; 1Pet 5:2-4 ↩

  70. Lev 2:3, Lev 2:10, Lev 6:14-18, Lev 6:26, Lev 6:29, Lev 7:6; Num 18:9-11; 1Cor 9:13-14; Heb 13:10 ↩

  71. or, devoted, Lev 27:21, Lev 27:28 *compared with: Num 18:14 ↩

  72. or, chief ↩

  73. Exod 13:2, Exod 13:12, Exod 22:29, Exod 23:19; Num 3:13, Num 15:19-21, Num 18:12-18, Num 18:27-30; Deut 18:4; 2Chr 31:4-6, 2Chr 31:10; Neh 10:35-37; Jas 1:18 ↩

  74. Deut 26:10-15; Prov 3:9-10; Mal 3:10-11 ↩

  75. Exod 22:31; Lev 17:15, Lev 22:8; Deut 14:21; Rom 14:20; 1Cor 8:13 ↩