The Millennial Temple and Its Worship. — The Land and Its Glory. — Chapters Xl-Xlviii
The final nine chapters of this book form the climax of the great prophecies of Ezekiel; they belong to the most difficult in the entire prophetic Word. Once more the hand of the Lord rests upon the seer and in the visions of God he is brought into the land of Israel. In the very beginning of this grand finale we learn therefore that the visions concern the land of Israel. Let us remember that after the fall of Jerusalem had been announced to Ezekiel (chapter xxxiii:21), his prophetic utterances and visions concern the future when Israel is to be regathered and restored to the land. The previous two chapters dealt with the last invasion of the land of Israel and the complete overthrow of Gog and its hordes. The vision contained in this last section follows after Israel’s final deliverance. So much is clear as to the time when the prophecies of these eight chapters will be accomplished. They have not been fulfilled in the past, certainly not in the remnant which returned under Zerubabbel and Ezra. Nor have these prophecies been fulfilled since then. All is future. Only when the Lord has gathered Judah and Israel, when He has established His glorious Kingdom in their midst and delivered His people and the land from the last invader, will this last vision of Ezekiel become history.
This disposes then at once of the different modes of interpretation employed by so many expositors of this book. These are the following:
1. The theory of interpretation which looks upon the vision of these chapters as fulfilled in the return of the remnant from Babylon. One of the expositors who follows this line stated that these visions are “an ideal representation of the Jewish state about to be restored after the captivity.” It does not need much argument to show that this mode of interpretation is erroneous. The temple which the remnant built does in no way whatever correspond with the magnificent structure which Ezekiel beheld in his vision. The fact is, if this temple is a literal building (as it assuredly is) it has never yet been erected. Furthermore, it is distinctly stated that the glory of the Lord returned to the temple and made His dwelling place there, the same glory which Ezekiel had seen departing from the temple and from Jerusalem. But the glory did not return to the second temple. No glory cloud filled that house. And furthermore no high priest is mentioned in the worship of the temple Ezekiel describes, but the Jews after their return from Babylon had high priests again. Nor can the stream of healing waters flowing from the temple as seen by Ezekiel be in any way applied to the restoration from the Babylonian captivity. Expositors who follow this mode of interpretation claim that all has been fulfilled and that there is nothing in store for Israel in the future. It is the most superficial method and totally wrong.
2. Another interpretation claims that the whole vision sprang from the imagination of the prophet. That all is an ideal description of something which the expositor himself is unable to define. This mode of interpretation needs no further mention and answer.
3. The third interpretation of these chapters is the allegorical which spiritualizes everything and claims that the Christian church, its earthly glory and blessing, is symbolically described by the prophet. This is the weakest of all and yet the most accepted. But this theory gives no exposition of the text, is vague and abounds in fanciful applications, while the greater part of this vision is left unexplained even in its allegorical meaning, for it evidently has no such meaning at all.36
The true interpretation is the literal one which looks upon these chapters as a prophecy yet unfulfilled and to be fulfilled when Israel has been restored by the Shepherd and when His glory is once more manifested in the midst of His people. The great building seen in his prophetic vision will then come into existence and all will be accomplished.
But while we are sure of the strictly future fulfillment of this final vision, the many details which abound in these chapters can hardly be fully interpreted as to their meaning. Much is obscure. That all has a deeper meaning we do not doubt; and here and there we shall offer suggestions, but many things we shall have to pass over. Before we turn to the text and open up the contents of these chapters, a telescopic view of the whole section is in order and will be helpful in our further studies.
We call attention first to the three main divisions.
I. The Description of the Temple. Chapters xl-xlii.
II. The Temple Worship. Chapters xliii-xlvi.
III. The Vision Concerning the Land. Chapters xlvii-xlviii.
Generally these eight chapters are called “The Temple Vision;” but there is much more than the vision of a future temple. We shall see next the contents of these chapters.
I. The Description of the Temple. Chapters xl-xlii.
Chapter xl.
1. The Introduction. Verses 1-4.
2. The Gate toward the East. Verses 5-16.
3. The Outer Court. Verses 17-27.
4. The Inner Court. Verses 28-37.
5. The Tables for the Offerings and the Chambers for the Inner
Court. Verses 38-47.
6. The Porch of the House. Verses 48-49.
Chapter xli.
1. The Holy Place. Verses 1-2.
2. The Most Holy. Verses 3-4.
3. The Side Chambers. Verses 5-11.
4. The Hinder Buildings and the Measurement. Verses 12-14.
5. Description of the Interior of the Temple. Verses 15-26.
Chapter xlii.
1. The Priest’s Chambers in the Inner Court. Verses 1-14.
2. The Final Measurements. Verses 15-20.
II. The Temple Worship. Chapters xliii-xlvi.
Chapter xliii.
1. The Return of the Glory of the Lord and Filling the House. Verses 1-9.
2. The Address to the Nation. Verses 10-12.
3. The Dimensions of the Altar. Verses 13-17.
4. The Offerings to be Brought. Verses 18-27.
Chapter xliv.
1. The Outward Eastern Gate for the Prince. Verses 1-3.
2. The Charge concerning the Strangers and the Rebellious Tribes. Verses 4-14.
3. The Charge concerning the Priests, the Sons of Zadok. Verses 15-27.
4. The Inheritance of the Priests. Verses 28-31.
Chapter xlv.
1. The Portions of the Priests, the Levites, of the whole House of
Israel and the Prince. Verses 1-8.
2. Concerning the Prince. Verses 9-17.
3. The Feast of Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. Verse 18-25.
Chapter xlvi.
1. The Worship of the Prince. Verses 1-8.
2. Further Instruction as to Worship. Verses 9-15.
3. Concerning the Prince, his Sons and his Servants. Verses 16-18.
4. A Final Description of places in the Temple. Verses 19-24.
III. The Vision concerning the Land. Chapter xlvii-xlviii.
Chapter xlvii.
1. The Waters of Healing from the Temple. Verses 1-12.
2. Borders of the Land. Verses 13-21.
3. Concerning the Stranger in the land. Verses 22-23.
Chapter xlviii.
1. The Portion of the Seven Tribes. Verses 1-7.
2. The Oblation for the Sanctuary, for the City and for the Prince. Verses 8-29.
3. The Gates of the City and its new Name. Verses 30-35.
Chapter XL
The Temple Vision. —
The Temple vision is first recorded and the opening verses form the introduction.
I. The Introduction to the Temple Vision.
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. 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. 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. 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 shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel (verses 1-4).
The time of the vision is first given by the prophet. It was in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been smitten, which would make the date 572 B. C. The beginning of the year is mentioned. In the Hebrew a word is employed (Rosh hashanah) which is not used again in the Old Testament. In Exodus xii we read “this month shall be unto you the beginnings of months, it shall be the first month of the year to you.” (Abib or Nisan.) Some expositors claim that the beginning of the year in Ezekiel’s vision was in the month of Nisan commemorating the Passover. But it may mean the seventh month (September-October) the feast of trumpets from which the Jews reckon the new year, and the first day of the month would be the day of atonement. We incline to the latter view. Both the feast of trumpets and the day of atonement foreshadow the regathering of Israel and the forgiveness of their sins. And when that has come then, and not before, Ezekiel’s glory vision will be accomplished in the land. We also read in Lev. xxv:9: “Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout your land.” It will be the time of Israel’s jubilee when this temple, Ezekiel beheld, will be erected in their land. Once more the hand of the Lord rested upon the prophet. It is the seventh time that this happened to Ezekiel, and not again after this. (See chapters. i:3, iii:14-22, vii:1, xxxiii:22, xxxvii:1, xl:1.) In the visions of God the prophet was brought into the land of Israel, which is conclusive evidence that the vision he is about to receive concerns the people Israel and not, as the spritualizing, allegorical school of interpreters claim, the church. Ezekiel knew nothing whatever of the church and therefore not a line of all his prophecies could intelligently be applied to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He finds himself upon a very high mountain; towards the south he noticed the frame (or building) of a city.37 The high mountain is, no doubt, the mountain frequently mentioned in the prophetic Word. “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow unto it” (Isaiah ii:2). “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north the city of the great King” (Ps. xlviii:2). It is the place of His rest (Ps. cxxxii:14), where the King is enthroned (Ps. ii).
Then appeared in the vision the man with the line of flax and the measuring reed. Zachariah beheld such a man with a measuring line in his hand to measure Jerusalem (Zech. ii:13). In Rev. xxi:15 we read of the heavenly Jerusalem, that wonderful city, “and he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city and the gates thereof and the wall thereof.” And then follows the measurement of the city. The one who measured in Revelation was an angel and the measure was that of an angel. We shall make, when we come to the measurement itself, a brief comparison between the measure mentioned by Ezekiel and the measure of the city in Revelation. And the man with the measuring reed stood in the gate. He addressed the prophet once more as “Son of Man.” He was to give attention to all. His eyes were to see, his ears to hear, he should set his heart upon all that would be shown unto him and declare it to the house of Israel.
II. The Eastern Gate.
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 an hand breadth; so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed, and the height, one reed. Then came he unto the gate which looked 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. 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. He measured also the porch of the gate within, one reed. Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and the posts thereof, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was inward. 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. And he measured the breadth of the entry of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits. 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. 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. He made also posts of threescore cubits, even unto the post of the court round about the gate. And from the face of the gate of the entrance unto the face of the porch of the inner gate were fifty cubits. And there were narrow windows to the little chambers, and to their posts within the gate round about, and likewise to the arches; and windows were round about inward; and upon each post were palm trees (verses 5-16).
The house mentioned is the whole building of the Temple. A wall was round about the building. A wall is also mentioned in chapter xlii:20 which had a length of five hundred reeds and a breadth of five hundred reeds. The purpose of that wall is stated “to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common.” This wall of five hundred is not identical with the wall in the beginning of the vision as mentioned in verse 5. The wall here surrounded the outer court; the wall in chapter xlii:20 surrounds the whole temple area. That is why the separation between the holy and the common is spoken of with that wall. The length of the great wall which enclosed all the Temple area is not given. But the man in the vision measures the breadth and the height, and as the reed is six cubits we have 2x6 (breadth six cubits and height six cubits), which gives us the number 12. So we meet the number 12, the symbol of divine government on the threshold of this vision. How prominent the number 12 is in the description of the heavenly Jerusalem in the last book of the Bible (Rev. xxi) is known to every reader of that book. The wall there has 12 gates and 12 foundations and is 12x12 cubits high, that is 144 cubits. All is perfection in that heavenly Jerusalem. Here in Ezekiel we have the description of the earthly sanctuary which will be in existence during the millennium. While in Revelation the one who measures is an angel with a golden reed, it is a man in Ezekiel and the cubit he uses (the length of the human forearm from the elbow to the tip of the little finger) has a handbreadth added. The eastern gate, the little chambers, the porch, etc.—everything is measured. The lesson is that even to the details everything is here by divine appointment. If the reed mentioned frequently is taken as six cubits we have in the measure the number 12 several times. Every little chamber (guard houses) was one reed long (six cubits) and six cubits broad—twice 6—12. That all this must have a deeper meaning we doubt not; and yet who can at this time give it to us in full? These instructions will be literally followed and carried out in the coming day of Israel’s restoration.
