Ezekiel
Chapter 43
The Glory Returns
He took me to the gate facing east.
Then I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east, accompanied by a sound like the roar of the ocean, and the earth was illuminated with His glory.
This vision resembled the one I had seen when He came to destroy the city, and also the one I saw on the bank of the river Chebar. Then I threw myself to the ground.
The glory of the Lord arrived at the temple through the east gate.
The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; the glory of the Lord was filling the house.
And I heard someone speaking to me from the temple while the man was standing beside me.
The voice said:“Son of man, you have seen the place of my throne, where I will place the soles of my feet, and I will live among the Israelites forever. The people of Israel, including their kings, will no longer defile my Holy Name with their prostitution,
and the kings will not set their thresholds beside mine or their doors beside mine, sharing a common wall. They used to defile my Holy Name with their filthy practices; that is why I destroyed them in my anger.
From now on, if they remove their prostitution and the corpses of their kings from my presence, I shall live among them forever.
Son of man, describe this house to the people of Israel to shame them for their corrupt practices.
If they feel ashamed of their behavior, draw up the plan and show them the design of the temple, including its exits, entrances, shape, and overall arrangement. Explain its rules and laws clearly. Provide all this in writing so they can see and understand the design and layout, and then carry it out.
This is the law of the temple: the entire surrounding area on top of the mountain is considered a most holy place.
Here are the dimensions of the altar (measured in large cubits, each consisting of a cubit plus a handbreadth). The base is one cubit high and one cubit wide. The ledge surrounding it measures one span.
The height of the altar is from the ground level of the base up to the lower platform, which is two cubits high and one cubit wide; from the smaller platform to the larger base, it is four cubits high and one cubit wide.
The altar hearth is four cubits high, with four horns projecting from it.
The hearth itself is square, measuring twelve cubits by twelve cubits.
The square base is fourteen cubits by fourteen cubits, with a ledge all around that is half a cubit thick, and a base that is one cubit all around. The steps are located on the east side.
He said to me: “Son of man, the Lord says this: Regarding the altar, this is how things are to be done when it has been built; for the offering of the holocaust and for the pouring of blood.
To those Levitical priests of the race of Zadok who approach me to serve me—it is the Lord who speaks—you must give a young bull as a sacrifice for sin.
You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns, and the four corners of the base and the surrounding ledge.
In this way, you will purify it and make atonement for it. Then, take the bull for the sin offering, and burn it in a separate room of the house away from the Sanctuary.
On the second day, you must offer an unblemished male goat as a sin offering; the altar must be purified again, just as with the bull.
When you finish the purification, you must offer a young, blemish-free bull, along with an unblemished ram chosen from the flock.
You are to present them before the Lord, and the priests will sprinkle salt on them; then, offer them as a burnt offering to the Lord.
As a sin offering, every day for seven days, you must offer a he-goat, a bull, and an unblemished ram chosen from the flock, for a week.
In this way, the altar will be atoned for, purified, and consecrated.
At the end of that period, on the eighth day and afterward, the priest is to offer your burnt offerings and your communion offerings on the altar, and I will look kindly on you—it is the Lord who speaks.
Commentaries
New Temple and New Land.
The new temple is designed to avoid past mistakes: it will be reinforced. It will have new boundaries to separate the holiness of the people and their land (42:20). Everything will be reorganized from the sanctuary (43:12). God is returning to dwell among His people. This time, it will be forever (43:7).
The Glory Returns.
It was necessary to clearly mark the boundary of the temple area and, within it, the most sacred space, isolating it as much as possible from any external defilement (43:7-9) because what follows is the return of the Lord’s Glory to the new temple (43:4f); the entrance of the Glory is victorious. If for Ezekiel the experience of exile ends with the departure of God’s Glory from Jerusalem, then the end of exile begins with the return of that same Glory to its original place. The prophet notes that having the temple of the Lord and the king’s palace in the same location led to the desecration of the sacred space; therefore, the new temple includes a designated sacred area to prevent any possible defilement (43:10-12).
The place where the Glory of God made its triumphal entrance, the eastern gate, will remain closed forever, symbolizing God’s decision never to abandon his people again (44:1-9). This permanence calls for careful attention to the character of those allowed to enter the temple, excluding the uncircumcised and foreigners (44:7-9).
The next step in preparing the environment for worship involves the quality of those who will perform this ministry (44:10-31). Ezekiel differentiates between the Levites, who have lost their status due to past infidelities and are nearly second-class servants, and the priests, the sons of Zadok, who have the privilege of entering the sanctuary and must adhere to the strictest standards of personal, ritual, and cultic purity.