11 And since they have been ashamed of all that they have done, The form of the house, and its measurement, And its outlets, and its inlets, and all its forms, And all its statutes, even all its forms, And all its laws cause them to know, And write `it' before their eyes, And they observe all its forms, And all its statutes, and have done them.
In the twenty and fifth year of our removal, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in this self-same day hath a hand of Jehovah been upon me, and He bringeth me in thither; in visions of God He hath brought me in unto the land of Israel, and causeth me to rest on a very high mountain, and upon it `is' as the frame of a city on the south. And He bringeth me in thither, and lo, a man, his appearance as the appearance of brass, and a thread of flax in his hand, and a measuring-reed, and he is standing at the gate, and the man speaketh unto me: `Son of man, see with thine eyes, And with thine ears hear, And set thy heart to all that I am shewing thee, For, in order to shew `it' thee, Thou hast been brought in hither, Declare all that thou art seeing to the house of Israel.' And lo, a wall on the outside of the house all round about, and in the hand of the man a measuring-reed, six cubits by a cubit and a handbreadth, and he measureth the breadth of the building one reed, and the height one reed. And he cometh in unto the gate whose front `is' eastward, and he goeth up by its steps, and he measureth the threshold of the gate one reed broad, even the one threshold one reed broad, and the little chamber one reed long and one reed broad, and between the little chambers five cubits, and the threshold of the gate, from the side of the porch of the gate from within, one reed. And he measureth the porch of the gate from within one reed, and he measureth the porch of the gate eight cubits, and its posts two cubits, and the porch of the gates from within, and the little chambers of the gate eastward, three on this side, and three on that side; one measure `is' to them three, and one measure `is' to the posts, on this side and on that side. And he measureth the breadth of the opening of the gate ten cubits, the length of the gate thirteen cubits; and a border before the little chambers, one cubit, and one cubit `is' the border on this side, and the little chamber `is' six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side. And he measureth the gate from the roof of the `one' little chamber to the roof of another; the breadth twenty and five cubits, opening over-against opening. And he maketh the posts of sixty cubits, even unto the post of the court, the gate all round about; and by the front of the gate of the entrance, by the front of the porch of the inner gate, fifty cubits; and narrow windows `are' unto the little chambers, and unto their posts at the inside of the gate all round about -- and so to the arches -- and windows all round about `are' at the inside, and at the post `are' palm-trees. And he bringeth me in unto the outer court, and lo, chambers and a pavement made for the court all round about -- thirty chambers on the pavement -- and the pavement unto the side of the gates over-against the length of the gates `is' the lower pavement; and he measureth the breadth from before the lower gate, to the front of the inner court, on the outside, a hundred cubits, eastward and northward. As to the gate of the outer court whose front `is' northward, he hath measured its length and its breadth; and its little chambers, three on this side, and three on that side, and its posts and its arches have been according to the measure of the first gate, fifty cubits its length, and the breadth five and twenty by the cubit; and its windows, and its arches, and its palm-trees `are' according to the measure of the gate whose face `is' eastward, and by seven steps they go up on it, and its arches `are' before them. And the gate of the inner court `is' over-against the gate at the north and at the east; and he measureth from gate unto gate, a hundred cubits. And he causeth me to go southward, and lo, a gate southward, and he hath measured its posts and its arches according to these measures; and windows `are' to it and to its arches all round about, like these windows, fifty cubits the length, and the breadth five and twenty cubits; and seven steps `are' its ascent, and its arches `are' before them, and palm-trees `are' to it, one on this side, and one on that side, at its posts; and the gate of the inner court `is' southward, and he measureth from gate unto gate southward, a hundred cubits. And he bringeth me in unto the inner court by the south gate, and he measureth the south gate according to these measures; and its little chambers, and its posts, and its arches `are' according to these measures, and windows `are' to it and to its arches all round about; fifty cubits the length, and the breadth twenty and five cubits. As to the arches all round about, the length `is' five and twenty cubits, and the breadth five cubits; and its arches `are' unto the outer court, and palm-trees `are' unto its posts, and eight steps `are' its ascent. And he bringeth me in unto the inner court eastward, and he measureth the gate according to these measures; and its little chambers, and its posts, and its arches `are' according to these measures: and windows `are' to it and to its arches all round about, the length fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits; and its arches `are' toward the outer court, and palm-trees `are' toward its posts, on this side and on that side, and eight steps `are' its ascent. And he bringeth me in unto the north gate, and hath measured according to these measures; its little chambers, its posts, and its arches; and windows `are' to it all round about: the length fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits; and its posts `are' to the outer court, and palm-trees `are' unto its posts, on this side and on that side, and eight steps `are' its ascent. And the chamber and its opening `is' by the posts of the gates, there they purge the burnt-offering. And in the porch of the gate `are' two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slaughter on them the burnt-offering, and the sin-offering, and the guilt-offering; and at the side without, at the going up to the opening of the north gate, `are' two tables; and at the other side that `is' at the porch of the gate, `are' two tables; four tables `are' on this side, and four tables on that side, at the side of the gate, eight tables on which they slaughter. And the four tables for burnt-offering `are' of hewn stone: the length one cubit and a half, and the breadth one cubit and a half, and the height one cubit: on them they place the instruments with which they slaughter the burnt-offering and the sacrifice.
