Exposition of the Whole Bible

ber of reeds, even five hundred reeds, or one thoufand, feven hundred, and fifty yards: «with the meafuring reed; the fame as before: here; and in the next verfe, the phrafe, roand about, is not ufed, but is to be underftood; and having been repeats Lota ed, there was no neéd of mentioning it again, y. 19. He turned about to the weft fide, &c.} And took the dimenfions of that, from angle to angle, the fouth and north points of it: and mea= fured five hundred reeds, with the meafuring reed; and it was exactly of the fame meafure with the other three fides. Beane y. 20. He meafured it by the four fides, ®c.] Which were equilateral, parallel to each other, each meafuring five hundred reeds; which in all made up two thoufand reeds, or feven thoufand yards: this fhows, that no material building’ can be defined; never was an edifice of fuch dimenfions; this feems rather to delcribe a city, than a temple: and denotes the largenefs of the gofpel-church~ ftate in the latter day, when the Fews will be converted, and the fulnefs of the Gentiles brought in? it bad a wall round about; the fame with that in ch. xl. 5: five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, it was four-fquare, as the building was, and exactly anfwered to that in its dimenfions. The Fews fay ', the mountain of the houfe was five hundred cubits by five hundred; that is, @ perfeét- fquare of five hundred cubits on every-fide, two thoufand cubits in the whole compafs about. Fo- Jephus ® fays, the whole circuit was four furlongs, every fide containing the length of a furlong: Now, fays Dr. Lightfoot », if any will take up the full circuit of the wall that encompafléd the holy ground, according to our Lnglifh meafure, it will amount to half a mile, and about one hundred and fixty-fix yards; and whofoever will likewife meas fure the {quare of Ezekiel, ch. xlii. 20. will find it fix times as large as this, ch. xl. 5. the whole amounting to three miles and an half, and about one hundred and forty yards, a compafs incomparably larger than mount Moriah divers times over; and by this very thing is fhewed, that that is fpiritually and» myftically to be underftood; wherefore thefe meafures no doubt did, as Mr. Lee ° obferves, fignify the great fulnefs of the Gentiles, and that the compafs of the church in gofpeldays fhould be marvelloufly extended. The ufe of it.was, to make a feparation between the fonfuary and the profane place; the church and the world;

the world is profane, and lies in wickednefs, and ~ the men of it ought not to be admitted into the church of God, and partake of holy things in it; - a difference muft be made between the precious and the vile; and greater care will be taken in the latter day, of the admiffion of members into gofpeélchurches, J/ lii. 1. fee the note on ch. xliig.. '

FLE temple or houfe of God being meafured, the worfhip of God in it is pointed out and obferved, in this and the following chapter; and which, tho’ evangelical, is expreffed in the Janguage of the Old Teftament. An account is given of the glory of the Lord returning to the houfe, and the way he did, and his taking pofléffion of it, which the prophet was favoured with a view of, ¥. I—5. a promife is made of his continuance there, provided his people behaved as they fhould, y¥. 6—g. an order is given to the prophet, to fhew them the form and fafhion, the laws, orders, and ordinances of the houfe to thern, to be obferved by them, ¥. 10, 11, 12. then follows the meafuring of the altar of burnt-offerings; which tho’ meafured before, ch. xl. the dimenfions are here given, ¥. 13-17. and the chapter is concluded with directions about the confecration of it, ¥. 18—27.

¥. 1. Afterward he brought me to the gate, &c.] The dimenfions of this wonderful building being finifhed, the prophet’s divine guide brought him from the wall about it, he had laft meafured, to the gate he firft had him to, after he had obferved to him the fame wall, ch. xl. 5,6: even the gate that looketh teward the eaff; or as the Targum, which was open to the way of the eaft. The reafon of his being brought hither follows,

¥. 2. And behold, the glory of the God of I/rael came from the way of the eof, &c.| The God of Ifrael is Febovab the Father, the covenant-God of literal Y/rael, and the covenant-God and Father of the whole fpiritual J/rael, or his elect, whether Fews or Gentiles; whom he has taken into covenant, loves, cares, provides for, and_protetts: Chrift, who is the brightnefs of his Father’s glory, whofe glory is the glory of the only-begotten of the Father, is here meant; and who has the fame glorious attributes, the fame glorious names, and the fame worfhip, honour and glory, his Father has; and in whom, as Mediator, is difplayed the glory of all the divine perfections: he is faid to come from the way of the eaff; which agrees with him in his character as the rifing fun of righteoufnefs; and with his incarnation, when as the dayfpring from on high, from heaven, he vifited us, was born in the eaft, where his ftar appeared, from this part of the world his gofpel firft came; here it was firft preached, and churches planted; and tho’ thefe parts have been forfaken by him a long time, he’ll return hither again; when he will dry up the river Euphrates, and make way for the kings and kingdoms of the eaft to be converted to him, Rev. vii. 2. and xvi. 12. to which a behold is prefixed, as a note exciting attention, and raifing admiration; as it was matter of wonder and joy to the prophet, to fee the glory of the Lord returning to hishoufe, the fame way he departed, ch. x. 4,19: and his voice was like a noife of many waters; this is to be underftood of his gofpel, in which he fpeaks to’ men, and which is a voice of love, grace, and mercy; of peace and reconciliation; of pardon and righteoufnefs; of life, liberty, and falvation: and the metaphor here ufed, is expreffive of the fwiftnefs of its motion in the world; of its general fpread in it, and all over it; of the noife it will make, as it always does among men, wherever it comes; and of the rapidity and force of it, being attended with almighty power; and is a foulfhaking, heart-melting, foul- quickening, enlightning, alluring, and comforting voice; fee Dan. x. 6. Rev. i. 15. The Targum is, “ and the voice ** of them that blefs his name, is as the voice of ‘¢ many waters.” The Septuagint and Arabic verfions, the-voice of the camp or army. And the earth fhined with his glory; with the brightnefs of his glory, as the Targum; with his glorious’ gofpel, in which the glory of his perfon, office and grace, is difplayed; this will be fpread all over the earth, and that will be enlightened by it: it will remove the darknefs of infidelity, error, fuperftition, idolatry, and all falfe doétrines from the world, and the darknefs of calamity and diftrefs from the church; which will caft a luftre and glory upon it; and with the brightnefs of which the Lord will deftroy antichrift, and by it fet up his kingdom in the world, and reign before his ancients glorioufly: this will bring on Z7on’s light and glory, to which kings will come, and upon which will be a defence; fee Rev. xviii. 1. 2 Theff. Ht. 8. 2, 1%, 1, 3) ale tv. 5-

