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Ezekiel Chapter 40
- Ezekiel 40:1 In the five and
twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year,
in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that
the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD
was upon me, and brought me thither.
- 2 In the visions of
God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a
very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the
south.
This must have meant a lot to Ezekiel
to return to Israel whether for real or in a vision for they had
been in captivity for 25 years and was probably hoping God would
shorten the days but it was determined to last 70 years total.
- Ezekiel 40:3 And he brought me
thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like
the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a
measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.
- 4 And the man said
unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine
ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall show thee; for
to the intent that I might show them unto thee art thou brought
hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.
God does things for a purpose. He
usually allows visions, dreams and visitations from angels for the
purpose of speaking to people with warnings or messages of hope.
Ezekiel was told to declare what he sees and hears to the rest of
Israel.
-
Ezekiel 40:5 And behold a wall on the
outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a
measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and a
handbreadth: so he measured the breadth of the building, one
reed; and the height, one reed.
12 1/2 feet broad and 12 1/2 feet
high.
-
Ezekiel 40:6 Then came he unto the
gate which looketh toward the east, and went up the stairs
thereof, and measured the threshold of the gate, which was one
reed broad; and the other threshold of the gate, which was one
reed broad.
Here is the eastern gate that we've
heard about that the Messiah is to enter into.
- Ezekiel 40:7 And every little
chamber was one reed long, and one reed broad; and between the
little chambers were five cubits; and the threshold of the gate
by the porch of the gate within was one reed.
- 8 He measured also
the porch of the gate within, one reed.
- 9 Then measured he
the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and the posts thereof, two
cubits; and the porch of the gate was inward.
- 10 And the little
chambers of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three
on that side; they three were of one measure: and the posts had
one measure on this side and on that side.
- 11 And he measured
the breadth of the entry of the gate, ten cubits; and the length
of the gate, thirteen cubits.
- 12 The space also
before the little chambers was one cubit on this side, and the
space was one cubit on that side: and the little chambers were
six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side.
- 13 He measured then
the gate from the roof of one little chamber to the roof of
another: the breadth was five and twenty cubits, door against
door.
- 14 He made also
posts of threescore cubits, even unto the post of the court
round about the gate.
- 15 And from the
face of the gate of the entrance unto the face of the porch of
the inner gate were fifty cubits.
- 16 And there were
narrow windows to the little chambers, and to their posts within
the gate round about, and likewise to the porches: and windows
were round about inward: and upon each post were palm trees.
- 17 Then brought he
me into the outward court, and, lo, there were chambers, and a
pavement made for the court round about: thirty chambers were
upon the pavement.
Notice this court is measured compared
to the outer court in Revelation that was not measured.
- Revelation 11:1 And
there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood,
saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and
them that worship therein.
- 2 But the court
which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for
it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they
tread under foot forty and two months.
This indicates that the temples are not
the same. One is the temple built during the latter day tribulation
period that will be trodden down of the Gentiles. That temple is
defiled by the antichrist and later it is destroyed. The vision of
the temple in Ezekiel is permanent and built at the beginning of the
reign of Jesus Christ.
- Ezekiel 40:18 And the pavement
by the side of the gates over against the length of the gates
was the lower pavement.
- 19 Then he measured
the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate unto the
forefront of the inner court without, a hundred cubits eastward
and northward.
- 20 And the gate of
the outward court that looked toward the north, he measured the
length thereof, and the breadth thereof.
- 21 And the little
chambers thereof were three on this side and three on that side;
and the posts thereof and the porches thereof were after the
measure of the first gate: the length thereof was fifty cubits,
and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
- 22 And their
windows, and their porches, and their palm trees, were after the
measure of the gate that looketh toward the east; and they went
up unto it by seven steps; and the porches thereof were before
them.
- 23 And the gate of
the inner court was over against the gate toward the north, and
toward the east; and he measured from gate to gate a hundred
cubits.
- 24 After that he
brought me toward the south, and behold a gate toward the south:
and he measured the posts thereof and the porches thereof
according to these measures.
- 25 And there were
windows in it and in the porches thereof round about, like those
windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and
twenty cubits.
26 And there
were seven steps to go up to it, and the porches thereof were
before them: and it had palm trees, one on this side, and
another on that side, upon the posts thereof.
- 27 And there was a
gate in the inner court toward the south: and he measured from
gate to gate toward the south a hundred cubits.
- 28 And he brought
me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the
south gate according to these measures;
- 29 And the little
chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the porches
thereof, according to these measures: and there were windows in
it and in the porches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits
long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
- 30 And the porches
round about were five and twenty cubits long, and five cubits
broad.
