Chapter 43
They go to the East Gate. The glory of the God of Israel was coming. And the whole earth shone. Ezekiel recognizes this because he'd seen the same "glory" twice before in 9:3-11, and 1:3-28. Again, Ezekiel falls to the ground. So he sees God coming - as a vision, not directly. He never calls what he sees "God", but "the glory of God". This had filled the tabernacle in Moses' time, and had filled Solomon's Temple. I think it had filled the Temple again in another time...Hezekiah perhaps? I don't think it filled Zerubabbel's version, and I don't think it filled Herod's. But from previous visions and manifestations, Ezekiel had no trouble recognizing it. I need to find out how many times this has happened. (Found these: Ex 16:10, the glory of the Lord appears in the cloud, and following, the glory dwells on Sinai, and Moses goes up into it., Next is Ex 40:34, when the Tabernacle is finished, the glory of the Lord fills the Tabernacle and none can enter. Then 2Chr7:1 - this is the dedication of Solomon's Temple when the Ark of the Covenant was taken inside, and here, in Eze43:5, in a vision of the future temple. I don't find any others.)
To know when this happens one has to decide what temple this is, when this temple is. God has filled temples on earth previously, as detailed above. So this could be the Millennial temple. But my current understanding seems to be that this is the temple in the New Jerusalem, that comes down after the old heaven and earth pass away and all things become new. This temple an angel measured, so this temple is made by God, and we don't see that until post-Millennial. At least that is where I am in 2020. This means I need to give up all those ideas about this temple being built by Antichrist during the Tribulation period and part of his bargain with the Jews to bring peace to the whole world, and bring the Jews home from where they are scattered. But...I like that too...but I think it requires that the temple Antichrist builds would be on a different hill.
This verse:
7 and he said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies of their kings at their high places,
9 Now let them put away their whoring and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever. [Eze 43:7, 9 ESV]
God says He will dwell there forever. If this is the Millennial Temple, (2020 - "And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name..." is only going to be true from the Millennial on. It has never yet been true. This temple, and this occupancy of the temple by God, is in the Millennial, though the temple will already be built at that time.) it will pass away and be replaced by the new Jerusalem, and by the Temple from heaven. So if forever, this would have to be the heavenly Temple. But then in vs 9, we see that God's dwelling here is a conditional covenant. Sin is still possible (which it is in the Millennial, but not in the New Heaven and New Earth) if they can rebel and turn to whoring and dead bodies of kings. So that would not be "forever". MSB comments on 7 that human, unressurrected people will worship at this actual, physical temple. MSB note on 8, 9 say the future temple will be protected from harlotry and dead kings. (First I've seen this phrase mentioned as a great sin. MSB says Israel had allowed the defiling tombs of kings into the temple area. MSB note is NOT about kings tombs.) Vss 11, 12 also seem to constitute a covenant centered on this temple:
11 And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out. 12 This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple. [Eze 43:11-12 ESV]
vs 11 requires repentance. Later, the verse requires observance of temple laws and statutes. It requires performance. vs 12 says this Temple is on a mountain top. And the whole thing is "most holy". Not just anyone could go in there I would think.
Seems to me that we are back to the idea that this Temple is restoration, as promised after the destruction of first Israel and then Judah and Jerusalem. Worship, as it should have been, will finally take place in this Temple. There will be sacrifices, performed as they should have been, with hearts set on worship. With the right attitude. The whole area will worship as God requires. This is the fruition of God's promises to the nation of Israel. It is not about Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. I believe this is about the covenant at Sinai, and the promise the people made to God and the promises He made to them. This is where that national timeline is fulfilled. After the Millennial, after that final battle with Satan, after he is thrown in the pit forever, the non-conditional covenant with Abraham will be fulfilled?