¥. 3. And it was according to the appearance of the vifion which I faw, 8&c.] Recorded in the rft, gth, and roth chapters of this book; the form in which the glory of the God of J/rael now appeared, was like to what he then faw; in each of which vifions was the likenefs of a throne, and on it the appearance of the glory of God: even according to the vifion that I faw, when I came to deflroy the city; the city of Ferufalem; not that the prophet deftroyed it, or came to deftroy it himfelf, which was to be done, and was done, by the Chaldeans, but to foretel the deftru&tion of it; which prediction of his made it as certain, as if it was done. So the Targum, * when I prophefied to deftroy the “¢ city;” and this was, when he was bid to caufe in a vifionary and prophetic manner, fix men, with their deftroying weapons, to draw near unto it, and fmite it; at which time he faw the glory of the God of [/rael go up from the cherub, ch. ix. 1, 2, 3. And the vifions were like the vifion that I Jaw by the river Chebar; the four living creatures and the wheels; the throne of fapphire ftone, and the glorious appearance above it, ch. i. 3—28. and x. 1—20. only with this difference, then he faw the glory of the God of J/rael departing, efpecially in the laft vifion, but now returning: avd I fell upon my face, in reverence of fuch glorious majefty; affected with fuch a difplay of grace and goodnefs, and fenfible of his own unworthinefs to behold it: the clearer and fuller views faints have of the grace and glory of Chrift, the more humble they ae; Meal, te 2.22, 5,

¥. 4. And the glory of the Lord came into the houfe, &c.] Before defcribed and meafured; and being fitted and prepared, the builder and owner of it, comes and takes up his refidence in it; ‘as Chrift will do in his church, more efpecially and more vifibly in the latter day: dy the way of the gate, whofe profpect is towards the eaft; which was the direct way into the outward court, and fo to the inward court, and into the holy, and into the moft holy place; and was the way by which he de- y. 5.So the Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court, &c.| The prophet was fallen down on his face, upon the fight of the glory of the Lord, and there he lay, until a wind came, as the word fignifies, or the Holy Spirit, which is compared to the wind, for its invifible and irrefiftible power, came and took him up: humble fouls are regarded by the Lord; he raifes them up, and exalts them, and brings them into nearer and more intimate communion with God; and gives them clearer views {till of the glories of Chrift’s perfon, arace, and love: and it is the Spirit of God only that does this, and that to priefts only, fuch an one as Ezekiel was; for none but priefts went into the inner court: ayd bebold the glory of the Lord filled the houfe; the body of it; both the holy, and the moft holy place, with all its courts and apartments; fo the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, when that was fet up in the temple of Solomon, when it was built; and the. glory of the Lord will fill the church of God; yea the whole earth, in the latter day, J/ vi. 3. of this, Chrift’s perfonal appearance in the fecond temple, which gave it a greater glory than the former, was an emblem and pledge, Hagg. ii. 7, 9. here it may be obferved, no mention is made of a cloud, as at the fetting up of the tabernacle, and dedication of the temple; denoting the clear light of the gofpel in thofe times, and how the glory of the Lord will be feen with open face by all the faints.

y¥. 6. And I beard him [peaking unto me out of the houfe, &c.] The holy place, the prophet being in the inward court: this is ebovab the Father, the God of J/rael, whofe glory entred into it; who utters his voice out of Zion; who fpeaks in his church by his word, and the minifters of it, and which is to be heard and regarded, not as the word of man, but as the word of God: and the man food by me; whom he faw at firft with a meafuring line in his hand, ch. xl. 3. and with whom he had been all along, and had feen him meafure the houfe, and all belonging to it: he ftood by him as the Mediator between God and him; as the medium of communion with him; as the advocate with the Father: he ftood by him to interpret what was faid to him; to guide him further into the knowledge of divine things; to affiit him, protect and defend him; to continue him in fellowfhip with God, and to preferve him in grace to glory. Here is an appearance of the three Perfons in the Godhead; the Father fpeaking to the prophet out of the houfe; the Son in human form ftanding by him; and the Spirit of the Lord, who had took him up from the ground, and had brought him into the inner court.