In these verses we find the wall and its construction, surrounding the outer court of this future temple described. Three gates were seen by the prophet in this wall—an Eastern gate, a Northern gate (verse 10) and a Southern gate (verse 24). The West side of the wall has no gate. As we learn later the returning glory of the Lord will enter the temple by the Eastern gate. Seven steps lead up to these gates. Seven is the number of divine perfection and accomplishment. These gates must not be thought of as mere openings in the wall; they are gateways forming separate buildings which project into the outer court to a distance of fifty cubits with a breadth of twenty-five cubits. On both sides of these gateways the prophet saw six little chambers, three on each side, and each six cubits square. There has been much speculation as to the possible use of these little chambers and their meaning. The Hebrew word used here is the same as in 1 Kings xiv:28, translated in this passage “guard-chamber.” This may be the purpose of these chambers in the gateway building of this first wall. This seems to be confirmed by chapter xliv:11 and 14, which speaks of the Levites having charge of the gates of the house, so that in all probability these guard-chambers will be in charge of the Levites. Let us also notice the prominence of the numbers three and twelve. There are 2x3 guard-chambers in each gateway both in the outer court and also in the inner court. This gives us thirty-six guard-chambers, or 3x12. The number three means symbolically fullness, a divine fullness, and twelve stands for divine sovereignty and government. Three times twelve means, therefore, divine fullness in sovereign power and government. God Himself will be the guardian and protector of this millennial sanctuary of His earthly people.
Mention is made also of a porch in connection with each gateway. This porch of the gate is inward, and it must be thought of in the form of a hall. Such a porch-hall is mentioned in the architecture of Solomon’s temple (1 Kings vi:3; 2 Chron. iii:4; see also Joel ii:17). These vestibule halls are the termination of the gateway leading into the outer court itself. The porch-hall of the significant Eastern gate is reserved for the Prince. He enters by way of the porch of that gate and goes out the same way (chapter xliv:3). And there is a door for each gate, for we read that the East gate was to be shut (xliv:1-2). The door at the termination of the gateway is mentioned in verse 11. The width of the doorway is ten cubits and the height of the door itself thirteen cubits—10x3. The number ten signifies responsibility, and three, as already stated, is symbolical of divine fullness. Then posts were seen by the prophet. Each gateway had two posts and each post is two cubits thick and sixty cubits high (verses 9, 14). Critics have declared that the given dimension of sixty cubits is impossible. We do not know why this should be declared impossible. Some critics have said that the man could not have measured these sixty cubits; but the word measure is not used at all. The windows of the little chambers will be closed windows. Upon the posts were palm trees. These palm trees were ornamental and artificial (xl:18). That palms are prominent in this millennial temple, crowning first of all the high posts, which towered above all, so that the palms were seen, is not without significance. Palms are the symbols of victory. Branches of palm trees were also used during the celebration of the feast of tabernacles, which dispensationally foreshadows the millennial age of blessing and glory. And that is why palms are lifted high above everything on the gateway pillars of the wall surrounding the outer court. The time of blessing, victory, peace and glory has come.
We follow the prophet now into the inner court. This court is smaller, exactly one hundred cubits square (verse 47). In the center of this four square court stands the great altar, eighteen cubits square and twelve cubits high (chap. xliii:13-17). West of this great altar is a higher terrace upon which the temple itself stands. The approach to this inner court is also through three gates corresponding to the three gates in the wall surrounding the outer court. We must notice, however, that there are eight steps in connection with the gateways leading into this inner court, while the gateways leading into the outer court had only seven steps. The number eight is symbolical of the new covenant and the new creation.38 This great place of worship, by these eight steps, which lead to the interior, has the mark of the new age, the age when all things are made new. These gateways have also the little chambers like in the gateways of the outer court. The prophet in his vision entered by the South gate; then he came next to the East gate (verse 32), and finally to the North gate (verse 35); and these three gateways had their arches, posts and palm trees upon the posts. All is symmetrical. These three gateways are seen in line with the gateways of the outer court, but the porches were not towards the inside, but at the other end next to the outer court. In measurement and everything else they correspond to the gateways leading into the outer court.
The description of the great altar which stands in the middle of the inner court is given later; we shall follow it when we come to the text. The sacrifices are to be brought in this inner court and therefore we find next the sacrificial tables mentioned on which the burnt offering, the sin offering and the trespass offering will be slain. Two tables were in the porch of the gate on this side and two on the other side. Then at the steps of the gate on both sides were two tables, four tables on the one side and four on the other. In all there are eight tables whereupon to slay sacrifices. Besides these, there are four smaller tables of hewn stone, especially for the burnt offering, whereupon they also lay the instruments used in slaying the sacrifices. This gives 3x4 tables—twelve which are grouped on both sides of the steps, along the sides of the gateway and in the porch. On these tables the sacrifices are slain, washed and otherwise prepared and the smaller tables are for the instruments. Are these twelve tables only at one gate or at all the gates? There is reason to believe that each of the gateways leading to the inner courts is furnished with these sacrificial tables. If this is correct we have again the significant numbers and combination 3x12, corresponding to the guard-chambers at the three gateways, which also are 3x12.
Besides the chambers and the entries to the gates where they washed the sacrifices (verse 38) there are without the inner gate chambers at each gate for the singers and the priests (verses 44-46) who are the keepers of the house. These chambers were evidently detached from the gateways and yet near by. No measurement of these chambers is given. The inner court itself was a hundred cubits square; in the outer was the great altar.
V. The Vestibule of the Temple.
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. 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.
These closing verses of this chapter introduce us to the temple building. The prophet is brought in vision to the porch of the house. The vestibule in which the prophet finds himself is twenty cubits long and eleven cubits broad.39 The number ten is here seen again two by ten. The number of the steps leading up to the vestibule of the temple are not given. Besides the posts of the vestibule there are two pillars also, one on each side of the entrance gate, which remind us of the two pillars “Jachin and Boaz” in Solomon’s temple (1 Kings vii:21, 45). Many of these details are obscure, their deeper and symbolical meaning hidden. It would be an easy matter to make all kinds of spiritual applications. As to such applications one has well said, “We need a vigilant watch lest we pervert the holy Word of God; and I trust myself to be reticent rather than thus offend.” The construction the measurements and arrangement tell out divine perfection. When at last this great millennial temple is erected in Israel’s land, it will be a glorious witness for the Lord and as the central place of earthly worship worthy of that coming age of peace and glory.
Chapter XLI
The Holy and Most Holy. The Side Building and the Interior. —
The man with the measuring reed had gradually introduced in the vision Ezekiel to the outer wall and outer and inner court of this great future temple. The chambers, posts, gateways, sacrificial tables, etc., were all described in detail and so the prophet was brought into the temple vestibule (xl:48-49) to be led on into the temple itself. He beholds now the Holy place, the Most Holy, the side buildings, the hinder buildings and the interior of the temple.
I. The Holy Place and the Most Holy.
Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle. And the breadth of the door was ten cubits; and the sides of the door were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits: and the breadth, twenty cubits. Then went he inward, and measured each post of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits. So he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most holy place (verses 1-4.)
III. The Outer Court.
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. And the pavement by the side of the gates over against the length of the gates was the lower pavement. Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate unto the forefront of the inner court without, an hundred cubits eastward and northward. And the gate of the outward court that looked toward the north, he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof. And the little chambers thereof were three on this side and three on that side; and the posts thereof and the arches thereof were after the measure of the first gate: the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. And their windows, and their arches, 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 arches thereof were before them. 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 an hundred cubits. After that he brought me toward the south: and behold a gate toward the south: and he measured the posts thereof and the arches thereof according to these measures. And there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches thereof were before them: and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, upon the posts thereof. And there was a gate in the inner court toward the south: and he measured from gate to gate toward the south an hundred cubits (verses 17-27.)
The man with the measuring line now leads the prophet into the outer court itself. He had passed through the East gate and has now the vision of the outer court. Here again he beholds chambers. The word used for chamber is a different word from the one used in verses 7, 10, 12, 13, 16, 21, 29, 33 and 36. The chambers of the outer court are no longer guard-rooms. The word used here is found in 1 Sam. ix:22, which was not a small chamber by any means, inasmuch as thirty persons could be accommodated. The word is used later for the chambers in which the priests kept the tithes and offerings. Such chambers were in the temple of Solomon. In the millennial temple they probably will serve the same purpose. Then we read of a pavement made for the court round about. It is a pavement of stones (see 2 Kings xvi:17; 2 Chron. vii:3; Esther i:6—the same Hebrew word is used in these passages). This pavement, probably in the form of a mosaic arrangement, covers the entire outer court and of the chambers were thirty upon the pavement. Where are these chambers located? Are they together or scattered over the entire outer court? We believe they will be located alongside of each gateway, two on the side of the East gate, two at the North gate and two at the South gate. This seems to be the correct location, for the prophet in having stepped through the gateway into the outer court sees these chambers first, so that they must have been at the entrance gate. The measurement follows and the North gate and South gate are described. They compare in every way to the East gate, each having its seven steps, its little chambers (guard-chambers) its posts and palm trees.
IV. The Inner Court, the Sacrificial Tables and the Chambers.
And he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the south gate according to these measures; And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad. And the arches round about were five and twenty cubits long, and five cubits broad. And the arches thereof were toward the outer court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof: and the going up to it had eight steps. And he brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures. And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, were according to these measures: and there were windows therein and in the arches thereof round about: it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad. And the arches 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. And he brought me to the north gate, and measured it according to these measures; The little chambers thereof, the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, and the windows to it round about: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. And the posts thereof were toward the outer 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. And the chambers and the entries thereof were by the posts of the gates, where they washed the burnt offering. 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. 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. 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. And the four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a cubit and an 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. And within were hooks, an hand broad, fastened round about: and upon the tables was the flesh of the offering. 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. 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. 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. So he measured the court, an hundred cubits long, and an hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar that was before the house (verses 28-47).
The first two verses give the measurement of the Holy part. Of the contents of this part, how it was furnished, nothing is said; only the measurement is mentioned. The place is forty cubits long and twenty cubits broad. In this respect it corresponds to the temple of Solomon in which the Holy place had the same dimensions, while the same part in the wilderness tabernacle was only twenty cubits by ten cubits. We find therefore that the Holy part in the temple of Solomon and Ezekiel’s temple is double the size of the Holy part of the tabernacle. There is a door which leads from the vestibule into this Holy place and at both sides are door posts, six cubits broad on the one side and six on the other; between these two posts is the door, the breadth of which is ten cubits.40 The number twelve is again in evidence in these two posts, twice six. Inasmuch as the wall (verse 5) is six cubits thick these two posts are probably a part of the wall surrounding the temple. Later we receive the additional information that the waters issued from under the threshold of the house eastward, the seer being at this door (xlvii:1).
Then the man went inward, into the Most Holy. This was a perfect square twenty cubits long and twenty broad. Let us notice that the prophet here does not enter the place, for it is the Most Holy, the dwelling place of Jehovah.
The man entered in alone, while the prophet remained outside. There was a door six cubits high and seven cubits broad. The breadth of the door leading into the Holy part was ten cubits, but the door leading into the Most Holy was seven cubits broad, the number which denotes divine perfection. The description of the interior of the temple is given in verses 15-26.
II. The Side Buildings.
After he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side. And the side chambers were three, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which was of the house for the side chambers round about, that they might have hold, but they had not hold in the wall of the house. And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still upward, and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst. I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the side chambers were a full reed of six great cubits. The thickness of the wall, which was for the side chamber without, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side chambers that were within. And between the chambers was the wideness of twenty cubits round about the house on every side. And the doors of the side chambers were toward the place that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits round about (verses 5-11).
