Ezekiel 46:19 - Meaning and Application

Here we find another set of buildings around the temple that had not been noticed before, places for boiling the meat of the offerings (Ezekiel 46:20). The God who kept such a full table at his altar needed large kitchens, and a wise builder would make room for that kind of work.

Notice, first, where these boiling places were located. Some were at the entrance to the inner court (Ezekiel 46:19), and others were under the rows, in the four corners of the outer court (Ezekiel 46:21-23). These were likely the places with extra room that could be set apart for this use, and the extra space was given a purpose so nothing would be wasted. It is a shame for holy ground to be left unused.

Notice, second, what these places were used for. There the priests were to boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, especially the parts assigned to them. These offerings were more holy than the flesh of the peace offerings, because the worshiper also ate part of the peace offering. There they were also to bake the grain offering, their portion of it, which they received from the altar for their own tables (Ezekiel 46:20).

Great care was taken so they would not carry these gifts into the outer court to make the people holy by contact. They were not to pretend that this holy meat would sanctify the people, as if it could be used to impress or mislead them. Nor were the people to think that touching these sacred things would make them holy or more acceptable to God. It seems that some had such an idea (Haggai 2:12), so the priests were not to carry any of the holy meat away with them, lest they encourage that false belief. Ministers must be careful not to support the superstitious errors of ignorant people.