GOD IS BACK
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Opening Prayer
Lord, as I read your Word, help me see and embrace your amazing love that never gives up on me or lets me go.
Read EZEKIEL 43
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
God’s Glory Returns to the Temple
43 Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, 2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory. 3 The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when he came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown. 4 The glory of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east. 5 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into 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 inside the temple. 7 He said: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever. The people of Israel will never again defile my holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings at their death. 8 When they placed their threshold next to my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they defiled my holy name by their detestable practices. So I destroyed them in my anger. 9 Now let them put away from me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will live among them forever.
10 “Son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their sins. Let them consider its perfection, 11 and if they are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement, its exits and entrances—its whole design and all its regulations and laws. Write these down before them so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations.
12 “This is the law of the temple: All the surrounding area on top of the mountain will be most holy. Such is the law of the temple.
The Great Altar Restored
13 “These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits, that cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth: Its gutter is a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim of one span around the edge. And this is the height of the altar: 14 From the gutter on the ground up to the lower ledge that goes around the altar it is two cubits high, and the ledge is a cubit wide. From this lower ledge to the upper ledge that goes around the altar it is four cubits high, and that ledge is also a cubit wide. 15 Above that, the altar hearth is four cubits high, and four horns project upward from the hearth. 16 The altar hearth is square, twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide. 17 The upper ledge also is square, fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide. All around the altar is a gutter of one cubit with a rim of half a cubit. The steps of the altar face east.”
18 Then he said to me, “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: These will be the regulations for sacrificing burnt offerings and splashing blood against the altar when it is built: 19 You are to give a young bull as a sin offering to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who come near to minister before me, declares the Sovereign Lord. 20 You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the upper ledge and all around the rim, and so purify the altar and make atonement for it. 21 You are to take the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the designated part of the temple area outside the sanctuary.
22 “On the second day you are to offer a male goat without defect for a sin offering, and the altar is to be purified as it was purified with the bull. 23 When you have finished purifying it, you are to offer a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without defect. 24 You are to offer them before the Lord, and the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the Lord.
25 “For seven days you are to provide a male goat daily for a sin offering; you are also to provide a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without defect. 26 For seven days they are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; thus they will dedicate it. 27 At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Reflect
Think back with gratitude to times when there was evidence of God’s continuing perseverance with you.
Despite the past, God perseveres with his people and will return in glory to live among them as their King (vv. 1–7). Israel, however, must stop worshipping other gods and its dead kings (vv. 7–9).1 The temple plan is both encouraging (God still wants to be with them) and confronting (they have not honored his holiness). Thus, it awakens their conscience through God’s love for them and leads them to true remorse over their sin (vv. 10–12).
Israel’s biggest problem is that sin contaminates God’s temple and revolts him until he leaves. The temple illustrates spatially that sin disrupts the relationship with God. Thus, the altar where Israel can meet God needs to be cleansed first (with blood; v. 20). Its enormous size (5.3 m high, 6.4 x 6.4 m on top; vv. 14–16)2 underlines its importance, and approaching it from the east (v. 17) means an orientation toward God and his temple.3 The burnt offerings (entirely burnt) in the consecration process express wholehearted commitment and atonement.4 Salt symbolizes the covenant (v. 24),5 and, as a preservative, it points to an enduring commitment between partners. Establishing a relationship with God involves cleansing from sin, reconciliation, and commitment.
Within the relationship, atonement and renewed commitment (through burnt offerings) continue to be necessary (v. 27). Although Jesus has atoned for our sin on the cross, it is still essential for us to seek forgiveness through repentance and recommitting ourselves to God. Finally, the fellowship offerings (v. 27) are divided between God, priests, and worshippers, signifying a shared meal (hence fellowship). The symbolism in the altar and sacrifices, then, is a meaningful reminder of what it takes to have a thriving relationship with God.
Apply
Thinking of the different areas of your relationship with God (cleansing from sin, commitment, fellowship), which one, if any, do you find challenging?
Closing prayer
God and Father, please convict me of those things that would stand in the way of my relationship with you; help me to know your presence and pleasure in growing measure.
1 Cf. Ezek 8:1–15. 2 The ‘long cubit’ (v. 13) is 53 cm. 3 Unlike the sun-worshippers in Ezek 8:16. 4 Lev 1:4, 9. 5 Lev 2:13.
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