Ezekiel 43 commentary

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.

CHAPTER 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 (Is 2:1-3; Jr 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; Is 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 (Is 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 Jr 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.

The glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east - This was the chariot of cherubim, wheels, etc., which he saw at the river Chebar. And this glory, coming from the east, is going to enter into the eastern gate of the temple, and thence to shine out upon the whole earth. Is there not a mystery here? All knowledge, all religion, and all arts and sciences, have traveled, according to the course of the sun, From East To West! From that quarter the Divine glory at first came; and thence the rays of Divine light continue to diffuse themselves over the face of the earth. From thence came the Bible, and through that the new covenant. From thence came the prophets, the apostles, and the first missionaries, that brought the knowledge of God to Europe, to the isles of the sea, and to the west first, and afterwards to these northern regions.

The spirit took me up - And, to follow this thought for a moment, how many men has this heavenly Spirit taken up; filled them with his own influence, and sent them to every country, and nation, and tongue, and people, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God, and to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ! What spiritual temples have been raised, beautified, and filled with the glory of God! And this light is shining and burning more and more unto the perfect day, when the whole earth shall be filled with the glory of God!

Son of man, the place of my throne - The throne refers to his majesty; the soles of his feet, to his condescension in dwelling among men.

Where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel - The tabernacle and temple were types of the incarnation of Jesus Christ: "Destroy This Temple, and after three days I will raise it up; - but this he spake of the temple of his body;" Joh 2:19, Joh 2:21. And in That Temple "dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Into this immaculate humanity did the glory of the Supreme God enter; and thus, "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself." And this Jesus is Immanuel, God with Us. In him we find united the ineffable majesty of God, with the abjectness of man. He humbled himself in human nature, not only to bear the form of a servant, but to suffer death upon the cross as a malefactor slave! But by these means he has purchased eternal redemption for us; and the spiritual Israel, who find redemption in his blood, shall be raised up wherever his holy name shall be proclaimed; and shall not, like the old apostate Israel, defile that great name by idolatry or a life of wickedness, but they shall show forth the virtues of Him who has called them from darkness into his marvellous light.

In their setting of their threshold - They had even gone so far as to set up their idol altars by those of Jehovah; so that their abominable idols were found in the very house of God! therefore, "he consumed them in his anger."

Now let them put away their whoredom - Their idolatry.

And the carcasses of their kings - It appears that God was displeased with their bringing their kings so near his temple. David was buried in the city of David, which was on Mount Zion, near to the temple; and so were almost all the kings of Judah; but God requires that the place of his temple and its vicinity shall be kept unpolluted; and when they put away all kinds of defilement, then will he dwell among them.

Show the house to the house of Israel - Show them this holy house where the holy God dwells, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. Their name, their profession, their temple, their religious services, all bound them to a holy life; all within them, all without them, should have been holiness unto the Lord. But alas! they have been bound by no ties, and they have sinned against all their obligations; nevertheless, let them measure the pattern, let them see the rule by which they should have walked, and let them measure themselves by this standard, and walk accordingly.

And if they be ashamed - If, in a spirit of true repentance, they acknowledge their past transgressions, and purpose in his help never more to offend their God, then teach them every thing that concerns my worship, and their profiting by it.

This is the law of the house - From the top of the mountain on which it stands, to the bottom, all round about, all shall be holy; no buildings shall be erected in any part, nor place nor spot be appropriated to a common use; all shall be considered as being most holy.

The cubit is a cubit and a hand breadth - It is the same cubit by which all the previous admeasurements were made, and was a hand breadth or four inches longer than the Babylonian cubit.

So the altar - ההראל haharel, "the mount of God."

And from the altar - ומהאראיל umihaariel, "and from the lion of God." Perhaps the first was a name given to the altar when elevated to the honor of God, and on which the victims were offered to him, and the second, the lion of God, may mean the hearth, which might have been thus called, because it devoured and consumed the burnt-offerings, as a lion does his prey. See on Isa 29:1 (note).

And the settle - The ledge on which the priests walked round the altar, see Eze 43:14. By these settles or ledges the altar was narrowed towards the top. "The ascent shall look toward the east;" this ascent was an inclined plane. But these settles, or more properly ledges, as Bp. Newcome translates, may be thus computed. The altar itself was ten feet high and twenty broad; the same as that of Solomon, 2Chr 4:1.

Height Cubits For the base, Eze 43:13, is in height 1 From the surface of the base to the first ledge, Eze 43:14 1 From the lower ledge to the upper, Eze 43:14 4 From the upper ledge to the ariel or hearth, Eze 43:15 4 In all 10 Breadth Cubits And as to the breadth, the upper ledge, Eze 43:17, was 14 Add a cubit on each side for the higher ledge, Eze 43:14, latter part 2 Add a cubit on each side for the lower ledge, Eze 43:14, former part 2 Add a cubit on each side for the base, Eze 43:13 2 In all 20

The altar of burnt-offerings, described Exo 27:1; Exo 38:1, was smaller than this, because it was to be removed from place to place with the tabernacle. This was designed for a permanent temple. See Bp. Newcome on this chapter.

The priests - that be of the seed of Zadok - It was this Zadok that was put in the place of Abiathar, by Solomon, 1Kgs 2:35, in whose family the priesthood had continued ever since.

Seven days shalt thou prepare - These are, in general, ordinances of the Law; and may be seen by consulting the parallel passages. All these directions are given that they might follow them, when they should be put in possession of their own land. For in several cases the prophet enters into particulars, as if he had supposed that the book of the law had perished.

Came - When the glory departed, it went eastward, and now it returns, it comes from the east. And his voice - Though by the voice of God, thunder is sometimes meant, yet here it was an articulate voice.

And it - This glory of the God of Israel. To destroy - To declare, that their sins would ruin their city, chap.9:3,4. I fell - Overwhelmed, and as it were swallowed up.

Came - The sins of Israel caused the glory of the Lord to go out of his house, now the repentance of Israel is blest with the return of this glory.

The man - Christ. Stood - To encourage, and strengthen him.

He - The glorious God of Israel. My throne - The throne of his grace is in his temple; in the dispensations of grace, God manifests himself a king. My feet - Speaking after the manner of men, and expressing his abode and rest, in his temple, as the type, in his church, as the antitype. In their high places - Perhaps some kings were buried in the temples of their idols, near the idols they worshipped.

Their threshold - The kings of Judah and Israel, built temples and altars for their idols, and these are called their thresholds. They erected these in the courts, or near the courts of the temple. Abominations - Idolatries, and wickednesses not to be named.

Far from me - From my temple.

Son of man - Ezekiel, who is called thus above eighty times in this book. Shew - Describe it to them in all the parts. To the house - To the rulers, prophets, and priests especially, not excluding others. Their iniquities - When they shall blush to see what glory their iniquities had ruined.

The law - This is the first comprehensive rule: holiness becomes God's house; and this relative holiness referred to personal and real holiness. The top - The whole circuit of this mountain shall be holy, but the top of it on which the temple stands, shall be most holy.

The altar - Of burnt - offerings. And an hand - breath - The sacred cubit, three inches longer than the common cubit. The bottom - The ledge or settle, fastened to the altar on all sides at the bottom, shall be a cubit in height. The breadth - From the edge of this bench on the outside to the edge where it joined the body of the altar, a cubit, and this the breadth, twenty one inches, broad enough for the priests to walk on. Border - A ledge going round on all the squares. The edge - On the outer edge of this settle a span high. The back - As the back bears burdens, so this was to bear the weight of the whole altar.

From the bottom - From the first ledge, which was a cubit broad, and a cubit high from the ground. To the lower - To the top of that square settle, which is called lower, because another settle is raised upon it. Two cubits - In height. The lesser - From the highest edge of the uppermost settle, down to the cubit broad ledge about the lower settle. The greater - So called, because it exceeded the upper settle a cubit in breadth. Four cubits - ln height.

Four cubits - In height. From the altar - From the top of the altar.

Stairs - Or steps, for such they needed, (probably each stair about one fourth of a cubit,) to carry them, up to the first and second settles.

Give - Direct, or command that it be given.

Shalt take - Appoint it to be taken.

He - The priest. In the appointed place - That is, in the court of the house, and on the altar appointed; this is the first day's sacrifice.

They - The priests in attendance.

Shalt offer - On the third day, and so on, through seven days.

Shalt offer - Direct them to offer. Salt - It may allude to the perpetuity of the covenant thus made by sacrifice.

They - The priests in course.

I will accept you - Those that give themselves to God, shall be accepted of God, their persons first, and then their performances, through the mediator.

1 AFterward he brought me to the gate , even the gate that looketh toward the East .

After that the Measuring of the Temple was finished.

From the West Gate where the whole was finished, and where the 42 Chapter left the Prophet.

Which least we should mistake, is expressly described the East Gate.

Of the first Wall measur'd, where he began with the Angel; chap. 40. ver. 6. From this Gate, in a direct line, you have the fairest Prospect of the Temple.

2 And behold , the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the East: and his voice was like a noise of many waters, and the earth shined with his glory .

Sometime this word is expletive, but here surely it stands for more, it expresseth no doubt, the joy the Prophet had to see this excellent sight, which should not be seen there more then sixty years; for in the sixth year of the Captivity, the Glory of God left the City, chap. 11. ver. 22, 23. and now the Prophet foreseeth its return after the setling the Temple, its Buildings, and Ordinances, which took up a great time, as is evident, Iohn 2.20. which time of 46 years, (viz. 30 in Cyrus, 8 in Cambyses, and some 6 in Darius) is very near accounted. So that between the departure, and the return of the Glory of God, are about One Hundred, and Six, or Eight Years; And about Fourscore between this vision, and the accomplishment.

vid. chap. 1. ver. 28. let. i. k. l. m.

Of him, who is an Infinitely Glorious Being, yet in Covenant with us, as a peculiar people of God.

When the Glory departed, it went Eastward, and now that it returns, it comes from the East.

Though by the Voice of God, Thunder is sometimes meant, yet here it was an articulate voice, as appears ver. 7. and 8. Perhaps this might be attended with Thunder, as usually in such cases.

Terrible, and a mighty voice, as the noise of mighty Waves of the Sea; so chap. 1.24. and Rev. 1.15.

Not the whole Earth, but that part about Ierusalem, and the Temple.

The Rays of Glory, like the Sun-Beams, made the dark Earth to shine with Glorious Light.

vid. let. f. where reference is to the like place and Glory.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 paragraph]

3 And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw, when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw at the river Chebar: and I fell upon my face.

This Glory of the God of Israel.

Vid. chap. 1. ver. 4. let. n. and chap. 1. ver. 28. let. i. k. l.

To declare, that their sins would ruin their City, chap. 9. ver. 3. let. r. and chap. 10. ver. 4. let. u. which see. Here the effect seems ascribed to him, though he only declares it will be.

Vid. chap. 1. ver. 1, 3.

Overwhelmed, and as 'twere swallowed up. Vid. chap. 1. ver. 28. l[illegible: 1 letter]t. l.

Marginal references: Chap. [illegible: 1 word]; Or, [illegible: 1 span]; Je[illegible: 1 letter]. [illegible: 3 letters]

4 And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate, whose prospect is toward the east.

Vid. ver. 3. let. o.

The sins of impenitent Israel caused the Glory of the Lord to go out of his house, but now the Repentance of Israel is blest with the return of this Glory.

