[Photograph above by Mr. & Mrs
McCormick]
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By way of an
INTRODUCTION
“For thus saith the Jehovah of the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my
covenant: Unto them will I give in my house and within my walls a
memorial and a name better than the sons and of daughters; I will give them an
everlasting name, that should not be cut off.
Also the
foreigners that join themselves to Jehovah, to minister unto
him,
and to love the name of Jehovah, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from
profaning it, and holdeth fast my covenant; even them 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 MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL
PEOPLES:” (Isaiah 56: 4-7, R.V.).
“And they
came to Jerusalem: and he [Jesus] entered into the temple, and began
to cast out them that sold and them that bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables
of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold the doves; and he would not
suffer that any man should carry a vessel through the temple.
And he taught and said
unto them, Is it not written, my house shall be called a house of prayer
FOR ALL NATIONS? but
ye have made it a den of robbers:”
(Mark 11: 15-17, R.V.).
“Howbeit
that which ye have, hold fast till I come. And he
that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give
authority over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of
the potter are broken to shivers; as I also have received of my Father:”
(Revelation 2: 25-27, R.V.).
“Because
thou didst keep the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial,
that hour which is to come upon
the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the whole earth. I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my
God, and
he shall go out thence no more …” (Revelation
3: 10-12,
R.V.).
“As many as
I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock: If any man hear my
voice and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me. He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my
throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the
churches:” (Revelation 3: 19-22, R.V.).
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[Page 1]
THE LAND, THE CITY and THE
By
FRANK H. WHITE
I have long felt that the typical
meaning of many parts of the Tabernacle of Moses, and the Temple of Solomon,
pertaining as they do, to the future of Israel as a nation, will be better understood
by that people in a coming day, when the veil shall be uplifted from their
hearts, and when, in unbroken unity, they shall “worship Jehovah in the beauty of holiness,” and “their seed shall he known
among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the
peoples; all that see them shall acknowledge that they are the seed which the Lord hath
blessed” (Isa.
61: 9).
If this be so of the Tabernacle, and
At the best, therefore, we must say, “Now we know
in part”
only. For the full understanding of these Scriptures we
must wait till the day dawn, when the shadows shall have fled for ever, and “we know even
as we are known.”
Whilst there are many difficulties
connected with a literal
interpretation of Ezekiel’s vision, difficulties which I believe will only
vanish with their fulfilment, they are few indeed compared with those which
confront us when we seek to interpret the whole in a purely
allegorical or mystic sense. In this
case its exposition would depend very much on the genius and imagination of the expositor.
That we have symbolism in the
And now, in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, the Divine Author
of this vision, and with a lowly, reverent mind, let us look into its sacred contents. Let us tread softly, for the ground is holy,
and we are weak and insufficient.
The Nation of
First, notice the vision relates exclusively to their land; their city; and their temple. “Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and
hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon
all that I shall shew thee ... declare all that
thou seest to the house of Israel” (Ezek.
40: 4). Again, “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”
(Ezek. 44:
5).
The glory which the prophet saw coming from the way of the East
- the Shekinah-glory - the special distinction of the Tabernacle of Moses, and
the
Is it therefore fair exegesis to refer the vision, or indeed
any part of it, to the Church, [Page 3] as so many have done, and say, that “what the
vision doth chiefly hold out to us, is the building of the Christian temple
with the worship thereof, under
Jewish expressions, which began to be accomplished in the apostles’ days”; - or to say, that while “the prophet
uses words and phrases suitable to the state of the Jews - describes as it were
their temple, worship, and land, he nevertheless aims at no such thing,
but intends the spiritual kingdom of
Christ, and His Gospel”; that “it is not an earthly city and temple we are to look at here,
but a spiritual city and temple, viz. the Church of Christ.”
But if we are to understand Ezekiel as describing under Jewish
expressions a spiritual temple,
“which began to be erected in the apostles’ days,”
what is the meaning of all this minute and accurate detail, the various
measurements of the several parts of the sacred house, the gates, the steps,
the posts, the porches, the tables, the chambers, the doors?
