Are We Teaching the Difference?

In Ezekiel 22:23 – 31 Yahweh speaks to Ezekiel concerning the sin of Judah, with a special focus on its priests, prophets, and princes. In verse 26 we read:

“Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.”

I think, that to hide our eyes from God’s sabbaths is to hide our eyes from Jesus Christ, for He is our Sabbath, and within that Great Sabbath (Jesus Christ) are found all of God’s sabbaths. Christ is our Great Rest (see Hebrews Chapter 4), in Him we cease from our own works of righteousness (which are as filthy rags, Isaiah 64:6) and learn that without Christ we can do nothing (John 15:1 – 5).

No doubt there are myriad ways to do violence to God’s law, but since the context of this passage focuses on the holy and the profane, is it not true that when we use God’s law for our own ends, to manipulate others to gain what we want – such as always bigger churches, always larger offerings, always a wider religious market for our ministerial wares, always more popularity – that we have done violence to God’s law? Is it not true that when we use God’s law as a facade to preach and teach our own agendas, to cater to what is “trending” and “trendy”, that we have done violence to His law?

Is it not true that when we twist the Scriptures to accommodate the world, the flesh, and the devil that we have done violence to the law of God? Have I done this? O God search my heart and reveal the sin and impurities in me; please forgive me in Christ Jesus.

Then we come to the sin of the priests in not teaching the difference between the holy and profane, between the unclean and the clean (a chiasm). Did the priests lead the people astray, or did the people lead the priest astray? Both sinned, but who has the greater sin? Of course the priests, the prophets, the princes – their sin is from the depths of the abyss – all sin is hideous, the sin of those who are to serve and teach others, who are to especially hallow the Law of God and the Person of Christ, is particularly evil (if we can use such comparative language).

And yet when we come to Ezekiel Chapter 44, we see that not all priests abandoned their holy calling:

“But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer Me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord Yahweh…Moreover they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean [a chiasm].”

Can we hear Paul saying to the Corinthians, “…what agreement has the temple of God with idols?...do not touch what is unclean…let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 6:14 – 7:1)?

Can we receive Peter’s words, “…like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior, because it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:13 – 16)?

Where are the priests of Zadok today? Where are those pastors and teachers and elders who are teaching God’s People the difference between the holy and the profane, the unclean and the clean?

The name Zadok is derived from a Hebrew word that means “right, just, righteousness” among other nuances. We see the Messiah, the Christ, in the High Priest Zadok and his faithful descendants. “Your throne O God, is forever and ever, a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness…” (Psalm 45). We see this enfolded in the priesthood of Melchizedek, “king of righteousness.”

As there is only One Sabbath, the is only One King of Righteousness – our Lord Jesus Christ; there is only One Faithful Priest. All other sabbaths, all other servant-leaders of righteousness, all other faithful priests…are found within our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no rest, no righteousness, no faithful priesthood – outside of Jesus Christ.

But how to teach God’s People the difference between the holy and the profane, the unclean and the clean? How to do this when syncretism has not so much invaded, but rather been invited, into the Temple, into the Church, into the People of God?

How to teach the difference between the holy and the sinful when our society and our lives are permeated with the unclean and the world, the flesh, and the devil? How to do this when our methods are not those of God but of the world? When our epistemology and pedagogy is not of the Word of God but of the world?

Peter says that we ought to “sanctity Christ as Lord in your hearts” (1 Peter 3:15). The context of these words contains suffering, righteousness, and witness to the Gospel. How can we do any of these things unless Christ is the center of our very existence? As we sanctify Christ perhaps we begin to discern the holy and the profane, the unclean and the clean.

How can we sanctify Christ when we sanctify popularity, money, prestige, power, recognition, pleasure, comfort, avoidance of persecution, sensuality, entertainment, departure from the Word of God…?

Where are the Zadoks of our day?

Are we teaching the difference between the holy and the profane? Or have we given up?