The Temple where before it dwelt.

Whose Front looks Eastward. Vid. ver 2. let. h.

5 So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court , and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house .

Vid. chap. 2. ver. 2. let. s.

Carried me, at least supported, and moved.

The Court next to the house of the Lord, this was the innermost Court.

Either with Splendor and Brightness, or with a Cloud, such as formerly was, Lev. 16.2. and 1 Kings 8.10, 11. Token of his presence.

The Temple.

6 And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house , and the man stood by me.

Distinctly, intelligibly, so that I am sure it was no delusion.

The Lord, who was in that Glory.

What was spoken appears in the next two Verses.

God speaks to his out of his Temple.

Christ Mediator.

To encourage, inform, and strengthen him.

7 And he said unto me, son of man, the place of my throne , and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever , and my holy name shall the house of Israel no more defile , neither they , nor their kings, by their whoredom , nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places .

The glorious God of Israel.

His Throne, i. e. of Glory, and Majesty is in Heaven, but the Throne of his Grace is in his Temple, in the dispensations of Grace, God manifests himself a King.

After the manner of man God speaks, and expresseth his abode and rest, where 'tis in his Temple, as Type, in his Church▪ a[illegible: 1 letter] the Antitype.

Not only shall my Ordinances be here administred, but I my self will dwell there.

For a very long time, till the age of infancy with the Iewish Church be over, and to Eternity with my Church, signified by this Temple and City.

Vid chap. 22. ver. 26. let. z. and chap. 36.20. let. p.

Dishonour, and bring into contempt, as they have done.

The Priests, the false Prophets, and the common People, nor their Governours and Kings.

By Idolatries, and worshipping of strange gods, which after the Captivity, they did very punctually abstain from; as Stories assure us.

Either the dead Bodies of their deceased Kings, buried too near the Temple, les[illegible: 1 letter] likely; Or by the Sacrificing of men to their Idols to Moloch; or Idols are here called Carcases, as dead▪ stinking, loathsome things in the sight of God. Or, if I had instances of any Kings, buried in the Temples of the Idols, I should incline to interpret this passage of the profane, and wicked burying Idolatrous Kings near the Idols they Worshipped.

Where Idol Temples, and Idol Worship were Celebrated.

Marginal references: Chro. 28.2.

8 In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger .

The Idolatrous Kings of Iudah and Israel, built Temples and Altars for their Idols, and these are called their thresholds. The Iewes, or people of Iudah, and their Kings, Erected these in the Courts, or near the Courts of the Temple, and so in local nearness, their Threshold was by God's Thresholds, and their Pests by his that they were a nuisance to him.

And there was but a Wall between me and them, that under my Eye, and within my hearing, they have with greatest presumption defiled my name.

Despised my Ordinances, corrupted my Worship or forsaken it, used me as if I were neither great nor holy.

Abominable Idolatries, and wickednesses not to be named.

Acted boldly, and openly, against Precept, Threat, and Admonitions.

For which sins I brought destruction upon them; The Chaldaeans ruin'd them, but they were the Rod of Gods Anger.

In great displeasure and wrath, i. e. in my provoked Justice, as chap. 20. ver. 13. l[illegible: 1 letter]t. i. and chap. 23. ver. 31. let. d.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 letter]r, for there [illegible: 1 word] but a wall [illegible: 3 letters]ween me and [illegible: 1 word].

9 Now let them put away their whoredom , and the carcases of their kings far from me , and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever .

Cast away, as impure and loath[illegible: 1 letter]ome things should be cast away.

See ver. 7. let. t.

Ibid. l[illegible: 1 letter]t. u.

My Temple and Worship.

As their sight▪ protection and glory; t[illegible: 1 letter]e promises which are made in these cases, enjoyn us duty▪ Men may sin away God's presence, and Blessings; cast away all [illegible: 1 letter]in that God cast not you away.

See ver. 7. let. p.

This Verse is either Prophetick, or Preceptive, i[illegible: 1 letter] doth direct the Iew, what he should in duty do under this Temple▪ and foretel what the people of God will do under the Gospel.

10 Thou son of man , shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities , and let them measure the pattern .

Ezekiel, who is call'd thus above 80 times in this Book.

He could not lay a model before their eye, but he could, and this is requir'd, describe it to them in all the parts.

Temple, which he had seen, and exactly measured.

To the Rulers, Prophets and Priests especially, not excluding others.

When they shall blush to see what Glory their iniquities had ruin'd: How great losers they were by their sins, or else thus interpret the meaning of these things, and let the Iewes know what a Church God will erect among the Gentiles, that so the Iewes may be asham'd of their iniquities, which provoked God to cast them off, and to destroy their Church and State.

As thou declarest let them write down, delineate all, and then compute the whole, that they may fully comprehend it.

Marginal references: Or, sum, or, number.

11 And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof , and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the lawes thereof: and write it in their sight , that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.

The house of Israel.

Repent, and shew it by manifest tokens.

'Tis not true Repentance, which is ashamed of some only, but not of all sins.

The model of the Temple.

The manner of the Building, and fitting each part to other.

All the Alleys, Gates, Staires, &c.

Which ought to be observed, saith the French Version; Now though this be not in the Hebrew, yet the word may imply as much, it being an Idea, Pattern or Platform, to which a thing is to be conformed.

Rites and Orders, Rules of Governing Priests, and their services. These are again repeated in the next words of the Verse, which is usual in Scripture, and with this Prophet.

That it may be remembred, they shall have a draught of it from thy hand, and drawn in their sight, that they may enquire of any particular, wherein doubt ariseth.

As Moses and Solomon did, so must the Builders of this Temple, frame the whole to the Pattern, or Exemplar set before them, for not doing whereof, a heavy account lyeth on some in the Church.

12 This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain, the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy: behold, this is the law of the house.

This is the first comprehensive rule. Holiness becomes Gods House or Temple, this relative holiness refer'd to personal, and real holiness, and requir'd it.

The whole circuit of [illegible: 1 letter]his Mountain shall be holy, but the top of it, on which the Temple stands shall be most holy, into which only holy persons, and holy things shall be brought.

13 And these are the measures of the altar after the cubits; the cubit is a cubit and an hand-breadth ; even the bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge thereof round about shall be a span, and this shall be the higher place of the altar.

Of burnt Offerings; for the Altar of Incense was within the Temple, and is called the Golden Altar, but this in this verse is the Brazen Altar, and stood in the Court of the house.

The great or sacred Cubit, three inches longer then the common Cubit.

The ledge or settle, or as a little bench fasten'd to the Altar on all sides at the bottom, shall be a Cubit in height.

From the edge of this settle, or bench on the outside to the edge, where it join'd the body of the Altar a Cubit, and this the breadth 21 inches, broad enough for the Priests to walk on round the Altar, as they had occasion.

A ledge going round on all the squares.

On the outer edge of this settle a span high, about 9 inches, which was to prevent the Priests that they slipt not down in walking on this settle.

This seems somewhat harsh Translated; the French hath it, this shall be the back of the Altar, as the back bears burthens, so this should bear the weight of the whole Altar; this the Basis or bottom, as called before, which was one Cubit in each square broader, then the next square frame or settle.

Marginal references: Chap. 40.5. and 41.8.; Heb. Bosom.; Heb. Lip.

14 And from the bottom upon the ground, even to the lower settle shall be two cubits , and the breadth one cubit ; and from the lesser settle even to the greater settle shall be four cubits , and the breadth one cubit .

From the superficies of the first ledge, which was a Cubit broad, and a Cubit high from the ground.

To the top of that square settle, which is called lower, because another settle is raised upon it.

In height.

On every square, as first and bottom settle, which by this account was two Cubits larger in each square or side, then the middle settle.

From the highest edge of the uppermost settle, down to the Cubit broad ledge about the lower settle. The Prophet measures now downward.

So called, because it exceeded the upper settle a Cubit in breadth on each side.

In the height thereof,

As the two other were.

15 So the altar shall be four cubits , and from the altar and upward shall be four horns.

This upper part is now called the Altar, though sometimes this name is given to the whole, as verse 13. let. g.

In height for it was of much greater wideness, as in the next verse.

From the top of the Altar, at each corner shall be a horn, four in all.

Marginal references: Heb. Harel, that is the mountain of God.; Heb. Ariel, that is, the Lyon of God. Isa. 29.1.

16 And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof.

That which in the 15th verse is precisely determin'd to be the Altar, the uppermost and least settle.

An exact square, by which we may know the dimensions of the other two, the first of the two was wider by two Cubits, and longer by two Cubits, then the highest, and the lowest was as much greater▪ and larger, then the middlemost. The highest twelve Cubits square, the middle fourteen Cubits square, and the lowest sixteen Cubits square.

17 And the settle shall be fourteen cubits long, and fourteen broad in the four squares thereof, and the border about it shall be half a cubit , and the bottom thereof shall be a cubit about, and his stairs shall look toward the east .

So call'd now, since the uppermost carrieth the name of Altar, proper to it self.

As said in the former verse, nor can it be otherwise, since 'tis one cubit on each side broader then the Altar, which was 12 cubits square.

Or a border, or ledge, fastned to the edge of the outside of this bench, that goes round about the settle.

About eleven inches, being the hal of this great cubit, now this border was for security to the Priests in their going round the Altar, that if a foot slipt, this border might stay it.

The superficies, on which the Priest treads, when he is doing any thing on the Altar, or the breadth of this bench within the border, a cubit.

Or steps, for such they needed, and probably each stair about one fourth of a cubit, to carry them up to the first and second settles.

These stairs placed Eastward, that who went up should have his face to the West, his back to the East, his face toward God, not toward the rising Sun, as they, who made the Sun their Idol.

18 And he said unto me, son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD, 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 .

These are the measures and proportions for building the Altar.

Whensoever.

The returned Captives shall build and use it.

It appears then, this was the great Brazen Altar, of which see, Exod. 38.30. and 39.39.

According to the Law, Lev. 1.5.

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 .

Direct, or command that it be given; for the Prophet could not bestow such a gift on them.

Explaining who were meant by the Priests.

Who was put into Abiathars room. Vid. chap. 40. verse 46. and chap. 44. verse 15.

Vid. chap. 42. verse 13. let. q. r.

The Sacrifice appointed, Exod. 29.1, 36. at the Consecrating of the Priests.

An expiatory Sacrifice, to make an atonement for errors, and to reconcile the person that brought the Sacrifice. New consecration and reconciliation, needful after so long an interruption of their ministration, and for such as never were before consecrated.

Marginal references: Lev. 8.14, 15.

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 settle , and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it.

Appoint it to be taken.

Of the slain Bullock.

Not all, but some of the blood, on the horns of the Altar, as Lev. 4.30. prescribeth, and as Moses did, Lev. 8.15.

On which the Altar stood, which was two cubits high, and set upon one of a cubit high from the ground.

See verse 17. let. e.

Make it legally clean, that it may be fit for so sacred an use▪ as this of Sacrificing was.

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.

As verse 20. let. x.

The Priest of Zadok's line, that by his course in ministration, ought at that time to offer the Sacrifice.

Either the whole, or so much as is commanded to be burnt.

The house here is not the Temple it self, but a place within the circuit of the most Consecrated ground; 'tis called the place of the house, because the place in which the house was built, which is the Sanctuary or Temple. This was done without the Gate, without the Camp, while the Tabernacle stood. Now 'tis to be done in the Court of the house, and on the Altar appointed and consecrated, this is the first days Sacrifice.

