Ezekiel 46:6, commentary and pictures

Ezekiel 46:6 appoints for the new moon one unblemished young bull with six lambs and one ram, all without blemish, as part of the temple worship and offerings the prince was to present in the vision of Ezekiel 40-48. That sanctuary and its offerings were promised to captive Israel only on condition of shame for sin, repentance, and wholehearted return and obedience, unto a literal glorious restoration with the Messiah's peaceful kingdom established on earth. Because Israel did not meet the conditions the sanctuary as described was never built and never will be built literally, and its new-moon sacrifices were never carried out there, Zerubbabel's temple being only a weak and limited shadow of what was promised. The prince who offers is a frail mortal under the Mosaic order, not Christ in glory, and the animal sacrifices belonged to the first covenant and pointed to the Lamb of God, so they ceased at Christ's once-for-all offering and cannot be renewed literally without annulling His sacrifice. What remains stands as prophecy in its spiritual aspect, to be fulfilled far more gloriously for the true Israel at the second coming in Christ's kingdom, the New City, and the new heavens and new earth with God's manifest presence and no hurt or destroying.

Wording and Immediate Context

The new-moon offering was one young bullock without blemish, six lambs, and a ram, all without blemish. The bullock was unblemished and young, the ram was unblemished, and the lambs shared the same requirement of being without blemish. The prescribed number was one bullock with six lambs and one ram for that day.

The regulation belongs to the temple and sanctuary service set forth in Ezekiel 40-48, with its system of animal offerings of bullock, lambs, and ram. It is part of what the prince was to present, within the worship appointed for the sanctuary. That temple stood at the center of a restored Jerusalem to teach that the Lord is present there, and was ultimately intended as a house of prayer for all nations.

The verse stands among several allusions in Ezekiel 40-48 to the Sabbath of the Lord and to the festivals of the Hebrews, given in God's offer while the Hebrews were captive in Babylon to restore them to their own land with a city and temple under circumstances of wonderful glory. In that setting the Sabbath is distinguished from the six working days, and the offerings described for the Sabbath in Ezekiel 46:1-7 do not prove the seventh-day Sabbath was ceremonial.

Some treatments do not work out the new-moon details of this verse but explain the altar-dedication offerings in Ezekiel 43, that regular burnt and peace offerings followed the seven days of altar purification. The same vision is connected with God's life-giving presence healing barren land and impure waters.

Conditional Promise to Israel

The sanctuary and its new-moon offerings of a young bull, six lambs and a ram without blemish were shown to Israel in Babylonian captivity as a conditional promise, to be given only if they were ashamed of their iniquities, repented, put away sins, returned wholeheartedly, obeyed in faith, accepted God's plan and responded by leaving Babylon. The pattern including this prescribed offering was offered on condition that Israel be ashamed and put away sin, with God to establish the sanctuary and bring back the twelve tribes if they did so. Those temple instructions for ceremonies, rites and offerings were promised if they returned wholeheartedly from exile and accepted repentance, and the sanctuary worship described would have accompanied the rebuilding of the temple.

Had Israel yielded to God and truly repented, the promises of Ezekiel 36-48 would have been literally fulfilled then in a restored land, city and temple under circumstances of wonderful glory. The blessed sanctuary worship Israel would have rendered, including the new-moon offering, would have accompanied that restoration, with the Messiah's peaceful kingdom gradually established on earth. That offered glory with its allusions to the Sabbath and Hebrew festivals was never inherited because the condition in Ezekiel 43:7-11 was disregarded, so the vision was not fulfilled for earthly Jerusalem and its promised glory will be realized instead in the New City for God's true Israel.

Because Israel was unwilling and did not meet the conditions, the sanctuary described in Ezekiel 40-48 was never established as described and never will be built literally, and its animal sacrifices including the new-moon service were never carried out in that sanctuary. God could not fulfill the promise over violated conditions, and the people's failure to repent meant the restoration was not fulfilled as described. What was built by Zerubbabel was only a weak, feeble, limited, small or shadow realization of the promised sanctuary and its greatness, far less than the glorious temple described.

