Ezekiel 43

Return of the Lord's Glory

1 He led me to the gate, the one that faces east,

2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel^[a] coming from the east.^[b] His voice sounded like the roar of mighty waters, and the earth shone with His glory.^[c]

3 The vision I saw was like the one I had seen when He^[d] came to destroy the city,^[e] and like the ones I had seen by the Chebar Canal.^[f] I fell facedown.^[g]

4 The glory of the Lord entered the temple by way of the gate that faced east.

5 Then the Spirit lifted me up^[h] and brought me to the inner court, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

6 While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from the temple.

7 He said to me: "Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet,^[i] where I will dwell among the Israelites forever.^[j] [The house of] Israel and their kings will no longer defile My holy name by their [religious] prostitution and by the corpses^[k][l] of their kings at their high places.^[m][n]

8 Whenever they placed their threshold next to My threshold and their doorposts beside My doorposts, with [only] a wall between Me and them, they were defiling My holy name by the abominations they committed. So I destroyed them in My anger.

9 Now let them remove their prostitution and the corpses^[o] of their kings far from Me, and I will dwell among them forever.^[p]

10 "As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel,^[q] so that they may be ashamed of their iniquities.^[r] Let them measure [its] pattern,

11 and they will be ashamed of all that they have done. Reveal^[s] the design of the temple to them-its layout with its exits and entrances-its complete design along with all its statutes, design specifications, and laws. Write it down in their sight so that they may observe its complete design and all its statutes and may carry them out.

12 This is the law of the temple: all its surrounding territory on top of the mountain^[t] will be especially holy.^[u] Yes, this is the law of the temple.

The Altar

13 "These are the measurements of the altar in units of length (each unit being the standard length plus three inches):^[v][w] the gutter is 21 inches^[x] [deep] and 21 inches wide, with a rim of nine inches^[y] around its edge. This is the base^[z] of the altar.

14 [The distance] from the gutter on the ground to the lower ledge is three and a half feet,^[aa] and the width [of the ledge] is 21 inches.^[ab] There are seven feet^[ac] from the small ledge to the large ledge, [whose] width is also 21 inches.

15 The altar hearth^[ad] is seven feet^[ae] [high], and four horns^[af] project upward from the hearth.

16 The hearth is square, 21 feet^[ag] long by 21 feet wide.

17 The ledge is 24 and a half feet^[ah] long by 24 and a half feet wide, with four equal sides. The rim all around it is 10 and a half inches,^[ai] and its gutter is 21 inches^[aj] all around it. The altar's steps face east."

18 Then He said to me: "Son of man, this is what the Lord God says: These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is constructed, so that burnt offerings may be sacrificed on it and blood may be sprinkled on it:^[ak]

19 You are to give a bull from the herd as a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are from the offspring of Zadok, who approach Me in order to serve Me." [This is] the declaration of the Lord God .

20 "You must take some of its blood and apply [it] to the four horns of the altar, the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim. In this way you will purify the altar and make atonement for it.^[al]

21 Then you must take away the bull for the sin offering, and it must be burned outside the sanctuary in the place appointed for the temple.

22 "On the second day you are to present an unblemished male goat as a sin offering. They will purify the altar just as they did with the bull.

23 When you have finished the purification, you are to present a young, unblemished bull and an unblemished ram from the flock.

24 You must present them before the Lord; the priests will throw salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the Lord.

25 You will offer a goat for a sin offering each day for seven days. A young bull and a ram from the flock, both unblemished, must also be offered.

26 For seven days the priests are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it. In this way they will consecrate it^[am]

27 and complete the days [of purification]. Then on the eighth day^[an] and afterwards, the priests will offer your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar, and I will accept you." [This is] the declaration of the Lord God .

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]. Ezk 1:28; 3:23; 10:4-5,18-19
• [b]. Ezk 11:22-23
• [c]. Ezk 10:4
• [d]. Some Hb mss, Theod, Vg; other Hb mss, LXX, Syr read I
• [e]. Ezk 9:1
• [f]. Ezk 1:3
• [g]. Ezk 1:28; 3:23
• [h]. Ezk 3:14; 8:3; 11:1,24
• [i]. Isa 60:13
• [j]. Ezk 37:26-28
• [k]. Or monuments
• [l]. Lv 26:30
• [m]. Some Hb mss, Theod, Tg read their death
• [n]. Ezk 6:3-5
• [o]. Or monuments
• [p]. Ezk 37:26-28
• [q]. Ezk 40:4
• [r]. Ezk 16:61-63
• [s]. LXX, Vg; MT reads pattern. Verse 11: And if they are ashamed . . . done, reveal
• [t]. Ezk 40:2
• [u]. Ezk 45:3
• [v]. Lit in cubits (a cubit being a cubit plus a handbreadth)
• [w]. Ezk 40:5
• [x]. Lit one cubit
• [y]. Lit one span
• [z]. LXX reads height
• [aa]. Lit two cubits
• [ab]. Lit one cubit
• [ac]. Lit four cubits
• [ad]. Hb obscure
• [ae]. Lit four cubits
• [af]. Ex 27:2
• [ag]. Lit 12 cubits
• [ah]. Lit 14 cubits
• [ai]. Lit one-half cubit
• [aj]. Lit one cubit
• [ak]. Ex 29:36-37; Lv 8:14-15; 2 Ch 7:9
• [al]. Lv 8:15
• [am]. Lit will fill its hands
• [an]. Lv 9:1

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.