Ezekiel 40:1

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. The arrangements as to the land and the temple are, in many particulars, different from those subsisting before the captivity. There are things in it so improbable physically as to preclude a purely literal interpretation. The general truth seems to hold good that, as Israel served the nations for their rejection of Messiah, so shall they serve him in the person of Messiah when he shall acknowledge Messiah (; Zechariah 14:16: cf. ). The ideal...

CHAPTER XL _The prophecy or vision, which begins here, continues to the end_ _of the Book. The Temple of Jerusalem lying in ruins when_ _Ezekiel had this vision, (for its date as the_ fourteenth _year_ _after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar,) the Jews_ _needed consolation. If they were not promised a restoration of_ _the temple, they would not feel so great an interest in_ _returning home. It ts thought by some that no model of_ _Solomon's Temple had remained. To direct them, therefore, in_ the dimensions, parts, order, and rules of their new temp

IN THE FIRST AND TWENTIETH YEAR - This was the fiftieth year from the 18th of Josiah, the year of his memorable Passover 2 Kings 23:22. See the Ezekiel 1:1 note. If that was a jubilee year, which is highly probable, this vision also falls in a jubilee year, which seems appropriate. The jubilee year began with the month of Tisri, a sufficient reason for speaking of the time as “the beginning of the year.” The tenth day of this month was the day of atonement Leviticus 16:29....

EXPOSITION The magnificent temple-vision, as it is usually styled, a description of which forms the closing section of this book (Ezekiel 40-48.), was the last extended" word" communicated to the prophet, and was given him in the five and twentieth year of the Captivity, _i.e. _about B.C. 575. Two years later he received a brief revelation concerning Egypt, which, in compiling his volume, he incorporated with the other prophecies relating to the same subject (Ezekiel 29:17). Of the present oracle as a whole the significance will be best understood when its several parts have been examined in detail. Meanwhile it may suffice to note that it manifestly connects itself with the promise in Ezekiel 37:27,...

IN THE FIVE AND TWENTIETH YEAR OF OUR CAPTIVITY,.... That is, from Jeconiah's captivity, from whence this prophet begins his dates: he calls it our captivity, because he himself was then carried captive; and this was twenty years after his first vision; see Ezekiel 1:1: IN THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR, IN THE TENTH DAY OF THE MONTH; the Jews had two beginnings of their year, the one on civil accounts, which was in the autumnal equinox, in the month Tisri, which answers to part of our September; and if this is meant here, the tenth day of it was the day of atonement, in which the Jews were to afflict their souls; but on this day the prophet has a view of the Gospel church, which receives the atonement by the sacrifice of Christ: the other beginning of the year, which was on ecclesiastic accounts, was in the vernal equinox, the month Nisan, which answers to part of our March; and

Chapter s 40-48. The final nine Chapter s 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 (Ezekiel 33:21), his prophetic utterances and visions concern the future when Israel is to be regathered and restored to the land. The previous two Chapter s 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 Chapter s will b...

EZEKIEL 40-48. THE TEMPLE. Ezekiel 40:1. It is worthy of note that the sketch starts with the old familiar phrases the hand of Yahweh was upon me and in the visions of God (_cf._ Ezekiel 1:1). These phrases point to an ecstatic experience. It is highly improbable, though we need not say inconceivable, that the details of the sketch were flashed upon his inward eye in a trance. Doubtless for years his mind had been dwelling long and lovingly upon it; but there is nothing improbable in assuming that, in some sublime ecstasy, the vision rose before him as a whole, with all its parts compactly built together. It came to him on New Year's Day, when his heart would readily fill with hope and with thoughts of new beginnings. He seemed to be transported to the hill on which Jerusalem stood, only it seeme

THE FIVE AND TWENTIETH YEAR. See table on p. 1106. THE BEGINNING. Probably Abib or Nisan. THE CITY WAS SMITTEN. The fall of Jerusalem is thus fixed as happening in the eleventh year of the CAPTIVITY. See the table on p. 1103. THE HAND. Compare Ezekiel 3:14. THE LORD. Hebrew. _Jehovah._ App-4....

_our captivity_ that of Jehoiachin, in which the prophet himself had been carried away (b.c. 597). With the exception of ch. Ezekiel 29:17-21, dating from the 27th year (b.c. 570), these Chapter s are the latest part of the Book. _the beginning of the year_ In post-biblical Heb., the words mean the first day of the year, and so possibly here. The phrase does not otherwise occur. The ecclesiastical year or old style began with the month Abib (March April), and is that referred to here. _selfsame day_ ch. Ezekiel 24:2. On "hand of the Lord," cf. Ezekiel 1:3. _brought me thither_ The word "thither" must refer to the "city which was smitten." LXX. omits, connecting...

THE HAND OF THE LORD WAS UPON ME— The temple here described by Ezekiel is, in all probability, the same which he saw before his captivity, and which had been burned by the Chaldeans fourteen years before this vision. On comparing the books of Kings and Chronicles with this prophet, we shall find the same dimensions in the parts described by both; for instance, the temple, or place which comprehended the sanctuary, the holy place, and the vestibule or porch before the temple, are found to measure equally both in Ezekiel and the Kings. Compare 1 Kings 6:3 and chap. Ezekiel 41:2, &c. The inside ornaments of the temple are intirely the same: in both we see two courts; an inner one for the priests, and an outer one for the people. Compare...