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October 21, 2017 |
| Ezekiel's Oddities | ||
The book of Ezekiel contains mostly prophetic warnings about the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of its people. Once those had happened in Ezekiel's time, the book turns to describing the end times restoration of Israel that has begun in our time.
The book contains some oddities that have captured the imaginations of people, probably since it was written. The last 9 chapters are devoted to describing a temple that has never been built and, in the last chapter, Jerusalem and Israel. All of the dimensions for the temple are available so that it could be built today. Ezekiel doesn't say it but there is broad agreement that this temple will be built after Jesus returns at the Second Coming.
Another oddity in the book is the description of God flying around on a chariot of sorts. Never have so many artists created so many illustrations of something and paid so little attention to the description in the text. We'll take a quick look at what Ezekiel says there as well.
The temple that Ezekiel describes is much larger than any previous temple, a square that is 875 feet on each side. It could not be built now on the current site of the Temple Mount, because that would require knocking down much of the old city of Jerusalem.
Yet Ezekiel's Temple (as it is called) will be built on that site. We know this because that is God's holy mountain, and other books refer to a temple in Jerusalem at that time.
We also know this because there is a stream that flows out of the Holy of Holies down to the Dead Sea. Right now that isn't possible due to the Mount of Olives and other hills between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea.
We know, however, that Zechariah tells us that a great earthquake will strike the area that will split the Mount of Olives, with the northern half moving north and the southern half moving south. This would provide a path for the water to flow to the Dead Sea. Also, other descriptions of Jerusalem at that time could indicate the Temple Mount will be higher than it is now, likely the result of the earthquake.
That earthquake would be expected to devastate all the buildings in Jerusalem. That would make it possible to build this larger temple on that site.
Zechariah also says that the Messiah will build the temple.
Then say to him, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the Lord. 13 Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne […]"'. (Zechariah 6:12-13)
This could mean that the Messiah will create it himself or it could mean he will be the manager of people who will create it. This brings up a bigger question though. Why is the Messiah building a temple at all during his Millennial Reign over earth? We know there is no temple after that time (Rev. 21:22). We’ll answer that later on.
Ezekiel's Temple has many similarities to Moses' tabernacle and Solomon's temple and the worship practices in those. The presence of some of those after the Second Coming is surprising. But there are also differences.
Some things are not mentioned that one would expect to be there. For example, Ezekiel doesn't mention these items from the tabernacle of Moses: Laver, Table of Shewbread, Menorah (Lampstand), Golden Altar of Incense, Veil into the Holy of Holies, Ark of the Covenant. Not being mentioned doesn't mean they aren't there of course - "Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence".
Ezekiel does mention there is an altar and there are sacrifices, even sacrifices for sin. Many people wonder why this would be. There are no sacrifices now because Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. Why would there be sacrifices when Jesus resides in this very temple?
The answer is that the world at that time will be very different from the one we live in. Right now, all people are essentially the same and the unbelievers believe there is no god or angels. To the world's thinking there is only one kind - mankind.
In the world after the Second Coming there will be God, angels, resurrected people, and normal people. Everyone will know that truth. The normal people can still sin. Jesus' sacrifice is not available to them though. The Day of Atonement has passed. Faith is not possible because fact is present.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
[&hellip] we live in that hope; but hope that is seen is not hope, for if we see hope, why do we look for it? (Romans 8:24)
Once the truth of God is reality, seen and possibly heard, faith is not possible. Think of it this way - you can't believe you will have a car, when it's parked right in front of you. Remember that Jesus' sacrifice was available to everyone who accepted him by faith.
Because all of them have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God, 24 and are made right by grace without charge and by the redemption that exists in Yeshua the Messiah, 25 this one whom God preordained as the atonement, by the faith of his blood, for the sake of our sins which we had formerly sinned (Romans 3:23-25)
We don't fully understand how salvation will be possible at that time but it appears that sacrifices for sin will be part of that.
This video shows the dimensions that Ezekiel provides for the temple, more than 300 of them. Not all are shown in the video. The cubit used by Ezekiel is the long cubit, a little more than 20 inches. The other measurement unit used by Ezekiel is the reed, which is 6 long cubits.
Some people believe that the original temple was a symbolic picture of the nature of man, with its outer court (body), inner court (mind), and Holy of Holies (spirit). The Ark of the Covenant symbolizing Jesus and the spirit of God should rule from the Holy of Holies.
These people therefore wonder if the differences between that temple and Ezekiel's temple are telling us something about the resurrection bodies we will have.
Ezekiel describes a river that flows out of the throne and out of the temple complex. The river starts as a small stream but the further it flows out the more it becomes a raging torrent. There is another river in the Bible that is just like this.
Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers (Genesis 2:10).
Most don't realize that this river begins in Eden and becomes 4 mighty rivers.
Ezekiel closes the final part of the final chapter with a description of the gates of the holy city and these words.
[…] the name of the city from that day shall be, 'The Lord is there.' (Ezekiel 48:35)
Twice Ezekiel sees God traveling around in this "chariot." The first time is when Ezekiel is called to be a prophet; the second is when the spirit of God is about to leave Solomon's temple due to the sins of Judah. Unlike his description of the temple in the section above, Ezekiel doesn't provide any dimensions or even rough scale for anything about this chariot.
Many illustrators have tried to force Ezekiel's description to fit their preconceived notions. Some have tried to make it into things like a UFO, a medieval chariot, or others. The wheels ("a wheel within a wheel") especially have resulted in many ideas. There is even a movie where the wheel is a space ship.
This picture is the truest to the text that I could find but it isn’t without flaws. It isn't possible to see that the 4 angels each have 4 faces, man, lion, bull, and eagle. Also, the size is probably wrong. The angel's wings are said to touch when the angels spread them.
The Bible says that everything in the temple court was an earthly version of something in Heaven. For example the Ark of the Covenant and its contents symbolized Jesus and who he would be. Remember also that the glory of God would appear above the Ark of the Covenant.
It appears that the glory of God, the Ark of the Covenant, and the Levites who carried it were symbolic of "God's Ride" that Ezekiel saw.
1 Logos Bible Software Infographics
2 https://www.youtube.com/embed/YNmERZkT6JM
3 Logos Bible Software Infographics
4 Unknown Source, possibly Watchtower
5 https://www.pinterest.com/pin/285063851386251229/