y¥. 7. And he faid unto me, fon of man, &c.] A kind, ufual, and fingular appellation, given to this prophet: thefe are the words either of the man that {tood by him, fo the Arabic verfion; or of Febovah, {peaking out of the houfe to him: the place of my throne, and the place of the foles of my feet; that is, this houfe, the church of God, is the place where the throne of the Lord is fet; where ‘he rules and reigns; where he fets his feet, and is his refting place; even his, whofe throne is the heaven, and the earth his footftool; here Chrift, as king of faints, dwells, and here he walks and fhews the glory of his majefty: where I will dwell in the midft of the children of Ifrael for ever not carnal, but fpiritual Jjrae/; fuch as are Sraelites indeed, of which the church will be full in the latter day, both Fews and Gentiles; and in the midft of thefe will Jehovah dwell, and grant his gracious prefence, and never more depart from them: this fhows that this houfe or building cannot be underftood of the jecond temple; fince the Lord did not dwell in that for ever, but has left. that houfe defolate hundreds of years ago: fome Fewifh writers » have owned, that it belongs to the times of the Meffiah: and my name shall the houfe of Ijrael no more defile, or profane; or caufe to be blafphemed by immoralities, or falfe doétrines, or fuperftition and will-worfhip; denoting the holinefs of life, purity of doctrine and worthip, in the churches of Chrift in the latter day; fee Jf. iv. 3. Joel ili. 17. Zech, xiv. 20, 21: neither they nor their kings by their whoredom;, that is, idolatry, which is fpiritual fornication; fuch as the kings of T/rael, and their fubjects were often guilty of, betore their captivity in Babylon, tho’ not after; nor will they ever return to it in the latter day, when converted; for they’ll never efpoufe the idolatries of Rome; and thofe kings and people that bear the name of chriftians, and yet commit fornication with the whore of Babylon, fhall do fo no more after thefe times, Rev. xvii. 2, 16: mor by the carcafes of their kings in their high places; or, and théeir high places %; their kings being buried in or near the houfe of

God; fo the Targum adds, at their death; or by ~ human carcafes being facrificed to Molech or Milchom, which fignifies their king; or elfe the idols themfelves are fo called, becaufe lifelefs and abominable; fee er, xvi. 18. and the worfhip of which the ‘kings of J/rael encouraged -by precept and practice, order and example, and therefore called theirs: and alfo by their high places, which - they made for idolatrous worfhip, and which were made where the carcafes of their kings were laid, as Ben Melech obferves; and all which were done, efpecially in the reigns of Manafféb and Ammon: but now nothing of this kind fhall be hereafter, A any thing now fimilar to it, in the antichriftian ate.: ¥. 8. In their fetting of their threfbold by m threfoold, c.] The threfhold is the way of entrance into the houfe; when men open any other way of entrance into the houfe of God than he has direéted, it is fetting up their threfhold by his: the gofpel-way of entrance into the church of Chrift, is Chrift himfelf, and faith in him, and a profeffion of it, and fubmiffion to the ordinance

18, 26. but when men make carnal defcent, religious education, mere morality and civility, the way of entrance into church-communion; this is oppofite to God’s way, and is refented by him, this fhall not be hereafter: and their poft by my paft; which is done, when the ordinances of men are fubftituted in the room of the ordinances of God, or fet upon a level with them; when the ordinances of God are changed and altered, or that brought into his worfhip which he has not commanded; and the commandments of men are taught for the doctrines of God: fo the Pharifees fet up the traditions of the elders as equal to the written word, and made it of no effeét by them; as the papifts do, by fetting up their traditions, under the name of the traditions of the apoftles, and of the church, upon a level with the feriptures; and the fame ae

* So Abendana takes this word to fignify ém their death; their carcafes being buried in their gardens, as Manaffeh, 2 Kings xxi. 18.

that is, by both; by the carcafes of.

done, when men fet up their own doétrines, concerning the Perfons. in the Godhead, concerning the power and purity of human nature, and the way of redemption; and oppofe their own works to the grace of God,. in juftification, pardon, and falvation: the allufion is to the fetting up of altars and idols in the houfe of the Lord, by his altar, 2 Kings xxi. 4,7: and the wall between me and them; that thele fins. and abominable practices were a wall of feparation between God and them, and caufed him to hide himfelf from them, withdraw his prefence, and deny them communion with’

him, J/. lix. 2. fome render it, for or fo that there was but a2 wall between me and thems; fo near were their threfholds, pofts, and altars to his: they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed, by their falfe doctrines, idolatrous worfhip, and immoral lives; fuch abominations as before-mentioned: wherefore I have confumed them in mine anger; as the ews are now, and all the antichriftian ftates will be. ]

¥. 9. Now let them put away their whoredom, &c.] Idolatry, fuperftition, and will-worfhip, with which the corrupt church of Rome abounds; and whatever appearance thereof is in the Reformed churches: end the carcafes of their kings far from me; their idols; fee the noteon ¥. 7: and I will dwell in the midft of them for ever; now tho’ the Fews were never guilty of idolatry after their return from the Badylonifb captivity, nor even to this day; yet the Lord has departed from them, and Jeft them to blindnefs and ftupidity, they having rejected the Meffiah he fent unto them; which fhows that this paffage refers not to thofe times, but to future times; when the whole J/rae/ of God fhall be cleared of all corruptions in doctrine and worfhip, and the Lord will take up his abode with them, and no more depart from them.

