Ezekiel 44:18
God spoke to Ezekiel concerning the functions of the temple that should be enforced when Israel returned from their scattering. These instructions were to be followed by the Lord’s priests and they were inter-mingled with prophecies of the future millennial reign of our Lord Jesus.
The garments of the priesthood are given in vivid detail in Exodus 28 and this passage in Ezekiel gives us a greater insight into the specific fabric for the garments. When the priest entered into the gates of the inner court of the temple, they were to be wearing linen garments. This garment covered them from neck to toe, including the length of their arms. The linen was a representation of the righteousness of God, and it is also the garment that the soldiers did not tear at the cross when they gambled for Jesus’ clothes. By leaving it untorn, they were unwittingly leaving the priestly garment for Jesus to wear symbolically, for Caiaphas had just torn his the night before, leaving the office of High Priest vacant (Matthew 26:65). Jesus filled that office for us, becoming our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14).
No wool was to be on the body of the priests because it does not breathe well, and it tends to cause the body to sweat. Sweat was a part of the curse that God put upon man in the Garden when He told Adam, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground” (Genesis 3:19). Adam had chosen to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and by this disobedience; sin had entered into the family of man. Sweat was a result of the work that man had to do to survive, thus a symbol of his fallen state.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus sweat as it were great drops of blood (Luke 22:44) as He prayed about His upcoming death at the cross. His precious blood mingled with the sweat of man’s curse, thus paying for that curse to be lifted. Because of the work of Jesus in one Garden, the failure of man in the first Garden has been done away! We are free from working to survive as Jesus has finished the work on our behalf.
Jesus is our bread of heaven, and He requires no work on our part to receive that bread. Adam, which characterizes every man in a fallen, sinful state, had to eat his bread by his own sweat and efforts. You and I, as New Covenant believers, eat the bread of heaven with no effort of our own. We have the daily manna of Jesus and His finished work and we can partake of it freely.
You do not live by your efforts in the kingdom of God. You are no more righteous or holy at this moment by your religious activity than you were the moment that you said “Yes” to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The finished work of Jesus has freed you from stressing about your job, your income, your children or your future. He bore the labor, so you can have the fruit. You have asked for a fish (blessing), do you think your heavenly Father will give you a serpent (curse)?
God spoke to Ezekiel concerning the functions of the temple that should be enforced when Israel returned from their scattering. These instructions were to be followed by the Lord’s priests and they were inter-mingled with prophecies of the future millennial reign of our Lord Jesus.
The garments of the priesthood are given in vivid detail in Exodus 28 and this passage in Ezekiel gives us a greater insight into the specific fabric for the garments. When the priest entered into the gates of the inner court of the temple, they were to be wearing linen garments. This garment covered them from neck to toe, including the length of their arms. The linen was a representation of the righteousness of God, and it is also the garment that the soldiers did not tear at the cross when they gambled for Jesus’ clothes. By leaving it untorn, they were unwittingly leaving the priestly garment for Jesus to wear symbolically, for Caiaphas had just torn his the night before, leaving the office of High Priest vacant (Matthew 26:65). Jesus filled that office for us, becoming our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14).
No wool was to be on the body of the priests because it does not breathe well, and it tends to cause the body to sweat. Sweat was a part of the curse that God put upon man in the Garden when He told Adam, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground” (Genesis 3:19). Adam had chosen to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and by this disobedience; sin had entered into the family of man. Sweat was a result of the work that man had to do to survive, thus a symbol of his fallen state.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus sweat as it were great drops of blood (Luke 22:44) as He prayed about His upcoming death at the cross. His precious blood mingled with the sweat of man’s curse, thus paying for that curse to be lifted. Because of the work of Jesus in one Garden, the failure of man in the first Garden has been done away! We are free from working to survive as Jesus has finished the work on our behalf.
Jesus is our bread of heaven, and He requires no work on our part to receive that bread. Adam, which characterizes every man in a fallen, sinful state, had to eat his bread by his own sweat and efforts. You and I, as New Covenant believers, eat the bread of heaven with no effort of our own. We have the daily manna of Jesus and His finished work and we can partake of it freely.
You do not live by your efforts in the kingdom of God. You are no more righteous or holy at this moment by your religious activity than you were the moment that you said “Yes” to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The finished work of Jesus has freed you from stressing about your job, your income, your children or your future. He bore the labor, so you can have the fruit. You have asked for a fish (blessing), do you think your heavenly Father will give you a serpent (curse)?
