What is the significance of burning the bull outside the sanctuary in Ezekiel 43:21? Setting the Scene Ezekiel is shown a future temple. A week-long consecration service begins with a bull offered for sin. After its blood purifies the altar, the carcass is taken away and completely burned. “You are to take the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the appointed area of the temple outside the sanctuary.” Old Testament Background • The practice is not new; it follows the pattern Moses received: – Leviticus 4:12 “all the rest of the bull … must be taken outside the camp … and there it must be burned.” – Leviticus 16:27 “The bull for the sin offering … must be taken outside the camp; their hides, flesh, and dung are to be burned up.” • In every case, the blood is applied at the altar (or within the veil on the Day of Atonement); the body is removed. • “Outside the camp” in the wilderness, or “outside the sanctuary” in Ezekiel’s temple, marks a line between the holy sphere and everything else. Purging Sin Away from the Holy Presence Burning the carcass outside underscores at least four truths: 1. Complete removal of guilt • The bull bore the priesthood’s sin. Once the blood accomplished atonement, the sinful burden had to be taken away, never left smoldering within God’s house. 2. Protection of holiness • God’s dwelling is holy (Habakkuk 1:13). Anything associated with sin or impurity is expelled so nothing unclean lingers near His glory. 3. Continuing separation • Israel camped around the tabernacle; anything contaminated went beyond the perimeter (Numbers 5:2). The temple precincts in Ezekiel follow the same logic: a graded holiness that intensifies as one moves inward, so the sin offering’s remains retreat outward. 4. Finality of judgment • The carcass is utterly consumed. Sin does not merely move locations; it is destroyed. Fire outside the sanctuary pictures God’s wrath satisfied and concluded. Anticipating the Greater Sacrifice Hebrews 13:11-12 draws the line straight to Calvary: “For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the Most Holy Place by the high priest as a sin offering are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to sanctify the people by His own blood.” • Jesus fulfills the pattern—His blood was presented before the Father, but His body hung “outside the gate” (John 19:17). • The place of disgrace becomes the place of deliverance. • As the bull’s body was taken away so sin could not re-enter the sanctuary, Christ bore our sins away forever (Psalm 103:12; 1 Peter 2:24). Practical Takeaways • Sin is serious; even forgiven sin is not trivialized—something must die and be removed. • God wants every trace of corruption out of His dwelling; by His Spirit He now pursues that same purity in believers (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). • Assurance thrives here: once sin is carried “outside,” it is gone. We need not dredge it back into the holy place of our conscience. • Worship gains depth when we see how meticulously God prepared the way for Christ. The burning bull outside the sanctuary was a shadow; the cross outside Jerusalem is the substance. |
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