The Sacrificial Ritual of Ezekiel 43

Home , Burnt offering (Judaism), Ezekiel 43, Sons of Zadok

Understanding Leviticus chapter 16 has blesssed Bible Students for well over 120 years1 and it is interesting to note that Ezekiel 43 verses 18 through 27 has many of the same symbols and overall tone. We believe it is another picture of the Antitypical Atonement Day sacrifices of the Gospel Age as it is a ritual which takes place immediately before the activation of Ezekiel’s Temple which is a Millennial Age picture. The differences between Ezekiel 43 and Leviticus 16 are particularly interesting. Ezekiel in overview shows:

Verse 18 – The offerings for the Altar Verse 19 – The Sons of Zadok offer a Bullock for a Sin-Offering – Day 1 Verse 20 – The procedures for the Bullock’s blood Verse 21 – The Burning of the Bullock outside the Sanctuary Verse 22 – The Goat for a Sin-Offering – Day 2 Verse 23, 24 – The Bullock and Ram for a Burnt Offering Verse 25, 26 – Seven Days of Goats for a Sin-Offering – Days 3 through 8 Verse 27 – At the end, on the 8th day, The Altar is reading to receive the peace offerings of the people.

Day 1

The prophecy of Ezekiel’s Temple begin in Ezekiel chapter 40. We are given a great deal of detail regarding the structure itself. It concludes with a description of the great Altar in Ezekiel 43:13-17 where we are given the instruction necessary to put the Altar into service. As is always the case, it is sanctified with sacrifices offered by priests. In this account, the priests that are qualified to do it are the sons of Zadok in verse 19.

“And thou shalt give to the priests the Levites that be of the seed of Zadok, which approach unto me, to minister unto me, saith the Lord GOD, a young bullock for a sin offering.”

Who is the “seed of Zadok?” We note that during the reign of David and Solomon there was a particularly faithful priest of that name. His faithfulness is recounted in 2 Samuel and 1 Kings. So we associate his name with faithful priestly service. Consequently, those of the “seed of Zadok” we understanding to likewise be faithful in the office of priest. Add to that the fact that Zadok means “righteous.” This is another indicator of the righteousness and faithfulness of the class intended.2

We suggest that the seed of Zadok represent THE CHRIST. This is the royal priesthood with Jesus as our High Priest with all the faithful members of his mystical body. It is they who carry out the sacrifices of the Gospel Age and are permitted to minister unto God. This perspective also explains the specific absence of the High Priest in this

1 picture.

The first sacrifice of the ritual is a bullock for a sin-offering. This corresponds to the first sacrifice of the Atonement Day sacrifices. Verse 20 continues the instructions:

“And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it.”

We associate the bullock with the sacrifice of Jesus just as we do in Leviticus 16. It is a powerful animal with a great deal of fat. This depicts the perfections of the man Jesus and his fullness of zeal for his heavenly Father. The sanctifying blood of the bullock is to be applied to various places on the Altar. This is a little different than on Atonement Day where the blood is sprinkled on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. Here the focus is on the Altar whose horns, the corners and the border of the Altar are all covered with blood indicating an empowerment of the Altar. That the bullock is slain first tells us that the whole processes is dependent upon this initial sacrifice. Jesus is preeminent in the Divine Plan. Any acceptability that the church has is due entirely to our Forerunner and the value of his sacrifice.

Verse 21 – “Thou shalt take the bullock also of the sin offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place of the house, without the sanctuary.”

We have another similarity here with the Atonement Day as the body of the sin-offering bullock is to be burned without or outside of the sanctuary. We suggest the same lesson that the sacrifice of Jesus was not appreciated by those in the world, i.e. outside of the sanctuary class.

Day 2

Before we go on to the next sacrifice, please note that there is no separate burnt offering associated with the bullock. It seems to stand alone. We think the significance of this comes into focus when we look at the burnt offerings that are required for the subsequent sin-offerings.

Verse 22 – “And on the second day thou shalt offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they did cleanse it with the bullock.”

Now we have the second sacrifice, the goat. This of course would correspond to the Lord’s Goat on the Atonement Day sacrifice and is a picture of the church. In Leviticus 16 the High Priest does the same thing with the blood of the Lord’s goat as was done with the blood of the bullock. It is the same case here. The goat’s blood is used to cleanse the Altar in the exact same manner as the blood of the bullock had done. This demonstrates the close association the church’s sacrifice has with that of our Lord in the cleansing and

2 empowering of the Altar.

