Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 45:18
Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the first [month], in the first [day] of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary:
Eze 45:18-25. Offerings at the feasts
18 20. The stated atonement for the sanctuary twice in the year on the first day of the first month ( Eze 45:18); and on the first day of the seventh month (Eze 45:20). The sin-offering on both occasions shall be a young bullock to cleanse, better: to make atonement for the sanctuary (Eze 43:20).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ch. Eze 45:18 to Eze 46:24 . The offerings to be made at the feasts and other appointed seasons
(1) Eze 45:18-25 . Offerings at the feasts.
(2) Eze 46:1-11. Offerings for the sabbaths and new moons.
(3) Eze 45:12. Voluntary offerings of the prince.
(4) Eze 45:13-15. The daily burnt-offering.
(5) Eze 45:16-18. Case of the prince alienating any part of his landed estate to his children or servants.
(6) Eze 45:19-24. Kitchens for boiling the offerings eaten by the priests, and those partaken of by the people.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This order of certain solemn services does not follow exactly the order of Moses, of Solomon, or of Ezra. The deviation can scarcely have been accidental, and furnishes a fresh indication that the whole vision is symbolic, representative of the times when, after the oblation of the one Sacrifice, reconciliation and sanctification were effected for man through the presence of God dwelling in the midst of the people.
Eze 45:18
In the first day – If this is only a special Passover for the dedication, the prolongation of the festival may be compared with that under Solomon 2Ch 7:8. But it is more probably a general ordinance, and, in this case, we have an addition to the Mosaic ritual (compare Lev 23:5). Here the first day is marked by the rites of expiation, which are repeated on the seventh day Eze 45:20, for the purpose of including those who transgressed from ignorance rather than willfulness.
Eze 45:23
Comparing this with the daily sacrifices of the Paschal week Num 28:19-24, and those of the daily sacrifices of the week of the Feast of tabernacles (see Num 29:12…), it will be seen that here the covenant number seven is preserved throughout to indicate a perfect, in lieu of an imperfect, covenant with God.
Eze 45:25
The Feast of tabernacles (compare the marginal references). Some think that the other great festival, the Feast of Weeks, is intended.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. Thou shalt take a young bullock – and cleanse the sanctuary.] There is nothing of this in the Mosaic law; it seems to have been a new ceremony. An annual purification of the sanctuary may be intended.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In the first month of the year, every new-years day; or the first new-years day after the temple is built, a kind of feast of dedication: the former better agreeth with the following verses.
Thou shalt take; procure, either being out of his own flock, or buy with his money; this the prince must do.
A young bullock without blemish; such the law required, both for kind and quality, in what sacrifice, or on what occasion soever the sacrifice was offered.
And cleanse the sanctuary; that by this, offered according to the law, the temple might be cleansed.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. The year is to begin with aconsecration service, not mentioned under the Levitical law; but anearnest of it is given in the feast of dedication of the secondtemple, which celebrated its purification by Judas Maccabeus, afterits defilement by Antiochus.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thus saith the Lord God,…. Here begins the account of the times and seasons in which the above sacrifices should be prepared and offered; or that which was signified by them be held forth in the ministry of the word to the faith of God’s people:
in the first month, in the first day of the month; the month Nisan, as Kimchi observes, who adds,
“which is the month of redemption, in which Israel were redeemed out of Egypt, and in which they shall be redeemed in time to come:”
this month answers to part of our March and part of April; it was the first month in the year with the Jews for their ecclesiastical affairs; so that the first day of this month was New Year’s Day:
thou shall take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary; or, “make a sin offering for it” g; here the Jews are puzzled; since, according to the law of Moses, in the beginnings of their months, they were to offer a burnt offering of two young bullocks and a ram, c. Nu 28:11, whereas here only one bullock, and that a sin offering wherefore R. Jochanan and R. Judah say, this must be left till Elijah comes to explain it; and as much at a loss are they how to account for it that Ezekiel should do this, whom they suppose to be the person spoken to; and therefore imagine this will be done by him after the resurrection, not being able to see that this shows the abrogation of the law of Moses; and that not the Prophet Ezekiel, but Christ the Prince and Priest, is here addressed; and whose sacrifice is designed by the young bullock without blemish; a type of him both in his strength and purity; and by which his sanctuary, his church and people, have all their sins expiated; and particularly the sins of the year past, this being represented as done on New Year’s Day, which the annual atonement prefigured.
