Ezekiel 43
In chapters 10 and 11 The glory of God was seen leaving Jerusalem and pausing on the mount of Olives, —compelled to leave the city where He had chosen to set His name, for it was wholly given up to wickedness. Chapter 43 prophetically shows the return of that glory as soon as the Millennial temple is completed by the redeemed ones of Israel. See 1 Kings, 8 and 9, when the token of God’s presence was given at the dedication of the first temple, with the conditional promise that His name should remain there; the warning then given was disregarded, and the words of verses 7 to 9 of the latter chapter were literally fulfilled in the days of Ezekiel and Jeremiah as we have seen.
Verses 7, 8 contain the precious assurance for the children of Israel that God will not again give up the place of His throne, or His dwelling in their midst, nor shall the house of Israel defile His holy name after they are reestablished in the land of their fathers. Verses 9 to 11 are addressed to the consciences of Ezekiel’s hearers and those of Israel who read his words; at the time they were uttered, little heed was paid to them, but as part of God’s living word they will be heard by the Israel that shall be, with deep conviction of sin.
The measurements, of the altar follow with its ordinances (verses 13-27). It will be profitable to compare the sacrifices of Leviticus 8 with the ordinances attending the new beginning in the Millennial age. No high priest is here, nor any comparable to “Aaron and his sons”; there is no anointing oil. Not a little of the system made known to Moses has no counterpart in the Millennium; it foreshadowed the present portion of the Church, the office of the Holy Spirit in connection with it, the present action of the Lord as our High Priest within the veil, and much more.
The annual day of atonement (Leviticus 16) will not be found among the holy days of the Millennium, nor will the feast of weeks or the day of Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15-22).
The day of atonement ceases, because it was, although the most solemn of all Israel’s special clays, only temporary, and looked on to a perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 9:6 to 10:18).
The day of Pentecost had its fulfillment in Acts 2 in the descent of the Holy Spirit, forming into one body, the Church of God, all believers, whether Jew or Gentile. Jew and Gentile will be separate in the Millennium, with Israel’s place the more blessed of the two, though both on the ground of redemption.
Of no ordinary character is the cleansing of the altar in Ezekiel 43; for seven days, day by day, a goat, a young bullock, and a ram are to be offered in sacrifice for the purifying of the altar and its consecration.
How will not this action speak to the consciences and hearts of redeemed Israel, impressing deeply upon them the enormity of the sin which has separated them as a nation from God for more than twenty-five centuries.
ML 03/22/1936