Instructions (statutes) designed to maintain holiness in the new temple follow. The Lord specified how His people were to construct the new altar to accommodate sacrifices (43:13-17) and how they were to dedicate it (43:18-27). He revealed how they were to use the temple (44:1-9), how the priests were to function (44:10-31), and how the sacred land district was to be used (45:1-8). An exhortation to Israel's leaders forms the center of this section (45:9-12). The rest of it contains instructions for the worship leader (45:13-46:18) and directions for the use of the priests' kitchens (46:19-24).
"The existence of the millennial temple and the reinstatement of the sacrificial system [though not the reinstatement of the Mosaic Covenant] is not only understandable but predictable. Ezekiel's vision of a restored sacrificial system was really not so amazing after all. The millennium will afford Israel the opportunity for the first time in its history to use the symbols of their covenant with Jesus as Messiah in view. It will be their first time to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation showing forth to the world the redemptive work of Yahweh in the person of Jesus Christ the Messiah (Isa 53:7; 61:1-3; Zech 4:1; John 1:29; Acts 8:32-35; 1 Pet 1:19; Rev 7:13-14; 5:9; 13:8; 15:3)."535
Some scholars view this section as the central one in chapters 40-48.536The altar was at the very center of the whole temple complex, and it was the centerpiece of the system of worship represented in the new temple complex.
43:13 The altar of sacrifice in the middle of the inner court, in front of the entrance to the temple proper, stood on a foundation (base) that was one long cubit thick (about 21 inches). The base extended beyond the first tier of the altar above it one cubit on all four sides. On the very outside edges of the base, a curb one span high (about nine inches) served to form a gutter around the altar. Evidently this gutter collected and channeled away the blood that flowed down the sides of the altar.
43:14 The square altar rose above its foundation in three tiers, the largest one below, the next largest one above it, and the smallest one on top. The first, largest stage was two cubits high and one cubit smaller than the foundation on each of its four sides. The second tier was four cubits high and one cubit smaller than the first tier on each of its four sides.
43:15-16 The third tier, which formed the altar hearth, the very top of the altar, was also four cubits high. Four horns stood on the top of the altar, one at each corner undoubtedly, symbolizing strength. This tier, the hearth, was 12 cubits (20 feet) wide on each side.
43:17 The second tier was 14 cubits square. It too had a curb around its upper edge that formed a gutter, and that curb was half a cubit high (cf. v. 13). There were to be steps up to the altar from the east.537The total size of this altar was about 32 feet square at the bottom, 20 feet square at the top, and 20 feet high. Solomon's brazen altar had been smaller (cf. 2 Chron. 4:1). This design made this altar resemble a small ziggurat.
43:18 The Lord told Ezekiel what to do when the construction of the altar was complete.538The purpose of this altar was to receive the burnt offerings that people would bring to the Lord and to receive the blood of those animal sacrifices.
"The offerings presented thereon were meant to be memorials, much as the Lord's Supper is no efficacious sacrifice but a memorial of a blessedly adequate and all-sufficient sacrifice for all time. Thus, whereas the sacrifices of the Old Testament economy were prospective, these are retrospective."539
43:19-21 Ezekiel was to give to one of the priests that would serve in this sanctuary, a priest from the honored line of Zadok (cf. 40:46; 44:15; 1 Kings 2:35), a young bull for a sin offering. He was to smear some of the bull's blood on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of its second tier (cf. Exod. 29:12). This would cleanse the altar and make atonement for it (i.e., purify it).540Similar ceremonies had taken place to cleanse the tabernacle and Solomonic temple altars (cf. Exod. 29:36-37; Lev. 8:14-17; 2 Chron. 7:9). Ezekiel was to burn the remainder of this bull outside the inner court (cf. Lev. 8:17).
"Cleansing was needed because everything associated with man partook of sin and therefore needed to be cleansed, especially if it was to be used in the worship of the Lord."541
43:22-24 The next day Ezekiel was to offer a ram that was free of blemishes as a sin offering. This also was part of the seven-day ritual necessary to cleanse the altar. Then he should present another bull and another ram, equally blemish free, in the inner court. The priest was to throw salt on them, slay them, and offer them as burnt offerings. Salt was an agent of purification and preservation that was often used symbolically (cf. Lev. 2:13; Num. 18:19; 2 Chron. 13:5; Mark 9:49).
43:25-26 On each of the seven days Ezekiel was to prepare a goat for a sin offering and a young bull and a ram as burnt offerings. These sacrifices also had to be without blemish, and they would make atonement and purify the altar. This seven-day ceremony would consecrate the altar for service (cf. Exod. 29:36-37).