Verse 23, 24 – “When thou hast made an end of cleansing it, thou shalt offer a young bullock without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish. And thou shalt offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering unto the LORD.”

We now reach the point of the first burnt offerings. There are two: a bullock and a ram. This is different than the Atonement Day ritual where a ram for a burnt offering was offered after the sin-offerings, after the scapegoat is dealt with and after Aaron changed into the garments of glory and beauty. Here two burnt offerings are required immediately after the blood of the goat is applied to the Altar.

Burnt Offerings as a type represents how God accepts the sacrifices, that is, he accepts them “wholly3” not in part. Everything placed on the Altar is vaporized and ascends unto heaven. How God accepts a sacrifice also includes symbolic references to the covenants or legal basis to accept the sacrifice. For example the choice of a ram brings our minds back to the ram accepted in place of Isaac where the Abrahamic covenant is fully completed by Abraham’s obedience is offering his son. In this case we have both the ram and the bullock. So we conclude that the legal/covenant basis for the acceptance of the goat, i.e. the church, is the Abrahamic covenant4 and the sacrifice of Jesus – the bullock!

Seven Days Following

We noted earlier that there were no burnt offerings associated with the sacrifice of the bullock. The absence of a bullock for a burnt offering is understandable. If the bullock burnt offering brings us back to the sacrifice of Jesus, the original bullock sin-offering, it would be redundant if it were seen following that first sacrifice. It would be almost like saying ‘Jesus sacrifice is acceptable because of Jesus’ sacrifice.’ OUR sacrifice is acceptable because of Jesus sacrifice. But Jesus sacrifice is fully and totally acceptable as is.5

Verse 25-26 – “Seven days shalt thou prepare every day a goat for a sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bullock, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish. Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves.”

Note we have a significant departure from the Atonement Day type which had but one goat for the sin-offering. We see here that there are seven goats on seven successive days. We would suggest that the emphasis here is on the entire time of the Gospel Age in its seven stages. At each stage of the church, there continues faithful sacrificing on the part of the antitypical priests. And it is acceptable sacrificing as indicated by the successive burnt offering on each day.

The Eighth Day

Verse 27 – “And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord GOD.”

We reach the end of the sin-offerings, on the eighth day, and now the Altar is ready to receive the free-will peace offering of Israel. This betokens the end of the Gospel age of sacrifice with the full and final acceptance of the sacrifice of THE CHRIST. That is should occur on the eighth day is quite beautiful. Eight represents newness of life. Jesus was resurrected to the divine nature on the eight day! (The day after the Sabbath.) This is the thought here. THE CHRIST is now glorified, in possession of the divine nature and ready to begin the reign of righteousness of the Mediatorial Age. Israel first and all mankind will then have an Altar on which to willingly present themselves in full consecration, not unto death, but unto LIFE. The way of access is open and the blessings will begin.

This inauguration of the Altar on the eighth can also be noted in one more parallel found in Leviticus chapters 8 and 9. The consecration of the Aaronic Priesthood took seven days. Then we read following regarding the eighth day in Levitucus 9 verses 1 and 4:

“And it came to pass on the eighth day, … for to day the LORD will appear unto you.”

After the sacrifices are offered the high priest comes out and blesses the people. The meaning here is the same as we saw in Ezekiel 43 and fits the Ezekiel sequence well.

As we leave Ezekiel chapter 43 and move to chapter 44, the emphasis now shifts to the activities of Christ’s Kingdom.

Why does the Lord prepare this picture which is similar in many ways to the Leviticus 16 type? The Atonement Day pictures have to do more specifically with the daily sin- offering experiences of Jesus and the Church. There are many very personal and intimate lessons for the New Creation there. In the Ezekiel type, we see Christ and the church more collectively, as a group doing the faithful work of sacrificing for the purpose of blessing Israel and all mankind in the Kingdom. This perspective works quite beautifully as a component of the Ezekiel Temple vision.

1 See Tabernacle Shadows, p. 72-74 2 We see this name in the ancient King-Priest of Salem, Melchizedek, whose name means ‘King’ (melchi) of ‘Righteousness’ (zedek or as we are seeing it here - Zadok). 3 It is interesting to note that the Greek word for whole burnt offering is holocaust! - ὁλόκαυστος 4 We might more particularly notice that it is the ‘Sarah Feature’ of the Abrahamic Covenant which would be symbolized here by the burnt offering of the Lamb. CT Russell provides an excellent description of this in the Question Book, page 169, 170 – “COVENANTS--End of the Sarah. Q169:2 QUESTION (1909)--2--Does the

Sarah Covenant come to an end when the spiritual seed is born?