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 next days Sacrifice is here directed.

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.

Vid. verse 19. let. u.

The Priests in attendance, or course.

See verse 20. let. c.

With the blood of the Kid put upon the Altar, as appointed, and as the blood of the Bullock, verse 20. let. z.

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.

Of the first and second days Sacrifices, and cleansing the Altar.

On the third day, and so on, through seven dayes.

A Kid, verse 22. now a Ram, both, or either, as God appoints, there was no inherent excellency in either one or other to commend them to God, but a Male, and without blemish it must be.

24 And thou shalt offer them before the LORD, and the priest shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt-offering unto the LORD.

Direct them to offer.

Not only to the Lord, but before the Lord, i. e before the Temple, so the Altar stood where the burnt-offering was to be offer'd.

So the Law, Lev. 2.13. expresly requir'd, and the Priests salted every Sacrifice made by fire three times, they say in the salt Chamber, at the bottom of the Altar, and when the Sacrifice was on the Altar. It may allude to the perpetuity of the Covenant thus made by Sacrifice, and salted; As Numb. 18.19. and 2 Chron. 13.5.

The Priests.

25 Seven dayes 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.

By this it appears, that there were seven dayes appointed for consecrating Altar and Priests, and that, either these three Sacrifices were every day of the seven offer'd up, and their blood sprinkled on the Altar, or at least the young Bullock every day, and one Goat, or one Ram with it, the word here is copulative, but possibly the sense disjunctive; for so this particle is often used.

26 Seven dayes they shall purge the altar, and purifie it, and they shall consecrate themselves.

The Priests in course.

The same with what is said of the Priests, they and the Altar were thus Consecrated and Dedicated unto God, to be his in peculiar manner.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 span].

27 And when these dayes 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.

When you have on every day of these seven offer'd the Sacrifices, as appointed, and for the ends mention'd.

Which begins a new week, and 'tis probable, the first of these seven dayes for Sacrifice, might be the Sabbath, and end on our Fryday, however, the first week is spent in solemn Consecration of Altar and Priests; all weeks after are to have day by day, the usual appointed Sacrifices.

Which were Sacrifices expiatory, and for atonement of sin.

Of burnt-offering, the great Brazen Altar describ'd in this Chapter, verse 13.14, 15, 16, 17.

Sacrifices of Praise, and Thanksgiving unto God for his goodness.

Be well pleased with your persons, pardon your sins, smell a savour of rest in your Thanksgiving, and own you with signal tokens of my favour and kindness, I will shew my good will, and delight in you.

Marginal references: Or, T[illegible: 2 letters]k-offerings.

Eze 43:1-12

Entrance of the Glory of the Lord into the New Temple

Eze 43:1. And he led me to the gate, the gate which looked toward the east: Eze 43:2. And behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the east, and its sound was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory. Eze 43:3. And the appearance which I saw, was to look at like the appearance which I saw when I came to destroy the city; and (there were) appearances like the appearance which I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell down upon my face. Eze 43:4. And the glory of Jehovah came into the house by the way of the gate, the direction of which is toward the east. Eze 43:5. And wind lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of Jehovah filled the house. Eze 43:6. And I heard one speaking to me from the house, and there was a man standing by me. Eze 43:7. And he said to me, Son of man, the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I shall dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel for ever; and the house of Israel will no more defile my holy name, they and their kings, through their whoredom and through the corpses of their kings, their high places, Eze 43:8. When they set their threshold by my threshold, and their door-posts by my door-posts, and there was only the wall between me and them, and they defiled my holy name by their abominations which they did, so that I destroyed them in my wrath. Eze 43:9. Now will they remove their whoredom and the corpses of their kings from me, and I shall dwell in the midst of them for ever. Eze 43:10. Thou, son of man, show to the house of Israel this house, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities, and may measure the well-measured building. Eze 43:11. And when they are ashamed of all that they have done, show them the picture of the house and its arrangement, and its goings out and in, and all its forms and all its statutes, and all its forms and all its laws; and write it before their eyes, that they may keep all its form and all its statutes and do them. Eze 43:12. This is the law of the house: Upon the top of the mountain all its territory round about is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house. - The angel had shown the prophet the new sanctuary as already completed, and had measured it in his presence according to its several parts. But this building only became the house of God when Jehovah as the God of Israel consecrated it, to be the dwelling-place of His divine and gracious presence in the midst of His people, by the entrance of His divine glory into the house.“The Lord appears, and fills the house with His own glory; showing that the house will not only be built, but will be filled with the power of God” (Theodoret).

The description of the new temple closes, therefore, with this act of consecration. That the prophet might see this act of divine grace with his own eyes, the measuring man led him from the ground surrounding the temple (Eze 42:15-20) back again to the east gate (Eze 43:1). The allusion is to the eastern gate of the outer court; for it is not till Eze 43:5 that Ezekiel is taken into the inner court, and, according to Eze 44:1, he was brought back to the east gate of the outer court. Standing in front of this gate, he sees the glory of the God of Israel come by the way from the east with a great noise, and lighting up the earth with its splendour. The coming of the theophany from the east points back to Eze 10:19; Eze 11:1 and Eze 11:23, where the Shechinah, when leaving the ancient temple, went out at the east gate and ascended to the summit of the mountain, which was situated on the east of Jerusalem. It was from the east, therefore, that it returned to enter the new temple. This fact is sufficient of itself to show that the present entrance of the divine glory into the new temple did not lay the foundation for a new and more exalted bond of grace, but was simply intended to restore the relation which had existed before the removal of Israel into captivity. The tabernacle and Solomon’s temple had both been consecrated by Jehovah in the same manner as the seat of His throne of grace in Israel (compare Exo 40:34-35; 1Ki 8:10-11; and 2Ch 5:13-14, and 2Ch 7:1-3, from which the expression את־בּית in Eze 43:5 has been borrowed). It is true that Hävernick, Kliefoth, and others find, along with this agreement, a difference in the fact that the glory of Jehovah appeared in the cloud in both the tabernacle and Solomon’s temple; whereas here, on the contrary, it appeared in that peculiar form which Ezekiel had already repeatedly seen. But it does not follow that there was really a difference, because the cloud is not mentioned in the verses before us; for it is evident that the cloud was not wanting, even in the manifestation of the glory of God seen by Ezekiel, from the words found in Eze 10:3 : “The cloud filled the inner court, and the glory of Jehovah had risen up from the cherubim to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the splendour of the glory of Jehovah.” If, therefore, it is expressly attested in Eze 43:3, as even Kliefoth admits, that the appearance of God which entered the temple as like the appearance which Ezekiel saw by the Chaboras and before the destruction of the temple, and in connection with the last-mentioned appearance the cloud was visible along with the brilliant splendour of the divine doxa, the cloud will certainly not have been wanting when it entered the new temple; and the only reason why it is not expressly mentioned must be, that it did not present a contrast to the brilliant splendour, or tend to obscure the light of the glory of God, but as a shining cloud was simply the atmospheric clothing of the theophany.

If, then, the cloud did not present a contrast to the brilliancy of the divine glory, it cannot be inferred from the words, “and the earth shone with His glory,” that there was any difference between this and the earlier manifestations of the divine glory at the consecration of the tabernacle and Solomon’s temple; more especially as these words to not affirm that it became light on earth, but simply that the earth shone with the glory God, - that is to say, that it threw a bright light upon the earth as it passed along, - so that this remark simply serves to indicate the intensity of the brightness of this theophany. The words 'קולו כקול  are not to be understood, as we may learn from Eze 1:24, as referring to a voice of the coming God, but describe the loud noise made by the moving of the theophany on account of the rustling of the wings of the cherubim. This resembled the roaring of mighty waves. In Eze 43:3, the expression וּכּמראה המּראה ...כּמּראה  is somewhat heavy in style, but is correct Hebrew; and the remark with which Hitzig seeks to justify his alteration of וכמראה into ומראה, - namely, that כמראה “would signify 'so the appearance,' whereas Ezekiel intends to explain the present appearance from the well-known earlier one,” - is false so far as the usage of the language is concerned. When the Hebrew uses two כּ in cases of comparison, which we are accustomed to express in German by so...wie (so...as), he always commences with the thing to which he compares another, and lets the thing which is to be compared follow afterwards. Thus, for example, in Gen 18:25, והיה  does not affirm that it happens as to the righteous so to the wicked, but vice versâ, that it happens to the righteous as to the wicked; and in Gen 44:18, כּי כמוך  does not mean, for like thee so is Pharaoh, but “for thou art like Pharaoh.” According to this genuine Hebrew expression, the present appearance of the divine glory is mentioned first in the verse before us, and then in the earlier one which the present resembled. And even the apparent pleonasm מראה המּראה vanishes if we render מראה by “look,” - the look of the apparition which I saw was just like the apparition, etc. 'כּבאי לשׁחת וגו refers to the ecstatic transportation of the prophet to Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8-11), to witness the destruction of the city (see more particularly Eze 8:4; Eze 9:1.). “The prophet destroyed the city ideally by his prophecy, of which the fulfilment simply forms the objective reverse side” (Hitzig). וּמראות is appended in loose apposition, - there were appearances, visions, - and the plural is to be taken as in מראות אלהים in Eze 1:1; Eze 40:2. For what follows, compare Eze 3:23; Eze 10:15. For Eze 43:5, compare Eze 3:14; Eze 11:24.