Again, how express are the instructions which the prophet
receives: “And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house and the fashion, thereof: and the going out
thereof, and the coming in 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” (Ezek.
43: 11).
Can it be that all this meant nothing to them but “a kind of
prophecy of spiritual blessings, in Gospel days”?
Nearly all the apparent difficulties which belong to a literal
interpretation of the last chapters of Ezekiel’s prophecy, are met by the
consideration that the time of this “temple” is [Page 4] else where referred to in the Scriptures as marked, by an
intervention on the part of God, evidently miraculous. For example, great physical and geographical
changes will then be wrought in the
* “The topography is accurately given, and
to explain it figuratively would be wickedness: For this very reason the text
describes the mountain with such precision and distinctness, in order that the
interpreter might not slip aside into allegory.” - Bengel.
“As the
[Page 5]
Among the events which will happen in “the Day of
the Lord,” and
usher in the Millennium, we are there told “His feet (Messiah’s) shall stand in that day on
the mount of Olives which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the
mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward
the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south” (Zech. 14: 4).
Again, in verse 10 of the same chapter we read, “All the land,” that is the holy land round about
Jerusalem, “shall be turned as a plain from Geba
(in Benjamin, the
northern border of Judah) to Rimmon (in Simeon, the southern border
of Judah) south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up,
and inhabited in her place ... and men shall
dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter
destruction.” (See
also Jer. 31: 38-40). Simultaneously with the levelling
of the district south of Jerusalem is the exaltation of Mount Zion foretold in Isaiah 2: 21:
“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”
The
Ezekiel sees a river issuing from under the threshold of the
“And it shall come to pass that
everything 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 everything shall live whither
the river cometh” (Ezek. 47: 6-12; Joel 3: 18; Zech. 14: 8; Rev. 22: 1).
As the temple waters pass through the barren lands to the
Thus the
In Zechariah’s prophecy we are told that “living waters
shall go out from
If this be so, then we may not any more ask, “How can these
things be?” Are they more incredible than that God should
raise the dead? Are they more wonderful
than the wonders of the wilderness? How
could a flowing sea supply a dry path? or a flinty rock, on being smitten, send
forth streams of water? or manna drop daily from heaven? or the walls of a city
fall down for the blowing of trumpets?
Another difficulty relates to the arrangement of the
tribes of
To some the most serious difficulty of any in the way of a
literal interpretation of Ezekiel’s vision of the City and
A New Institution of Animal Sacrifices
This they regard as “a return to the
beggarly elements of the law, by which Christ by His one offering has once and
for all set His people free,” and “a practical denial
of the all-sufficiency of the atonement.” It would be so so now; but does it follow that it would be so then?
Of this we may be certain,
that of whatever nature the ritual may be which will be found connected [Page 8] with
Israel’s Temple and worship in the Day of their Restoration, it will in no wise
conflict with the truth of the sufficiency of the once-for-all offered
Sacrifice at Calvary, where Jesus died for the nation as well as for the children of God scattered abroad (John 11: 50-52).
May
not these sacrifices be commemorative, as is our observance of the Lord’s
Supper?* Might they not
have a retrospective as those under Moses’ law had a
prospective, relation to the Cross of Christ?
May not the national character of
* “In the Millennium, the
government of
“They will have certain peculiar ordinances, national in their character,
the neglect of which would involve them in disobedience to the government of
their King, as well as to the appointment of their God. They would be politically and civilly
disqualified for their offices and privileges if they neglected the appointed
ordinances. Can we be surprised that the
ordinances appointed to
“Then, too, will be seen the difference between
ritual ordinances appointed and directed by God, and the contrivances of
ritualism invented and directed by man.” - Occasional Papers on Scriptural Subjects,
by B. W. Newton.
[Page 9]
Moreover, can we judge what is best to impress the national
character of
In seeking to determine the question
of the futurity of Ezekiel’s vision, we shall do well to notice what is
declared to be the condition of the
nation at the time of its fulfilment.
And in doing so, we shall, I think, be forced to the conclusion that it answers exactly to that
which is, described as pertaining to Millennial times. For example, in the
latter part of the thirty-ninth
chapter of the prophecy, where we have the introduction, so to speak, to the
visions of the chapters which follow, we read, “Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Now
will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and [Page 10] have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my Holy Name.”