ANSWER.--Yes. To my understanding, the Sarah feature of the covenant will come to an end when the promised seed shall have come to its fullness. The Sarah Covenant did not come to an end when Jesus reached the plane of spirit glory, representing Isaac in the picture, but it did come to an end before Rebecca was united to Isaac. Rebecca represents the church class, and their union represents the union of Christ and the Church, and at the time when Isaac and Rebecca were united, Sarah was dead, for we read that Isaac took her into Sarah, his mother's tent, representing that the Church, typified by Rebecca, will take the place of this Sarah Covenant, and the Church will be the power through which the Lord will bring to pass the blessing of the New Covenant, which will bless all the families of the earth. The Sarah Covenant brings forth the seed, and the Church operates in connection with this and will bless all families of the earth.

5 Something similar may be seen in the wave offerings described in Leviticus 23. The first wave offering of barley is presented on Nisan 16 and it is offered as a sheave of barley. The second wave offering is two loaves of wheat baked with leaven and is waved on Pentecost. The first, representing Jesus, is acceptable as is. The second, representing the church, is NOT acceptable in its native form, but has to be processed. It is ground to flour and baked with leaven, a symbol of sin. Of course leaven is destroyed in the baking process, but only then is the end product, the two loaves, acceptable to be a wave offering to the Lord. The fact that two loaves are made suggested the two parts of the church, the little flock and great company.

5 Ezekiel 44 David Stein

Ezekiel chapter 44 is part of the Temple vision that was granted to the prophet. Chapters 40 to the end of the book contain many, many details that are pictures of how the Millennial Kingdom under the rule of the glorified Messiah will operate.

The previous chapter ends with the proclamation that the altar had been purified and was now available to accept the burnt offerings and peace offering of the people. This represents the sacrifice of “the Christ,” head and body, is complete and accepted for atonement on behalf of the world.1 The angel who had been bringing Ezekiel to see these wondrous things of the vision, now conducts him to the next stage of revelation.

We can break up chapter 44 loosely into three sections as follows:

Section 1 runs from verse 1 to 3 Section 2 runs form verse 4 to 9 Section 3 runs from verse 10 to 14 Section 4 run from verse 15 to 30

Section 1

Verse 1: “Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looketh toward the east; and it was shut.” (ASV)

Since the Gospel Age sacrificing is complete, so is the high calling. The east gate had been the “door” to the calling to follow Jesus in his life of consecration unto death. The gate being shut signifies this opportunity is finished and the victorious church has entered in by this east gate to the heavenly reward of priesthood and kingship.

“The same thought is in this lesson as Ezekiel gives it. He first sees the Temple and then beholds the glory of the Lord entering the Temple through the eastern gate, and that gate closed after the Lord. This represents the closing of the door at the end of this age, as our Lord portrayed it in the parable of the ten virgins. The door will be shut, the glory of the Lord will have entered into the Temple. It is subsequent to this shutting of the door that the prophet is shown the issuing of the water from under the threshold. The lesson, therefore, is clear and explicit to the effect that not until the glory of the Lord shall have

1 entered his Temple, not until the Church shall be glorified, not until that door shall be forever shut, will the water of life issue forth.” – R3623

The idea of the waters of life coming from the east gate as the Pastor observed in the quote above, is a verification that it was the church that went through the east gate and is not residing in the spiritual realms delivering the blessings of atonement to the world as depicted in the picture in Ezekiel 47.

Verse 2: “And Jehovah said unto me, This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, neither shall any man enter in by it; for Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it; therefore it shall be shut.”

This is an emphatic declaration by Jehovah God himself that the door to the prize of the high calling is closed and will not be opened again! This is truly sobering to all running for that prize now. There is a limited time, both individually and dispensationally. We do well to examine ourselves and see that we are using our time wisely.

Verse 3: “As for the prince, he shall sit therein as prince to eat bread before Jehovah; he shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.”

