Bible Commentaries
Ezekiel 45

Verses 1-12

Personnel of the Temple (44:1-45:12)

Coming to the East Gate the prophet finds it closed because the Lord has sanctified it by entering the city through it. It will remain permanently closed; only the prince may enter, and that by way of the vestibule.

Ezekiel is told to listen carefully so that he may know who will be admitted to the Temple and who must be excluded from it (vss. 4-8). Much of the immediate past tragedy is explained by the willingness of Israel to allow pagan influences in the Temple. Foreigners are to be positively excluded henceforth. This exclusivist attitude came into great prominence in the age of Nehemiah and Ezra, leading finally to the ingrown quality of Jewish religion in the time of Jesus.

The Levitical priests are blamed for worshiping idols and participating in the abominations which led to the destruction of Israel (vss. 9-14). Hereafter the Levites will not share with the sons of Zadok as priests but will do the menial tasks necessary to the operation of the Temple, such as keeping the gate and preparing sacrifice. This is in all probability a natural consequence and permanent result of an earlier reform which had centralized worship in Jerusalem and which had designated the Zadokites as the only priests.

In keeping with this pattern the functions of the priesthood are forthwith assigned to "the sons of Zadok" (vs. 15). Certain behavior and requirements are laid upon those who will serve before the Lord’s altar. A priest is not to shave his head, nor marry a widow, nor drink wine before a service (vss. 20-22). The functions of the priests extend beyond narrowly sacerdotal activity before the altar. The priests are to distinguish the common from the holy, decide controversies between people, keep all the laws of God, and reverence the Sabbath (vss. 23-24) . In other words, in the restored Temple they are to combine functions of priest, prophet, and judge. A priest may not go near a human corpse, except when the deceased has been a member of his immediate family. Then he must afterward undergo seven days of ritual cleansing and upon entering the inner court make a sin offering for himself. The Zadokites are thus given the holiest responsibilities in restored Israel.

The priests will have no inheritance of their own because God is "their inheritance." They are assigned the following provisions to eat: the cereal offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering. Every devoted thing shall, in the name of the Lord, belong to the priests, as shall the first fruits of all things. In addition, the first of "coarse meal" is assigned to them, but the priests may not eat any bird or animal which has died naturally or has been killed accidentally (vss. 28-31).

As if the above apportionment were not large enough, God assigns a block of territory in the midst of the land, 25,000 x 25,000 cubits, which will belong to the sons of Zadok. In one section, 25,000 X 10,000 cubits, the Temple is to be located, surrounded by a strip of "no man’s land." The priests will have the Temple section as their dwelling place. Another section of equal size, 25,000 x 10,000 cubits, will be set aside for the Levitical Temple servants. The remaining 25,000 x 5,000 cubit area will belong to the whole house of Israel as a unit, rather than being divided among the tribes (Ezekiel 45:1-6). The prince will own property on both sides of the holy district to the east and the west, extending all the way to the eastern and western frontiers. This generous provision will keep the prince from being tempted to seek gain by oppression (vss. 7-8).

After the assignment of territory to the prince, two exhortations to future rulers are made, each touched with the prophetic fire typical of Ezekiel in his earlier oracles (vss. 9-12). Princes are urged to put away violence and oppression, and to base their policies rather on justice and righteousness. In terms similar to those used by Amos and Isaiah, the princes are urged to cease evicting people from their land. Princes and kings, having no property, had often, like Ahab, taken what they wanted, although God had sent his prophets to denounce and judge this very kind of rule. Moreover, kings and princes had been known to change weights and measures to their advantage. The prince is now told to set and make standard all weights and measures.

Verses 13-24

Instructions for Sacrifice (45:13-46:24)

This major section describes the amounts of the offerings which the prince is to receive from the people and to offer to God (vss. 13-17). Verses 18-20 deal with atonement for, or dedication of, the Temple.

The Feast of the Passover is described with detailed instructions concerning the amounts of offerings to be made by the prince (Ezekiel 45:21-25). For seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. On the seven days of celebration seven young bulls and seven rams shall be offered, together with a he-goat, as a sin offering. Cereal and oil offerings are also to be made. At the Feast of Tabernacles the same offerings shall be repeated (vs. 25). These instructions are at variance with those recorded in Numbers and elsewhere, proving that the cultic practice of a dynamic faith changes with time.

A relatively long discussion of Sabbaths and new moons is given by the prophet. Again we find that the East Gate is closed, except on the Sabbath and the new moon, when it is to be opened that the prince may enter by the vestibule and take his stand there. Details of the offerings to be made on stated occasions follow (Ezekiel 46:1-8). Procedure for entering the Temple area is then given. A man must not leave by the gate through which he entered, and the worshiping group is to be accompanied by the prince (vss. 9-10) . Details of offerings which the prince will make are described, and the procedure for offering is given (vss. 11-15).

A rule for holding property in perpetuity reflects the sad chronicle of Israelite history in which the Year of Jubilee had never been actively observed (see Leviticus 25). When the prince makes a gift to his sons out of his inheritance, the property is a permanent inheritance of the sons and their heirs. On the other hand, when the prince donates some of his property to a servant, it shall remain in the keeping of the servant until the "year of liberty," probably every seventh year, and then return to the prince. Thus provision was made for a redistribution of the property but not on so extensive a scale as the Year of Jubilee required. Since the prince possessed his own inheritance, he was forbidden to take inheritance of the common people: "None of my people shall be dispossessed of his property" (vs. 18). Historical abuses of the property rights of the people by the kings, as evidenced in Amos, Isaiah, and Micah, showed the necessity for this safeguard in Ezekiel’s vision of the future.

The narrative continues, describing in the western side of the inner court some kind of enclosure where the priests boiled the guilt offering and the sin offering and where they also baked the cereal offering. This was a kitchen where the priests prepared the offering which was theirs exclusively to eat before God (vss. 19- 20). In the outer court at the four comers within the walls there were four smaller courts, 40 x 30 cubits, equipped with hearths for cooking. These were the kitchens where the Levites prepared portions of the sacrifices of which it was the privilege and the duty of the people to partake (vss. 21-24).