Ezekiel43
New King James Version
1Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east.
2And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory.
3It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw—like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face.
4And the glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east.
5The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
6Then I heard Him speaking to me from the temple, while a man stood beside me.
7And He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places.
8When they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My holy name by the abominations which they committed; therefore I have consumed them in My anger.
9Now let them put their harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.
10“Son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern.
11And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire design and all its ordinances, all its forms and all its laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances, and perform them.
12This is the law of the temple: The whole area surrounding the mountaintop is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.
13“These are the measurements of the altar in cubits (the cubit is one cubit and a handbreadth): the base one cubit high and one cubit wide, with a rim all around its edge of one span. This is the height of the altar:
14from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits; the width of the ledge, one cubit; from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits; and the width of the ledge, one cubit.
15The altar hearth is four cubits high, with four horns extending upward from the hearth.
16The altar hearth is twelve cubits long, twelve wide, square at its four corners;
17the ledge, fourteen cubits long and fourteen wide on its four sides, with a rim of half a cubit around it; its base, one cubit all around; and its steps face toward the east.”
18And He said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord God: ‘These are the ordinances for the altar on the day when it is made, for sacrificing burnt offerings on it, and for sprinkling blood on it.
19You shall give a young bull for a sin offering to the priests, the Levites, who are of the seed of Zadok, who approach Me to minister to Me,’ says the Lord God.
20‘You shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim around it; thus you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it.
21Then you shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and burn it in the appointed place of the temple, outside the sanctuary.
22On the second day you shall offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they cleansed it with the bull.
23When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish, and a ram from the flock without blemish.
24When you offer them before the Lord, the priests shall throw salt on them, and they will offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.
25Every day for seven days you shall prepare a goat for a sin offering; they shall also prepare a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without blemish.
26Seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it, and so consecrate it.
27When these days are over it shall be, on the eighth day and thereafter, that the priests shall offer your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar; and I will accept you,’ says the Lord God.”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ezekiel 43.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The Vision of the Temple. (1-27).
vv1-27
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.
Key Words
יָלַךְ: to walk (literally or figuratively); causatively, to carry (in various senses)
שַׁעַר: an opening, i.e. door or gate
קָדִים: the fore or front part; hence (by orientation) the East (often adverbially, eastward, for brevity the east wind)
הִנֵּה: lo!
כָּבוֹד: properly, weight, but only figuratively in a good sense, splendor or copiousness
אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
מִן: properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses
קוֹל: a voice or sound
Cross References
Ezekiel 43The description of His voice like the sound of many waters matches John's vision of glorified Christ.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Verbal echo of the earth shining with the brightness of His glorious presence.
Supported by JFB
The glory returns from the east, the exact path by which it departed the city in Ezekiel 11.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Direct connection to the glory and falling on his face seen by the river Chebar.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The burning of the sin offering bullock without the sanctuary prefigures Christ suffering outside the gate.
Supported by JFB
The glory of Jehovah filling the house as it did in Solomon's temple.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The defilement of God's holy space by placing the carcasses of dead idols/kings near Him.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the pollution of God's land with the detestable carcasses of their idols.
Supported by JFB
Ezekiel's altar features steps (stairs), which were previously forbidden in Exodus 20.
Supported by JFB
Aligns with the original Mosaic mandate for seven days of purging and purifying the altar.
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The ultimate realization of God dwelling in the midst of His people forever.
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Links to the Hebrew name for the altar fireplace, 'Ariel' (lion of God).
Supported by JFB
Identifies the sons of Zadok as those who specifically draw near to minister to Jehovah.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The requirement to cast salt upon the burnt offering according to the law of the covenant.
Translates the Hebrew idiom for consecration, literally 'to fill the hands' with offerings.
Supported by JFB
Confirms that the eastern gate remains shut because the glory of Jehovah entered by it.
Jerusalem is explicitly designated as the throne of Jehovah's glorious presence.
Supported by JFB
Defines the measuring unit used: a cubit plus an handbreadth.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The ritual pattern of applying sacrificial blood to the horns of the altar for cleansing.
The promise that God will accept the offerings of a restored house of Israel.
Supported by JFB