¥. 10. Thou fon of man, foew the haufe, &c.] That is, the houfe the prophet had feen meafured, its gates, courts, and all belonging to it; which he was at firft bid to obferve, that he might fhew it to others; the houfe, that the glory of the Lord was now come into, and had filled; and which is no other than the gofpel-church in its perfection and glory in the latter day. This the prophet, who is addrefled under his ufual character in this book, is bid to thew ‘o the houfe of Lfrael; either to the captives in Babylon, among whom he was, and to whom he often fpeaks in this book, being fent with a meflage to them: and this he is ordered to fhew them, both to comfort them in their prefent ftate, with a view of what would be hereafter; and to humble them, and bring them to a fenfe of their fins, and fhame for them, which had brought them into the condition they were, and fo greatly fhort of this happy one: or elfe to the ews in the firft times of the gofpel; the prophet perfonating the apoftles.of Chrift, who delivered out the form

_ of a gofpel-church-ftate to the believing ones, far fuperior to that they had been in, and into which they entered: or rather he perfonated the minifters of the word in the latter day, fhewing to the chriftians of thofe times, the order, worfhip, and di- {cipline of a pure gofpel-church, who have been greatly deficient in their obfervance of them; and which is the work and-bufinefs of gofpel-minifters to do, as well as to preach the doctrine of the gofpel: that they may be afhamed of their iniquities, how far fhort they have come of the model of true gofpel-churches, and of obferving the order, and maintaining. the ordinances, and keeping up the difcipline of fuch churches; and when perfons are brought to bluth and be afhamed, it Jooks as if they had a true fight and fenfe of their miftakes, and of repentance for them: avd let them mea/ure the pattern; that is, of the houfe, and what belongs to it; by which they will fee their defects, and correct them; fee Rev. xi. 1,2. x

¥. 11. And if they be afbamed of all that they have done, 8c.) As finful and criminal, at leaft as very imperfect and defective, and not anfwerable to the pattern fhewn them, from which they have fadly deviated; if made fenfible of this, and they acknowledge it with fhame, not only the houf: in general, but the particulars of it are to be fhown with them; for to fenfible and penitent perfons, more grace, light, knowledge, and judgment in divine things are given: foew them the form of the houfe, and the fafhion thereof; the form and order of a gofpel-church; which is not national, provincial, or parochial, nor prefbyteriin, but congregational; confifting of perfons called out of the world by the grace of God, and who are incorporated and knit together in. gofpel-bonds; among whom the word of God is faithfully preached, and the ordinances truly adminiftred, and furnifhed with proper officers, paftors and deacons; the one to take care of the fpiritual, the other of the temporal affairs of the church; and to fee a church in fuch form and order, and thus organized, is a very beautiful fight. And the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof; the gates and way of entrance into it, which is only by Chrift, and a profeffion of faith in him; and care fhould be taken that none be admitted, but fuch who appear to be regenerated and fanctified by the Spirit of God; to be righteous thro’ the righteoufnels of Chrift; and that keep the truth, and hold the doétrines of the gofpel: and alfo the way and manner of excluding unworthy perfons, fuch who are immoral in their lives, and erroneous in their principles, fhould be obferved. nd all the forms thereof, the decorations of it, fignified by the cherubim and palintrees; fo Farchi and Kimchi, and thefe expreflive of minifters of the word, and faithful men: this is often repeated, that it might be the more obferved; for to have minifters to anfwer fuch characters, is of great confequence. dnd all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof, the ordinances are thofe of baptifm: and the Lord’s fupper, which are to continue until the fecond coming of Chrift: the /ews are, befides the moral law, in the hands of Chrift the lawgiver, the law of loving one another, called the law of Chrift, and his new commandment; and all the laws relating to worfhip and difcipline, concerning the reproof of members, in cale of private or public offences; and concerning the exclufion of diforderly or heretical perfons: aud write it in their fight; the plan and model of this houfe, and all things belonging to it, that they may have it before them, as the rule of their conduct and behaviour: that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them, for all this is fhown, not for mere fpeculation, and to gratify curiofity, but in order to be put in practice; all thefe rules, laws, and’ordinances, are to be kept in faith, from a principle of love, in the name and itrength of Chrift, and with a view to the glory of God.

