This chapter describes the opening of the *temple in Ezekiel’s *vision. Ezekiel had seen that the *temple was complete. The *angel had measured it. The act of measurement was a word picture to mean that the *angel tested it. He had tested it, and it was complete. It was splendid. It was ready for Go... [ Continue Reading ]
EZEKIEL’S LAST *VISION EZEKIEL CHAPTER S 40 TO 48 _COMMENTARY: KEITH SIMONS; TRANSLATION: IAN MACKERVOY._ CHAPTER 43 THE *GLORY OF GOD RETURNS TO THE *TEMPLE – EZEKIEL 43:1-12 V1 Then the man led me to the east gate. V2 I saw the *glory of the God of *Israel, which came from the east. His voi... [ Continue Reading ]
Ezekiel saw God’s *glory. Ezekiel did not describe God’s *glory here. But it was the same as Ezekiel had seen on previous occasions. He described it in chapter 1. God’s *glory was impressive. It was an astonishing experience. Even the ground was shining because God’s *glory was so bright. The *glory... [ Continue Reading ]
This *vision caused Ezekiel to remember two previous occasions when he saw God’s *glory. The *vision by the river Chebar was in chapter 1. And the other *vision was in chapter 10. On that second occasion, Ezekiel saw God’s *glory leave the original *temple in Jerusalem. It was terrible that such a t... [ Continue Reading ]
Ezekiel seems to say that he did not enter the *temple in the usual manner. He did not walk in. The Holy Spirit took him into the inner area. This was not the first time that such a thing happened to Ezekiel (8:3). But Ezekiel does not often use such a description. So clearly, this was an unusual ex... [ Continue Reading ]
The *angel who acted as Ezekiel’s guide entered the inner area with him. But the voice that Ezekiel heard was not the *angel’s voice. It was the voice of God.... [ Continue Reading ]
In 1 Kings chapter 8, King Solomon made a speech and a prayer at the opening of the original *temple. King Solomon organised the construction of that *temple. He acted as its architect, although he received the plans from his father, King David. The speech that begins in 43:7 has a similar purpose t... [ Continue Reading ]
This was the reason for the people’s *sin in the past. They did not recognise what was *holy. In other words, they acted as if God was just a man, like themselves. So they did not respect his *holy *temple or his *holy law. It was true that they had built his house. But they also built their own hou... [ Continue Reading ]
That is why God showed this *vision to Ezekiel. The descriptions in this *vision may seem strange to us today. But those descriptions were familiar to the people in *exile, who had lost their *temple. Because of that event, they may have thought that nothing could mend their relationship with God. B... [ Continue Reading ]
The people’s proud attitudes must end. They had *sinned, so they must be humble. They must confess their *sin to God. But if they did these things, Ezekiel’s *vision would be like a wonderful promise to them. God was not just promising a building, however wonderful that building may be. He was promi... [ Continue Reading ]
Like the original *temple, this *temple was at the top of a mountain. That is, the mountain called Zion, which is in Jerusalem. But the original *temple was inside the city. As soon as people left it, they were in the streets. There, people carried on their normal activities. They only considered th... [ Continue Reading ]
The description of the *altar begins here. And the *altar was the place where priests burned *sacrifices as a gift to God. Some *sacrifices were because of human *sin. The person who *sinned deserved to die. So that person offered an animal, for example a *bull or a sheep, as a *sacrifice. The pries... [ Continue Reading ]
The *altar was tall, but it stood firm. The description is of three levels. Each level was narrower than the one below. But the *altar was so large that its top level was 21 feet (5.6 metres) across. On this top surface, the priests would burn the *sacrifices. The *sacrifice burned because of God’s... [ Continue Reading ]
At the opening of the original *temple, Solomon offered thousands of animals as *sacrifices (2 Chronicles 7:5). And some people may have thought that such great ceremonies were necessary in order to please God (Micah 6:6-8). But God only wanted a simple ceremony to prepare the *altar for use. On th... [ Continue Reading ]
For the rest of that week, the priests offered three animals daily as *sacrifices. *Bulls, sheep and goats were the three kinds of animal that the *Israelites could use for *sacrifices. Before the priests could offer an animal, they had to check it. Only perfect animals were suitable for use as *sac... [ Continue Reading ]
So there was a special week of *sacrifices. This was like the special week in Leviticus chapter 8, when the priests began to serve God at the sacred tent. The new *temple in Ezekiel’s *vision was a new beginning for the priests. And so another special week was necessary. At the end of that week, th... [ Continue Reading ]