the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 4 of 5
Ezekiel 44:1-14
With the exception of the prince (who will be a kind of viceroy, representing Christ on high, on an earth subject to Christ and blessed by Him), nobody will henceforth be able to use the gate by which the glory of the LORD entered. What a contrast with the Christian’s privilege! He has free access into the heavenly places where his Saviour is, by the same way of resurrection.
Ezekiel contemplates the glory that fills the sanctuary and falls on his face as he did at the beginning (Ezekiel 1:28). Then the LORD explains to him the obligations of holiness which His presence imposes. No stranger, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, will be able to gain access to His temple – hence the necessity to set a watch at the gates. The LORD details watchmen (v. 11). They are to stand in the chambers situated at the interior of each gate and are to check the identity of all those who wish to enter. This function falls to the Levites. They have been a "stumbling block" to the sons of their people in ministering as priests for them before their idols (v. 12; Malachi 2:8-9). God’s mercy entrusts them with a new charge, but a charge of less importance than the one they formerly held. A lesson for us! Our unfaithfulness brings inevitable consequences; God’s service will not suffer but we may be deprived of part of our responsibilities to the benefit of other, more faithful, workmen.