So in chap. 39: 25.
The vision is seen as relating to a time when “God will
dwell in the midst of His people for ever, and
the house of Israel shall no more defile His holy name” (chap. 42: 7). Moreover, the name of the city, “JEHOVAH SHAMMAH,” indicates the character of the dispensation. It shows, I think, that it belongs to the
period when the nation shall be “all righteous,” and when the “Lord of hosts
shall reign in
Further, it is seen to be the time of
The Return of the Glory
to the land.
The visions of Ezekiel as described in the first part of his prophecy, which he saw from the banks of the river Chebar (chap. 1), contain a striking contrast to those which he beholds when brought into
the
[* See Acts 5: 32, and compare 1 Sam.
7: 3 with
8: 3; 10: 16 with 12: 15; and 15: 22, 23 with 16: 14, R.V.)]
From the threshold of the temple “the Glory” ascends and stands above the cherubim
(verse 18).
After that the prophet sees the holy creatures lift up their wings and
mount up [Page
11] with “the Glory” from the temple. Finally, he beholds “the Glory” leave the city and stand upon the Mount of Olives, “which is before
Thus by the same gate from whence “the Glory” departed, it is seen returning. “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 the noise of
many waters, and the earth shined with his glory; and the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of
the gate whose prospect is toward the
East” (Ezek. 43:
1-4).
The East gate was to be deemed specially sacred as through it, “the glory,” had departed (Ezek.
11: 23), and through it, as we have seen, “the glory” was to return (chap. 43:
2).
Before the departure of “the Glory” the prophet is shown the abominations
of
Grace Where Sin Abounded
The picture which is also
given in the middle chapters of Ezekiel’s prophecy of the state of the city and
people at this time is fearful indeed, and serves but the more to magnify the
grace of God who at such a period should unfold purposes so gracious as those
which are displayed in the vision before us.
What a comment on the inspired declaration contained in the Epistle to
the Romans, “Where sin hath abounded, [Page 12] grace did
much more abound”!
In Ezekiel 43: 10, the prophet is thus addressed: “Son of man,
show the house to the house of
It has been truly said, “the solution
of this usually thought intricate and difficult prophecy is the departure and
return of the Shechinah.” Does
not the fact that Ezekiel’s temple receives the returning glory, prove its futurity? The second temple, had no Shechinah. The return of “the Glory” is inseparable from the return of Him
who is Himself the “Glory of his people
It is interesting to notice also the
references to the “East gate” (by which “the Glory” departed and returned) in connection with the [Page 13] ordinances of
The Prince
From them we learn that this gate was to be kept shut, no one
but the prince was to enter by it, it was sacred to his sole use.
“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, and
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” (Ezek.
44: 1-31).
[* NOTE: These words suggest, to me, that the temple which the
Jews will build in the near future will be (1) in the wrong location, behind the “gate” and “wailing wall”! For the city and temple which was destroyed
by Titus in 70 D.D. has now been rebuilt some distance from the Gihon Spring,
and further north from where the old city and three former temples once stood)! And (2)
‘the prince’ is none other than the Antichrist,
(before he will break his covenant with the Jews), and after he ‘shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord’. See Robert
Cornuke’s book “
Who is the prince, twelve times referred to in this
prophecy? Certainly not
Messiah, as some have affirmed; for in chap.
46: 4-15, he is seen offering a burnt-offering and a
meat-offering to Jehovah. “And the burnt-offering that the prince shall offer unto the Lord on the
sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish.”
In verse 16 of the same chapter, we
read of his “sons”: “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.”*
* In chap. 46:
18, the
prince is charged against doing His people wrong by taking of their inheritance
by oppression. This is sufficient proof in itself that he is not the Messiah.
May we not think of the prince as the
civil governor, ruling under Messiah the King, as His representative? He is not
the High Priest, nor does he
seem to exercise any priestly function.
