The Only Inheritance

Ezekiel 44:1-31
 

Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, the one facing east, and it was shut. 2 The LORD said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It must not be opened; no one may enter through it. It is to remain shut because the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered through it. 3 The prince himself is the only one who may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the LORD. He is to enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.” – Ezekiel 44:1-3
 
In Ezekiel 44 God is continuing to give Ezekiel a vision.  In this vision a man is leading him around to see different things.  At this point, the man takes him to the sanctuary.  This is not the outer wall of Jerusalem.  It’s the East gate of the temple.  Who is the prince?  More than likely, he’s not the Messiah.  It’s someone else.  In Ezekiel 45:22, it says that the prince will offer a sacrifice for his sins.  Jesus never sinned.  In Ezekiel 46:16-18, it says that he has sons.  Jesus never had sons.  It’s not clear exactly who this person is.  We read that the prince is not allowed to go into the East gate because that entrance is only for the Lord.  But he can go into the entrance (the portico) of the East gate.  We know that this person has fellowship with the Lord.  It’s thought that he may be someone of political importance who is ruling underneath Jesus.  There will be a thousand years that Jesus will rule on the Earth.  This is known as the millennial reign.  Ezekiel 44 could be prophecy about events that unfold during that time.
 
If we back up to chapter 11, we see that God’s glory departed out of the temple through the eastern gate: “1 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east...22 Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. 23 The glory of the LORD went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it.” (Ez. 11:1, 22-23)
 
Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked and saw the glory of the LORD filling the temple of the LORD, and I fell facedown.
The LORD said to me, “Son of man, look carefully, listen closely and give attention to everything I tell you concerning all the regulations regarding the temple of the LORD. Give attention to the entrance of the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary. Say to the rebellious house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Enough of your detestable practices, O house of Israel! In addition to all your other detestable practices, you brought foreigners uncircumcised in heart and flesh into my sanctuary, desecrating my temple while you offered me food, fat and blood, and you broke my covenant. Instead of carrying out your duty in regard to my holy things, you put others in charge of my sanctuary. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh is to enter my sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among the Israelites. – Ezekiel 44:4-9
 
I think the key in understanding why God is giving Ezekiel this vision in chapter 44 is found in Ezekiel 43:10 which says, "As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the plan.”  (Eze 43:10) Their sin had caused the departure of the glory of God.  In our days it would be equivalent to saying, “Their sin ruined their close relationship with God.”  God was showing them what it could be like if they repented and turned back to him.  They would have a restored relationship.  In Christ’s millennial reign, he would dwell with men.  Obviously, there would be no need for sacrifices anymore since, as it says in 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit…”  But the Israelites, at the time that Ezekiel was prophesying, didn’t know who the Christ was.  Jesus hadn’t come to die on the cross yet.  So, God gave them a picture they would understand.  He showed them a temple, in which the glory of God had returned.  Whether there would be sacrifices or not in the millennial temple is not the main thing.  The main thing is that God would be present with them. 
 
At the time that Ezekiel was prophesying, the people of Israel were missing out.  They were missing out on the presence of God, missing out on the worship of God and missing out on community that was fulfilling God’s will.  God doesn’t want us to miss out.  His goal is not to make us obey a bunch of rules.  His goal is to bring us into a relationship with him.  If we’re going to have a fear of missing out, let it be a fear of missing out on what God wants us to experience.  In Genesis 15:1 “Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward.”  God didn’t just want to reward Abram, he wanted to be his reward.  If Abram knew that God was going to provide something great, then he wouldn’t have fear.  The people of Israel had been filling their lives with obvious sins.  But they also were filling their lives with things that took place of God’s will.  I don’t know what your view of God is like.  He isn’t like us.  His motives are pure.  He’s a loving father.  Us fathers can get agitated because we give in to our weak flesh.  Don’t let someone who claims to be a Christian taint your view of God.  He’s not like us. 
 
“‘The Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray and who wandered from me after their idols must bear the consequences of their sin. They may serve in my sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and serving in it; they may slaughter the burnt offerings and sacrifices for the people and stand before the people and serve them. But because they served them in the presence of their idols and made the house of Israel fall into sin, therefore I have sworn with uplifted hand that they must bear the consequences of their sin, declares the Sovereign LORD. They are not to come near to serve me as priests or come near any of my holy things or my most holy offerings; they must bear the shame of their detestable practices. Yet I will put them in charge of the duties of the temple and all the work that is to be done in it.   
“‘But the priests, who are Levites and descendants of Zadok and who faithfully carried out the duties of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, are to come near to minister before me; they are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat and blood, declares the Sovereign LORD. They alone are to enter my sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table to minister before me and perform my service. – Ezekiel 44:10-16
 
The Levites, who went astray, would face consequences for their actions.  God was not going to let them go free without discipline.  They were no longer allowed to make offerings or enter the Most Holy Place.  Only the descendants of Zadok were allowed to do these things.  The Levites who descended from those who were unfaithful could still serve but not in the same way they were allowed to before.  It’s an important lesson here.  We shouldn’t think that we deserve anything good from God or that he must treat us like everyone else.
 
