Ezekiel 43

1 After this, the man brought me back around to the east gateway.

2 Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel appeared from the east. The sound of his coming was like the roar of rushing waters, and the whole landscape shone with his glory.

3 This vision was just like the others I had seen, first by the Kebar River and then when he came to destroy Jerusalem. I fell face down on the ground.

4 And the glory of the LORD came into the Temple through the east gateway.

5 Then the Spirit took me up and brought me into the inner courtyard, and the glory of the LORD filled the Temple.

6 And I heard someone speaking to me from within the Temple, while the man who had been measuring stood beside me.

7 The LORD said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place where I will rest my feet. I will live here forever among the people of Israel. They and their kings will not defile my holy name any longer by their adulterous worship of other gods or by honoring the relics of their kings who have died.

8 They put their idol altars right next to mine with only a wall between them and me. They defiled my holy name by such detestable sin, so I consumed them in my anger.

9 Now let them stop worshiping other gods and honoring the relics of their kings, and I will live among them forever.

10 “Son of man, describe to the people of Israel the Temple I have shown you, so they will be ashamed of all their sins. Let them study its plan,

11 and they will be ashamed of what they have done. Describe to them all the specifications of the Temple—including its entrances and exits—and everything else about it. Tell them about its decrees and laws. Write down all these specifications and decrees as they watch so they will be sure to remember and follow them.

12 And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness! The entire top of the mountain where the Temple is built is holy. Yes, this is the basic law of the Temple.

13 “These are the measurements of the altar : There is a gutter all around the altar 21 inches deep and 21 inches wide, with a curb 9 inches wide around its edge. And this is the height of the altar:

14 From the gutter the altar rises 3 feet to a lower ledge that surrounds the altar and is 21 inches wide. From the lower ledge the altar rises 7 feet to the upper ledge that is also 21 inches wide.

15 The top of the altar, the hearth, rises another 7 feet higher, with a horn rising up from each of the four corners.

16 The top of the altar is square, measuring 21 feet by 21 feet.

17 The upper ledge also forms a square, measuring 24 feet by 24 feet, with a 21-inch gutter and a 10 -inch curb all around the edge. There are steps going up the east side of the altar.”

18 Then he said to me, “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: These will be the regulations for the burning of offerings and the sprinkling of blood when the altar is built.

19 At that time, the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who minister before me, are to be given a young bull for a sin offering, says the Sovereign LORD .

20 You will take some of its blood and smear it on the four horns of the altar, the four corners of the upper ledge, and the curb that runs around that ledge. This will cleanse and make atonement for the altar.

21 Then take the young bull for the sin offering and burn it at the appointed place outside the Temple area.

22 “On the second day, sacrifice as a sin offering a young male goat that has no physical defects. Then cleanse and make atonement for the altar again, just as you did with the young bull.

23 When you have finished the cleansing ceremony, offer another young bull that has no defects and a perfect ram from the flock.

24 You are to present them to the LORD, and the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and offer them as a burnt offering to the LORD .

25 “Every day for seven days a male goat, a young bull, and a ram from the flock will be sacrificed as a sin offering. None of these animals may have physical defects of any kind.

26 Do this each day for seven days to cleanse and make atonement for the altar, thus setting it apart for holy use.

27 On the eighth day, and on each day afterward, the priests will sacrifice on the altar the burnt offerings and peace offerings of the people. Then I will accept you. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”

Ezekiel 43 Commentary

Chapter 43

- After Ezekiel had surveyed the temple of God, he had a vision of the glory of God. When Christ crucified, and the things freely given to us of God, through Him, are shown to us by the Holy Ghost, they make us ashamed for our sins. This frame of mind prepares us for fuller discoveries of the mysteries of redeeming love; and the whole of the Scriptures should be opened and applied, that men may see their sins, and repent of them. We are not now to offer any atoning sacrifices, for by one offering Christ has perfected for ever those that are sanctified, Heb. 10:14 ; but the sprinkling of his blood is needful in all our approaches to God the Father. Our best services can be accepted only as sprinkled with the blood which cleanses from all sin.

Footnotes

• [a]. As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Latin Vulgate; Masoretic Text reads I came.
• [b]. Or kings on their high places.
• [c]. As in Greek version; Hebrew reads if they are ashamed.
• [d]. Hebrew measurements of the altar in long cubits, each being a cubit [18 inches or 45 centimeters] and a handbreadth [3 inches or 8 centimeters] in length.
• [e]. Hebrew a cubit [53 centimeters] deep and a cubit wide.
• [f]. Hebrew 1 span [23 centimeters].
• [g]. As in Greek version; Hebrew reads base.
• [h]. Hebrew 2 cubits [1.1 meters].
• [i]. Hebrew 1 cubit [53 centimeters]; also in 43:14d .
• [j]. Hebrew 4 cubits [2.1 meters]; also in 43:15 .
• [k]. Hebrew 12 [cubits] [6.4 meters] long and 12 [cubits] wide.
• [l]. Hebrew 14 [cubits] [7.4 meters] long and 14 [cubits] wide.
• [m]. Hebrew a gutter of 1 cubit [53 centimeters] and a curb of a cubit [27 centimeters].

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 43

The temple or house of God being measured, the worship of God in it is pointed out and observed in this and the following chapter; and which, though evangelical, is expressed in the language of the Old Testament. An account is given of the glory of the Lord returning to the house, and the way he did, and his taking possession of it, which the prophet was favoured with a view of, Eze 43:1-5, a promise is made of his continuance there, provided his people behaved as they should, Eze 43:6-9, an order is given to the prophet, to show them the form and fashion, the laws, orders, and ordinances of the house to them, to be observed by them, Eze 43:10-12, then follows the measuring of the altar of burnt offerings; which, though measured before in chapter forty, the dimensions are here given, Eze 43:13-17, and the chapter is concluded with directions about the consecration of it, Eze 43:18-27.