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a supplemental handout
This review is brought
to you by the Kentucky
First Jurisdiction Church of God in Christ Sunday School Department.
LESSON AIM: By the end of the lesson, we will: review the instructions
Ezekiel received for building a new altar and making offerings; reflect on the
atonement and renewal; and identify and use personal sacred spaces for
atonement and renewal.
BIBLE TRUTH: The Israelites could hope for release from their iniquities by
making sin sacrifices in the sacred space of the altar that stood before the
Temple.
Ezekiel 43:13-21 | King James Version (KJV)
13 And these are the measures of the altar
after the cubits: The cubit is a cubit and an hand breadth; even the bottom
shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge
thereof round about shall be a span: and this shall be the higher place of the
altar.
14 And from the bottom upon the ground even to
the lower settle shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the
lesser settle even to the greater settle shall be four cubits, and the breadth
one cubit.
15 So the altar shall be four cubits; and from
the altar and upward shall be four horns.
16 And the altar shall be twelve cubits long,
twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof.
17 And the settle shall be fourteen cubits
long and fourteen broad in the four squares thereof; and the border about it
shall be half a cubit; and the bottom thereof shall be a cubit about; and his
stairs shall look toward the east.
18 And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith
the Lord God; These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall
make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon.
19 And thou shalt give to the priests the
Levites that be of the seed of Zadok, which approach unto me, to minister unto
me, saith the Lord God, a young bullock for a sin offering.
20 And thou shalt take of the blood thereof,
and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and
upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it.
21 Thou shalt take the bullock also of the sin
offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place of the house, without the
sanctuary.
Still exploring Ezekiel’s vision, we see that
God has a wondrous plan. Holiness has always been His way. Ezekiel’s vision has
brought a restoration and salvation plan for the people of God. God left
nothing up to the imagination of the people. No man can ever have the glory of
what God has planned, as He NEVER shares His glory.
The sacrifices would need a sanctified place
to be received. Special care needed to be given to ensure that the people of
God knew EXACTLY how this place was to be used. This is considered a
restoration because there was previously a system in place during the time of
the Mosaic Covenant. Based upon the wayward hearts and minds, and what happens
when a human leans unto their own understanding, this system was blemished and
destroyed. The altar, in Ezekiel’s vision, was in the very center of the new temple.
This is where true worship would be conducted.
SIDE NOTE:
Our bodies represent the temple of God, if we are in Him. And, as in John 4:23,
true worshippers are a breath of fresh air to God. His design has always been
for worship to be at the core of our being. Our relationship with God must
remain in calibration, otherwise we will be off kilter in our lives. When you
hear people say, “I feel like I am missing something in my life”, it’s usually
a tale tell sign that they are not in covenant with God and His plan for their
life.
"What can wash away my sin?" NOTHING but the blood of Jesus. "What can make me whole again?" NOTHING but the blood of Jesus!
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