He is a worshipper and an offerer [Page 14] with his people. “And the prince in the midst of them,
when they go in, shall
go in; and when they go forth, shall go forth” (Ezek.
46: 10).
There is no niention
of the Ark of the Covenant in Ezekiel’s temple.
The type is wanting; the Antitype supplies its place. Jehovah Jesus dwells in the midst of His people - they need no ark as the symbol of His presence. A full
display of His Divine glory is ever before them. “And it shall come to pass when ye be
multiplied and increased in the land
in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The
ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall
it come to mind; neither shall they remember it;
neither shall they visit; (rather, shall they miss it) regret its loss; neither shall
that [the ark] be done or made any more.” (See marg. R.V.) At that time they shall call
No veil is spoken of, nor any day of
atonement; either is any candle-tick or lampstand mentioned in
Ezekiel’s temple. The Lord Himself will
be the light thereof.
We read the prophet saw also eight tables placed four on one side and four on the other of the porches
at the entrance of the north gate, on which the animals for sacrifice were
slain, and their flesh placed, and four others of hewn stone for the
burnt-offering, making twelve in all (Ezek. 42: 39-42).
Perhaps the most remarkable fact about the temple, as seen by
Ezekiel, is its position. It is not in the city or its suburbs, but in that portion of (the “oblation”) the land allotted to sacred
purposes which “shall be unto them a thing most holy (marg.: holiness of holinesses)
by the
border of the Levites” (Ezek.
48: 12).
The Oblation
“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” (Ezek.
45: 1).
This is further divided into three portions, to each of which
is ascribed a different degree of sacredness.
The northern or upper division, which is called the “most holy
oblation,” is [Page 16] set apart for the priests, the sons
of Zadok, in which was the sanctuary (or temple) “and the most holy place.” “The holy portion of
the land shall be for the priests, the ministers
of the sanctuary, who 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 sanctuary of the Lord
(the temple) shall be in the midst thereof” (Ezek. 45: 4; 48: 10).
The middle portion of the oblation was assigned to the
Levites, to “have for themselves for a possession.”
This is called the “holy oblation.”
The lower or southern part of the oblation, a strip of five thousand
(reeds), is occupied by the land on either side of
The City.
“And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty
thousand, i.e., the remainder of the whole
oblation of twenty-five thousand reeds* (from North to South) shall be
a profane (or common) place (i.e. not strictly sacred to priests) for the city and its subeubs, and the city shall be in the midst thereof” (chap. 48: 15-20).
*The word “reeds”
as supplied, and I think rightly, by both the A.V. and R.V. does not appear in
the original. The Septuagint read cubits.
The reed was six cubits and a
hand-breadth in length.
The gates or “goings out” of the city are twelve in number, “After the tribes of Israel.” i.e. Three: North, South, East and
West.
There are no cities of refuge in the Millennial arrangement of
the land of Israel, but of the oblation, East and West (not in the city or its
suburbs), it is said of the prince “And a [Page 17] portion shall
be for the prince on the one side and on the other side of the oblation of the
holy portion,” “In the land shall
be his possession in Israel” (chap. 45: 7, 8). The name of the city
from that day shall be no longer
And now for a few
Practical Reflections
upon the vision as a whole.
(1) Notice, it is written “the word of Jehovah came expressly, (verily) unto Ezekiel.”
It was a Divine word which “in coming, came to
him.” “I saw visions of God.”
“In the visions of God brought He me into the
“A Revelation
which was designed expressly to teach a forgotten truth, the absolute holiness
of God who had made Israel His dwelling place [Page 18] cannot but
be a lesson to those who are the habitation of God, through the spirit at the
present time. Holiness becometh His
house for ever, and is only realized by us as we realize His presence in His
Church and in each of His redeemed.”
(2) Seeing the establishment of the
Millennial city and temple in the land of Israel is inseparably bound up
with the glory of Christ, with whom we are heirs, and joint heirs, the promise
thereof should act upon our hearts to
excite expectation and to animate hope. The glories of the Millennial reign on earth form a
part of the joy resulting from the travail of Christ’s soul as Redeemer; they
are the fruit of His sufferings, the reward of His pains. Where His heel was bruised,
there will He display the triumphs of His power and grace. “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.”
