And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest's: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house.
Ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house - ( Proverbs 3:9-10, "Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first- fruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine;" Malachi 3:10, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it").
Remarks:
(1) The gate of the outward sanctuary toward the east is to be shut, and no man is to enter in by it, because it is the gate by which the Lord God of Israel shall enter on His return to His temple. An exception is made in favour of "the prince," who, if not Christ, must stand in a special relation to the Lord as the civil ruler, and as representing Him in political concerns, as the priests do in religious concerns. It is not likely that Messiah would give or offer a burnt offering, as the prince is to do (Ezekiel 45:17 ; Ezekiel 46:4), though doubtless Messiah shall be,, not only a King but a "Priest upon His throne" (Zechariah 6:13 ). The spiritual truth to be learned by us herein is, that our Messiah entered heaven, the true sanctuary, by a way that none other could-namely, on the ground of His own perfect "holiness" (Romans 1:4 ); all we the rest must enter as sinners saved by the grace of God, justified through faith in His blood, and sanctified by His Spirit. Through Him alone ( Ezekiel 44:3 ) believers "eat bread before the Lord" in the communion of the holy supper, and shall hereafter experimentally realize that Scripture ( Luke 14:15), "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God."
(2) In order to derive their full spiritual profit from the words of God, we must "mark well with our eyes and ears" ( Ezekiel 44:5) all that is communicated to us from God respecting the ordinances and laws of the heavenly sanctuary. The "heart" must be "circumcised" (Ezekiel 44:7 ) "with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ" ( Colossians 2:11).
(3) The house of Israel is reproved (Ezekiel 44:8 ) for having neglected the charge of God's holy things, and for having delegated that duty to others, without regard to the fitness of the persons so appointed to the sacred office (Ezekiel 44:8 ). Let us beware, in the discharge of all such sacred obligations, if ever they devolve on us, lest we look to our own convenience or carnal interests, and choose "for ourselves" rather than for the glory of God.
(4) The Levites who "went astray from God after their idols" ( Ezekiel 44:10) are to "bear" the punishment of "their iniquity." And yet, such is the marvelous grace of God, that even they, after their sin has been purged away, "shall be ministers in the Lord's sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house," but not allowed to "come near to God" (Ezekiel 44:11-13). So one may be a believer, and therefore eternally safe, and yet be excluded from some special honour in the Lord's spiritual house, the Church, because of past gross offences. Still it is better to be even a doorkeeper in the house of our God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness (Psalms 84:10). For though one has to stand as a doorkeeper, it is in an everlasting house, and that the house of the believer's God; whereas the dwelling of the ungodly is at best but in a shifting tent, soon and forever to be taken down. But let us beware of losing precious opportunities wherein we may have the honour of doing great things for God, such as John Mark lost in leaving Paul and Barnabas in Pamphylia, and in not going forward to the glorious work, through love of ease or fear of man; and such as the disciples lost in not affording Jesus, at His request, the sympathy of their prayers and tears, through drowsiness, in Gethsemane.
(5) The priests, the sons of Zadok, are to succeed to the privilege forfeited by the sons of Ithamar, and shall come near to minister and stand before the Lord (Ezekiel 44:15-16). They shall wear linen garments, the emblem of purity (Ezekiel 44:17-18). They shall avoid wine when ministering in the immediate presence of the Lord (Ezekiel 44:21); and they shall teach the people of God the difference between the holy and the profane, and how to discern between the unclean and the clean (Ezekiel 44:23). Those who minister in holy things ought to avoid the very appearance of evil, as well as the reality of evil. They are to derive their earnestness in devotion and spiritual ministrations, not from artificial stimulants, but from the power which the Spirit of God i mparts. They are not to confound, but clearly to teach the people of God, by precept as well as example, the eternal distinction there is between things sacred and things secular.
(6) The obligation to hallow the Sabbaths of the Lord (Ezekiel 44:24) is not done away with by the advent of Messiah; for here, in a passage which, in any fair interpretation, can only apply to Christian times, this obligation is expressly insisted on.
(7) The last lesson to be learned from this chapter (Ezekiel 44:28 ; Ezekiel 44:30 ) is, first, that the ministers of the sanctuary are not to seek their portion in earthly possessions, but are to regard the Lord as their "possession," and the portion of their inheritance; secondly, the people will find that, in liberally providing for their minister's sustenance, and in making it a primary duty, to give "the first of all the first-fruits of all things" to the cause of the Lord, they are all the while promoting their own truest gain, and are "causing the blessing of the Lord to rest in their own houses."
`Was there ever blessing That, did not turn and rest, A double power possessing, The blesser being blest?'