In
this chapter we have, I. The appropriating of the east gate of the temple to
the prince, ver. 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, ver. 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, ver. 10-16. IV. Divers laws and ordinances
concerning the priests, ver. 17-31.
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Message
of the House of Israel.
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B.
C. 574.
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1 Then he brought me back the way of the gate
of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was
shut. 2 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.
3 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.
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, v. 2. 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, Put off thy shoe from off thy foot.
God will have a way by himself. 2. Upon the prince of Israel, v. 3.
It is an honour to him that though he may not enter in by this gate, for no
man may, yet, (1.) He shall sit in this gate to eat his share
of the peace-offerings, that sacred food, before the Lord. (2.) He
shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, by some little door
or wicket, either in the gate or adjoining to it, which is called the say
of the porch. This as to signify that God puts some of his glory upon
magistrates, upon the princes of his people, for he has said, You are
gods. 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 opened the kingdom of heaven to
all believers.
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Idolatry
of the Levites.
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B.
C. 574.
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4 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. 5 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. 6 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,
7 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. 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 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.
This is much to the same purport with what we had in the beginning of ch.
xliii. 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 filled with the glory of the Lord, 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 fell upon my face, v.
4. Note, The more we see of the glory of God the more low we shall lie in
our own eyes. Now here,
I. God charges the prophet to take a very particular notice of all he saw,
and all that was said to him (v. 5): "Behold with thy eyes
what is shown thee, particularly the entering in of the house
and every going forth 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 go
in and out and find pasture. 2. Hear with thy ears all that I say
unto thee about the laws and ordinances of the house,
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.
II. He sends him upon an errand to the people, to the rebellious, even to
the house of Israel, v. 6. 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 rebellious, yet, being the house
of Israel, 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, yea, even
for the rebellious also, that, as here, the Lord God might dwell
among them, Ps. lxviii. 18.
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. Let
it suffice you of all your abominations, v. 6. 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. "Let the time past of your lives suffice, for by this
time, surely, you have surfeited upon your abominations and have become sick
of them," 1 Pet. iv. 3. 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, The stranger that comes nigh
shall be put to death, they had not only connived at the intrusion of
strangers into the sanctuary, but had themselves introduced them (v.
7): You brought in strangers uncircumcised in flesh, and therefore
under a legal incapacity to enter into the sanctuary, which was a breaking
of the covenant 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 uncircumcised
in heart 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 polluted God's
sanctuary; it was giving that which was holy unto dogs, Matt.
vii. 6. 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: "You
have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves, 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; thus you have not
kept the charge of my holy things." 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.
2. He must tell them their duty (v. 9): "No stranger shall
enter into my sanctuary 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 uncircumcised in heart, not in sincerity consenting to the
covenant, nor putting away the filth of the flesh; whereas the believing
Gentiles were circumcised with the circumcision made without hands,
Col. ii. 11. This circumcision of the heart, in the spirit, not in the
letter, 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 Greeks into the temple, Acts xxi. 28.
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Idolatrous
Priests Degraded.
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B.
C. 574.
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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, 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. 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 GOD,
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 place: 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 GOD:
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.
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.
I. Those who have been treacherous are degraded and put lower those
Levites--or priests who were carried down the stream of the apostasy of
Israel formerly, who went astray from God after their idols (v.
10), who had complied with the idolatrous kings of Israel or Judah, who ministered
to them before their idols (v. 12), bowed with them in the house
of Rimmon, or set up altars for them, as Urijah did for Ahaz, and so caused
the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, led them to sin and hardened
them in sin; for, if the priests go astray, many will follow their
pernicious ways. 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 lifted up his hand against them, has said
it, and sworn it, that they shall bear their iniquity (v. 12);
assuredly they shall suffer for it, shall suffer disgrace for it; they
shall bear their shame (v. 13), for though they have (we
charitably hope) repented of it, yet they shall not come near to do the
office of a priest, that is, those parts of the office that were
peculiar to them, they shall not come near to any of the holy things
within the sanctuary, v. 13. 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, v.
11, 14. They are deprived but in part, ab officio--of their office,
and, it should seem, not at all à beneficio--of their emoluments.