He who refused to take the
kingdom of this world from Satan, as the price of His disobedience, shall
possess the sovereignty thereof, as the reward of His obedience. That He shall reign, Whose right it is, is our solace now, in view of all
the disorder and confusion which prevail in the earth (Ezek. 21:
27; Isa. 11:
10; Rom. 15: 12).
That the time of the reign of the Prince of Peace is nearing, makes
every day a day of gladness to the [obedient] believer. Warned by the Scriptures, he is not
deceived by the false cries of “peace, peace” which he hears on all sides.
The Present Outlook Upon the Nations.
Never was there a darker outlook among the nations in this
respect than at the present time. Never before was the
machinery of death and destruction brought to such shocking perfection, [Page 19] or directed to more deplorable
ends. Armageddon* yet remains future, and the nations glower
at each other under their only half-lifted visors.
*Armageddon
is the gathering place, of the anti-Christian armies, not the place of
battle (Rev. 16:
10).
The final destruction of these mighty armies will take place in the
We look in vain to any form of Government to rescue us from
the hereditary taint of fratricide that seems periodically, to impel nation
against nation, community, against community, race against race. The progress to which we all render
lip-service develops the capacities without quelling the passions of man. Life grows more complex, and, as the issues
become less simple, the impatient yearning to solve them ends by setting armies in motion, and the
sword is invoked to settle problems that baffle reason, and irritate argument.
The Sure Word of Prophecy,
while it stimulates us to renewed effort to spend and be spent
in ministering to the necessities, spiritual and temporal, of our fellow men,
sheds light upon this dark picture, and fills us with a hope which, in spite of
the obscurations that arise from our carnal and unbelieving hearts, is both a
bright and blessed one. The vision of
millennial glory presented in Ezekiel’s temple will, if viewed not as matter
for curious speculation, but as food for faith and hope, both sanctify and
enlarge our hearts. At the sight
thereof, we should “gird up the loins of (our) minds, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto
(us) at the Revelation
of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1: 13). For then we shall be with Him, and be like Him, and reign in
life, having as the sphere of our glory “the City of the Living God, the heavenly
(3) We see in the revelation which such a
prophecy as that of Ezekiel contains, a blessed proof of the Divine love to us upon whom the ends of the ages are
come. Regarding the “Father of the
faithful” as His
friend, God said, “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” (Gen. 18: 17). “Henceforth,” said Jesus to His disciples, “I call you
not servants, for the servant knoweth not what
his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends,
for all things that I have heard of My
Father, I have made known unto you.”
In prophecy, God, takes His [obedient] people into His counsel, by opening up to them “things to
come.” What an honour, what a privilege, to know the
mind of the Father! Viewed in this
light, who can despise the prophetic word? Surely it is a lamp unto our feet
and a light unto our path. By it, the
servants of God are warned - kept from many a pitfall of Satan. Prophecy
in forewarning us forearms us. To neglect its study, is therefore both foolish and sinful.
(4) The vision of Ezekiel shows us the true place in which we must
stand if we would be instructed in the things of God.
In His light we see light. The light of this world is darkness. The wisdom that descendeth not from above is “earthly,
sensual, devilish.”
To learn aright we must be taught of God. Like the beloved John, Ezekiel was shown
these deep things in a place of separation.
Nowhere else could he have appreciated either the hatefulness of
Ezekiel saw his first vision while an exile on the banks of
the Chebar; his last upon a “a very high
mountain in the
Would we know much of the mind of God? Let us then be much with God.
Let us be seeking to take the place of practical separation from the
world, avoiding the course thereof as opposed to that conversation which
becometh saints. “How can ye
believe,” said our
Lord, “which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” (John 5: 44).
How can we receive Divine instruction if our ears are filled with the
follies, and our eyes with the fashions of this world which “passeth away”?
