Ezekiel 43:3

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. EVEN ACCORDING TO THE VISION THAT I SAW WHEN I CAME TO DESTROY THE CITY - I:E, TO PRONOUNCE GOD'S WORD FOR ITS DESTRUCTION: SO COMPLETELY DID THE PROPHETS IDENTIFY THEMSELVES WITH HIM IN WHOSE NAME THEY SPAKE....

EXPOSITION The consecration of the new temple by the entrance into it of the glory of the God of Israel (Ezekiel 43:1), and a description of the altar with its dedication to the solemn ritual for which it was in future to be employed (Ezekiel 43:13), form the contents of the present chapter, and complete the prophet's picture of the future sanctuary of Israel. EZEKIEL 43:1 The consecration of the temple by the entrance into it of the glory of the God of Israel. EZEKIEL 43:1 AFTERWARD, etc. Having completed the survey of the temple precincts

AND IT WAS ACCORDING TO THE APPEARANCE OF THE VISION WHICH I SAW,.... Recorded in the first, ninth, and tenth Chapter s of this book; the form in which the glory of the God of Israel now appeared was like to what he then saw; in each of which visions was the likeness of a throne, and on it the appearance of the glory of God: EVEN ACCORDING TO THE VISION THAT I SAW WHEN I CAME TO DESTROY THE CITY; the city of Jerusalem; not that the prophet destroyed it, or came to destroy it himself, which was to be done, and was done, by the Chaldeans; but to foretell the destruction of it; which prediction of his made it as certain as if it was done. So the Targum, "when I prophesied to destroy the city;'' and this was, when he was bid to cause, in a visionary and prophetic manner, six men, with their destroying weapons, to draw near unto it, and smite it; at which time he saw the glory of the God o...

II. THE TEMPLE WORSHIP (43-44) CHAPTER 43 _ 1. The return of the glory of the Lord and filling the house (Ezekiel 43:1) _ 2. The address to the nation (Ezekiel 43:10) 3. The dimensions of the altar (Ezekiel 43:13) 4. The offerings to be bought (Ezekiel 43:18)...

The description of the Temple is fittingly followed by an account of Yahweh's solemn entry into it a passage which forms the real climax of the last section of the book, and is the counterpart to His equally solemn departure described in Ezekiel 10:18 ff. and Ezekiel 11:22 ff. Girt with splendour, He re-enters by the eastern gate through which He had departed, and from the midst of the Temple His voice rings mysteriously forth, declaring that there He will dwell for ever in the midst of Israel. But whereas, in the old days of the monarchy, palace and Temple had been contiguous, separated only by a wall, and the graves of the kings had defiled the Temple by their proximity to it, such profanations and defilements no less than every trace of idolatry must be absolutely removed; and _then_ Yahweh would dwell

THAT. SAW. See Ezekiel 1:28; Ezekiel 3:23. TO DESTROY. Hebrew idiom, by which the doer is said to do what he declares shall be done. See Ezekiel 9:1; Ezekiel 9:5. note on Jeremiah 14:8; Jeremiah 14:9; Jeremiah 1:25....

The glory of Jehovah enters the house by the E. gate. The sound of his chariot was as the sound of many waters, and his glory lightened the earth (Ezekiel 43:1). The prophet hears one speaking to him from the house and saying that the defilements to which the house had been exposed through idolatries and the burial of kings near it shall henceforth cease (Ezekiel 43:6). The prophet is commanded to make known the fashion and ordinances of the house to the people (Ezekiel 43:10)....

WHEN I CAME TO DESTROY, &C.— _When he came,_ &c. Houbigant, and Vulgate. The Chaldee paraphrases it, "When I prophesied concerning the destruction of the city....

G. The Return of the Divine Glory 43:1-12 TRANSLATION (1) Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looks toward the east: (2) and behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shined with his glory. (3) 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. (4) And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. (5) And the Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house. (6) And I heard one speaking unto me out of the house; and a man stood by me. (7) And he said unto me, Son of man, this is the place...

§ 2. THE ORDINANCES OF THE NEW ISRAEL (EZEKIEL 40-48) This concluding section of the book is dated in the twenty-fifth year of Ezekiel's captivity, i.e. the fourteenth year after the fall of Jerusalem (572 b.c.). It is therefore thirteen years later than the previous section (Ezekiel 33-39), and, with the exception of Ezekiel 29:17, forms the latest part of the book. It is in the form of a vision, which is the counterpart of that in Ezekiel 8-11. There God forsook the old Temple which had been polluted by idolatry. Here we have a description of the Temple of the restored kingdom, of God's return to it, and of the various religious arrangements and institutions of the future. The vision is marked by great minuteness of detail, and no doubt Ezekiel had brooded long and deeply over the particulars of the Temple and its ritual. Yet, as in former cases, there is no reason to doubt that