Ezekiel 40

Ezekiel 40:1

Ezekiel: “They shall know that I am God” The Future *Temple and *Sacrifices An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on Ezekiel chapters 40 to 48 www.easyenglish.info Ian Mackervoy This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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   Part Four –    Ezekiel 40:1-48:35    The Future    *Temple and *Sacrifices

About chapters 40 to 48 The purpose of these 9 chapters is to give hope to the *Israelites. They were in *exile in Babylon. But the *Lord spoke to them about the future of *Israel. The *Israelites will live in the land that God promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:18). Then the *Lord will take away their *sin. They will be his special people. They will be loyal to him and he will be their God.

There will be a new *temple in Jerusalem. The *glory of the *Lord God will fill that *temple. There will be *sacrifices for *worship in that *temple. There will be priests who serve in the *temple. The people will live in the whole land that God promised to Abraham. Each of the 12 *tribes will have a share of that land. There will be shares of the land for the prince, the priests and the city of Jerusalem.

The description of the *temple should make the *exiles ashamed of their *sins (43:10-11). They should appreciate that the *Lord loves them still. He wants to live with them. This should cause them to *turn again to the *Lord their God.

This is a difficult section of the Bible to understand. There are different ways in which some people understand it. Many genuine Christians have opinions about this passage, which are different from my opinions. So, I have tried to explain the reasons for my beliefs. There are 4 main ideas, which I discuss below.

1. History or future Some people have tried to argue that this *temple has already existed in the past. They say that this *temple was one of the three earlier *temples. Those three *temples were Solomon’s, Zerrubabel’s and Herod’s. But the size and design of the new *temple are quite different to these three *temples. There has never been a *temple that was like the one in this section (chapters 40-42). A river will flow from the *temple (47:1-12). No river has flowed from the previous *temples. Therefore, I believe that the new *temple must be for a future time.

The style of *worship is similar to that in the *Old Testament (chapters 43-46). But it is not the same. There has never been *worship quite like this in the past. Therefore, this style of *worship must be for a future time.

The 12 *tribes will have equal shares of the land (chapters 45, 47 and 48). This has not happened in the past and it cannot happen today. The geography of the region will have to change before this can happen. Therefore, this division of the land must be in the future. 2. *Allegory or actual Some people do not believe that there will be a new *temple. They cannot see why there should be any *sacrifices after the death of Jesus. But Ezekiel mentions *sacrifices in the *temple. So, these people believe that this passage is either picture language, or an *allegory. But they interpret it in different ways.

Some people say that these are *allegories of Christian *worship. But the *Lord gave this *vision to Ezekiel for the benefit of the *Israelites. There is nothing in these chapters to make it refer to the church.

Some people think that it shows the *temple in heaven (Hebrews 9:23-24). And other people think that Ezekiel saw an ideal *temple, not a real one. If they are right, then the purpose of the *vision was to teach the *Israelites about *worship. But I do not agree because there are so many details in Ezekiel’s *vision, for example, the measurements. Moreover, Ezekiel’s *temple was on the earth. For example, Ezekiel 44:25 mentions dead bodies. But nobody dies in heaven. 3. The idea that this *prophecy failed Some people say that this *prophecy has failed. In their opinion, it was for the *Israelites who returned from *exile. If they had obeyed all of God’s law then the things in this *vision would have happened. But Ezekiel does not say that the *vision depended on the actions of people. The word of God does not fail. If the *prophecy is from God then it will happen. So I believe that there will be a new *temple. There will be animal *sacrifices and there will be priests. The 12 *tribes will have equal shares of the land that belongs to *Israel. 4. The *millennium or the *eternal state Some people say that this *vision shows the *eternal state. The ‘*eternal state’ means the new heaven and the new earth. But this *vision cannot be of the *eternal state. In the new earth, there is no *temple (Revelation 21:22). Then the river will flow from the *throne (Revelation 22:1). In Ezekiel’s *vision, the river flows from the *temple.