He measured first the wall which surrounded the Holy and the Most Holy part. This wall was six cubits. Then there are side chambers. Such side chambers were also in the temple of Solomon (1 Kings vi:5). There are three stories and each contains thirty chambers, so there are ninety chambers in all. These three stories with the ninety chambers surrounded the temple on its three sides, the North, West and South sides, the East side being the vestibule and entrance into the temple; no side chambers are found above this entrance. These side chambers enter into the wall, that they might have hold and still they have not hold of the wall itself. In this also the temple corresponds to the arrangement of Solomon’s temple. 1 Kings vi:6 explains the construction of these chambers: “On the outside he made rebatements in the wall of the house round about, that the beams should not have hold in the wall of the house.” The side chambers in the Solomonic temple were fastened on the house with timber of cedar (1 Kings vi:10). This probably explains the meaning of the attachment of these three stories of chambers in Ezekiel’s temple. The side chambers must therefore be considered as an addition to the wall itself which surrounds the Holy and Most Holy. We do not know what will be the use of these ninety chambers in the millennial temple. The seventh verse shows that the stories of this addition to the wall, containing the chambers, have galleries round about. And the gallery of the second story is broader than the gallery of the first, and the gallery of the third is broader than the second story, so that this annex broadens upward. The expression “winding about” has led some of the few expositors of these chapters to identify with the winding stairs of the Solomonic temple (1 Kings vi:8); but this is incorrect. The text does not mention a staircase at all. A better rendering of verse 8 is: “And I saw that the house had an elevation round about, the foundations of the side chambers, a full reed, six cubits to the joint.”41 There was then a raised basement on the three sides of the temple and the six cubits correspond to the ten steps (xl:49) marking the height of the elevation. Verse 9 shows that the thickness of the wall, which was for the side chambers without was five cubits, besides this there was a free place along the building. “And between the chambers (and the house) was a width of twenty cubits round about the house on every side.” This afforded the proper light for these chambers. “And the entry of the side chambers was toward what was left free, one entry toward the North, and one entry toward the South; and the width of the space left free was five cubits round about.” The side chambers were therefore entered from the outside.
III. The Hinder Building—The Total Measurement.
Now the building that was before the separate place at the end toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick round about, and the length thereof ninety cubits. So he measured the house, an hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, an hundred cubits long; also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, an hundred cubits. And he measured the length of the building over against the separate place which was behind it, and the galleries thereof on the one side and on the other side, an hundred cubits, with the inner temple, and the porches of the court (verses 12-15).
Here a new building comes into view which is behind the temple building toward the West. Its dimensions are seventy cubits broad, ninety cubits long and the wall is five cubits in thickness round about. The use of this building is not stated. Its use is probably for the disposal of the refuse from the sacrifices and other unclean things. No other description is given of this hinder building, this separate place. Verses 12 and 14 give the total measurement of the house, a hundred cubits, which is the total of the previously given measures.
IV. The Interior of the Temple Described.
The thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the door, ceiled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows were covered; to that above the entry, even unto the inner house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, all was by measure. And it was made with cherubim and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces; so that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: it was made through all the house round about. From the ground unto above the door were cherubim and palm trees made, and on the wall of the temple. The posts of the temple were squared, and the front of the sanctuary had the same appearance. The altar was of wood three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before the Lord. And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors. And the doors had two leaves, two turning leaves; two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other door. And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there was a wooden portal in front of the porch without. And closed windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and upon the side chambers of the house, and the portals42 (verses 16-26).
From verse 16 we learn that all was wainscoted with wood. The altar was also of wood. It is significant that silver and gold, so prominent in the tabernacle in the wilderness and in Solomon’s temple, are entirely absent in the millennial temple. The words “silver and gold” are not mentioned once in Ezekiel xl-xlviii. Silver typifies grace in redemption, being the ransom money. Gold typifies divine righteousness. Both are absent in the millennial temple for what the silver and gold foreshadows is now realized in His redeemed earthly people. The heavenly Jerusalem has gold in it, but silver is not mentioned in the description of the city in Revelation xxi.
The chief ornaments in this temple are cherubim and palm trees; they were along the wall of the temple. So it was in the temple of Solomon. “And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers within and without” (1 Kings vi:29).
A palm tree was between cherub and cherub. As stated in the previous chapter palms are the emblems of victory and remind us of the feast of tabernacles. They were seen high above on the posts. Cherubim speak of the presence of the Lord, who enters this house and is worshipped here. But the cherubim here have only two faces and not four as in the opening vision of this book (chapter i:10-12). As often stated, these celestial beings tell out the Lord Jesus Christ in His personal glory. The lion, His kingly glory; the face of a man, His true humanity; the face of an ox, His servant character; and the face of an eagle. His heavenly origin and destiny, Son of God. It is not without meaning that the face of a man and the face of a young lion are seen on these cherubim and each face looks upon a palm tree. Its symbolical meaning is obvious. The Lord Jesus Christ has come again and visited the earth and the temple and appeared as the glorified Man and the Lion of the tribe of Judah. His is the victory and the glory. When at last this temple stands in Israel’s land, and its meaning and measurements, as well as other details, are fully known and understood, it will be known then that His blessed work, victory and person are symbolically seen throughout this house.
The altar was of wood, three cubits high and two cubits long. “And he said unto me, This is the table which is before Jehovah.” The altar is the altar of incense. The burnt offering altar is described in chapter xliii:13, etc. In the tabernacle and Solomon’s temple the altar of incense was overlaid with gold. Note also the difference in the measurement. The altar of incense in the tabernacle was two cubits high and one cubit long and broad; the altar in the future temple is three cubits high and two cubits long, nearly double in size. The incense offered upon the altar is the symbol of the fragrance Christ is to God. It also typifies praise and prayer (Ps. cxli:2; Rev. v:8; viii:3); being communion with God it is here called “the table which is before Jehovah.” How great will be the fragrance of Christ, and the praise and worship God will receive, in this great house of worship!
There were also two doors for the sanctuary with two turning leaves. They were ornamented, like the walls, with cherubim and palm trees.
Chapter XLII
The Cells for the Priests. —
This chapter gives the description of the chambers or cells of the priests and closes with the final measurements of this temple. After this, as recorded in the next chapter, the prophet beheld the return of the glory of the Lord and how He entered the house.
I. The Description of the Cells for the Priests.
Then he brought me forth into the outer court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the cells that was over against the separate place, and which was before the building toward the north. Before the length of an hundred cubits was the north door, and the breadth was fifty cubits. Over against the twenty cubits which pertained to the inner court, and over against the pavement which pertained to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in three stories. And before the cells was a walk of ten cubits breadth inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors toward the north. Now the upper cells were shorter: for the galleries were higher than these, than the lower, and than the middlemost of the building. For they were in three stories, but had not pillars as the pillars of the courts: therefore the building was straitened more than the lowest and the middlemost from the ground. And the wall that was without over against the cells, toward the outer court on the forepart of the cells, the length thereof was fifty cubits: For the length of the cells that were in the outer court was fifty cubits: and, lo, before the temple were an hundred cubits. And from under these cells was the entry on the east side, as one goeth into them from the outer court. The cells were in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, over against the separate place, and over against the building. And the way before them was like the appearance of the cells which were toward the north, as long as they, and as broad as they: and all their goings out were both according to their fashions, and according to their doors. And according to the doors of the cells, that were toward the south was a door in the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one entereth into them (verses 1-12).
Once more the man leads forth the prophet. The Holy part and the Most Holy had been measured and described and now he leaves the innermost part and is led again into the outer court. He goes on towards the North and faces a cell-building over against the separate place. This separate place is the hinder building described in chapter xli:12. There are three such cell-buildings, one on the North and the other on the South; that is, facing the two sides of the hinder building in the separate place. The third cell-building is at the East-gate. The entrance to these cell buildings is from the outer court. The measurement given presents considerable difficulty which we do not attempt to solve. Each of these buildings has three stories and before each is a walk of ten cubits. We also learn that the upper story of cells is shorter than the first and second stories; this corresponds in architecture to the side buildings described in chapter xli:5-11. How many cells or chambers are in each of these buildings is not stated.
II. For What the Cells are Used.
Then said he unto me, The north cells and the south chambers, which are before the separate place, they be holy cells, where the priests that approach unto the Lord shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy. When the priests enter therein, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the outer court, but there they shall lay their garments wherein they minister; for they are holy; and shall put on other garments, and shall approach to those things which are for the people (verses 13-14).
The cells on the North and South, facing the separate place are especially mentioned as being holy chambers. Here the priests who approach unto the Lord are to eat the most holy things and there they shall lay the most holy things, the meal offering, the sin offering and the trespass offering. They were set apart for this purpose. For this reason at the end of these two cell-buildings towards the west were the places where the offerings were boiled and the meal offering baked. They were the kitchens of the priests. Of this we read in chapter xlvi:19, 20: “Then he brought me through the passage which was at the side of the gate, into the holy cells which were for the priests, which looked toward the North; and behold a place was there at the end westward. And he said unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering and where they shall bake the meal offering, that they bring them not out into the outer court, so as to hallow the people.” In these chambers they put the garments of their ministry. The priests are not to wear their holy garments outside of the inner court lest they should be profaned. Why these Levitical ordinances are maintained in the millennial temple with a priesthood still ministering, the purpose of all this, we shall take up more fully in the exposition of the chapters which follow.
III. Final Measurement.
Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth toward the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it round about. He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about. He measured the north side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about. He measured the south side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about. He measured the south side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed. He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. He measured it by the four sides: it had a wall round about, five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place (verses 15-20).
The measuring of the inner house completed, the prophet is led back to the starting point, the gate that is toward the East. In this final measurement four times five hundred reeds are mentioned. The east side, north side, south side, and west side, each is measured as being five hundred reeds. This passage has occasioned much controversy. The question is if five hundred cubits or five hundred reeds is correct. If we take the reed to be ten feet it would mean that the temple is five thousand feet on each side. But that seems impossible in view of the previous measurement. The Septuagint translators realized this difficulty and took the liberty of changing the word “reeds” to “cubits.” If cubits is right then it would agree with all the previous measurements, hence many of the commentators have changed the reeds to cubits. But what authority is there to make this change? The Hebrew word for reeds is “gonim” and cubit is “ammah,” two entirely different words. A copyist’s error is therefore excluded. We maintain that measurement is five hundred reeds and that the text is correct.
But what is measured? Certainly not the temple area with its wall, outer court and Holy and the Most Holy. What is measured here is the territory which surrounds the whole temple buildings. If we retrace the steps of the man who measured and led along Ezekiel we see him leaving the Most Holy; they then go back into the Holy part, the outer court and then passing through the eastern gate through which they had entered, they are both outside of the outer wall. They are now in a very large space surrounding the temple buildings, and this space is measured. Furthermore we find that there was an immense wall surrounding this enclosure: this wall separated between that which is holy and what is common (verse 20). Another difficulty has been mentioned by expositors if this measurement of five hundred reeds is correct. They say it is far too large for Mount Moriah, the chosen place of the temple. There is no difficulty here at all, for we read, “And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow unto it” (Isa. ii:2). When the Lord returns and His Kingdom will be established great physical changes take place in Israel’s land, changes which no one can fully understand.43 The mountain upon which this temple is to be built is a very high mountain, which comes into existence when the earth and the heavens will be shaken. The temple was a holy square of five hundred cubits, in another square of five hundred reeds. Later we shall find that there is another holy portion of the land which surrounds the temple, and the territory of five hundred reeds square, and that portion was of an extremely large dimension, that is, twenty-five thousand reeds in length and ten thousand reeds in breadth.44 All this would not be possible in the present Palestine; but it will be made possible through the changes of that coming day (Is. ii:12; xxiv:3-4; 19-23).