43:27 After the completion of this consecration ceremony, from the eighth day onward, the priests were to offer burnt and peace offerings on this altar. The Lord promised to accept the worship of His people if they followed this procedure.
"Although all the offerings of Leviticus are not detailed here, it is considered by some that they are implied, and they may well be. Prospectively they all pointed to Christ, so this would be in keeping with that truth in the retrospective sense."542
Most premillennialists believe that the millennial sacrifices will be memorials of Christ's sacrifice and will have nothing to do with removing sin.543However, some premillennialists argue that since Christ will be personally present on earth during the Millennium, these sacrifices may really purge sins, the sins of believers.544Now we confess our sins and receive forgiveness (1 John 1:9), but now Christ is not present on earth. When He is personally present and in closer contact with His people, it may take more than just confession to secure cleansing. This may be a correct explanation for the presence of sacrifices in the Millennium, but it seems impossible to be dogmatic about that now. A third view is that the sacrifices are not literal, but that Ezekiel was describing worship in the future in terms and forms that he and his original hearers knew.545
44:1-2 Ezekiel's guide next took him back to the east outer gate (cf. 40:6-16). The gate itself, on the east side of the gate complex, was shut and was to remain shut. The Lord told the prophet that this gate was shut because He had entered the temple complex through it (43:1-3). Its sealed condition guaranteed God's promise that He would never depart from the temple again (37:24-28).
"As a mark of honor to an Eastern king, no person could enter the gate by which he entered . . ."546
This is not the eastern gate of Zerubbabel's or Herod's temple; there is no evidence that either of those gates was closed. Nor is it the gate on the east side of the temple enclosure in modern Jerusalem that has been sealed for centuries. The dimensions are different. It is the east gate of the millennial temple.
"The eastern gate that overlooks the Kidron Valley today is closed as it has been since the Crusades, nearly a thousand years ago. Crusaders walled up the gate because they believed that Jesus entered the temple mount by this gate on Palm Sunday and that it should be closed until he returns to reenter the temple mount. Zechariah 14:4-5 presents the Messiah coming to the valley on the eastern side of the temple in preparation for his entry into the temple area. This has been regarded as biblical evidence that the gate should remain closed until Jesus returns.
"Today the eastern gate, also called the Golden Gate, is a significant holy site for three major world religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jews believe that when the Messiah comes he will open the east gate and enter the temple mount first and then enter the city of Jerusalem. Moslems believe that the gate is the site of final judgment and call it the gate of heaven and hell. They believe the final judgment of humanity will take place before the eastern gate and the redeemed are those who will be allowed to enter the temple mount; all others will be outcasts."547
44:3 A prince (king) who would rule over the Israelites would sit in this gate complex and eat sacrifices to the Lord there (cf. 34:24; 37:25; 46:2, 8-10).548The city gate was a place of civil and judicial business in the ancient world (cf. Ruth 4:1-11). It was where the elders of the city assembled to discuss and transact important matters. Therefore sitting in this gate pictures the prince as an administrator of the temple area. He would go in and out of the gate complex by way of the vestibule at its west end, but no one would be able to enter or exit the outer court through the gate at the east end of this structure.
This prince (Heb. nasi) is not Messiah. This becomes clear later when the writer described him as presenting a sin offering for himself, something that it is difficult imagining Jesus Christ doing (45:22; cf. Heb. 4:15; 9:22-28). Furthermore, this leader will produce natural children, another extremely unlikely action for Messiah (46:16). Third, he is not a priest and exercises no priestly rights, whereas Jesus Christ is now and ever will be our great high priest. Rather, this priest functions in an intermediate status between the priests and the people (cf. 45:13-22; 46:2, 10, 18; 48:21-22). The exact identity of this leader is presently unknown, but he will apparently function as Messiah's administrative representative in charge of certain affairs in the Millennium.549This person appears in every chapter to follow except chapter 47.
The emphasis on the holiness of God that has marked this vision continues strong in this pericope and the next. God's holiness will determine who serves as priests and how they serve.
44:4 The guide proceeded to take Ezekiel through the north inner gate into the inner court of the temple. There he saw again the glory of the Lord that filled the temple proper, and he prostrated himself before it out of fear and reverence (cf. 1:28; 43:1-5).
"The new reference to the glory of God simply makes clear that it is the return of God to the temple that serves as a basis for the regulations to follow."550
44:5 The Lord spoke to Ezekiel and instructed him to pay close attention to all the instructions that he would receive concerning worship in the temple (cf. 40:4). He needed to give special attention to the entrances leading to the temple proper because it was there that the common life of the people interfaced with the holiness of the inner sanctum.