g “expiatoque”, Piscator; “expiabis”, Cocceius, Starckius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Sin-Offerings in the First Month
Eze 45:18. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, In the first (month), on the first of the month, thou shalt take a bullock, a young ox without blemish, and absolve the sanctuary. Eze 45:19. And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering, and put it upon the door-posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the enclosure of the altar, and upon the door-posts at the gate of the inner court. Eze 45:20. And so shalt thou do on the seventh of the month, for the sake of erring men and of folly, that so ye may make atonement for the house. – The Mosaic law had prescribed for the new moons generally the sin-offering of a he-goat, in addition to the burnt-offerings and meat-offerings (Num 28:15); and, besides, this, had also distinguished the new-moon’s day of the seventh month by a special feast-offering to be added to the regular new-moon’s sacrifices, and consisting of a sin-offering of a he-goat, and burnt-offerings and meat-offerings (Num 29:2-6). This distinguishing of the seventh month by a special new-moon’s sacrifice is omitted in Ezekiel; but in the place of it the first month is distinguished by a sin-offering to be presented on the first and seventh days. Nothing is said in Eze 45:18-20 about burnt-offerings for these days; but as the burnt-offering is appointed in Eze 46:6-7 for the new-moon’s day without any limitation, and the regulations as to the connection between the meat-offering and the burnt-offerings are repeated in Eze 46:11 for the holy days and feast days ( ) generally, and the new-moon’s day is also reckoned among the , there is evidently good ground for the assumption that the burnt-offering and meat-offering prescribed for the new moon in Eze 46:6-7 were also to be offered at the new moon of the first month. On the other hand, no special burnt-offering or meat-offering is mentioned for the seventh day of the first month; so that in all probability only the daily burnt-offering and meat-offering were added upon that day (Eze 46:13.) to the sin-offering appointed for it. Moreover, the sin-offerings prescribed for the first and seventh days of the first month are distinguished from the sin-offerings of the Mosaic law, partly by the animal selected (a young bullock), and partly by the disposal of the blood. According to the Mosaic law, the sin-offering for the new moons, as well as for all the feast days of the year, the Passover, Pentecost, day of trumpets, day of atonement, and feast of tabernacles (all eight days), was to be a he-goat (Num 28:15; Num 22:30; Num 29:5, Num 29:11, Num 29:16, Num 29:19, Num 29:22, Num 29:25, Num 29:28, Num 29:31, Num 29:34, Num 29:38). Even the sin-offering for the congregation of Israel on the great day of atonement simply consisted in a he-goat (or two he-goats, Lev 16:5); and it was only for the sin-offering for the high priest, whether on that day (Lev 16:3), or when he had sinned so as to bring guilt upon the nation (Lev 4:3), or when the whole congregation had sinned (Lev 4:14), that a bullock was required. On the other hand, according to Ezekiel, the sin-offering both on the first and seventh days of the first month, and also the one to be brought by the prince on the fourteenth day of that month, i.e., on the day of the feast of Passover (Eze 45:22), for himself and for all the people, were to consist of a bullock and only the sin-offering on the seven days of the feast of Passover and tabernacles of a he-goat (Eze 45:23, Eze 45:25). The Mosaic law contains no express instructions concerning the sprinkling of the blood of the sin-offering at the new moons and feasts (with the exception of the great atoning sacrifice on the day of atonement), because it was probably the same as in the case of the sin-offerings for the high priest and the whole congregation, when the blood was first of all to be sprinkled seven times against the curtain in front of the capporeth, and then to be applied to the horns of the altar of incense, and the remainder to be poured out at the foot of the altar of burnt-offering (Lev 4:6-7, Lev 4:17-18); whereas, in the case of the great atoning sacrifice on the day of atonement, some of the blood was first of all to be sprinkled at or upon the front side of the capporeth and seven times upon the ground, and after that it was to be applied to the horns of the altar of incense and of the altar of burnt-offering (Lev 16:15-17). But according to Ezekiel, some of the blood of the sin-offerings on the first and seventh days of the first month, and certainly also on the same days of the feasts of Passover and tabernacles, was to be smeared upon the posts of the house – that is to say, the posts mentioned in Eze 41:21, not merely those of the , the door into the holy place, but also those of the , the door leading into the most holy place, upon the horns and the four corners of the enclosure of the altar of burnt-offering (Eze 43:20), and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court. It is a point in dispute here whether is only one door, and in that case whether the east gate of the inner court is to be understood as in Eze 46:2 ( ), as Hitzig and others suppose, or whether rehtehw is to be taken in a collective sense as signifying the three gates of the inner court (Kliefoth and others). The latter view is favoured by the collective use of the word by itself, and also by the circumstance that if only one of the three gates were intended, the statement which of the three would hardly have been omitted (cf. Eze 46:1; Eze 44:1, etc.).
