Ezekiel 44:16

16 It is they who shall enter my sanctuary, it is they who shall approach 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 Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its chores, all that is to be done in it.
15 But the levitical priests, the descendants 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 attend me to offer me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God.
16 It is they who shall enter my sanctuary, it is they who shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge.
17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen vestments; they shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within.
18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments on their loins; they shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.