Will Animal Sacrifices Really Return?
What Is Ezekiel's Final Temple Vision Describing?
The final nine chapters of Ezekiel contain one of the most remarkable visions in the Old Testament.
Ezekiel sees a temple.
An altar.
Priests.
Sacrifices.
Tribal territories.
A restored land.
A river flowing from the sanctuary and bringing life wherever it goes.
And finally a city with an extraordinary name:
“THE LORD IS THERE.”
— Ezekiel 48:35
What are we supposed to do with this vision?
Some Christians believe Ezekiel is describing a literal Temple that will be built in Jerusalem during a future thousand-year reign of Christ.
If so, something remarkable follows.
Animal sacrifices will return.
Bulls, goats, and lambs will again be offered on an altar after Jesus has died and risen from the dead.
Is that really what Ezekiel is telling us?
We shouldn't begin by saying:
“Amillennialism says...”
or:
“Premillennialism says...”
Let's begin with Ezekiel.
Then let's ask how the New Testament teaches Christians to understand temple, priesthood, sacrifice, land, living water, and the dwelling place of God after Jesus has come.
1. Why Did Ezekiel See a Temple?
Context matters.
Ezekiel was a priest living among Jewish exiles in Babylon.
Jerusalem had fallen.
Solomon's Temple had been destroyed.
The people had lost their city, their land, and their sanctuary.
Worst of all, earlier in Ezekiel's prophecy he had seen the glory of God depart from the Temple.
— Ezekiel 10–11
Think about what that meant to an Israelite.
The Temple was gone.
The city was ruined.
The people were scattered.
Had God's promises failed?
Had He abandoned His people forever?
Then, near the end of the book, Ezekiel is given a magnificent vision of restoration.
And one feature dominates the vision:
God returns.
Ezekiel sees:
“the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east.”
— Ezekiel 43:2
Then:
“the glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east.”
— Ezekiel 43:4
The glory that had departed has returned.
That may be the first clue to what this entire vision is really about.
The great hope of Ezekiel 40–48 is not merely:
Israel gets another building.
It is:
GOD DWELLS WITH HIS PEOPLE AGAIN.
2. But Ezekiel Really Does Describe Sacrifices
We shouldn't avoid the difficult part.
Ezekiel describes an altar.
He speaks of burnt offerings.
Sin offerings.
Grain offerings.
Peace offerings.
Bulls.
Goats.
Lambs.
Priests offer blood.
For example:
“You are to give a young bull as a sin offering to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok.”
— Ezekiel 43:19
Later the prince is instructed to provide:
“the burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings at the festivals, the New Moons and the Sabbaths.”
— Ezekiel 45:17
So if we say Ezekiel's Temple must be fulfilled literally in every detail, we have to deal honestly with what that means.
It isn't merely a future Temple.
It is a future sacrificial system.
And that raises a major New Testament question.
3. What Did the Cross Do to Animal Sacrifice?
Hebrews could hardly be clearer.
Speaking about the sacrifices offered under the old covenant, the writer says:
“It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
— Hebrews 10:4
Then he contrasts those repeated sacrifices with Jesus:
“We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
— Hebrews 10:10
The old priests:
“stand and perform their religious duties; again and again they offer the same sacrifices.”
But Jesus:
“offered for all time one sacrifice for sins.”
— Hebrews 10:11–12
Then comes the conclusion:
“Where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.”
— Hebrews 10:18
Those words deserve to sit beside Ezekiel 40–48.
SACRIFICE FOR SIN IS NO LONGER NECESSARY.
So if Ezekiel predicts a future restoration of animal sacrifices, we need to ask:
Why would God restore the very sacrificial order that Hebrews says Christ's once-for-all sacrifice has brought to its intended completion?
4. “But They Will Only Be Memorial Sacrifices”
One common answer is that future millennial sacrifices would not actually take away sin.
They would be memorials of Christ's sacrifice, somewhat as the Lord's Supper looks back to the cross.
That would avoid denying the sufficiency of Jesus' blood.
But there is a problem.
Is that what Ezekiel says?
Ezekiel doesn't call these sacrifices memorials of Calvary.
Instead, he uses the ordinary sacrificial language of his own covenant world.
He speaks of:
“a sin offering.”