In Eze 43:6 and Eze 43:7 the question arises, who it is who is speaking to the prophet; whether it is Jehovah, who has entered the temple, or the man who is standing by Ezekiel in the inner court? There can be no doubt that מדּבּר is Jehovah here, as in Eze 2:2; though the commentators are divided in opinion whether Jehovah spoke directly to the prophet, or through the medium of the man who stood by his side. Hävernick presses the Hithpael מדּבּר, and imagines that Ezekiel heard God conversing within the sanctuary, in consequence of which the angel stood by his side; so that the words of God consisted chiefly in the command to communicate to Ezekiel the divine revelation which follows in Eze 43:7. But this view is proved to be erroneous by the expression אלי which follows מדּבּר, and which Hävernick has overlooked. Kliefoth, on the other hand, is of opinion that the words contained in Eze 43:7, which proceeded from the מדּבּר, were addressed to the prophet directly by God Himself; for he heard them before anything was said by the man, and neither here nor in what follows is the man said to have spoken. On the contrary, both here and in what follows, even in Eze 46:20,Eze 46:24; Eze 47:6-7, it is always God Himself who appears as the speaker, and the man simply as the prophet’s guide. But this is also not correct. Such passages as Eze 46:20 and Eze 46:24 compared with Eze 43:19 and Eze 43:21, and Eze 47:6, Eze 47:8, compared with Eze 43:1 and Eze 43:4, show undeniably that the man who conducted the prophet also talked with him. Consequently, in the case referred to in the verse before us, we must also conclude that he who spoke to the prophet from the temple addressed him through the medium of the man who stood by his side, and that אישׁ is the subject to ויּאמר in Eze 43:7; from which, however, it by no means follows that the מדּבּר was also an angel, who spoke to the prophet, not from the most holy place, but simply from within the house, as Hitzig explains the matter. The meaning is rather, that Ezekiel heard God conversing with him from the sanctuary, whilst a man, i.e., an angel, stood by his side and spoke to him as follows. אישׁ is in that case not some angel merely who spoke in the name of Jehovah, but the angel of Jehovah, God’s own speaker, ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ (Joh 1:1.). But according to his outward habitus, this angel of the Lord, who is designated as אישׁ, is identical with the angel who showed the prophet the temple, and measured it (Eze 40:3 onwards). For according to Eze 47:1. this אישׁ had also a measuring rod, and measured. The absence of the article from אישׁ in Eze 43:6, which prevents Kliefoth from admitting this identity, does not indicate decidedly that a different man from the one mentioned before is introduced here as the prophet’s attendant, but simply leaves the identity of this אישׁ with the former indefinite, so that it can only be inferred from the further course of events; because the point of importance here was neither to establish this identity by employing the article, nor to define the medium of the word of God more precisely, but simply to introduce the words which follow as the words of God Himself. The address commences with an explanation on the part of God that the temple into which the glory of the Lord had entered was the place of His throne, where He would dwell for ever among the sons of Israel. The את־מקום is a concise expression, in which את is nota accus., and we have to supply in thought either ראה or הנּה: “behold the place.” מקום כּפּות רגלי, the place of the soles of my feet (cf. Isa 60:13), is equivalent to the footstool of my feet in Isa 66:1. The ark of the covenant is called the footstool of God in 1Ch 28:2 and Psa 132:7; compare Psa 99:5 and Lam 2:1, where this epithet may possibly be used to designate the temple. This also applies to the throne of Jehovah, since God was enthroned above the cherubim of the ark in the holy of holies (cf. Exo 25:22; 1Sa 4:4, etc.). In the sanctuary which Ezekiel saw, no reference is made to the ark of the covenant, and the silence with regard to this is hardly to be regarded as a mere omission to mention it, inasmuch as none of the things contained in the temple are mentioned with the exception of the altars, not even the table of shew-bread or the candlestick. The ark of the covenant is not mentioned, because, as is stated in Jer 3:16, in the Messianic times the ark of the covenant will not be remembered, neither will it be missed. לעולם, as in Eze 37:26 and Eze 37:28. The promise culminates in this. לעולם does not apply either to the tabernacle or to Solomon’s temple, in which Jehovah also had His dwelling-place, though not for ever. These sanctuaries He left, and gave them up to destruction, because the Israelites had profaned His holy name by their idolatry. This will not take place any more after the erection of the new sanctuary. לא יטמּאוּ is not imperative, but a simple future: “they will no more defiled,” because they come to a knowledge of their sins through the punitive judgment of exile, so that they become ashamed of them, and because the Lord will have poured out His Spirit upon them (cf. Eze 37:23., Eze 39:29). - Formerly, however (Eze 43:7), they profaned the holy name of God by their spiritual whoredom (cf. Ezekiel 16) and by dead idols, for which they erected high places in the immediate neighbourhood of the dwelling-place of Jehovah, that is to say, even in the temple courts, so that Jehovah was only separated from the idols by a wall. This is the general meaning of Eze 43:7 and Eze 43:8, in which the exposition of פּגרי  is difficulty. Rosenmüller, Hävernick, and others understand by the “corpses of their kings,” the dead idols. Ewald, Hitzig, and Kliefoth, on the other hand, take the expression in a literal sense, as referring to the corpses of kings which had been buried near to the temple, so that the temple had been defiled by the proximity of these graves. But the latter view is precluded by the fact that not a single instance can be adduced of the burial of a king in the vicinity of the temple, since Neh 3:15 contains no allusion to anything of the kind, and the tombs of the kings upon Zion were not so near to the temple that it could possibly be defiled in consequence. Moreover, בּמותם cannot be reconciled with this view; and for that reason Ewald and Hitzig propose to read בּמותם, “in their death.” The attempt of Kliefoth, however, to defend the reading בּמותם, by taking it as in apposition to בּזנוּתם and not to וּבפּגרי מלכיהם, is a desperate remedy, which clearly shows the impossibility of connecting בּמותם with the “corpses of the kings.” We therefore understand by פּגרי the dead idols, in accordance with Lev 26:30 (cf. Jer 16:18); but by מלכיהם we understand, not the idols, but the Israelitish kings, as in the case of the preceding מלכיהם; partly because it cannot be shown that the plural מלכים is ever used in the sense of idols (though the singular מלכּם is used of Baal in Zep 1:5 and Amo 5:26), and partly on account of the harshness involved in interpreting the two מלכיהם when standing so close together, in the first instance of the kings, and in the second of the idols of Israel. The corpses of the kings are therefore the dead idols, for which the kings (for example, Manasseh) had built altars or high places (בּמות) in the sanctuary, i.e., in the courts of the temple (2Ki 21:4-7). The objection that פּגרים without anything further, such, for instance, as גּלּוּלים sa ,ecnatsni rof ,hcus in Lev 26:30, cannot signify the dead idols, will not bear examination, as the more precise definition which is wanting is supplied by the context, where idolatry is the point in question. בּמותם without the preposition ב is a loosely attached apposition to בּפּגרי מלכיהם and בּזנוּתם, which defines more precisely in what way the whoredom of the nation and the dead idols of the kings had amounted to a defiling of the house of the Lord, namely, from the fact that the people and the kings had erected temples of high places (bâmoth) for dead idols by the side of the temple of the living God, and had placed them so close that the threshold and door-posts of these idol-temples touched the threshold and door-posts of the temple of Jehovah, and there was nothing but the wall of the temple (הקיר) between Jehovah and the carcase-gods. בּמותם is explained in this way in Eze 43:8, and then the defiling of the holy name of the Lord is mentioned again for the purpose of appending, by means of ואכל (imperf. Piel of כלה), the allusion to the penal judgment which they had thereby brought upon themselves. Eze 43:9. Such profanation as this will not take place any more in time to come, and Jehovah will dwell for ever in the midst of Israel.

To lead Israel to this goal, Ezekiel is to show them the house (i.e., the temple). In this way are the further words of God in Eze 43:10-12 attached to what goes before. הגּיד את־הבּית, show or make known the house, is equivalent to proclaim to the people the revelation concerning the new temple. In this were the Israelites to discern the magnitude of the grace of God, that they might blush at their evil deeds, and measure the well-measured building (תּכנית, as in Eze 28:12), i.e., carefully consider and ponder what the Lord had bestowed upon His people through this sanctuary, so that they might suffer themselves to be brought to repentance by means of its glory. And if they felt shame and repentance on account of their transgressions, Ezekiel was to show them the shape and arrangement of the sanctuary, with all its forms and ordinances, an write them out before their eyes, that they might have the picture of it impressed upon their minds, and keep the statutes thereof. In Eze 43:11 the words are crowded together, to indicate that all the several parts and arrangements of the new temple are significant and worthy of being pondered and laid to heart. צוּרה is the shape of the temple generally, its external form; תּכוּנה, the internal arrangement as a whole. Both of these are noticed specifically by the allusion to the goings out and in, as well as to the forms (צוּרות) of the separate parts, and their statutes and laws. חקּות are the precepts concerning the things to be observed by Israel when appearing before the Lord in the temple, the regulations for divine worship. תּורות, the instructions contained in these statutes for sanctification of life. The second וכל־צוּרתו is omitted in the lxx and some of the Hebrew Codd., and has therefore been expunged as a gloss by Dathe, Hitzig, and other critics; but it is undoubtedly genuine, and in conformity with the intentional crowding together of words. - The admonition to keep and to observe everything carefully is closed in Eze 43:12 with a statement of the fundamental law of the temple; that upon the lofty mountain the whole of its domain round about is to be most holy. על־ראשׁ ההר does not belong to הבּית ot g in the sense of the house which is to be built upon the top of the mountain, but to the contents of the thorâh of this house. It is to stand upon the top of the mountain, and to be most holy in all its domain. ראשׁ ההר is to be understood in accordance with Eze 40:2; and גּבלו points back to הבּית. Both by its situation upon a very high mountain, and also by the fact that not merely the inner sanctuary, and not merely the whole of the temple house, but also the whole of its surroundings (all its courts), are to be most holy, the new sanctuary is to be distinguished from the earlier one. What has been already stated - namely, that the temple shall not be profaned any more - is compressed into this clause; and by the repetition of the words, “this is the law of the house,”' the first section of this vision, viz., the description of the temple, is rounded off; whilst the command given to the prophet in Eze 43:10 and Eze 43:11, to make known all the statutes and laws of this temple to the house of Israel, forms at the same time the transition to the section which follows.

Eze 43:13-17

Description and Consecration of the Altar of Burnt-Offering

Description of the Altar

Eze 43:13. And these are the measures of the altar in cubits: The cubit a cubit and a handbreadth; a ground-framework of a cubit (in height), and a cubit in breadth, and its moulding on its border round about a span. This is the base of the altar. Eze 43:14. And from the ground-framework of earth to the lower enclosure, two cubits (in height), and a cubit in breadth; and from the small enclosure to the greater enclosure, four cubits (in height), and one cubit in breadth. Eze 43:15. And the mount of God, four cubits; and from the heart of God upwards, the four horns. Eze 43:16. And the hearth of God, twelve cubits in length by twelve cubits in breadth; squared on its four sides. Eze 43:17. And the enclosure, fourteen cubits in length by fourteen cubits in breadth on its four sides; and the moulding round about it, half a cubit; and the ground-framework of it, a cubit round about: and its steps faced the east. - To the heading, “these are the measures of the altar in (according to) cubits,” there is once more appended, as in Eze 40:5, in connection with the measuring of the temple, the length of the cubit measure. The description commences with the foundation of the altar, and, proceeding upwards, gives the height and breadth of the several gradations of the walls of the altar, up to the horns at the four corners (Eze 43:13-15). It then passes from above downwards, to supply the length and breadth or the circumference of the different stages (Eze 43:16 and Eze 43:17). As the first, or lowest part, the חיק is mentioned, literally, the bosom or lap; then by transference, the hollow formed by the sides of a chariot (1Ki 22:35); here the lower hollow or base of the altar (p), formed by a border of a definite height, to merely “a frame running round, a stand in which the altar stood” (Hitzig), nor merely “the hollow filled with earth” (Kliefoth), but both together. This ground-framework (p) was a cubit (sc., high) and a cubit broad. That האמּה is to be taken as referring to the height, is evident from the statement of the breadth which follows. חיק האמּה is not to be altered into חיקהּ אמּה, as Ewald proposes, nor is האמּה to be changed into באמּה (Hitzig); but Hävernick’s explanation is to be adopted: “and a bosom (was there) the cubit,” i.e., of the height of the cubit just described. רחב, breadth, is the extent to which the bosom projected beyond the next enclosure (q) on every side, and formed a support, the circumference of which was a cubit more than the lower cube of the altar on every side. This is shown by the measurements in Eze 43:16 and Eze 43:17. The חיק had a גּבוּל on its שׂפה of a span (half a cubit) in height (o). שׂפה, lip, is the rim (1Ki 7:26; Gen 22:17); and גּבוּל, the bordering on the rim, is a moulding. The feminine suffixes attached to גּבוּלהּ and שׂפתהּ refer to חיק, which is of the masculine gender, no doubt, when used in its literal sense of bosom or lap, but is construed as a feminine in the tropical sense of an inanimate object. The ground-framework, with its moulding, formed the גּב of the altar. גּב, the arched, then a hump or back, signifies here the support of the altar. Upon this support the altar rose in a cubical enclosure or frame, which diminished in circumference by ledges or steps. The enclosure resting upon the support, and therefore the lowest enclosure (q), is mentioned in Eze 43:14; and the one which followed (r) in Eze 43:14.

