Ezekiel 43

Eze 43:1-27.

JEHOVAH'S

RETURN TO THE

TEMPLE.

Everything was now ready for His reception. As the Shekinah glory was

the peculiar distinction of the old temple, so it was to be in the new

in a degree as much more transcendent as the proportions of the new

exceeded those of the old. The fact that the Shekinah glory was not in

the second temple proves that it cannot be that temple which is meant in

the prophecy.

2. the way of the east--the way whereby the glory had departed

(Eze 11:22, 23),

and rested on Mount Olivet (compare

Zec 14:4).

his voice . . . like . . . many waters--So

English Version rightly, as in

Eze 1:24,

"voice of the Almighty";

Re 1:15; 14:2,

prove this. Not as FAIRBAIRN translates, "its

noise."

earth his glory--

(Re 18:1).

3. when I came to destroy the city--that is, to pronounce God's word

for its destruction. So completely did the prophets identify themselves

with Him in whose name they spake.

6. the man--who had been measuring the buildings

(Eze 40:3).

7. the place--that is, "behold the place of My throne"--the place

on which your thoughts have so much dwelt

(Isa 2:1-3;

Jer 3:17;

Zec 14:16-20;

Mal 3:1).

God from the first claimed to be their King politically as well as

religiously: and He had resisted their wish to have a human king, as

implying a rejection of Him as the proper Head of the state. Even when

He yielded to their wish, it was with a protest against their king

ruling except as His vicegerent. When Messiah shall reign at Jerusalem,

He shall then first realize the original idea of the theocracy, with

its at once divine and human king reigning in righteousness over a

people all righteous

(Eze 43:12;

Isa 52:1; 54:13; 60:21).

9. carcasses of their kings--It is supposed that some of their

idolatrous kings were buried within the bounds of Solomon's temple

[HENDERSON]. Rather, "the carcasses of their

idols," here called "kings," as having had lordship over them in

past times

(Isa 26:13);

but henceforth Jehovah, alone their rightful lord, shall be their king,

and the idols that had been their "king" would appear but as

"carcasses." Hence these defunct kings are associated with the "high

places" in

Eze 43:7

[FAIRBAIRN].

Le 26:30

and Jer 16:18,

confirm this. Manasseh had built altars in the courts of the temple to

the host of heaven

(2Ki 21:5; 23:6).

I will dwell in the midst . . . for ever--

(Re 21:3).

10. show the house . . . that they may be ashamed of their iniquities--When the spirituality of the Christian scheme is shown to men by the

Holy Ghost, it makes them "ashamed of their iniquities."

12. whole . . . most holy--This superlative, which had

been used exclusively of the holy of holies

(Ex 26:34),

was now to characterize the entire building. This all-pervading

sanctity was to be "the law of the (whole) house," as

distinguished from the Levitical law, which confined the peculiar

sanctity to a single apartment of it.

13-27. As to the altar of burnt offering, which was the appointed

means of access to God.

15. altar--Hebrew, Harel, that is, "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, not of idols.

from the altar--literally, "the lion of God," Ariel (in

Isa 29:1,

"Ariel" is applied to Jerusalem). MENOCHIUS

supposes that on it four animals were carved; the lion perhaps was the

uppermost, whence the horns were made to issue. GESENIUS regards the two words as expressing the "hearth"

or fireplace of the altar.

16. square in the four squares--square on the four sides of its squares

[FAIRBAIRN].

17. settle--ledge [FAIRBAIRN].

stairs--rather, "the ascent," as "steps" up to God's altar were

forbidden in

Ex 20:26.

18-27. The sacrifices here are not mere commemorative, but propitiatory

ones. The expressions, "blood"

(Eze 43:18),

and "for a sin offering"

(Eze 43:19, 21, 22),

prove this. In the literal sense they can only apply to the

second temple. Under the Christian dispensation they would directly

oppose the doctrine taught in

Heb 10:1-18,

namely, that Christ has by one offering for ever atoned for sin.

However, it is possible that they might exist with a

retrospective reference to Christ's sufferings, as the Levitical

sacrifices had a prospective reference to them; not propitiatory

in themselves, but memorials to keep up the remembrance of His

propitiatory sufferings, which form the foundation of His kingdom, lest

they should be lost sight of in the glory of that kingdom [DE BURGH]. The particularity of the

directions make it unlikely that they are to be understood in a merely

vague spiritual sense.

20. cleanse--literally, "make expiation for."

21. burn it . . . without the sanctuary--

(Heb 13:11).

26. Seven days--referring to the original directions of Moses for

seven days' purification services of the altar

(Ex 29:37).

consecrate themselves--literally, "fill their hands," namely, with

offerings; referring to the mode of consecrating a priest

(Ex 29:24, 35).

27. I will accept you--

(Eze 20:40, 41;

Ro 12:1;

1Pe 2:5).