44:6-9 Ezekiel was to tell the rebellious Israelites that the Lord had had enough of all their abominations, particularly their profaning His Jerusalem temple. They had brought unbelievers into the temple, and they had misused the food brought as sacrifices to Him. They had even appointed foreigners to take care of the temple instead of taking care of it themselves.
"The religions of the ancient Near East frequently used foreign captives as temple servants to aid the priests."551
The Israelites had done this, too. One of the early instances of it took place when they made the conquered Gibeonites temple servants (Josh. 9:23, 27; cf. Ezra 8:20). The Mosaic Law forbade any unauthorized person from serving in the tabernacle or temple as a priest (Num. 3:10). Believing foreigners could offer sacrifices there and assist the priests, but they could not serve as priests (cf. Num. 15:14; Isa. 56:3, 6; Zech. 14:21). In the future temple, foreigners (uncircumcised in heart and flesh, i.e., unbelieving Gentiles) would not be allowed to enter the temple proper and probably not even the temple precincts (v. 9; cf. Ezra 4:1-3; Neh. 13:1-9; Acts 21:27-31).
44:10-12 Most of the Levitical priests, who had been responsible for profaning the temple in the past, would have to bear the punishment for their iniquity. They would be able to minister in the temple by overseeing the gates and serving in the temple precincts in other ways, perhaps as foreigners had done previously. They could also slaughter the sacrificial animals at the inner gate complexes (cf. 40:38-43).552However, since the priests had led in the ritual worship of idols and so caused the other Israelites to stumble in their walk with God, the Lord would judge them by limiting their service in the millennial temple.
44:13-14 They would not be able to approach the Lord and serve Him; they could only serve the people. They would not be able to handle what was most holy, most closely associated with the Lord, in the temple. This would be a source of shame for them because of their former sins. Yet within this limitation the Lord promised to allow them to be in charge of the temple structure, its maintenance, and certain things that transpired there.553
"They have their counterparts today in all aspects of church life and doubtless then, as now, many reckoned it a privilege to be attending on the people of God in the more mundane details of their religion. After all, they were doing their duties by divine appointment (14)."554
44:15-16 The Levites from Zadok's branch of the priestly family, however, would have special privileges since Zadok and his sons had served the Lord faithfully in the past (cf. 40:46; 1 Sam. 2:35; 2 Sam. 8:17; 15:24-29; 1 Kings 2:26-35; 1 Chron. 6:7-8). They would be able to approach the Lord Himself and minister to Him by presenting the sacrifices of the people to Him. They had permission to enter the temple proper, to place sacrifices on the "table"(the altar, 40:46, and or the table in the holy place, 41:22), and to fulfill what God commanded concerning His worship.
"In every age the sovereign and gracious God has a remnant of those who cleave to Him in spite of adverse circumstances and the mounting pressures of the majority to conform. The Zadokite priests kept themselves from the idolatry of the nation, even though the other priests complied to the idolatrous desires of the disobedient people. For this faithfulness the reward from the Lord will be access to His presence, the privilege of ministering in any and all phases of priestly duty."555
44:17-18 The Zadokite priests would need to wear linen, not wool, garments when they served the Lord in the temple sanctuary and the inner gates and court (cf. Exod. 28:42; Lev. 16:4; Rev. 19:8). This included linen turbans and underwear. No fabric that caused them to sweat would be acceptable because perspiration would make them wet, and dry skin stays cleaner than sweaty skin. Wool may have been an unacceptable material too because it is a product of animals, whereas linen comes from plants.556
44:19-20 When the priests went into the outer court they would first have to change their clothes in the rooms designated for that purpose (42:1-14) so they would not transmit what was holy to what was common (cf. Lev. 6:11). Contact with holy things consecrated those things and brought them under the restrictions governing holy things (cf. Exod. 29:37; 30:29; Lev. 6:27; Hag. 2:12). They were also to keep their hair trimmed, not let it grow long or shave it all off. Long hair signified mourning, and pagan, idolatrous priests used to shave all their hair off as a sign of mourning (cf. Lev. 10:6; 21:5-6, 10).
44:21-22 Moreover the priests were not to drink wine before they came into the inner court (cf. Lev. 10:9), nor were they to marry a widow or a divorced woman. They could only marry virgin Israelite women or the widows of former priests. Under the Mosaic system these marrying restrictions bound only the high priest (cf. Lev. 21:7, 14), but under the millennial system they will apply to all Zadokite priests.
