mh_parser/vol_split/26 - Ezekiel/Chapter 44.xml

<div2 id="Ez.xlv" n="xlv" next="Ez.xlvi" prev="Ez.xliv" progress="66.03%" title="Chapter XLIV">
<h2 id="Ez.xlv-p0.1">E Z E K I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Ez.xlv-p0.2">CHAP. XLIV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ez.xlv-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have, I. The appropriating of
the east gate of the temple to the prince, <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.1-Ezek.44.3" parsed="|Ezek|44|1|44|3" passage="Eze 44:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.4-Ezek.44.9" parsed="|Ezek|44|4|44|9" passage="Eze 44:4-9">ver. 4-9</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.10-Ezek.44.16" parsed="|Ezek|44|10|44|16" passage="Eze 44:10-16">ver.
10-16</scripRef>. IV. Divers laws and ordinances concerning the
priests, <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.17-Ezek.44.31" parsed="|Ezek|44|17|44|31" passage="Eze 44:17-31">ver.
17-31</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ez.xlv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44" parsed="|Ezek|44|0|0|0" passage="Eze 44" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ez.xlv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.1-Ezek.44.3" parsed="|Ezek|44|1|44|3" passage="Eze 44:1-3" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xlv-p1.7">
<h4 id="Ez.xlv-p1.8">Message of the House of
Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xlv-p1.9">b. c.</span> 574.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xlv-p2" shownumber="no">1 Then he brought me back the way of the gate of
the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it
<i>was</i> shut.   2 Then said the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xlv-p2.1">Lord</span> unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall
not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xlv-p2.2">Lord</span>, the God of Israel, hath entered in
by it, therefore it shall be shut.   3 <i>It is</i> for the
prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xlv-p2.3">Lord</span>; he shall enter by the way of
the porch of <i>that</i> gate, and shall go out by the way of the
same.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p3" shownumber="no">The prophet is here brought to review what
he had before once surveyed; for, though we have often looked into
the things of God, they will yet bear to be looked over again, such
a copiousness there is in them. The lessons we have learned we
should still repeat to ourselves. Every time we review the sacred
fabric of holy things, which we have in the scriptures, we shall
still find something new which we did not before take notice of.
The prophet is brought a third time to the east gate, and finds it
shut, which intimates that the rest of the gates were open at all
times to the worshippers. But such an account is given of this
gate's being shut as puts honour, 1. Upon the God of Israel. It is
for the honour of him that the gate of the inner court, at which
his glory entered when he took possession of the house, was ever
after kept shut, and no man was allowed to enter in by it,
<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.2" parsed="|Ezek|44|2|0|0" passage="Eze 44:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. The difference
ever after made between this and the other gates, that this was
shut when the others were open, was intended both to perpetuate the
remembrance of the solemn entrance of the glory of the Lord into
the house (which it would remain a traditional evidence of the
truth of) and also to possess the minds of people with a reverence
for the Divine Majesty, and with very awful thoughts of his
transcendent glory, which was designed in God's charge to Moses at
the bush, <i>Put off thy shoe from off thy foot.</i> God will have
a way by himself. 2. Upon the prince of Israel, <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.3" parsed="|Ezek|44|3|0|0" passage="Eze 44:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. It is an honour to him that
though he may not enter in by this gate, for no man may, yet, (1.)
