Pursue Holiness

In Ezekiel 10, the prophet watched as the Lord departed the temple in Jerusalem through the East gate to join His people in exile in Babylon. The narrative now comes full circle as the prophet sees the Lord enter through the East Gate of the new Temple that he has been touring in a vision. 

Ezekiel 44:1–3 (ESV) Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east. And it was shut. 2 And the LORD said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. 3 Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD. He shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.”

That gate which provided exit for the Lord is now shut; it will never be opened again because the Lord will never depart from among His people again. This was promised Ezekiel back in chapter 37. 

Ezekiel 37:28 (ESV) Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”

Amazingly, this passage has become a center of prophetic teaching for 1000s of years by the Church. The Muslims barricaded the Eastern gate after recapturing Jerusalem from the Crusaders. After centuries of back and forth, the Muslim sultan Suleiman shut the gate in 1541. It has remained so ever since. 

Theologians believe that this gate, which overlooks the Kidron Valley was most likely the gate Jesus used to enter the city on Palm Sunday. Many believe it will remain shut until the Lord returns, according to prophecy in Zechariah:

Zechariah 14:4–5 (ESV) On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

Ezekiel moves on from the focus of the gate to the Levites who turned away from the Lord. These will be reduced to mere servanthood duties in the Temple.
Ezekiel 44:10–11 (ESV) But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment. 11 They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before the people, to minister to them.

Then the Lord stipulates that the faithful priests from the line of Zadok will inherit the more noble posts in the offerings of Israel. 

Ezekiel 44:15 (ESV) “But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord GOD.

These priests will have charge of the judicial process of Israel 
Ezekiel 44:24 (ESV) In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy.

Holiness brings us close to the Lord. This distinction of priests is what Paul had in mind when he told Timothy about the distinction in the New Covenant between those who handle everyday things and those who handle the sacred. 

2 Timothy 2:20–21 (ESV) Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

The Lord distinguishes between those who do the everyday things and those who do the noble things. Immediately after this passage Paul commends Timothy to flee the passions of youth. 
2 Timothy 2:22 (ESV) So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

If the Temple of Ezekiel's vision is a picture of the Church, we find a wonderful spiritual truth and a compelling reason to strip ourselves of the unclean things in our lives and pursue holiness. Without holiness, we will not see the Lord. As Ezekiel is told at the end of this chapter: 

Ezekiel 44:28 (ESV) “This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.

Lord, cleanse us and make us holy that we might attend to the honorable works you have in mind for the world. Amen. 


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