44:23 Part of the priests' job would be to teach the people the difference between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean. The people would learn this difference as they observed the distinctions prescribed here and as the priests explained them to them (cf. 22:26; Lev. 10:10-11; 11:47; Deut. 33:10).
"The priests were by their lives to be examples of separateness; their ritual holiness was intended to promote ethical holiness among the people they were called to serve.557
44:24 The Zadokite priests were also to serve as judges for the people and to make decisions in harmony with the Lord's laws (cf. Deut. 17:9; 19:17; 21:5).558They themselves would have to keep His laws and His rules concerning the appointed feasts, and they would have to observe the Sabbath Day. While observance of the Sabbath Day is not part of the New Covenant law of Christ, God will reinstitute it during the kingdom dispensation.559
44:25-27 The Zadokite priests would not be able to have any contact with a dead corpse except in the case of their own immediate families (cf. Lev. 21:1-3). People will die during the Millennium (cf. Isa. 65:20), but no one will die in the eternal state (Rev. 21:4). After his initial cleansing from the defilement caused by contact with a corpse, the priest would have to wait seven days before resuming his priestly duties (cf. Num. 19:11-19). On his first day of service after his cleansing, he would have to go into the inner court and offer a sin offering for himself.
44:28-29 These priests would receive no other inheritance in the land but the privilege of serving the Lord in the special ways that He permitted. The Lord would designate a portion of the land in which they would live (45:4; 48:10-11), but this was not their inheritance. The perquisites of this inheritance would include the privilege of eating parts of the best grains and animals that the people brought to the Lord as sacrifices (cf. Deut. 25:4; 1 Cor. 9:9-12; 1 Tim. 5:18). Everything that the people would bring as offerings to the Lord would go to them. These were "devoted"(Heb. herem) things, things given that the offerer could not redeem (buy back; cf. Lev. 27:21, 28; Num. 18:14).
44:30-31 They would also receive the best parts of the firstfruits of every kind that the people brought to the Lord. The Lord would bless the people who were careful to provide the priests with their firstfruits (cf. Mal. 3:8-12; 2 Cor. 9:10-11). Priests were not to eat any animals that died a natural death or had been slain in a way other than as a sacrifice to the Lord (cf. Lev. 17:5; 22:8; Deut. 14:21). These animals might be inferior and might carry communicable diseases.
The Lord next gave Ezekiel directions for the division of some of the Promised Land in the future. Revelation about apportioning the rest of the land follows later (47:13-48:35). These descriptions do not coincide with any division of the land in the past, and the amount of detail argues for a literal fulfillment in the future.
45:1 In the future the Israelites were to divide the land by lot, but the Lord, of course, would control the outcome (Prov. 16:33). This land belonged to the Lord--He was the Israelites' inheritance--but He would allow them to occupy it as He specified. They were to set aside one part of the land for the Lord's use for specially holy purposes. It was to be 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide (about 8.3 miles by 3.3 miles).560It was to be considered holy within all its boundaries.
45:2-4 Within this area there was to be a space 500 cubits by 500 cubits. This was the size of the temple complex (cf. 42:20). Surrounding this complex there would be an open space of an additional 50 cubits, a kind of green belt. This space would facilitate and illustrate the holiness of the sanctuary area. The temple sanctuary would stand within this 25,000 by 10,000 cubits area and constitute the most holy part of the land. The Zadokite priests would live in the land outside the open space around the temple complex within this larger area (cf. 48:10-12).
45:5 The other Levites would occupy another 25,000 by 10,000 cubits area beside the one just described (cf. 48:13). It would evidently be immediately to the north. Under the Mosaic system the priests and Levites lived scattered throughout Israel, not all in very close proximity to the temple as here.
45:6 Another parcel of land 25,000 by 5,000 cubits (about 8.3 miles by 1.7 miles), apparently immediately to the south, would contain the city of Jerusalem, and all the Israelites would have access to it. Later Ezekiel clarified that the city itself would occupy the center of this portion of land, and suburbs, or city lands, would flank it on the east and the west (cf. 48:15, 17-19).
45:7 The prince (cf. 44:3) would also receive a special land allotment to the west and to the east of the city portions and the holy areas occupied by the Zadokites and the Levites (cf. 48:21-22). There was no specially designated area in which the kings of Israel lived in former times except the royal palaces, which were much smaller.
45:8 The rest of the Promised Land would be the portion of the other Israelites (cf. ch. 48). The whole arrangement would contribute to the equitable governing of the Israelites and would discourage rulers from oppressing the people (cf. 11:1-13; 14:1-11; 20:1-23:49; 34:1-10).
This section contains seven subsections all of which deal with the same basic subject.
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