He shall <i>sit in this gate</i> to <i>eat</i> his share of the
peace-offerings, that sacred food, <i>before the Lord.</i> (2.) He
shall <i>enter by the way of the porch of that gate,</i> by some
little door or wicket, either in the gate or adjoining to it, which
is called the <i>way of the porch.</i> This is to signify that God
puts some of his glory upon magistrates, upon the princes of his
people, for he has said, <i>You are gods.</i> Some by the prince
here understand the high priests, or the sagan or second priest;
and that he only was allowed to enter by this gate, for he was
God's representative. Christ is the high priest of our profession,
who entered himself into the holy place, and <i>opened the kingdom
of heaven to all believers.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xlv-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.4-Ezek.44.9" parsed="|Ezek|44|4|44|9" passage="Eze 44:4-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xlv-p3.4">
<h4 id="Ez.xlv-p3.5">Idolatry of the Levites. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xlv-p3.6">b. c.</span> 574.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xlv-p4" shownumber="no">4 Then brought he me the way of the north gate
before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xlv-p4.1">Lord</span> filled the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xlv-p4.2">Lord</span>: and I fell upon my face.   5 And the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xlv-p4.3">Lord</span> 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
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xlv-p4.4">Lord</span>, and all the laws thereof; and
mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of
the sanctuary.   6 And thou shalt say to the rebellious,
<i>even</i> to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xlv-p4.5">God</span>; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice
you of all your abominations,   7 In that ye have brought
<i>into my sanctuary</i> strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and
uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it,
<i>even</i> my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the
blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your
abominations.   8 And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy
things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for
yourselves.   9 Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xlv-p4.6">God</span>; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor
uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any
stranger that <i>is</i> among the children of Israel.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p5" shownumber="no">This is much to the same purport with what
we had in the beginning of <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.43.1-Ezek.43.31" parsed="|Ezek|43|1|43|31" passage="Eze 43:1-31"><i>ch.</i> xliii.</scripRef> As the prophet must look
again upon what he had before seen, so he must be told again what
he had before heard. Here, as before, he sees the house <i>filled
with the glory of the Lord,</i> which strikes an awe upon him, so
that he falls prostrate at the sight, the humblest posture of
adoration and the expression of a holy awe: <i>I fell upon my
face,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.4" parsed="|Ezek|44|4|0|0" passage="Eze 44:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>.
Note, The more we see of the glory of God the more low we shall lie
in our own eyes. Now here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p6" shownumber="no">I. God charges the prophet to take a very
particular notice of all he saw, and all that was said to him
(<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.5" parsed="|Ezek|44|5|0|0" passage="Eze 44:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): "<i>Behold
with thy eyes</i> what is <i>shown</i> thee, particularly the
<i>entering in of the house</i> and <i>every going forth</i> of it,
all the inlets and all the outlets of the sanctuary;" those he must
take special notice of. Note, In acquainting ourselves with divine
things we must not aim so much at an abstract speculation of the
things themselves as at finding the plain appointed way of converse
and communion with those things, that we may <i>go in and out and
find pasture.</i> 2. <i>Hear with thy ears all that I say unto
thee</i> about <i>the laws</i> and <i>ordinances</i> of <i>the
house,</i> which he was to instruct the people in. Note, Those who
are appointed to be teachers have need to be very diligent careful
learners, that they may neither forget any of the things they are
entrusted with nor mistake concerning them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p7" shownumber="no">II. He sends him upon an errand to the
people, <i>to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.6" parsed="|Ezek|44|6|0|0" passage="Eze 44:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. It is sad to
think that the house of Israel should deserve this character from
him who perfectly knew them, that a people in covenant with God
should be rebellious against him. Who are his subjects if the house
of Israel be rebels? But it is an instance of God's rich mercy
that, though they had been <i>rebellious,</i> yet, being the
<i>house of Israel,</i> he does not cast them off, but sends an
ambassador to them, to invite and encourage them to return to their
allegiance, which he would not have done if he had been pleased to
kill them. The whole race of mankind has fallen under the character
here given of the house of Israel; but our Lord Jesus, when he
ascended on high, received gifts for men, <i>yea, even for the
rebellious also, that,</i> as here, <i>the Lord God might dwell
among them,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.68.18" parsed="|Ps|68|18|0|0" passage="Ps 68:18">Ps. lxviii.
18</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p8" shownumber="no">1. He must tell them of their faults, must
show them their rebellions, must show the house of Jacob their
sins. Note, Those that are sent to comfort God's people must first
convince them, and so prepare them for comfort. <i>Let it suffice
you of all your abominations,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.6" parsed="|Ezek|44|6|0|0" passage="Eze 44:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. Note, It is time for those that
have continued long in sin to reckon it long enough, and too long,
and to begin to think of taking up in time, and leaving off their
evil courses. "<i>Let the time past of your lives suffice,</i> for
by this time, surely, you have surfeited upon your abominations and
have become sick of them," <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.4.3" parsed="|1Pet|4|3|0|0" passage="1Pe 4:3">1 Pet. iv.