The word עזרה, which has probably sprung from עצר by the softening of צ into ז, signifies enclosure, surrounding, and is mostly used for the outer court of the temple; here it is applied to the altar, and signifies the enclosure or framework of the kernel of the altar, consisting of earth. As the altar rose in steps, a distinction is made between the lower or smaller, and the (upper or) greater עזרה. The identity of the lower עזרה and the smaller one (הקּטנּה) is so evident from the course of the description, that it is universally admitted by modern expositors. The lower one (q) is called the small one, in comparison with the large one which stood above it, from the fact that its height was smaller, as it was only two cubits high, whereas the upper one (r) was four. When, therefore, the measurement of the greater one is given in this way in Eze 43:14: “from the small enclosure to the great enclosure, four cubits,” this statement cannot be understood in any other way than as meaning, that this enclosure or frame had a height of four cubits from the lower to the upper end, - that is to say, in other words, that the lower ledge was four cubits from the upper. Consequently the statement in Eze 43:14, “from the ground-framework of earth to the lower enclosure, two cubits,” can also have no other meaning than that the lower enclosure, from the lower edge by the moulding to the upper edge, at which the second enclosure commenced, was two cubits high. This height is reckoned from the upper edge of the חיק, or from the first (lowest) ledge. The height of these three portions taken together, therefore, was (1 + 2 + 4) seven cubits. To this the mount of God (s), which was four cubits (Eze 43:15), has to be added, making in all eleven cubits. In Eze 43:14 חיק is followed by הארץ: the חיק consisting of earth, or filled with earth. But the חיק, with its moulding, is designated גּב, the back or support of the altar, and is thereby distinguished from the altar itself; so that, for the height of the altar, we have only to reckon the two enclosures, with the mount of God, which amount to ten cubits. Upon the basis of the חיק, with its moulding, and the two enclosures (עזרה), there rose the true altar, with its hearth, and the horns at the four corners, noticed in Eze 43:15. A distinction is here made between הראל, i.e., mount of God, and אריאל; and they are not to be identified, as they have been by many of the commentators, down to Hitzig, after the example of the lxx. אריאל (as the word is to be written according to the Keri) does not mean “lion of God,” but “heart of God” (ארי, from ארה, to burn), as in Isa 29:1-2. The hearth of God is the surface of the altar, its fire-hearth (t); whereas הראל, mount of God (s), was the basis or foundation of the hearth. This was four cubits high, whereas no height is mentioned in connection with the hearth of God; but it is simply stated that four horns went upward from it, namely, at the four corners. With the horns of the altar, the size and height of which are not given, and which cannot be reckoned at three cubits, the description of all the parts, from the bottom to the top, is given; and all that remains to complete the measurements, is to describe the circumference of the several parts which rose one above another in the form of steps. This follows in Eze 43:16 and Eze 43:17. The hearth of God is twelve cubits long and twelve cubits broad, and is therefore רבוּע, square, of the same length and breadth on its four sides. Going downwards, there follow in Eze 43:17 the length and breadth of the עזרה, with fourteen cubits, as it was a cubit broader on every side according to Eze 43:14. It is very strange, however, that the length and breadth of only one עזרה are given here, as there are two of different heights mentioned in Eze 43:14. Many of the commentators have therefore identified the mount of God with the great עזרה, and attribute only a height of seven cubits to the altar; whereas Kliefoth regards both the עזרה of Eze 43:17 and the גּבוּל and חיק of Eze 43:15 as different from the parts mentioned by the same name in Eze 43:13 and Eze 43:14, and takes them as referring to an enclosure and a barrier of the mount of God. One is as arbitrary as the other, as the words of the text do not require either of these assumptions. The difficulty, that only one עזרה is mentioned in Eze 43:17, is easily solved, if we consider that in Eze 43:15 only the height of the mount of God is given, and no breadth is mentioned as in the case of the עזרה in Eze 43:14. We may see from this that the mount of God had the same breadth or the same circumference as the upper עזרה (see r and s in the illustration). In that case the length and breadth of all the parts of the altar were given, when, in addition to the length and breadth of the hearth of God (t), those of one עזרה, and that the lower, were given, as this alone was longer and broader than the hearth of God and the mount of God; whereas the length and breadth of the upper עזרה were identical with those of the circumference of the mount of God.

The altar, therefore, upon the upper surface, the hearth of God, was a square, of twelve cubits in length and breath. The mount of God and the upper enclosure had the same length and breadth. The lower enclosure, on the other hand, were fourteen cubits long and broad; and the support, finally, without the moulding, was sixteen cubits in length and breadth. The height of the altar was as follows: the support, with the moulding, a cubit and a half; the lower enclosure, two cubits; the upper, four; and the mount of God, with the hearth, also four cubits in height; whereas the altar in Solomon’s temple was ten cubits high, and at its lower basis twenty cubits long and broad (2Ch 4:1). - The description closes in Eze 43:17 with an allusion to steps, which the altar of Ezekiel had upon the eastern side; whereas, in the case of the tabernacle, steps were not allowed to be placed by the altar (Exo 20:23). The form פּנות is taken by Kimchi as a noun. Others regard it as an infin. nominasc.; whilst Hitzig proposes to point it as a participle פּנות.

Eze 43:18-27

Consecration of the Altar

Eze 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. Eze 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. Eze 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. Eze 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. Eze 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. Eze 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; Eze 43:24. And shalt bring them before Jehovah, and the priests shall throw salt upon them, and sacrifice them as burnt-offering to Jehovah. Eze 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. Eze 43:26. Seven days shall they expiate the altar, and cleanse it, and fill its hand. Eze 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 (Lev 8:11, Lev 8:15, Lev 8:19, Lev 8:33; 1Ki 8:62-66; 2Ch 7:4-10), and God commanded and regulated this consecration of the altar of the tabernacle (Exo 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. This commission is given to him, however, for the day (the time) when the altar will be made or restored, from which alone we may see that the execution of the command belongs to the future, in which the temple shown him in the spirit is to be erected, and that it will take place in a manner corresponding to the realization of the temple; so that we cannot infer from this command alone that the reference is to the building of a temple and altar of stone, metal, and wood. חקּות  are not the regulations prescribed for the altar service generally, but simply those relating to its consecration. If we compare these with the account of the consecration of the altars of the earlier sanctuaries, we find that no detailed description is given of the consecration of the altar of Solomon’s temple, but that it is simply stated that it lasted seven days (2Ch 7:9). The consecration of the altar of the tabernacle lasted just the same time (Exo 29:37; Lev 8:33). And the same period is appointed here (Eze 43:26). But the consecration of the altar of the tabernacle was associated with the consecration of the priests. Here, on the contrary, the existence of the priesthood is presupposed, and only the altar is consecrated. The consecration of the Mosaic altar commenced with the anointing of the altar and all its utensils, by the sprinkling of it seven times by Moses with the holy anointing oil, for the purpose of sanctifying it (Lev 8:11). Here, on the other hand, nothing is said about the anointing of the altar; only the absolving of it by sacrifice is mentioned, which followed the anointing in the case of the Mosaic altar. At the altar in the tabernacle Moses performed the whole act of consecration, as the mediator of the covenant, the anointing as well as the preparation of the sacrifices. Here, however, the priests already consecrated for their service are to complete the sacrificial ceremony. It is true that the expressions used in Eze 43:20, “take of its blood,” etc., and in Eze 43:21, “take the bullock of the sin-offering,” etc., apparently indicate that the prophet was to perform the sprinkling of the blood and the burning of the sin-offering. But it is obvious that this is only to be understood as signifying that he was to do it through the medium of the priests, i.e., was to enjoin the performance of it upon them, from the use of the plural הטּאוּ in Eze 43:22: “they shall absolve the altar, as they have absolved it with the bullock.” It is not all the priests of the tribe of Levi however, who are to perform this service, but simply those of the family of Zadok, who alone are selected in the new temple for specifically priestly service (cf. Eze 40:46 and Eze 44:15.).

The sacred ceremony commences with the offering of a young ox as a sin-offering; Eze 43:19, Eze 43:20, as in Lev 8:14, compared with Exo 29:1, Exo 29:10. The blood of the ox is to be put upon the four horns and the four corners of the enclosure, and upon the moulding below it round about; and the flesh is to be burned at an appointed place outside the sanctuary. For the article in הפּר החטּאת (Eze 43:21), see Ewald, §290 b. The pouring out of the blood - that was not used for smearing the places indicated - at the foot of the altar is not mentioned, nor the burning of the fat portions of the sacrifice upon the altar. We cannot infer, from the omission of the latter circumstance, that the fat was not consumed upon the altar, but was burned, with the flesh, skin, and bones of the animal, outside the sanctuary, as Kliefoth supposes. Without the burning of certain definite portions of the victim upon the altar, the slaughtering of the animal would not have been a complete sacrifice at all; the smearing of the blood upon the altar would not have sufficed for this. And the fact that in Eze 43:21 the command is given, “take the bullock and burn it,” does not prove that the animal was to be burned along with those fat portions which were to be consumed upon the altar in the case of every sin-offering. In Lev 8:17 also, את־הפּר stands in the place of את־בּשׂר הפּר, Exo 29:14. Ezekiel generally presupposes that the sacrificial ritual is well known, and therefore mentions only those points in which deviations from the ordinary ritual took place in connection with this sacrifice, such as the sprinkling of the blood, because the blood was to be smeared on particular parts of the altar, and the burning of the flesh, on account of the place where this was to be done. In the case of the burnt-offering in Eze 43:23, no directions are given concerning the ceremonial; because this was to be in conformity with the standing ritual, with the exception of the sprinkling with salt, which was not to be performed in the same manner as in the ordinary sacrifices. The burning is to take place בּמפקד , outside the sanctuary. מפקד is a place commanded or appointed; and מפקד is a place in the temple set apart for that purpose. It follows from this that the place in question, since it belonged to the house, i.e., to the temple, is to be sought for within the square of five hundred cubits in extent, which was covered by the temple and its courts; and at the same time that it was outside the מקדּשׁ, i.e., upon a spot which did not form part of the sanctuary in the stricter sense of the word. Kliefoth therefore thinks of a spot within the gizrah (Eze 41:12), the name of which implies that the space which it covered did not belong to the true מקדּשׁ. This view is the most probable one; whereas Ewald’s conjecture, that the place intended is the locality of the sacrificial kitchens of the priests described in Eze 46:19, is decidedly erroneous, as these kitchens, which were set apart for the cooking of the holy sacrificial flesh to be eaten by the priests alone, were certainly reckoned as forming part of the מקדּשׁ. - Eze 43:22. On the second day, a he-goat was to be brought for a sin-offering, and the altar was to be cleansed from sin with this just as with the bullock on the first day; which implies that the same ceremonial was to be observed with this sacrifice as with that of the sin-offering.