And Jehovah saith unto me, `Son of man, set thy heart, and see with thine eyes, and with thine ears hear, all that I am speaking with thee, of all the statutes of the house of Jehovah, and of all its laws; and thou hast set thy heart to the entrance of the house, with all the outlets of the sanctuary, and hast said unto the rebellious, unto the house of Israel: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Enough to you -- of all your abominations, O house of Israel.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 43
Commentary on Ezekiel 43 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 (Isa 2:1-3; Jer 3:17; Zec 14:16-20; Mal 3:1). God from the first claimed to be their King politically as well as religiously: and He had resisted their wish to have a human king, as implying a rejection of Him as the proper Head of the state. Even when He yielded to their wish, it was with a protest against their king ruling except as His vicegerent. When Messiah shall reign at Jerusalem, He shall then first realize the original idea of the theocracy, with its at once divine and human king reigning in righteousness over a people all righteous (Eze 43:12; Isa 52:1; 54:13; 60:21).
9. carcasses of their kings—It is supposed that some of their idolatrous kings were buried within the bounds of Solomon's temple [Henderson]. Rather, "the carcasses of their idols," here called "kings," as having had lordship over them in past times (Isa 26:13); but henceforth Jehovah, alone their rightful lord, shall be their king, and the idols that had been their "king" would appear but as "carcasses." Hence these defunct kings are associated with the "high places" in Eze 43:7 [Fairbairn]. Le 26:30 and Jer 16:18, confirm this. Manasseh had built altars in the courts of the temple to the host of heaven (2Ki 21:5; 23:6).
I will dwell in the midst … for ever—(Re 21:3).
10. show the house … that they may be ashamed of their iniquities—When the spirituality of the Christian scheme is shown to men by the Holy Ghost, it makes them "ashamed of their iniquities."
12. whole … most holy—This superlative, which had been used exclusively of the holy of holies (Ex 26:34), was now to characterize the entire building. This all-pervading sanctity was to be "the law of the (whole) house," as distinguished from the Levitical law, which confined the peculiar sanctity to a single apartment of it.
13-27. As to the altar of burnt offering, which was the appointed means of access to God.
15. altar—Hebrew, Harel, that is, "mount of God"; denoting the high security to be imparted by it to the restored Israel. It was a high place, but a high place of God, not of idols.
from the altar—literally, "the lion of God," Ariel (in Isa 29:1, "Ariel" is applied to Jerusalem). Menochius supposes that on it four animals were carved; the lion perhaps was the uppermost, whence the horns were made to issue. Gesenius regards the two words as expressing the "hearth" or fireplace of the altar.
16. square in the four squares—square on the four sides of its squares [Fairbairn].
17. settle—ledge [Fairbairn].
stairs—rather, "the ascent," as "steps" up to God's altar were forbidden in Ex 20:26.
18-27. The sacrifices here are not mere commemorative, but propitiatory ones. The expressions, "blood" (Eze 43:18), and "for a sin offering" (Eze 43:19, 21, 22), prove this. In the literal sense they can only apply to the second temple. Under the Christian dispensation they would directly oppose the doctrine taught in Heb 10:1-18, namely, that Christ has by one offering for ever atoned for sin. However, it is possible that they might exist with a retrospective reference to Christ's sufferings, as the Levitical sacrifices had a prospective reference to them; not propitiatory in themselves, but memorials to keep up the remembrance of His propitiatory sufferings, which form the foundation of His kingdom, lest they should be lost sight of in the glory of that kingdom [De Burgh]. The particularity of the directions make it unlikely that they are to be understood in a merely vague spiritual sense.
20. cleanse—literally, "make expiation for."
21. burn it … without the sanctuary—(Heb 13:11).
26. Seven days—referring to the original directions of Moses for seven days' purification services of the altar (Ex 29:37).
consecrate themselves—literally, "fill their hands," namely, with offerings; referring to the mode of consecrating a priest (Ex 29:24, 35).
27. I will accept you—(Eze 20:40, 41; Ro 12:1; 1Pe 2:5).