They shall help to slay the sacrifice, which the Levites were
permitted to do, and which in this temple was done, not at the altar, but at
the tables, ch. xl. 29. They shall be porters at the gates of
the house, and they shall be keepers of the charge of the house, for
all the service thereof. 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.
II. Those who have been faithful are honoured and established, v. 15,
16. These are remarkably distinguished from the other: "But the sons
of Zadok, who kept their integrity in a time of general apostasy, who went
not astray when others did, they shall come near to me, shall come
near to my table." 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.
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Directions
Concerning the Priests.
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B.
C. 574.
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17 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. 18 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. 19 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. 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 the difference 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; 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. 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 GOD.
28 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. 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 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. 31 The
priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether
it be fowl or beast.
God's priests must be regulars, not seculars; 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,
I. Concerning their clothes; they must wear linen garments when they went
in to minister or do any service in the inner court, or in the
sanctuary, and nothing that was woollen, because it would cause
sweat, v. 17, 18. 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. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. 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, v.
19, as before, ch. xlii. 14. They must not go among the people with
their holy garments on, lest they should imagine themselves sanctified by
the touch of them; or, They shall sanctify the people, that is (as it
is explained, ch. xlii. 14), they shall approach to those things
which are for the people, in their ordinary garments.
II. Concerning their hair; in that they must avoid extremes on both hands (v.
20): They must not shave their heads, in imitation of the Gentile
priests, and as the priests of the Romish church do; nor, on the other hand,
must they suffer their locks to grow long, as the beaux, or
that they might be thought Nazarites, when really they were not; but they
must be grave and modest, must poll their heads and keep their hair
short. If a man, especially a minister, wear long hair, it is
not becoming (1 Cor. xi. 14); it is effeminate.
III. Concerning their diet; they must be sure to drink no wine when
they went in to minister, lest they should rink to excess, should drink and
forget the law, v. 21. It is not for kings to drink wine, more
than will do them good, much less for priests. See Lev. x. 9; Prov. xxxi. 4,
5.
IV. Concerning their marriages, v. 22. Here they must consult the
credit of their office, and not marry one that had been divorced,
that was at least under the suspicion of immodesty, nor a widow,
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.
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 (v. 23): They shall teach my people the
difference between the holy and the profane, 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 people
to discern between the clean and the unclean, that they may not confound
the distinctions between right and wrong, nor mistake concerning them, so as
to put darkness for light and light for darkness, 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 (Deut. xvii. 8, 9); and in
controversy they shall stand in judgment, v. 24. 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 according to my judgments; that must be their rule and
standard. Note, Ministers must decide controversies according to the word of
God, to the law and to the testimony. Sit liber judex--Let the judge be
unbiased. 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 keep my statutes in all my assemblies. God
calls the assemblies of his people his 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 hallow
God's sabbaths, 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.
VI. Concerning their mourning for dead relations; the rule here agrees with
the law of Moses, Lev. xxi. 1, 11. A priest shall not come near any dead
body (for they must be purified from dead works) except of his
next relations, v. 25. 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 sin-offering before they went in again to minister, v. 26,
27. 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 wept over again.
VII. Concerning their maintenance; they must live upon the altar at which
they served, and live comfortably (v. 28): "You shall give
them no possession in Israel, no lands or tenements, lest they should be
entangled with the affairs of this life;" for God has said, I am
their inheritance, and they need no other in reserve; I am their
possession, and they need no other in hand. Some land was allowed them (ch.
xlviii. 10), 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 all; and therefore may well reckon
that we have enough. Observe,
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 sin-offering
and trespass-offering, which would supply them and their families with
flesh-meat, and the meat-offerings, 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, v.
20. Every oblation or free-will offering (which in times of
reformation and devotion would be many and considerable) of all, of every
sort of your oblations, shall be the priest's. We have the law
concerning them Lev. xxvii. (3.) They were to have the first of the dough
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 then
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 begin the week with laying by for pious uses, 1 Cor. xvi.
2. 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 eat
that which is torn or which died of itself, v. 31. 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.
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: That he may cause the blessing to rest in thy house (v.
30), 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 bless the people
in the name of the Lord, 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, Prov. iii. 33. 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. Peace be to this
house.
