Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

Now that the Temple was measured and consecrated (including the altar), God moves into the purpose and symbology of the Temple. How business was to be conducted, who was to be conducting it, the resources to be used, and even the movement of the people using the Temple. Everything had a purpose and an intent.

God starts at the East gate, the gate where His glory entered the Temple complex. Because of this, the gate was to be kept shut (except for special circumstances like on Sabbaths and New Moons) and no one was to use it. The prince could sit and eat their share of bread before the Lord, but they were to enter and exit using the vestibule and not the gate itself. Next they went to the North gate and the glory appeared again, causing Ezekiel to fall to his face.

God commanded Ezekiel to mark down God’s words. To make sure to communicate them to the people. There was to be NO REPETITION in how the Israelites defiled the Temple and the things of God. They were to pay attention. They were to be careful. They were to conduct themselves as holy people – because God had MADE them holy. The foreigners, the uncircumcised in heart and flesh, were not to enter. The Levites who had performed priestly duties toward Idols were able to do be ministers of the house, help with the preparation of sacrifices, but as the consequence of their actions they were no longer allowed to serve in the Holy Place or the Most Holy Place. They could not partake of the Most Holy Things. That was now exclusively for the descendants of Zadok, who was descended from Phineas. They were to minister to the Lord. Whenever they went into the inner courts, they were to use the set aside rooms and change into linen clothes. They were not to wear wool. Clothes that created sweat were not to be worn. Sweat was a symbol of toil and personal effort. They were to learn to trust God for all things, not rely on THEIR efforts – this was a symbol of the Cross and of God’s GRACE. [It is also a UNIQUE thought among religions. Only Yahweh does the work for us. Only Yahweh deals with us on the basis of our trust in Him. Every other religion has US doing the heavy lifting.] When the priests went OUT of the inner court, they were to change back to non-consecrated priestly robes. There was to be a difference in their dress. Partly to show the separation between holy things and common things. Partly to protect them from accidentally touching things that were holy (Exodus 19:12-13).

The priests were to keep themselves holy. They were not to shave their heads like the pagan priests did. They were not to have long or dishevelled hair. Long hair was a sign of mourning, and God brings NO mourning. Instead He brings Life (John 10:10). They were to be neat in their grooming. They were not to drink wine in the inner court (while they were on duty it was not to be consumed). They were not to take wives that were widows unless widowed from a priestly marriage. Divorced women were forbidden. Even in marriage the differences of being set apart were to be obvious. They were to stand as judges in controversies, helping to settle the disagreements of the people of Israel instead of letting the people use worldly courts (Matthew 18:15-19; 1 Corinthians 6:1-8). They were to keep separate from the dead – except for immediate family or an unmarried sister (Leviticus 21:1-6). If they had to have contact, they were to wait seven days and then bring a sin offering to the Temple – sin (capital S, not personal sins) was the reason death entered the world, they are inexorably linked (death was NEVER meant to happen. EVER.). The priest could not eat anything that died naturally or was killed by wild animals. They were to eat of the storehouses of the Temple, the best of the land was to be theirs. They had no inheritance like the other tribes, so THIS was their inheritance. They were dependent entirely on the Lord as their Source.

When they allotted the land into inheritance, the land set aside for holy use was to be about 13.25 kilometres long and about 10.6 kilometres wide. Inside that would be an approximately 265 metre square for the sanctuary. Inside THAT would be the Most Holy Place – a 26.5 metre by 5.3 metre rectangle. This plot of land would be the Levites as the ministers of the Temple. Adjacent to this would be a plot of the city belonging to everyone else and with that would be the plot for the prince. It would be his possession and the princes of Israel would not seek to get more or oppress people in order to claim more. This was theirs, and this was it.

The princes were required to govern the people with justice and righteousness. They were NOT to dispossess the people. They were to be honest in their measurements and having common measurements known to all – and consistent. They were to give proper offerings. They should also perform grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings to make atonement for the people – with supplies provided by the people (a kind of tax). They were to keep the festivals, the holy days, and to make the proper sacrifices at the proper times. These were serious instructions and were to be taken seriously. Even where the princes entered and exited was important. God pays attention to details ESPECIALLY with Holy Things – a good lesson for us: if we do everything with intent and base it on the Word, we’ll develop the same attitude toward details that God has. The princes were not to interfere with inheritance law and not take the people’s inheritance by evicting them from their property. They were to provide an inheritance for their sons from their OWN property. God’s people were NOT to be scattered from their property.

The next thing God did was to take Ezekiel into the holy chambers of the priests which faced the north. This was at the extreme western end of the area for chambers. It was here that the priests would boil the trespass and sin offerings and bake the grain offering. They were not to be taken to sanctify the people. Then God took him to the outer court and they passed by the four corners of the court, where there was another court (enclosed). This was where the cooking hearths were, the kitchens where the ministers of the temple were to boil the sacrifices for the people.

“And when the people of the land come before Yahweh at the festivals, the one coming by way of the gate of the north to bow down must go out by the way of the gate of the south, and the one coming by way of the gate of the south must go out by the way of the gate of the north, so he must not return by the way of the gate by which he came, but before it he shall go out opposite it.” (Ezekiel 46:9)

This verse was in the section about the princes. But I think it is an interesting verse. A man of God said something that really made me notice it. The people were coming in one way and leaving another. In fact, they were not ALLOWED to exit how they entered. There was to be a DIFFERENCE in how they exited from how they entered. This is beautiful symbology about how true encounters with the Lord ALWAYS change us. We NEVER leave them the way we entered them. They are not always fiery bushes, booming thunder, and clouds of glory (though they can be). But every intentful encounter with Yahweh God changes us (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Summary

Key Players: God, Ezekiel

Key Verse(s): Ezekiel 44:5-9, 15-19; 45:9-17; 46:1-10, 16-20