The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.
The verse lays a food rule for the priests in the larger temple and service to come, that they must not eat any bird or animal found dead on its own or torn by beasts. Its keeping of the line between clean and unclean shows it belongs to the Mosaic order rather than to the age to come. It stands in the closing vision of Ezekiel 40 to 48 of a new sanctuary with its offerings and glory and of the division of the land, given to the captives fourteen years after Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed and offered on condition of shame for sin and return to God. Because Israel stayed apostate and refused to heed, that sanctuary was never built as described and the promise was fulfilled only in small shadow in Zerubbabel's temple. It will never be built literally with its sacrifices and priestly rules, since to renew those offerings after Christ's once-for-all sacrifice would return from sunlight to shadow, and what failed for earthly Jerusalem will be grandly realized in the New City for the true Israel of God.
Temple Vision and Rule
The priests were forbidden to eat anything that died of itself or was torn, whether fowl or beast, as a rule for the priests in the new and larger temple and service. That prohibition kept in force the distinction between clean and unclean meats, a distinction no longer recognized, and therefore it marks the Mosaic dispensation rather than the age to come. For that reason the sanctuary belongs to the past mortal Levitical order with literal circumcision, permitted divorce, burnt-offerings and sin-offerings of bulls and goats, and the Levitical priesthood, all of which ceased at the cross, and it cannot apply to the gospel dispensation or to the future immortal state.
The rule belongs to the closing vision of Ezekiel 40 to 48 concerning the new sanctuary, its offerings, its glory, and the division of the land, in which great blessings were promised in the salvation of Israel and glory for the land, the city, and the sanctuary. It was shown among the captives in B.C. 574, fourteen years after Jerusalem, the temple, and the sanctuary were destroyed in the eleventh year of Zedekiah in B.C. 588, and was offered to Israel on conditions stated in Ezekiel 43:10-11. No such city or sanctuary stands today, so the vision has not been fulfilled as described.
Its center was a restored Jerusalem teaching that Jehovah is there, whose presence would heal all barren land, all salt marshes, and all impure waters and would give life to all. There the righteous dead would be raised, enemies from the north would be destroyed by plagues, enemies far and near would be brought into subjection, a new temple would be built, a new division of the land would take place, and the life and healing power of God would come upon Palestine and the earth as never before. If the people had been faithful, ashamed and confounded for their ways, cleansed from sin and returned, they would have built that marvelous sanctuary with its priestly order and sacrifices and God's overpowering glorious presence dwelling among them.
Its priests were mortal Levitical priests, all Levites, who married and could die, as seen where a priest could marry a widow whose priest husband had died, unlike those made immortal at the second advent who neither marry nor die anymore. That Levite priesthood does not continue after the Christian dispensation opens, because Christ becomes the everlasting priest after the order of Melchizedek and the Levitical order ceased at the cross. Beyond placing this food restriction within that envisioned worship and old service with its sacrifices, there is no further explanation of the specific prohibition against eating animals that died naturally or were torn.
Conditional Prophecy Unfulfilled
Ezekiel 44:31 belongs to the remarkable sanctuary described in Ezekiel 40-48, shown among the captives of Israel in B.C. 574, fourteen years after Jerusalem, the temple, and the sanctuary were destroyed in the eleventh year of Zedekiah in B.C. 588. It is part of a conditional prophecy and restoration promise for Israel after the Babylonian captivity, offered to come into possession of if they complied with certain conditions. Those conditions were that the people be ashamed of their sins and of their iniquities, be ashamed and confounded for their ways, put away wickedness and iniquity, repent, turn from iniquity, return wholeheartedly from captivity, yield to God, be faithful to God, and meet God's conditions. By its own specifications it was designed to be fulfilled not in the future immortal state and not in the present dispensation but in the past. The detailed description of the sanctuary, city, and land, with its rites and ceremonies and regulations for the sanctuary and its priestly order, would have been literally fulfilled and the promised city and sanctuary would have been built if Israel had met those conditions.
Because Israel did not meet the conditions but remained apostate, departed from God's ordinances, refused to heed, would not yield all to God, was unwilling, was not ashamed and did not put away iniquities, the sanctuary was never built and the promises were not fulfilled as described. No such city or sanctuary stands today, and that temple was never built and never will be built, because God could not come in and dwell among a half-hearted people to dishonor His name. The best Israel had was only a shadow or small part of it, only one with a shadow of its greatness, in the temple built by Zerubbabel, Ezra, and others at the restoration from Babylon. That temple fell far short of Ezekiel's pattern and never saw the glory of Solomon's temple except in the person of Jesus Christ. If God's children had been faithful, cleansed from sin and returned to the mountains of Israel, the resurrection of Ezekiel 37 would have taken place, enemies from the north in Ezekiel 38 and 39 would have been destroyed by plagues, and Israel would have built that marvelous sanctuary with God's overpowering glorious presence dwelling among them, the city called Jehovah Is There.
