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The Duties of the Priests
Ezekiel 44:15–31 describes the duties of certain priests in careful detail. The passage shows who may minister, how they must conduct themselves, and how their service is tied to holiness, teaching, judgement, and provision.
Understanding the passage
The setting of this message
In this passage, the Lord Yahweh speaks about the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept duty in his sanctuary when others in Israel went astray. The verses set out rules for their ministry in the sanctuary, their conduct among the people, and the provision given to them.
Ezekiel 44:15–31Main takeaway
This passage teaches that the priests who come near to the Lord must serve with careful holiness, faithful teaching, and obedience to his instructions.
Explore the message
01Priests who may come nearThe passage begins by naming the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, as those who may come near to minister to the Lord.
Explanation
The passage begins by naming the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, as those who may come near to minister to the Lord. They are described as having performed the duty of the sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray. Their work includes standing before the Lord, offering sacrifices, entering the sanctuary, and keeping his instruction.
02Clothing and conduct in holy serviceThe next instructions focus on how the priests are to serve. They must wear linen garments, turbans, and trousers, and avoid wool and anything that makes them sweat.
Explanation
The next instructions focus on how the priests are to serve. They must wear linen garments, turbans, and trousers, and avoid wool and anything that makes them sweat. Their ministering garments are to be left in the holy rooms before going out to the people. Their hair is to be trimmed properly, and they must not drink wine when entering the inner court.
03Marriage, teaching, and judgementThe passage also regulates the priests’ marriages: they are not to take a widow or a divorced woman, except for a widow of a priest, but are to marry virgins from the house of Israel.
Explanation
The passage also regulates the priests’ marriages: they are not to take a widow or a divorced woman, except for a widow of a priest, but are to marry virgins from the house of Israel. Alongside this, they must teach the people to distinguish holy from common and clean from unclean, and judge controversies according to the Lord’s ordinances.
04Purity and provisionThe final part covers purity around the dead, including a limited exception for close family members, followed by cleansing, seven days, and a sin offering before returning to minister.
Explanation
The final part covers purity around the dead, including a limited exception for close family members, followed by cleansing, seven days, and a sin offering before returning to minister. The priests receive no land possession because the Lord says, “I am their inheritance.” Their food comes from offerings, first fruits, and other assigned gifts, and they must not eat an animal that died of itself or was torn.
Questions to explore
01What reasons does the passage give for why the sons of Zadok may come near to minister to the Lord?
Look for the description of their past faithfulness and the duties they are allowed to perform in the sanctuary.
02Which instructions in this passage show that the priests had to treat holy service differently from ordinary life?
Notice the clothing rules, the change of garments, the limits on hair and wine, and the marriage rule given for priests.
03How does the passage show that the priests depended on the Lord rather than on land as their inheritance?
Read the verses about inheritance and then list the foods and offerings assigned to the priests.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Ezekiel 44:15–31
15“ ‘ “But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who performed the duty of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me. They shall stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood,” says the Lord Yahweh.
16“They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my instruction.
17“ ‘ “It will be that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments. No wool shall come on them while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.
18They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and shall have linen trousers on their waists. They shall not clothe themselves with anything that makes them sweat.
19When they go out into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they minister and lay them in the holy rooms. They shall put on other garments, that they not sanctify the people with their garments.
20“ ‘ “They shall not shave their heads, or allow their locks to grow long. They shall only cut off the hair of their heads.
21None of the priests shall drink wine when they enter into the inner court.
22They shall not take for their wives a widow, or her who is put away; but they shall take virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.
23They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
24“ ‘ “In a controversy they shall stand to judge. They shall judge it according to my ordinances. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts. They shall make my Sabbaths holy.
25“ ‘ “They shall go in to no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister who has had no husband, they may defile themselves.
26After he is cleansed, they shall reckon to him seven days.
27In the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering,” says the Lord Yahweh.
28“ ‘They shall have an inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel. I am their possession.
29They shall eat the meal offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.
30The first of all the first fruits of every thing, and every offering of everything, of all your offerings, shall be for the priest. You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on your house.
31The priests shall not eat of anything that dies of itself or is torn, whether it is bird or animal.