Ezekiel 44:16

16 'They will enter my sanctuary, approach my table to minister to me and perform my service.

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 put them in charge of the house and all its maintenance and everything to be done in it.

15 "'However, the cohanim, who are L'vi'im and descendants of Tzadok, who took care of my sanctuary when the people of Isra'el went astray from me - they are the ones who will approach me and serve me; it is they who will attend me and offer me the fat and the blood,' says Adonai ELOHIM.

16 'They will enter my sanctuary, approach my table to minister to me and perform my service.

17 "'Once they enter the gates of the inner courtyard, they are to wear linen clothing; they are not to wear any wool while serving at the gates of the inner courtyard or inside it.

18 They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen underclothes on their bodies, and they are not to wear anything that makes them sweat.