Ezekiel 44:24 Komentář

In this chapter we have, I. The appropriating of the east gate of the temple to the prince (Eze 44:1-3). II. A reproof sent to the house of Israel for their former profanations of God's sanctuary, with a charge to them to be more strict for the future (Eze 44:4-9). III. The degrading of those Levites that had formerly been guilty of idolatry and the establishing of the priesthood in the family of Zadok, which had kept their integrity (Eze 44:10-16). IV. Divers laws and ordinances concerning the priests (Eze 44:17-31).

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 44 This chapter treats of the eastern gate of the temple being appropriated to the use of the prince, Eze 44:1, of the sin of the Lord's people, in admitting strangers and unholy persons into the sanctuary, either to officiate or communicate there, Eze 44:4 of the degrading of the Levites, that went astray, assigning them inferior posts and service in the house of God, Eze 44:10 and of the establishment of the sons of Zadok in their ministry, who were faithful, Eze 44:15, then follow various laws relating to their garments; shaving of their heads; drinking wine; their marriage; performance of their ministerial work; their regard to the dead, and their food and maintenance, Eze 44:17.

And in controversy they shall stand in judgment,.... When any controversy arises among the saints concerning civil things, this shall not be carried into a court of judicature, of the men of the world; but it shall be brought before the church, and there heard, tried, judged, and determined; the ministers of the word there presiding, who shall give the definitive sentence, and stand to it, and abide by it, Co1 6:1 and when any controversy arises about the doctrines of the Gospel, or modes of worship, or rules of discipline, they shall rise up, discuss the point, determine the question, pass the sentence, and not depart from it: and they shall judge it according to my judgments; not according to their own judgments, or according to their own fancies, or the reasonings of their own minds, but according to those directions and rules given in the word of God; which is profitable for the settling and establishing true doctrine, and the reproof and correction of error, and for the instruction of men in the paths of righteousness: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; which assemblies are the churches of Christ, gathered according to Gospel order; where the saints assemble together for divine worship, and where the Lord grants his presence; and where his word is preached, and his ordinances administered, and so called his; and of which assemblies Gospel ministers are the masters, and where they preside; and whose business is to observe the laws and statutes the Lord has made, and to interpret them unto the people, and enforce them on them, and see that they are kept by them: and they shall hallow my sabbaths; such times as are appointed for divine worship; these they shall keep holy themselves, in the exercise both of private and public worship, and shall exhort and stir up all with whom they are concerned to do the same.

(Vers. 23-24) And they will teach my people what is holy and what is defiled, and they will show them what is clean and what is unclean. And when there is a dispute (as added in the Septuagint, regarding blood), they will stand in my courts, and they will judge my laws, and they will keep my commandments in all my solemnities. It is also the duty of the priest to teach the people what is holy and what is impure, what is clean and what is unclean; so that we may first refer to the doctrines, and then to the works that are accomplished through the flesh. For who understands the sins? And when there is a dispute about any matter, whether as the Seventy have translated it, blood, that is, a crime that pertains to death, the priests shall stand in my judgments, so that they may not judge according to favoritism, nor show partiality to the poor or the rich in judgment, but they shall judge according to the judgments of God, and they shall remember that psalm: God stands in the assembly of gods, but he judges the gods in the midst of them, calling gods those who have the power to judge over men: and whoever judges in that judgment, he shall be judged by them. He said, 'My laws and my precepts shall be observed on all my solemnities, so that they may know how Christ is immolated for us as the Paschal Lamb; how we ought to fulfill the seven weeks of joy and gladness, and to humble our souls in fasting; and to understand the sound of trumpets and the spiritual tabernacles, in which we say: 'I am a stranger and a sojourner as were all my fathers' (Ps. XXXVIII, 13). These are the true solemnities of God, which someone discussing the Pentateuch will interpret in a consistent manner.' The first virtue of a priest is not only to teach what he knows, but also to observe all the festivals of God, so that he can instruct others in what they should observe, which he himself has also observed. Moreover, the duty of the priests is to have knowledge of the law, and in Malachi we learn, who says: The lips of the priest will keep knowledge, and the law they shall seek at his mouth: because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts (Mal. II, 7).

(Verse 24) And they shall sanctify my Sabbaths. Furthermore, it is commanded to the priests: in which it is to be observed that it does not say absolutely: and they shall sanctify the sabbaths; or according to Isaiah: My soul hates your new moons and sabbaths (Isa. 1:13): but with distinction, my sabbaths. Hence, it is also written in the Gospel: The priests in the temple violate the Sabbath, and they are without guilt (Matt. 12:5): not the Sabbath of God, but the Sabbath of the law, the Sabbath of the Jews, which they rightly violate who are the chosen race, royal, priestly. Furthermore, let us understand the Sabbath, which is sanctified, as the Apostle teaches, to have been left to the people of God, about whom it is said: 'If they shall enter into my rest' (Ps. 94:11), which is called the Sabbath in Hebrew. But God sanctifies the Sabbath, who does not bear the burden of sin on the Sabbath, nor says: 'As the heavy burden, they have been heavily laden upon me' (Ps. 37:5). Whoever is such, does not gather wood on the Sabbath; nor does he build upon the foundation of Jesus Christ with wood, hay, straw (1 Cor. 3); nor does he light a fire that consumes useless material, and he remains in one place on the day of Sabbath; nor does he go outside, but remains like a column placed in the temple of God, as John writes in the Apocalypse: 'He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more' (Rev. 3:12).

This chapter gives an account of the glory of God having returned to the temple, Eze 44:14. The Jews reproved for suffering idolatrous priests to pollute it with their ministrations, Eze 44:5-8. Ordinances respecting the conduct of the priests, and the maintenance due to them, vv. 9-31.

ORDINANCES FOR THE PRINCE AND THE PRIESTS. (Eze. 44:1-31) shut . . . not be opened-- (Job 12:14; Isa 22:22; Rev 3:7). "Shut" to the people (Exo 19:21-22), but open to "the prince" (Eze 44:3), he holding the place of God in political concerns, as the priests do in spiritual. As a mark of respect to an Eastern monarch, the gate by which he enters is thenceforth shut to all other persons (compare Exo 19:24).