3</scripRef>. That which is here charged upon them is, (1.) That
they had admitted those to the privileges of the sanctuary that
were not entitled to them; whereas God had said, <i>The stranger
that comes nigh shall be put to death,</i> they had not only
connived at the intrusion of strangers into the sanctuary, but had
themselves introduced them (<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.7" parsed="|Ezek|44|7|0|0" passage="Eze 44:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>): <i>You brought in strangers uncircumcised in
flesh,</i> and therefore under a legal incapacity to enter into the
sanctuary, which was a <i>breaking of the covenant</i> of
circumcision, throwing down the hedge of their peculiarity, and
laying themselves in common with the rest of the world. Yet if
these strangers had been devout and good, though they were not
circumcised, the crime would not have been so great; but they were
<i>uncircumcised in heart</i> too, unhumbled, unreformed, and
strangers indeed to God and all goodness. When they came to offer
sacrifice they brought these with them to feast with them upon the
sacrifice, because they were fond of their company, and this was
one of their abominations, wherewith they <i>polluted God's
sanctuary;</i> it was <i>giving that which was holy unto dogs,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.7.6" parsed="|Matt|7|6|0|0" passage="Mt 7:6">Matt. vii. 6</scripRef>. Note, The
admission of those who are openly wicked and profane to special
ordinances is a polluting of God's sanctuary and a great
provocation to him. (2.) That they had employed those in the
service of the sanctuary who were not fit for it. Though none but
priests and Levites were to minister in the sanctuary, yet we may
suppose that all who were priests and Levites did not immediately
attend there, but chosen men of them, who were best qualified, who
were most wise, serious, and conscientious, and most likely to keep
the charge of the holy things carefully; but, in making this
choice, they had not regard to merit and qualification for the
work: "<i>You have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for
yourselves,</i> such as you had some favour or affection for, such
as you either had got, or hoped to get, money by, or such as would
comply with your humours and would dispense with the laws of the
sanctuary to please you; <i>thus you have not kept the charge of my
holy things.</i>" Note, Those who have the choice of the keepers of
the holy things, if, to serve some secular selfish purpose, they
choose such as are unfit and unfaithful, will justly have it laid
at their door, that they have betrayed the holy things by lodging
them in bad hands.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p9" shownumber="no">2. He must tell them their duty (<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.9" parsed="|Ezek|44|9|0|0" passage="Eze 44:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): "<i>No stranger shall
enter into my sanctuary</i> till he has first submitted to the laws
of it." But, lest any should think that this excluded the penitent
believing Gentiles from the church, the stranger here is described
to be one that is <i>uncircumcised in heart,</i> not in sincerity
consenting to the covenant, nor putting away the filth of the
flesh; whereas the believing Gentiles were <i>circumcised with the
circumcision made without hands,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Col.2.11" parsed="|Col|2|11|0|0" passage="Col 2:11">Col. ii. 11</scripRef>. This circumcision of the heart,
in the <i>spirit, not in the letter,</i> was what the unbelieving
Jews were strangers to and unconcerned about, while yet they were
zealous to keep out of the sanctuary uncircumcised Gentiles,
witness their rage against Paul when they did but suspect him to
have brought <i>Greeks into the temple,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.21.28" parsed="|Acts|21|28|0|0" passage="Ac 21:28">Acts xxi. 28</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xlv-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.10-Ezek.44.16" parsed="|Ezek|44|10|44|16" passage="Eze 44:10-16" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xlv-p9.5">
<h4 id="Ez.xlv-p9.6">Idolatrous Priests Degraded. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xlv-p9.7">b. c.</span> 574.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xlv-p10" shownumber="no">10 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.   11 Yet
they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, <i>having</i> 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.   12 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xlv-p10.1">God</span>, and they shall bear their iniquity.  
