Ezekiel 2019

The descriptions given of the Temple and it's appurtenances appear to be literal descriptions of real objects that will be constructed in the future. We know this is likely the case because of the similarities between this temple described in Ezekiel and that one which was built by Solomon. Also the dimensions of everything are very detailed. The dimensions point to the Temple being holy, or set apart. We are given a description of the power which exudes from the throne. This is told to us in a symbolic form. We can conclude this because of the similarities described in Revelation. We conclude this beautiful writing of Ezekiel by dividing the land up among the tribes. River Valley Torah Assembly

Sacrifices will be offered after Messiah returns. This is spoken of in other parts of the Tanakh also. Isa 56:7 Even those I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.” Jer 33:17-18 “For thus says the LORD, ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; 18and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to prepare sacrifices continually.’” Mal. 3:3-4 “And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness. In this section of Ezekiel, we get more details of the land being divided after the return of Messiah and the manner in which many of the offerings will be performed by the Prince.

The description of the altar, like everything else thus far, has been fairly well detailed. Next, Ezekiel is going to be told how to consecrate the altar. Nineteen years after Ezekiel saw the Glory of Elohim depart from the Temple, he sees the Glory of Elohim return to the Temple. Ezekiel says that the earth shone with His glory. We are told this in Revelation also (Rev. 21:23-27). There we are told that when Yeshua returns, we will have no need for the sun or moon. That does not mean there will not be a sun or moon. It means we will have no need for the sun or moon because the glory of Elohim provides the illumination and the Lamb is the lamp. Today, we also have a light and a lamp that we are to use daily (Prov. 6:23-27).

The size of the Temple is 500 reds on each side. The size of a reed was approximately 10.5 ft. That means that each side of the outer walls was 5250 ft, which is almost a mile. The area of this Temple will be almost 633 acres. This is definitely a Temple which is yet to be built. In these chapters, we are given details on the measurements and components of the coming Temple.

These last nine chapters describe a new Temple to be used by Israel, how they will have a new way to worship, and gives a new apportionment of land. As for this Temple described in Ezekiel, the inner court is about 40,000 square feet in area and the outer wall would be about a square mile in area. This area is far too large for Mount Zion in it's present form. There must be an enlargement of Mount Zion for this Temple to be built. This is almost certainly the Temple to be used by Israel after the return of Messiah. The prophet Micah tells us that Mount Zion will be the home of the Temple during that time. Micah 4:1 And it will come about in the last days That the mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, And the peoples will stream to it. Micah goes into detail of the reign of Yeshua Messiah from Mount Zion after His return. Micah 4:2-13 And many nations will come and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion will go forth the law, Even the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3And He will judge between many peoples And render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they train for war. 4And each of them will sit under his vine And under his fig tree, With no one to make them afraid, For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken. 5Though all the peoples walk Each in the name of his god, As for us, we will walk In the name of the LORD our God forever and ever. 6“In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will assemble the lame, And gather the outcasts, Even those whom I have afflicted. 7“I will make the lame a remnant, And the outcasts a strong nation, And the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on and forever. 8“And as for you, tower of the flock, Hill of the daughter of Zion, To you it will come— Even the former dominion will come, The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. 9“Now, why do you cry out loudly? Is there no king among you, Or has your counselor perished, That agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth? 10“Writhe and labor to give birth, Daughter of Zion, Like a woman in childbirth, For now you will go out of the city, Dwell in the field, And go to Babylon. There you will be rescued; There the LORD will redeem you From the hand of your enemies. 11“And now many nations have been assembled against you Who say, ‘Let her be polluted, And let our eyes gloat over Zion.’ 12“But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, And they do not understand His purpose; For He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor. 13“Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion, For your horn I will make iron And your hoofs I will make bronze, That you may pulverize many peoples, That you may devote to the LORD their unjust gain And their wealth to the Lord of all the earth. How will the Mount of Olives grow to accommodate the new large Temple? We are told that this mountain is going to split in half along a north-south line with half of the mountain going to the east and the other half going to the west (Zech. 14:3-4). Zechariah mentions a great earthquake there 300 years earlier during the time of King Uzziah. Geologists have confirmed that a great earthquake did happen in that area probably at that time. We also know today that there are fault lines beneath the Mount of Olives that primarily run north and south. A great earthquake will probably be the cause of this splitting of the mountain (Rev. 16:17-18). This type of geologic formation has expanded mountains in the past and probably will again in the near future.

We need to keep in mind that the previous chapter of Ezekiel (Chapter 37) was speaking of the ultimate regathering of the nation Israel and it appears to be in stages. These next two chapters fit into this same time frame of the previous chapter. The attack of Israel by many nations in this section occurs during the regathering, but before it is finished.

