20230124

and I will accept you
Ezekiel 43:18-27 (JDV)
Ezekiel 43:18 Then he said to me: “Son of Adam, this is what the Lord Yahveh says: These are the prescriptions for the altar on the day it is constructed, so that burnt offerings may be sacrificed on it and blood may be splattered on it:
Ezekiel 43:19 You are to give a bull from the herd as a failure offering to the Levitical priests who are from the offspring of Zadok, who approach me in order to serve me.” This is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh.
Ezekiel 43:20 “You are to take some of its blood and apply it to the four horns of the altar, the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim. In this way, you will purify the altar and make atonement for it.
Ezekiel 43:21 Then you are to take away the bull for the failure offering, and it must be burned outside the sanctuary in the place appointed for the house.
Ezekiel 43:22 “On the second day you are to present an unblemished male goat as a failure offering. They will purify the altar just as they did with the bull.
Ezekiel 43:23 When you have finished the purification, you are to present a young, unblemished bull and an unblemished ram from the flock.
Ezekiel 43:24 You are to present them before Yahveh; the priests will throw salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to Yahveh.
Ezekiel 43:25 You will offer a goat for a failure offering each day for seven days. A young bull and a ram from the flock, both unblemished, are also to be offered.
Ezekiel 43:26 For seven days the priests are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it. In this way they will consecrate it
Ezekiel 43:27 and complete the days of purification. Then on the eighth day and afterward, the priests will offer your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar, and I will accept you.” This is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh.
and I will accept you
Elaborate procedures for purifying this altar had to be followed. It symbolized the means of access to God and to life itself. It dramatized the day that God himself would provide a young unblemished sacrifice who would give the believer access to permanent life.
On the eighth day, and afterward, the altar could be used — and God would accept us. What a joy it is to know that the barrier has been erased.