Chapter XLIII
The Returning Glory. The Altar and the Worship. —
The plan of the entire temple with its buildings, walls and the surrounding territory having been revealed and fully recorded in the preceding chapters, greater things are now shown to the prophet. It concerns the temple and the service which is to be maintained in this magnificent house of worship. In the present chapter we find first a description of the return of the glory of the Lord to the house, filling the house. This is followed by a message delivered by the Lord; speaking out of the house; the message is addressed to the prophet, who is also to speak to the house of Israel concerning their condition and the law of the house. The dimensions of the great altar are given and how that altar is to be consecrated. This is the first great service in this temple.
I. The Return of the Glory of the Lord.
Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house (verses 1-5).
The man leads him back to the eastern gate through which they had entered first when the house was measured. And here he beholds a startling event. Up to this point the house with it buildings had been seen in silent grandeur. No sound was heard; nothing was seen. But as they stand at the gate toward the east, suddenly the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. Then the voice of Jehovah was heard as the sound of many waters and the earth shined with His glory. The dedication of the house by the return of the Lord with His glory is now to take place. Thus the tabernacle in the wilderness was dedicated (Exodus xl:34-35). “A cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” The same happened when Solomon had finished the temple. “The cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord” (1 Kings viii:10-11; 2 Chron. v:13, 14; vii:1-3). The Lord with His glory entered into these prepared places and in like manner He will enter the great temple Ezekiel beheld in his prophetic vision. Such a return of the glory of the God of Israel to dwell in another temple has not yet taken place. When the returned remnant after the proclamation of Cyrus had rebuilt the temple, no cloud filled the house nor was the glory of the Lord seen. Some apply this vision to the time when our Lord was on earth and that it was fulfilled when He entered the temple. This needs no further refutation, but it shows how much at sea expositors of the Word of God are who reject the future restoration of Israel. When the Lord was on earth He had laid His visible glory by and was rejected by the nation. This vision of glory will be fulfilled when He returns the second time in power and glory; then and never before will this visible glory be displayed and His glory will shine over Israel’s land and finally cover the earth as the waters cover the deep.
We must notice here especially that the vision the prophet beheld was “according to the appearance of the vision” he saw before the destruction of the city “the visions were like the visions” which he saw “by the river Chebar.” This points back to the first chapter when first by the river Chebar the heavens were opened to Ezekiel the priest, and he saw visions of God. At the close of that chapter we read after the recorded vision, “This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” The same vision of glory appeared again to him when Ezekiel had left the river Chebar and gone into the plain (iii:22-23). Then he had witnessed the gradual and solemn departure of the glory of the Lord. “Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight.... They stood at the door of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above” (x:18-19). Then finally the Shekinah went up and disappeared. “And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city” (xi:22).
The similarity of the departure of the glory of the Lord from the temple before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar and its future return to the temple of Ezekiel’s vision is most interesting. It is the same glory which departed, which returns; it is the same Lord who resumes relationship with His earthly people. The withdrawal of the visible glory of the Lord meant the departure of His gracious presence from among His people, which was followed by judgment. The return of the visible glory means the return of His gracious presence among them and that the judgment, which has lasted so long, is forever gone. The departure of the glory was through the east gate and was finally seen upon the mountain at the east side of the city; the return is from the way of the east and the glory of the Lord enters through the east gate. But it is not only a visible glory, but the Lord Himself is in the Shekinah. Ezekiel beheld above the firmament and the cherubim, when he saw the glory of the Lord at the river Chebar, he heard His voice. And here also His voice is mentioned “like the sound of many waters.” From verses 6 and 7 we learn that after the glory had entered the house the Lord addressed the prophet out of the house.
The Lord Himself in all His glory is manifested and enters the temple, the place of His rest and glory. The cherubim will be seen in person and from the New Testament we learn that angels will be with Him also. His glory will then cover Israel’s land and the earth. “His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. And His brightness was as the light; He had bright beams out of His side45 and there was the hiding of His power.” This is how Habakkuk describes the same manifestation of the glory of the Lord and the coming of the Lord of glory (see Isaiah xl:5; lviii:8; lx:1-2; lxvi:18). Isaiah’s great vision may be viewed as foreshadowing this manifestation of His glory. He saw the Lord sitting upon a throne and His train filled the temple. The seraphim cried one unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. And as the prophet was cleansed and his iniquity taken away and became the messenger of the Lord (Is. vi), so the nation Israel will be cleansed and forgiven and become the messenger of Jehovah.46
When the Spirit had transported the prophet into the inner court of the temple, he discovered that the glory of the Lord filled the house. We repeat it, no such thing happened when the returned Jewish remnant had entered the temple. When the old men, who had seen the Solomonic temple and knew of its glory, beheld the foundation of the second temple they wept (Ezra iii:12). When the house was dedicated no glory returned, no cloud was seen, no shekinah filled the house. Nor is it a spiritual glory, the glory of the church, as so many seem to believe.
But Haggai, who with Zechariah prophesied during the rebuilding of the temple, uttered a significant prophecy while that second house was building—a prophecy which must be linked with Ezekiel’s vision of the returning glory: “For thus saith the Lord of Hosts: yet once it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory” (Haggai ii:6-7). This was not the house they were building. It is a future house, a future temple. That house will be built when the heavens and the earth are being shaken, when all nations shake and when the Desire of all nations, the King of glory, the Prince of Peace, our Lord comes. Then this house will be filled with glory.
It will be a visible glory. It will be a permanent glory. He will now dwell gloriously in the midst of the children of Israel (verse 7). This visible glory will be seen over Jerusalem, like as it was of old, a cloud by day and a shining, flaming fire by night. “And Jehovah will create over every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and over its convocations a cloud by day and a smoke and the brightness of a flame of fire by night, for over all the glory shall be a covering” (Is. iv:5).
II. The Voice from the Temple and the Message to Israel.
And I heard one speaking unto me out of the house; and a man stood by me. And he said unto 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 children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, they, nor their kings, with their fornication, and with the carcases of their kings in their high places. In that they set their threshold by my threshold, and their post by my post, and there was only a wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: and I consumed them in mine anger. Now let them put away their fornication and the carcases of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever. Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and its goings out, and its comings in, and all its forms, and all the ordinances, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them. This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house (verses 6-12).
The Glory of the Lord and the Lord of Glory had entered the house, filling it; and now the voice of one is heard out of the house. The speaker is the Lord Himself, who had made His dwelling place in the temple (see also xlvi:20, 24; xlvii:6, 8). The man who stood by Ezekiel did not speak, as some expositors claim. He is only guide to the prophet (xliv:1, 4; xlvi:19, 21). He is probably not the same person, who as the measuring man had accompanied the prophet, for the Hebrew is not “the man” “stood by me,” but “a man.” This person, no doubt an angel, is silent, waiting till the Lord has spoken and then leads the prophet from place to place.
The first word which the Lord addressed to Ezekiel from the house is significant: “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 children of Israel forever.” Of old the Lord dwelt in the midst of the children of Israel. Thus we read in the book of Exodus, the book of redemption: “I will dwell among the children of Israel, and I will be their God, and they shall know that I am Jehovah their God that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt that I may dwell among them” (Ex. xxix:45, 46). And now after the long and sad history of Israel’s apostasy, blindness, judgment and dispersion is ended, He comes to make His dwelling place in their midst again and establishes in Jerusalem His throne. Here He will dwell and bless His people. Of this Psalm cxxxii speaks, “This is my rest forever, here will I dwell, for I have desired it.” And other prophets announced that the Lord would dwell in Zion in the midst of His people and establish His throne there (Joel iii:17, 21; Zech. ii:10, 11; viii:3, 8). His rest then will be glorious (Is. xi:10). When that time comes and the Lord of Glory has come back to earth again, all the promised blessings for Israel, the nations and for all creation will be realized.
Then His holy name will no longer be defiled and the nation will be ashamed of all their past history of rebellion and abomination.47 The prophet is therefore commanded to set before the people the house in its measured pattern, so that they might know what a gracious Lord has prepared for them, what He will yet do for His people. It is to lead them to repentance, to acknowledgement of their guilt and shame over their iniquities. Such will be the case in the day of their restoration when these things will be accomplished.
When this house on the top of the mountain is established all will be most holy. His people will be righteous and holy and all Jerusalem with this sanctuary will be holy unto the Lord (Zech. xiv:20-21). This is “the Most Holy” of Daniel’s prophecy (Dan. ix) to be anointed when the last prophetic week of seven years has expired.
III. The Measurement and the Ordinances of the Altar.
And these are the measures of the altar in cubits: The cubit is a cubit and an hand breadth: The bottom was a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and its border thereof on the edge thereof round about shall be a span: and this was the base of the altar. And from the bottom upon the ground to the lower settle was two cubits, and the breadth a cubit; and from the small settle to the great settle four cubits, and the breadth a cubit. So the altar was four cubits; and from the hearth of God and upward were four horns. And the hearth of God was twelve cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four sides thereof. And the settle was fourteen cubits long and fourteen broad in the four sides thereof; and the border about it half a cubit; and the bottom thereof a cubit about; and its steps shall look toward the east. And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon. And thou shalt give to the priests the Levites that be of the seed of Zadok, which approach unto me, to minister unto me, saith the Lord Jehovah, a young bullock for a sin offering. And thou shalt take of its blood, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it. Thou shalt take the bullock of the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place of the house, without the sanctuary. And on the second day thou shalt offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall purge the altar, as they did purge it with the bullock. When thou hast made an end of purging it, thou shalt offer a young bullock without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish. And thou shalt offer them before Jehovah, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering unto Jehovah. Seven days shalt thou prepare every day a goat for a sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bullock, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish. Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate it. And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord Jehovah (verses 13-27).
The altar which is now described in its measurement, was previously mentioned in chapter xl:47. The altar according to this description, is composed of four square layers (probably stones) one above another, decreasing in extent and increasing in thickness; the top is a square of twelve cubits. This is called “the altar hearth” or “the hearth of God.” The three words translated in the authorized version by altar are not the same in the original. In verse 13 the word is “mizbeach.” This word is used many times in the Hebrew Bible; it means “slaughter-place.” In verse 15 two words are used which are nowhere else found in connection with an altar. The one is “Harel” which means “the mountain of God;” and the other “Ariel” the meaning of this is different from Ariel in Isa. xxix:148 when it is used for Jerusalem as “the lion of God.” Gesenius translated it “the hearth,” and still better is “the hearth of God.” Upward from this hearth were four horns. The Septuagint gives the height of these horns as one cubit each. While in Exodus xx:25 steps are prohibited for the altar, this altar has steps which look toward the east. This great burnt offering altar, standing in the center of the inner court before the house, will be the central place of worship in this future temple.
The ordinances of this burnt offering altar in that future day are given to the prophet, the Lord Jehovah addressing Ezekiel as “Son of Man.” Burnt offerings will be brought upon it and blood sprinkled. The priests, the Levites of the seed of Zadok49 will minister unto the Lord Jehovah. What is first described is a kind of consecration or dedication of this burnt offering altar, after which the general sacrifices begin (verse 27). First a young bullock is brought for a sin offering and the blood is applied to the altar and the four horns. For seven days these offerings for purging and cleansing continue and with the eighth day the burnt offerings and peace offerings are to be made by the people.