Ezek 37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. Elohim is giving Ezekiel a vision. In order to do this, Elohim had to take Ezekiel from captivity in Babylon to the valley of dead bones. The valley is symbolic of the wilderness, or the world. Ezek 37:2 And He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. Ezekiel was in a desert that apparently was more desolate and fearsome than Death Valley, California. This valley was filled with dead bones. They were very dried and scattered everywhere. Ezek 37:3 And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, Thou knowest." Ezekiel knows that if Elohim wants these bones to live, then they will. Ezek 37:4 Again He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.' Elohim wants Ezekiel to speak to these dry bones. Ezek 37:5 "Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. Ezek 37:6 'And I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.'" This is a picture of the regathering of Israel. The resurrection is symbolically used to represent the worldwide regathering of Israel back to the Land. Ezekiel was a priest that began prophesying five years after he was taken captive in Babylon at about the age of thirty. He was speaking in perhaps the darkest days the nation of Israel had ever seen up to that time. Elohim is going to give Ezekiel a vision of hope (expectation) for the future: The Valley of the Dry Bones...

Ezek 36:25 "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Elohim will gather them from all over the world. This is the New Covenant. Sprinkling clean water on them and making them clean is symbolic of being cured from leprosy. Lev 14:5-9 “The priest shall also give orders to slay the one bird in an earthenware vessel over running water. 6“As for the live bird, he shall take it, together with the cedar wood and the scarlet string and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was slain over the running water. 7“He shall then sprinkle seven times the one who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the live bird go free over the open field. 8“The one to be cleansed shall then wash his clothes and shave off all his hair, and bathe in water and be clean. Now afterward, he may enter the camp, but he shall stay outside his tent for seven days. 9“And it will be on the seventh day that he shall shave off all his hair: he shall shave his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair. He shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in water and be clean. It is also a picture of entrance into the priesthood. Num. 8:7-8 “And thus you shall do to them, for their cleansing: sprinkle purifying water on them, and let them use a razor over their whole body, and wash their clothes, and they shall be clean. 8“Then let them take a bull with its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and a second bull you shall take for a sin offering. Chapter 36 of Ezekiel is an absolute classic! Here, the Father defines the New Covenant with His people and describes the restoration for which Israel is longing.

In the previous chapter, we saw that Ezekiel was vindicated and proven to be a prophet of Elohim. The captive portion of the nation didn't believe him when he said that Elohim was going to judge Jerusalem. The captives had many false prophets and they all said that Elohim wouldn't cast judgment upon His people. They were very wrong. A few of the survivors from Babylon's attack on Jerusalem were brought back to the other captives. They looked terrible and were barely alive and said, "The City is destroyed. It was horrible. The Temple is gone and everything was leveled. There is nothing to go back to." Ezekiel tried to warn them. He is the only one who tried to speak Truth. The false prophets have been shown to be liars. Elohim will speak to those false prophets and the other leaders of Judah in this chapter. Chapter 35 deals with the judgment of Edom. This judgment was already spoken of in chapter 25. Edom does represent Esau who was the primary enemy of Jacob and the one whom he feared the most. Genesis 27:41 So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

Ezek 33:2 "Son of man, speak to the sons of your people, and say to them, 'If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman; Ezek 33:3 and he sees the sword coming upon the land, and he blows on the trumpet and warns the people, This is a reminder of the initial calling of Ezekiel. Ezek 3:17-21 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. 18“When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die’; and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19“Yet if you have warned the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. 20“Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he shall die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. 21“However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.” He was to be the watchman of Israel. A watchman was to stay in the tower at night and warn the city of coming dangers. His job was extremely important. If the watchman said everything was okay, when it really wasn't, then the city could easily be overtaken and destroyed. That is what the false prophets of Israel were saying in the day of Ezekiel. They were saying "All's well!! The economy is good. And as for Elohim, He loves us so much, He wouldn't dare destroy or harm us." Did those watchman do the people any good? No. It gave the people false hope. It swept away fears they should have had. Elohim sent Ezekiel to truly warn the Israelites that they were going to be judged and it would be terrible. In the last chapter, we saw that Pharoah was going to be condemned. Chapter 32 is a lamentation for this lost ruler of Egypt. Chapter 33 starts the last major division in the book of Ezekiel. Up to now, Ezekiel has been making local prophecies that were all fulfilled within a couple of decades. They were prophecies of destruction and judgment. They showed the justice and righteousness of Elohim. They spoke of death, blood, and destruction. This section of Ezekiel looks forward to the kingdom which is still to come. It contains some judgment, but it also points to the return of Messiah. This is a section that gives Israel hope for the future. But first Ezekiel is reminded of his call to be a watchman.