Oh! that the glories of this prophecy might teach us to fasten
our thoughts more upon the sure things of God, as those who look for “a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God”
(Heb. 11:
10), into which all the redeemed shall be ultimately gathered - the city which Abraham looked for and John
saw “coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Ezekiel’s city is an earthly one, and will
pass away. This will be a heavenly city
and eternal, and shall never pass away, while its
chief glory will be that
God is there. “God Almighty
and the Lamb are the
* *
*
[Page 1]
THE MILLENNIAL
OF EZEKIEL’S PROPHECY
By
JAMES PAYNE
-------
[Page 2]
Introduction
Ezekiel
commenced his prophetic ministry in “the fifth year of the captivity of
King Jehoiachin” (in
some places called “Jeconiah”). The expression “the thirtieth year” in chapter
1, verse 1, is a little obscure, but
probably refers to the thirtieth year of Ezekiel’s life. Ezekiel was a priest and if our supposition
is correct then the Lord called him to the prophetic ministry at the same time
as he would normally have entered upon his priestly office. Whatever the meaning of this expression,
however, the time referred to is rendered perfectly clear by the expression in verse 2 to which we have already referred.
Each of Ezekiel’s thirteen prophecies are dated from the year
of King Jehoiachin’s captivity. He
prophesied in the fifth, sixth, seventh,
ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, twenty-fifth and twenty-seventh years from
that event. Only two prophecies in the book are placed out of chronological
order - one in the tenth year and the other in the twenty-seventh. The reason for this is obviously to bring all
the prophecies relating to
What was the purpose of this last vision given to
Ezekiel? It has been said that the Lord
intended to give
Such a conclusion, however, is obviously ill-considered. If the Lord had, at that time, brought
A very cursory comparison between Ezekiel’s
Some have suggested that the spiritual Temple of Christ’s
Church in its eternal glory, is here set forth in the symbols of an earthly
building and that nothing, more is intended.
The wealth [Page 4] of detail, however, employed in the minute description of every part of
the building precludes such an idea.
Certain parts of these chapters, such as the issuing of the living
waters from under the threshold or the entrance into the House of the Glory, of
the Lord, have been taken by some and so spiritualized, perhaps with some
profit to the hearers, but no man has yet ventured to spiritualize every detail
of description and measurement found in the record of this vision. It would be extremely difficult, for example,
without being highly fanciful, to find any spiritual counterpart to the
division of the land among the
tribes or the order in which the tribes
appear in the land. The same may be said of the numbers of arches, chambers
and pillars with their detailed measurements and many other such things. And unless the whole description can be shown
to be merely symbolic of spiritual things, it is manifestly improper so to
regard some particular portions thereof just according to one’s fancy.
To the honest and
unbiased reader, the record given is the plain and simple description in great
detail of a literal Temple, with a city in close proximity, yet to be built in
a particular place in the Holy Land, to the north and south of which the tribes
of Israel are to have equal inheritance in a manner entirely different from
that which has obtained in the previous history of the nation.
The
[Page 5]
First Tour of the
The Jewish standard measure was the cubit. Two measures are used
in the description of the
The angel commences the first tour, giving his explanatory
description of the
Through this gate they enter and
observe in doing so the one difference which distinguishes the gate in the
Levites’ court from the gate in the outer court. Whereas the gates in the outer court have
seven steps, the gates in the second court have eight steps. As there are no steps at
the entrances to the altar court, the total number of steps from the exterior
to the altar court is fifteen, agreeing with the fifteen Psalms of Degrees (120 - 134) or
Psalms of “Ascents” which were
sung by the Levites when “the Tribes went up, the Tribes of the Lord, unto
the testimony of Israel” and which will doubtless again be sung in that
day when “many nations
shall say, Come and let us go up to the House of
the God of Jacob” (Micah 4: 2).
From the south gate of the Levites’ court
the angel conducts Ezekiel to the east gate and shows him that this is
constructed on the same pattern. They
then proceed to the north gate and observe that this also
is of similar design but has certain additions which do not appear at any of
the other gates. On either side of this gate there is an additional chamber, separate from the
rest. These chambers are for the washing
of the offerings. Moreover, on either side
of this gate are four low tables or blocks (eight in all) only one cubit
(approximately twenty-two inches) high.
On these the animals offered in sacrifice are to be slain.