Who is “the prince”? We understand that the invisible Kingdom of the spiritual realms will be represented on earth by those faithful worshippers of the past, the Ancient Worthies who served God before the ransom sacrifice of Jesus was given. These could not have entered in on the “narrow way” because it had not been brought to light until the ministry of Jesus! What reward could they hope for? Human life on earth! But resurrected as perfect humans as a special reward for their faithfulness, in many cases unto death. The rest of humanity must attain perfection gradually while walking on the “highway of holiness.” But these Ancient Worthies will have a “better resurrection.” (Heb. 11:35)

This designation as the “prince” in Ezekiel echos the same usage in Psalm 45. After writing prophetically of Jesus in verses 1 through 9 and the church in verse 10 through 15 we read in verse 16:

“Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.”

The Ancient Worthies were the “fathers” of Israel throughout the Hebrew

2 Scriptures. But these “fathers” were in need of redemption along with the rest of mankind. And they will be the first resurrected “children” of the Kingdom. And they will be blessed with the kingdom role as “princes,” royal representatives of the Kings of the Kingdom of Heaven.2

The “porch” is the closest point to the “gate.” So we see are very close association between the Ancient Worthies and the ruling “Christ” within the sanctuary.

The prince will sit in the porch and eat “bread.” Jesus told us in John 4:34: “…My meat (bread) is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” So we suggest the eating of bread is a metaphor for this blessed class doing the will of God in the earthly Kingdom.

Section 2

Verse 4: “Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and, behold, the glory of Jehovah filled the house of Jehovah: and I fell upon my face.”

The direction of north here seems to be a reference to Jehovah’s seat of kingly power. We see something similar in Isaiah 14 where the rebellion of Lucifer is described. There we are told of his unholy desire to be like God. In verse 13 and 14 we read:

“And thou saidst in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit upon the mount of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

It would seem that Lucifer saw God’s throne in the north! It is, of course, symbolic language, but the association of north with God’s throne is clear.3

So Ezekiel in vision is brought by the north gate and, unsurprisingly, see the glory of God filling the temple. He is so overcome by this vision that he fell upon his face. This is a common reaction on the part of righteous men when confronted by the glory of God or judgment of God. Abraham reacted this way when talking with God. (Gen. 17:3) Moses responded in this way when he realized the rebellion against God was brewing. (Num. 16:4) Joshua fell upon his face when he realized he was speaking to an angel of Jehovah. (Joshua 5:14)

Verse 5 – “And Jehovah 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 Jehovah, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entrance of the house, with every egress of the sanctuary.”

Ezekiel is being given this awesome vision of the temple. Since it is a picture of the Heavenly Kingdom in many of its details, he is told to pay particular attention to the regulations of this temple along with the entry and exits to it. This reminds us of a similar command to Moses when he received the vision of the Tabernacle and was told in Exodus 25:40

“And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.”

There is certainly a character lesson here to the New Creation that we study with diligent care the details of the Divine Plan. We are told this plainly in 2 Timothy 2:15:

“Study (“Give diligence” – ASV) to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Verse 6 “And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations,”

While the entire nation of Israel had its rebellious people, the priesthood was particularly to be blamed since they had the prime religious responsibility. But this priesthood in Ezekiel’s time just before the destruction of the city by Nebuchadnezzar was particularly corrupt along with the civil rulers. They did not attend to the sacred duty of teaching the people and leading them in the pure worship of Jehovah. The time came for God’s judgment. This is no less true for the antitypical priesthood of the Gospel Age. A portion of the Gospel age church has been measurably unfaithful. This prophecy enumerates this and the consequences of it.

Verse 7 “in that ye have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant, to add unto all your abominations.”

4 Even in the first century church, we saw the beginning of this sad development. The apostle Paul foresaw this development and warned the elders at the church in Ephesus about it.

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” – Acts 20:28-30

And Paul wrote about this again in 2 Thess. 2:3-7:

“let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work:”

This came about because of laxed standards of truth especially after the apostles left the scene. If the elders of the churches had stood firm for doctrines of truth and insured that no compromises of principle would be permitted to occur, no outside evil influence would come in. But as weaker elders came into office, the corruptive influences of the world gradually wormed their way into the church. And in time, unconsecrated “wolves” came into position of power. These are the “foreigners” who came into the sanctuary class of the Gospel Age.

Verse 8 “And ye have not kept the charge of my holy things; but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.”

This is a sad charge laid at the feet of some of the members of the holy, Gospel Age priesthood. They had neglected their sacred responsibility to “keep” the flock of God.