The vision will not be fulfilled literally in the future by building a literal temple with its attendant sacrifices, priestly rules, and offerings of thousands of sheep and oxen, whether in a future thousand-year reign or otherwise. That service with its old service and sacrifices cannot be restored in a way that makes Christ's sacrifice void, and this regulation, like the sanctuary plan, does not describe a future temple. To renew those offerings after Christ's offering once for all would make his sacrifice of none effect, annul his sacrifice, build again what was destroyed, and return from sunlight to shadow. It would return to the ordinances of the first covenant which were only a shadow pointing to Christ the great sin-offering and were for the time then present to foreshadow the only effectual offering of Jesus Christ. To take that vision of the city and temple with its priesthood and offerings and sacrifices as a literal city to be built in the future is to set up an earthly Jerusalem in place of the heavenly Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven. That state would be less glorious than the present dispensation, because Christ has already offered one sacrifice for sins forever and now ministers as Mediator of a better covenant, and by dying on the cross fulfilled all sacrifices; it is not a temple God would again ordain and it will never be built literally.
Had Israel met the conditions the prophecy from Ezekiel 36 to the close of the book, conditioned on the faith and obedience of ancient Israel, would have been fulfilled in fullest detail on this present earth. It would have been built on this present earth if the Jews had yielded to God, including a literal built temple far greater than Zerubbabel's with its attendant sacrifices and priestly rules. Then the Messiah's peaceful kingdom would have been established gradually in this earth's present condition. The prescribed sacrifices themselves show its conditional character, for it would have been built if the Jews had been ashamed and repented.
In its spiritual aspect the temple vision stands as a prophecy of greater things the Lord will do for his people through Christ. The prophecies and promises in Ezekiel 36-48 concerning what God was prepared to do for Israel after the return from Babylon also point in a general way to what God will do for his people at the second coming, and their future fulfillment for true Israel is presented through later revelations. Wherein it failed for old earthly Jerusalem it will be grandly realized in the New City that awaits the true Israel of God. All those promises of raised righteous dead, subjection of enemies far and near, new temple, new division of the land, and life and healing power coming upon Palestine and the earth are faintly typical of what will take place in the new heavens and new earth when God restores them by His mighty power, and God's purpose still stands to redeem Israel and give a more glorious inheritance, the earth made new, though not under the local conditions of Ezekiel's time. The vision of Jerusalem beginning in Ezekiel 40 and onward concerning the future of Jerusalem covers the same period and represents the same purposes of God toward Jerusalem as the vision of Zechariah 2, and the two are counterparts to be studied together.
The verse lays a food rule for the priests in the larger temple and service to come, that they must not eat any bird or animal found dead on its own or torn by beasts. Its keeping of the line between clean and unclean shows it belongs to the Mosaic order rather than to the age to come. It stands in the closing vision of Ezekiel 40 to 48 of a new sanctuary with its offerings and glory and of the division of the land, given to the captives fourteen years after Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed and offered on condition of shame for sin and return to God. Because Israel stayed apostate and refused to heed, that sanctuary was never built as described and the promise was fulfilled only in small shadow in Zerubbabel's temple. It will never be built literally with its sacrifices and priestly rules, since to renew those offerings after Christ's once-for-all sacrifice would return from sunlight to shadow, and what failed for earthly Jerusalem will be grandly realized in the New City for the true Israel of God.
Temple Vision and Rule
The priests were forbidden to eat anything that died of itself or was torn, whether fowl or beast, as a rule for the priests in the new and larger temple and service. That prohibition kept in force the distinction between clean and unclean meats, a distinction no longer recognized, and therefore it marks the Mosaic dispensation rather than the age to come. For that reason the sanctuary belongs to the past mortal Levitical order with literal circumcision, permitted divorce, burnt-offerings and sin-offerings of bulls and goats, and the Levitical priesthood, all of which ceased at the cross, and it cannot apply to the gospel dispensation or to the future immortal state.
The rule belongs to the closing vision of Ezekiel 40 to 48 concerning the new sanctuary, its offerings, its glory, and the division of the land, in which great blessings were promised in the salvation of Israel and glory for the land, the city, and the sanctuary. It was shown among the captives in B.C. 574, fourteen years after Jerusalem, the temple, and the sanctuary were destroyed in the eleventh year of Zedekiah in B.C. 588, and was offered to Israel on conditions stated in Ezekiel 43:10-11. No such city or sanctuary stands today, so the vision has not been fulfilled as described.
Its center was a restored Jerusalem teaching that Jehovah is there, whose presence would heal all barren land, all salt marshes, and all impure waters and would give life to all. There the righteous dead would be raised, enemies from the north would be destroyed by plagues, enemies far and near would be brought into subjection, a new temple would be built, a new division of the land would take place, and the life and healing power of God would come upon Palestine and the earth as never before. If the people had been faithful, ashamed and confounded for their ways, cleansed from sin and returned, they would have built that marvelous sanctuary with its priestly order and sacrifices and God's overpowering glorious presence dwelling among them.