According to Eze 45:18, these sin-offerings were to serve for the absolving of the sanctuary; and according to Eze 45:20, to make atonement for the temple on account of error or folly. Both directions mean the same thing. The reconciliation of the temple was effected by its absolution or purification from the sins that had come upon it through the error and folly of the people. Sins are sins occasioned by the weakness of flesh and blood, for which expiation could be made by sin-offerings (see the comm. on Lev 4:2 and Num 15:22.). , lit., away from the erring man, i.e., to release him from his sin. This expression is strengthened by , away from simplicity or folly; here, as in Pro 7:7, as abstractum pro concreto , the simple man. – The great expiatory sacrifice on the day of atonement answered the same purpose, the absolution of the sanctuary from the sins of the people committed (Lev 16:16.).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
2. Festival offerings (45:1825)
TRANSLATION
(18) Thus says the Lord GOD: In the first month, in the first day of the month, you shall take a young bullock without blemish; and you shall cleanse the sanctuary. (19) And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering, and put it upon the doorposts of the house, and upon the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court. (20) And so you shall do on the seventh day of the month for every one that errs, and for him that is simple: so shall you make atonement for the house. (21) In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. (22) And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin-offering. (23) And the seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt-offering to the l,ORD, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a he-goat daily for a sin-offering. (24) And he shall prepare a meal-offering, and ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and a hin of oil to an ephah. (25) In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, in the feast, shall he do the like seven days; according to the sin-offering, according to the burnt-offering, according to the meal-offering, and according to the oil.
COMMENTS
The regulations regarding festival offerings sketched out here presuppose the more detailed instructions found in the Pentateuch. Some of the sacrifices spoken of here and in the next chapters were unknown in Solomons Temple. Some scholars hold that the sacrifices outlined here were intended to be replacement for the Mosaic regulations regarding these holy days. Others see these sacrifices as being in addition to those stipulated in the Mosaic law. Still others see these sacrifices as authorized only for the period of the dedication of the new Temple.
Eze. 45:18-20 speak regarding the New Years celebration The blood of a bullock would be employed to purify the sanctuary on New Years day (Eze. 45:18). The blood of that sin offering would be smeared on the doorposts of the Temple, on the four corners of the greater ledge of the altar (cf. Eze. 43:20), and on the post of the gate[534] of the inner court (Eze. 45:19). These actions were to be repeated on the seventh day of the month. This ritual served to cleanse the holy area from those who through ignorance had wandered into a restricted area of the Temple courtyard.
[534] The word gate may be used here in a collective sense of all three gates of the inner court.
In Eze. 45:21-24 Ezekiel speaks concerning the Passover. This feast commemorated the deliverance of the Jews from Egypt. It was celebrated on the fourteenth day of Nisan, the first month. This spring festival lasted seven days during which only unleavened bread was eaten (Eze. 45:21). The prince was to prepare, i.e., provide, a bullock as a sin-offering for himself and for the people (Eze. 45:22). No such sacrifice was connected with Passover in the Mosiac dispensation. In addition to the sin-offering bullock, the prince was to provide for burnt-offerings seven bullocks and seven rams on each of the seven days of the festival, as well as a he-goat each day for a sin-offering (Eze. 45:23). Along with each bullock and ram the prince was to provide a ephah of grain and a hin of oil (Eze. 45:24).
