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Chapter 26: Ezekiel
Ezek:1:1: Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
Other parts of the Bible tell us that God is everywhere:
Jer:23:24: Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
So why did the heavens have to "open" in order for Ezekiel to see God?
Ezek:1:5: Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.
Ezekiel then went on to describe the four "living creatures" as four-winged, four-headed cloven-footed beings. Have you ever seen a man who looked like this? Then, despite what he wrote in the verse above, none of them "had the likeness of a man".
Ezek:4:1: Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
Ezek:4:2: And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.
Ezek:4:3: Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
Just as Isaiah and Jeremiah had to resort to stunts in order to attract attention to their "prophecies", Ezekiel resorted to child's play. He built a play fort and acted out a miniature siege against a play city. Whether this caused people to believe him, or caused them to think that he had gone off his rocker we are not informed.
Ezek:4:4: Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.
Ezek:4:5: For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
Ezek:4:6: And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
Ezek:4:7: Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
Ezek:4:8: And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.
If someone were to lay continuously upon their left side for over a year they would develop health problems. The circulation on the left side of the body would be cut off, and limbs would atrophy. This is why nurses regularly turn bed-ridden paralyzed patients. Likewise, lying for 40 days on the right side would cause the same problems on that side of the body. Yet, we are to believe that Ezekiel did exactly that, evidently without incurring any health problems.
Ezek:4:9: Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
How did Ezekiel bake bread while lying on his side? He must've been lying right next to an oven the entire time.
Ezek:4:10: And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
A shekel was slightly more than half an ounce, so Ezekiel was allotted 10 ounces (well over half a pound) of meat a day. So, he didn't lack for food.
Ezekiel must've had an assistant who obtained meat for him each day. I wonder who was funding this project, since Ezekiel was not earning any income lying around all day.
Ezek:4:12: And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
Ezek:4:13: And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
Since Ezekiel was lying in one spot for over a year, either his assistant had to obtain human feces for him, or Ezekiel simply used his own feces. The latter possibility would've been more efficient since Ezekiel's assistant would otherwise have had to cart away Ezekiel's feces and then deliver other human feces to be used in baking his "barley cakes" every day. If he used his own excrement instead, then Ezekiel would have just had to reach behind himself, grab his own feces, and use them in making his "barley cakes".
It is unclear from this whether Ezekiel was to use the feces for fuel in the oven, or was to mix it into the bread. But further clarification comes in a few verses and seems to indicate that it was the latter disgusting alternative.
So, here we have an unemployed man lying on the ground in a puddle of his own urine, using his own excrement in connection with his food, living off the charity of others, and claiming to see visions of God. How would you regard such a person if you saw him? I think I would feel sorry for him, and I would assume that he suffered from mental illness. I would not for one moment regard him as a valuable source of information regarding future events, or that the lifestyle he chose was somehow prophetic. Yet, this is the "sign" the Bible tells us that the Ultimate Being chose to deliver to the captive Israelites.
According to "the LORD", the whole point of this filthy exercise was to demonstrate how the Israelites would eat "defiled bread amongst the Gentiles, wither I will drive them." But Ezekiel was already amongst the captive Israelites in Gentile land. So, was Ezekiel just demonstrating what was already happening? If so, how was this a "prophecy"?
Ezek:4:14: Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
Ezek:4:15: Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.
Ezekiel understandably protested against using human feces. His god compromised and allowed him to substitute cow dung. The way these verses are written, it seems the idea was to actually eat the dung rather than just use it for fuel in the baking process.
If this god were all knowing, why would he ever change his mind? Wouldn't he have known in advance that Ezekiel would object to using human feces? If so, why didn't this god order him to use cow dung in the first place?
Ezek:5:1: And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weight, and divide the hair.
Ezek:5:2: Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.
Ezek:5:3: Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.
Ezek:5:4: Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.
More strange actions by Ezekiel. Are we expected to believe that people actually followed him around and watched how he discarded his hair clippings? Are we to believe that they discerned that there was an intended meaning behind these actions? Isn't it more likely that they just took him for an insane individual?
Ezek:5:8: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.
Ezek:5:9: And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations.
Ezek:5:10: Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.
Ezekiel's god promised to bring about familial cannibalism amongst the Israelites in Jerusalem. He claimed this was something he had never done before and would never do again. However, we recall reading in the book of Jeremiah where he promised that the inhabitants of Tophet would suffer the very same fate:
Jer:19:6: Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.
Jer:19:7: And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
Jer:19:8: And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
Jer:19:9: And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.
Ezek:9:3: And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;
Ezek:9:4: And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
Ezek:9:5: And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
Ezek:9:6: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
Ezek:9:7: And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.
