Ezekiel 43:22

43:1-27 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.

And on the second day thou shalt offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering,.... Jarchi observes, that this was not in the tabernacle, but ordered to be in future time by him that speaks; instead of this, another ram was appointed by the law, Exodus 29:15 , this shows the ceremonial law to be changeable, and now abolished: this was typical of Christ, without spot and blemish, and yet figured by the goat, being made sin for his people: and they shall cleanse the altar, as they did cleanse it with the bullock; See Gill on Ezekiel 43:20.

(22) A kid of the goats .—More exactly, a buck of the goats. This was the sin offering prescribed for a ruler ( Leviticus 4:22-23 ). The expression “as they did with the bullock,” implies that the ritual was the same, and the flesh burned in the same way. At the consecration of the altar in Exodus 29:36 , a bullock was required for the sin offering on each of the seven days for the consecration of both the altar and the priests.

Verse 22. - The second day's ceremonial should begin with the offering of a kid of the goats (rather, a he-goat ) without blemish for a sin offering , the ritual observed being probably the same as that of the preceding day. The substitution of a "he-goat," the offering for a ruler who sins ( Leviticus 4:23, 24 ), instead of a "young bullock," which formed the first day's offering, was a deviation from the ritual prescribed for the consecration of the Mosaic altar and priesthood ( Exodus 29:36 ). The object of the offering of the "he-goat" was the same as that of the offering of the "bullock," viz. to cleanse the altar ; not, however, as if the previous day's cleansing had been insufficient and required to be supplemented, or had already become inefficient so as to call for renewal, but in the sense of recalling the meaning and impression of the previous day's ceremonial, and so in a manner linking it on with the several rites of the succeeding days. Ezekiel 43:22

The next day’s sacrifice is here directed. Without blemish: this was a qualification required in all sacrifices, and there were priests appointed to search whether they were perfect, in which search they were very punctual and curious. For a sin offering: see Ezekiel 43:19 . And they, the priests in attendance or course, shall cleanse the altar, with the blood of the kid put upon the altar, as appointed, and as the blood of the bullock, Ezekiel 43:20 .

Consecration of the Altar Ezekiel 43:18. And he said to me, Son of man, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, These are the statutes of the altar in the day when it is erected, to offer burnt-offerings upon it, and to sprinkle blood thereon. Ezekiel 43:19. Thou shalt give to the priests of the tribe of Levi who are of the seed of Zadok, who draw near to me, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, a bullock, a young ox, for a sin-offering. Ezekiel 43:20. And thou shalt take of its blood, and put it upon is four horns, and upon the four corners of the enclosure, and upon the moulding round about; and so absolve and expiate it. Ezekiel 43:21. And thou shalt take the bullock of the sin-offering, and burn it at the appointed place of the house, outside the sanctuary. Ezekiel 43:22. And on the second day thou shalt offer a faultless he-goat for a sin-offering, that they may absolve the altar, as they absolved it with the bullock. Ezekiel 43:23. When thou hast completed the absolution, thou shalt offer a bullock, a young ox, without fault, and a faultless ram of the flock; Ezekiel 43:24. And shalt bring them before Jehovah, and the priests shall throw salt upon them, and sacrifice them as burnt-offering to Jehovah. Ezekiel 43:25. Seven days shalt thou offer a sin-offering goat daily and a bullock, a young ox, and a ram of the flock without fault shall they prepare. Ezekiel 43:26. Seven days shall they expiate the altar, and cleanse it, and fill its hand. Ezekiel 43:27.

And when they have completed these days, it shall come to pass on the eighth day and henceforward, that the priests place your burnt-offerings and your peace-offerings upon the altar, and I will accept you with delight, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. As the altar of the tabernacle and that of Solomon's temple were consecrated before they were used (Leviticus 8:11, Leviticus 8:15, Leviticus 8:19, Leviticus 8:33; 1 Kings 8:62-66; 2 Chronicles 7:4-10), and God commanded and regulated this consecration of the altar of the tabernacle (Exodus 29:10.), so also is the altar of burnt-offering in the new sanctuary to be consecrated before it is used. This command is given to Ezekiel, and the consecration enjoined upon him, not as the representative of the nation, but as a prophet, upon whom, as is frequently the case in the prophetical narratives, those things are said to be enjoined, which are to be set in operation through his proclamation.