August 23, 2011
RULES, RULES, RULES
Ezekiel 44
Nicholas Horton
Central Truth
God gave Israel a lot of rules, and He expected the people to follow His rules. Consequences awaited those who did not follow His rules. Then, as now, the issue is the heart.
Key Verse | Ezekiel 44:5
The LORD said to me, "Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the statutes of the house of the LORD and concerning all its laws; and mark well the entrance of the house, with all exits of the sanctuary." (Ezekiel 44:5)
Ezekiel 44
The Gate for the Prince
1 Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east. And it was shut. 2 And the LORD said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. 3 Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD. He shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.”
4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD. And I fell on my face. 5 And the LORD said to me, “Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning all the statutes of the temple of the LORD and all its laws. And mark well the entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary. 6 And say to the rebellious house, 1 44:6 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks house to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, enough of all your abominations, 7 in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You 2 44:7 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew They have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. 8 And you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.
9 Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. 10 But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment. 3 44:10 Or iniquity; also verse 12 11 They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before the people, to minister to them. 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment. 13 They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. 14 Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its service and all that is to be done in it.
Rules for Levitical Priests
15 But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. 16 They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. 17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. 18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. 19 And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers. And they shall put on other garments, lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. 20 They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. 21 No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. 22 They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23 They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. 24 In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy. 25 They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. 26 After he 4 44:26 That is, a priest has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. 27 And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God.
28 This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. 29 They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, that a blessing may rest on your house. 31 The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.
Dive Deeper | Ezekiel 44
No shirt, no shoes, no service. No texting while driving. No watering your lawn before 6 p.m. No #6 in the recycling bin. These are just a few rules and regulations that we have to follow in our daily lives. Some are OK, while others may come across as bothersome. There are rules and regulations for just about EVERYTHING we do in life; and sometimes we break those rules or ignore those regulations when they inconvenience us. As a parent, I find myself enforcing several rules and regulations with my four year old that are designed to keep her safe, but she still tests me and my enforcement of those rules when they don't work for her!
In Ezekiel 44 the Lord gave Ezekiel several rules and regulations regarding His temple, which those who worked and worshiped there had to follow. The Israelites had decided to follow their own rules and what was convenient for them in regards to the temple and its use, and the Lord had had enough. He started playing the role of enforcer because the Israelites had shown that they could not follow the rules on their own. He said, "You have not kept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners to keep charge of My sanctuary." (44:8) He told Ezekiel who could come into the temple, what jobs they could have, and what kind of clothes they could wear while they were there. Seems like a tough list to follow, don't you think?
As followers of Christ now, we still have rules and regulations we must follow (i.e. the Ten Commandments), but we are also given a lot of grace. At Watermark, anyone can come and worship with us; we can wear pretty much whatever we want to wear; and we can volunteer to do whatever job we want to do in the church! Plus, all we have to do when we commit a sin is to ask for His forgiveness, and the Father is gracious to restore fellowship with Him (1 John 1:9). Pretty good deal, I think!
Discussion Questions
1. Are there any "rules or regulations" that are hard for you to follow in regards to being a follower of Christ? What are they?
2. What are some areas in which you need an "enforcer" to help you stay focused on your walk with Christ?
3. Do you regularly give Him thanks for all He has provided you? Do you ask for His forgiveness when you need it?
WEEKLY FAMILY ACTIVITY
EZEKIEL 43-47 (AUGUST 22-26)
Read Ezekiel 43:1-6.
What is coming from the east (verse 2)?
What did it sound like? What did the earth shine with? What was Ezekiel's response to the glory of the Lord (verse 3)?
What did the glory of the Lord DO, according to verse 5?
ACTIVITY: Take a large plastic bowl outside and get the water hose. Start filling up the bowl with water and allow it to spill over. This is what the glory of the Lord will be like on the earth one day!
Read 1 Corinthians 6:19.
If you have trusted Jesus as your Savior, what is your body? What will others see if you allow God's glory to overflow from your life? (See Galatians 5:22-25.)