Ezek:9:8: And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
Ezek:9:9: Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
Ezek:9:10: And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
In this "prophetic vision" Ezekiel heard his god order the murder of little children. He heard this god order the murderers to show no pity. The only ones who would be spared were those who sighed and cried over the worship of other gods. Little children of course, would not know enough to sigh or cry over this, and would be slain by order of the "God of love" who elsewhere claimed to be full of mercy (1Jn. 4:8; Ex. 34:6).
Ezek:10:14: And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
Ezek:10:15: And the cherubims were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.
Ezek:10:22: And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves: they went every one straight forward.
Ezekiel claimed that this was the same "living creature" with the same faces that he had seen at the river of Chebar. But the "living creature" which Ezekiel claimed to have seen at Chebar was different: instead of a cherub's face it had the face of an ox:
Ezek:1:10: As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.
So, the faces were not the same, and the Bible is in error when it claims that they were the same.
Ezek:11:19: And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
Ezek:11:20: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
Ezek:11:21: But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.
This is yet another violation of freewill. Ezekiel's god promised to change the hearts of some Israelites whom he would bring back to Jerusalem. This "change of heart" would allow them to keep his laws. Yet he promised punishment for those who "walketh after the heart of their detestable things".
If this god had no problem with changing people's hearts in such a way that they would be acceptable to him, then why didn't he change everyone's heart? Why punish some for "walking after their heart" while changing the hearts of others so that they would keep his laws? If this god was so "merciful" then why didn't he change everyone's heart?
Ezek:14:9: And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Ezek:14:10: And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;
Ezek:14:11: That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.
After having complained that the prophets in Israel were prophesying falsehoods, Ezekiel's god revealed that it was he himself who had deceived the prophets! Then he promised to punish these prophets and all who listened to them! So, it seems that one would be better off never listening to "prophets" or the "LORD" in the first place.
Ezek:14:19: Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:
Ezek:14:20: Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
Ezek:14:21: For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?
This god had stated that he would cause the murder of children due to the sins of their parents (Ezek. 9:6). This is hardly fair, but if one is going to at least be consistent, then one should leave a righteous person's children alone. But in the verses above, Ezekiel's god promised to murder sons and daughters of the righteous. So, not only is this god unjust, he is also inconsistent.
Why was this god intent on killing the beasts? They had not sinned, nor had their parents. Once again this god was killing the innocent.
Ezek:18:4: Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Ezek:18:5: But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right,
Ezek:18:6: And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour's wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman,
Ezek:18:7: And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;
Ezek:18:8: He that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man,
Ezek:18:9: Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.
It is very revealing that going near a menstruating woman was considered a sin worthy of death!
If a sinning soul "shall die" then how can some Christian religions claim that souls are immortal? How can they maintain that a sinner's soul lives on for eternity in the fires of hell when the Bible plainly states that the sinning soul dies?
Ezek:18:20: The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
If you have been reading along with us from Genesis up through this point, you will already know that this is the most contradicted verse in the entire Bible. Here is one case in point:
Isa:14:21: Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.
Here is another, more important, case in point:
Rom:5:12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
The writer of Romans claimed that all people are accounted sinners (and thus die) due to the sin of the first man, Adam. This is the doctrine of "original sin". The writer of Romans went on to base salvation on the counterpart of this: humankind's salvation through the obedience of one man: Jesus:
Rom:5:17: For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Rom:5:18: Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Rom:5:19: For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
So, if Ezekiel 18:20 is true (as any fundamentalist Christian will assure us it must be since it is part of the "inerrant word of God") then the entire basis of Christianity is erroneous.
If the sons shall not bear the iniquity of the father, and it is only the selfsame soul who sins that dies, then we are off the hook, and we don't need salvation from "original sin".
Ezek:18:23: Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
Ezek:18:27: Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
The above verses imply that one who turns away from his or her wicked ways "shall save his or her soul alive". Therefore, it seems we don't need salvation from our own sins either: we just need to reform our ways. So, once again there is no need for the mystical sacrifice of Christ.
Ezek:20:8: But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
Ezek:20:9: But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.
This tells us that the Ultimate Being, the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, changed his plans based on what some "heathens" might say about him.
Ezek:20:25: Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;
If some of the statutes this god gave to the Israelites "were not good", how do we tell the good ones from the bad ones in the Bible?
Ezek:22:11: And one hath committed abomination with his neighbour's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.
Ezek:22:12: In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezek:22:13: Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.
Ezek:22:14: Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it.
Ezek:22:15: And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.
Listed amongst the Israelites' "sins" are intercourse with a half-sister, and extortion. For these sins, this god promised to punish the Israelites. He must've forgotten that Abraham -- the patriarch of all Israelites -- had married his half-sister. (Gen. 20:11-12)
He must've also forgotten that King David -- whom he said had always done what was right in his eyes (except in the Uriah matter) -- resorted to extortion with Nabal, and this same god enforced the extortion by killing Nabal when he refused to pay up. (1 Kgs. 15:5; 1 Sam. 25:4-13, 38).