The feast of Tabernacles (Eze. 45:25) was observed during Tishri, the seventh month. During this joyous seven-day festival the prince was to duplicate the offerings required during Passover.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(18) In the first month, in the first day of the month.The rest of this and the first fifteen verses of the following chapter are occupied with the ritual of the sacrifices on certain special occasions. In each case the deviations from the Mosaic law are remarkable, as well as the omission of any mention of the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and of the Great Day of Atonement. Ezekiel, as a priest, must have been familiar with the law in these matters, and therefore the changes he introduces must have been intentional. Like the changes in the division of the land, they seemed designed to show that this was an ideal vision. No attempt was ever made to follow the arrangements here laid down. The Mosaic law prescribed (in addition to the burnt offerings and meat offerings) a sin offering, which was to be a he-goat (Num. 28:15) for the first of every month; also on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Great Day of Atonement, two he-goats (one for the scape-goat) were to be offered. Of all these Ezekiel mentions only the sin offering for the beginning of the first month, and also for the seventh day of the same, of which the Mosaic law knows nothing; but he provides for these bullocks instead of goats. In the ritual of the blood he makes a corresponding change. The law gives no special directions for the sprinkling of the blood of the sin offerings on the first of each month, because they were included in the ordinary rule (Lev. 4:25; Lev. 4:30, &c.) of sprinkling upon the sides of the altar of burnt offering; only in the case of the sin offering for the high priest or for the whole congregation (when the victim was a bullock) was the blood brought within the Temple itself, and sprinkled seven times before the vail, and applied to the horns of the altar of incense. On the Day of Atonement it was carried into the Holy of Holies, and sprinkled upon and before the mercyseat. All this is here changed. Some of the blood of these sin offerings (Eze. 45:19) is to be put upon the posts of the house (see Eze. 41:21), upon the corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18-20. Here are given specific directions for these offerings at the great feast. Twice in the year, on the first of Abib (Eze 45:18), and on the seventh of the same month, or, with LXX., on the first of the seventh month (Eze 45:20, compare Eze 43:20; Lev 16:16-18), an atonement for the sanctuary must be made by the offering of a young bullock, whose blood must be applied to the doorposts (Eze 41:21), and the corners of “the ledge of the altar” (Eze 45:19; Eze 43:20), and to the posts of the gateway of the inner court. (Compare Exo 12:3-6; Lev 16:11-16; Lev 23:27.) This was to make “atonement for the house” (R.V., Eze 45:20) with special reference to ceremonial impurity or uncleanness contracted through the accidental mistake or ignorance of some worshiper or administrator. (Compare Leviticus 4.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Prince’s Responsibility For Cleansing the Sanctuary and The People at the New Year.
‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh, “In the first month, on the first day of the month, you will take a young bullock without blemish, and you will cleanse the sanctuary. And the priest will take of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the house, and on the four corners of the settle of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court. And so shall you do on the seventh day of the month for every one who errs and for every one who is ignorant. So shall you make atonement for the house.” ’
The first responsibility of the prince is to ensure the fitness for worship of the earthly sanctuary. Each new year’s day, that is of the ancient religious new year commencing around March/April at the new moon, this had to be cleansed by the sin offering of a young bullock without blemish on the first and seventh day. The priest would then take the blood of the bullock and put it on the doorposts of the house, that is of the sanctuary where the offering was made, and on the four corners of the settle of the altar (compare Eze 43:20) on which the offering was offered, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court. This would cleanse the sanctuary for another year. That there would be such a sanctuary was clear from the building of the altar under Yahweh’s instructions (Eze 43:18).
‘And so shall you do on the seventh day of the month for every one who errs and for every one who is ignorant.’ As with the cleansing of the altar (Eze 43:26) this cleansing required a seven day period, although in this case not specifically daily. The sin offering, probably in both cases, was for sins of error (Lev 4:2; Lev 4:13; Lev 4:22; Lev 4:27; Num 15:22-29) and sins of ignorance (Lev 5:17) for the whole people. Both are in contrast with ‘sins with a high hand’ (Num 15:30). This was seemingly an innovation, a further reminder of their continual need to be cleansed from sin. It would be a constant reminder in the future of how Israel had previously failed in their history to learn the lesson of the New Year sacrifice.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Special Ordinances Concerning Some Offerings
v. 18. Thus saith the Lord God, In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, v. 19. and the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering, v. 20. And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, v. 21. In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the Passover, v. 22. And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin-offering, v. 23. And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the Lord, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days, v. 24. And he shall prepare a meat-offering of an ephah for a bullock, v. 25. In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Eze 45:18 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the first [month], in the first [day] of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary:
Ver. 18. Thou shalt take. ] Thou, O prince, shalt.
A young bullock. NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 45:18-20
18’Thus says the Lord God, In the first month, on the first of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish and cleanse the sanctuary. 19The priest shall take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the house, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar and on the posts of the gate of the inner court. 20Thus you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who goes astray or is naive; so you shall make atonement for the house.
Eze 45:18-25 The lists of feasts (the year begins in the spring).
