Ezekiel 40:44–46

In verses 44 to 47, outside the inner gate, there are cells for the singers. One looks south, for the priests who had charge of the house. One looks north, for those who had charge of the altar. The court itself is a hundred cubits square, with the altar before the house.

At the close of this chapter we learn about the housing built for the priests. They had charge of the house and of the altar. There were two chambers or cells, one at the north gate and one at the south gate. The prophet was told which branch of Aaron's family will occupy these cells in the temple service of Messiah's coming reign.

Cells for the priests who keep charge of the House and the Altar. The text does not fix the exact location. It only tells us they stand outside the inner gate, in the inner court (Ezek. 40:44-46).

Song is the outward expression of melody in the heart. It could not be left out of the order of temple worship. What melody there will be in that coming temple! What a joyful noise from all lands when Messiah reigns! Then the ark will rest in its place, prepared by the true David, Who will appoint the singers and set them over the service.

The sons of Zadok will be chosen in that day for approach to Jehovah in ministry. This was the branch of Aaron's line that came forward in the day of David. For hundreds of years the wrong line had seized the high priesthood. Eli came from the younger branch of Aaron's family. That branch took the high priesthood for itself with no right to it, despite Jehovah's solemn promise to Phinehas. But restoration came in Zadok, in the days of David and Solomon, for Jehovah is faithful despite man's failure and hostility.

The same principle of righteous government finds illustration in the priests of Zadok's line. They had remained faithful when Israel departed from Jehovah, and now in the day of Messiah's kingdom they fill the nearest place. Past faithfulness meets its reward.

Separation matters greatly for showing the character and name of God. Ezekiel 43:7-12 makes this plain, comparing the new plan with the first temple. There, great defilement had arisen because the royal buildings stood so close to the sanctuary. The people who often lived in them were wicked idolaters, and they carried their wickedness and idolatry into the sanctuary. The sharp distinction between the priests and the Levites makes the same point. It guards against all undue familiarity with the presence of Jehovah. This lesson is needed in every age. In the days these visions describe, it will not only be taught by command. It will be on display before the whole world in the plan and service of the sanctuary, where all nations will come to worship.

One can understand the tabernacle, Israel's old tent sanctuary, as a picture of present heavenly things in Christ. But here we have a prophecy. It will only be fulfilled for Israel in their land, when the church is changed at Christ's coming and reigns with Him over the earth. There is therefore no room for the Christian or allegorical application.

At the close of this chapter, we learn about the space in the building made for the priests who had charge of the house and of the altar. There were two rooms, one at the north gate and one at the south gate.

The first of these passages (Ezek. 40:46) says that the priesthood will not be formed from just any family among the descendants of Aaron, or even of Phinehas. It will be formed from the family of Zadok itself.

In that day the sons of Zadok will be chosen to come near to Jehovah and minister to Him (Ezek. 40:46; Ezek. 43:19; Ezek. 44:15; Ezek. 48:11). This was the branch of Aaron's line that came forward in the day of David (1 Chron. 12:28). For hundreds of years the wrong line had seized the high priesthood. Eli came from the younger branch of Aaron's family. That branch took the high priesthood for itself, against Jehovah's solemn promise to Phinehas (Num. 25:12-13). But in the days of David and Solomon the office was restored in Zadok, for Jehovah is faithful despite man's failure and hostility.

Brighter days will yet dawn on the sons of Zadok. Ezekiel mentions them four times in the prophecies that describe the future kingdom of Christ, the millennium. Israel will be born again to new life. The scattered tribes will be gathered and their enemies put down. Most important of all, Messiah will be present among them. The temple will be built and the sacrificial system set up again. At that point Ezekiel names the sons of Zadok, and God grants them special blessing. It is given in recognition of the faithfulness of their forefather at a time of rebellion and unfaithfulness.

It is easy enough to understand a general description of the Church as a temple, a city, or the people Israel. The New Testament does use all these pictures for the Church. But Ezekiel is not giving that kind of general description of a temple. All the details are set out with the precision of an architect. Such precision makes no sense in a symbolic picture, but it is exactly what you need to describe the plan of a real building.

In the following chapter God orders that certain Levites, whose fathers had fallen into idolatry, should not come near to minister; while "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" (Ezek. 44:10-15).

Some have felt a difficulty about sacrifices being restored. The difficulty disappears when we remember that these sacrifices will be connected with an earthly people and an earthly temple, and that they will be memorials... In the millennium they will look back to that one sacrifice for sin which was offered on the cross, just as the sacrifices under the law of Moses pointed forward to it.

The Holy Spirit would teach us this. The Lord has sunny places for our souls to live in. But He also has places that are not so pleasant, places facing north, into the cold winds that come sweeping down. He sometimes keeps these for those who enjoy special closeness to Him. It is part of His gracious discipline.