224. ¥. 12. This is the law of the houfe, &c.] Which _ follows, the more general one, which comprehends the reft: upon the top of the mountain, denoting the exalration and vifibility of the church of Chrift in the latter day, as well as its firmnefs and ftability; fee If ii. 2,3: the whole limit thereof round about fhall be moft kely; all belonging to it fhalk be as the moft holy place in the temple, facred to the Lord; laws, ordinances, doétrines, worfhip, members, ‘minifters, all holy;; nothing faid or done, or have a place here, but what is holy; fee Zech. xiv. 20,.21: this is the law of the houfe; the principal one, according to which all are aN oes and governed. ig. Ame theje are the meafures of the altar after ae cubits, &c.] Of the altar of burnt-offering, which tho’ méafured before, the dimenfions icete not given till now; fee ch. xl. 47. this altar was a type of Chrift, Heb. xiii. 10. with refpect to his deity, which is greater than the facrifice of his human nature, the fupport of it, which fanctified it, and gave virtue and efficacy to it, and rendered it acceptable to God, Matt. xxiii. 19. and the meafures of it are faid to be after the cubits ufed in the meafuring of places and things belonging to this houfe, defcribed; and what thefe were, appears by what follows: the cubit is a cubit and an hand-breadth; not the common cubit, but what was larger than that by an hand-breadth, or three inches: even the bottcm fhall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit; or, the bofom*; that is, the foundation of the altar, as the Targum and Farchi; the ‘bafis, foot, or fettle of it; this was a cubit high, and a cubit broad: and the border thereof by the edge thereof round about foall be a pan; the edge or lip *, of this bottom or fettle, was a cubit broad, for the priefts to ftand on, and go round the altar; and to this there was a border of a {pan, or half a cubit, to prevent their flipping; or elfe to keep the blood, poured at the foot of the altar, from running upon the pavement: and this fhall be the higher place of the altar, or the projection or jetting of it out beyond bihats! which was further than any other part; otherwife it was the lower part of the altar. ¥. 14. And from the bottom upon the ground, even to the lower fettle, &c.] From the bafis or foundation of the altar, as it ftood upon the ground, to the lower fettle or court, as it 1s called, where the priefts ftood; and in which they could walk round the altar, to do their bufinefs: /hall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; that is, two cubits high, and one broad: and from the leffer fettle or court, to the greater fettle or court, fall be four cubits, and the breadth one cubit; the lowermott fettle is called the leffer, not in quantity, but in height, it being but two cubits high from the ground; but the upper fettle was four cubits from that, and one broad, for the priefts to walk on round about;

in all fix cubits from the bottom. ¥. 15. So the altar fhall be four cubits, &c.} That is, from the greater fettle; fo that in the whole it was ten cubits high, the fame with So/omon’s, 2 Chron. iv. 1. forne thake this to be eleven cubits high, one higher than Solomon’s; it is here called Harel, the mountain of God, becaufe it Jooked like a mountain in the court, for its bignefs: it was on a mountain our Lord was offered

up a facrifice for the fins of his people; and which was far fuperior to all other facrifices, and for perfons than thofe facrifices offered up on the altar of burnt-offerings. And from’ the altar and upward feall be four borns;; or, from Ariel, which was the focus or hearth where the wood was laid, and the fire kindled, called Ariel; which fome render the lion of God, becaufe, as the Fewi/b Rabbins ¥ fay, the fire of the altar lay upon it in the form o a lion; or rather, becaufe like a lion it-devoured the facrifices: this name of the altar agrees well with ~ Chrift, the lion of the tribe of Sudab; who. was {trong to bear the fins of men, and the wrath of God for them, whereby they are no more; tho’ it rather fignifies the fire of God, which confumed the facrifice, and denoted the Wrath of God on Chrift, and alfo the divine acceptance of his facrifice: now from hence and upwards were four horns at the four corners of the altar; which denote the ftrength of Chrift, to fave all that come unto God by him, and his being a refuge to them that by faith lay hold upon him; and that he is acceffible to perfons that come from all parts, from the four corners of the earth.

y¥. 16. And the altar foall be twelve cubits long, twelve broad, &c.} The length of it, from eaft to weft, was twelve cubits; and the breadth; from north to fouth, was the fame; fo that it was-a proper four-fquare, as follows: Chrift the altar, or the doétrine of his facrifice and fatisfaétion for the fins of men, is the doétrine of the twelve apoftles of Chrift, and embraced by the twelve times twelve, the 144,000 that belong unto him: Square in the four fquares thereof, as the altar in the taber= nacle, and Solomon’s temple were, Exod. xxvii. 1. 2 Chron. iv. 1. denoting the largenefs of Chrift’s facrifice, the perfection of it, and its ftability and permanency, to take away the fins of his peole.

y. 17. And the fettle fhall be fourteen cubits long; and fourteen broad in the four {quares thereof, &e.

Here Kimchi confeffes his ignorance. archi interprets it, the top of the altar, with the place of the horns, and of the feet of the priefts, and was twenty-eight cubits by twenty-eight, the fourteen mentioned being to be meafured from the middle «5 and he feems to be right in making it to be the upper part of the altar, and not the lower fettle, as fome; the focus or hearth where the wood was laid, ana the facrifice burnt; and which had a projection of a cubit on each fide, and fo made the twelve cubits, the length and-breadth of the altar, fourteen: andthe border about it Shall be balf a cu» bit; or the inclofure, as the Targum; the about it, which went round the altar, to keep the fire or facrifice from falling, or that the feet of the priefts might not flip: the Yews expound it of the horns: and the bottom thereof foall be a cubit about; or the foundation, as the Targum; which was between the altar, and the border on which the priefts walked, when they went round it, to do the bufinefs of it: en Kimchi owns his i ignorance again: and his fairs foall look towards the eaft; fteps to the altar were forbidden by the law of Mofes, Exod. xx. 26. wherefore, as the height of the altar of

