The Sacrificial Ritual of Ezekiel 43
Understanding Leviticus chapter 16 has blesssed Bible Students for well over 120 years.1 It is interesting to note that Ezekiel 43:18-27 has many of the same symbols and overall tone. We believe it is another picture of the Antitypical Atonement Day sacrifices of the Gospel Age, as it is a ritual that takes place immediately before the activation of Ezekiel’s Temple, which is a Millennial Age picture. The differences between Ezekiel 43 and Leviticus 16 are particularly interesting. Ezekiel in overview shows:
Verse 18 – The offerings for the Altar
Verse 19 – The Sons of Zadok offer a Bullock for a Sin-Offering, Day 1
Verse 20 – The procedures for the Bullock’s blood
Verse 21 – Burning the Bullock outside the Sanctuary
Verse 22 – The Goat for a Sin-Offering, Day 2
Verse 23, 24 – The Bullock and Ram for a Burnt Offering
Verse 25, 26 – Seven Days of Sin-Offering Goats
Verse 27 – At the end, on the 8th day, the Altar is ready to receive the peace offerings of the people.
DAY 1
The prophecy of Ezekiel’s Temple begins in Ezekiel chapter 40. We are given a great deal of detail regarding the structure itself. It concludes with a description of the great Altar in Ezekiel 43:13-17, where we are given the instruction necessary to put the Altar into service. As is always the case, it is sanctified with sacrifices offered by priests. In this account, the priests that are qualified to do it are the sons of Zadok in verse 19.
“And thou shalt give to the priests the Levites that be of the seed of Zadok, which approach unto me, to minister unto me, saith the Lord GOD, a young bullock for a sin offering.”
Who is the “seed of Zadok?” During the reign of David and Solomon there was a particularly faithful priest of that name. His faithfulness is recounted in 2 Samuel and 1 Kings. So we associate his name with faithful priestly service. Consequently, those of the “seed of Zadok” we understand are likewise faithful in the office of priest. Add to that the fact that Zadok means “righteous.” This is another indicator of the righteousness and faithfulness of the class intended.2
We suggest that the seed of Zadok represent The Christ. This is the royal priesthood with Jesus as our High Priest with all the faithful members of his mystical body. It is they who carry out the sacrifices of the Gospel Age and are permitted to minister unto God. This perspective also explains the specific absence of the High Priest in this picture.
The first sacrifice of the ritual is a bullock for a sin-offering. This corresponds to the first sacrifice of the Atonement Day sacrifices. Verse 20 continues the instructions:
“And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it.”
Ezekiel, the Prophet
We associate the bullock with the sacrifice of Jesus just as we do in Leviticus 16. It is a powerful animal with a great deal of fat. This depicts the perfections of the man Jesus and his fullness of zeal for his heavenly Father. The sanctifying blood of the bullock is to be applied to various places on the Altar. This is a little different than on Atonement Day where the blood is sprinkled on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. Here the focus is on the Altar. The horns, corners, and border of the Altar are all covered with blood indicating an empowerment of the Altar. That the bullock is slain first, tells us that the whole process depends upon this initial sacrifice. Jesus is preeminent in the Divine Plan. Any acceptability that the church has is due entirely to our Forerunner and the value of his sacrifice.
Verse 21 – “Thou shalt take the bullock also of the sin offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place of the house, without the sanctuary.”
We have another similarity here with the Atonement Day as the body of the sin-offering bullock is to be burned without or outside of the sanctuary. We suggest the same lesson that the sacrifice of Jesus was not appreciated by those in the world, i.e. outside of the sanctuary class.
DAY 2
Before we go on to the next sacrifice, note that there is no separate burnt offering associated with the bullock. It seems to stand alone. We think the significance of this comes into focus when we look at the burnt offerings that are required for the subsequent sin-offerings.
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.”
Here we have the second sacrifice, the goat. This corresponds to the Lord’s Goat sacrificed on the Atonement Day, and is a picture of the church. In Leviticus 16, the High Priest does the same thing with the blood of the Lord’s goat as was done with the blood of the bullock. It is the same case here. The goat’s blood is used to cleanse the Altar in the exact same manner as the blood of the bullock had done. This demonstrates the close association the church’s sacrifice has with that of our Lord in the cleansing and empowering of the Altar.
Verse 23, 24 – “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. And thou shalt offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering unto the LORD.”
We now reach the point of the first burnt offerings. There are two: a bullock and a ram. This is different than the Atonement Day ritual where a ram for a burnt offering was offered after the sin-offerings, after the scapegoat was dealt with and after Aaron had changed into the garments of glory and beauty. Whereas here, two burnt offerings are required immediately after the blood of the goat is applied to the Altar.
Burnt Offerings, as types, represent how God accepts the sacrifices, that is, he accepts them “wholly,” 3 not in part. Everything placed on the altar is consumed and ascends unto heaven. How God accepts a sacrifice also includes symbolic references to the covenants or legal basis to accept the sacrifice. For example, the choice of a ram reminds us of the ram accepted in place of Isaac when the Abrahamic covenant was fully completed by Abraham’s obedience in offering his son. In Ezekiel 43 we have both a ram and a bullock. So we conclude that the legal/covenant basis for the acceptance of the goat, i.e. the church, is the Abrahamic covenant 4 and the sacrifice of Jesus, the bullock!
