Who May Offer the Bread of His God?

Who May Offer the Bread of His God?

In the last issue, we wrote about who could draw near to the Lord’s table to serve God’s bread. Let us now consider priests who have another ministry to perform, a ministry that does not require absolute freedom from all spiritual blemishes. It is referred to in Leviticus 21. We can read about them in Ezekiel 44, beginning with verse 10.

“‘And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.

Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.

Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have raised My hand in an oath against them,’ says the Lord God, ‘that they shall bear their iniquity.

And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.’” Ezek. 44:10-13.

Here we read about certain priests who are priests for the people and not for God. When the people served the Lord, these priests served Him too, but when the people went astray and began to worship idols, these priests followed along with them and served Baal.

The people had the grain, wine and money from which the priests received their income. This made it very easy for them to be swayed by the people. They should have continued in the Lord’s sanctuary and encouraged the people to be faithful to the Lord, even when the stores were exhausted; but they did not. They chose to lose favor with God rather than with people. What if people should begin to dislike them? What if they should cut off their tithes? They were in a difficult situation indeed, so they neglected the Lord’s temple and their ministry in order to get what they wanted—the people’s tithes and approval.

The Scriptures call these priests priests for the people. But they are not priests without blemish. They will, however, be allowed to perform an outward ministry; they can be keepers of the gates of the house and can serve in the house. But when the people have returned again to the Lord, God will not have such priests in His holy presence. They can stand in the gates and invite people to receive the forgiveness of sins, and they can point out transgressions. Their ministry can be likened to dusting and cleaning in the house—a servant’s ministry.

But they may not draw near to the Lord to serve Him as priests. They are not allowed to perform an inner service. They may not draw near to things that are holy or most holy; they will not be allowed to lead a person into a deeper spiritual life.

They may slay the burnt offering and sin offering for the people. They are permitted to preach Christ as the sin offering, the Lamb who bore the sins of the world; but they may not draw near to the veil, for there they would come into contact with the holy and most holy things. They may not approach the Lord’s table. They are not allowed to serve spiritual food which can give nourishment leading to sanctification.

Has the world changed since those times? Do not those who are priests for the people still have an abundance of all they need? Yet the God-fearing soul, the poor in spirit, preaches God’s Word free of charge and often lacks even the bare essentials. May God open our eyes so we can see!

The priests for the people receive their wages and recognition from the people. Even the basest, most ungodly people are allowed to belong to their churches. Their churches can include theaters and taverns, prisons and chapels, churches and houses of forced labor. They who kill and those who are being killed belong to the congregation of such priests.

Priests and preachers of this sort have a ministry to carry out, but it is an outward ministry. If anyone wants to press into a deeper spiritual life, they should never ask such priests for advice, because they have never had any access to the holy things or to God’s table. They believe that everyone who does not remain within their ranks has gone astray.

Yet there were some priests who endured in the trial:

“‘But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood,’ says the Lord God.

‘They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.’” Ezek. 44:15-16.

Here we see priests according to God’s heart. They continued faithfully on God’s side when the people went astray. They certainly warned and exhorted the people diligently to turn from their error, but when they saw that their labor was fruitless, they let the people go their own way. The priests, however, continued to hold fast to the Lord.

These are the priests who also today care for the things the Lord wants cared for. They draw near to the Lord’s table to bring forth the bread of their God, because in the eyes of the Lord, they are free from blemish.

From all this we learn that God is exact, extremely exact. There is much preaching in our days, but no one should imagine that all preachers have been in the presence of the Lord and have received spiritual food from His table. Usually, these preachers stand before the face of the people and form their words to please them. This is true of both the spoken and written word.

May God give us grace not to be men-pleasers; but as servants of Christ, may we always, in all we speak and all we write, seek to please Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light, and who has made us kings and priests for our God. Rev. 5:10.