After the completion of the expiation a burnt-offering was to be presented to the Lord of a bullock and a ram (Eze 43:23 and Eze 43:24). There is a difference of opinion as to the meaning of בּכלותך in these verses. Hitzig and Kliefoth suppose that the expiation was only completed on the second day, with the offering of the he-goat as a sin-offering. They both of them lay stress upon the fact that, on the one hand, in Eze 43:23 and Eze 43:24 the offering of the burnt-offering is mentioned on the second day, and not on the first day also; and on the other hand, in Eze 43:25, for the seven days of consecration, only the preparation of a he-goat for the sin-offering and the preparation of the two animals appointed for the burnt-offering are mentioned. Hitzig also adduces the fact that in Eze 43:26 there is no further reference to חטּא, but simply to כפּר and טהר, and draws the conclusion from this, that the sin attaching to the altar was removed with two sin-offerings on two days, and then through seven days further by means of burnt-offerings the anger of God which followed the sin was appeased (כפּר), and the uncleanness or profane character of the altar was expunged (טהר), so that the seven days of Eze 43:25 are not to be dated from Eze 43:19 onwards. According to this view, the consecration of the altar lasted nine days, and not seven, and the eighth day mentioned in Eze 43:27 would really be the tenth day, reckoning from the commencement of the consecration. To carry out this view, Hitzig is obliged to erase not only the וכפּרתּהוּ of Eze 43:20, but also the first half of Eze 43:25 as glosses; a fact which carries its condemnation with it, as even the Septuagint furnishes no warrant for the erasure of Eze 43:25. Moreover, the distinction which Hitzig draws between חטּא on the one hand, and כּפּר and טהר on the other, is quite erroneous. Purification (טהר) is never mentioned in the law as the effect produced by a burnt-offering. A sin-offering followed by a burnt-offering is invariably prescribed for the removal of uncleanness; for “reconciliation and purification take place through the absolution effected by the sin-offering; and to such a sin-offering and its purifying operation the burnt-offering is then added to secure the good pleasure of God for that which has been already cleansed” (Kliefoth).

But we cannot regard even Kliefoth’s view as well founded, namely, that on the first day a sin-offering alone was presented, and it was only from the second day onwards that a sin-offering and burnt-offering were presented, and this lasted for seven days, so that the consecration of the altar continued fully eight days, and on the ninth day (not the eighth, as stated in Eze 43:27) the regular use of the altar commenced. Kliefoth bases this conclusion principally upon the fact that Eze 43:19-21 attribute only the sin-offering of a bullock to the first day; and that, on the other hand, Eze 43:25 and Eze 43:26 extend in all its details to seven days the very same ceremony as Eze 43:22-24 assign to the second day, whereas they do not contain a syllable to the effect that the sin-offering of the bullock was to be repeated every day, or that the sacrifices described in Eze 43:22-24 were also to be offered on the first day. The sinew of this demonstration consists in silentio, therefore; and this precarious basis of argument crumbles here, as in most other cases, as is evident from the words of Eze 43:26 : “seven days shall ye reconcile the altar, and purify it.” This perfectly general statement, which is not connected with Eze 43:25 by any Vav copul., or placed in subordination to it, affirms in the clearest manner that the consecration of the altar was to last seven days, neither more nor less; so that if these seven days are to be reckoned from the second day, the sin-offering of the bullock upon the first day must be deprived of its reconciling and purifying worth, in direct contradiction not only to Eze 43:20, according to which the altar was to be absolved and reconciled through the sin-offering of the bullock to be offered on the first day, but also to Eze 43:22, according to which they were to absolve the altar by the sin-offering of the he-goat, in just the same manner as they had absolved it by the sin-offering of the bullock (on the first day). To take the כּפּר and מהר in Eze 43:26 merely as the effect produced by the sacrifices mentioned in Eze 43:25, renders the שׁבעת standing at the head of Eze 43:26 an impossibility. Unless, therefore, we would impose upon the words of the prophet a gross contradiction, we must lay no stress either upon the fact that in Eze 43:23 the offering of the burnt-offering is not mentioned till after the direction concerning he sin-offering to be presented on the second day, or upon the circumstance that in Eze 43:25 the he-goat is mentioned as a sin-offering for all the seven days, and no allusion is made to the fact that the sin-offering of the first day was a bullock. The former (the reference to the burnt-offering after the sin-offering of the second day) may be explained very simply, on the ground that the sin-offerings of the first two days are mentioned one after the other, because different animals were prescribed for the purpose, and then, first, the burnt-offerings, which were the same for every day. And it is obvious that the explanation is to be sought for in this formal arrangement, and not in the fact that only a sin-offering without a burnt-offering was to be presented on the first day, and consequently that the expression “on the second day” refers solely to the sin-offering of that day, from the words בּכלותך מחטּא in Eze 43:23; since מחטּא cannot be understood in a different sense from that which it bears in Eze 43:22, the clause immediately preceding, i.e., must not be restricted to the sin-offering of the second day, but must be taken as referring to the sin-offerings of both the first and second days. The meaning of the words is therefore this: when the absolution by means of the sin-offering on the first and on the second day is ended, then shalt thou bring a burnt-offering. But if this is the meaning of the words, the offering of the burnt-offering prescribed in Eze 43:23 does not fall so exclusively under the definition of time contained in the words “on the second day,” as to warrant our assigning it to the second day alone, and concluding that no such offering was presented on the first day. There was no necessity for Ezekiel to express himself more clearly on this point, as there was no fear of any misunderstanding on the part of those who were acquainted with the law; since every Israelites who had been instructed in the law knew full well that no sin-offering could ever be presented without being followed by a burnt-offering, that in fact the burnt-offering was indispensable to the accomplishment of the כּפּרה, for which the sin-offering was presented. And in Eze 43:25 also, Ezekiel had no occasion to fear that the somewhat loose expression, “seven days shalt thou prepare a he-goat sin-offering for the day,” would be misunderstood; as he had already stated that a bullock was to be taken for the sin-offering of the first day, and the period of seven days was so universally prescribed in the law for every act of consecration which lasted more than one day, that he would have indicated in a clearer manner any deviation from this rule. We therefore regard the change of the seven days devoted to the consecration of the altar into eight as being just as groundless as that into nine, and adhere to the traditional explanation of these verses, namely, that the consecration of the altar lasted only seven days, and that on every one of these days a sin-offering and a burnt-offering were to be presented, the sin-offering on the first day being a bullock, and on the other days a he-goat, whilst the burnt-offerings were to consist on all seven days of a young ox and a ram.

With regard to the burnt-offering, the direction given, that the priests are to throw or pour (השׁליך), and not merely to strew or sprinkle, salt upon it, is to be regarded as significant. According to Lev 2:13, salt was to be added to every קרבּן (bloody or bloodless) sacrifice. The express allusion to the salting of these consecrating burnt-offerings, and also the choice of the verb השׁליך, point to a copious strewing with salt for the purpose of giving greater intensity to the force of these sacrifices. On the significance of salt in relation to the sacrifices, see the comm. on Lev 2:13. The ו attached to the Chetib וכפּרוּ in Eze 43:26 is to be explained from the fact that the definition of the time שׁבעת  is placed at the head absolutely. There is something bold in the application of the expression מלּא יד to the altar; since this expression arose from the ceremony peculiar to the consecrating sacrifice of the priests, namely, that the fat and fleshy portions of this sacrifice, which were intended partly for consumption upon the altar, and partly as a heave-offering for Jehovah, were to be given into the hands of the priests to be consecrated for the purpose of investing them symbolically with the gifts, which they were to offer in part to the Lord in the altar fire in the fulfilment of their official duties, and to receive in part for their service (see the comm. on Lev 8:25-29). Filling the hand of the altar, therefore, is equivalent to providing it with sacrificial gifts, so that it should never be without them. In this sense the symbolical act was connected with the completion of its consecration as a place of sacrifice. The Keri ידו is incorrect, and ידו the proper reading; inasmuch as even at the consecration of the priests, when the sacrificial portions were placed in the hands of the priests, מלּא  only is used, and not ידים (cf. Exo 29:9; Lev 21:10, etc.).

If we compare the directions given in the section before us concerning the consecration of the altar, with the consecration which was prescribed in Ex 29 for the altar of burnt-offering in the tabernacle, and was fully carried out according to Lev 8, we find the following points of difference: - (1) the anointing of the altar is wanting here; (2) at the consecration of the Mosaic altar a bullock (young ox) was prescribed as the sin-offering for all the seven days (Exo 29:36), in Ezekiel for the first day only, and a he-goat for the rest; (3) the blood of this sin-offering is smeared upon the horns of the altar in the former consecration (Exo 29:12; Lev 8:15), in the latter upon the horns and the corners of the walls, and upon the lower moulding round about; (4) the burnt-offering there consists in a ram every day, here in a bullock and a ram daily; (5) on the other hand, the ram offered as a sacrifice of consecration in the Mosaic ceremony, which was specially connected with the institution of the priests in their office, is omitted here, as the priests were already holding their office; so that the sacrifice of consecration might be said to be here absorbed into the burnt-offering. All essential differences therefore reduce themselves to the fact that in Ezekiel the anointing of the altar is wanting, and the sin-offering of the last six days is diminished by the selection of an inferior animal, in place of which the burnt-offering is considerably intensified by the demand of a bullock and a ram for this, the same thing being also indicated by the copious pouring of salt thereon. - For the symbolical meaning of these sacrifices, compare the commentary on Lev 8. - The consecration of the altar was completed in seven days; and from the eighth day onwards the priests were to offer the regular sacrifices upon it (Eze 43:27); whereas at the Mosaic consecration of the altar and priests, the constant altar service of the priests was still further inaugurated by a solemn sacrifice on the eighth day (Lev 9). Burnt-offerings and peace-offerings are mentioned in Eze 43:27 instar omnium as being the principal and most frequent sacrifices, whilst sin-offerings and meat-offerings are implied therein.

The Vision of the Temple. (b. c. 574.)

1 Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: 2 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. 3 And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. 4 And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. 5 So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house. 6 And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me.

After Ezekiel has patiently surveyed the temple of God, the greatest glory of this earth, he is admitted to a higher form, and honoured with a sight of the glories of the upper world; it is said to him, Come up hither. He has seen the temple, and sees it to be very spacious and splendid; but, till the glory of God comes into it, it is but like the dead bodies he had seen in vision (ch. xxxvii.), that had no breath till the Spirit of life entered into them. Here therefore he sees the house filled with God's glory.

I. He has a vision of the glory of God (v. 2), the glory of the God of Israel, that God who is in covenant with Israel, and whom they serve and worship. The idols of the heathen have no glory but what they owe to the goldsmith or the painter; but this is the glory of the God of Israel. This glory came from the way of the east, and therefore he was brought to the gate that leads towards the east, to expect the appearance and approach of it. Christ's star was seen in the east, and he is that other angel that ascends out of the east, Rev. vii. 2. For he is the morning star, he is the sun of righteousness. Two things he observed in this appearance of the glory of God:—1. The power of his word which he heard: His voice was like a noise of many waters, which is heard very far, and makes impressions; the noise of purling streams is grateful, of a roaring sea dreadful, Rev. i. 15; xiv. 2. Christ's gospel, in the glory of which he shines, was to be proclaimed aloud, the report of it to be heard far; to some it is a savour of life, to others of death, according as they are. 2. The brightness of his appearance which he saw: The earth shone with his glory; for God is light, and none can bear the lustre of his light, none has seen nor can see it. Note, That glory of God which shines in the church shines on the world. When God appeared for David the brightness that was before him dispersed the clouds, Ps. xviii. 12. This appearance of the glory of God to Ezekiel he observed to be the same with the vision he saw when he first received his commission (ch. i. 4), according to that by the river Chebar (v. 3); because God is the same, he was pleased to manifest himself in the same manner, for with him is no variableness. "It was the same" (says he) "as that which I saw when I came to destroy the city, that is, to foretel the city's destruction," which he did with such authority and efficacy, and the event did so certainly answer the prediction, that he might be said to destroy it. As a judge, in God's name, he passed a sentence upon it, which was soon executed. God appeared in the same manner when he sent him to speak words of terror and when he sent him to speak words of comfort; for in both God is and will be glorified. He kills and he makes alive; he wounds and he heals, Deut. xxxii. 39. To the same hand that destroyed we must look for deliverance. He has smitten, and he will bind up. Una eademque manus vulnus opemque tulit—The same hand inflicted the wound and healed it.