13 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 <i>place:</i> but they shall bear 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.   15 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
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xlv-p10.2">God</span>:   16 They shall enter into
my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister
unto me, and they shall keep my charge.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p11" shownumber="no">The Master of the house, being about to set
up house again, takes account of his servants the priests, and sees
who are fit to be turned out of their places and who to be kept in,
and takes a course with them accordingly.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p12" shownumber="no">I. Those who have been treacherous are
degraded and put lower than those Levites—or priests who were carried
down the stream of the apostasy of Israel formerly, who <i>went
astray from God after their idols</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.10" parsed="|Ezek|44|10|0|0" passage="Eze 44:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), who had complied with the
idolatrous kings of Israel or Judah, who <i>ministered to them
before their idols</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.12" parsed="|Ezek|44|12|0|0" passage="Eze 44:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>), bowed with them in the house of Rimmon, or set up
altars for them, as Urijah did for Ahaz, and so <i>caused the house
of Israel to fall into iniquity,</i> led them to sin and hardened
them in sin; for, if the priests go astray, many will follow
<i>their pernicious ways.</i> Perhaps in Babylon some of the Jewish
priests had complied with the idolaters of the place, to the great
scandal of their religion. Now these priests who had thus
prevaricated were justly put under the mark of God's displeasure;
or, if they were dead (as it is probable that they were, if the
crime were committed before the captivity), the iniquity was
visited upon their children. Or perhaps it was the whole family of
Abiathar that had been guilty of this trespass, which was now
called to account for it. And, 1. They are sentenced to be
deprived, in part, of their office, and from the dignity of priests
are put down into the condition or ordinary Levites. God has
<i>lifted up his hand against them,</i> has said it, and sworn it,
that <i>they shall bear their iniquity</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.12" parsed="|Ezek|44|12|0|0" passage="Eze 44:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>); assuredly they shall suffer
for it, shall suffer disgrace for it; <i>they shall bear their
shame</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.13" parsed="|Ezek|44|13|0|0" passage="Eze 44:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>),
for though they have (we charitably hope) repented of it, <i>yet
they shall not come near to do the office of a priest,</i> that is,
those parts of the office that were peculiar to them, they shall
not come near to <i>any of the holy things</i> within the
sanctuary, <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.13" parsed="|Ezek|44|13|0|0" passage="Eze 44:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>.
Note, those who have robbed God of his honour will justly be
deprived of their honour. And it is really a great punishment to be
forbidden to come near to God; and justly might those who have once
gone away from him be rejected as unworthy ever to come near to him
and put at an everlasting distance. 2. Yet there is a mixture of
mercy in this sentence. God deals not in severity, as he might have
done, with those who had dealt treacherously with him, but
mitigates the sentence, <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.11 Bible:Ezek.44.14" parsed="|Ezek|44|11|0|0;|Ezek|44|14|0|0" passage="Eze 44:11,14"><i>v.</i>
11, 14</scripRef>. They are deprived but in part, <i>ab officio—of
their office,</i> and, it should seem, not at all <i>à
beneficio—of their emoluments.</i> They shall help to <i>slay the
sacrifice,</i> which the Levites were permitted to do, and which in
this temple was done, not at the altar, but <i>at the tables,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p12.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.40.29" parsed="|Ezek|40|29|0|0" passage="Eze 40:29"><i>ch.</i> xl. 29</scripRef>. They
shall be porters <i>at the gates of the house,</i> and they shall
be <i>keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service
thereof.</i> Note, Those who may not be fit to be employed in one
kind of service may yet be fit to be employed in another; and even
those who have offended may yet be made use of, and not quite
thrown aside, much less thrown away.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p13" shownumber="no">II. Those who have been faithful are
honoured and established, <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.15-Ezek.44.16" parsed="|Ezek|44|15|44|16" passage="Eze 44:15,16"><i>v.</i> 15, 16</scripRef>. These are remarkably
distinguished from the other: "<i>But the sons of Zadok,</i> who
kept their integrity in a time of general apostasy, who <i>went not
astray</i> when others did, <i>they shall come near to me, shall
come near to my table.</i>" Note, God will put marks of honour upon
those who give proofs of their fidelity and constancy to him in
shaking trying times, and will employ those in his service who have
kept close to his service when others deserted it and drew back.