I believe that the most likely time for this *prophecy is the *millennium. The *millennium is the 1000 years when the *Lord Jesus will rule on the earth (Revelation 20:1-6). This is before this earth ends and before the start of the new earth (Revelation 21:1).

The *Lord Jesus Christ made the one complete and perfect *sacrifice for *sin. He died once for all time because of our *sin. There is now no need for other *sacrifices. There is now no need for the human priests. But in this *prophecy, there are *sacrifices for *sin and there are human priests.

The *temple, the *sacrifices and the priests are for the *Israelites. During the *millennium, people from other nations will *worship with them in Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:16). Ezekiel’s *vision shows perfect practice in *Israelite *worship. In the *Old Testament, the *sacrifices refer forward to the *Messiah. In the *millennium, the *sacrifices refer back to the death of the *Messiah. The *sacrifices never could take away *sins. In the *millennium, the *sacrifices will not take away *sins. The *sacrifices will remind people about the one *sacrifice of Jesus the *Messiah. That was the only *sacrifice that dealt with *sin.

In a similar way, Christians break bread and drink wine. The bread and the wine represent (are signs of) the body and blood of Christ (who is the *Messiah). This act is referring back to the death of Christ. So, the animals in the *sacrifices represent the work of the *Messiah. That work is complete. He died for us all and he rose again from death.

This section follows the messages in the rest of the book. Earlier, Ezekiel showed how the *glory of God would leave the *temple. He told how the *Babylonians would destroy Jerusalem (Chapters 4-24). He then *prophesied how God would punish the nations (25:1-33:20). Then he gave 6 messages of hope to the *exiles (33:21-39:29).

In those 6 messages, Ezekiel informed them that God will bring them back to their land. God will be like a good *shepherd to them. And God will forgive all their *sins. He will make a new agreement with them. Then they will live in their land and they will be safe. Enemies will attack God’s people. But God will *destroy those enemies (chapters 38-39). After all those events, Ezekiel describes the return of God’s *glory to his *temple.

God’s *glory is a most important part of Ezekiel’s *prophecy. The return of God’s *glory to the new *temple is a very important moment in the book (43:1-12). *Israel will return to the *Lord and he will make them *clean from all their *sins. By them, the nations will see that God is *holy (36:23). When God’s *glory returns, it will remain among the *Israelites (43:6-7). Plan of the new *temple – Ezekiel 40:1-43:27 Chapter 40 The man with a measuring stick– Ezekiel 40:1-4 v1 This is what happened at the beginning of the 25th year during our *exile. And it was in the 14th year after the defeat of the city. On the 10th day of the month, I felt the power of the *LORD upon me. He took me there. v2 In a *vision, God brought me to the country called *Israel. He put me on a very high mountain. On the south of the mountain, there were some buildings. They seemed to be a city. v3 God took me there. And I saw a man who was standing in the gate. He looked as if he were *bronze. In his hands, he had a string and a measuring stick. v4 The man spoke to me. ‘*Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears. Pay attention to all that I will show you. God brought you here for that purpose. Tell the *Israelites all that you see.’

Verses 1-4 Ezekiel received this *vision in 573 *BC. The *Jews had a political year and a year for their religion. The political year started about our September or October. The year for religion started about our March or April. Since Ezekiel was a priest, he probably used the year for religion. If that was so, he received this *vision on the 10th day of the first month of the year for religion. The preparation for the *Passover would begin on that day.

In the *vision, God took Ezekiel to a high mountain in *Israel. From this mountain, he looked to the south. There he could see a city. Then God took Ezekiel to that city.