“‘When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen clothes; they must not wear any woolen garment while ministering at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple. They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire. When they go out into the outer court where the people are, they are to take off the clothes they have been ministering in and are to leave them in the sacred rooms, and put on other clothes, so that they do not consecrate the people by means of their garments.
“‘They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but they are to keep the hair of their heads trimmed. No priest is to drink wine when he enters the inner court. They must not marry widows or divorced women; they may marry only virgins of Israelite descent or widows of priests. They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. – Ezekiel 44:17-23
 
When looking at rules like this that you find in the Old Testament it’s important to ask the question, “Were the descendants of Zadok given rules in order to be chosen or were they given rules because they were chosen?”  God chose the sons of Zadok to carry on the work of the temple.  Then he gave them the rules to operate by. 
 
For us in the New Testament times, entering the Most Holy Place is synonymous with salvation.  We can enter into God’s presence.  Are we able to enter in because of our adherence to certain rules?  No.  A way was provided for us to enter which was apart from any of our effort.   “19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus...22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith…” (Heb 10:19,22).
 
“‘In any dispute, the priests are to serve as judges and decide it according to my ordinances. They are to keep my laws and my decrees for all my appointed feasts, and they are to keep my Sabbaths holy.
“‘A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person; however, if the dead person was his father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister, then he may defile himself. After he is cleansed, he must wait seven days. On the day he goes into the inner court of the sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, he is to offer a sin offering for himself, declares the Sovereign LORD. – Ezekiel 44:24-27
 
Here the priests are given the responsibilities to be judges.  They’re also given some exceptions to the rules.
 
“‘I am to be the only inheritance the priests have. You are to give them no possession in Israel; I will be their possession. They will eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings and the guilt offerings; and everything in Israel devoted to the LORD will belong to them. The best of all the firstfruits and of all your special gifts will belong to the priests. You are to give them the first portion of your ground meal so that a blessing may rest on your household. The priests must not eat anything, bird or animal, found dead or torn by wild animals. – Ezekiel 44:28-31
 
In these last verses God tells the priests that he wants to be their inheritance.  The priests were not to be given land.  If they had nolland then there would be only a little chance that they could provide for themselves.  God wanted to be their provision and their future provision.  When the people of Israel would sacrifice their offerings (grain, animals, etc.), this would become the food that the priests would eat.  God was providing what the priests needed to eat through the people of Israel.  Another thing that we can see in this passage is that a blessing would be given to the people of Israel when they gave the first part of the ground meal that was harvested for that year.
 
Of course, this would have taken an extra level of trust.  God said the same thing to Aaron, “Then the LORD said to Aaron, ‘You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.’”  (Nu 18:20)
 
If I could simplify the applications of this story is to say the following, “We always want to be where God is, always turn away from anything keeping us from God, and always trust God with whatever he wants us to have.” 
 
Before the people of Israel got taken into captivity, they rejected God.  I think one of the underlying reasons they rejected God was because they felt like they were missing out on something.  Isn’t that similar to us?  If we move away from what God is offering us, many times it’s because we feel like we’re missing out.  If I get angry with my kids that is not something God desires for me.  He has something better.  Maybe I feel like I’m missing out on respect...as in my kids are not respecting me.  Why do we steal?  We think that we’ll miss out on having what we really, really want and we don’t trust God to provide what he wants us to have.  Adultery happens when a person feels like they’re missing out on having a better person in their life.  They’re not satisfied with the person God has given them.  Why do some people neglect meaningful, regular fellowship with the believers (other than just coming to a Sunday meeting)?  It might be because they’re afraid it’s a waste of time.  After all, the church can’t pay their bills, so they have to work all the time.  The church provide purpose in their life; therefore, they go looking for purpose in hobbies or success in their job. 
 
I share these things because I know what it's like to feel like I’m missing out.  I think that God has something far better for us than what we’ve been experiencing.  There will always be more chances to grow in our faith, always more chances to be increasingly devoted to God’s purposes and always more chances to trust God with our time if we give it to those in the body of Christ.  Those chances will never be lacking.  The good news is that God is patient with us.  He walks with us even though we’ve chosen something else besides him.  He has hope for us. 
 
As we take communion, I want to encourage us to do three things.  First, confess anything that’s come between you and God.  Second, I want us to be at peace that we’ll never measure up to a perfect standard.  We have to believe that Jesus did what was necessary to get us into the Most Holy Place.  That’s good news.  Three, if you have a promise from God in the scriptures that says anything about what God has promised to give you, then tell him that you trust him to do it.  If you don’t have a promise, then get one...or borrow one!