Ezekiel 44:10 - Meaning and Application

The Lord, as the master of the house about to set his household in order again, reviews his priests. He judges who should be removed from their place and who should remain, and he deals with them accordingly.

I. Those who were unfaithful are lowered. This includes the Levites, or priests, who had gone along with Israel’s earlier rebellion, who strayed from God after their idols (Ezekiel 44:10). They served idolatrous kings of Israel or Judah, ministered before their idols (Ezekiel 44:12), bowed in the house of Rimmon, or set up altars for them, as Urijah did for Ahaz. In that way, they led the house of Israel into sin and helped harden them in it. If the priests go astray, many others will follow their harmful example.

Perhaps some Jewish priests in Babylon also gave in to the idol worship around them, to the great shame of their faith. These priests, if they were still alive, were rightly marked by God’s displeasure. If they had already died, as is likely if the sin happened before the captivity, then the guilt fell on their children. It may even have been the whole family of Abiathar that had committed this offense and was now being held to account for it.

They are sentenced to lose part of their office. From being priests, they are pushed down into the place of ordinary Levites. God has sworn that they will bear the weight of their sin (Ezekiel 44:12), meaning they will surely suffer for it. They will bear their shame (Ezekiel 44:13), and though we may hope they repented, they still will not come near to do the priest’s special work or enter the holy things inside the sanctuary (Ezekiel 44:13). Those who robbed God of his honor are rightly stripped of honor themselves.

This is also a serious punishment, to be kept from drawing near to God. Justly, those who once turned away from him may be denied that closeness and kept at a distance. Yet there is mercy in the sentence. God does not deal as harshly as he might have with those who were treacherous to him, but softens the punishment (Ezekiel 44:11, Ezekiel 44:14). They are deprived only in part of their office, and it seems, not of their support.

They may still help slaughter the sacrifice, as the Levites were allowed to do, and in this temple that work was done at the tables, not at the altar (Ezekiel 40:29). They will also serve as gatekeepers and watch over the house in all its service. People who are not fit for one kind of service may still be useful in another. Even those who have sinned may still be employed, and should not be cast aside completely, much less thrown away.

II. Those who were faithful are honored and confirmed in their place (Ezekiel 44:15, Ezekiel 44:16). The sons of Zadok are set apart from the others. They kept their integrity when almost everyone else turned away. They did not go astray when others did, so they are allowed to come near to the Lord and come near to his table. God puts marks of honor on those who stay faithful to him in hard and testing times. He uses in his service those who stayed close to him when others abandoned him and drew back.

It is a true and great reward for steady obedience to be established in it. If we keep close to God, he will keep us close to him.