2020-It says this temple is about the whole territory on the top of the mountain. It does NOT say Mt. Zion. It does not name the mountain, as it did not name the city when Ezekiel was first transported there. This too could be an indication that this temple is not in Jerusalem at all. Not sure where all that stuff about location was, but isn't there a whole deal about how this temple is too big to fit in Jerusalem as we know it? Or is it that the divisions of the land among the tribes won't fit? And that shows the Prince's area and the temple. Need to xref all this and see what goes together. This would be an awesome project. If I start trying to put all these things together then I will be able to identify what does not fit, and maybe figure out just what this is really about. It has to all fit somewhere. What I need to try and do is figure out which pieces belong in Ezekiel's time, which in Tribulation, which in the Millennial, and which are post-Millennial and/or post re-creation.
2025 - That thing about the corpses of the dead kings being separated from the Temple by only a wall...that may be why this Temple is in another place. Perhaps human corpses forever defile a place, so in the Millennial the Temple will be relocated. But to where?
In vs 13, we get the measurements of the altar.
(2020-Now wait a second here...look how this is phrased:
13 "These are the measurements of the altar by cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth): its base shall be one cubit high and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span around its edge. And this shall be the height of the altar: [Eze 43:13 ESV] This is phrased in an instructional way as opposed to a reported way. One might read into this that while Ezekiel is seeing the temple "as built", the measurements are being taken down and reported so it "can be" built. Refer back to vs 11...11 And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out. [Eze 43:11 ESV] Sure seems like these measurements, though taken by an angel, are for the express purpose of instructing someone in how to build this temple. On this unnamed mountain near this unnamed city. Wow. I had not noticed this nuance when I read this the first four times! The measurements are given so the Temple CAN BE built by man in the future.)
2022 - I believe this temple, wherever it is, is yet to be constructed. God will fill this temple, as he did the tent of meeting and Solomon's Temple. It may be that it gets build at the beginning of the Millennial, after God has defeated the opposition - Gog and Magog I think at this point - and judged the sheep and the goats. First order of business may be to build this temple and carry out sacrifices and worship as it was always intended. If that is so, we don't need a rebuilt temple PRIOR to the second coming, as we so often seem to think. The landscape - physically - may look a whole lot different when t/gt is over, and the battle is over, and it takes 7 months to bury the dead. That is likely enough time also to build a temple. That is why it does not matter what the planet looks like now, God will re-arrange it to accommodate this design in the place where he wants the temple built. Jesus himself may point to the spot and say "build it there".
It seems my "theory" of what and where this temple is changes every time I read through the Bible. And each time, I like my latest theory better than those previous. I think this is because the more you no, the more connections of which you are aware, the more refined the theory can be. So much has opened up as a result of the judgment study.
So I'm conjecturing here that Jesus will appear and send the armies of Satan packing. He will judge the Jews who have come home to Israel, and he will keep only those who have shown themselves faithful. These only will be citizens of the Millennial Israel. These will construct the Millennial Temple, and since Jesus will be there to identify the Levites and the Aaronic priests, no human records of proof will be needed. Temple worship and sacrifices will resume and continue for a thousand years. This too, though, is a conditional arrangement. Faithfulness is still required.
Then, beginning in vs 19 we find Levitical priests, descended from Zadok, appointed to minister. First thing they do is begin purifying this new altar.
2020 - Again this is instruction for the future purification of this altar. It is not yet built, it is being measured by an angel, and Ezekiel is recording the instruction in how to build and the instruction in how to dedicate it.
There is sin offering - like the annual sin offering of old - where the blood of a bull is sprinkled on the altar and then the bull taken outside the camp and burned. For seven days, blood is shed, from bulls, goats, and rams. At the end of this purification, then sacrifices made on this altar will be accepted. The way it is worded is that "I will accept you". This is difficult. This is re-institution of the blood of bulls and goats that can never atone for sin, and so must be repeated. How can we understand this? Is all that's happened during the Age of the Gentiles irrelevant to this covenant with the nation of Israel? Doesn't seem right. That makes the cross of no effect for them. Surely he died for them also. If this is the Millennial, Christ will be right there, having paid for all these sins. Did Christ die for all sins up to and including the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom, and then sacrifices are re-instituted for sins committed in that kingdom? And how will these sins be finally purged if this is the case?
2024 - I note this verse:
24 You shall present them before the LORD, and the priests shall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD. [Eze 43:24 ESV]. This is again a covenant of salt, which we have seen other places and which I would really like to understand...but it may be too old.
2024 - This is the purification process of the temple prequel to making sacrifices to God. To get a better handle on them, we would need to go back and see how the Tent of Meeting was cleansed and purified when it was put into service by Aaron. I would particularly note anything missing here in Ezekiel that was present at the first. Also, see what the procedures were when Solomon's Temple was opened. To me, the specifics of the Tent and Solomon's Temple should be identical. But these in Ezekiel should be different. If they are NOT any different, then somehow, this Temple is also before Christ. And maybe I'm already kidding myself that it is NOT before Christ, because it clearly says in vs 20 that blood is used for purifying and atonement. There's a sin offering to be taken outside the camp. Then there is a burnt offering in vs 24. However...after the purification and atonement of the Temple furniture, beginning in vs 27, only burnt offerings and peace offerings are made and accepted. These do not atone for sin. These are not "repentance" offerings, these are relationship offerings. Perhaps even punishment offerings. But they do not seek atonement. I notice also that the sons of Zadok have no purification ritual here before they can offer the sacrifices. The priests don't have to be consecrated, as were Aaron and his sons, because they are no longer "between" God and man. There was no veil in the Holy of Holies either. Ok...I've convinced myself once again that this is a future temple. The sacrifices here will connect the Jews of the Millennial with the Jews of the wandering. They will connect ritual with ritual. The old way foretold Christ, the new way remembers him.
2020-God divorced Israel. He can never "marry" her again. The church is now his future bride. So Israel is outside the "betrothal". Perhaps this means Israel is NOT part of the New Covenant at all, but is still subject to the Mosaic Law - the Old Covenant. For this reason then, Christ's sacrifice on the cross does not apply to them. At least not yet. Not during the time of this temple - and by the way, I am back to believing this temple will be built during Trib and Great Trib, though by returning Jews, not by Antichrist. God's own people, now with hearts for Him as they always should have had, will build and dedicate this temple, and for that reason - to show absolutely that this is God's working - smoke will again fill the temple. But the obvious question...Isn't re-instituting the Mosaic law a re-marriage, at least of sorts?
Ezekiel presents many many difficulties...
2024 - Well...in 43:27 the priest of Zadok who is made unclean by being near a dead body from his family must offer a sin offering. The only other reason I can find for this is that these priests are unresurrected. They still carry Adam's seed in themselves. But if you do that, you still have shedding of blood to take away sin, and Jesus' own blood is not accounted to them at all. That's what you have here.
2024 - Think of the implications...Jesus's shed blood is the blood that takes away sin in the age of the Gentiles - in the church age. Once the church is gone, we are back to the Old Covenant. It is that covenant that the Jews must accurately keep so that God's conditional promises to them - to be their God and they his people - can be honored as the two-way contract it always was. They must keep the commandments, statutes, and judgments, and he will give them the land. Ultimately, as it relates to eternity, the blood of Jesus will cleanse them. So the sacrifices are not really about cleansing at this time, but about honoring the Sinai Covenant. They have to comply or he will not live among them. We saw that in the desert when Moses would go to the tent outside the camp to talk with God. This is pushing this to be a post-rapture until post-Millennial Temple. After that, all will be changed - all previously unchanged - then the GWT, and then the new heaven, new earth, and heavenly temple coming down. Stopping right there...because for now, that actually seems to work.
2025 addendum - I note that the promise to "put a new heart in them":
7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. [Jer 24:7 ESV]
19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, [Eze 11:19 ESV] and also this one:
34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." [Jer 31:34 ESV].
These seem to be Millennial promises to Israel. They will all know him. They will have the Holy Spirit to guide them as they sacrifice according the Law, as it was meant to be - with pure and glad hearts. That Spirit within them will be the difference.