At the entrance to the city, Ezekiel met a man. This man was really an *angel. His task was to guide Ezekiel and to measure the *temple. Also, he would interpret what they saw. He had a stick for the shorter measurements and he had a string for the longer ones. He would take Ezekiel round the area. He would give the details of the *temple buildings to Ezekiel. The east gate of the *temple – Ezekiel 40:5-16  First,  Ezekiel saw that the *temple had three outer gates. He describes the  east gate first, but all three gates were similar. The gates were  not simple doors. When people passed through a gate, they would be  in a hall. Inside that hall, there were small rooms for the *temple  guards. The halls did not lead directly to the *temple. Instead,  they lead into a large outer area. There were also three inner  gates. Those gates led from the outer area into an inner area. And  the *temple stood in that inner area.

v5 I saw a wall that went all round the *temple area. The stick that the man had was 6 long *cubits. But each *cubit was a *cubit plus the width of a hand. The man measured the wall. It was one stick high and one stick wide. v6 Then the man went to the east gate. He went up the steps and he measured the width of the gate. It was one stick wide.

v7 The rooms for the guards were one stick long and one stick wide. The walls, that came out between the rooms for the guards, were 5 *cubits thick. The width of the room next to the entrance that led to the *temple was one stick.

v8 Then the man measured the entrance by the gate. v9 It was 8 *cubits wide. The walls at the side of the doors were two *cubits thick. The entrance of the gate led to the *temple.

v10 On each side of the east gate were three rooms. They were the same size and the walls between them were the same size. v11 The man measured the width of the entrance to the gate. It was 10 *cubits. The width of the gate was 13 *cubits. v12 In front of each room was a wall one *cubit high. The rooms were square and each side was 6 *cubits. v13 Then he measured the gate from the roof of one room to the roof of another room. There was a width of 25 *cubits from wall to wall. v14 He measured the hall beyond the gate.

It was 60 *cubits. Round the hall was an open area. v15 He measured the total length from the entrance gate to the entrance of the hall. This was 50 *cubits. v16 The rooms and the walls at the side of the doors had small windows on both sides. The windows were narrower on the side toward the gate. On the walls at the sides of the doors were pictures of palm trees.

Verses 5 The stick that the man had was 6 *cubits long. But these *cubits were longer than the normal *cubit. The normal *cubit was the distance from the end of a man’s middle finger to his *elbow. This was about 18 inches. The width of a hand is about 3 inches. So, the length of the stick was about 10½ feet (3.2 metres). This longer *cubit is the *holy or royal *cubit. In Babylon, where Ezekiel was, they used the royal *cubit. The use of the royal *cubit here shows that the *temple of God is a very important building.

The wall that went round the *temple was 10½ feet (3.2 metres) high and 10½ feet (3.2 metres) wide.

Verses 6-16 The man took Ezekiel to the east gate of the *temple. He explained the design of the gate and the measurements of each part.

There were 7 steps up to the entrance of the gate. The entrance of the east gate was 10½ feet (3.2 metres). Beyond the first gate, there was an entrance hall. The inside of the hall was 87½ feet (26.9 metres) long and 44 feet (13.5 metres) wide. The outside length of the hall was 105 feet (32.3 metres). Inside this hall, there was a space of 10½ feet (3.2 metres) long and 17½ feet (5.4 metres) wide.

Then there were three rooms on each side. They were for the *temple guards so that they could control the entrance to the *temple area. These rooms were square. They were each 10½ feet (3.2 metres) wide and 10½ feet (3.2 metres) wide. The walls between these rooms were 9 feet (2.7 metres) thick. These rooms had windows in the outer wall.

At the entrance to these rooms, there were walls two feet (0.6 metres) high.

Beyond the 6 rooms was another space of 10½ feet (3.2 metres) long and 17½ feet (5.4 metres) wide. Then there was another room 14 feet (4.3 metres) long and the full width of the entrance hall. This room had windows each side in the outer walls. The door that led from this room to the *temple was 3½ feet (1.1 metres) thick.

There were gates in the *temple’s outer walls. These were to the north and to the south. Each of these gates was the same as the east gate.

The plan of these gates was similar to the gates in Solomon’s *temple. The outer area of the *temple – Ezekiel 40:17-19 v17 Then the man brought me into the outer area. There I saw rooms and a path of stones all round the area. There were 30 rooms along that path. v18 The path went past the gates. It was as thick as the gates were wide. This was the lower path. v19 Then the man measured from the outer wall to the inner wall. The outer area between these two walls was 100 *cubits. This was the same for both the east side and the north side.