[Page 7]
Ezekiel is now shown into the altar court (the court of the priests) via the entrance which faces east, and as they pass the angel draws
attention to the chambers built into and
upon the wall of the court, and explains that these chambers are for the
singers. The angel does not at this juncture refer to the altar, but, draws attention to
two chambers - one on either side of the altar, to the north and south. The entrances to these chambers face the
altar, and the one on the north is for the use of the ministers of the
Ezekiel is then conducted to the
The carved work upon the walls of the
Before leaving the
The angel then leads Ezekiel out into the Levites’ court by
the opening towards the north and shows him the chambers built into the wall of
the
Ezekiel is then conducted from the
court of the Levites via the eastern gates back to the great wall from whence
the tour commenced. [Page 9] The angel then describes the area
enclosed by the great wall - 500 reeds by 500 reeds; that is about a square
mile. The outer court of the
Second Tour of the
The second tour commences by his being brought again to the
eastern gate of the outer court, and as he stands there
the Glory of Jehovah appears from the east and enters into the
The Spirit then takes Ezekiel and
sets, him down by the door of the
The Throne established by Jehovah on
Ezekiel’s attention is now directed
to the altar of sacrifice. Different
this from any, altar commanded under the Levitical law. This structure was composed of four square
blocks superimposed one upon another - the largest at the bottom. Thus it was “foursquare in four squares,” and it was approached by a flight
of steps. This last characteristic was
definitely forbidden under the law (see Ezek.
20: 26). This altar was situated
right in the centre of the whole
Thus, when the Son of Man shall reign over the house of Israel
upon the Throne of His Glory, Mount Zion will be the centre of the world,
whither all nations shall go up to keep the feasts of Jehovah; and the altar -
the memorial of Calvary - will be the centre of the Temple structure. As now, the central theme of worship will be
the Atonement once made and worshippers will still glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Their united praises will be “Unto Him that hath loved us
and washed us from our sins in His own blood.”
From the altar Ezekiel passes to the
eastern gate of the court of the Levites and notes that the gate is shut. This, the angel explains, is [Page 12] because the glory, of Jehovah has
entered via that gate. That therefore is
to be reserved for the exclusive use of the “Prince.” When he enters by
that gate on the Sabbath, it shall remain open till
the close of the day. When, however, on
other occasions, he enters to offer sacrifice, it is to be closed immediately
afterwards. As for the people, those
coming in by the north gate are to go out via the south gate and vice versa.
The angel then gives to Ezekiel a somewhat detailed account of
the sacrifices which are to be offered and of the
feasts which are to be kept unto the
Lord. He then takes him to the two
western corners of the Levites’ court and
shows him that in each corner there
is a smaller court which, he says, are for boiling
places of the sacrifices for the priests.
He then takes him into the outer court and shows him that in all four
corners of this court there are smaller courts.
And these are for boiling places where the
Levites shall boil the sacrifices of the people. Thus ends Ezekiel’s second
tour of the
Third Tour of the
There is still one thing, however, that Ezekiel has not
seen. The angel brings him back
therefore into the altar court and shows him a spring of water coming up from
under the threshold of the house, occupying a position similar to that of the
brazen sea in Solomon’s
It is evident that medicine will be needed in the time of their Lord’s reign upon
earth. While the people of Israel
themselves will probably be miraculously preserved from bodily weakness and
ailments as when they came out of Egypt (see Psalm
105: 37), it will be their privilege
to minister medicine to the nations where sickness will still persist although
probably of much less frequent occurrence than now. Satan will certainly not be free to afflict
as he was in the case of Job (see Rev. 20: 2 and 3).
The prophet Zechariah speaks of these
waters (chapter 14). He says that in the latter days the Lord’s
feet shall stand upon the
[Page 14]
Position of the
Ezekiel’s conducted tours of the
Dan
Asher
Naphtali
Manasseh
Ephraim
Reuben
Benjamin
Simeon
Issachar
Zebulun
Gad
There is no portion for the Tribe of Levi, but between the
Tribes of Judah and Benjamin there is to be a slightly narrower portion dedicated to Jehovah. In the centre of this portion
a square is to be set apart as an oblation, the land on either side thereof
belonging to the “Prince.” The oblation is to be divided into three
parts, two of equal size and one half that [Page 15] size.
