High Expectations

The Altar of Sacrifice

¹³ “And these are the measurements of the altar by cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a hand width): the base shall be a cubit and the width a cubit, and its border on its edge all around one span; and this shall be the height of the base of the altar. ¹⁴ And from the base on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the width one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge shall be four cubits, and the width one cubit. ¹⁵ The altar hearth shall be four cubits; and from the altar hearth shall extend upward four horns. ¹⁶ Now the altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long by twelve wide, square in its four sides. ¹⁷ And the ledge shall be fourteen cubits long by fourteen wide in its four sides, the border around it shall be half a cubit, and its base shall be a cubit all around; and its steps shall face east.”

The Offerings

¹⁸ And He said to me, “Son of man, this is what the Lord God says: ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is built, to offer burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it. ¹⁹ You shall give to the Levitical priests who are from the descendants of Zadok, who come near to Me to serve Me,’ declares the Lord God, ‘a bull as a sin offering. ²⁰ And you shall take some of its blood and put it on its four horns and on the four corners of the ledge, and on the border all around; so you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it. ²¹ You shall also take the bull as the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place of the house, outside the sanctuary.

²² ‘And on the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish as a sin offering, and they shall cleanse the altar from sin as they cleansed it with the bull.²³ When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a bull without blemish and a ram without blemish from the flock. ²⁴ You shall offer them before the Lord, and the priests shall throw salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. ²⁵ For seven days you shall prepare a goat as a sin offering daily; also a bull and a ram from the flock, both without blemish, shall be prepared. ²⁶ For seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they consecrate it. ²⁷ When they have completed the days, it shall be that on the eighth day and onward, the priests shall offer your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you,’ declares the Lord God.”

Gate for the Prince

44 Then He brought me back by way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut. ² And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. ³ As for the prince, he shall sit in it as prince to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the porch of the gate and shall go out by the same way.”

⁴ Then He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I fell on my face. ⁵ And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, pay attention, see with your eyes and hear with your ears everything that I say to you concerning all the statutes of the house of the Lord and all its laws; and pay attention to the entrance of the house, with all the exits of the sanctuary. ⁶ You shall say to the rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Enough of all your abominations, house of Israel, ⁷ when you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, My house, when you offered My food, the fat, and the blood and they broke My covenant—this in addition to all your abominations. ⁸ And you have not taken responsibility for My holy things yourselves, but you have appointed foreigners to take responsibility for My sanctuary.”

⁹ ‘This is what the Lord God says: “No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary. ¹⁰ But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray from Me following their idols, shall suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. ¹¹ Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house and ministering in the house; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them. ¹² Since they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of wrongdoing to the house of Israel, for that reason I have sworn against them,” declares the Lord God, “that they shall suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing. ¹³ And they shall not approach Me to serve as priests for Me, nor approach any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. ¹⁴ Nevertheless I will appoint them to take responsibility for the house, of all its service and of everything that shall be done in it.

Ordinances for the Levites

¹⁵ “But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who took responsibility for My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to serve Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer Me the fat and the blood,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ “They shall enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My table to serve Me and assume the responsibility I give them. ¹⁷ And it shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and wool shall not be worn by them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner courtyard or in the house. ¹⁸ Linen turbans shall be on their heads and linen undergarments shall be around their waists; they shall not put on anything that makes them sweat. ¹⁹ And when they go out into the outer courtyard, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall take off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments, so that they will not transfer holiness to the people with their garments. ²⁰ Also they shall not shave their heads, yet they shall not let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. ²¹ Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner courtyard. ²² And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but shall take virgins from the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. ²³ Moreover, they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and teach them to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. ²⁴ In a dispute they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts, and sanctify My Sabbaths. ²⁵ They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves. ²⁶ And after he is cleansed, seven days shall elapse for him. ²⁷ On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering,” declares the Lord God.

²⁸ “And it shall be regarding an inheritance for them, that I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no property in Israel—I am their property. ²⁹ They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and everything banned from secular use in Israel shall be theirs. ³⁰ And the first of all the first fruits of every kind and every contribution of every kind, from all your contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the first of your dough, to make a blessing rest on your house. ³¹ The priests shall not eat any bird or animal that has died a natural death or has been torn to pieces by animals.