Tag Archives: Altar

Ezekiel 43 The Presence of the LORD Returns and the New Altar

Ezekiel 43: 1-12 The Return of God’s Presence to the Temple

¹Then he brought me to the gate, the gate facing east. ²And there, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east; the sound was like the sound of mighty waters; and the earth shone with his glory. ³The vision I saw was like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and like the vision that I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. ⁴As the glory of the LORD entered the temple by the gate facing east, ⁵the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the inner court; and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
⁶While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me out of the temple. ⁷He said to me: Mortal, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet, where I will reside among the people of Israel forever. The house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their whoring, and by the corpses of their kings at their death. ⁸When they placed their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they were defiling my holy name by their abominations that they committed; therefore I have consumed them in my anger. ⁹Now let them put away their idolatry and the corpses of their kings far from me, and I will reside among them forever.
¹⁰As for you, mortal, describe the temple to the house of Israel, and let them measure the pattern; and let them be ashamed of their iniquities. ¹¹When they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the plan of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, and its whole form — all its ordinances and its entire plan and all its laws; and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe and follow the entire plan and all its ordinances. ¹²This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. This is the law of the temple.

The divine presence departed the temple and Jerusalem in chapter ten and the previous three chapters have been preparing a space for the divine presence to return to. God’s desire for Israel was to be a community where God could dwell among them, yet God’s presence is a dangerous and holy thing. God will not inhabit a defiled place, and the God of Israel will not be taken for granted. The mistakes of the previous generations are not to be repeated in this newly reorganized people gathered around a newly constructed people where God’s holiness is separated by walls and gates from the corruption that may be present among the people. Previously the glory of God departed through the east gate of the earlier temple, now God’s presence comes back from the east to enter the eastern gate and move along the spine of sacrality into the holiest place. The approaching presence of God is the same overwhelming visual and auditory experience that the prophet had both in his initial calling at the river Chebar and that he saw depart the temple in chapter ten. Here the departure in chapter ten is reimagined as when the LORD came to destroy the city and the temple, rather than utilizing the Babylonians to accomplish this work. Ezekiel’s response to the divine presence is the appropriate one, he prostrates himself before the glorious presence of God.

At the dedication of both the tabernacle (Exodus 25–40) and Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 6-8) the presence (Hebrew kabod) of God comes and fills the space in an overwhelming manner. Now this new temple becomes a place where God’s presence inhabits the space and demonstrating divine approval of the new building. God claims this place as both throne and footstool, language familiar from 1 Chronicles 28:2 where David desires to build a holy place for the ark that can be a footstool for God. This place where God’s presence can rest on earth among the people is a place of great holiness that must not be defiled. The action of profaning God’s name before the nations and the action of Israel defiling by their actions this holy space are two different things as Tova Ganzel illustrates:

Unlike the concept of “profaning (ĥillul) of God,” which, in the book of Ezekiel, always refers to God’s status in the eyes of the other nations, the “defiling (tuma) of God’s name” arises from the actions of Israel – actions whose gravity causes a more profound desecration of God’s name than any outward apparent damage to His standing. (Ganzel, 2020, p. 371)

The unfaithfulness of Israel previously to the Torah as well as the actions of the kings of Israel and Judah have provoked God by their defiling actions. The ‘whoring’ refers to their practices of idolatry but may also have other covenantal implications. The corpses of kings at their death being in the presence of God may refer to the actions of Manasseh and Amon who are buried in the ‘gardens in his house’ (2 Kings 21:18, 26) presumably close to the temple. It may also refer to some unknown practice of having the deceased king lying in state before the temple prior to their committal to their burial place with the other kings of Israel or Judah. Regardless, the presence of a corpse would be a defiling presence in this holy space. In addition, the presence of the household of the kings of Judah directly beside the temple (with only a wall separating) would be dangerously proximity for these kings whose actions have previously defiled the place and the people. The presence of God among the people requires a separation of the holy space where God’s presence inhabits and the mundane space where the people, even the kings, inhabit.

God has acted to reestablish a newly reordered people around a new temple building where God’s presence and glory can inhabit. God is the actor throughout this section, there is no indication of a human builder. Even the presence of the human-like individual acting as a surveyor of the temple is clearly a figure from the heavenly realm. Israel has nothing to claim in this new beginning. As Katheryn Pfisterer Darr highlights the ending of this section:

Here as elsewhere, God’s restorative action elicits shame from the people for their past iniquities. True to form, Ezekiel permits no glimpse of a restored community celebrating the return of Yahweh’s glory in their midst. (NIB VI: 562)

