Ezekiel 43:23-24 - Exposition

The presentation of a burnt offering unto the Lord was the next item in the ritual that should be observed. The material composing it should consist of a young bullock without blemish , as in the ordinary sacrificial cede (Le Ezekiel 1:3 , Ezekiel 1:4 , Ezekiel 1:5 ), and a ram out of the flock without blemish , as in the consecration of the priests ( Exodus 29:18 ) and of the altar (Le Ezekiel 8:18 ). The persons presenting it should be the prophet, thou , and the priests, they , as his representatives. The mode of offering should be by burning, the distinctive act in a burnt offering, as that of a sin offering was sprinkling, and that of a peace offering the sacrificial meal, and by casting salt upon the carcass, a feature in every meat offering (Le 2:13), and here added probably to intensify the idea of purification. "In the corrosive and antiseptic property of salt there is hidden something of the purifying and consuming nature of fire; hence the Redeemer, in Mark 9:49 , combines the salting of the sacrifice with the purifying fire of self- denial". The significance of it should be an expression of complete self-surrender unto Jehovah, as the necessary outcome of the antecedent act of expiation. The time of its presentation should be immediately after the cleansing of the altar on the second day, and presumably also on the succeeding days. Whether the burnt offering was, as Keil maintains, or was not, as Kliefoth contends, offered also on the first day is difficult to decide, though the former opinion has, perhaps, most in its favor. The Mosaic ritual always enjoined a burnt offering to be offered as a sequel to the sin offering (comp. Exodus 29:14 , Exodus 29:18 , with Le Exodus 8:14 , Exodus 8:18 ; and see Kurtz, 'Sacrificial Worship of the Old Testament,' § 86); and, in accordance with this, Mark 9:23 and Mark 9:24 naturally follow on Mark 9:19-21 , Mark 9:22 being interposed because of the variation in the sin offering for the second day.