Solomon, and fo of the —— temple, Wer sae

Ch. xlunv18—a4. EB Z Kibbefh, away made of earth thrown ‘up, which rofe gradually, and led to the top of it, and was about two and thirty cubits long, and fixteen broad*; but here fteps or ftairs are exprefsly mentioned, which fhow that this refers to times, when the Mo/aic and ceremonial laws fhould be abolifhed. Thefe ftairs were placed eaftward, fo that thofe that went up them, looked toward the weft, toward the temple and houfe of God, where he dwelt; and turned their backs to the eaft, or rifing fun, in dire€t oppofition to the worfhippers of the fun, whofe faces were to the eaft. How many fteps or ftairs there were to the altar, is not faid; Srarckius conjectures there might be twelve or fourteen of them, and allows for each ftep half a cubit;. but as the altar was ten, or as others, eleven cubits high, there fhould be twenty fteps or more, of fuch a meafure. ‘Thefe may ‘fignify the feveral ways and means of coming to, and increafing in the knowledge of the doctrine of the altar, or of Chrift’s fatistaction for fin; as hearing, reading, prayer, meditation, Se.

yv. 18.-And he faid unto me, fon of man, thus faith the Lord God, &c.] This is the voice of the Lord continued, {peaking out of the houfe to the prophet;’ fee’. 6: thefe are the ordinances of the altar; not what go before concerning the meafures of it, but what follow concerning the facrifices to be offered on it: iz the day when they fhall make it to offer burnt-offerings thereon, and fprinkle blood thereon; this plainly fhews, that this altar is the altar of burnt-offerings; for fuch were to be offered on it, and the blood of them to be fprinkled thereon, as follows; that is, upon the horns, corners, and border of it, y. 20.

y..19. And thou fhalt give to the priefis the Levites, that be of the feed of Zadok, &c.] Who in Solomon’s time was put in the room of Adiathar; fee ch. xl. 46. his name fignifies a righteous one, a type he was of Jefus Chrift the righteous; and here his feed fignify the feed of Chrift, fuch whom he makes priefts unto the Lord; to thefe, in a vifionary way, the prophet was to give this altar, for them to ferve at, and eat of s and all the rites and ordinances to obferve and keep; and the facrifices to offer on it, after-mentioned: which approach unto me, to minifter unto me, faith the Lord God; fee the note on ch. xl. 46: a young bullock for a fin-offering, typical of Chrift, (trong and laborious, able to bear thé fins of his people to become a fin-offering, and to be made fin itfelf for

' ¥. 20. And thou fhalt take of the blood thereof, &c.] Ezekiel being a prieft. This muft be underftood in a vifionary way; for as Kimchi obferves, Ezekiel did not live to come up out of the captivity, but died, and was buried in the land of Badylon, and fo did not actually do this: tho’ it is a mere dream of the fame writer, that this is tobe underftood of the refurreétion of the dead, when ' he fuppofes Ezekiel will be high-prieft, tho’ daron be prefent; or however be the fecond, or deputy ‘to him. And put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the fettle, and upon the border round about; that is, on the four horns of the altar, and on the four corners of the fettle which went round it, for the priefts to walk on, and do their bufinefs; either the uppermoft, or as others the lowermoft, and as fome both; and alfo on the border or ledge that inclofed the fettle, The prophet’s doing this, putting the blood on thefe feveral things, reprefents the nature of the gofpclminiftry, and the bufinefs of it; which is to hold forth the blood of Chrift, and the bleffings of grace thro’ it, as redemption, peace, pardon, righteoufnefs, and life. Thus /oalt thou cleanfe and purge it; the altar; thus Chrift, tho’ without fin, and needed no cleanfing and purging for himfelf, yet was fanctified by his own blood; that he might fanétify his people, and perfect by his facrifice them that wete fanctified, Yohu xvii. 19. Heb. x. 14, 29. and xiii, 12.

¥. 21. Thou fhali take ibe bullock alfo of the finoffering, &c.] Which was appointed for the. fin- — offering, according to the divine direction, ¥. 19. the prophet was to take it out of the herd, and {eparate it from the reft for this purpofe, and deliver it into the hands of one of the priefts: and he foall burn it in the appointed place of the houfe; that is, one of the fons of Zadok fhould receive it of the prophet, and burn it in its proper place; not within the houfe, without the court, but within the wall of the houfe: this burning of it was typical of the dolorous fufferings of Chrift; fee the note on ch, xl. 39. or of the zeal and fervency of the minifters of the gofpel, in preaching a crucified Chrift in the proper place, in the houfe and church of God: without the fanéuary; the holy place or temple, properly fo called; or without the camp, typical of Chrift’s fuffering without Feru/alem, and of his being preached not only there, but in the Gentile world; fee Heb. xiii. 11, 12. this was the ma of the firft day of the confécration of the altar.

¥. 22. And on the fecond day thou fhalt offer a kid of the goats without blemifh for a fin-offering, 8cc.

Jarchi obferves, that this was not in the tabernacle, but ordered to be in future time by him that peaks;

inftead of this, another ram was appointed by the law, Exod. xxix. 15, 19. this fhows the ceremonial Jaw to be changeable, and now abolifhed: this was typical of Chrift, without fpot and blemifh, and yet figured by the goat, being made fin for his people: and they fhall cleanfe the altar, as they did cleanfe it with the bullock; fee the note on ¥. 20.

