Let’s talk Ezekiel 40-48!
After years of dialogue with non-dispensationalists over this passage, I have repeatedly encountered the same interpretive problems surrounding these nine chapters of Scripture. At the core of many of these disagreements is what has been termed a “New Testament Priority Presupposition.” This approach grants the New Testament interpretive primacy when reading the Bible, often described as viewing the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament. In this case the book of Hebrews is given interpretive priority over Ezekiel and is used to interpret the book of Ezekiel.
So what’s the issue? The issue is that Hebrews states emphatically that Jesus is the once for all atoning sacrifice. For the non-dispensationalist this means no more sacrifices, because Jesus is the sufficient atoning sacrifice, and if we need anything other than Jesus, we have a flawed—and possibly heretical—view of scripture.
Hebrews 7:27 – who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He died once for all when He offered up Himself.
The claim that Ezekiel 40–48 is (a) future and (b) describes future sacrifices is often assumed to stand in immediate conflict with Hebrews 7:27. Yet instead of engaging Ezekiel 40–48 exegetically on its own terms, the passage is frequently dismissed—most often by an appeal to typology. This so-called “typological” approach, however, explains nothing within Ezekiel 40–48 itself and effectively sets Ezekiel against Hebrews. Rather than seeking to understand Ezekiel’s message to his original audience, interpreters quickly set Ezekiel aside and redirect the text toward Christ or the Church. That approach is inadequate.
Our goal as Christians is to be faithful to both texts in context. We know scripture cannot contradict scripture so we must be faithful to both contexts in order to ascertain the meaning. Only the position that can faithfully walk through each verse explaining its meaning should be recognized as valid.
If your immediate reaction to Ezekiel 40-48 is that it can’t be future or possible because of Hebrews then you need to wrestle with several things:
1.) Sacrificial worship predates the Old Covenant (cf. Gen 4:3-4; 8:20; 12:7-8; 13:18; 22:13; 31:54; Job 1:5), and is predicted in numerous texts to be reinstated under the New Covenant (cf. Isa. 56:6-7; 60:7; 66:20-23; Jer. 33:17-18; Zec. 14:16-21)
2.) Sacrifices were offered by Paul in Acts (cf. Acts 21:26; 24:17-18) after Jesus died, was buried, and resurrected. This means that Paul saw no conflict between the Christ’s work and the animals he was sacrificing. If Paul saw a conflict, he certainly would never have engaged in the act.
3.) Hebrews is contrasting the Levitical system (Old Covenant) with the new Melchidekian order (New Covenant) it is not saying that there will never be a sacrifice made again or that making sacrifices is some sort of abomination before the Lord. Sacrifices served a wide-variety of purposes: https://abidingfoundations.com/2024/05/30/levitical-offerings/
4.) Hebrews is not an exegetical manual for Ezekiel 40-48. Ezekiel 40-48 must be exegeted on its own terms in order to ascertain its meaning within its larger canonical structure.
5.) Ezekiel 40-48 is thrust forward into New Covenant conditions, not backwards into Old Covenant conditions (cf. Eze. 36:25-27; 37:21-28; 45:18-25; 48). The entire structure of Ezekiel 40-48 is different from the practice of those under the Mosaic Covenant.
6.) Hebrews 10:4 tells us that sacrifices never effectually took away sin, so any idea that future sacrifices would take away sin or interfere with Christ’s work violates this text and an understanding of sacrifices.
7.) Hebrews 9:13-14 tells us that there are two atoning realms (inward/outward). Jesus’ work is applied inwardly, not outwardly, the sacrifices that were offered were for the purposes of outward cleansing, not inward cleansing. Not only that, not all sacrifices were tied to individuals, they were also for the purpose of cleansing the altar and the sanctuary, something quite common in Ezekiel 40-48 (cf. Ez. 43:22-27; 45:18).
8.) The typological connections made in Hebrews pertain to Old vs. New Covenant realities, not Ezekiel and New Covenant realities. Hebrews 8:5 – Earthly copy vs heavenly reality; Hebrews 9:23–24 – Copies vs true things in heaven; Hebrews 12:22–24 – Sinai vs heavenly Zion. Nowhere does Hebrews interact with Ezekiel on these grounds.
9.) Ezekiel 40-48 cannot have been fulfilled in history, and nine chapters of hyper-literal dimensions must be explained exegetically because every jot and tittle matters to our Lord. The dimensions in Ezekiel 40–42 do not match Zerubbabel’s temple (cf. Ezra 3–6). No Shekinah return recorded after exile (contrast Ezekiel 43:1–5). No river flowing from temple transforming the Dead Sea (Ezekiel 47:1–12) has ever occurred historically. Tribal allotments (Ezekiel 48) never historically realized.
The goal here is harmonization. If you start from a wrong premise or presupposition your goals—as noble as they may be—can result in wrong conclusions that strip the Church or Israel of their hope.
We have seen that it is always important to take a text in its context and attempt to harmonize it as a whole. Ezekiel can be harmonized with Hebrews in a way that both texts are taken seriously, and Ezekiel’s text is not downplayed.
For additional resources:
PDF’s:
Ian Bacon, The Plausibility of Animal Sacrifices in Ezekiel 40-48 Literally Operating in the Millennial Kingdom Under the New Covenant – https://joelstrumpet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Plausability-of-Animal-Sacrifices-in-the-Millennium.pdf
Ian Hicks, The Millennial Temple – An Exegetical Analysis of Ezekiel 40-48 –
https://abidingfoundations.com/2020/10/26/the-millennial-temple-an-exegetical-analysis-of-ezekiel-40-48/
Jerry Hullinger, The Problem of Animal Sacrifices in Ezekiel 40-48 – https://joelstrumpet.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Problem-of-Sacrifices-PDF.pdf
Jerry Hullinger, Two Atonement Realms: Reconciling Sacrifice in Ezekiel and Hebrews – https://tyndale.edu/wp-content/uploads/JODT-Vol11-No32-Mar07.pdf
Jerry Hullinger, The Compatibility of the New Covenant and Future Animal Sacrifice – https://tyndale.edu/wp-content/uploads/JODT-Vol17-No50-Spring13.pdf
John C. Whitcomb, Christ’s Atonement and Animal Sacrifices in Israel – https://www.pre-trib.org/pretribfiles/pdfs/Whitcomb-Ezekiel40thru48AndMillennialSacrifices.pdf
Matt Waymeyer, The Millennial Sacrifices in Ezekiel 40-48 – https://petergoeman.com/papers/The%20Millennial%20Sacrifices%20in%20Ezek%2040-48%20-%20Waymeyer.pdf
Randall Price, Taking the Future Literally: The Importance of a Literal Interpretation of Ezekiel 40-48 to Biblical Hermeneutics – https://pre-trib.org/images/2023_Conference/2023-Pre-Trib-Price-Ezekiels_Temple-Paper.pdf
Thomas Ice, Literal Sacrifices in the Millennium – https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=pretrib_arch
Thomas Ice, Why Sacrifices in the Millennium – https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1059&context=pretrib_arch
Books:
The Temple and Bible Prophecy: A Definitive Look at Its Past, Present, and Future – July 1 2005
by Randall Price
Jerusalem in Prophecy Paperback – Jan. 1 1998
by Randall Price
The Coming Last Days Temple Paperback – Jan. 1 1999
by Randall Price
Messiah’s Coming Temple: Ezekiel’s Prophetic Vision of the Future Temple Paperback – Feb. 1 2014
by John W. Schmitt, J. Carl Laney
The Temple Presented by God to Ezekiel: Why Should it Matter to You? – June 8 2024
by John W. Schmitt
