Zadok – Those who worship in the sanctuary
Part 9 of the Two Witnesses Series
Rev 11:1 Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. 2 Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread underfoot the holy city for forty-two months.
Let us go back to our first two verses and review this again. There is the temple and the outer court. The temple or sanctuary is the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. It is the structure. Outside the temple is the outer court. There are people in the temple who are worshiping. There are people in the outer court who will be tread underfoot for the three-and-a-half-year tribulation. This is a picture of the last day church world. The holy city represents the entire worldwide church. There are two people groups in this picture. Those who are in the temple and those who are in the outer court. To understand the difference between these two people groups in the church we need to understand the Zadok ministry in Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 40 says a measuring rod and Revelation 11 says a measuring rod. Ezekiel 40-48 is about measuring the temple and Revelation 11 is about measuring the temple. Ezekiel 40-48 is about the difference between those who minister in the sanctuary and those who minister in the outer court. Revelation 11 is about the difference between those who minister in the sanctuary and those who minister in the outer court. The Zadok ministry is a foreshadow of the those who worship in the sanctuary in the last days. The Levites who went astray is a foreshadow of those who in the outer court in the last days.
Ezek 40:3 So He brought me there; and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand; and he was standing in the gateway.
Ezek 40:19 You shall give to the Levitical priests who are from the offspring of Zadok, who draw near to Me to minister to Me,’ declares the Lord God, ‘a young bull for a sin offering.
Ezekiel chapter 44 compares the ministry of the Levites who went astray and the ministry of the sons of Zadok, who did not go astray.
Ezek 44:8 And you have not kept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners to keep charge of My sanctuary.” 9 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary. 10 But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray from Me after their idols, shall bear the punishment for their iniquity. 11 Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house and ministering in the house; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them 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 against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall bear the punishment for their iniquity. 13 And they shall not come near to Me to serve as a priest to Me, nor come near to any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. 14 Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the house, of all its service and of all that shall be done in it.
The Levites who went astray are given charge of the outer court. They are given the ministry of the house by guarding the gates of the temple mount complex. They also oversee the burnt offerings and the sacrifices of the people which takes place in the outer court at the brazen altar. However, they are not allowed to come near to the Lord or any of His holy things. The presence of the Lord and His holy things are in the sanctuary, the inner court.
This explains what is going on with the people in the outer court in Revelation 11. They have gone astray and brought in foreign doctrines and practices. Verse 8 says the Levites had brought in foreigners to do the work of ministry. Verse 9 says they will not enter my sanctuary. Verse 10 says they will bear the punishment for their iniquity. Verse 11 says they will minister to the people in the outer court. Verse 13 says they shall not come near to Me to serve as a priest to Me. They will bear their shame for their abominations. This is the perfect picture of the outer court that is tread underfoot during the tribulation period.
The Levites who went astray are the apostate church of the last days. They are Laodicea. They are Christians but they have compromised their stand for the truth and have led the people astray. This is the trojan horse of inclusion that has brought foreign doctrines and practices into the church. They have performed same sex marriage in the church, promoted abortion, traded the operation of the Holy Spirit for entertainment and have traded the cross for the feel-good deception of inclusion and social justice. There is no Holy Spirit in Laodicea. Jesus is standing outside the church, knocking on the door.
Now let’s look at the ministry of the sons of Zadok.
Ezek 44:15 “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 God. 16 “They shall enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My table to minister to Me and keep My charge. 17 It shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and wool shall not be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house. 18 Linen turbans shall be on their heads and linen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat. 19 When they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.
When King David was fleeing Jerusalem during the rebellion of Absalom, the majority of the priesthood went astray. David fled for his life east of the city toward the Mount of Olives. As he was going up the mount, he saw a group of priests, following after him, carrying the Ark of the Covenant! These priests knew who the true king was. They were not apostate as the others. They carried the Ark of the Covenant which is the presence of God. This was the Zadok priesthood, a foreshadow of the worshipers in the sanctuary in Revelation 11. The sons of Zadok respected the Word of the Lord and the Presence of the Lord. They would rather die with King David than take the easy way out and lose His Presence.
The church in Philadelphia is the Zadok ministry of the last days. Those in Philadelphia have kept the word of His perseverance and have not denied His name. Jesus puts an open door before them. That door is the entrance into the sanctuary, the inner court, the place of worship.
Those who minister unto the Lord in the sanctuary wear linen garments. Those who minister to the people in the outer court wear wool garments. Linen garments represent purity and righteousness while wool garments represent work.
Rev 19:7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
The inner court is not a place of work. It is a place of rest. A place of worship. A place of His presence. The outer court is a place of works. A place of sweat. All the activity in the outer court is necessary. The sacrifices are done on the brazen altar in the outer court. This represents the cross, blood atonement. However, the purpose of all the activity in the outer court is to get you into the inner court! The place of worship! You cannot enter the inner court without the blood of the Lamb. The worshipers in the inner court have entered by the blood. They have left the works realm of the outer court and are now ministering directly unto the Lord Himself with their worship. May we all be worshipers.