¥. 23. When thou haft made an end of cleanfing it, &c.] ‘The altar, by the facrifices of the bullock and the kid, on the firft and fecond days; then on the third day, shou fhalt offer a young bullock without blemifb, and a ram out of the flock without blemifh, all thefe facrifices point at the one facrifice of Chrift,; which was pure and perfect, and once offered up for the fins of many, and needs

‘no reiteration; only the doctrine of it is to be frequently inculcated in. the miniftry of the word and ordinances.;

¥. 24. And thou foalt offer them before the Lord, &c.] Upon the altar of burnt-offering, which ftood before the houfe or temple where Jehovah dwelt, ch. xl. 47: and the priefts foall caft falt upon them; which was to be ufed in all facrifices under the law, Lev. ii. 13. this may denote the favoury doctrines and lives of the minifters of the gofpel, who thereby recommend the truths they deliver, concerning a crucified Chrift, his blood, righteoufnefs, and facrifice to others; fee Matt. v. 13: and they foall offer them up for a burnt-offering unto the Lord; throughout the whole feven days of the confecration and cleanfing of the altar, as fol- y. 25. Seven days foalt thau prepare every day a goat for a fin-offering, &c.] By this it appears, that the altar was feven days a confecrating and cleanfing; and that on each day a goat was prepared and offered, typical of Chrift as before obferved. Here Kimchi owns, that this was not according to the order of Mo/es, or was done by: thofe that came out of the captivity of Balylon; and is obliged to. confefs, that there will be a change or an innovation in the order of facrifices in time to come, or under the Meffiah. They fhall alfo prepare a young bullock, and a ram out of the flock avithout blemifb; which, either one or all of them fhould be offered up on each of the feven days; fee the note on ¥. 23.

y. 26. Seven days fhall they purge the altar, and purify it, 8cc.] Which denotes the perfect purity and fanétification of it; which how to be applied to Chrift, fee the note on ¥. 20: and they Jhall confecrate tkemfelves, the priefts fhall confecrate themfelves, or devote themfelves to the fervice of the altar; fo gofpel-minifters to the miniftry of a crucified Chrift: or they themfelves fhould confecrate the altar by the above rites: or rather it may be literally rendered, and they fhal} fill its bands, or their own hands”, that is, either they fhall fill the fides of the altar with facrifices, as much. as it

HIS chapter treats of the eaftern gate of the a | temple being appropriated to the ufe of the prince, ¥. 1, 2, 3. of the fin of the Lord’s:people, in admitting ftrangers and unholy perfons’ into the fanctuary, either to officiate or communicate there, ¥. 49. of the degrading of the’ Levites that went aftray, affigning them inferior pofts and fervice in the houfe of God, ¥. 10—14. and of the eftablifhment of the fons of Zadok in their miniftry; who were faithful, ¥. 15, 16. then follow deveral laws relating to their garments; fhaving of their heads;- drinking wine; their marriage; performance of their minifterial work; their regard to the dead, and their food and. maintenance, y.

¥. 1. Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward fanéiuary, &c.] The prophet -was brought by his divine guide, from the altar of burnt-offerings, which ftood before the houfe, where he had given him the dimenfions of it, and the ordinances concerning it, to the temple or holy place, called the outward fanctuary, in diftinétion from the inward fanétuary, or holy of holies; and to one of the gates of it, which was a gate of the inner court: and whith looketh toward the eaft; the eaftern gate, and was the fame he had been at before, arid therefore is faid to be brought back the way of it; fee ch. xliii..1: and it was out; when he was there before, it was open; for he faw the glory of the Lord enter into the houfe by the way of it; but now it was fhut, and for that reafon, becaufe he had entered into it; fignifying a- ‘mong other things, that he would never return, or remove from thence any tore. The Mi/nic doctors “ interpret this of one of the little doors to the great gate of the temple, that had two little doors,

> There is a double reading of the words; the Cetib or textdal reading is, 7 its band; the Keri or marginal reading is, 39" euchariftica veftra, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus, Pifcator. 188 could hold; or the hands of. the! priefts. with parts of the facrifice, or with. gifts, as a token of their being inaugurated into, and invefted with the prieftly office; fo.gofpel-minifters fhould have their, hands full of, or be filled with, the gifts and graces. _ of the Spirit, and with the knowledge of Chrift,_ his perfon, offices, grace, nighteougaes and: facri-. fice, that they may minifter unto others... __ ¥. 27. And when thefe days are expired, &eJ The feven days. of confecration, and all thefe rites, and facrifices obferved: it hall be, that eB eighth day, and fo forward; that is, on the firit day of the week or Lord’s day, the chriftian fabbath, the next day after the feventh, and Fae a fevery return of it; in which chriftian miniftratic are exercifed, the word preached, ordinances adminiftred, and works of, righteoufnefs and charity done; fee Fobn xx. 19, 26. Aas xx. 7. 1 Cor. XVI. 2. The priefs foall make your burnt-offerings upon. the altar, and your peace-offerings; or: thank-offerings*; preach Chrift and him crucified; to the people, and offer up the facrifices of prayer and praife unto God for them:, end I will accept yor, faith the Lord God; thro’ Chrift the Mediator, in whom he is well pleafed;..who.is the altar on, which fuch facrifices are accepted, and become we plea-