Why were these actions okay for these "heroes of the Bible" to commit when this same god (who "does not change" -- James 1:17) punished the Israelites for these same "sins"?
Ezek:24:16: Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.
Ezek:24:17: Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.
Ezek:24:18: So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
Ezek:24:19: And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?
Ezek:24:20: Then I answered them, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ezek:24:21: Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.
Ezek:24:22: And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.
Ezek:24:23: And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.
Ezek:24:24: Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel's god killed Ezekiel's wife just to make a point. Furthermore, Ezekiel was ordered by his god not to mourn for his wife.
Next, this "god of love" who supposedly cares about every sparrow (and more so about every person -- Mt. 10:29-31) promised to kill the Israelites' sons and daughters. He also forbade their parents to mourn for them.
What was the point of all of this cruelty? So that they would know that he was "the Lord GOD".
If Hitler had Jewish children killed so that people would know that he was "Der Führer" would it somehow justify his actions? No? Then why should the killing of Jewish children by the god of the Bible be justified on the basis that people would then know that he was "the Lord GOD"?
Killing children to "prove who you are" only proves that you are a sick monster.
Ezek:29:8: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
Ezek:29:9: And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.
Ezek:29:10: Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.
Ezek:29:11: No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.
Egypt has never been deserted for forty years. So, this was another false prophecy of one of the "major prophets" of the Bible.
Ezek:36:17: Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.
Once again, Ezekiel's god used the image of a menstruating woman to portray defilement.
Ezek:37:21: And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
Ezek:37:22: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
Ezek:37:23: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
Ezek:37:24: And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
Ezek:37:25: And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
This is another Biblical prophecy which has never come to pass. David was never resurrected and never reigned again over a united Israel.
Ezek:39:17: And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
Ezek:39:18: Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
Ezek:39:19: And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
Why did this god forbid humans to drink blood (because "the soul is in the blood" -- Lev. 17:10-12), while here he encouraged non-human animals to drink blood?
Ezek:43:7: And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places
It is interesting to learn that God has feet, and his feet have soles. This would lead us to believe that he walks around like a man. But, if God is everywhere (as the Bible elsewhere indicates) then how could he walk from one place to another? He would already be in the "other" place: so, he could hardly walk to where he already was.
But, according to the above verse, God was intent on setting the soles of his feet in a house in Israel, and would "dwell" there. If this is true, then this god could not be everywhere; he would be living in a certain house in Israel.
Ezek:43:18: And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon.
Ezek:43:19: And thou shalt give to the priests the Levites that be of the seed of Zadok, which approach unto me, to minister unto me, saith the Lord GOD, a young bullock for a sin offering.
Ezek:43:20: And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it.
Ezek:43:21: Thou shalt take the bullock also of the sin offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place of the house, without the sanctuary.
Ezek:43:22: And on the second day thou shalt offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they did cleanse it with the bullock.
Ezek:43:23: When thou hast made an end of cleansing it, thou shalt offer a young bullock without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish.
Ezek:43:24: And thou shalt offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering unto the LORD.
Ezek:43:25: Seven days shalt thou prepare every day a goat for a sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bullock, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish.
Ezek:43:26: Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves.
Ezek:43:27: And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel's god was here planning to build a house on a sacred mountain. It would be a place of sacrifice. Animals would be killed and their blood would be sprinkled on an altar there. Does this sound familiar? The god of the Bible had instituted such barbaric animal sacrifices back in Moses' time. Yet in between Moses' day and Ezekiel's day, the god of the Bible had repudiated such sacrifices:
Ps:40:6: Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
Ps:51:16: For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
Ps:51:17: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Isa:1:11: To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
Isa:1:12: When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
Isa:1:13: Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
That was according to "King David" and the "major prophet" Isaiah. But, according to the "major prophet" Ezekiel, this same god (who does not change) wanted to reinstate such sacrifices in his new home. These sacrifices were to be for a "sin offering" for the Israelites, after which God would "accept" them. Yet we are elsewhere told in the Bible that such offerings cannot take away sins:
Heb:10:11: And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
Some Christians claim that the bloody sacrifices under the Mosaic Law were only enacted as some sort of symbol of the future sacrifice of Jesus (and, indeed, that seems to be the viewpoint of some of the writers of the New Testament Epistles). If this were true, then why would God have bothered to reinstate these sham sacrifices at this late date? The record had already been made and preserved of the Mosaic sacrifices. Why kill more animals so senselessly when the point had already been made and the symbolism had been recorded for posterity? I have never seen Ezekiel's sacrifices referred to as symbols of Jesus' sacrifice -- which goes to show that they were superfluous, and therefore nothing but animal abuse.