And it ought to be reckoned a true and great reward of stability in
duty to be established in it. If we keep close to God, God will
keep us close to him.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.xlv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.17-Ezek.44.31" parsed="|Ezek|44|17|44|31" passage="Eze 44:17-31" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.xlv-p13.3">
<h4 id="Ez.xlv-p13.4">Directions Concerning the
Priests. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xlv-p13.5">b. c.</span> 574.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.xlv-p14" shownumber="no">17 And it shall come to pass, <i>that</i> 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.
  18 They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall
have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird
<i>themselves</i> with any thing that causeth sweat.   19 And
when they go forth into the utter court, <i>even</i> 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.   20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor
suffer 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.   22 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.   23 And they shall teach my people <i>the
difference</i> between the holy and profane, and cause them to
discern between the unclean and the clean.   24 And in
controversy they shall stand in judgment; <i>and</i> 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.   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.   26 And after he is cleansed, they
shall reckon unto him seven days.   27 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.xlv-p14.1">God</span>.   28 And it shall be unto them
for an inheritance: I <i>am</i> their inheritance: and ye shall
give them no possession in Israel: I <i>am</i> their possession.
  29 They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering,
and the trespass offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel
shall be theirs.   30 And the first of all the firstfruits of
all <i>things,</i> and every oblation of all, of every <i>sort</i>
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.   31 The priests shall not eat of any
thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or
beast.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p15" shownumber="no">God's priests must be <i>regulars,</i> not
<i>seculars;</i> and therefore here are rules laid down for them to
govern themselves by and due encouragement given them to live up to
those rules. Directions are here given,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p16" shownumber="no">I. Concerning their clothes; they must wear
<i>linen garments</i> when they <i>went in to minister</i> or do
any service in the inner court, or in the sanctuary, and nothing
that was <i>woollen,</i> because it would <i>cause sweat,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.17-Ezek.44.18" parsed="|Ezek|44|17|44|18" passage="Eze 44:17,18"><i>v.</i> 17, 18</scripRef>. They
must dress themselves cool, that they might go the more readily
about their work; and they had the more need to do so because they
were to attend the altars, which had constant fires upon them. And
they must dress themselves clean and sweet, and avoid every thing
that was sweaty and filthy, to signify the purity of mind with
which the service of God is to be attended to. Sweat came in with
sin and was part of the curse. <i>In the sweat of thy face shalt
thou eat bread.</i> Clothes came in with sin, coats of skins did;
and therefore the priests must use as little and as light clothing
as possible, and not such as caused sweat. When they had finished
their service they must change their clothes again, and lay up
their linen garments in the chambers appointed for that purpose,
<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.19" parsed="|Ezek|44|19|0|0" passage="Eze 44:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>, as before,
<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.42.14" parsed="|Ezek|42|14|0|0" passage="Eze 42:14"><i>ch.</i> xlii. 14</scripRef>. They
must not go among the people with their holy garments on, lest they
should imagine themselves sanctified by the touch of them; or,
<i>They shall sanctify the people,</i> that is (as it is explained,
<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.42.14" parsed="|Ezek|42|14|0|0" passage="Eze 42:14"><i>ch.</i> xlii. 14</scripRef>), they
shall <i>approach to those things which are for the people,</i> in
their ordinary <i>garments.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p17" shownumber="no">II. Concerning their hair; in that they
must avoid extremes on both hands (<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.20" parsed="|Ezek|44|20|0|0" passage="Eze 44:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): <i>They must not shave their
heads,</i> in imitation of the Gentile priests, and as the priests
of the Romish church do; nor, on the other hand, must they
<i>suffer their locks to grow long,</i> as the <i>beaux,</i> or
that they might be thought Nazarites, when really they were not;
but they must be grave and modest, must <i>poll their heads</i> and
keep their hair short. If a <i>man,</i> especially a minister, wear
<i>long hair,</i> it is not becoming (<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.11.14" parsed="|1Cor|11|14|0|0" passage="1Co 11:14">1 Cor. xi. 14</scripRef>); it is effeminate.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p18" shownumber="no">III. Concerning their diet; they must be
sure to <i>drink no wine</i> when they went in to minister, lest
they should drink to excess, should drink and forget the law,
<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.21" parsed="|Ezek|44|21|0|0" passage="Eze 44:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. <i>It is not
for kings to drink wine,</i> more than will do them good, much less
for priests. See <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.10.9 Bible:Prov.31.4-Prov.31.5" parsed="|Lev|10|9|0|0;|Prov|31|4|31|5" passage="Le 10:9,Pr 31:4,5">Lev. x. 9;
Prov. xxxi. 4, 5</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p19" shownumber="no">IV. Concerning their marriages, <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.22" parsed="|Ezek|44|22|0|0" passage="Eze 44:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. Here they must consult
the credit of their office, and not marry one that had been
<i>divorced,</i> that was at least under the suspicion of
immodesty, nor a <i>widow,</i> unless she were a priest's widow,
that had been accustomed to the usages of the priests' families.
