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HE ideal situation that God had
in mind for old Israel was never fully realized. Not under Moses, not under
Joshua, not under Gideon, Samson or Samuel, not under David or Solomon; never
once was the nation of Israel full possessors of all that God had for them. But
their story is not over yet.
It is apparent that God will have
some final words to His people concerning how lightly they set aside His
commandments so many years ago. The sins of Israel, their old affinity for the
heathen, the failures of certain Levites and Solomon's ordination of Zadok (I
Kings 2:35) – these and other old issues will all come up again in the
assignments of duties at the outset of the kingdom. Not that forgiveness isn’t present, but
rewards and consequences can somehow still affect the terrain even after
forgiveness. This is seen ever so shockingly in some of the old regulations
that will resurface in millennium. Now, God is not capricious or arbitrary. In
Ezekiel 44:23, we find one of the purposes in these restrictions, "And they shall teach My people the
difference between the holy and profane and cause them to discern between the
unclean and the clean." The standards that the priests will live by
will not qualify them as holy in God's eyes, it will qualify them to teach what
is holy to the men around them.
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