4 Also He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the1 temple; so I looked, and abehold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord; band I fell on my face.
5 And the Lord said to me, a“Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears, all that I say to you concerning all the bordinances of the house of the Lord and all its laws. Mark well who may enter the house and all who go out from the sanctuary.
6 “Now say to the arebellious, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “O house of Israel, blet Us have no more of all your abominations.
7aWhen you brought in bforeigners, cuncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to defile it—My house—and when you offered dMy food, ethe fat and the blood, then they broke My covenant because of all your abominations.
8 And you have not akept charge of My holy things, but you have set others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you.”
9 Thus says the Lord God: a“No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter My sanctuary, including any foreigner who is among the children of Israel.
Laws Governing Priests
10a“And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.
11 Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, aas gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; bthey shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and cthey shall stand before them to minister to them.
12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and acaused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have braised My hand in an oath against them,” says the Lord God, “that they shall bear their iniquity.
13aAnd they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall bbear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.
14 Nevertheless I will make them akeep charge of the temple, for all its work, and for all that has to be done in it.
15a“But the priests, the Levites, bthe sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary cwhen the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they dshall stand before Me to offer to Me the efat and the blood,” says the Lord God.
16 “They shall aenter My sanctuary, and they shall come near bMy 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 athey 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.
18aThey shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anythingthatcauses sweat.
Ezekiel 44 takes place either during the Millennium or the Great White Throne Judgment. However, from certain details, it seems that God is referring to the actual ancient Israelites who failed Him under the Old Covenant.
It appears that, when the Israelites rise in the second resurrection, God will make them perform what they failed to do originally! He will give them a chance to repent of their unfaithfulness, to make up, as it were, for the sins of the past. They will know every time they lift a bullock onto the altar, every time they keep the gate, every time they make the showbread, every time they fulfill any of their responsibilities to God, that they failed in their first attempt to keep the terms of their covenant with God.
That is bearing iniquity! They will be reminded in every action that they have sinned and are a sinful people. It will be a hard lesson for Israel, but they will learn it well.
God says in Isaiah 43:21, "This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise." Finally! In the end, when God gives them the complete package of spiritual blessings, the Israelites will glorify God as He intended from the beginning, fulfilling their ultimate purpose.
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