In the vision recorded in Ezekiel 40-48, Ezekiel is shown a picture of twelve tribes brought back to the Promised Land, with God dwelling in the midst of his people and true worship conducted at a new temple.
The Aaronic priesthood serving at this temple is described in Ezekiel 44:15-31. The holiness of these descendants of Zadok is emphasized, with specific mention that they follow instructions for priests laid out in the book of Leviticus. They would
- carefully "distinguish between the holy and the common" (Lv 10:10; Eze 44:19).
- not engage in pagan mourning rituals (Eze 44:20; Lv 10:6; 21:5, 10).
- not drink on duty (Eze 44:21; Lv 10:9).
- observe marriage restrictions for priests, even for high priests (Eze 44:22; Lv 21:7,14).
- faithfully carry out teaching responsibilities (Eze 44:23; Lv 10:11).
- make judicial rulings to settle disputes (Eze 44:24; Dt 17:7; 19:17; 21:5).
- follow priestly restrictions on mourning and deal appropriately with corpse impurity (Eze 44:25-26; Lev 21:1-3).
There are some differences between practices described in the Torah and those pictured in the vision. The clothing in Ezekiel 44:16-18 is one of them. Another is the burnt offering for a new moon---two bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs in Nu 28:11; and one bull, six sheep, and one ram in Ezekiel 46:6-7.
Apparently the early rabbis puzzled over such differences. The Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 13b) mentions a sage named Hananiah ben Hezekiah who saved the book of Ezekiel's status in the canon by laboring to explain the differences between the practices in the vision and those laid out in the Pentateuch. I personally am not troubled by these differences, which seem minor. A new temple can come with some new customs.
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