The Ordinances of the Altar
“And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: 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” (Ezekiel 43:18).
Ezekiel’s Temple is a glorious structure found in Ezekiel chapters 40 through 48. It is primarily a picture of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom, conveying various aspects of how the Kingdom will operate. The symbols are consistent with similar symbology used throughout the Bible. Instructions for building the temple begin immediately after the Armageddon prophecy relating to the nation of Israel in chapters 38 and 39. This suggests a sequential prophetic time line and emphasizes the Kingdom application.
When God specified the building of an altar, he usually required that special sacrifices be made on that altar to prepare it to serve the people in their day-to-day offerings. Perhaps the greatest of these was with Solomon’s Temple. In 1 Kings chapter 8, the number of sacrifices was so great that they “could not be counted.” The great altar in Ezekiel’s Temple also required preparatory sacrifices. Ezekiel 43 describes the sin-offering sacrifices that prepared the altar to accept the further offerings of the people.
As we look at the details of these preparatory sin-offerings we notice that there are many parallels to the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16. This similarity is appropriate, as both rituals picture the Gospel Age sacrifices of Christ and the Church. These sacrifices will prepare the altar for the future offerings of the world in Christ’s mediatorial rule.
If Ezekiel 43 is so similar to Leviticus 16, why is another picture provided for us? Since types and shadows depict later realities, these pictures have limitations. No single type can capture every detail of the antitype. Consequently, God, in his wisdom, provided multiple pictures in order that we might find details in one that are left out in the other. Each type simply offers different perspectives or emphasizes different features of God’s plan.
This article will focus on Ezekiel 43, verses 18 to the end of the chapter.
Verse 18 — “And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: 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.”
Jehovah indicates in this verse that the point of the ordinances was to provide a place where acceptable offerings could be made to God.
Verse 19 — “Thou shalt give to the priests the Levites that are of the seed of Zadok, who are near unto me, to minister unto me, saith the Lord Jehovah, a young bullock for a sin offering.”
The first ordinance of the altar was to give the priesthood a young bullock for a sin offering. The Atonement Day sacrifices begin in the same manner — with a bullock for a sin offering. The interpretation in each case is also the same. The bullock represents Jesus as a perfect man. All of the blessings that God has in store for both the church, in this age, and the world of mankind, in the next age, are dependent upon the ransom sacrifice of Jesus! He is the starting point where justice is satisfied, allowing God’s love to flow unimpeded.
The bullock is given to the priests and not to Israel. In the outworking of God’s plan, He provides atonement first for the followers of Jesus during the Gospel Age. They are the prospective members of the antitypical priesthood. We see the same lesson in Leviticus 16:6. “And Aaron shall present the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself, and for his house.”
Notice that the atonement is “for himself, and for his house.” Those in the Gospel Age who are drawn of God and approach Him through Christ are a special class. They are favored with the invitation to follow in the footsteps of Jesus in leading a life of sacrifice unto death. We have been given the merit of Christ! And so it was that the bullock was given to the priests and offered on their behalf.
The account describes the priests as “the Levites that are of the seed of Zadok.” The name Zadok means “just,” or “righteous.” It is certainly a fitting name to describe the justified followers of Christ! There are several men with the name of Zadok in the scriptures. The most eminent was the priest who served during the kingships of Saul and David. A descendent of Aaron, through the lineage of Eleazar, he was a zealous supporter of King David. He was also a dedicated defender of the Ark of the Covenant when David’s Son, Absalom, attempted to usurp the throne, and later, when David’s other son, Adonijah, did the same.
The high priest, Abiathar, sided with Adonijah in his failed attempt to become king. It was the priest Zadok, not the high priest Abiathar, who anointed Solomon King of Israel. Later, when Abiathar’s treachery was discovered, Solomon expelled him from Jerusalem and made Zadok high priest! Zadok left a beautiful legacy of unwavering loyalty to God and to his servants. So it is that the followers of Jesus, the faithful church, are characterized as the “seed of Zadok,” those possessing the same wonderful traits.1
In verse 20, instructions are provided for treatment of the bullock’s blood.
Verse 20 — “And thou shalt 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: thus shalt thou cleanse it and make atonement for it.”
This procedure is different from Leviticus 16. Because the focus of Ezekiel’s temple is primarily on kingdom work and preparing the altar, it is clear why the blood is not taken into the Most Holy.
In the Day of Atonement picture the emphasis is on that which is antitypically accomplished through the sacrifice of Christ and the church. It has immediate application to consecrated lives. In the Ezekiel picture, the focus is on opening the way of worship for the world of mankind in the Millennium. This is consistent with the understanding that Ezekiel’s temple is a picture of the functioning Kingdom of God under King Jesus. As the Apostle John wrote: “He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2).
A depiction of Ezekiel’s Temple
The altar represents the access that the world will have in their worship of God. This access will have been created by the life-giving blood of Christ. In this case the blood of the bullock is placed on the horns, the corners, and the borders of the altar, in order to cleanse it and make atonement for it. Horns represent power, so placing blood on the horns shows that the altar will be empowered to receive the offerings of the people. Likewise, placing blood on the corners and borders shows that the entire human race will be affected by the power of the blood.
