Ezekiel 44:16

16 They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.

Ezekiel 44:16 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 44:16

They shall enter into my sanctuary
Both to officiate, and to participate, which strangers and uncircumcised persons might not do, ( Ezekiel 44:9 ) : and they shall come near to my table to minister unto me;
which some understand of the altar of burnt offering, which was as a table, and the sacrifice on it was the food of the Lord, ( Leviticus 3:11 Leviticus 3:16 ) , others, the altar of incense; see ( Ezekiel 41:22 ) . Kimchi interprets it of the table of shewbread; but, whatever is meant in the letter, the mystical sense is, the ordinance of the Lord's supper, called the Lord's table, ( 1 Corinthians 10:21 ) , a table richly spread, and well furnished with spiritual provision: here Christ himself sits, bids his people welcome, eats with them, and they with him; and here all the saints are guests, and ministers in particular officiate: and they shall keep my charge;
continue to do so; for this they did before, ( Ezekiel 44:15 ) , but now should be confirmed in their office, and never be displaced, as others; they that honour God he will honour, ( 1 Samuel 2:30 ) .

Ezekiel 44:16 In-Context

14 Nevertheless I will make them keep charge of the temple, for all its work, and for all that has to be done in it.

15 "But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood," says the Lord God.

16 They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.

17 And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister within the gates of the inner court or within the house.

18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat.