Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.
Neither shall any priest drink wine on entering the inner court, but must abstain during sanctuary service so as to serve with sober, clear minds able to discern between the holy and the unholy, since wine could ferment and intoxicate and was therefore wholly forbidden to them in that service. The command belongs to the mortal Levitical order of the Mosaic dispensation set forth in Ezekiel 40-48, with its literal circumcision, permitted divorce, clean and unclean meats, burnt-offerings and sin-offerings of bulls and goats, and Levitical priesthood, a typical system pointing forward to Christ's heavenly ministration that ended when Christ became eternal priest after the order of Melchizedek. The vision of the new sanctuary, city, offerings, glory, and division of the land in Ezekiel 36-48 was a conditional offer to Israel at the restoration from seventy years in Babylon, which God would have fulfilled even literally if the people had been ashamed of iniquities, put away sin, repented and yielded fully to God, as stated in Ezekiel 43:10-11. Because Israel remained unwilling and apostate and did not meet the conditions, the glorious temple as described was never built, and the best Israel had was only a weak, feeble, shadow realization in the far less glorious temple of Zerubbabel and Ezra. Its literal details with animal sacrifices and priestly regulations never will be fulfilled or literally built now, for to renew its thousands of sheep and oxen would make void Christ's offering once for all, and what failed for old earthly Jerusalem then stands in its spiritual aspect as faintly typical of what God will restore in the new heavens and new earth for the true Israel of God.
Priestly Rule and Setting
Neither shall any priest drink wine when entering the inner court, but must abstain from it during sanctuary service. The abstinence was required so that priests would serve with sober, clear minds able to distinguish the holy from the unholy. Wine was absolutely forbidden to them because it could ferment and intoxicate.
The rule was shown to Ezekiel during the Babylonian captivity as part of the sanctuary instructions in Ezekiel 40-48. It was given fourteen years after the sanctuary was destroyed, in 574 B.C. when Israel had been in captivity twenty-five years. Ezekiel himself was both a prophet among the captives and a member of the priesthood.
The rule belongs to the mortal Levitical order of the Mosaic dispensation described in Ezekiel 40-48. That order included literal circumcision, permitted divorce, distinction of clean and unclean meats, burnt-offerings and sin-offerings of bulls and goats, and a Levitical priesthood. It was part of a typical system pointing forward to Christ's heavenly ministration that ended when Christ became eternal priest after the order of Melchizedek. The command was part of God's requirement that Israel forsake sin and accept His plan. It stands set within the one vision of Ezekiel 40-48 promising a sanctuary and restoration of the land of Canaan and Jerusalem after the return from Babylon.
Conditional Vision and Fulfillment
The sanctuary, city, offerings, glory and division of the land set forth in Ezekiel 36-48, also described as Ezekiel 37-48 or the last nine or nineteen chapters, was a conditional prophecy and conditional offer to Israel at the restoration from seventy years in Babylon. God would have fulfilled it then and there, even literally, if the people had been ashamed of iniquities, put away wickedness and sins, repented, yielded fully to God, returned wholeheartedly, and come up to the full measure of children of God, as stated in Ezekiel 43:9-11 and Ezekiel 43:10-11. Because Israel was unwilling, the temple vision stands in its spiritual aspect as a prophecy of greater things God would do for His people through Christ, and its promises were fulfilled only in a broad, typical sense, not in every detail.
Because Israel remained apostate, departed from God's ordinances, disobeyed, loved Babylon more than Jerusalem, and did not meet the conditions, with only about forty thousand returning in response to the three calls to come out of Babylon, the glorious temple was never built as described. The best Israel had was only a weak, feeble, shadow realization in the far less glorious temple built by Zerubbabel and Ezra, which fell far short of Ezekiel's pattern. That temple never saw the glory of Solomon's temple except in the person of Jesus Christ, whom its keepers rejected. God could not come in and dwell among them nor build a temple for His name for a half-hearted people to dishonor, so the city was never built, not because God changed His mind, but because Israel failed to do their part.
If Israel had been faithful, been cleansed from sin, and returned to the mountains of Israel to be made great, the northern enemies of Ezekiel 38-39 would have been destroyed by plagues, the resurrection pictured in Ezekiel 37 would have taken place, the marvelous sanctuary would have been built with its blessed worship, and the overpowering glory of God's presence would have dwelt among them in the city called Jehovah Is There. That restoration would have brought a glorious kingdom with God's manifest presence, no harm among living creatures, healing of barren land, salt marshes, deserts, and impure waters, and life to all through the water of life, with the raising of the righteous dead, subjection of enemies far and near, a new division of the land, and healing power upon Palestine and the earth as never before. Because the conditions were not met it was realized only in small part or in a broad, typical sense, not in every detail, though it describes the peaceful condition of the Messiah's kingdom as it would have been established gradually on this present earth if the Jews had yielded to God, with Ezekiel's sanctuary literally built.
No such city or sanctuary stands today, so the vision has not been fulfilled, and the literal details with their animal sacrifices and priestly regulations never will be fulfilled or literally built now. To renew its thousands of sheep and oxen and set up its sacrifices again would make Christ's offering once for all of none effect, make void His sacrifice, build again what was destroyed, and return from sunlight to shadow. The former offerings belonged to the time then present to shadow forth Christ's only effectual offering, which His death on the cross fulfilled, so God would not again ordain such a temple.
The pattern cannot belong to the immortal state, where Jesus alone is King over Israel and officers are peace and exactors are righteousness with no oppression and no animal sacrifices, nor was it accomplished under the first covenant because Israel did not fulfill the conditions and only a few accepted return. Nor can it belong to the gospel dispensation, where circumcision is abolished, divorce is done away, clean-unclean distinctions are not recognized, animal offerings are not acceptable to God, and the Levitical priesthood that ended when Christ became eternal priest after the order of Melchizedek is superseded by the priesthood of Melchisedec. The priests regulated there were all Levites under a typical system that pointed forward to Christ's heavenly ministration and cannot be revived after atonement has been made in fact.
The vision does not describe the New Jerusalem of Revelation and does not teach a future restoration of the Jewish people or of the Levitical sacrificial system, a reign of Christ on earth, or an earthly inheritance of the saints. It does not support a literal city to be built in a future age during the thousand-year reign to give an undeveloped class a chance, superseding the heavenly Jerusalem, which would be a return to the ordinances of the first covenant and a state less glorious than the present dispensation. There is no place for a special future work for the Jews because the saints are taken to heaven at Christ's second coming when the earth is made desolate.
What failed for old earthly Jerusalem then stands in its spiritual aspect as a prophecy of greater things God would do through Christ, faintly typical of what God will restore in the new heavens and new earth by His mighty power. The promised future glory will be given to the true Israel of God as the fulness of the immortal inheritance according to later revelation, grandly realized in the New City that awaits the true Israel and in the peaceful condition of the Messiah's kingdom more gloriously in the earth made new where the Spirit of absolute peace presides over all nature. Because Israel failed, God prepared a holy city in heaven, now prepared to descend upon the earth, and the ancient calls to leave Babylon are an object-lesson of the final call to come out of Babylon now sounding through the earth. If Israel had heeded, the glorious temple would have been rebuilt and Israel would have become a light to the world.
Its closing chapters seem to predict the temple later built under Herod, but do not describe the process by which it was built. The vision of Ezekiel 40 onward covers the same period and represents the same purposes toward Jerusalem as Zechariah 2 and is its counterpart to be studied together with it.
Neither shall any priest drink wine on entering the inner court, but must abstain during sanctuary service so as to serve with sober, clear minds able to discern between the holy and the unholy, since wine could ferment and intoxicate and was therefore wholly forbidden to them in that service. The command belongs to the mortal Levitical order of the Mosaic dispensation set forth in Ezekiel 40-48, with its literal circumcision, permitted divorce, clean and unclean meats, burnt-offerings and sin-offerings of bulls and goats, and Levitical priesthood, a typical system pointing forward to Christ's heavenly ministration that ended when Christ became eternal priest after the order of Melchizedek. The vision of the new sanctuary, city, offerings, glory, and division of the land in Ezekiel 36-48 was a conditional offer to Israel at the restoration from seventy years in Babylon, which God would have fulfilled even literally if the people had been ashamed of iniquities, put away sin, repented and yielded fully to God, as stated in Ezekiel 43:10-11. Because Israel remained unwilling and apostate and did not meet the conditions, the glorious temple as described was never built, and the best Israel had was only a weak, feeble, shadow realization in the far less glorious temple of Zerubbabel and Ezra. Its literal details with animal sacrifices and priestly regulations never will be fulfilled or literally built now, for to renew its thousands of sheep and oxen would make void Christ's offering once for all, and what failed for old earthly Jerusalem then stands in its spiritual aspect as faintly typical of what God will restore in the new heavens and new earth for the true Israel of God.
Priestly Rule and Setting
Neither shall any priest drink wine when entering the inner court, but must abstain from it during sanctuary service. The abstinence was required so that priests would serve with sober, clear minds able to distinguish the holy from the unholy. Wine was absolutely forbidden to them because it could ferment and intoxicate.
The rule was shown to Ezekiel during the Babylonian captivity as part of the sanctuary instructions in Ezekiel 40-48. It was given fourteen years after the sanctuary was destroyed, in 574 B.C. when Israel had been in captivity twenty-five years. Ezekiel himself was both a prophet among the captives and a member of the priesthood.
The rule belongs to the mortal Levitical order of the Mosaic dispensation described in Ezekiel 40-48. That order included literal circumcision, permitted divorce, distinction of clean and unclean meats, burnt-offerings and sin-offerings of bulls and goats, and a Levitical priesthood. It was part of a typical system pointing forward to Christ's heavenly ministration that ended when Christ became eternal priest after the order of Melchizedek. The command was part of God's requirement that Israel forsake sin and accept His plan. It stands set within the one vision of Ezekiel 40-48 promising a sanctuary and restoration of the land of Canaan and Jerusalem after the return from Babylon.