- 31 And the porches
thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon
the posts thereof: and the going up to it had eight steps.
- 32 And he brought
me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the
gate according to these measures.
- 33 And the little
chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the porches
thereof, were according to these measures: and there were
windows therein and in the porches thereof round about: it was
fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
- 34 And the porches
thereof were toward the outward court; and palm trees were upon
the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going
up to it had eight steps.
- 35 And he brought
me to the north gate, and measured it according to these
measures;
- 36 The little
chambers thereof, the posts thereof, and the porches thereof,
and the windows to it round about: the length was fifty cubits,
and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
- 37 And the posts
thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon
the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going
up to it had eight steps.
- 38 And the chambers
and the entries thereof were by the posts of the gates, where
they washed the burnt offering.
- 39 And in the porch
of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that
side, to slay thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering
and the trespass offering.
- 40 And at the side
without, as one goeth up to the entry of the north gate, were
two tables; and on the other side, which was at the porch of the
gate, were two tables.
- 41 Four tables were
on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the
gate; eight tables, whereupon they slew their sacrifices.
- 42 And the four
tables were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a cubit and
a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high:
whereupon also they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the
burnt offering and the sacrifice.
- 43 And within were
hooks, a hand broad, fastened round about: and upon the tables
was the flesh of the offering.
- 44 And without the
inner gate were the chambers of the singers in the inner court,
which was at the side of the north gate; and their prospect was
toward the south: one at the side of the east gate having the
prospect toward the north.
- 45 And he said unto
me, This chamber, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the
priests, the keepers of the charge of the house.
- 46 And the chamber
whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the
keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok
among the sons of Levi, which come near to the LORD to minister
unto him.
- 47 So he measured
the court, a hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits broad,
foursquare; and the altar that was before the house.
- 48 And he brought
me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the
porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side:
and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and
three cubits on that side.
- 49 The length of
the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; and
he brought me by the steps whereby they went up to it: and there
were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that
side.
What is being measured here is not the
temple that was destroyed during the latter day tribulation but the
temple in the New Millennium where Jesus Christ will rule from.
The glory of God finally returns to the
temple. It left about the time of the Babylonian captivity not to
return even in the days of Herod because of sin and a departure from
keeping the law of God.
After the battle of Armageddon in the
previous chapters we see the future vision of the temple that will
be occupied by none other than the Lord Jesus Himself. What a day
that will be. It would appear that the temple worship that was given
to Israel in the Old Testament is restored but with the Holy Son of
God in charge. This is God's plan for the Millennium. In the very
end of time after the 1000 year reign and in the New Jerusalem, it
appears that they do not need the temple any longer.
The previous temples were built in the
pattern of this final one. The others were destroyed by man. They
didn't have to be but Israel's sin would cause the temples to be
defiled by the Gentiles and the Gentile nations would then destroy
the temple. The first temple was built by Solomon, the second by
Herod. The third is to be build just before or during the
latter day great tribulation also called the time of Jacob's
trouble.
Sin opens the door to Satan. If we do
not want God in our midst then all we have to do is forsake His laws
and sin will abound. When sin abounds we are separated from a Holy
God. Satan then has free reign to do whatever. That is why we see so
much suffering, storms and wars. We live in a sinful environment
where the world desires the presence of God less and less. If His
presence is not with us, evil gets worse.
One might think. Why would people with
any common sense at all prefer Satan who is the author of cancer,
aids, diabetes, wars, famines and all death, be preferred than the
presence of God? Because people do not want to give up their sin.
I'm not saying that sin is what causes
individuals that we know and love to get cancer necessarily. They
could be an innocent victim of the disease that is rampant in a
world that denies God more and more each day opening the door to
sin, disease, famine and lawlessness.
If it wasn't so tragic, the blindness
of people is laughable. They try to blame the president, global
warming, doctors and everyone but their own failure to repent of sin
and invite God back into their individual lives and into their
countries.
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2Chronicles 7:14 If my
people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves,
and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways;
then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and
will heal their land.
We may not yet understand all of God's
plan in building a temple at that time except it would appear that
Old Testament worship is restored during the Millennium under Jesus
Christ the greatest of all High Priests. Yet we see from Revelation
that a temple is no longer needed after the final rebellion of Satan
and his armies and the great white throne judgment. To read more of
this I recommend Revelation 19, 20, 21 and 22.
Ezekiel Chapter 41
Ezekiel Index
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