Verse 21 — “Thou shalt also take the bullock of the sin offering, and it shall be burnt in the appointed place of the house, without the sanctuary.”
This last detail respecting the bullock is identical to the procedure found in Leviticus 16. The skin and hide of the bullock are burned outside of the camp. The antitype is likewise the same. The sacrifice of Jesus, so esteemed and precious in the eyes of God, is, in this age, a stinking and repulsive thing to the world.
Verse 22 — “And on the second day thou shalt offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they did cleanse it with the bullock.”
The Lord’s goat on the Day of Atonement represented the church sacrificially following in the footsteps and experiences of their Lord and Master. The same is true here. The goat is without blemish because the church has been justified by the blood of Jesus and can therefore, as seen earlier, offer an acceptable sacrifice.
Interestingly, the blood of the goat is also used to cleanse the altar. This deserves closer attention because the blood of the church has no atoning value. However, their consecrated lives do have value. The object of a life of sacrifice is to be trained as sympathetic priests who can judge and guide mankind up the “highway of holiness” (Isaiah 35:8). Furthermore, the blood of Christ does give our sacrifices value. Whatever merit we bring is, in reality, the merit of Christ. This is seen in the symbol of the very next verse.
Verse 23 — “When thou hast made an end of cleansing it, thou shalt offer a young bullock without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish.”
After the blood of the bullock and the goat is placed on the altar, another young bullock and a ram are offered as burnt offerings. Burnt offerings show God’s acceptance of a previous sin offering. A burnt offering is entirely consumed on the altar. Using a bullock as the burnt offering gives us the basis for the goat’s acceptance. The bullock again represents Jesus. The burnt offering of this bullock shows that the sin offering of the goat is acceptable because of the bullock. That is, our sacrifices are acceptable because of the merit of Christ.
The addition of a ram, as one of the burnt offerings, emphasizes this lesson further. A ram for burnt offering takes our minds to the scene at Mount Moriah, where Abraham prepared to slay his son Isaac in obedience to God’s command. But the act was interrupted while the knife was raised. God then provided a ram as a burnt offering! By providing a burnt offering, God was saying that the offering of Isaac was acceptable, though not actually carried out.
“And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided” (Genesis 22:13, 14).
Thus a ram is associated with the Abrahamic Covenant! The Apostle Paul makes it clear that we are heirs in the covenant. “If ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:29).
The church is developed under the Abrahamic Covenant. The phrase, “The Sarah, or Grace Feature” of the Abrahamic Covenant is sometimes used by brethren to describe the particular blessing that God intends for the church. As Paul stated in the text above, if we are in Christ, then we are heirs to that covenant. So the burnt offering of a ram is a reminder of the promise God made to Abraham, under which the church offers her sacrifice.
Verse 24 — “Thou shalt bring them near before Jehovah, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering unto Jehovah.”
The priests cast salt on the burnt offerings. Salt is a preservative as well as a seasoning. This suggests that there will be a preserved memory of the sacrifices that were made on behalf of the world of mankind. The world will come to understand that the previous sin offerings were appropriate and good, fully fitted to help them attain human perfection.
Another view of the temple
In the next verses there is another departure from the Day of Atonement type.
Verses 25, 26 — “Seven days shalt thou prepare every day a goat for a sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bullock, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish. Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they consecrate it.”
The sacrifice of the goat and the accompanying burnt offerings of the bullock and the ram were to be repeated for seven days! This seems to point to the seven stages of the Gospel Age church as it continues to faithfully lay down its life in consecration. The seven repetitions also emphasize that God’s perfect divine oath is fully achieved with these whom he called out from the world to be Christ’s.
Verse 27 — “And when they have accomplished the days, it shall be that upon the eighth day, and forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord Jehovah.”
This verse has now progressed to the time when the Gospel Age sacrificing is complete and the altar is sanctified. The opportunity to bring acceptable offerings is now available to the willing of the world.
This occurs on the eighth day. Eight represents a new beginning or newness of life. So this eighth day, following the seven days of the Gospel Age, is now the time for sin and death to end. It is a new beginning for the human race. Christ and the church have been fully equipped to be a sympathetic priesthood, intensely interested in bringing everyone who has ever lived into full harmony with God.
Every individual brought back from the grave will have to make a consecration to God if they are to receive eternal life. The blessings of the Kingdom will compel all of the willing to make progress, all the way to human perfection.
The bullock which represented the perfect humanity of Jesus in the Gospel Age types, will then represent the perfection of mankind, as shown in Psalms. “Then will thou delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt offering and in whole burnt offering: Then will they offer bullocks upon thine altar” (Psalms 51:19).
— Br. David Stein
(1) The identification of “the sons of Zadok” is further confirmed in Ezekiel 44:10-14, 15-16. The Levites who had gone far from God, and had been a stumbling block to the whole house of Israel, even ministering to them before their idols, will nevertheless be ministers in the sanctuary; they will not be cut off in second death, but they shall not execute the office of priest. Like the departure (scape) goat of Leviticus 16, they shall bear their iniquity. But the sons of Zadok will offer “the fat and the blood” of the sin offering. In Jehovah’s treatment of the Levites there is a practical lesson for us.