Verse 9 “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners that are among the children of Israel.”

5 In the type Jehovah here makes a clear distinction between the consecrated priesthood and non-Israelite foreigners. In the antitype the contrast is the same. Those of the consecrated, spirit-begotten followers of Jesus enter into the joys of the master. The false, unconsecrated, un-spirit-begotten tares of the Gospel Age do not.

Perhaps Jesus makes reference to this class in Matthew 7:21-23

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.“ This “foreigner” class will not come into the heavenly sanctuary. They are rejected as false Christians.

Section 3

Verse 10 “But the Levites that went far from me, when Israel went astray, that went astray from me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.”

We now focus on the sins of the “Levite” class. In the type the Levites were not priests, but rather assistants to the priests. In the antitype this is also true. The difference is that every one of the spirit-begotten has a full opportunity to become a member of the “move than overcomer” class. However, the antitypical Levites, also designated the ‘great company’ class fail to carry out the terms of their vow of consecration to the will of the heavenly Father.

In this case, we have a picture of some portion of the great company class that is guilty of extreme negligence in their Christian duties. Their sin is that of idolatry, the sin of putting something else in the place of the worship of God. It is linked to Israel going astray. We already saw that typical Israel went astray in a most abominable way. Likewise antitypical Israel, the church of the Gospel age, also went astray into error and the eventual creation of the man of sin. It would seem that the great company class, in their neglect to keep holy things holy, have a great responsibility for this deviation from the truth. Consequently, they will bear the judgment of God against them, or, as the text states, “they shall bear their iniquity.”

The use of this expression is interesting. We see it in several forms in the book of Leviticus. For instance in the Day of Atonement instruction in chapter

6 16, we see the scapegoat, a figure generally accepted to be a type of the great company, have the sins of Israel laid upon it. We read in verses 20 to 22:

“And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.”

There are strong parallels here with our study of Ezekiel. We saw in Ezekiel 43 how the completion of the sacrifices reconciled the altar and made if available to receive the burnt offerings of the people. Verse 20 notes specifically that the reconciling of the holy place and tabernacle is ended before the live goat is dealt with. The Levites are said to “bear their iniquity.” The live goat is said to “bear…all their iniquities…”

Even more pointedly we read in Leviticus 18:23:

“But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity:”

Verse 11 “et they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house: they shall slay the burnt- offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them.”

This verse brings a somewhat unexpected thought. We would have expected a more heavy judgment because of the sin of idolatry and the partial responsibility for leading the church astray. But instead we have a description of the destiny of this class, namely ministering in God’s sanctuary as assistants in the Kingdom work. We should not discount that there is heavy judgment here. And the next verse reminds us of God’s displeasure and judgment.

Verse 12 “Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and became a stumblingblock of iniquity unto the house of Israel; therefore have I lifted up my hand against them, saith the Lord Jehovah, and they shall bear their iniquity.”

God’s hand is against them! While Ezekiel does not describe precisely how these antitypical Levites bear their iniquity, we do find that elsewhere in scripture along with another view of their work.

In Revelation 7 we read in verses 14 and 15:

“And I say unto him, My lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they that come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God; and they serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them.”

We see then that the great company go through a great tribulation which purifies them. And then, purified through the disciplines of the Lord, they “serve him day and night in the temple” – or, as Ezekiel writes, “they shall be ministers in my sanctuary.”

Verse 13 “And they shall not come near unto me, to execute the office of priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, unto the things that are most holy; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.”

Here is the great judgment! The great company have lost their crowns. What a tragedy! What a loss! They are excluded forever from the office and function of a priest. It is a shameful loss of the most wonderful and precious gift that has ever been or could ever be offered from the hand of God.

Verse 14 “Yet will I make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.”

The great company of antitypical Levites is still saved. Their non-spiritual works are burned up, but they are saved through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:15) And they are given the grace of working with the church in the uplifting of mankind. What a generous and understanding God!!

Section 4

Verse 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

8 unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord Jehovah:”

Now we come to the faithful Levities, the antitypical priests of the Gospel Age. They are called “the sons of Zadok.” The name ‘Zadok’ means righteous or just. The use of this name to identify the faithful, overcoming church brings us back to the reign of David and Solomon.