Ezekiel 43: 13-27 The Dimensions and Purification of the Altar

¹³These are the dimensions of the altar by cubits (the cubit being one cubit and a handbreadth): its base shall be one cubit high, and one cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its edge. This shall be the height of the altar: ¹⁴From the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a width of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a width of one cubit; ¹⁵and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth projecting upward, four horns. ¹⁶The altar hearth shall be square, twelve cubits long by twelve wide. ¹⁷The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen wide, with a rim around it half a cubit wide, and its surrounding base, one cubit. Its steps shall face east.
¹⁸Then he said to me: Mortal, thus says the Lord GOD: These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and for dashing blood against it, ¹⁹you shall give to the levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, says the Lord GOD, a bull for a sin offering. ²⁰And you shall take some of its blood, and put it on the four horns of the altar, and on the four corners of the ledge, and upon the rim all around; thus you shall purify it and make atonement for it. ²¹You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burnt in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area.
²²On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull. ²³When you have finished purifying it, you shall offer a bull without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish. ²⁴You shall present them before the LORD, and the priests shall throw salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD. ²⁵For seven days you shall provide daily a goat for a sin offering; also a bull and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided. ²⁶Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it. ²⁷When these days are over, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer upon the altar your burnt offerings and your offerings of well-being; and I will accept you, says the Lord GOD.

For Ezekiel obedience to the LORD is central and Israel who was supposed to uphold the holiness of the temple instead defiled it. Now Israel is ashamed of their past as God creates a new future for them.

The examination of the altar may make sense to occur prior to the return of the glory of God, but Ezekiel, nor most ancient authors, are not concerned about our modern sense of organization. Previous generations of scholars saw the previous section as coming from a different time and place than this examination of the altar, but that is not necessary. Throughout my reflections I have focused on the text as we have received it and not some earlier generations of scholars’ quest for the original text.

Ezekiel’s altar is a large structure measuring roughly thirty-four feet on each side when you include the bottom gutter and lip which would catch any blood and other fluids from the animal. The altar proper is twenty-four feet on each side with horns at each corner. The horns are a common feature in ancient altars and previously had been a place a person could come to for sanctuary. I’m not sure in Ezekiel’s vision that the sanctuary of the horns would remain a crucial function with the focus on holiness throughout this section.

For the altar to conduct its holy function it must be sanctified by sacrificial offerings of goats, rams, and bulls for a period of seven days as outlined in the text. Ezekiel has been focused on the impurity of the people and although there is not an equivalent action prior to the dedication of the tabernacle or temple, any altar constructed for this space must be set aside and consecrated for its use. Both the prophet and the priests from the family of Zadok are to be a part of this week-long process of preparing to offer the sacrifices of the people in an acceptable manner.

Daniel Block notes that later when Ezra and Nehemiah build the temple after the return of the exiles to Jerusalem, they do not use Ezekiel’s vision. As he states, “Either the returned exiles were ignorant of Ezekiel’s vision, or they rejected it as normative Torah for themselves.” (Block, 1998, p. 602) Both are viable options. In the ancient world it would be surprising for there to be a complete collection of the scrolls we now consider scripture in one place, and it is plausible that Ezra and Nehemiah were not familiar with Ezekiel’s writings, but with both the focus of Ezra and Nehemiah on reestablishing the Torah they would likely privilege Moses over Ezekiel. As a modern reader we can see the way that Ezekiel in the book of Ezekiel is functioning as a new Moses, but for the exiles trying to begin again they likely tried to focus on the law received from Moses.

Exodus 27: The Court of the Tabernacle and the Altar

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Erection of the Tabernacle and Sacred Vessels by Gerard Hoet (1728)

Exodus 27: 1-8 The Altar

You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and it shall be three cubits high. ² You shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. ³ You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and firepans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze. ⁴ You shall also make for it a grating, a network of bronze; and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. ⁵ You shall set it under the ledge of the altar so that the net shall extend halfway down the altar. ⁶ You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze; ⁷ the poles shall be put through the rings, so that the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. ⁸ You shall make it hollow, with boards. They shall be made just as you were shown on the mountain.

Most people assume that the sacrificial rites were at the center of the religion of the ancient Jewish people, yet this assumption is incorrect. The altar for sacrifice is placed outside of the tabernacle itself in the court of the tabernacle. The altar is made out of lesser materials than the materials used for the ark of the covenant and the lampstand and the table where the bread of the presence is placed. Instead of gold, bronze is used to overlay the acacia table and poles that make up the altar. The sacrifice is done in that space between the holy place of the tabernacle and the common space where the people live, work and worship.

The altar itself is massive, roughly seven and a half feet square and four and a half feet tall. It is also a significant departure from the low stone or earth altars discussed earlier in Exodus. Also at four and a half feet tall the priest would need some type of stair or pedestal to stand upon to be able to use the altar. This new altar is a departure from the open, simple and very modest temporary altars. Yet, it is also very functional for use with larger animals and for regular use. Perhaps the altar was placed closer to the front of the court of the tabernacle so that the priest when he ascended the stairs would be facing away from the tabernacle and not have to worry about exposing himself when climbing the stairs.