II. He has a vision of the entrance of this glory into the temple. When he saw this glory he fell upon his face (v. 3), as not able to bear the lustre of God's glory, or rather as one willing to give him the glory of it by a humble and reverent adoration. But the Spirit took him up (v. 5) when the glory of the Lord had come into the house (v. 4), that he might see how the house was filled with it. He saw how the glory of the Lord in this same appearance departed from the temple, because it was profaned, to his great grief; now he shall see it return to the temple to his great satisfaction. See ch. x. 18, 19; xi. 23. Note, Though God may forsake his people for a small moment, he will return with everlasting loving-kindness. God's glory filled the house as it had filled the tabernacle which Moses set up and the temple of Solomon, Exod. xl. 34; 1 Kings viii. 10. Now we do not find that ever the Shechinah did in that manner take possession of the second temple, and therefore this was to have its accomplishment in that glory of the divine grace which shines so brightly in the gospel church, and fills it. Here is no mention of a cloud filling the house as formerly, for we now with open face behold the glory of the Lord, in the face of Christ, and not as of old through the cloud of types.

III. He receives instructions more immediately from the glory of the Lord, as Moses did when God had taken possession of the tabernacle (Lev. i. 1): I heard him speaking to me out of the house, v. 6. God's glory shining in the church, we must thence expect to receive divine oracles. The man stood by me; we could not bear to hear the voice of God any more than to see the face of God if Jesus Christ did not stand by us as Mediator. Or, if this was a created angel, it is observable that when God began to speak to Ezekiel he stood by and gave way, having no more to say. Nay, he stood by the prophet, as a learner with him; for to the principalities and powers, to the angels themselves, who desire to look into these things, is known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, Eph. iii. 10. The man stood by him to conduct him thither where he might receive further discoveries, ch. xliv. 1.

The Vision of the Temple. (b. c. 574.)

7 And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places. 8 In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger. 9 Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever. 10 Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. 11 And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them. 12 This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.

God does here, in effect, renew his covenant with his people Israel, upon his retaking possession of the house, and Ezekiel negotiates the matter, as Moses formerly. This would be of great use to the captives at their return both for direction and encouragement; but it looks further, to those that are blessed with the privileges of the gospel-temple, that they may understand how they are before him on their good behaviour.

I. God, by the prophet, puts them in mind of their former provocations, for which they had long lain under the tokens of his displeasure. This conviction is spoken to them to make way for the comforts designed them. Though God gives and upbraids not, it becomes us, when he forgives, to upbraid ourselves with our unworthy conduct towards him. Let them now remember therefore, 1. That they had formerly defiled God's holy name, had profaned and abused all those sacred things by which he had made himself known among them, v. 7. They and their kings had brought contempt on the religion they professed, and their relation to God, by their spiritual whoredom, their idolatry, and by worshipping images, which they called their kings (for so Moloch signifies) or lords (for so Baal signifies), but which were really the carcases of kings, not only lifeless and useless, but loathsome and abominable as dead carcases, in their high places, set up in honour of them. They had defiled God's name by their abominations. And what were they? It was in setting their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, that is, adding their own inventions to God's institutions, and urging all to a compliance with them, as if they had been of equal authority and efficacy, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men (Isa. xxix. 13); or, rather, setting up altars to their idols even in the courts of the temple, than which a more impudent affront could not be put upon the divine Majesty. Thus they set up a separation wall between him and them, which stopped the current of his favours to them and spoiled the acceptableness of their services to him. See what an indignity sinners do to God, setting up their walls in opposition to his, and thrusting him out from what is his right; and see what injury they do to themselves, for the nearer any come to God with their sins the further they set him at a distance from them. Some give this sense of it: Though their houses joined close to God's house, their posts and thresholds to his, so that they were in a manner his next neighbours, there was but a wall between me and them (so it is in the margin), so that it might have been expected they would acquaint themselves with him and be in care to please him, yet they were not so much as neighbourly. Note, It often proves too true, The nearer the church the further from God. They were, by profession, in covenant with God, and yet they had defiled the place of his throne and of the soles of his feet, his temple, where he did both reside and reign. Jerusalem is called the city of the great king (Ps. xlviii. 2) and his footstool, Ps. xcix. 5; cxxxii. 7. Note, When God's ordinances are profaned his holy name is polluted. 2. That for this God had had a controversy with them in their late troubles. They could not condemn him, for he had but brought upon them the desert of their sins: Wherefore I have consumed them in my anger. Note, Those that pollute God's holy name fall under his just displeasure.

II. He calls upon them to repent and reform, and, in order to that, to be ashamed of their iniquities (v. 9): "Now let them put away their whoredom; now that they have smarted so severely for it, and now that God is returning in mercy to them and setting up his sanctuary again in the midst of them, now let them cast away their idols and have no more to do with them, that they may not again forfeit the privileges which they have been taught to know the worth of by the want of them. Let them put away their idols, those loathsome carcases of their kings, far from me, from being a provocation to me." This was seasonable counsel now that the prophet had the model or pattern of the temple to set before them; for, 1. If they see that pattern, they will surely be ashamed of their sins (v. 10): when they see what mercy God has in store for them, notwithstanding their utter unworthiness of it, they will be ashamed to think of their disingenuous conduct towards him. Note, The goodness of God to us should lead us to repentance, especially to a penitential shame. Let them measure the pattern themselves, and see how much it exceeds the former pattern, and guess by that what great things God has in store for them; and surely it will put them out of countenance to think what the desert of their sins was. And then, 2. If they be ashamed of their sins, they shall surely see more of the pattern, v. 11. If they be ashamed of all that they have done, upon a general view of the goodness of God, let them have a more distinct particular account of the temple. Note, Those that improve what they see and know of the goodness of God shall see and know more of it. And then, and not till then, we are qualified for God's favours, when we are truly humbled for our own follies. "Show them the form of the house; let them see what a stately structure it will be; and withal show them the ordinances and laws of it." Note, With the foresights of our comforts it is fit that we should get the knowledge of our duty; with the privileges of God's house we must acquaint ourselves with the rules of it. Show them these ordinances, that they may keep them and do them. Note, Therefore we are made to know our duty, that we may do it, and be blessed in our deed.

III. He promises that they shall be such as they should be, and then he will be to them such as they would have him to be, v. 7. 1. The house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name. This is pure gospel. The precept of the law says, You must not defile my name: the grace of the gospel says, You shall not. Thus what is required in the covenant is promised in the covenant, Jer. xxxii. 40. 2. Then I will dwell in the midst of them for ever; and the same again v. 9. God secures to us his good-will by confirming in us his good work. If we do not defile his name, we may be sure that he will not depart from us.

IV. The general law of God's house is laid down (v. 12), That, whereas formerly only the chancel, or sanctuary, was most holy, now the whole mountain of the house shall be so; the whole limit thereof, including all the courts and all the chambers, shall be as the most holy place, signifying that in gospel-times, 1. The whole church shall have the privilege of the holy of holies, that of a near access to God. All believers have now, under the gospel, boldness to enter into the holiest (Heb. x. 19), with this advantage, that whereas the high priest entered in the virtue of the blood of bulls and goats, we enter in the virtue of the blood of Jesus, and, wherever we are, we have through him access to the Father. 2. The whole church shall be under a mighty obligation to press towards the perfection of holiness, as he who has called us is holy. All must now be most holy. Holiness becomes God's house for ever, and in gospel-times more than ever. Behold this is the law of the house; let none expect the protection of it that will not submit to this law.

The Vision of the Temple. (b. c. 574.)

13 And these are the measures of the altar after the cubits: The cubit is a cubit and a hand breadth; even the bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge thereof round about shall be a span: and this shall be the higher place of the altar. 14 And from the bottom upon the ground even to the lower settle shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser settle even to the greater settle shall be four cubits, and the breadth one cubit. 15 So the altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar and upward shall be four horns. 16 And the altar shall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof. 17 And the settle shall be fourteen cubits long and fourteen broad in the four squares thereof; and the border about it shall be half a cubit; and the bottom thereof shall be a cubit about; and his stairs shall look toward the east. 18 And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord God ; 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. 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. 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 settle, and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it. 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. 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. 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. 24 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 . 25 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. 26 Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves. 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 .

This relates to the altar in this mystical temple, and that is mystical too; for Christ is our altar. The Jews, after their return out of captivity, had an altar long before they had a temple, Ezra iii. 3. But this was an altar in the temple. Now here we have,

I. The measures of the altar, v. 13. It was six yards square at the top and seven yards square at the bottom; it was four yards and a half high; it had a lower bench or shelf, here called a settle, a yard from the ground, on which some of the priests stood to minister, and another two yards above that, on which others of them stood, and these were each of them half a yard broad, and had ledges on either side, that they might stand firmly upon them. The sacrifices were killed at the table spoken of before, ch. xl. 39. What was to be burnt on the altar was given up to those on the lower bench, and handed by them to those on the higher, and they laid it on the altar. Thus in the service of God we must be assistant to one another.

II. The ordinances of the altar. Directions are here given, 1. Concerning the dedication of the altar at first. Seven days were to be spent in the dedication of it, and every day sacrifices were to be offered upon it, and particularly a goat for a sin-offering (v. 25), besides a young bullock for a sin-offering on the first day (v. 19), which teaches us in all our religious services to have an eye to Christ the great sin-offering. Neither our persons nor our performances can be acceptable to God unless sin be taken away, and that cannot be taken away but by the blood of Christ, which both sanctifies the altar (for Christ entered by his own blood, Heb. ix. 12) and the gift upon the altar. There were also to be a bullock and a ram offered for a burnt-offering (v. 24), which was intended purely for the glory of God, to teach us to have an eye to that in all our services; we present ourselves as living sacrifices, and our devotions as spiritual sacrifices, that we and they may be to him for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory. The dedication of the altar is here called the cleansing and purging of it, v. 20, 26. Christ, our altar, though he had no pollution to be cleansed from, yet sanctified himself (John xvii. 19); and when we consecrate the altars of our hearts to God, to have the fire of holy love always burning upon them, we must see that they be purified and cleansed from the love of the world and the lusts of the flesh. It is observable that there are several differences between the rites of dedication here and those which were appointed Exod. xxix., to intimate that the ceremonial institutions were mutable things, and the changes in them were earnests of their period in Christ. Only here, according to the general law, that all the sacrifices must be seasoned with salt (Lev. ii. 13), particular orders are given (v. 24) that the priests shall cast salt upon the sacrifices. Grace is the salt with which all our religious performances must be seasoned, Col. iv. 6. An everlasting covenant is called a covenant of salt, because it is incorruptible. The glory reserved for us is incorruptible and undefiled; and the grace wrought in us is the hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible. 2. Concerning the constant use that should be made of it, when it was dedicated: Henceforward the priests shall make their burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon this altar (v. 27), for therefore it was sanctified, that it might sanctify the gift that was offered upon it. Observe further, (1.) Who were to serve at the altar: The priests of the seed of Zadok, v. 19. That family was substituted in the room of Abiathar by Solomon, and God confirms it. His name signifies righteous, for they are the righteous seed that are priests to God, through Christ the Lord our righteousness. (2.) How they should prepare for this service (v. 26): They shall consecrate themselves, shall fill their hand with the offerings, in token of the giving up of themselves with their offerings to God and to his service. Note, Before we minister to the Lord in holy things we must consecrate ourselves by getting our hands and hearts filled with those things. (3.) How they should speed in it (v. 27): I will accept you. And if God now accept our works, if our services be pleasing to him, it is enough, we need no more. Those that give themselves to God shall be accepted of God, their persons first and then their performances, through the Mediator.