Zadok was present when King David brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. (1 Chronicles 15:11,14). And he was faithfully loyal to David when his son Absalom rebelled against his father. (2 Samuel 15) And after the rebellion was over, Zadok was instrumental in securing David’s favorable reception in Jerusalem. (2 Sam. 19:11-14) Finally, David appointed Zadok to anoint Solomon as king. (1 Kings 1) And during the reign of Solomon, the king appointed him as the High Priest.4

All of this recommends “the priest, the Levites, the sons of Zadok” as the overcoming church who are faithful and loyal to the antitypical Solomon, Jesus Christ in his glorious reign.

We are told that they “kept the charge” and because of that steadfastness will be permitted to come into full, intimate fellowship with their God and will offer the “fat”, the results of their zealous service and the “blood”, the experience of rendering their lives unto death as they vowed to do. They are well qualified to service in the office of priests and kings in the work to reconcile mankind to their Creator.

Verse 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.”

Again, God emphasizes the reward of faithful service in the precious fellowship with God. They will have the precious privilege of managing the carrying out of Jehovah’s will for all creation.

Verse 17 “And it shall be 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, while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.”

The entering in of the gates of the inner court is synonymous with coming onto the divine plan of immortal glory. No longer will they need to cover themselves with the righteousness of Jesus. Now they will be clothed in their own righteousness! They have the personal purity pictured by the white linen

9 garments.

We are told “no wool will come upon them.” Wool is very good at heat retention and will cause sweat. In the next verse we are told they will put nothing on that causes sweat. Perhaps this is a picture of the fact that the church has entered fully, completely and finally into God’s rest.

There is a saying in the world, “Don’t sweat it.” It is a metaphor for worry and the need to work to resolve an issue. There will be no such situation for the church in glory. They are fully qualified by virtue of their sin-offering experiences to handle any problem that comes before them with calmness and love.

One other possible lesson here for the prohibition of wool could suggest that the era of animal sacrifices is over. No animal product was to be used as the sacrifices unto death of these underpriests have now moved on to the outworking of those sin-offering experiences in the mediation work of the Kingdom.

Verse 18 “They shall have linen tires (“bonnets” – KJV) upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causeth sweat.”

The linen bonnets upon their heads show that they are the underpriests and that Jesus Christ is still their head. And as linen represents righteousness, they righteously acknowledge the headship of Christ and ultimately God!

“But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” – 1 Corinthians 11:13

The linen breeches are part of the garments of priests, but in this case it is no longer to give a sacrifice, but rather to receive it from the people.

And, as mentioned for the previous verse, this ministry is not a ‘sweaty’ one, but rather one in the glorious and ultimate rest of God.

Verse 19 “And when they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they minister, and lay them in the holy chambers; and they shall put on other garments, that they sanctify not the people with their garments.”

This change of garments provides an interesting possibility. As the ministering garments represented the Kingdom glory of these priests, the changing of the garments suggests another aspect of their ministry. This change is said to occur when they go into the outer court of the people. In other words, when they meet the people they have different garments. This suggests the possibility that the church in glory will still have the opportunity to materialize a physical body with which to communicate to the people. But what would the need be of that since the Ancient Worthies will be on the scene to fully meet the governing requirements of the earthly, visible part of the Kingdom?

Let us first note the part of this verse that says, “they sanctify not the people with their garments.” This seems to say that the garment change is not for the Kingdom use of sanctifying the people. In fact, Leeser’s translation reads:

“…they shall not mingle among the people with their garments.” – Leeser

So if this garment change is not to sanctify the people, then what is the purpose?

We think that we have to jump forward to verse 25 for this answer.

Verse 25 “And they shall go in to 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.”

The typical priests were not to defile themselves by contact with the dead. (Leviticus 21:1, 21) But here, the rule is expressed, but with exceptions. And the exceptions are for close family. In the antitype, the dead are the world on the highway of holiness striving and moving toward life, i.e. the human race before achieving perfection.

So considering verses 19 and 25 together, we suggest that members of the overcoming church may be permitted contact with the close members of their families who they left behind for heavenly life. There is a logic and justice to this since every other family of the earth will be regathered together as individuals. But for the families of the church, they will not have that intimate regathering. And so a special dispensation seems to be given here that we who have gone to our heavenly reward will be able to have some level of regathering with our families, if for no other reason than to assure them

11 personally of our love of them even though we no longer are human.

This being a very personal arrangement, it is not a part of the sanctification process of the world that is done through the Kingdom governmental arrangements.

Verse 20 “Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair of their heads.”