Conditional Vision and Fulfillment
The sanctuary, city, offerings, glory and division of the land set forth in Ezekiel 36-48, also described as Ezekiel 37-48 or the last nine or nineteen chapters, was a conditional prophecy and conditional offer to Israel at the restoration from seventy years in Babylon. God would have fulfilled it then and there, even literally, if the people had been ashamed of iniquities, put away wickedness and sins, repented, yielded fully to God, returned wholeheartedly, and come up to the full measure of children of God, as stated in Ezekiel 43:9-11 and Ezekiel 43:10-11. Because Israel was unwilling, the temple vision stands in its spiritual aspect as a prophecy of greater things God would do for His people through Christ, and its promises were fulfilled only in a broad, typical sense, not in every detail.
Because Israel remained apostate, departed from God's ordinances, disobeyed, loved Babylon more than Jerusalem, and did not meet the conditions, with only about forty thousand returning in response to the three calls to come out of Babylon, the glorious temple was never built as described. The best Israel had was only a weak, feeble, shadow realization in the far less glorious temple built by Zerubbabel and Ezra, which fell far short of Ezekiel's pattern. That temple never saw the glory of Solomon's temple except in the person of Jesus Christ, whom its keepers rejected. God could not come in and dwell among them nor build a temple for His name for a half-hearted people to dishonor, so the city was never built, not because God changed His mind, but because Israel failed to do their part.
If Israel had been faithful, been cleansed from sin, and returned to the mountains of Israel to be made great, the northern enemies of Ezekiel 38-39 would have been destroyed by plagues, the resurrection pictured in Ezekiel 37 would have taken place, the marvelous sanctuary would have been built with its blessed worship, and the overpowering glory of God's presence would have dwelt among them in the city called Jehovah Is There. That restoration would have brought a glorious kingdom with God's manifest presence, no harm among living creatures, healing of barren land, salt marshes, deserts, and impure waters, and life to all through the water of life, with the raising of the righteous dead, subjection of enemies far and near, a new division of the land, and healing power upon Palestine and the earth as never before. Because the conditions were not met it was realized only in small part or in a broad, typical sense, not in every detail, though it describes the peaceful condition of the Messiah's kingdom as it would have been established gradually on this present earth if the Jews had yielded to God, with Ezekiel's sanctuary literally built.
No such city or sanctuary stands today, so the vision has not been fulfilled, and the literal details with their animal sacrifices and priestly regulations never will be fulfilled or literally built now. To renew its thousands of sheep and oxen and set up its sacrifices again would make Christ's offering once for all of none effect, make void His sacrifice, build again what was destroyed, and return from sunlight to shadow. The former offerings belonged to the time then present to shadow forth Christ's only effectual offering, which His death on the cross fulfilled, so God would not again ordain such a temple.
The pattern cannot belong to the immortal state, where Jesus alone is King over Israel and officers are peace and exactors are righteousness with no oppression and no animal sacrifices, nor was it accomplished under the first covenant because Israel did not fulfill the conditions and only a few accepted return. Nor can it belong to the gospel dispensation, where circumcision is abolished, divorce is done away, clean-unclean distinctions are not recognized, animal offerings are not acceptable to God, and the Levitical priesthood that ended when Christ became eternal priest after the order of Melchizedek is superseded by the priesthood of Melchisedec. The priests regulated there were all Levites under a typical system that pointed forward to Christ's heavenly ministration and cannot be revived after atonement has been made in fact.
The vision does not describe the New Jerusalem of Revelation and does not teach a future restoration of the Jewish people or of the Levitical sacrificial system, a reign of Christ on earth, or an earthly inheritance of the saints. It does not support a literal city to be built in a future age during the thousand-year reign to give an undeveloped class a chance, superseding the heavenly Jerusalem, which would be a return to the ordinances of the first covenant and a state less glorious than the present dispensation. There is no place for a special future work for the Jews because the saints are taken to heaven at Christ's second coming when the earth is made desolate.
What failed for old earthly Jerusalem then stands in its spiritual aspect as a prophecy of greater things God would do through Christ, faintly typical of what God will restore in the new heavens and new earth by His mighty power. The promised future glory will be given to the true Israel of God as the fulness of the immortal inheritance according to later revelation, grandly realized in the New City that awaits the true Israel and in the peaceful condition of the Messiah's kingdom more gloriously in the earth made new where the Spirit of absolute peace presides over all nature. Because Israel failed, God prepared a holy city in heaven, now prepared to descend upon the earth, and the ancient calls to leave Babylon are an object-lesson of the final call to come out of Babylon now sounding through the earth. If Israel had heeded, the glorious temple would have been rebuilt and Israel would have become a light to the world.
Its closing chapters seem to predict the temple later built under Herod, but do not describe the process by which it was built. The vision of Ezekiel 40 onward covers the same period and represents the same purposes toward Jerusalem as Zechariah 2 and is its counterpart to be studied together with it.