SEVEN DAYS FOLLOWING
We noted earlier that there were no burnt offerings associated with the sacrifice of the bullock. The absence of a bullock for a burnt offering is understandable. If the bullock burnt offering brings us back to the sacrifice of Jesus, the original bullock sin-offering, it would be redundant if it were seen following that first sacrifice. It would be almost like saying “Jesus sacrifice is acceptable because of Jesus’ sacrifice.” Our sacrifice is acceptable because of Jesus’ sacrifice. But Jesus’ sacrifice is fully and totally acceptable as is.5
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 purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves.”
A goat was offered each day for seven days.
Here we have a significant departure from the Atonement Day type which had but one goat for the sin-offering. Here there are seven goats, one each on seven successive days. The emphasis here is on the entire time of the Gospel Age in its seven stages. At each stage of the church, there continues faithful sacrificing on the part of the antitypical priests. It is acceptable sacrificing, as indicated by the successive burnt offering on each day.
THE EIGHTH DAY
Verse 27 – “And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord GOD.”
We reach the end of the sin-offerings on the eighth day. Now the Altar is ready to receive the free-will peace offering of Israel. This betokens the end of the Gospel age of sacrifice with the full and final acceptance of the sacrifice of The Christ.
That this should occur on the eighth day is quite beautiful. Eight represents newness of life. Jesus was resurrected to the divine nature on the eighth day! (The day after the Sabbath.) That is the thought here. The Christ is now glorified, in possession of the divine nature and ready to begin the reign of righteousness of the Mediatorial Age. Israel first and all mankind will then have an Altar on which to willingly present themselves in full consecration, not unto death, but unto Life. The way of access is open and the blessings will begin.
This inauguration of the Altar on the eighth day can be noted in one more parallel found in Leviticus chapters 8 and 9. The consecration of the Aaronic Priesthood took seven days. Then, regarding the eighth day, we read this in Leviticus 9:1-4. “And it came to pass on the eighth day … for to day the LORD will appear unto you.”
After the sacrifices were offered, the high priest came out and blessed the people. The meaning here is the same as we saw in Ezekiel 43 and fits the Ezekiel sequence well.
As we leave Ezekiel chapter 43 and move to chapter 44, the emphasis now shifts to the activities of Christ’s Kingdom.
Why does the Lord prepare this picture which is similar in many ways to the Leviticus 16 type? The Atonement Day pictures pertain to the daily sin-offering experiences of Jesus and the Church. There are many very personal and intimate lessons for the New Creation there. In the Ezekiel type, we see Christ and the church more collectively, as a group doing the faithful work of sacrificing in order to bless Israel and all mankind in the Kingdom. This perspective works quite beautifully as a component of the Ezekiel Temple vision.
– Br. David Stein
(1) See Tabernacle Shadows, pages 72-74.
(2) We see this name in the ancient King-Priest of Salem, Melchizedek, whose name means “King” (melchi) of “Righteousness” (zedek, or as we see it here, Zadok).
(3) It is interesting to note that the Greek word for whole burnt offering is “holocaust” – for example, holokautomata in Hebrews 10:6,8.
(4) More particularly, it is the “Sarah Feature” of the Abrahamic Covenant that is symbolized here by the burnt offering of the Lamb. CT Russell provides an excellent description of this in the Question Book, pages 169,170, “Covenants – End of the Sarah”
“Question – Does the Sarah Covenant come to an end when the spiritual seed is born?
“Answer – Yes. To my understanding, the Sarah feature of the covenant will come to an end when the promised seed shall have come to its fullness. The Sarah Covenant did not come to an end when Jesus reached the plane of spirit glory, representing Isaac in the picture, but it did come to an end before Rebecca was united to Isaac. Rebecca represents the church class, and their union represents the union of Christ and the Church, and at the time when Isaac and Rebecca were united, Sarah was dead, for we read that Isaac took her into Sarah, his mother’s tent, representing that the Church, typified by Rebecca, will take the place of this Sarah Covenant, and the Church will be the power through which the Lord will bring to pass the blessing of the New Covenant, which will bless all the families of the earth. The Sarah Covenant brings forth the seed, and the Church operates in connection with this and will bless all families of the earth” (Q169, 1909).
(5) Something similar may be seen in the wave offerings described in Leviticus 23. The first wave offering of barley is presented on Nisan 16 and it is offered as a sheaf of barley. The second wave offering is two loaves of wheat baked with leaven and is waved on Pentecost. The first, representing Jesus, is acceptable as is. The second, representing the church, is NOT acceptable in its native form, but has to be processed. It is ground to flour and baked with leaven, a symbol of sin. Of course leaven is destroyed in the baking process, but only then is the end product, the two loaves, acceptable to be a wave offering to the Lord. The fact that two loaves are made suggested the two parts of the church, the little and great company.