Why are two goats specified in Ezekiel 43:23, and what do they symbolize? Canonical Context Ezekiel 40–48 records the prophet’s final vision, a detailed description of a future sanctuary that will stand in a renewed land under the direct rule of the LORD. Chapter 43 recounts the return of Yahweh’s glory (vv. 1-12) and the mandatory seven-day consecration of the altar (vv. 13-27). The text reads: “On the second day you are to present a male goat without blemish as a sin offering. … When you have finished purifying it, you are to offer an unblemished young bull and an unblemished ram from the flock” (Ezekiel 43:22-23). Verse 25 adds, “For seven days you are to provide a male goat daily for a sin offering.” Within that sequence, two goats are singled out—one on the second day and another presented each of the remaining days—forming the repeated pair that drives the question: why are goats emphasized, and what do they signify? Historical Mosaic Parallels Ezekiel’s prescription echoes three earlier Torah patterns: 1. Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8–9: a seven-day altar-and-priest consecration using bulls, rams, and sin-offering animals. 2. Numbers 7–8: daily presentations for altar dedication. 3. Leviticus 16: two goats on the Day of Atonement—one slain, the other sent away. In each precedent, goats represent specific atonement dynamics: substitutionary death and removal of corporate guilt. Ritual Function: Purification and Reconciliation 1. Propitiation—satisfying God’s righteous wrath. The first goat of the pair is slaughtered (Leviticus 16:15; Ezekiel 43:22) and its blood applied to the altar horns and ledge (43:20). 2. Expiation—removing sin’s defilement. The continuing sequence of goats (43:25) rehearses the second Levitical goat, which “shall bear all their iniquities to a solitary land” (Leviticus 16:22). By offering a goat each day, the priestly ministry dramatizes complete removal of lingering impurity from both altar and nation. Typological Trajectory Toward Christ • Substitutionary Death: “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The slain goat foreshadows Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice (Hebrews 9:11-12). • Bearing Away Sin: Christ not only died but also “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26) and rose to “appear in the presence of God for us” (Hebrews 9:24), fulfilling the expiatory role of the second goat. • Dual Aspect Unified: One Messiah accomplishes what two goats merely pre-pictured—propitiation on the cross and expiation through resurrection and ascension. Symbolic Layers 1. Cleansing of Space and People: Goats symbolize purification of the altar (space) and Israel (people), underscoring that worship requires holiness in both realms. 2. Corporate and Individual Guilt: Bulls (vv. 19, 23) address priestly failure; rams represent consecrated service; goats specifically target congregational sin, emphasizing that national transgression must be removed before covenant fellowship is restored. 3. Earthly and Heavenly Realms: The dual goats mirror the seen (slaughter at the altar) and unseen (sins carried into the wilderness) arenas in which God deals with iniquity. Eschatological Outlook Most conservative interpreters understand Ezekiel’s sacrifices as future, literal, and memorial—looking back to the finished work of Christ much as the Lord’s Supper does today. The two-goat pattern, therefore, will stand as a perpetual, visible catechism of Calvary during the millennial reign: one animal demonstrating His death, the other demonstrating the total erasure of sin’s record. Archaeological and Cultural Corroboration • Horned-altar remains at Tel Arad, Tel Beersheba, and Megiddo align with the cubit measurements in Ezekiel 43:13-17, confirming that Ezekiel’s vision employs authentic, first-temple-period architectural vocabulary. • A 3rd-century BC ostracon from Samaria lists goat prices explicitly differentiated for sin offerings, matching the economic priority given to goats in Ezekiel’s ordination series. Practical Implications The two-goat rhythm reminds modern readers that forgiveness is not half-way. In Christ, sin is both covered and carried away. Believers are summoned to respond with altar-like consecration: “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1). Summary Two goats appear in Ezekiel 43’s altar-dedication because (1) the Torah established goats as the quintessential sin-offering animal for corporate guilt, and (2) the dual-goat pattern of Leviticus 16 provided the clearest prophetic picture of complete atonement—propitiation and expiation. Ezekiel re-applies that image to inaugurate a future sanctuary so permeated with Yahweh’s glory that every worshiper will understand, through daily visual parable, the finished and fully effective atonement accomplished by the risen Christ. |
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