— Ezekiel 43:19
He speaks of sacrifices:
“to make atonement for the people.”
— Ezekiel 45:17
And again:
“to make atonement for the temple.”
— Ezekiel 45:20
If we are going to insist that Ezekiel's sacrifices must be literal, shouldn't we also allow Ezekiel to tell us what those sacrifices are for?
Calling them memorial sacrifices solves a theological problem.
But the explanation does not come from Ezekiel's text.
That should make us stop and think.
5. What Happened to the Priesthood?
The same problem appears with Ezekiel's priests.
Ezekiel assigns priestly duties to:
“the Levitical priests who are of the family of Zadok.”
— Ezekiel 44:15
They approach the LORD.
They minister at the altar.
They offer fat and blood.
But Hebrews tells us something has fundamentally changed.
Jesus is our permanent High Priest.
His priesthood does not pass to another because:
“Jesus lives forever.”
— Hebrews 7:24
And because the priesthood has changed:
“the law must be changed also.”
— Hebrews 7:12
Then Hebrews says the former regulation was set aside and a better hope introduced.
— Hebrews 7:18–19
So again we must ask:
After Christ has established the better covenant and become our permanent High Priest, why would God restore a Levitical priesthood serving at an earthly altar?
Perhaps Ezekiel's priestly language was pointing toward something greater than another generation of Levitical priests.
6. What Happened to the Temple?
This question becomes even more important.
The New Testament does not simply announce a better Temple building.
It does something much more radical.
Jesus says:
“Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
John explains:
“The temple he had spoken of was his body.”
— John 2:19, 21
Jesus Himself becomes the meeting place between God and humanity.
Then Paul tells Christians:
“You yourselves are God's temple and... God's Spirit dwells in your midst.”
— 1 Corinthians 3:16
And again:
“We are the temple of the living God.”
— 2 Corinthians 6:16
Peter describes believers as:
“living stones”
being built into:
“a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
— 1 Peter 2:5
Notice what has happened.
Temple.
Priesthood.
Sacrifice.
Those Old Testament realities have not simply disappeared.
They have reached something greater in Christ and His people.
7. Paul Even Uses Temple-Building Language for Jew and Gentile Together
Paul tells Gentile Christians that they are no longer foreigners and strangers.
Together with Jewish believers they are:
“fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household.”
Then:
“In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.”
And:
“you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
— Ephesians 2:19–22
That sounds remarkably like the great concern of Ezekiel's final vision:
Where will God dwell with His people?
Paul's answer is not:
Someday God will again dwell in a Temple in Jerusalem.
Paul says Jew and Gentile believers are already being built together as God's dwelling place.
That doesn't settle every detail of Ezekiel's vision.
But Christians cannot read Ezekiel as though Ephesians 2 had never been written.
8. Then Ezekiel Takes Us to the River
After seven chapters describing the Temple and its worship, something remarkable happens.
Ezekiel is brought back to the entrance of the Temple.
He sees water.
At first it is only a trickle.
It flows from beneath the Temple.
As Ezekiel follows it, the water becomes ankle-deep.
Then knee-deep.
Then waist-deep.
Finally:
“a river that no one could cross.”
— Ezekiel 47:5
Wherever this river goes:
life appears.
Trees grow on both banks.
The Dead Sea itself becomes alive.
Ezekiel is told:
“Where the river flows everything will live.”
— Ezekiel 47:9
Now the Temple vision is becoming something much bigger than architecture.
God's presence is giving life to a dying world.
9. Where Have We Seen This River Before?
Ezekiel's river does not stand alone.
Zechariah later sees:
“living water”
flowing from Jerusalem.
— Zechariah 14:8
Jesus stands in Jerusalem and says:
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.”
John tells us:
“By this he meant the Spirit.”
— John 7:37–39
And then we reach the final chapter of the Bible.
John sees:
“the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”
— Revelation 22:1
On each side stands:
“the tree of life.”
— Revelation 22:2
Ezekiel sees a river bringing life wherever it goes.
John sees the river of life in God's final creation.
That resemblance is difficult to dismiss.
The Bible itself carries Ezekiel's imagery forward.
10. But Revelation's City Has No Temple
And now something extraordinary happens.
Ezekiel's final vision is dominated by an enormous Temple.