Verse(s)MonthDayParallel Texts
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.Eze 45:18-19 Eze 45:20 Eze 45:21-24 Eze 45:21-24 Eze 45:251st month 1st month 1st month 1st month 7th month1st day 9th day 14th day 15th-21st days 15th-21st daysNum 28:11-15 Leviticus 16 Lev 23:5; Num 28:16-25 Lev 23:6 Lev 23:33-37; Numbers 29; Deu 16:13-15
Even though #2 has elements of the Day of Atonement, probably Eze 45:18-20 reflect the New Year Feast, while Eze 45:21-24 reflect Passover/Unleavened Bread and Eze 45:25 reflects the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles.
The last of this chapter and the next is the section that disagrees so much with the Mosaic regulation. The question is why. Ezekiel was a priest. He knew the law of Moses. I think that the differences and exaggerated land dimensions are a way to denote its symbolic nature (it is similar to John listing the tribes incorrectly in Revelation 7). Only literalists demand a future temple!
SPECIAL TOPIC: FEASTS OF ISRAEL
In the first month, in the first day of the month. See note on Gen 8:13.
bullock. Reil to Pentateuch (Exo 29:1-14). App-92.
Eze 45:18-25
Eze 45:18-25
Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary: 19 And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court. 20 And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple: so shall ye reconcile the house. 21 In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22 And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering. 23 And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the LORD, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering. 24 And he shall prepare a meat offering of an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and an hin of oil for an ephah. 25 In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat offering, and according to the oil.
Regulations for the feasts. Eze 45:18-25.
The first of the feasts described is an annual rite of purification for the temple (Eze 45:18-20). This rite was to be carried out on the first day of the first month, which would have been March or April each year. The prince is to offer a bull as a sin offering and place the blood on the door posts of the sanctuary, the four corners of the altar, and the gate posts of the inner court (Eze 45:19). The same ceremony to be on the seventh day for everyone who had gone astray to make atonement for the house (Eze 45:20).
The Passover observance followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread is also the responsibility of the prince (Eze 45:21; cf. Exo 12:1-2; Num 28:16-25). At Passover the prince will offer a sin offering for himself and for the people. On the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread that followed, the prince offered seven bulls, seven rams, and a male goat as a sin offering each day (Eze 45:23).
Accompanying these sacrifices is to be an ephah of grain and one hin of oil, which was about twelve pints (Eze 45:24). The feast of the seventh month is the Feast of Tabernacles. It is described in Lev 23:33-36 and Num 29:12-38. Since it too was a seventh-day feast, the same regulations applied (Eze 45:25).
Rules Concerning the Temple and Worship
Eze 44:1 to Eze 46:24
Open It
1. Would you prefer a world where faithfulness and hard work are rewarded or a world where good fortune is dispensed at random? Why?
2. Why do you think society dictates that we dress up for certain occasions and not others?
Explore It
3. What special instructions did the guide in Ezekiels vision have for the east gate to the sanctuary? (Eze 44:1-3)
4. How did Ezekiel react when he saw the glory of the Lord? (Eze 44:4)
5. To what instructions did God tell Ezekiel to pay particular attention, in order to correct Gods people? (Eze 44:5-6)
6. What practice would God not tolerate in the restored temple? (Eze 44:7-9)
7. Why were the Levites to be limited only to certain duties within the temple? (Eze 44:10-14)
8. What group did God designate to serve as priests in the inner court? (Eze 44:15-16)
9. What were some ways in which the priests were expected to maintain a greater degree of purity in their life than were the common people? (Eze 44:17-27)
10. What provisions did God make for the sustenance of the priests? (Eze 44:28-31)
11. How did God redraw the map of Jerusalem to provide for the temple, the priests, and the prince in an equitable way? (Eze 45:1-8)
12. What abuses of power by prior rulers did God want to eliminate in the restored kingdom? (Eze 45:9-12)
13. What sorts of offerings did God specify for special days on the Jewish calendar? (Eze 45:13-25)
14. How was the opening and closing of certain gates to be a part of the temple ceremonies? (Eze 46:1-12)
15. What were the required daily offerings? (Eze 46:13-15)
16. How did Gods laws on inheritance insure separateness for His people and justice among them? (Eze 46:16-18)
17. What practical provision was made in the temple since most of the sacrifices were followed by feasts? (Eze 46:19-24)
Get It
18. What indications do you see in these three chapters of Gods expectations of those in leadership?
19. Where in these chapters do you see Gods concern for the “little person”?
20. How does Gods concern for accurate units of measure demonstrate His concern about our life?
21. Why is it significant that the land set aside for worship was to be at the center of the restored city?
22. Why do you think that purity is so often stressed in situations where human beings approach God?
23. How did the temple rituals help the people understand what was important in life?
24. How was everyday life brought into the worship of God in the temple?
25. For whom do you think the feasts were designed primarily?
26. How should believers conduct themselves with regard to some of the questionable practices of commerce or society?
Apply It
27. What “weights and measures” or “rules and regulations” of daily life should you resolve before God to observe with greater faithfulness?