Its priests were mortal Levitical priests, all Levites, who married and could die, as seen where a priest could marry a widow whose priest husband had died, unlike those made immortal at the second advent who neither marry nor die anymore. That Levite priesthood does not continue after the Christian dispensation opens, because Christ becomes the everlasting priest after the order of Melchizedek and the Levitical order ceased at the cross. Beyond placing this food restriction within that envisioned worship and old service with its sacrifices, there is no further explanation of the specific prohibition against eating animals that died naturally or were torn.
Conditional Prophecy Unfulfilled
Ezekiel 44:31 belongs to the remarkable sanctuary described in Ezekiel 40-48, shown among the captives of Israel in B.C. 574, fourteen years after Jerusalem, the temple, and the sanctuary were destroyed in the eleventh year of Zedekiah in B.C. 588. It is part of a conditional prophecy and restoration promise for Israel after the Babylonian captivity, offered to come into possession of if they complied with certain conditions. Those conditions were that the people be ashamed of their sins and of their iniquities, be ashamed and confounded for their ways, put away wickedness and iniquity, repent, turn from iniquity, return wholeheartedly from captivity, yield to God, be faithful to God, and meet God's conditions. By its own specifications it was designed to be fulfilled not in the future immortal state and not in the present dispensation but in the past. The detailed description of the sanctuary, city, and land, with its rites and ceremonies and regulations for the sanctuary and its priestly order, would have been literally fulfilled and the promised city and sanctuary would have been built if Israel had met those conditions.
Because Israel did not meet the conditions but remained apostate, departed from God's ordinances, refused to heed, would not yield all to God, was unwilling, was not ashamed and did not put away iniquities, the sanctuary was never built and the promises were not fulfilled as described. No such city or sanctuary stands today, and that temple was never built and never will be built, because God could not come in and dwell among a half-hearted people to dishonor His name. The best Israel had was only a shadow or small part of it, only one with a shadow of its greatness, in the temple built by Zerubbabel, Ezra, and others at the restoration from Babylon. That temple fell far short of Ezekiel's pattern and never saw the glory of Solomon's temple except in the person of Jesus Christ. If God's children had been faithful, cleansed from sin and returned to the mountains of Israel, the resurrection of Ezekiel 37 would have taken place, enemies from the north in Ezekiel 38 and 39 would have been destroyed by plagues, and Israel would have built that marvelous sanctuary with God's overpowering glorious presence dwelling among them, the city called Jehovah Is There.
The vision will not be fulfilled literally in the future by building a literal temple with its attendant sacrifices, priestly rules, and offerings of thousands of sheep and oxen, whether in a future thousand-year reign or otherwise. That service with its old service and sacrifices cannot be restored in a way that makes Christ's sacrifice void, and this regulation, like the sanctuary plan, does not describe a future temple. To renew those offerings after Christ's offering once for all would make his sacrifice of none effect, annul his sacrifice, build again what was destroyed, and return from sunlight to shadow. It would return to the ordinances of the first covenant which were only a shadow pointing to Christ the great sin-offering and were for the time then present to foreshadow the only effectual offering of Jesus Christ. To take that vision of the city and temple with its priesthood and offerings and sacrifices as a literal city to be built in the future is to set up an earthly Jerusalem in place of the heavenly Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven. That state would be less glorious than the present dispensation, because Christ has already offered one sacrifice for sins forever and now ministers as Mediator of a better covenant, and by dying on the cross fulfilled all sacrifices; it is not a temple God would again ordain and it will never be built literally.
Had Israel met the conditions the prophecy from Ezekiel 36 to the close of the book, conditioned on the faith and obedience of ancient Israel, would have been fulfilled in fullest detail on this present earth. It would have been built on this present earth if the Jews had yielded to God, including a literal built temple far greater than Zerubbabel's with its attendant sacrifices and priestly rules. Then the Messiah's peaceful kingdom would have been established gradually in this earth's present condition. The prescribed sacrifices themselves show its conditional character, for it would have been built if the Jews had been ashamed and repented.
In its spiritual aspect the temple vision stands as a prophecy of greater things the Lord will do for his people through Christ. The prophecies and promises in Ezekiel 36-48 concerning what God was prepared to do for Israel after the return from Babylon also point in a general way to what God will do for his people at the second coming, and their future fulfillment for true Israel is presented through later revelations. Wherein it failed for old earthly Jerusalem it will be grandly realized in the New City that awaits the true Israel of God. All those promises of raised righteous dead, subjection of enemies far and near, new temple, new division of the land, and life and healing power coming upon Palestine and the earth are faintly typical of what will take place in the new heavens and new earth when God restores them by His mighty power, and God's purpose still stands to redeem Israel and give a more glorious inheritance, the earth made new, though not under the local conditions of Ezekiel's time. The vision of Jerusalem beginning in Ezekiel 40 and onward concerning the future of Jerusalem covers the same period and represents the same purposes of God toward Jerusalem as the vision of Zechariah 2, and the two are counterparts to be studied together.