But what do these ordinances mean? Here are priests again standing before an altar, bringing bloody sacrifices, burnt offerings, sin offerings and peace offerings. Is this to be taken literally also? Some expositors have stated that all this had a meaning in the past and could only be true in connection with the second temple. Others attempt to read into it a spiritual meaning. All, or nearly all commentators think it inconceivable that such sacrifices could ever be brought again in a future temple. Those expositors who combat the premillennial coming of the Lord and the literal restoration of Israel, consider the supposed impossibility of a satisfactory explanation of this part of Ezekiel’s visions, the collapse of the premillennial argument.
Sacrifices of bulls and goats were brought by Israel in their past history; the Lord commanded His people to do this. Every Christian knows that these sacrifices foreshadowed the work of Christ, His great sacrifice on the Cross. In themselves these sacrifices Israel brought could not take away sins, nor give rest to the conscience, nor could they make the worshipper perfect. The Epistle to the Hebrews demonstrates this fully.
All these sacrifices had a prospective character, looking forward to the work of the Cross. And when the Lamb of God died, when His blessed lips uttered the never-to-be-forgotten words, “It is finished,” and God’s hand rent the veil from top to bottom, the prospective character of these sacrifices were forever ended. The new and living way into God’s presence, into the Holiest, had been made by His blood. During this age Israel has no temple and all their Levitical ordinances can no longer be practised by them. As Hosea declared they are without a sacrifice (Hos. iii:4).
God, during this age, our present age, which began with the rejection of Christ by Israel and ends with His Return, is gathering a heavenly people, the church. The church has for its worship no earthly place, no temple, but worships in spirit and in truth, in a heavenly sanctuary. There are no sacrifices, priests, altars, in connection with the true church, the body of Christ. Christ is all. He is the sacrifice, the priest, and the altar. That the enemy has produced upon Christian ground a ritualism which is aped after the Jewish system and which denies as such the Gospel and Christianity, is well known. They have invented altars, and sacrifices and priests. This is the Judaizing of the church, “the other Gospel which is not another,” upon which the Spirit of God has pronounced the curse of God (Gal. i). The day is coming when the Lord will deal in judgment with the apostate church which denies His Son and His work, while His true church will be taken to the place which He has prepared.
When the true church is no longer on earth and the apostate church is left behind to plunge into the great apostasy, then the Jews will partially be restored in unbelief. When they get back to the land they will put up another temple in which they bring again bloody sacrifices. These will be an abomination in the sight of God. Let us hear what Isaiah reveals about this time: “Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye will build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made and all those things have been, saith the Lord. But to this man will I look, that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abomination” (Isaiah lxvi:1-3). The entire last chapter of Isaiah shows that the future is in view. The Jews have returned to their land and have resumed their ancient worship. In their midst is also a believing remnant (verse 5) who suffer and are cast out. The Lord looking down from heaven and beholding the sacrifices they bring despises them, for they are an abomination in His sight, because they reject Christ and His sacrifice. This temple worship will be made possible by the coming prince, the little horn of Daniel vii, who will make a covenant with the unbelieving portion of the nation. In the middle of the last seven years (Dan. ix:26) he will break that covenant. Then appears the beast out of the earth (Rev. xiii:11), the false Messiah, and takes his place in that temple, demanding divine worship, claiming to be God (2 Thess. ii).
At the end of the three and one-half years which constitute the great tribulation, the Lord is suddenly manifested. Of this Isaiah speaks also. The unbelieving Jews sneer at the believing remnant: “Let the Lord be glorified!” The Spirit of God gives them the assurance, “but He shall appear to your joy and they shall be ashamed.” “A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense to His enemies” (verse 6). These words describe His manifestation. After this comes the restoration of Israel. The apostates who worshipped the Beast will be punished. The temple Ezekiel describes will then be built and Israel is now at last the kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exod. xix:6). The new covenant promised to them will then be ratified (Jere. xxxi:31-34).
Their great temple will be more than their place of worship; it will be a house of prayer for all nations. Let us listen again to Isaiah’s great testimony. “The sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath50 from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; even them (Gentiles) will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. The Lord God who gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto Him” (Is. lvi:6-8). All this has nothing to do with the church or the present dispensation of grace. It is a prophecy of the kingdom, the age to come, the dispensation of the fullness of times.
So let us understand that the millennial temple will be the great center of earthly worship during the reign of the King of Kings. In that temple sacrifices will be brought again. The ancient worship of Israel will be resumed and that in a way as Israel never enjoyed it in the past. To deny the literalness of these sacrifices does violence to the Word of God. Ezekiel is not the only prophet who tells us of this. One of the strongest passages is found in Jeremiah. Speaking of the coming reign of Christ, Jeremiah tells us, “In those days shall Judah be saved and Jerusalem shall dwell safely, and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness. For thus saith the Lord, David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel. Neither shall the priests, the Levites want a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meal offerings, and to do sacrifice continually” (Jere. xxxiii:15-18). Why then should it be an impossible thing that literal sacrifices are brought again?
But what is the meaning and the purpose of these animal sacrifices? The answer is quite simple. While the sacrifices Israel brought once had a prospective meaning, the sacrifices brought in the millennial temple have a retrospective meaning. When during this age God’s people worship in the appointed way at His table, with the bread and wine as the memorial of His love, it is a retrospect. We look back to the Cross. We show forth His death. It is “till He comes.” Then this memorial feast ends forever. Never again will the Lord’s Supper be kept after the Saints of God have left the earth to be with the Lord in glory. The resumed sacrifices will be the memorial of the Cross and the whole wonderful story of the redemption for Israel and the nations of the earth, during the kingdom reign of Christ. And what a memorial it will be! What a meaning these sacrifices will have! They will bring to a living remembrance everything of the past. The retrospect will produce the greatest scene of worship, of praise and adoration this earth has ever seen. All the Cross meant and the Cross has accomplished will be recalled and a mighty “Hallelujah Chorus” will fill the earth and the heavens. The sacrifices will constantly remind the peoples of the earth of Him who died for Israel, who paid the redemption price for all creation and whose glory now covers the earth as the waters cover the deep. And above in the New Jerusalem, where the throne of the Lamb is, the Saints in glory sing their Hallelujah (Ps. cxlix:5).
I. The Outer Eastern Gate and the Prince.
Chapter XLIV
Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. Then said the Lord unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same (verses 1-3).
In the previous chapter the prophet was in the inner court (xliii:5). It was there he heard the voice of the Lord and received the message and saw the great altar and its ordinances. From the inner court he is led back by the man to the eastern gate. This gate he finds no longer open. As they arrived it was shut. The last time that gate was seen it was open, and the glory of the Lord entered through this eastern gateway. The reason why this gate is to be shut is stated by the Lord in His address to Ezekiel. “Then said the Lord unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore shall it be shut.” The Lord who entered with His glory is the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and here His full glory is made known. He is the Lord, the God of Israel, He “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah v:2). The gate is now to serve another purpose. “It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.” Who is this prince? Some say that this prince is the Lord Himself. Our Lord is repeatedly called a prince (Isaiah ix:6, 7, lv:451; Dan. ix:25; Rev. i:5). In chapters xxxiv and xxxvii Messiah, Christ, is meant by the One Shepherd “My servant David,” who will be King and Prince over them. But now in the closing chapters of this book a prince is mentioned seventeen times. But not once is he spoken of as “David” or “my servant David.” This prince is not the Messiah, our Lord; nor is he the high priest as others claim. The best evidence that this prince is not Christ is learned from the ordinances he is to observe as revealed in chapter xlvi, where we read that he is to worship himself and that he must bring burnt offerings and peace offerings; we also read of this prince having sons. All this shows that the prince is not identical with the Lord. Who is he then? He is the viceregent of the King, a future prince of the house of David, who will represent the Lord on earth. David’s throne will be established in Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus Christ will reign supreme over all; His throne is above the earth in the New Jerusalem. He will visit the earth and manifest His glory as King of kings and Lord of lords. This probably will be during the great celebrations of the feast of Tabernacles, when the nations send their representatives to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts (Zech. xiv:16). Upon David’s throne will sit this prince of David as viceregent. The enemy anticipating this has counterfeited this vice-regency in the spurious claims of the Roman pope.
This prince as the vice-regent, has to enter by the way of the porch of the eastern gateway, and he must also go out the same way (see also xlvi:2-8.)
II. Concerning the Strangers and the Levites in Relation to the Temple Worship.
Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord; and I fell upon my face. And the Lord said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary. And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations. In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations. And ye have not kept the charge of mine holy things: but ye have set keepers of my charge in my sanctuary for yourselves.
Thus saith the Lord God; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel. And the Levites that are gone away from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols: they shall even bear their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them. Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord God, and they shall bear their iniquity. And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, not to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed. But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein. (verses 4-14).
Brought again through the north gate of the inner court, the prophet is face to face with the glory of the Lord which filled the house of the Lord, and Ezekiel fell on his face. Then the Lord addressed him. He is to mark well what he sees and what he hears concerning the ordinances and the laws of the house of the Lord. The temple is now repeatedly called the house of the Lord, the place where His glory dwells, exalted above the hills, to which the nations shall come (Isaiah ii:2). Israel in this message is reminded of the past. They were a rebellious house. This was the burden of the opening messages of the prophet (chapter ii, etc.). But now all must be and will be different. The abominations of the past, the pollution of His house and all else will now be put away. “Let it suffice you of all your abominations.” They will no longer be tolerated, nor will converted Israel backslide again. He reminds them of their sinful past and of the demands of holiness for His house; all abominations and failures will cease. Uncircumcised in heart and in flesh shall not enter into the sanctuary of the Lord. Zechariah bears the same testimony: “In that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts” (Zech. xiv:21). His people will then be holy; their new birth has taken place, the uncircumcised, stony heart is taken away and His Spirit is poured out upon them (chapter xxxvi:25-27).
Verses 10-14 concern the Levites; they are to bear their iniquity and be degraded as to their office. What Levites are meant, and when did they go away from the Lord? It cannot mean past generations of Levites. The offence must have been committed by them before the Lord appeared in glory. It must be explained by what happened among the people before the Lord came, during the days of the false Messiah. At that time Israel will go far astray from the Lord and turn again to idols. In this apostasy the Levites have a share. “They ministered unto them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity.” When the Lord comes, when their sins are forgiven and they are cleansed, the Lord will deal accordingly with these Levites as announced in these verses. They shall bear their iniquity for their unfaithfulness. “They shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.” Yet there will be service for them. “But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.”
III. Concerning the Priests, the sons of Zadok, and their Duties.
But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God: They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.
And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, and they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causeth sweat. And when they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments. Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads. Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court. Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before. And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths. And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves. And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days. And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, saith the Lord God. And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance; and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession. They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. And the first of all the first fruits of all things and every oblation of all of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priests’: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house. The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast (verses 15-31).
The sons of Zadok kept the charge, they were faithful when the children of Israel went astray, and the Lord is now announcing the reward for their faithfulness. The earthly priesthood as it was once is re-established and vested in the sons of Zadok. These are to come near unto Jehovah and offer in His presence. How they are to come in, the garments they shall wear, is made known to the prophet. They are not to shave their heads, “neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.” They are forbidden to take for wives a widow or one that has been put away. Maidens of Israel or a priest’s widow they could marry. All this will be literally fulfilled and done when this new and true worship is instituted in the coming age. It has nothing whatever to do with our age. No such special class of an earthly priesthood exists during this age of grace. All believers constitute a holy and a royal priesthood; the priests of ritualistic Christendom are an invention. But when the Lord has restored Israel to their land and this great place of worship stands, priestly ministrations will be resumed. Neither will this be a denial of Him who is priest forever after the order of Melchizedec. While the spurious, man-made priesthood of this Christian age denies the Lord and His finished work, the future priesthood ministering in the millennial temple will glorify Him.