As a Christian, I also think this provokes some interesting thoughts about the way in which we arrange things in our worship spaces. Many traditions will call the fixture in the front of their worship space an altar, and particularly for a Catholic perspective where they can talk about the sacrifice of the mass this makes sense. From a Lutheran perspective, we may officially call the fixture a table but many people still consider it an altar even though we have a different perspective on exactly what communion is and what it is for. Many older churches have this table or altar pushed against the back wall there the pastor or priest faces away from the people (and presumably toward God) but most newer church buildings place the altar away from the wall and the pastor/priest faces the people. The architecture and where the pastor/priest faces makes a theological point about the character of worship and who the act is for. From a Lutheran perspective, the act of communion is primarily for the people, and for the ancient Jewish people there is a part of the sacrificial act which is for the people since much of the sacrifice was not burned up but eaten by the family or the priests. From a Catholic perspective, the sacrifice is offered up before God as a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice, and from the ancient Jewish perspective there is also the element of the sacrifice raising up a pleasing odor to God. Ultimately all of these traditions attempt to give glory and offer up their best to the God they attempt to serve faithfully.

Exodus 27: 9-19 The Court of the Tabernacle

⁹ You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side the court shall have hangings of fine twisted linen one hundred cubits long for that side; ¹⁰ its twenty pillars and their twenty bases shall be of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver. ¹¹ Likewise for its length on the north side there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, their pillars twenty and their bases twenty, of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver. ¹² For the width of the court on the west side there shall be fifty cubits of hangings, with ten pillars and ten bases. ¹³ The width of the court on the front to the east shall be fifty cubits. ¹⁴ There shall be fifteen cubits of hangings on the one side, with three pillars and three bases. ¹⁵ There shall be fifteen cubits of hangings on the other side, with three pillars and three bases. ¹⁶ For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen, embroidered with needlework; it shall have four pillars and with them four bases. ¹⁷ All the pillars around the court shall be banded with silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their bases of bronze. ¹⁸ The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, the width fifty, and the height five cubits, with hangings of fine twisted linen and bases of bronze. ¹⁹ All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use, and all its pegs and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.

Over the past couple years, I have learned a lot about church design because I was involved with planning, and now executing an expansion to the congregation I serve. There is a lot of work and planning that goes into utilizing the resources that people commit to the church and to attempting to design space faithfully. One thing I have learned that designing sanctuary space or holy space is much more expensive than designing office space or fellowship space. Holy space attempts to communicate something of a connection to God and it frequently uses various types of precious things: metalwork, art, stained glass, high ceilings or large windows. Typically, when you build a church these are the first things that you design and build since they serve the central functions of worship where the other spaces serve a supporting function. That doesn’t mean these other spaces are unimportant but for religious spaces the highlight of their function is for worship and the most precious resources go into those places. The design of the tabernacle reflects this. The tabernacle itself uses primarily gold and gold overlaid pieces of furniture, clasps, and utensils. For the court, the primary metals used becomes bronze and silver.

The tabernacle’s walls are twice the height of the court’s walls and would be seen from the exterior of the structure, and yet this courtyard does provide a buffer between the holiest place of the tabernacle and the mundane place where the people live. It is an open-air area which is very common in ancient dwellings and temples since much of the activity would be outside. The court of the tabernacle is larger, roughly 150 feet by 75 feet, than the tabernacle but still not a huge space by modern standards of building. Yet, the structure is primarily a place where the priests would be and not the people, like in modern worship spaces, and the structure had to be portable so that also puts a severe limit on the size of the structure.

Exodus 27: 20-21 The Lamp

²⁰ You shall further command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of beaten olives for the light, so that a lamp may be set up to burn regularly. ²¹ In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that is before the covenant,¹Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the LORD. It shall be a perpetual ordinance to be observed throughout their generations by the Israelites.

An olive oil lamp that is to be tended by the priests is to provide light outside the tent of the tabernacle perpetually burning during the night, or perhaps perpetually depending on how the translation is rendered. Either way the lampstand outlined previously now is given its function and a part of the role of Aaron and his sons is to maintain this light and keep the lampstand burning. In many churches, they keep perpetual candles going as a symbol of the presence of God or as a reminder of the eternal light of God. Most of these in modern churches are long burning candles that are replaced regularly rather than an oil lamp, but the distinctive lampstand becomes an important symbol for the Jewish people as discussed in Exodus 25: 23-40.

Sign of the Rose

Searchings: Sacred and Secular