What connections exist between Ezekiel 46:5 and other Old Testament sacrificial laws? Setting the Verse in Place Ezekiel 46:5 – “The grain offering with the ram shall be a grain offering of one ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he is pleased to give, along with a hin of oil for every ephah.” Links to the Core Mosaic Pattern • Leviticus 2:1-16; 6:14-23 – establishes that every burnt offering is to be paired with a grain offering and oil, confirming Ezekiel’s pattern rather than creating a new one. • Numbers 15:3-12 – gives fixed ratios: “With the ram, prepare a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil” (v. 6). Ezekiel keeps the grain-plus-oil concept but enlarges the quantity to one full ephah and a full hin of oil, underscoring generosity and abundance. • Numbers 28:9-10 – specifies the weekly Sabbath sacrifices: two lambs plus grain and oil. Ezekiel expands the Sabbath list to six lambs and a ram (v. 4) and then matches them with proportionately larger grain offerings (v. 5). The continuity is clear—Sabbath worship with burnt and grain offerings—but the future temple multiplies the scale. Fixed and Flexible—A Striking Blend • Fixed: “one ephah” with the ram and “a hin of oil for every ephah” mirrors the precise measurements of Numbers 15, preserving the principle that the Lord directs the sacrifice, not the worshiper. • Flexible: “as much as he is pleased to give” for the lambs’ grain offering introduces free-will generosity (cf. Exodus 35:29; Deuteronomy 16:17). Mosaic law already allowed free-will offerings (Leviticus 22:18-23); Ezekiel highlights it by embedding the option inside a mandated ritual. Sabbath Emphasis Intensified • In Moses’ day: Numbers 28:9-10 – two lambs. • In Ezekiel’s vision: Ezekiel 46:4-5 – six lambs and a ram plus larger grain/oil portions. The Sabbath remains central, but the future observance grows in both quantity and richness, reflecting the prophetic expectation of heightened worship (Isaiah 2:2-3; Zechariah 14:16). Oil—Consistent Symbolism • Leviticus 2:4-7 – oil mixed with grain depicts consecration and the Spirit’s presence. • Ezekiel 46:5 retains “a hin of oil for every ephah,” upholding that same symbolism in the millennial temple context (cf. Ezekiel 47:1-9 where the Spirit-water flows). Holiness and Wholeness • Leviticus 1:3; 22:21 – offerings must be “without blemish.” Ezekiel 46:4 keeps that standard (“unblemished lambs…a ram without blemish”). • By coupling a generous grain-oil offering with blemish-free animals, Ezekiel reaffirms the unchanging holiness of God and the whole-life devotion He seeks (Deuteronomy 6:5). Summary Connections 1. Same building blocks as the Torah—burnt, grain, and oil always travel together. 2. Mosaic proportions supply the template; Ezekiel magnifies them to suit the promised era of restored worship. 3. Flexibility in grain for the lambs echoes the voluntary offerings already permitted in Leviticus. 4. The Sabbath setting ties directly to Numbers 28, yet the scale is prophetically enlarged. 5. Unblemished sacrifice and consecrating oil confirm that God’s standards of holiness never relax, even in a future temple. Ezekiel 46:5 therefore stands as a faithful, literal extension of the original sacrificial laws, keeping their structure intact while amplifying their generosity and pointing forward to a richer, fuller worship in the age to come. |
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