These priests will also be teachers and exercise judicial authority (verses 23-24). The law of defilement will be enforced, though there will be less possibility of such defilement, for death during the millennium will not be the rule as it is now, but a rare and exceptional occurrence. Finally we read of the inheritance of the priests who minister before the Lord. “I am their inheritance, and ye shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.” While many of these appointments in priestly ministry during the millennium are obscure to us who enjoy the heavenly things, we may rest assured that the Lord in His own time “in that day” will bring about the accomplishment of all He has spoken.
Chapter XLV
I. The Holy Portion of the Land for the Sanctuary, the Priests, the Levites, the City and the Prince.
Moreover when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye shall offer an oblation unto the Lord, an holy portion of the land: the length shall be the length of five and twenty thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand. This shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about. Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length, with five hundred in breadth, square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs thereof. And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand; and in it shall be the sanctuary and the most holy place. The holy portion of the land shall be for the priests the ministers of the sanctuary, which shall come near to minister unto the Lord: and it shall be a place for their houses, and an holy place for the sanctuary. And the five and twenty thousand of length, and the ten thousand of breadth, shall also the Levites, the ministers of the house, have for themselves, for a possession for twenty chambers.
And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, over against the oblation of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.
And a portion shall be for the prince on the one side and on the other side of the oblation of the holy portion, and of the possession of the city, before the oblation of the holy portion, and before the possession of the city, from the west side westward, and from the east side eastward: and the length shall be over against one of the portions, from the west border unto the east border. In the land shall be his possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; and the rest of the land shall they give to the house of Israel according to their tribes (verses 1-8).
The land possessed will be divided by lot for the inheritance of the people. The special territorial division for the different tribes is recorded in the last two chapters. They are to bring an oblation of the land which the Lord so graciously restored unto them. The word “oblation” is literally an “heave-offering,” because when anything was offered to Jehovah the offerer raised the hand. The dimensions of the holy portion of the land are, in length 25,000, and in breadth 10,000. But what? The Hebrew has no definite measure. The authorized version supplies the word “reeds,” which seems to be correct in view of the statement in chapter xlii:16.52 This is a very large territory, a square of some sixty miles on each side. The topography of Palestine will be entirely changed in the coming age, as we pointed out before. The land is to be greatly enlarged, while the temple-mountain will be highly exalted. These changes will make all possible which we read in these closing chapters. We must take these chapters in faith, knowing that the omnipotent Lord will accomplish all in his own time. In the center of this large area, the holy portion of the Lord, will be the sanctuary; the measurement is given in verse 2. Around this the priests have their portion; there they will have their houses. The estate of the Levites comes next; the measurement is given, and that they shall have for possession twenty chambers. The Septuagint has “cities to dwell in,” habitations where they will reside. This is undoubtedly the correct meaning. Then the measurement of the city is given, which is for the whole house of Israel. Finally the portion of the Prince is recorded. “And the Prince shall have his portion on the one side and on the other side of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city over against the holy oblation, and over against the possession of the city, from the west side westward, and from the east side eastward; and in length answering to one of the portions of the tribes from the west border unto the east border.” From this we learn that the estate of the Prince consists of two halves, the one on the west and the other on the east of the holy portion. He stands as the head and ruler in closest connection with the sanctuary. It is all a new order and will be brought about when the Lord has come back, and when Israel is restored to the land. They never possessed such a holy portion in the land, nor such a sanctuary. A spiritual application as to the Church is impossible to make; the literal interpretation is the only possible one which can be made.
III. Exhortation Addressed to the Princes.
Thus saith the Lord God; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord God. Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath. The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer. And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs: twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh53 (verses 9-12).
The princes who used to oppress the people, shall no longer oppress (verse 8). They are to execute judgment and justice. Every measure is to be just. The time has come when righteousness reigns. “He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor” (Ps. lxxii:4). No longer will the poor be down-trodden.
IV. The Oblation for the Prince and His Offerings.
This is the oblation that ye shall offer; the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of wheat, and ye shall give the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of barley: Concerning the ordinance of oil, the bath of oil, ye shall offer the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is an homer of ten baths; for ten baths are an homer: And one lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the fat pastures of Israel; for a meat offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make reconciliation for them, saith the Lord God. All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel. And it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel (verses 13-17).
What the ruling Prince, the vice-regent upon the throne of David, is to receive from the people is stated in verses 13-16. The part of the Prince is to give burnt-offerings, meal offerings, drink offerings, at the different feasts and solemnities, to make reconciliation for the House of Israel. No doubt all this has a retrospective value and meaning. These sacrifices and offerings commemorate the one great sacrifice, which is constantly and vividly kept in full view by these ceremonies.
V. The Two Great Feasts Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles.
Thus saith the Lord God; In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary: And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court. And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple: so shall ye reconcile the house. In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering. And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the Lord, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering. And he shall prepare a meat offering of an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and an hin of oil for an ephah. In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat offering, and according to the oil (verses 18-25).
First stands the cleansing of the sanctuary on the first day of the first month. The cleansing of the sanctuary therefore commences the year. And this offering of a young bullock without blemish shows forth Christ in His wonderful, unblemished devotedness as He suffered once for sin. The same sacrifice will be repeated on the seventh day, and it is then especially for everyone that erreth and for him that is simple. The precious blood of the Lamb of God is thus constantly kept in remembrance. Two great feasts will be celebrated, the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. These are the feasts of the Millennium. Very significantly the feast of weeks, that is Pentecost, is no longer mentioned. Dispensationally the Feast of Pentecost typifies the coming of the Spirit of God, to baptize believing Jews and Gentiles into one body. Pentecost ushered in this present age, and during its course the Holy Spirit is on earth fulfilling His mission in calling from Jews and Gentiles a people for His name. When this age closes with the great predicted events transpiring, the Spirit of God has finished the work for which He came. The body of Christ is taken home to glory and united with the Head. It is true the Holy Spirit will yet be poured out upon all flesh (Joel ii:28) but the dispensational aspect of Pentecost is fulfilled and can have no such meaning in millennial times.54
And how appropriate it is that only Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles are celebrated by Israel when the Lord has come. Passover was first kept in Egypt; its precious meaning is well known to all Christians. Redemption by blood, so fully realized in the work of the spotless Lamb of God, is blessedly seen in the Passover, while the Feast of Unleavened Bread reveals the purpose of redemption—redemption unto holiness. Israel observed this feast in the wilderness. They celebrated it when they had come into the land; then under Hezekiah and Josiah it was recovered. During their long dispersion Israel has not forgotten this feast. Though with judicial blindness upon them, eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear, the people keep once a year the Passover. Longingly the orthodox Jew looks towards the land of promise and repeats each Passover night the pious wish “This day here; next year in Jerusalem.” When the nation is regathered and the Kingdom is established in their midst, they will keep this Feast anew. What meaning it will then have! What memories cluster around it! How all their history will be recalled by that Feast—started in Egypt and consummated in the Kingdom! But the observance apart from the unleavened bread is different. The Prince and all the people on the fourteenth day of the first month are identified as they never were before, in a single bullock for a sin offering, while every day for seven days the Prince prepares a complete burnt offering, a sign of perfect consecration to the Lord. What praise the Lord, the Lamb of God enthroned in glory, and His glory covering the earth, will receive in these yearly memorial feasts.
The Feast of Tabernacles is the second great feast. It was kept by Israel when the harvest and the vintage had taken place. It foreshadows the Millennium, when the harvest and the vintage (Rev. xiv) the end of the age is passed and the new age, the age of glory, has come; the great ingathering has taken place and the prophetic meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles will be realized. Zechariah xiv:16-21 tells us of its Millennial celebration.
Chapter XLVI
I. The Worship of the Prince.
Thus saith the Lord God; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened. And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the Lord in the sabbaths and in the new moons. And the burnt offering that the prince shall offer unto the Lord in the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish. And the meat offering shall be an ephah for a ram, and the meat offering for the lambs as he shall be able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah. And in the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram: they shall be without blemish. And he shall prepare a meat offering, an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs according as his hand shall attain unto, and an hin of oil to an ephah. And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of that gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof (verses 1-8).
Here another worship scene of the Millennium is described. The prominent eastern gate is to be closed during the six working days, but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, as well as in the day of the new moon. The Sabbath and the new moon are prominent in the worship of the Kingdom Age. The Sabbath was a type of the coming rest for the people of Israel.55 This rest has now come. Their wanderings are ended, they are gathered from the East and from the West, from the North and South, and have found at last the promised rest (Ps. cvii:1-8). Therefore the Sabbath is especially mentioned in connection with worship. On the seventh day the gate through which the Lord and His glory passed is opened and left open till the evening. The six working days (typical of 6,000 years) are forever gone, the seventh day, the seventh thousand, the Day of the Lord, has come. And when the Millennium ends, the complete, eternal rest comes for all the people of God. The new moon is typical of Israel’s re-establishment as a nation. The nation, like the moon, had waned, and disappeared, but now she shines again like the new moon.
The Prince is to worship at the threshold of the gate, and the people before the gate. But neither the Prince nor the people enter within. No drawing near to God is known then as we now enjoy it who worship in the Spirit through the rent veil. It is all an earthly worship, while the true worship of the Church is heavenly. The Prince in this worship enters by the outer door on the side of the east and he goes out by the same door. The Prince occupies the prominent place as the representative of the people. He presents his offerings to Jehovah, while the people stand as worshippers at the outer gate of the same entrance. The offerings the Prince is to bring on the Sabbath are larger than those commanded in the law. Both the burnt-offering and the meal offering brought by him on the Sabbath are more abundant than those offered under the old dispensation, an evidence of the higher and more perfect worship of restored Israel. Different, however, is it with the offering on the new moon. In Numbers xxviii:11-15 we read:
And in the beginnings of your months ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the Lord; two young bullocks, and one ram, seven lambs of the first year without spot; And three tenth deals of flour for a meal offering, mingled with oil, for one bullock; and two tenth deals of flour for a meal offering, mingled with oil for one ram; And a several tenth deal of flour mingled with oil for a meal offering unto one lamb; for a burnt offering of a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord. And their drink offerings shall be half an hin of wine unto a bullock, and the third part of an hin unto a ram, and a fourth part of an hin unto a lamb: this is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year. And one kid of the goats for a sin offering unto the Lord shall be offered, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.
Such are the offerings according to the law, to be brought on the new moon. But in the millennial worship these offerings are diminished. All this has a deeper meaning which will be fully known and enjoyed when this worship is carried out.
II. Further Instructions as to Worship.
But when the people of the land shall come before the Lord in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate; he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it. And the prince in the midst of them, when they go in, shall go in; and when they go forth, shall go forth. And in the feasts and in the solemnities the meal offering shall be an ephah to a bullock, and an ephah to a ram, and to the lambs as he is able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah. Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering or peace offerings voluntarily unto the Lord, one shall then open him the gate that looketh toward the east, and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he did on the sabbath day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate. Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering unto the Lord of a lamb of the first year without blemish: thou shalt prepare it every morning. And thou shalt prepare a meal offering for it every morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of an hin of oil to temper with the fine flour, a meal offering continually by a perpetual ordinance unto the Lord. Thus shall they prepare the lamb and the meal offering, and the oil, every morning for a continual burnt offering. (verses 9-15.)