28. How can you give worship more of a central place in your life?
This passage constitutes one paragraph dealing with the arrangements for the feasts, and appointed times and seasons. Twice a year the sacred ceremony of cleansing the sanctuary was to be performed, on the first day of the first month, and on the first day of the seventh month. In this provision the holiness of God is insisted upon, in that it is an atonement for the house on the behalf, not of any individuals, or of specific sins, but “for everyone that erreth, and for him that is simple.”
The Passover feast was still to be observed, and also the feast of Tabernacles. In addition to these great festivals, arrangements were made for the ceremonial observance of sabbaths, and of months, and also for the daily offerings. In this connection instructions followed which made it impossible for the prince at any time to alienate ultimately his inheritance in the land. What he gave to his sons must be of his own inheritance, in order that the people be not disinherited. Ezekiel was conducted by the angel through the boiling houses in which the servants of the sanctuary were to prepare that portion of the offerings of which the people were to partake.
first month
i.e. April. Also Eze 45:21.
In the first month: This seems to enjoin, not a mere dedication, but an annual purification of the sanctuary; of which there is nothing said in the Mosaic law. Exo 12:2, Num 28:11-15, Mat 6:33
without blemish: Lev 22:20, Heb 7:26, Heb 9:14, 1Pe 1:19
and cleanse: Eze 43:22, Eze 43:26, Lev 16:16, Lev 16:33, Heb 9:22-25, Heb 10:3, Heb 10:4, Heb 10:19-22
Reciprocal: Eze 43:18 – to offer Eze 43:19 – a young Eze 45:20 – so shall
Eze 45:18. The first day of the month was a special holy time under the Mosaic law, and that was the date stipulated by the Lord for this service of consecration of the land after returning from the Babylonian captivity.
Eze 45:18-20. In the first month, &c., thou shalt take a young bullock These words are directed to the prince, who is commanded, on the first day of the new year, (which, according to the ecclesiastical computation, began with the month Nisan, and answers to our 10th of March: see Exo 12:2,) to provide a bullock for a burnt-offering to cleanse the temple from any defilement it might have contracted, by the peoples offering their sacrifices, or coming into any of the courts belonging to it, while they were under any legal pollution. And the priest shall take of the blood, &c. The office of the priest is here distinguished from that of the prince: the prince was to provide the sacrifices, and the priest to offer them. So shalt thou do the seventh day for every one that erreth For all the errors of all the house of Israel through ignorance. There were particular sacrifices appointed for sins of ignorance, whether of private persons or of the whole congregation, Lev 4:13. So shall ye reconcile the house
Cleanse it from any pollution it may have contracted through the ignorance of any of the common people.
Eze 45:18 to Eze 46:15. Festivals and Offerings.
Eze 45:18-25. The Passover and Harvest Festivals.The mention of the princes responsibility for providing the festival offerings is appropriately followed by a description of the festivals themselves. And first the two half-yearly festivalsof the passover in the first month (i.e. in spring), and of the harvest or booths (it is here simply called the festival, Eze 45:25) in the seventh. Each begins in the middle of the month and lasts for a week: while, to ensure the ceremonial purity of the sanctuary, which may have been endangered by error or ignorance, each of the festivals is preceded on the first of the month by a day of atonement (Eze 45:18-20). (In Eze 45:20 read, with LXX, on the first day of the seventh month.)
45:18 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the first [month], in the first [day] of the {e} month, thou shalt take a young bull without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary:
(e) Which was Nisan containing part of March and part of April.
Regulations for the feasts 45:18-25
On the first new year’s day of each year the people should offer a young bull without blemish to cleanse the accumulated sinful defilement of the sanctuary. The priest in charge was to apply some of the blood of a sin offering to the door frames of the temple proper, the four corners of the altar of sacrifice, and the door frames of the inner court of the temple. Another offering was to occur on the seventh day of the new year, and it would cover the guilt of sins committed ignorantly. It too would result in the cleansing of the temple for another year.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)