But when John sees the New Jerusalem, he says:
“I did not see a temple in the city.”
Why not?
“Because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”
— Revelation 21:22
Think about that.
The Bible doesn't end with Ezekiel's Temple enlarged.
It ends with no Temple building at all.
Why?
Because the reality toward which the Temple pointed has arrived completely.
God and the Lamb are there.
Nothing stands between God and His people.
No curtain.
No separate holy place.
No earthly priesthood mediating access.
No repeated sacrifices.
God dwells directly with His redeemed people.
11. And Ezekiel Himself Was Heading Toward That Very Point
The final verse of Ezekiel is easy to overlook.
After all the measurements...
after the Temple...
after the altar...
after the priests...
after the sacrifices...
after the tribal territories...
after the river...
Ezekiel gives the city its name:
“THE LORD IS THERE.”
— Ezekiel 48:35
That may be the key to the entire vision.
What Israel had lost because of sin was not ultimately a building.
They had lost the presence of God.
Ezekiel's hope is that God will dwell with His people again.
Now listen to Revelation:
“Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.”
— Revelation 21:3
Ezekiel:
THE LORD IS THERE.
Revelation:
GOD WILL DWELL WITH THEM.
The storyline has reached its destination.
12. What About the Land and the Twelve Tribes?
Ezekiel also divides the restored land among Israel's tribes.
That matters.
If the Temple must be literal because Ezekiel gives detailed measurements, should the tribal allotments also be restored exactly as Ezekiel describes them?
But Revelation again picks up Ezekiel's imagery.
The New Jerusalem has twelve gates bearing:
“the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.”
— Revelation 21:12
And its foundations bear:
“the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
— Revelation 21:14
Israel and the apostles appear together in one city.
That fits the New Testament's repeated picture of one redeemed people of God, built together in Christ.
The imagery has expanded beyond tribal geography.
It has become the people of God in their completed inheritance.
13. Was Ezekiel Wrong About the Temple?
No.
Ezekiel described God's promised restoration using the covenant world God had given him.
Temple.
Priests.
Sacrifices.
Land.
Tribes.
Jerusalem.
Those were the great biblical pictures through which an Old Testament believer understood God's presence and blessing.
But the New Testament reveals realities greater than the pictures.
The Temple finds its reality in Christ and His people.
The priesthood finds its fulfillment in Christ our permanent High Priest—and in His priestly people.
The sacrifices reach their goal in Christ's once-for-all sacrifice.
The river becomes the water of life.
The restored land expands toward new creation.
And God's dwelling is finally with His people forever.
The shadows were real.
But the reality is greater.
14. So Will Animal Sacrifices Really Return?
We should answer carefully.
Ezekiel unquestionably describes animal sacrifices.
But the question is not merely:
“What did Ezekiel see?”
The question for Christians is:
“How does the completed revelation of the New Testament teach us to understand what Ezekiel saw?”
Hebrews says Christ offered:
“one sacrifice for sins forever.”
It says:
“sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.”
It gives us a permanent High Priest.
The New Testament identifies Christ and His people with God's Temple.
And Revelation finally shows us God's completed city where:
there is no Temple at all.
So before predicting that bulls and goats will again be slaughtered on an altar in Jerusalem, we need to ask whether that interpretation moves the Bible's story forward—or backward.
15. Don't Stop at the Altar
This may be the most important lesson of Ezekiel 40–48.
If we stop at the sacrifices, we can construct a future sacrificial system.
If we stop at the Temple, we can construct a future Temple.
If we stop at the tribal boundaries, we can construct a future land arrangement.
But Ezekiel doesn't stop there.
Keep reading.
The Temple produces a river.
The river produces life.
The dead waters live.
Trees produce fruit and healing.
God dwells with His people.
And the city receives a new name:
THE LORD IS THERE.
Then keep reading the Bible.
John sees the river again.
He sees the tree of life.
He sees healing for the nations.
He sees the city.
But there is no Temple building.
Because:
“the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”
Ezekiel's vision wasn't taking God's people backward.
It was pointing them forward.
Forward to Christ.
Forward to life.
Forward to restored creation.
Forward to the day when the great promise running through the entire Bible is finally complete:
GOD DWELLS WITH HIS PEOPLE.
That is where Ezekiel's Temple vision was heading.
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.