Others may do that which ministers may not do, but must deny
themselves in, in honour of their character. Their wives as well as
themselves must be of good report.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p20" shownumber="no">V. Concerning their preaching and
church-government. 1. It was part of their business to teach the
people; and herein they must approve themselves both skilful and
faithful (<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.23" parsed="|Ezek|44|23|0|0" passage="Eze 44:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>):
<i>They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and
the profane,</i> between good and evil, lawful and unlawful, that
they may neither scruple what is lawful nor venture upon what is
unlawful, that they may not pollute what is holy nor pollute
themselves with what is profane. Ministers must take pains to cause
<i>people to discern between the clean and the unclean,</i> that
they may not confound the distinctions between right and wrong, nor
mistake concerning them, so as to <i>put darkness for light and
light for darkness,</i> but may have a good judgment of discretion
concerning their own actions. 2. It was part of their business to
judge upon appeals made to them (<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.17.8-Deut.17.9" parsed="|Deut|17|8|17|9" passage="De 17:8,9">Deut. xvii. 8, 9</scripRef>); and <i>in controversy
they shall stand in judgment,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.24" parsed="|Ezek|44|24|0|0" passage="Eze 44:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. They shall have the honesty to
stand up for what is right, and, when they have passed a right
judgment, shall have the courage to stand to it and stand by it.
They must judge, not according to their own fancies, or
inclinations, or secular interests, but <i>according to my
judgments;</i> that must be their rule and standard. Note,
Ministers must decide controversies according to the word of God,
<i>to the law and to the testimony. Sit liber judex—Let the judge
be unbiased.</i> Their business is to keep courts in God's name, to
preside in the congregations of his people. And herein they must go
to the statute-book: They shall <i>keep my statutes in all my
assemblies.</i> God calls the assemblies of his people <i>his</i>
assemblies, because they are held in his name, to his glory.
Ministers are the masters of those assemblies, are to preside in
them, and in all their acts must keep close to God's laws. Another
part of their work, as church governors, is to <i>hallow God's
sabbaths,</i> to do the public work of that day with a becoming
care and reverence, as the work of a holy day should be done, and
to see that God's people also sanctify that day and do nothing to
pollute it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p21" shownumber="no">VI. Concerning their mourning for dead
relations; the rule here agrees with the law of Moses, <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.21.1 Bible:Lev.21.11" parsed="|Lev|21|1|0|0;|Lev|21|11|0|0" passage="Le 21:1,11">Lev. xxi. 1, 11</scripRef>. A priest shall not
come near any <i>dead body</i> (for they must be purified <i>from
dead works</i>) except of his next relations, <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.25" parsed="|Ezek|44|25|0|0" passage="Eze 44:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. Decent expressions of a pious
sorrow for dear relations, when they are removed by death, are not
disagreeable to the character of a minister. Yet by this approach
to the dead body of a relation they contracted a ceremonial
pollution, from which they must be cleansed by a
<i>sin-offering</i> before they went in again to minister,
<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.26-Ezek.44.27" parsed="|Ezek|44|26|44|27" passage="Eze 44:26,27"><i>v.</i> 26, 27</scripRef>. Note,
Though sorrow for the dead is very allowable and commendable, yet
there is danger of sinning in it, either by excess or
dissimulation; and those tears have too often need to be <i>wept
over again.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p22" shownumber="no">VII. Concerning their maintenance; they
must live upon the altar at which they served, and live comfortably
(<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.28" parsed="|Ezek|44|28|0|0" passage="Eze 44:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>): "<i>You
shall give them no possession in Israel,</i> no lands or tenements,
lest they should be entangled with the affairs of this life;" for
