Ezechiele 44:13 Commento

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 they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of priest unto me,.... To bring the sacrifice to the altar, and offer it there; to sprinkle the blood, or burn the fat, or the incense; to intercede for the people, or bless them; see Hos 4:6, nor to come near to any of my holy things in the most holy place; to do any business, either in the holy or in the most holy place; to offer holy things, or eat of them. The sense is, that these degraded ministers, who had sinned so greatly, and had fallen so foully, though restored by repentance; yet should not preach the word, nor administer any ordinance: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed; that is, the shame of their abominations, of their abominable principles and practices, which they have held and maintained; being publicly disgraced and degraded, and so notoriously distinguished.

(Verse 9 and following) Thus says the Lord God: Every uncircumcised foreigner in heart and in flesh shall not enter my sanctuary, every foreign son who is among the sons of Israel. But the Levites who went far away from me in the error of the sons of Israel, and who went astray after their idols, shall bear their iniquity, those who were in my sanctuary, the ministers of the gates of the house, and the ministers of the house; they themselves slaughtered the burnt offerings and the sacrifices of the people, and there they stood before them to minister for them. Therefore, because they ministered to them in the presence of their idols, and the house of Israel became a stumbling block of iniquity, therefore I have lifted my hand against them, says the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity. And they shall not approach me to serve as priests, nor come near to any of my sanctuaries, according to the most holy things; but they shall bear their shame and the sins they have committed. And I will give them custodians of the house in all its ministry, and for all that is done in it. But the Levite priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the ceremonial duties of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister to me; and they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God. They shall enter my sanctuary; and they shall come near to my table to minister to me, and they shall keep my ceremonies. LXX: Therefore thus says the Lord: Every uncircumcised foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall not enter my sanctuary, among all the foreign-born children of Israel. But the Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray, following their own imaginations and carrying their own sins, shall serve in my sanctuary, guarding the gates of the temple and ministering in the house. They shall offer burnt offerings and sacrifices to the people, and they shall stand before the people to minister to them. Because they ministered to them before their idols, and the house of Israel became a stumbling block of iniquity, therefore I have stretched out my hand over them, says the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity and shall not come near me to serve as priests to me, nor to offer to all the holy things of the children of Israel, nor to the most holy things of my sanctuary, but they shall bear their disgrace and the error in which they have wandered. And they shall set them to keep the guard of the house, and to do all the works thereof, and all that shall be done therein. And the priests the Levites, the sons of Sadoc, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister to me, and they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God. They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and to keep my charge. I have placed the testimony next to each edition, so that from comparing them we may be able to know what the LXX thought, what the Hebrew holds. The Seventy signify this, that the uncircumcised foreigners in heart and flesh who dwell among the children of Israel should not enter the sanctuary of God. But the Levites, that is, the priestly order, who have strayed far from the Lord in the error of the children of Israel, and have gone after their idols, after they have received their iniquity, let them stand in the sanctuary of the Lord as builders and doorkeepers, and ministers of the house, and let them offer burnt offerings and sacrifices of the people; and let them be in their presence to minister to them what they have ministered to their idols, and let them become a torment of iniquity for the house of Israel; and therefore the Lord God says that He has lifted His hand against them, so that they may not approach Him and officiate in the priesthood, nor offer in the holy of holies, and let them bear their shame in the error in which they have erred; so that they may be put under the observation of the guardians of the house in all its works, and in everything that is done in the house. But if this is so, how can it be possible for the Levites, who have strayed far from God and gone astray after their own idols, to serve in the house and offer sacrifices and victims for the people, and to stand before them to serve them? For what more will the priests of the sons of Zadok, who have kept the ceremonies of the sanctuary of God, do? Of whom it is said: They will approach me to serve me, and they will stand before me to offer me fat and the rest? But Hebrew has this meaning: Every uncircumcised foreigner in heart and flesh shall not enter my sanctuary, though he may be seen as being with the people of Israel. But the Levites, that is, the priestly class, who have gone far astray from me in the error of the children of Israel, and have followed idols, shall bear their iniquity because they have served in my sanctuary as gatekeepers of the house, and as its ministers. For they offered burnt offerings and the people's sacrifices, and they stood before them to minister to them. So because they ministered for them in the presence of their idols, and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have stretched out my hand against them, says the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity and shall not come near me to serve as priests to me, nor to approach any of my sanctuary's holy things, but they shall bear their disgrace and the crimes they have committed. For the priestly office which they were accustomed to, offering burnt offerings and sacrifices and all kinds of offerings, they shall be reduced to the lowest level and become the gatekeepers of the house, in eternal disgrace, so that they may be seen by the whole people entering and leaving, from what sublime dignity they have reached to this lowest level. But the priests, he says, that is, the Levites, who are the sons of Zadok, that is, the righteous or just of God, and who during the time of the error of all the Israelites, have kept the ceremonies of my sanctuary, they themselves will approach me to minister to me, and they will stand in my presence, and they will offer me fat, that is, the fattest victim and blood, namely, a living and pleasing victim to God, and they themselves will enter my sanctuary, and they will approach my table, to burn incense to me, and they will observe every rite of the sacrifice. But if it is so, that those who in the time of error and persecution followed idols, which they had fashioned in their own hearts, and not only declared with their voice, but also with the signing of their hands, that the Son of God was a creature, and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever, how do they assume for themselves the high office of priesthood and pontificate, and dare to offer sacrifices to God, once worshippers of idols? But, as the most ardent poet testifies, Whatever is committed by many is left unpunished: The multitude of sinners has made the impious obtain even greater forgiveness, so that those who, having been reduced to laymen, should have bewailed the crimes of their sacrilege, now recline on the pontifical throne and belch forth the nauseating reflux of simulated faith, or rather the open shortcuts of covert treachery. Let them at least, then, listen late and observe the precepts of the almighty God. Every foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and in flesh, shall not enter my sanctuary. Although he may be a son, although he may be connected by kinship, although he may cling to us through ancient obligation: if he is uncircumcised in heart or flesh, he should not be admitted into the sanctuary of God: lest we make ministers of Christ, our ministers, and defile the altars of the Lord with carnal indulgences. For this reason, I will appoint them as the gatekeepers of the house, in charge of all the services performed in it: namely, the Levites who have strayed far from God in the error of the children of Israel, and have followed idols to which they have sacrificed. Taking into consideration the order of reading and the sense, Symmachus interpreted it more accurately, saying: For I had appointed them as custodians of the gates of the entire ministry and of all that is done in it, so that it would not pertain to those who are to come in the temple, but to those who have been.

How is it that in the book of Ezekiel, where a description is given of the future church and of the heavenly Jerusalem, the priests who have sinned are degraded to the rank of sacristans and doorkeepers, and although they are in the temple of God, that is, on the right hand, they are not among the rams but among the poorest of the sheep?

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).