Ezekiel 43

The Glory of the Lord Fills the Temple

1 Then he led me to ¹the gate, the gate facing east.

2 And behold, ²the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And ³the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and ⁴the earth shone with his glory.

3 And ⁵the vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen ⁶when he^[a] came to destroy the city, and just like ⁷the vision that I had seen ⁸by the Chebar canal. And ⁹I fell on my face.

4 As ¹⁰the glory of the LORD ¹¹entered the temple by the gate facing east,

5 ¹²the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into ¹³the inner court; and behold, ¹⁴the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

6 ¹⁵While the man was standing beside me, ¹⁶I heard one speaking to me out of the temple,

7 and he said to me, ¹⁷"Son of man, this is ¹⁸the place of my throne and ¹⁹the place of the soles of my feet, ²⁰where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more ²¹defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies^[b] of their kings at their high places,^[c]

8 by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with ²²only a wall between me and them. They have ²³defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger.

9 Now let them put away their whoring and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, ²⁴and I will dwell in their midst forever.

10 "As for you, ²⁵son of man, ²⁶describe to the house of Israel the temple, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the plan.

11 And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, ²⁷make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, ²⁸its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down ²⁹in their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out.

12 This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of ³⁰the mountain ³¹all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

The Altar

13 "These are the measurements of ³²the altar by cubits (the cubit being ³³a cubit and a handbreadth):^[d] its base shall be one cubit high^[e] and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span^[f] around its edge. And this shall be the height of the altar:

14 from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of one cubit;

15 and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting upward, ³⁴four horns.

16 The altar hearth shall be ³⁵square, twelve cubits long by twelve broad.

17 The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad, with a rim around it half a cubit broad, and its base one cubit all around. ³⁶The steps of the altar shall face east."

18 And he said to me, ³⁷"Son of man, thus says the Lord GOD: These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and ³⁸for throwing blood against it,

19 you shall give to ³⁹the Levitical priests ⁴⁰of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, declares the Lord GOD, ⁴¹a bull from the herd for a sin offering.

20 And ⁴²you shall take some of its blood and put it on ⁴³the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon ⁴⁴the rim all around. ⁴⁵Thus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it.

21 You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and ⁴⁶it shall be burned in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area.

22 And on the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull.

23 When you have finished ⁴⁷purifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and ⁴⁸a ram from the flock without blemish.

24 You shall present them before the LORD, and the priests ⁴⁹shall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD.

25 ⁵⁰For seven days you shall provide daily a male goat for a sin offering; also, a bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided.

26 Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it.^[g]

27 And when they have completed these days, then ⁵¹from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your ⁵²peace offerings, and ⁵³I will accept you, declares 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.

Cross References

• 1. ver. 4; Ezekiel 10:19; Ezekiel 11:1; Ezekiel 40:6; Ezekiel 42:15; Ezekiel 44:1
• 2. Ezekiel 10:18, 19; Ezekiel 11:23; [Revelation 21:11]
• 3. Ezekiel 1:24; [Revelation 1:15]
• 4. [Ezekiel 10:4; Revelation 18:1]
• 5. See Ezekiel 1:28
• 6. [Ezekiel 9:1, 2, 5]
• 7. See Ezekiel 1:4-28
• 8. See Ezekiel 1:1
• 9. See Ezekiel 1:28
• 10. [See ver. 2 above]
• 11. [Ezekiel 44:2]
• 12. See Ezekiel 3:12
• 13. See Ezekiel 8:16
• 14. Ezekiel 10:4; Ezekiel 44:4; 1 Kings 8:10, 11; [Isaiah 6:1]
• 15. See Ezekiel 40:3
• 16. [Exodus 25:22]
• 17. See Ezekiel 2:1
• 18. [Psalms 99:1]
• 19. [1 Chronicles 28:2; Isaiah 60:13]
• 20. See Ezekiel 37:26, 28
• 21. [ver. 8]; See Ezekiel 20:39
• 22. [Ezekiel 42:20]
• 23. [ver. 7]
• 24. [See ver. 7 above]
• 25. [See ver. 7 above]
• 26. Ezekiel 40:4
• 27. [See ver. 10 above]
• 28. [Ezekiel 44:5]
• 29. See Ezekiel 12:3
• 30. [Ezekiel 40:2]
• 31. See Ezekiel 42:15-20
• 32. [Ezekiel 40:47; Ezekiel 47:1]; See Exodus 27:1-8
• 33. Ezekiel 40:5; [Ezekiel 41:8]
• 34. See Exodus 27:2
• 35. [Ezekiel 40:47; Exodus 27:1]
• 36. [Exodus 20:26]
• 37. See Ezekiel 2:1
• 38. See Leviticus 1:5
• 39. Ezekiel 44:15; Deuteronomy 17:9; Deuteronomy 18:1; Deuteronomy 24:8; Deuteronomy 27:9
• 40. See Ezekiel 40:46
• 41. Ezekiel 45:18; Exodus 29:1, 10
• 42. Ezekiel 45:19; Exodus 29:12; Leviticus 8:15
• 43. [See ver. 15 above]
• 44. [ver. 13, 17]
• 45. Exodus 29:36; [Ezekiel 45:18]
• 46. Exodus 29:14
• 47. [See ver. 20 above]
• 48. [Exodus 29:1]
• 49. Leviticus 2:13
• 50. Exodus 29:35, 36; Leviticus 8:33, 35
• 51. Leviticus 9:1
• 52. See Leviticus 3:1
• 53. See Ezekiel 20:40

Footnotes

• [a]. Some Hebrew manuscripts and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts when I
• [b]. Or the monuments; also verse 9
• [c]. Or at their deaths
• [d]. A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters; a handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters
• [e]. Or its gutter shall be one cubit deep
• [f]. A span was about 9 inches or 22 centimeters
• [g]. Hebrew fill its hand

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.