Everything is divinely ordered. Here are first the special instructions for the worship of the people of the land. When they come before the Lord in the solemn feasts some will enter in to worship by the north gate and leave by the south gate, and others who enter by the south gate will leave by the way of the north gate. None is permitted to leave by the gate through which he entered. Perhaps this injunction is given to avoid confusion among the multitudes who will come to worship in those coming days, when the Lord will be universally acknowledged (Zech. xiv:9).
In the midst of these worshipping masses will be the Prince (verse 10). What a blessed reminder of Him who is the One in the midst! He was in the midst on Calvary; He is in the midst of His people during this age; in Revelation He is seen in the midst of the throne (Rev. v:6). The Prince as the representative of the King of kings is therefore in the midst of His redeemed earthly Israel. The burnt-offering and the meal offering, so prominent in this coming worship are constant memorials of His great devotion when He offered Himself, and of His holy, spotless humanity in which He suffered and glorified God.
Something else of deep interest is recorded here. The daily burnt-offerings during the old dispensation consisted of a lamb every morning and of a lamb every evening. Here no evening lamb for a burnt-offering is mentioned, but the offerings are to be brought only during the mornings. The bright morning has come, the day dawn for His people, so long in the night of suffering and dispersion. The night is gone forever and therefore the evening, preceding the night, is no longer mentioned and no provision is made for an evening burnt-offering. The night is gone and Israel’s glorious morning can never be darkened again by apostasy.
III. Concerning the Prince, His Sons and Servants.
Thus saith the Lord God; If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons’; it shall be their possession by inheritance. But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty; after it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall be his sons’ for them. Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance by oppression, to thrust them out of their possession; but he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own possession: that my people be not scattered every man from his possession (verses 16-18).
Here we read that the Prince has sons, natural descendants, and whatever gifts he bestows upon them shall be their possession by inheritance. This is conclusive that the Prince of these last chapters of Ezekiel is not Christ. The Prince has sons and servants. As the entire final vision of this book deals with the earthly conditions of the coming age, and reveals nothing of the heavenly side of things, these sons and servants cannot mean the church-saints, who are with Christ in the New Jerusalem. As to a gift to one of the Prince’s servants, it is to revert to his sons when the year of liberty or jubilee is celebrated. The jubilee year will therefore be observed during the coming age.
IV. Additional Description of Temple Buildings.
After he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers of the priests, which looked toward the north: and, behold, there was a place on the two sides westward. Then said he unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, where they shall bake the meal offering; that they bear them not out into the utter court, to sanctify the people. Then he brought me forth into the utter court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and, behold, in every corner of the court there was a court. In the four corners of the court there were courts joined of forty cubits long and thirty broad: these four corners were of one measure. And there was a row of buildings round about them, round about them four, and it was made with boiling places under the rows round about. Then said he unto me, These are the places of them that boil, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people (verses 19-24).
Again the prophet is brought by the northern gate to the side where the holy chambers of the priests are located. There he saw a place on the two sides westward. The use of this place is made known in verse 20. The final description of buildings round about the court needs no further comment.
Chapter XLVII
The Vision Concerning the Land. —
The preceding chapters of this final section of the Book of Ezekiel contain the vision of the Temple and its worship. The last two chapters give a vision of Israel’s land as it will be during the coming age.
I. The Temple Stream and its Healing Waters.
Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house was the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, from the south of the altar. Then brought he me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the outer gate toward the gate that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. And when the man went forth eastward, he had a line in his hand, and he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.
And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the marshes thereof and the pools thereof shall not be healed: they shall be given to salt. And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine (verses 1-12).
This great vision of the Temple stream has been variously interpreted. The critical school has treated it only as an imagery of the prophet and speaks of the physical impossibility that such a stream could ever be in existence.56 Others have spiritualized the vision. A leading annotator states, “Messiah is the temple and the door; from His pierced side flow the living waters, ever increasing, both in the individual believer and in the heart.” In this spiritualizing method the waters are also applied to the reading and study of the Word of God. The same commentator says “some things in the Bible are easy to understand, as the water up to the ankles; others more difficult, which require deeper search, as the waters up to the knees and the loins; and others beyond our reach.” Such applications can be made in different ways. The stream which Ezekiel saw is more than typical of the blessings which the land and all the earth will enjoy in the coming age. It is a literal stream. There will be a great outpouring of the Spirit of God for the age to come, and spiritual blessings will abound everywhere. But the stream Ezekiel beholds tells of the physical blessings which are in store for the earth in that coming day of the restoration of all things. We do not need to trouble ourselves about the manner in which the temple stream is to flow forth, nor do we need to solve the physical difficulties. When the Lord of Creation was on earth in humiliation, and walked among men garbed in servant’s form, nature acknowledged Him and He manifested the Creator’s power. What will it be when He comes again, not as a servant to die, but as the King and Lord of all! Omnipotence will then be displayed to the full. Is there anything too hard for the Lord? (Jere. xxxii:27). He who bore the thorns on His brow, the symbol of the curse which on account of man’s sin rests upon Creation, will remove that curse in the day of His power. He paid for it on the cross.
And Ezekiel was not the only prophet to whom was revealed the physical blessing of the earth in the life and health giving stream. Isaiah had the same vision. “And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals where each lay shall be grass with reeds and rushes” (Is. xxxv:7). “I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Is. xliii:19). “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree” (Is. lv:13). “The desert shall blossom like the rose” (Is. xxxv:1). Joel at the close of his great vision concerning the still future day of Israel’s tribulation and the judgment of the nations following the time of trouble, and the Lord’s visible manifestation, also speaks of the blessings of the Millennium. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim” (Joel iii:18). Joel, one of the earliest prophets, living centuries before Ezekiel, saw water coming forth from the house of the Lord for earthly blessings. Still more definite is the great post-exilic prophet Zechariah. “And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea; in summer and in winter shall it be” (Zech. xiv:8).
The waters Ezekiel saw issued out from under the threshold, from the right side of the house, the south side of the altar. Of the heavenly Jerusalem a similar scene is recorded by John in the Revelation. “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. xxii:1). The stream has its origin in the midst of the millennial temple. There is no use in speculating about the source of the water supply. It is super-natural. He who said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters” (Gen. i:6) and He who broke open all the fountains of the deep when His judgment came on the earth (Gen. vii:11) by whose power also the smitten rock in the wilderness supplied the water for His people, He will provide from His inexhaustible resources the life giving stream. And the waters which gush forth are increasing in volume; the stream does not become shallower but deepens in its flow. It is not like a natural river which has its source in a spring and is fed by brooks and rivers. It is a miraculous, unexplainable self-supply which occasions this increase. A thousand cubits are measured and the waters come to the ankles of the prophet. The next thousand cubits bring the waters to the knees; then advancing another thousand cubits the waters come to the loins, and with the fourth thousand they become so deep that the prophet could not fathom them. The four thousand cubits make about a mile and a half, so that the prophet had advanced, under the guidance of the man, this distance from Jerusalem in a southeastern direction.
He is caused to return to the bank of the river, and saw there on both sides many trees. These trees testify of the great fertility which this stream will produce in nature. Expositors who give the vision a purely spiritual meaning explain the trees as being the righteous who shall flourish at the waterbrooks (Psalm i).
The man informs the prophet that these waters go toward the east country and go down into the desert. The word desert in Hebrew is “Arabah” and means “plain,” which is the plain of Jordan. It signifies a parched, dry place. Jordan is the type of death, and the sea of salt, the Dead Sea, into which Jordan flows, also signifies death.57 And now in the Dead Sea this living water from the temple flows, and healing is the blessed result. Where death has reigned so long abundant life now is manifested. Sodom is restored to its former estate (See chapter xvi). Wheresoever the waters go life follows at once. “There shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither, for they shall be healed; and everything shall live whither the river cometh. The fishers shall stand up from En-gedi unto En-eglaim.” En-gedi is on the one end and En-eglaim at the other end of the Dead Sea. Yet there will be marshes and pools which remain unhealed; their former condition is unchanged. It has been suggested that this is done for the production of salt. But it is rather a reminder that while the coming age is an age of wonderful blessing, that it is not yet the perfect, eternal age. And the trees will be ever green, never failing, providing meat by their abundant fruit and the leaf is for medicine. It shows the gracious provision made for man living on the earth during the age to come. Poverty, famine and sickness will be banished.
II. The Borders of the Land.
Thus saith the Lord God; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions. And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance. And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad: Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazar-hatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran. And the border from the sea shall be Hazar-enan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side. And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side. And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward. The west side also shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side. So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel (verses 13-21).
Little comment is needed on these verses. That the literal land and the literal tribes are meant, no intelligent readers can deny. The twelve tribes are then back in the land. The so-called “lost tribes” are united with the house of Judah. Here the borders are given. Joseph has two portions. God is faithful. He has not forgotten His gracious promises of old. “And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another, concerning which I lifted up mine hand (in oath) to give it unto your fathers; and this land shall fall unto your inheritance.” The whole land is to be divided according to the tribes of Israel.
III. Concerning the Stranger in the Land.
And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord God (verses 22-23).
Here is a provision for the strangers. They are no longer to be treated as outcasts, as aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; they are seen fully identified with Israel and share the inheritance. This again confirms other prophecies (See Isaiah lx:1-10.) The strangers shall come and build the walls, and join themselves to Israel. The singing times for Israel have come. No longer will the chosen people be the tail of nations, but the head of all nations. “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day and shall be my people, and I will dwell in the midst of thee.”... (Zech. ii:10-12). No longer will the Jew be despised, but the strangers, the nations, will beseech him to take them to the glory land. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men out of all languages of the nations shall take hold, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you” (Zech. viii:23).
Chapter XLVIII
The Portion of the Tribes; the Territory of the Oblation; the City, Its Gates and New Name. —
I. The portion of Seven Tribes.
Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Hazar-enan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides east and west; a portion for Dan. And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Asher. And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Naphtali. And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Manasseh. And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Ephraim. And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Reuben. And by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Judah.
And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the offering which ye shall offer of five and twenty thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the other parts, from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it (verses 1-8).
The division of the land to the twelve tribes, then fully restored, is by lot (xlvii:22) but the disposing of it will be by the Lord (Prov. xvi:33). The order is entirely different from the one found in the Book of Joshua (Josh. xv-xix). Up to the time of the carrying away of the ten tribes and the captivity of Judah, the tribes possessed the territory assigned to them by lot when they entered the land under Joshua. The ten tribes never returned from the captivity, and therefore the division of the land as given here has never been in the history of Israel. It is future. The division is in twelve portions all alike in dimensions, running alongside of each other, from west to east. Seven tribes are in the north, and five in the south. Between the seven tribes in the north and the tribes in the south is the oblation, the heave offering, the portion of the prince, the Levites and the priests, the Temple and the city with its surrounding territory. The tribe of Dan has its portion in the extreme north. It is the furthest away from the sanctuary. Dan was a corrupt tribe, semi-heathen (Judges xviii). Dan is not mentioned among the sealed one in Revelation vii. All the other tribes are placed in a different order from the former position.
II. The Oblation; the Remaining Tribes.
The oblation that ye shall offer unto the Lord shall be of five and twenty thousand in length, and of ten thousand in breadth. And for them, even for the priests, shall be this holy oblation; toward the north five and twenty thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the Lord shall be in the midst thereof. It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray. And this oblation of the land that is offered shall be unto them a thing most holy by the border of the Levites. And over against the border of the priests the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand. And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the firstfruits of the land: for it is holy unto the Lord.
