Ezekiel 43:18

And these are the measures of the altar after the cubits: The cubit is a cubit and an hand breadth; even the bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge thereof round about shall be a span: and this shall be the higher place of the altar. These are the measures of the altar - as to the altar of burnt offering, which was the appointed means of access to God. Verse 15. The altar - [HEBREW, har'eel ( H741 )] I:E., MOUNT OF GOD; DENOTING THE HIGH SECURITY TO BE IMPARTED BY IT TO THE RESTORED ISRAEL. IT WAS A HIGH PLACE, BUT A HIGH PLACE OF GOD (AS THE HEBREW FOR "ALTAR" MEANS), NOT OF IDOLS. _ From the altar_ - the Hebrew for "altar" is literally, 'the lion of God' [ 'ªri'eel ( H741)], Arieil (in...

The rites here described are not those of the regular service, but those to be observed on the day of dedication. (Compare Leviticus 8:10 ff; 1Ki 8:63 ff; 2 Chronicles 7:4 ff, In the tabernacle the priest killed the victims, but Moses sprinkled the blood. In the vision the seer is addressed as though he were to perform the part of Moses....

EXPOSITION The consecration of the new temple by the entrance into it of the glory of the God of Israel (Ezekiel 43:1), and a description of the altar with its dedication to the solemn ritual for which it was in future to be employed (Ezekiel 43:13), form the contents of the present chapter, and complete the prophet's picture of the future sanctuary of Israel. EZEKIEL 43:1 The consecration of the temple by the entrance into it of the glory of the God of Israel. EZEKIEL 43:1 AFTERWARD, etc. Having completed the survey of the temple precincts

AND HE SAID UNTO ME, SON OF MAN, THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD,.... This is the voice of the Lord continued, speaking out of the house to the prophet; see Ezekiel 43:6: THESE ARE THE ORDINANCES OF THE ALTAR: not what go before, concerning the measures of it, but what follow, concerning the sacrifices to be offered on it: IN THE DAY WHEN THEY SHALL MAKE IT, TO OFFER BURNT OFFERINGS THEREON, AND SPRINKLE BLOOD THEREON; this plainly shows that this altar is the altar of burnt offerings; such were to be offered on it, and the blood of them to be sprinkled thereon, as follows; that is, upon the horns, corners, and border of it, Ezekiel 43:20....

II. THE TEMPLE WORSHIP (43-44) CHAPTER 43 _ 1. The return of the glory of the Lord and filling the house (Ezekiel 43:1) _ 2. The address to the nation (Ezekiel 43:10) 3. The dimensions of the altar (Ezekiel 43:13) 4. The offerings to be bought (Ezekiel 43:18)...

THE ALTAR. In a system of worship based upon sacrifice, the altar is of special importance: its dimensions (Ezekiel 43:13) and consecration (Ezekiel 43:18) are therefore elaborately described. Approached by steps (Ezekiel 43:17), it consisted of four square stones, each smaller in breadth but greater in height than the one below it, ranging from a base of 27 feet square and 1½ feet high, to the hearth at the top (on which the victim was laid) 18 feet square and 6 feet high thus preserving the proportion of two to three characteristic of the rooms of the Temple proper. Above the hearth were horns (Ezekiel 43:13). The altar

THUS SAITH, &c. See note on 44. D. THE LORD GOD. Hebrew. _Adonai Jehovah_. See note on Ezekiel 2:4. THE ORDINANCES OF THE ALTAR. Compared with the Mosaic tabernacle, the ritual began with the consecration of the priests (Leviticus 8:1); here, they are already consecrated (verses: Ezekiel 43:19, Eze 43:28). In Leviticus 8:11, the altar was anointed with the holy oil; here no anointing, and the priests are only from Zadok's line (Compare Ezekiel 40:46;...

The general purpose of the altar. The burnt-offering was wholly consumed on the altar, of the other offerings only the fat....

_2. The dedication of the altar (43:18-27_) TRANSLATION (18) And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD: These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon. (19) You shall give to the priests the Levites that are of the seed of Zadok who are near unto Me, to minister unto Me, (oracle of the Lord GOD), a young bullock for a sin-offering. (20) And you shall take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the ledge, and upon the border round about: and thus shall you cleanse it and make atonement for it. (21) You shall also take the bullock of the sin-offering, and it shall be burnt in the appointed place of the house, without the sanctuary. (22) And on the second day you shall offer a he-goat without blemish for a sin-offering; and they shall clean...

§ 2. THE ORDINANCES OF THE NEW ISRAEL (EZEKIEL 40-48) This concluding section of the book is dated in the twenty-fifth year of Ezekiel's captivity, i.e. the fourteenth year after the fall of Jerusalem (572 b.c.). It is therefore thirteen years later than the previous section (Ezekiel 33-39), and, with the exception of Ezekiel 29:17, forms the latest part of the book. It is in the form of a vision, which is the counterpart of that in Ezekiel 8-11. There God forsook the old Temple which had been polluted by idolatry. Here we have a description of the Temple of the restored kingdom, of God's return to it, and of the various religious arrangements and institutions of the future. The vision is marked by great minuteness of detail, and no doubt Ezekiel had brooded long and deeply over the particulars of the Temple and its ritual. Yet, as in former cases, there is no reason to doubt that