CHAP. XLIII.

Ver. 1. AFterwards he brought me] Non niſi dimenſo prius montis ambitu: The Prophet ſaw not the glory of God, till he had firſt ſeen the Mount meaſured, the Temple reſtored. Men muſt (uſually) wait upon God in the uſe of means ere they ſee the King in his glory.

Even the gate that looketh toward the Eaſt] Men muſt awake out of the Weſt of wickedneſſe, and ſtand up from dead courſes and companies, if Chriſt, the day-ſtar from on high, ſhall give them light, Epheſ. 5.14. Luke 2.78, 79.

Ver. 2. And behold the glory] i. e. The viſion of the glory. God who by the Eaſt-gate had left the Temple and the City, chap 10. doth now the ſame way return, and filleth the houſe with the glory of his preſence.

And his voice was like a noiſe of many waters] Importing the multitude of his attendants, and his irreſiſtible power, in his Goſpel eſpecially, which is the power of God to ſalvation; and, like a mighty torrent, bears down all before it.

And the earth ſhined with his glory] How can it do otherwiſe, when the Sun of righteouſneſſe cometh in place, and irradiateth both Organ and Object, 2 Cor. 4.6. Into Solomons Temple God came in a thick cloud; not ſo here. Light is now more diffuſed then ever: woe be to thoſe that wink, or who ſeek ſtraws to put out their eyes withal, as Bernard hath it.

Ver. 3. And it was according to the viſion] Being ſo much the ſweeter and the welcomer to me. Hence he ſo oft repeateth it: And the Jew-doctours obſerve that eight times in this one Verſe. Viſionis ac videndi vocabulum repetitur, the word for Viſion and to ſee it is made uſe of.

When I came to deſtroy the City] i. e. To foretel the deſtruction of it, chap. 9.2, 5. from which time forth it was a done thing: See Jer. 1.10. with the Note.

And I fell upon my face] In reverence to his Majeſty, in admiration of his mercy, and in the ſenſe of mine own unworthineſſe. The nearer any one cometh to God, the lower he falleth in his own eyes; and the more doth rottenneſſe enter into his bones.

Ver. 4. And the glory of the Lord] See ver 2.

By the way of the gate] The ordinary entrance into the Temple. There, if anywhere, God is to be found: where ſhould a man be ſought for but at his houſe? Say he be from home a while, yet thither he returneth: So here.

Ver. 5. So the Spirit took me up] Who was fain upon my face: The lowly ſhall be lifted up.

And brought me into the inner court] As being a Prieſt: ſo is every true believer, 1 Pet. 2.9. Rev. 1.6.

Filled the houſe] Gods preſence is the full glory of each good ſoul. See Hag. 2.7.

Ver. 6. And I heard him ſpeaking unto me] The man Chriſt Jeſus, ſtanding by. Here then is a meeting and the myſtery of the bleſſed Trinity: yea here is a double myſtery to be taken notice of: viz. thoſe two wonderful unions of three perſons in one God, and of Chriſts two natures in one perſon.

Ver. 7. The place of my throne, and the place of the ſoles of my feet] i. e. My Church, which is unto me inſtead of heaven and earth. Behold the place of my throne, &c. ſo ſome read it: others, as for the place of my throne, &c.Iſa. 66.1.

No more defile] But hallow: for negative holineſs alone is little worth.

Nor by the carcaſſes of their Kings] i. e. Their idols; not unfitly called carcaſſes. Piſcat. 1. Becauſe void of life. 2. Stinking ſtuffe. See Levit. 26.30. Jer. 16.18. Theſe were oft brought in, and countenanced by their Kings.

Ver. 8. In their ſetting of their threſhold by my threſholds] By broaching falſhoods for truth, and ſetting humane devices in competition with the good Word of God. That deteſtable decree of the Council of Trent is well known, whereby the Apocrypha[illegible: 1 letter] is ſet cheek by joule (as they ſay) with the holy Canon: the Vulgar Tranſlation, with the Original: traditions, with Scriptures; and unwritten verities, with thoſe that are written. This is intolerable preſumption: Jews and Turks do the like in their Talmud and Alchoran: that I ſpeak not of our Sect-Maſters who boldly obtrude their Placits without juſt proof, and require to be beleeved.

And the wall between me and them] Which they have wretchedly ſet up by their ſins, to their ſingular diſadvantage, Eſa. 59.2. or they have come under my noſe, as it were, to provoke me. Or, the nearer they were to Church, the further from God.

Ver. 9. Now let them put away their whoredom] So ſhall all be well betwixt us: See Jer. 3.1. Iſa. 1.18. with the Notes. Piſcator ictus ſapiat. Some read it, Now they will put away, &c. and ſo they did, after the captivity; but will not be yet drawn to worſhip the true God aright: the Lord perſwade their hearts thereto. Fiat, Fiat.

And the carcaſſes] See on ver. 7.

And I will dwell in the midſt of them for ever] This is the ſame with that, Mat. 28. I am with you to the end of the world.

Ver. 10. Shew the houſe] Heb. that houſe, ſc. which I have ſhewed thee in viſions: the idea of that Temple, which ſhall ſhortly be ſet up, its figure and dimenſions.

That they may be aſhamed] Of having dealt ſo unworthily with a God ſo gracious.

And let them meaſure the pattern] Ʋt metiantur univerſe, that by a holy Geometry they may, in the ſpirit of their minds take all the dimenſions of it, and be transformed into the likeneſs of the heavenly pattern. Theſe are thoſe holy and heavenly Mathematikes, which none can learn but thoſe that are taught of God; Scholae Platonis haec fuit inſcriptio, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. and without which, none can be Chriſts Diſciple: like as none might be ſcholar to Plato, that had not the grounds of Geometry.

Ver. 11. And if they be aſhamed of all that they have done] If they bluſh and bleed at heart for their iniquities. Penitents are to be taught the truth which is according to godlineſs: and all ſuch are exactly to know and to do the whole will of God, as had not rather be carnally ſecured, then ſoundly comforted.

Ver. 12. Ʋpon the top of the mountain] The Church is as a City on an hill, ſeen far and near, Mat. 5.14. and the members of it are ſtill aſcending from one degree of grace to another, from ſtrength to ſtrength, till they ſee the face of God in Sion, Pſal. 15.1. Heb. 12.22, 23.

The whole limit thereof round about ſhall be moſt holy] All the Lords people are ſo, at leaſt in profeſſion, inchoation, honeſt endeavour, divine acceptation: and ſhall be ſo one day in all perfection, Rev. 21.8, 27. & 22.14, 15.

Ver. 13. And theſe are the meaſures of the Altar] viz. Of burnt offerings, which was in the Prieſts court; and not at all ſpoken of till now.

The cubit] viz. That of the Sanctuary.

Even the bottom] Heb. the b[illegible: 1 letter]ſom.

This ſhall be the higher place] Heb. the back, as that which bore all. We have alſo an Altar, Heb. 13.10. even Jeſus Chriſt the juſt one, who is both our Ariel (Gods Lion, Rev. 5.5.) and our Harcel (Gods Mount) of four cubits, as being preached unto the Gentiles in all parts, believed on in the world, received up into glory, 1 Tim. 3.16.

Ver. 14. And from the bottom upon the ground] This ſo exact meaſuring of the Altar may import, ſaith Polanus, the faithful and perfect preaching of the Goſpel by the Apoſtles and all faithful Miniſters of Gods Word after them, 2 Cor. 10.13, &c. 1 Cor. 4.1, 2. Rev. 11.1.

Ver. 15. So the Altar] Heb. Harcel, the hill of God, or the only place of ſacrifices.

And from the Altar] Ariel, the Lion of God: ſo called, becauſe the fire of this Altar devoured the ſacrifices, as a Lion doth the prey. See Eſa. 29.16.

Ver. 16. Square in the four ſquares thereof] Chriſt the Chriſtian Altar, is compleat, firm and fixed.

Ver. 17. And his ſtaires ſhall look toward the Eaſt] As leading to the Sun of righteouſneſſe, and the light of eternal bleſſedneſs, ariſing out of heaven.

Ver. 18. Theſe are the ordinances of the Altar] Chriſtians alſo have their ſacrifices, (though of another alloy) to offer; and muſt look to the ordinances of their Altar. Miniſters muſt eſpecially.

Ver. 19. And thou ſhalt give to the Prieſts] All this is to be underſtood ſpiritually, as being figuratively ſpoken.

A young bullock] Together with a goat and a ram, ver. 22, 23, 25. All that are Chriſts have crucified the fl[illegible: 1 letter]ſh with the affections and luſts, Gal. 5.24. and are ſtill doing at it.

Ver. 20. And thou ſhalt take of the blood] Chriſt, as Mediatour, was conſecrated and qualified for the work.

Ver. 21. Without the Sanctuary] So Chriſt ſuffered without the gate, Heb. 13.11, 12.

Ver. 22. And they ſhall cleanſe the Altar] To ſet forth how Chriſt clenſeth and ſanctifieth his people, Heb. 9.19.—24. Job. 17.19. Heb. 9.13, 14.

Ver. 23. Thou ſhalt offer] See on ver. 19.

Plato ſal[illegible: 1 letter]ominat [non-Latin text not transcribed], diu chariſ. Nihil utilius ſale [illegible: 1 letter]c ſo[illegible: 1 letter]e. Cael Rhodig. l. 6. c 1.Ver. 24. And the Prieſts ſhall caſt ſalt upon them] Chriſtians muſt have ſalt within themſelves, Mar. 9.50. and ſee to it, that all their ſpeeches be ſeaſoned with the ſalt of mortification and diſcretion, Eph. 4. ſo ſhall God make an everlaſting covenant with them, even a covenant of ſalt. See Levit. 2.13.

Ver. 25. Every day a goat] Mortification muſt be a Chriſtians dayly practice.

Ver. 26. They ſhall purge] Thou and they together. We muſt alſo ſanctifie the Lord God in our hearts, 1 Pet. 3.15.

Ver. 27. It ſhall be upon the eighth day] The ſervices of mortified men ſhall be accepted, on the eighth day eſpecially, the Chriſtian ſabbath, in the holy Aſſemblies.