Scripture Daily

Context No. 1335 of 4322 · Ezekiel

Context · Reflection

Ezekiel 45:18-25: in context

18“‘The Lord GOD says: “In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a young bull without defect, and you shall cleanse the sanctuary. 19The priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the house, and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court. 20So you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who errs, and for him who is simple. So you shall make atonement for the house. 21“‘“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22On that day the prince shall prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering. 23The seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the LORD, seven bulls and seven rams without defect daily the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering. 24He shall prepare a meal offering, an ephah for a bull, an ephah for a ram, and a hin of oil to an ephah. 25“‘“In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, during the feast, he shall do like that for seven days. He shall make the same provision for sin offering, the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the oil.”

In the laws for the restored temple, God appoints a calendar of cleansing and feasts. On the first day of the first month a young bull is to be offered to cleanse the sanctuary; the same is done on the seventh day for anyone who has sinned unwittingly or in ignorance, to make atonement for the house. Then comes the Passover, a seven-day feast of unleavened bread, with daily offerings of bulls and rams and a goat for sin; and again in the seventh month a parallel seven-day feast with the same provisions. The prince is to provide the offerings for himself and all the people, atonement woven through the year at set and recurring times.

What stands out is that atonement here is scheduled, built into the calendar at fixed, recurring times. The sanctuary is to be cleansed on set days; the feasts come around at their appointed months; the sin offerings are made daily through the festivals. Cleansing is not left to happen whenever someone remembers or feels moved, but is appointed, regular, woven into the rhythm of the year, so that defilement is dealt with steadily rather than allowed to accumulate. There is wisdom in that pattern for the care of a soul. Left to ourselves, we tend to let things pile up, to postpone the reckoning with our own sin until it has grown into a heavy accumulated weight; the appointed rhythm of cleansing works against that drift. The regular examination of conscience, the recurring return to confession and repentance, the set times of turning back to God, keep the account short and the house clean. It is far better to deal with sin steadily, at appointed intervals, than to let it collect until it overwhelms. And all these repeated offerings, year after year, pointed forward to the one atonement that would not need repeating, when Christ made purification for sins once for all. Until then the calendar of cleansing taught Israel, and teaches us, the wisdom of regular, appointed return rather than long neglect.

Do I let my sins pile up until they overwhelm, or do I keep a rhythm of regular return, examining my conscience and turning back to God at appointed times so the account stays short and the house clean?

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