And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city, for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof. And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred. And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty. And the residue in length over against the oblation of the holy portion shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward: and it shall be over against the oblation of the holy portion; and the increase thereof shall be for food unto them that serve the city. And they that serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel. All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city.
And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city, over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince: and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof. Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince’s, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince. As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin shall have a portion. And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon shall have a portion. And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar a portion. And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun a portion. And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad a portion. And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar unto the waters of strife in Kadesh, and to the river toward the great sea. This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, saith the Lord God (verses 9-29).
Judah’s portion on the north and Benjamin’s portion on the south border are an oblation, that which is offered unto the Lord. In this space of large dimensions are the portions of the Levites and the priests. The Temple stands in the middle of the portion of the priests, and adjoining is the holy city and its territory.58 The Prince has his portion on both sides of the oblation, the heave offering. That Judah and Benjamin are bordering on these holy sections is not without meaning. Judah is the royal tribe. He who is now worshipped by His restored people is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Israel’s King. Judah means “praise”. He receives the praises of His people. Benjamin’s other name was Benoni, “the son of suffering” and Benjamin is “the son of the right hand.” Both Judah and Benjamin are a reminder of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is impossible to explain fully the measurements given and other details of this chapter. We believe what God has written, and when the time has come He will surely see to it that all is done according to His word. We do not need to trouble ourselves with supposed difficulties or try to solve them. As stated before in this exposition, Israel’s land will undergo a wonderful change when the Lord comes; these physical changes are unknown to us in their extent. The division of the land, and the setting apart of the oblation will then take place. The details in all these visions are of little importance to us. The main fact is to see that all these prophecies have remained unfulfilled up to now. Nor will they be fulfilled during the present age. As every judgment prediction of the prophecies of Ezekiel, uttered before the destruction of Jerusalem, was fulfilled, so every prediction of glory and blessing in the prophecies spoken after the destruction of the city will be fulfilled. It all awaits His coming and glorious appearing. Let us hold fast this and leave the accomplishment of every detail to the Lord.
III. The Gates of the City and its new Name.
And these are the goings out of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures. And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi. And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan. And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun. At the west side four thousand and five hundred, with their three gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali. It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there (verses 30-35).
The city, the earthly Jerusalem, during the Kingdom age, will have twelve gates, after the twelve tribes of Israel. The gates on the north side are the gates of Reuben, Judah and Levi. The gates on the east are those of Joseph, Benjamin and Dan. Then the gates on the south—gates of Simeon, Issachar and Zebulun. The west side gates are the gates of Gad, Asher and Naphthali. Ephraim and Manasseh are no longer mentioned, but are represented in Joseph. Some expositors have made the statement that the city, Jerusalem with its gates, is an Old Testament description of the same Jerusalem which John beheld in the isle of Patmos (Rev. xxi). John saw the new Jerusalem, Ezekiel the earthly city as it will exist during the Millennium. There are correspondencies, and yet greater distinctions. Here in Ezekiel a Temple is the center of the land; in Revelation we read the seer’s word, “I saw no temple therein” (Rev. xxi:22). The heavenly Jerusalem, like the earthly Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s vision, has the twelve gates and written on them the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. The wall of the heavenly Jerusalem has twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. No wall and no foundations are mentioned by Ezekiel in connection with the millennial Jerusalem. The heavenly Jerusalem is four square, “the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.” Such is not the case with the earthly city. Nor is there mention made by Ezekiel of the precious stones, and the twelve gates, composed every gate of one pearl; nor do we read of golden streets. The earthly Jerusalem will pass away, and when at last the new heaven and the new earth have come into existence, after the millennial reign of Christ, the new Jerusalem will descend out of heaven and find its eternal resting place upon the new earth.
The circumference of the city of Jerusalem according to Ezekiel’s vision will be 18,000 reeds, about six miles. Then comes the majestic ending, the last word the man of God pronounced. “And the name of that city from that day shall be ‘Jehovah Shammah’, the Lord is there.” It is a fitting finale to this great Book. In its beginning we see the glory of the Lord departing. Throughout the pages of the Book we read of Israel’s rebellion, Jerusalem’s judgments, the nation’s disobedience and rejection. Then follow the messages of Hope—Israel’s conversion, the regathering of the twelve tribes, the final conflict, the returning glory of the Lord; and from that day the name of the city will be Jehovah Shammah. Because He has manifested His gracious presence in the midst of His people and established His throne, blessed His people with all the spiritual and national blessings promised by His holy prophets, destroyed all their enemies, and covers all with His visible glory once more, therefore the city will have the name “Jehovah is there.” What a glory it will be for Him. The city through which He once walked with weary feet, the Son of God garbed in servant’s form; the city through which He was dragged, when the cross was laid upon His shoulders, the city which cast Him out, the city outside of which He endured the cross and despised the shame—that same city will be made in that day the glory spot of the earth.
Footnotes:
1 F. W. Gotch.
2 Synopsis J. N. D.
3 The responsibility of Ezekiel in delivering the message was great. Every servant of the Lord Jesus Christ with a far greater message than Ezekiel’s should also feel that responsibility. If it were felt more, there would be more earnestness, more prayer and greater results.
4 Some have concluded on account of this passage, that throughout the prophetic word wherever “days” are mentioned, they mean “years.” This is incorrect. The “year-day” theory is not a scriptural one. Where we find days, it means days unless the text itself, as it is here in Ezekiel, explains the days as years.
5 Exod. xxviii:38-43; Lev. v:1, 17, vii:8, x:17, etc.
6 Or spelt, a kind of corn.
7 The literal meaning is sword, the same as in verse 12.
8 Another rendering is: “Calamity after calamity!”
9 The word “fire” is in the Septuagint (ancient Greek Version of the Old Testament) translated “man” so that it reads “the appearance of a man.” There is a similarity between the Hebrew words for “man” and “fire.” Fire is “esh” and man “ish.” Compare with chapter i:26, 17.
10 This was three months before the war.
11 The cherub who handed to the man clothed in linen the fire from between the cherubim.
12 Or, “for a little while.”
13 Millennial Dawn, or Associated Bible Students, Restorationists, etc., do this.
14 The so-called Anglo-Israel theory lacks all Scriptural and historical support.
15 Literal translation is, “O deadly wounded wicked one, the Prince of Israel.”
16 Literally, Rust.
17 Moab and Ammon were the incestuous offspring of Lot. (Genesis xix:37-38.)
18 It is well to state here that Daniel mentions Antichrist but once in his prophecies, in chapter xi:36, etc. The little horn in Dan. vii is the head of the revived Roman Empire; the little horn in Dan. viii was Antiochus Epiphanus, the type of the King of the North who will invade the pleasant land, Palestine, during the time of the great tribulation.
19 For a detailed and excellent exposition of this passage see the book on “Satan,” by F. C. Jennings, pp. 43-48.
20 The crocodile was often used on Egyptian seal-rings as well as on Roman coins, which pictured Egypt as a monster crocodile.
21 Babylon and Egypt, page 192.
22 Wonders of Prophecy, by J. Urquhart, gives valuable evidence on the literal fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy.
23 Nebuchadnezzar’s name is given by Ezekiel as Nebuchadrezzar. Both spellings were in vogue. Ezekiel spells the name with “r” and Jeremiah uses both spellings throughout his book.
24 This may also be rendered “the day draweth near, even the day of the Lord draweth near.”
25 See Exposition of Daniel, by A. C. G., on Dan. iii-vi.
26 “A whale in the seas” is an incorrect translation.
27 Even so the Lord will yet be known to the nations of the earth by His judgments.
28 What is said in this chapter of the false shepherds who ill-treated the flock of God, His ancient people, may also be applied to the false shepherds, the hirelings in the professing church. See Acts xx:28-35 and 1 Peter v:2-3.
29 It is wrong to apply this sentence to water-baptism and claim for it sprinkling as the proper mode of baptism.
30 We heard once a Baptist preacher speak on this vision, and he used the dry bones as a picture of the dead members of his own denomination, and spoke of them as “the dry bones.” A Methodist, Presbyterian, etc., might do the same.
31 See “Exposition of Daniel,” by A. C. G., page 200.
32 Wm. Kelly.
33 The Septuagint translates, “Mesoch and Thobel.”
34 This is the more satisfactory rendering. The marginal reading, “Strike thee with six plagues” or “draw thee back with a hook of six teeth” is incorrect.
35 See “The Prophet Joel,” by A. C. G., where this interesting and important chapter is explained in full.
36 What strange applications have been made of this vision! We quote from the “New Century Bible” which says concerning this temple: “Its details shed a light nowhere else vouchsafed to us upon the ideals of Hebrew art, influenced perhaps, by Babylonian masterpieces, yet entirely national and Puritan; and they embody in material form Ezekiel’s sober but intense conception of religion, as completely as the Gothic cathedrals translate into concrete and abiding stone and marble the soaring visions of mediaeval Christianity.”(!)
37 May also be translated “and set me upon a very high mountain, and upon it was as the building of a city, on the south.” It will be upon that exalted mountain.
38 Seven days the priests had to take in their consecration; on the eighth day they entered upon their work. Circumcision was practised on the eighth day, symbolical of the death of Christ and the putting off of the body of the flesh (Col. ii:1), the entrance into the new creation. On the eighth day Christ was transfigured and the transfiguration is a type of His coming into the kingdom. The eighth psalm shows Him the head of the new creation, with all things under His feet.
39 The Septuagint gives ten cubits instead of only eleven, which probably is correct.
40 The words “which was the breadth of the tabernacle” are by some declared doubtful. The Septuagint has omitted them.
41 i. e., To the level place where the side chambers begin.
42 Corrected text.
43 See Zech. xiv:4, 8, 10.
44 Chapter xlv:1-2.
45 Marginal reading.
46 Such an application seems warranted in view of the message Ezekiel received from the Lord to the people (verses 6-12).
47 “The carcases of their kings” may either mean that some of their idolatrous kings had been buried within the bounds of the Solomonic temple, or, the word kings may refer to their idols, which had dominion over them (Is. xxvi:13). The latter may be the right meaning for the high place mentioned.
48 The word “Ariel” as used in Ezekiel has one more letter than the word in Isaiah xxix.
49 Zadok means “just.” He was the successor of Abiathar in the priesthood—the son of Ahitub of the family of Eleazar (2 Sam. viii:17; 1 Kings ii:27, 35).
50 The sects, like Seventh Day Baptists, Adventists, etc., quote this passage. They are utterly wrong for this has nothing whatever to do with the present age.
51 The Hebrew word translated “leader” is “prince.”
52 Read our comment on this verse.
53 The sixtieth part of a talent, about fifty shekels.
54 The Feasts of Jehovah—Passover: The Cross and its work. First Fruits: Resurrection of Christ. Pentecost: The Gift of the Spirit and the calling of the Church. Feast of Trumpets: The Regathering of Israel. Day of Atonement: Israel’s Cleansing. Feast of Tabernacles: The Millennium.
55 When it speaks of “my rest” in Hebrews iv it refers to the eternal rest.
56 One says: “The double impossibility of the rapid rise of water in the stream and the course of the river across the steep limestone range east of Jerusalem into the Dead Sea does not occur to the prophet.” As if Ezekiel had invented this vision.
57 Ps. lxviii:4 has this word “Arabah;” in the Authorized Version it is translated “heaven.” It is in the plural, “Araboth”—“Cast up the way for him that rideth in Araboth”—the places of death. Christ is seen prophetically as the Conqueror of death and Sheol.
58 Consult sketch.