Page 251 - NOTES ON EZEKIEL

CHAPTER XLIV. 245

"before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith
•Jehovah God: They shall enter into my sanctuary, and
they shall come near to .my table, to minister unto me,
and they shall keep my charge.” (Vers. 15,16.) “ The
fat” and “ the blood” according to the law were Jeho­
vah’s portion, as we see claimed punctiliously in the
-directions for the peace-offering. (Lev. iii., vii.) It has
been pointed out already that, though the altar in the
Old Testament is designated the table of Jehovah, no­
where is the Lord’s table in the New Testament spoken
of as His altar. The altar of old might fittingly be
styled His table because thereon was laid and consumed
4‘ the food of the offering made by fire unto Jehovah.”
This in no way applies to the New Testament, where it
is no question of any such oblation but of the church’s
communion in the remembrance of Christ and thus in
.shewing forth His death.
The details quite fall in with the remarks just made
and confirm them. Thus linen was enjoined for the
priestly ministration and wool forbidden; and this for
the head as well as the body. Their ordinary clothes
are all well outside, but they must wear the due priestly
garments in their office and lay them in the holy cham­
bers. They must neither shave their heads nor wear
long hair; they must drink no wine when they enter
into the inner court. They must not marry a widow
save of a priest or maidens of Israel. “ And it shall
come to pass, [that] when they enter in at the gates of
the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen gar­
ments ; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they
minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.
They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and