Day 253. Ezekiel 43-45

In our last reading, we received Ezekiel's description of the new temple. In today's reading he places the visionary temple in the context of a restored Jerusalem, and provides a blueprint for right worship and holy living.
Remember that in 11:22-23, Ezekiel describes seeing the glory of God departing from the temple going to the east; now in a vision Ezekiel beholds "the glory of the God of Israel . . . coming from the east." And he reports hearing "the sound of many waters" (43:2)—this is the noise made by the living creatures who guard and serve the LORD (1:24). It is the reverberation of history; God is on the move. Ezekiel reports that "the earth shines with his glory"—this is the brilliance that both reveals the presence of the LORD and hides it. The prophet, overcome by the radiance, falls on his face—such is the impact of his encounter with the divine—but not before he sees the glory of God re-enter the temple from the east, the direction of the rising sun, effectively rededicating it.
Now the LORD speaks to Ezekiel directly out of the temple without intermediary (43:6) declaring the conditions under which he will establish his eternal presence there. The temple shall no longer be in proximity to the palace of the secular ruler or near the sepulchers of dead kings (43:9). It must be morally as well as spatially distanced from such things. Only when the people of Israel "put away their idolatry and the corpses of their kings far from [him]" will the LORD come and abide with them forever. The prophet is then instructed to faithfully deliver to Israel the plans and arrangement of this new temple, together with the "law of the temple" which has been revealed to him (43:12). Whether this is an entirely new law, or simply reaffirms the old law is unclear from the text. This much is certain—the new temple is to be holy—removed from all desecrations and all possibility of profanation—and "the whole territory on the top of the
mountain all around shall be most holy" (43:12).
The prophet is given an elaborate description of the altar that shall be constructed in the new temple, together with instructions regarding the sacrifices surrounding seven-day dedication and "atonement" services. These are to be supervised only by "the levitical priests of the family of Zadok"—the traditional high-priestly family (43:19)—not by any of the "regular clergy," who have corrupted themselves. Only when this atonement is complete can the regular "offerings of well-being" be tendered in accordance with the instructions found in the first three chapters of Leviticus.
This temple belongs to the LORD alone. The gate by which the LORD returned to this new temple from his "exile"—the one facing east—shall remain perpetually closed—"no one shall enter it" (44:2). Because God has entered by that way, no one else ever shall. Only "the prince, because he is a prince"—Ezekiel has in mind a secular ruler of the restored house of David--may sit in that gate to eat a portion of the sacrifices of well-being (44:3). He is, after all, God's viceroy. Otherwise the east gate cannot be used.
Now Ezekiel is himself taken to the north gate of the new sanctuary, and there he is given instructions regarding who "may be admitted to the temple and all those who are to be excluded from the sanctuary" (44:5). All foreigners—those who are "uncircumcised in heart and flesh" (44:7)—shall be excluded from the sanctuary and prohibited from offering sacrifices there. This runs exactly counter to Isaiah's universalistic vision of the new temple (Isaiah 56:3-8).
Ezekiel the priest, however, is primarily concerned with ritual purity of the temple and its priests. Therefore apostate Levites—those who went "astray from [the LORD] after their idols when Israel went astray" (44:10)—shall be relegated to the lesser tasks of slaughtering the animal sacrifices. In this new temple they are not to approach the LORD, but they are appointed "to keep charge of the temple, to do all its chores, all that is to be done in it" (44:14).
But the faithfulness of the descendents of Zadok--the high priestly clan "who kept the charge of [the LORD's] sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray" (44:15)—shall be commended and rewarded. Only they shall enter his sanctuary and approach his table, offering him the bread of the presence and the symbolic parts of the sacrificial animals. As a symbol of purity, they are to wear only linen vestments (44:17). The mixing of linen and wool is forbidden as "un-kosher" and impure. They are to take off these linen vestments—apartments in the new temple are designated for this purpose—"so that they may not communicate holiness to the people with their vestments" (44:19). Furthermore, they are to avoid ritual uncleanness in a number of symbolic ways—by not cutting their hair (44:20), by not drinking while on duty (44:21),and by refraining from marrying a widow or a divorced woman (44:22). By both their words and their behavior they
are to teach the people of God "the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean" (44:23).
The authority given to priests in the Law of Moses is affirmed. They are to function as judges "in a controversy" (44:24). They are to take special care not to become unclean by touching a corpse (44:25)--though certain exceptions are made for close family members. And they are not to eat meat that has not be ritually slaughtered" (44:31). Ezekiel the priest has a special concern for the maintenance of priests and their families. Since they are to be provided for by the offerings given to the temple and the LORD is 'their holding," they are to possess no land. Instead, "every devoted thing [offered to the LORD] shall be theirs" (44:29). The people are told to "give to the priests the first of your dough, in order that a blessing may rest upon your house" (44:30)
Furthermore, a holy district shall be allotted in the restored Jerusalem for the sanctuary and for the houses of the priests next door—a sort of parsonage situation. "Alongside" the holy district shall be the city of the secular prince and his people—"it shall belong to the whole house of Israel" (45:6). Sacred and secular shall not intermix. But the princes are reminded of their sacred role as God's viceroys. They shall "no longer oppress" the people (45:8); instead they are commanded to "put away violence and oppression" and uphold the traditional property rights of the Israelite tribes (45:8-9).
A fair and honest system of weights and measures is the foundation of a just economy and in the new community of restored Jerusalem God sets and guarantees honest scales 45:10-12). The demands for sacrifice are graduated. No one who can give is excluded from giving, but the heaviest weight of obligation lies most heavily on the prince (45:17).
He is to provide sacrifices for the two annual rites of purification—one for the temple (45:18-19) and other an atonement for persons who have "sinned through error or ignorance (45:20). The observance of the feast of Passover, the celebration of the deliverance from Egypt, is commanded—in this period Passover was a communal temple celebration rather than a rite performed in a family setting, as it is today. The prince is required to provide the sacrificial animals for Passover, as well as for Succoth, of the Feast of Booths, (45:25) during which Israel recalled the years of wandering in the wilderness and the guidance that brought them to the Promised Land.
In Ezekiel's vision of the new and restored Jerusalem, the sacred and the profane are strictly segregated, and each person has his or her part in maintaining their separation.