, chs 2 RUN one in the’ north, the other in the fouth; that which was.in the fouth, no man ever ‘entered ‘in by, and this: they fay is underftood here; ‘but it is not a little door, but a gate here {fpoken of, and that the eaftern one; of which more ‘in’ the following verfes. See

¥. 2. Lhen faid the Lord unto me, this gate foal be fout, &c.] In time to come, as farchi interprets - it, in the latter day; it was fhut, afd’ it fhould continue to be fhut: it fhall not be opened; any more; tho’ it has been, yet hereafter ho more: and no man foall enter in by it, into-the thoufe of the Lord, decaufe the Lord the God of Ifrael hath entred in by it; the fame with the glory of the God of Drael, ch. xliii. 2,4, 5: therefore it fhall be fouls no one being to enter after him. Warious are the fentiments of expofitors concerning this gate. Some of the ancients have interpreted it of the virgin Mary, by whom Chrift came into this world in human nature, being born of her, a virgin, who had never known man, and as is thought never did after the birth of Chrift; nor were any, afterwards _ born of her; no man might ‘come into the world by her, by that felf-fame way the incarnate God. did, and for that reafon. This fenfe is approved of, not only by papifts, but by many ‘proteftant writers. Others underftand it of the feriptures, the word of God, which as it is a fealed book to men learned and unlearned, fo a gate fhut’ ups it « ar not be opened by a mere natural than, or be u derftood by the light of nature; none can open ‘but the lion of the tribe of Fudah; who gives th {piritual knowledge of it to whom he pleafes, th perfect knowledge of which is referved to'a uture ftate; and there are fome things in it, which*wi the, generation ‘of the Son, the” proceffion of the Spirit, and the union of the two natures in Chrift; fee Jf, xxix. r1, 12. Rev. vit1—5. Fobn iil’ 13. others think that the gate of heaven, or the way to eternal glory and happinefs‘is meant; which’was fhut by the fin of man, and could never be openéd again by any mere man; but‘Chrift by his blood has opened the way into it;' and has entered into it, not as a private, but public perfon, reprefenting

_ all his people; and none but -thofe that belong’ to him, that are members ‘of him, fhall enter there; as none but Chrift perfonal, fo none but Chrift myftical: ‘but Tam rather’ of opinion, fince this whole fabric, as we have feen, is an emblem of the church of Chrift on earth in ‘the latter day, the way into that is defigned here’; ‘and ‘its being fhut fignifies, that as ‘the church ‘is‘a garden inclofed, a fpring fhut’up, and is only for the ufe of Chrift;

and fhould’ be a chafte virgin’ to ‘him, he “fhould have all her heart, affection and faith; fo it fhould riot be pervious unto others; no natural or unregenerate man fhould enter into it; and when ‘the ‘ord fhall Have taken up his refidence in the church in the latter-day, in-a*more*fpiritual and*¢lorious manner than ever, there fhall no More come into her the uncircumeifed and* the ‘unclean, J/ iis 1. and efpecially in the new feru/alem-ftate,' nothing fhall entet that defiles, or makes ‘an abomination, or a lie, Rev. xxi. 27. none but thofe ‘that are Chrift’s, that are true members of his, and one with him; and this fenfe agrees with what follows in this chapter, and receives light and confirmation thereby; in which the Lord complains of the Jfrael and church of God in thefe its prefent declining times, that unregenerate perfons were admitted into the fantuary of the Lord, to communicate with the faints, and officiate there, ¥.7, 8, 9: and-commends fuch who are faithful minifters and members, who are eftablifhed therein, ¥. 15, 16. “3. Ie is for the prince: the prince fhall fit in it to eat bread before the Lord, &c.] Or, as‘ for the prince, the prince foall fit in it*; in the gate which is fhut to others; not the high-prieft, ‘as Farchi, tho’ he might have a particular feat in the temple, as Hi had in the tabernacle, 1 Sam. i. 9. where he might eat the bread and flefh of holy things: nor the political prince, the king of J rael, tho’ he might have a place in the temple peculiar to himfelf; fee 2 Chron, vi. 12, 13. and xxiii. 13. and xxxiv. 31. and the Yews fay, only the kings -of the houfe of David were allowed to fit in the fanCtuary: but the king Meffiah, as Kimchi and “Ben Melech rightly interpret it, is here meant; who before, in this prophecy, is called David a prince, ‘ch. xxxiy. 24. and -xxxvii. 25: he, who is~ the.) prince of peace; Michael the great prince; the "prince of life, and the prince of the kings of the ‘earth; the Meffiah the prince, Such who: interpret the gate of the gate of heaven, underftand ‘this of Chrift’s fitting down there at his Father’s ‘right-hand onthe fame throne with him, having «done his work, and being at eafe, and in honour; ‘and of his enjoyment of glory there, as the hea- ‘venly glory is fometimes fignified by a feaft, by “fitting down at a table, and eating bread in the kingdom of God, Matt. viii, 11. Luke’ xiv. 15. “and xxii, 30..and fo it may intend “his -being in * “the prefence of God with the utmoft delight and joy; having that glory he had with him before | A: —. - >