3

Ezekiel 46:4 NASB

4 The burnt offering which the prince shall offer to the Lord on the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish;

In Ezekiel the prince offers six lambs instead of the two offered besides the daily offering as prescribed in the law of Moses.

Numbers 28:9 NASB

9 ‘Then on the sabbath day two male lambs one year old without defect, and two-tenths of an [d]ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and its drink offering: 10 This is the burnt offering of every sabbath in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.

Could the law have changed during the times of Ezekiel

Improve this question
2
  • This is similar to a question I want to also ask. And it runs around the same theme of numerology. Why were there six water pots at the wedding of Cana. And they were there "according to the manner of purification of the Jews".
    – Emmanuel Dan
    Commented May 24, 2018 at 7:57
  • Six is the number of Man since Adam was and the beasts were created on the sixth day. It is also the number of work, self effort, self righteousness especially as prescribed by the law.
    – Emmanuel Dan
    Commented May 24, 2018 at 7:58

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
0

Numbers 28:

1 The Lord said to Moses, 2“Give this command to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Make sure that you present to me at the appointed time my food offerings, as an aroma pleasing to me.’ ...

9 “ ‘On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect

These two lambs were the responsibility of the priests.

Ezekiel 45 describes a restored temple:

1“ ‘When you allot the land as an inheritance, you are to present to the Lord a portion of the land as a sacred district, 25,000 cubits a long and 20,000 b cubits c wide; the entire area will be holy.

The prince had a special role in this temple:

7“ ‘The prince will have the land bordering each side of the area formed by the sacred district and the property of the city.

Ezekiel 46:

4 The burnt offering the prince brings to the LORD on the Sabbath day is to be six male lambs and a ram, all without defect.

Ezekiel 46:4 concerned with the responsibility of the prince, not the priests. It was a new addition to Moses' ordinances.

Improve this answer
0

Leviticus describes various kind of offerings from the priests, leaders of Israelite to commoners, the object brought for offering depends on their affordability. However, there is no specific requirement for the king because Israel had no king at that time.

In 1 Kings 8:63-64, Solomon brought an extravagant amount of offerings, total 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. The offerings were so huge that the bronze alter was too small to hold them.

Therefore, in Ezekiel 46:11, it is likely that the Lord set a new commandment for the king to sacrifice only six lambs in burnt offering to forbid lavishness. However, there was no change to the rule for others as it had been set in Leviticus.

Improve this answer
-1

The answer to this question lies in the symbolism of the number six. As we know God had created everything in 6 days, so everything created can be symbolized by a 6 (that is also why faith in the creations/works/fruit of man's mind or man's hands for salvation is symbolized by a triple six in the Revelation 13).

Man is also told by God to work for six days and rest on the Sabbath. So the 6 here is to symbolize the reception or the seeking of God's blessing upon the works of man:

Deut. 28:12 NIV

"The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands...".

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.