God has said, <i>I am their inheritance,</i> and they need no other
in reserve; <i>I am their possession,</i> and they need no other in
hand. Some land was allowed them (<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.48.10" parsed="|Ezek|48|10|0|0" passage="Eze 48:10"><i>ch.</i> xlviii. 10</scripRef>), but their principal
subsistence was by their office. What God appropriated to himself
they were the receivers of, for their own proper use and behoof;
they lived upon the holy things, and so God himself was the portion
both of their inheritance and of their cup. Note, Those who have
God for their inheritance and their possession may be content with
a little, and ought not to covet a great deal of the possessions
and inheritances of this earth. If we have God, we have <i>all;</i>
and therefore may well reckon that we have enough. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p23" shownumber="no">1. What the priests were to have from the
people, for their maintenance and encouragement. (1.) They must
have the flesh of many of the offerings, the <i>sin-offering and
trespass-offering,</i> which would supply them and their families
with flesh-meat, and the <i>meat-offerings,</i> which would supply
them with bread. What we offer to God will redound to our own
advantage. (2.) They must have every dedicated devoted thing in
Israel, which was in many cases to be turned into money and given
to the priest. This is explained, <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.20" parsed="|Ezek|44|20|0|0" passage="Eze 44:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. <i>Every oblation</i> or
free-will offering (which in times of reformation and devotion
would be many and considerable) <i>of all, of every sort of your
oblations, shall be the priest's.</i> We have the law concerning
them <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.27.1-Lev.27.34" parsed="|Lev|27|1|27|34" passage="Le 27:1-34">Lev. xxvii</scripRef>. (3.)
They were to have <i>the first of the dough</i> when it was going
to the oven, as well as the first of their fruits when they were
going to the barn. God, who is the first, must have the first; and,
if it belong to him, his priests must have it. We may <i>then</i>
comfortably enjoy what we have, when a share of it has been first
set apart for works of piety and charity. To this the apostle's
rule bears some analogy, to <i>begin the week</i> with laying by
for pious uses, <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.16.2" parsed="|1Cor|16|2|0|0" passage="1Co 16:2">1 Cor. xvi.
2</scripRef>. The priests being so well provided for, it would be
inexcusable in them if they (contrary to the law which every
Israelite is bound by) should <i>eat that which is torn or which
died of itself,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.31" parsed="|Ezek|44|31|0|0" passage="Eze 44:31"><i>v.</i>
31</scripRef>. Those that were in want of necessary food might
perhaps expect to be dispensed with in such a case. Poverty has its
temptations, but the priests were so well provided for that they
could have no pretence for it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.xlv-p24" shownumber="no">2. What the people might expect from the
priest for their recompence. Those that are kind to a prophet, to a
priest, shall have a prophet's, a priest's reward: <i>That he may
cause the blessing to rest in thy house</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.30" parsed="|Ezek|44|30|0|0" passage="Eze 44:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>), that God may cause it by
commanding it, that the priest may cause it by praying for it; and
it was part of the priest's work to <i>bless the people in the name
of the Lord,</i> not only their congregations, but their families.
Note, It is all in all to the comfort of any house to have the
blessing of God upon it and to have the blessing to rest in it, to
dwell where we dwell and to attend the entail of it upon those that
shall come after us. And the way to have the blessing of God abide
upon our estates is to honour God with them, and to give him and
his ministers, him and his poor, their share out of them. God
blesses, he surely blesses, the habitation of those who are thus
just, <scripRef id="Ez.xlv-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.3.33" parsed="|Prov|3|33|0|0" passage="Pr 3:33">Prov. iii. 33</scripRef>. And
ministers, by instructing and praying for the families that are
kind to them, should do their part towards causing the blessing to
rest there. <i>Peace be to this house.</i></p>
</div></div2>