Ezekiel Chapter 44 Vs. 28-31

The Temple Ministers

Ezekiel 44:28-31

To emphasize the priests’ position as the Lord’s ministers, God will not let them possess land in Israel outside the allotment surrounding the temple (cf. Eze. 45:4). When the land was divided among the children of Israel, the Levitical tribe received no land. They were to live of the gifts of the sanctuary. They shared with the altar. In that sense, God provided for their day to day needs. They were not to get caught up in worldly commerce.

As the priests had no possession in the Land when it was originally apportioned, so in the future God the Father will be their portion.

The reason is that He will be the only inheritance the priests have. He will be their possession. God will take care of those who minister before Him (cf. Deut. 18:1-5), by having them live off the sacrifices the people will bring to the temple. This is an explanation in detail of where their food came from. The meat offering was actually bread, symbolizing the Lord Jesus, the Bread of life.

The sin offering: for a high priest or an entire community, the sacrifice was to be of a young bullock; for a king or a prince the offering had to be a young male goat; for other individuals the offering had to be either a young female goat, or a female lamb; for poor individuals unable to afford these, a turtle dove sufficed. Like the other types of sacrifice, the sacrificial animal had to be completely unblemished.

The trespass offering: This may be rendered “guilt offering,” and it symbolized satisfaction or restitution. It may be regarded as a particular kind of sin offering, or even as an offering for a particular kind of sin. I related to invading or disregarding the property rights of another person. In every case and for all people, the offering was in the form of a ram.

The burnt offering is omitted, because it was all burned up. The skin was the only thing saved. This symbolizes the robe of righteousness that Jesus clothes all the believers in.


All of the offerings made unto God, except the things that were burned for the sweet savor {the inward parts and the fat}, were to be shared by the priests and the high priest. This teaches more than tithe. Christians give before they receive and that is what firstfruits teach.

Something dead of itself could be diseased, and you can see why that would not be eaten. It was, also, a dead carcass. This particular ordinance was for all the people, including the priests and high priest.