Ezekiel 43-44 “Privilege of Serving God”

READ: Ezekiel 43-44  

Verses chosen for meditation: Ezekiel 44:10-14 

¹⁰ But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment. ¹¹ They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before the people, to minister to them. ¹² Because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment. ¹³ They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. ¹⁴ Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its service and all that is to be done in it.

REFLECT

Ezekiel’s vision of the new temple focuses much on architecture and planned structure, important as it is to be a place of beauty and reverence for God. The worship in such a place needed to be in good hands of those who control the services: the priests and other temple servants. This passage talks about the distinction between the priests and the Levites in carrying out such duties.

The Levites were allowed to perform priestly duties in the past, but are now “relegated” to more “menial” and less religiously directed tasks, due to their idolatry when Israel went astray. In contrast, the sons of Zadok kept faithful to the integrity of the tasks, hence could continue to perform priestly duties before God (Ezekiel 44:15-16).

Nevertheless, God did not totally oust the Levites despite their sacrilegious acts. In His mercy and grace, He allowed them to continue serving via other ways to keep the temple in order (v14).

RELATE

If we were told today that we are not allowed to serve in certain positions in the church anymore, some may be sad they can’t serve in the way they want. For others, it may be a blow to their pride. Some may be indifferent and ok with it. Some may even be happy, as they won't be challenged to serve in certain capacities anymore.

However, this was something painful for the Levites. To some Levites, the pain may be due to shame from dishonourable discharge, but I believe much of the pain stemmed from not having the privilege to serve God in certain ways. The first thing to note then is that service to God is really an honour, but do we see it as such? Do we view serving as a chore or a privilege? How we view service to God makes all the difference in whether we carry out duties with integrity, excellence, sacrifice and joy.

The second thing to note is how moral failure can limit our service to God. It is comforting that past moral failure does not exclude one from worship and service to God. However, it may disallow undertaking certain roles where the moral failure compromises the Christian testimony. This is not because God discriminates, but the spreading of the gospel is at stake here. It is hard for an unbeliever to take seriously the message of an unholy messenger.

This is not saying we must be perfect as no human other than Christ is. But we should pursue holiness and struggle our hardest in our fight against sin, so that we can do right by the gifts God gave us to minister powerfully. It would be such a waste to be removed from a great cause because the gifts for our ministry have lost its effectiveness, due to how people perceive our moral record, affecting how they receive the message.

Thankfully, our God doesn’t discriminate, so everyone has a place in service regardless of their moral failures. The problem is how we view the different types of service, which is the third point to note. Though the Levites can only do more “menial” tasks, it does not mean it’s any less important to the advancement of God’s kingdom. We must never disparage any forms of service, or view some forms as superior to others.

I have heard of some who only want to serve in certain roles as it is more visible and “prestigious”. In that, there is a danger of serving for recognition, and not serving out of love for God. Such thinking also has a danger of not valuing certain forms of service, and assigning unwarranted importance to more visible forms. Sometimes, in some places, we see masses flock to pander to pastors, but ignoring those who may be ushering or serving tea. Not saying we stop going to the “more visible” (I sometimes go to speakers/worship leaders to share how ministered I was by them), but does the disparity show a warped assignment of value to certain ministries? Do we only pray for the more visible workers, and not for the ones behind the scenes?    

God calls everyone to different things. Each of us has our own divine appointment. This appointment may change according to seasons and in some seasons, the tasks given to us are more “menial”. But all of them have eternal value and are essential in God’s economy, hence we view all assignments with relish. We appreciate every service to God and do each assignment given to us faithfully, whether it is mundane, or whether it takes us to the ends of the earth.

REST

Dear Lord. Keep me faithful in my tasks, so that I can continue to be used by you in mighty ways. Keep me from sin, lest it compromises my role and the gospel being delivered. Thank you for this honour of being able to serve you. Sustain me and keep me excited for the journey, for we are following the greatest leader, involved in the greatest cause. Amen.

Chris Chong