Ezekiel 43:18-27: a reflection

18He said to me, “Son of man, the Lord GOD says: ‘These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they make it, to offer burnt offerings on it, and to sprinkle blood on it. 19You shall give to the Levitical priests who are of the offspring of Zadok, who are near to me, to minister to me,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘a young bull for a sin offering. 20You shall take of its blood and put it on its four horns, and on the four corners of the ledge, and on the border all around. You shall cleanse it and make atonement for it that way. 21You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place of the house, outside of the sanctuary. 22“On the second day you shall offer a male goat without defect for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they cleansed it with the bull. 23When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without defect and a ram out of the flock without defect. 24You shall bring them near to the LORD, and the priests shall cast salt on them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering to the LORD. 25“Seven days you shall prepare every day a goat for a sin offering. They shall also prepare a young bull and a ram out of the flock, without defect. 26Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and purify it. So shall they consecrate it. 27When they have accomplished the days, it shall be that on the eighth day and onward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings on the altar and your peace offerings. Then I will accept you,’ says the Lord GOD.”

In Ezekiel's vision of the restored temple, God gives instructions for consecrating the altar, a careful, seven-day process of sin offerings and cleansing before the altar could be used for regular worship. Day after day, atonement is made, the altar purified, until, God says, when they have completed the days, on the eighth day and onward the priests shall offer your offerings, and then I will accept you. There is patience and thoroughness in the preparation before acceptance.

The phrase then I will accept you is the heart of it. Before the people's worship could be received, the altar had to be cleansed and consecrated through atonement, a process that took time and could not be rushed. Acceptance by God was not casual or automatic; it came through atonement, through the careful making right of what stood between the people and God. And on the far side of that atonement was the promise: I will accept you.

What these elaborate rituals could only picture, Christ has accomplished fully. The atonement that makes us acceptable to God has been made once for all through his sacrifice; we do not need seven days of offerings, because he has done what they only foreshadowed. And the promise stands, now made sure in him: then I will accept you. If you have come to God through Christ, you are accepted, not because of your own worthiness but because of the atonement he has made. Rest in that acceptance, purchased at such cost, and offered to you as a gift.

Lord, in Ezekiel's vision the altar was consecrated through patient atonement, and then you promised, I will accept you. Thank you that what those rituals foreshadowed, Christ has fully accomplished, making the atonement that makes me acceptable to you once for all. I rest not in my own worthiness but in his finished work, and in your promise: I will accept you. Receive me through Christ, and let me live as one you have accepted. Amen.