Had the conditions been complied with, the new-moon burnt offerings would have been fulfilled in the Mosaic dispensation before the Messiah came, when circumcision, divorce regulations, distinction in meats, offerings of beasts including bulls and goats, the Jubilee and the Levitical priesthood were in force. The sacrifices and priesthood show the vision concerned a time before the Messiah came, belonging to a sanctuary system of animal sacrifices that is no longer acceptable to God.

No Future Literal Restoration

The prince who was to present the new-moon offering of a young bull, six lambs and a ram, all without blemish, was to present offerings for himself, and those duties show him to be a poor frail mortal ruler under the Mosaic order, not Jesus reigning in an immortal state. Those offerings ceased at Christ's death, and the prophecy belongs to the past Mosaic dispensation rather than to a future age. Had the conditions been met it would have been fulfilled in the Mosaic dispensation when circumcision, divorce regulations, distinction in meats, offerings of beasts, the Jubilee and the Levitical priesthood were in force.

The verse cannot belong to the future glorified age, for there Christ is to be Prince and Shepherd over Israel, while here the prince is a mortal offering a sin offering for himself. In the age to come marriage and death are unknown, while here there are marriages, divorces, widows and death.

When Christ was crucified and ascended the law of the priesthood changed, so Levi is no longer priest but Christ became priest forever after the order of Melchisedec with an unchangeable priesthood that does not pass from one to another. When His priesthood ends there is no more probation, and that priesthood and the everlasting gospel are contemporary, so to restore the Levitical service would be another gospel. No such temple with Levites serving as priests is ever to be built after the opening of the Christian dispensation.

The animal sacrifices appointed for the new moon cannot be renewed as literal sacrifices in a future age or future sanctuary, because Christ's offering was made once for all and fulfilled the types. The sacrifices of the past were for their own time and foreshadowed Christ's effective offering and atonement, so they cannot serve as figures for sins after that atonement has been made. To offer further sacrifice would make void and annul His sacrifice, and blood of bulls and goats will no longer be acceptable to God even as a type. That system of animal sacrifices and offerings is no longer acceptable to God and would conflict with His plan that Christ's offering replace them.

Those sacrifices belonged to the first covenant and past dispensation and pointed forward to Christ's sacrifice and atonement, with each lamb representing the Lamb of God. This dispensation has sacrifices of dedication and praise instead.

Greater Future Fulfillment

Ezekiel 46:6 belongs to the instructions for the temple's ceremonies, rites and offerings, and to the wider prophecy of Ezekiel 36-48 of Israel's restoration after the Babylonian exile, promised if they returned wholeheartedly, truly repented, and were ashamed of iniquities. Because Israel was unwilling and did not repent, the restoration was not fulfilled as described and the temple chapters stand as prophecy in their spiritual aspect of greater things the Lord will do for His people through Christ. The temple prophecy is a faint type of God's future promises, to be fulfilled in general rather than in every detail, for the true Israel at the second coming and not following every detail described.

The sacrifices and priesthood show the vision concerned a time before the Messiah came, when its new-moon offering of a bullock, six lambs and a ram without blemish belonged to sanctuary worship accompanying the rebuilding and would still have been made by the sons of Levi after the sanctuary was built. The promise was of surpassing glory for Palestine and the Jews, with a new temple and new division of the land, lengthened life, character taking hold upon the very animals, raising of the righteous dead, subjection of enemies, healing life from God, and the constant manifest presence of God in His holy mountain where there would be no hurt or destroying. That promise was conditional on putting away wickedness and accepting God's conditions, and because Israel was not ashamed only a shadow of that greatness was built by Zerubbabel, small and limited, while the glorious temple described was never built and never will be built.

Its provision for animal sacrifices was fulfilled when Jesus Christ died on the cross, and it can never be fulfilled literally in the future because the blood of bulls and goats will no longer be acceptable to God even as a type. The sanctuary would otherwise have been built as the Messiah's peaceful kingdom was gradually established on earth in its present condition, but that fulfillment did not occur for earthly Jerusalem. All those promises of sanctuary, restored kingdom and glorified Jerusalem are faintly typical of what God will restore by His mighty power, to be realized far more gloriously and even more gloriously in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, the glory of His second coming and the events connected with it, the New City for God's true Israel, and the new heavens and new earth. That greater fulfillment will come without the local conditions of Ezekiel's day and with more or less of the former detail eliminated, leaving absolute joy and peace and harmony among all God's creatures in the new-earth state.