Ezekiel 44

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Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. 

Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. 

Ezekiel notices something different when he returned to the place God entered; the gate on the east side was shut.  He saw the gate open and described how God entered; now, he sees that the gate was shut after he was brought back.

It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same. 

God explained to Ezekiel that the prince, who I think is Jesus, will be the only one to access this area that has been closed off.

Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and I fell upon my face. 

There was no more conversation about the closed gate.  Ezekiel was taken to the north gate, saw the glory of God, and fell down on his face.  No matter how often you see God's glory, you do not get used to it.

And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary. 

God told Ezekiel to watch Him and listen closely to all He was about to show and tell him.  I will show you how to enter and leave my house and all the laws I have in place that contain order in My house.

And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations, 

Tell Israel, who are rebellious, that I am giving instructions to meet the need of all their continual sins and that I will allow you to live without committing the same sins.  I am giving you a plan to stay out of sin.

In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations. 

You brought people in and allowed them to do what you were assigned.  For instance, churches today allow politicians to come into the house of God, movie stars, the rich and famous, and many others who should not be serving in any capacity of ministering the holiness of God.

And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves. 

I told you what to do, and you told others they could do it.

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. 

You can not work on My behalf if you are not born again.  This brings more to mind: anyone born again must be skillful in the Word of God to operate in any capacity of leadership.

And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity. 

God reminds Ezekiel that the Levites, those he once qualified to serve Him, walked away from His order; they caused those whom they served to be led astray.  The Levites will get the consequences for the sin they committed.

Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them. 

I am not completely removing them from My house.  They will now serve as those who do the manual work that will provide what is needed for the ministers who serve in their old positions.

Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity. 

Because they did not obey My Word, My hand is against them in serving inside My House.

And they shall not 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 bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed. 

The Levites cannot come near Me.  They will pay for the sins they did in their roles of being in leadership.

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. 

They will do work around the temple, but they will not have authority over My people.

But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD: 

As for the sons of Zadok, they will serve Me in the place of the Levites.  The sons of Zadok did not forsake My laws during the time when Israel strayed away from Me.

They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge. 

The sons of  Zadoks will serve Me.

And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. 

Tell the sons of Zadok what to wear while they are serving Me.

They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat. 

Tell them to wear clothing made of linen and no clothing that will cause them to sweat, such as wool.  Tell them to wear linen outwardly and underneath and even on their heads.

And when they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments. 

Tell them that the clothing linen is not to be worn in a common area.  I do not want them to make people notice them from what they wear before Me.  When you are out with people, dress like regular people and do not take your position with Me as a place to lord over people or to be noticed by them.

Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads. 

Do not shave or grow long locks; allow your head to be trimmed.  Do not bring attention to who you are by how you wear your hair.

Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court. 

When you are in the courts, do not drink wine.

Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before. 

Keep my ordinances in who to marry.

And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. 

When you teach, show people what is right and what is wrong.

And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths. 

When there is a dispute among people, use My Words to show people how to resolve all issues.  You will sometimes serve as a judge and use My Words only to guide the people.

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. 

Do not go to everybody's funeral.  Use My guidelines when you attend a funeral.

And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.

Even when you go to funerals, I allow you to attend and stay away from My house for 7 days after the funeral. 

And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, saith the Lord GOD. 

Then bring your sin offering when you come back into My House.

And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession.

I will meet your needs, all of them;  you will not own anything in earth.  I will take care of your needs. 

They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. 

Your meat will be provided.

And the first of all the firstfruits 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 may cause the blessing to rest in thine house. 

Your fruit and vegetables will be provided.  You will have the best of every crop and dough too.

The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.

The priest will not be given anything to eat that died or was beaten, fowl or beast.