As the Nazarites of old were not permitted to cut their hair as a show of faithfulness to their vows, so these priests in glory are shown to be eternally faithful to their vows. They would not shave their heads – another symbol of submission to the will of God. And not letting their locks grow too long suggests the moderation with which they conduct themselves in all matters of their ministry.

Verse 21 “Neither shall any of the priests drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.”

This antitypical priesthood will always be in full control of their faculties and manage their priesthood with soberness.

Verse 22 “Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away; but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that is the widow of a priest.”

As women and wives are frequently a symbol of divine promises or covenants. We suggest that virgins represent unfulfilled promises or covenants. And widows show incomplete covenants. So this royal priesthood will bring to fruition all of the promises of God to bless the earth! They will be the blessing seed of the Abrahamic covenant that will bless all families of the earth to a restored relationship with their Creator.

Verse 23 “And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.”

This is one of the most succinct descriptions in the Bible of the purpose of the church toward mankind. They will teach them righteousness and ultimately write this eternal law on the hearts of all of the willing thus staging them for everlasting life. The personal lesson to us now is that we must learn this first before we can teach it to others!

Verse 24 “And in a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to mine ordinances shall they judge it: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.”

The church in glory will be the judges of the earth. They will teach and enforce the righteous laws of the Kingdom. Ancient Israel enjoyed the three yearly feasts of worship and rejoicing in their God. So in the Kingdom, there may well be national feasts that will offer times to thank God for all of the blessings received and endear every person one to another in the love of God. We have at least one feast that is prophesized to be celebrated in that Kingdom. Read Zechariah 12:16, 17:

“And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso of all the families of the earth goeth not up unto Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, upon them there shall be no rain.”

This was discussed in connection with Verse 19.

Verse 26 “And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days.”

For the church in glory there is never any real defilement from which they must be cleansed. Perhaps this represents that any intimate contact with the human family of the glorified church member will be perfect in its results as suggested by the number seven.

Verse 27 “And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin-offering, saith the Lord Jehovah.”

The ministration of the Christ and the church will be perfect and fruitful because of their sin-offering experiences. The offering of the sin-offering depict their use of their experiences with sin in the flesh during the gospel age. They understand the proclivities of the fallen flesh and are superbly

13 equipped to help mankind through ANY KIND of experience they had. Their ministration will be full of mercy and compassion because of the empathy that their sacrificial lives of earth taught them.

Verse 28 “And they shall have an inheritance: I am their inheritance; and ye shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.”

The heavenly inheritance on the plane of the divine nature is the inheritance of the church. They will fellowship with God in a way no other creature in all creation can do. The inheritance of man is the earth and physical creation. But God himself is the inheritance of the little flock.

Verse 29 “They shall eat the meal-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.”

The church will accept the offering of the human family as they walk up the highway of holiness. (Isaiah 35:8) The human family are truly their children and as diligent parents, the church will be devoted to their care and nurturing of them in the knowledge of God and the need to become perfect in character.

Verse 30 “And the first of all the first fruits of every thing, and every oblation of everything, of all your oblations, shall be for the priest: ye shall also give unto the priests the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on thy house.”

The church in glory is a first fruits in itself. (Romans 8:23) But the human race itself is a fruitage. And every human being who attains life everlasting will desire their own fruitage of character and works to be given to the priest as an offering to their God. And the result will be an eternal blessing upon them.

Verse 31 “The priests shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself, or is torn, whether it be bird or beast.”

This last verse is perhaps a passing reference to those that enter the second death. Since all human have free moral agency, their decision to resist the kindly attractions of the Kingdom becomes a decision to die. So such ones would “dieth of itself.” For such there is no acceptance available from the priests. The final rejection and judgment is all that remains.

1 See Beauties of the Truth, February, 2012 “The Sacrificial Ritual of Ezekiel 43” and February 2013 “The Ordinances of the Altar” for a fuller treatment of Ezekiel chapter 43. 2 Interesting that David is designated a prince in Ez. 34:24 – “And I, Jehovah, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Jehovah, have spoken it.” He certainly is one of the Ancient Worthies. See also Ez. 37:25. 3 A similar text showing the north as a source of God’s power is found in Job 26:7 - “He stretcheth out the north over empty space, And hangeth the earth upon nothing.” 4 Josephus wrote that Zadok was the first high priest at Solomon’s Temple. Antiquities of the Jews, Book X, chapter VIII, para. 6.