The northern portion is to be for the
The distance from the
The Chambers of the
Let us now further consider the chambers of the
Sanctuary. On either side of each gate
in the [Page
16] outer court there are fifteen chambers in three
stories, making a total of ninety. In
the wall of the Levites’ court there are also ninety chambers similarly
placed. In. each case these are
strengthened by two pillars, one on either side of the gate. At the eastern entrance to the altar court
there are thirty chambers in three stories (fifteen on either side of the
entrance) and in the north and south walls of the Temple court, there are
thirty chambers in three stories, again making a total of ninety. Built against the
We have already seen that the chambers in the
The Table and the Sacrifices
It has been previously, noticed that
in the [Page
17] temple itself the
only piece of furniture referred to is the table of the Lord (chapter 44: 16). Now this is the expression
used by Paul to denote the communion table at which we partake of the Lord’s Supper. Moreover, in the
twenty-second chapter of the Gospel of Luke, our Lord said to His disciples, “[you are THEY who have CONTINUED with me in my TRIALS and] I appoint unto you a kingdom as my Father hath appointed unto me;
that ye may eat and drink at my table
in my kingdom, and
sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes
of Israel.”
Shortly afterwards He said. “I will not drink henceforth
of the fruit of the vine until I drink it new with you in my Father’s
kingdom.” It would seem, therefore, that the table which replaces the incense altar in the future
[* It would be an impossibility for
anyone to drink “the fruit of the vine”
in “a new heaven and a new
earth”! and after “the first
heaven and earth are passed away” and “the sea is no more”: (Rev.
21: 1,
R.V.)!
All Anti-millennialists should take note
of the fact that God means what He has said!
Therefore, Christ - (as promised [Psa. 2: 8])
- will have two future kingdoms; whether or not today’s apostate christendom and anti-millennial Christians continue in their
unbelief and persistent denials of unfulfilled prophetic statements about
it! See Psa. 72; 110: 1-3. cf.
Psa. 94: 10, R.V.
with Luke chapter 24, R.V.]
In this connection it is interesting
to notice that while the blood of the sacrifices slain in the
[Page 18]
The offerings enjoined upon the nation in connection with this
Under the law, the firstborn of all cattle and a yearly tithe
of all increase were to be dedicated to the Lord, together with numerous other sacrifices
and oblations. In the coming [millennial] age, however, such will be
The question naturally arises, How
will this Teniple be built? It seems clear that the topographical
preparation for the building and the appearance of the “living” waters will take place on the Lord’s first contact with the
earth at His coming. That He is the
Builder of the [Page 19] temple there can be no doubt, for Zechariah says of Him, “He shall
build the
Between our Lord’s descent upon Olivet
and His triumphal entry into the new Temple several things must [first] occur,
e.g. the treading of “the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” - [(2)
the apostasy
of regenerate Christians throughout all christendom: See Acts 20: 25-31; 1 Tim. 4: 1, 2; 2 Tim. 4: 1-4; 2 Pet. 2: 1-3; Jude 4, 11, 18, & 19: cf. Acts
5: 32, R.V. (3) a total destruction of the temple which
Antichrist will desecrate (2 Thess.
2: 1-4. R.V.). (4)] - and
the judgment of the nations (Matt. 25). Whether,
however, during, all the intervening period He will be here in person or
whether He will at any time withdraw, with the glorified
saints, into the heavenly city, or into heaven itself, the event must be left
to reveal.
Conclusion
Another question which arises is, Who
is the Prince? It is
said that he will give his sons their inheritance out of his own portion
of the land and shall not take away from the tribes their possessions. It would seem therefore that he is an
ordinary, mortal man, whom the Lord will appoint over His people at that time
(see Luke 20: 34-36).
The term “oblation” is sometimes applied
to the area covering the
The
“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. And many people shall go and say, Come ye,
and let us go
tip to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach
us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah
from Jerusalem. And he shall judge
among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into
plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2: 2-4).
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