Verses 17-19 The man took Ezekiel through the entrance hall. They were now in the outer area of the *temple. Along the outer wall, there were 30 rooms. To get to the rooms there was a path. The rooms with the path were the same depth as the entrance halls at the three gates.

Round the inner area of the *temple, there was a wall. From the outer wall to this wall was 175 feet (53.8 metres). The north and south gates – Ezekiel 40:20-27 v20 The man measured the length and width of the north gate, that leads to the outer area. v21 This gate had three rooms on each side. The inner walls and the entrance were the same size as the first gate. It was 50 *cubits long and 25 *cubits wide. v22 The windows, entrance, and pictures of palm trees measured the same as the east gate. There were 7 steps up to the gate. The entrance was at the inner end. v23 There was a gate to the inner area across from the north gate. It was the same as that at the east gate. The man measured it. It was 100 *cubits from the inner gate to the outer gate.

v24 Then the man led me south where I saw the south gate. He measured its inner walls and its entrance. They were the same size as the other gates. v25 The gate and its entrance had windows all about like the other gates. It was 50 *cubits long and 25 *cubits wide. v26 There were 7 steps up to this gate. Its entrance was at the inner end. And it had pictures of palm trees on its inner walls. v27 The inner area had a gate on its south side. The man measured from gate to gate on the south side. It was 100 *cubits.

Verses 20-27 The north and the south gates were the same as the east gate. The gates to the inner area of the *temple – Ezekiel 40:28-37  As  Ezekiel came closer to the *temple building, he had to pass through  another gate. There were three gates that separated the outer area  from the inner area. The priests offered their *sacrifices at the  *altar which was in the inner area. And the inner area surrounded  the *temple building.

v28 Then the man brought me through the south gate into the inner area. He measured the south gate. It was the same size as the other gates. v29 Its rooms, its walls and its entrance were the same size as the other gates. There were windows all round the gate and its entrance room. It was 50 *cubits long and 25 *cubits wide. v30 Rooms surrounded it, which were 25 *cubits long and 5 *cubits wide. v31 These rooms opened toward the outer area. There were pictures of palm trees on the sides of the doors. There were 8 steps up to the doors.

v32 Then the man brought me to the inner area on the east side. He measured the gate. It was the same size as the other gates. v33 Its rooms, its walls and its entrance were the same size as the other gates. There were windows all round the gate and its entrance room. It was 50 *cubits long and 25 *cubits wide. v34 Its rooms opened toward the outer area. There were pictures of palm trees on the sides of the doors. There were 8 steps up to the doors.

v35 Then the man brought me to the north gate. He measured it. It was the same size as the other gates. v36 Its rooms, inner walls, and entrance room were the same as at the other gates. There were windows all round the gate. The entrance was 50 *cubits long and 25 *cubits wide. v37 Its rooms opened toward the outer area. There were pictures of palm trees on the sides of the doors. There were 8 steps up to the doors.

Verses 28-37 The way into the inner area of the *temple was through three gates. These gates were on the south side, the east side and the north side. These gates and their entrance halls were the same as the gates to the outer area. But these gates were different in two small particulars. In the outer entrance hall there was a room beyond the 6 rooms. In the inner entrance hall, this room was before the 6 rooms. There were 7 steps up to the outer gates but there were 8 steps up to the inner gates. Rooms for the priests – Ezekiel 40:38-46 v38 By each of the inner gates there was a room. In this room, the priests washed animals for the *burnt *sacrifices. The door to this room was near the entrance room. v39 There were two tables on each side of the gates. On these tables, the priests killed the animals for the *sacrifices. These animals were for the *burnt *sacrifices and the *sacrifices because of *sin and blame. v40 On each side of the entrance to the north gate, there were two more tables. v41 So there were 4 tables on one side of the gate and 4 on the other side. On these 8 tables, the priests killed the animals for the *sacrifices. v42 Also there were 4 stone tables for the *burnt *sacrifices.

On these tables, the priests would put the tools that they used to kill the animals for the *sacrifices. (That is, for the *burnt *sacrifices and the other *sacrifices). These tables were a *cubit and a half long, a *cubit and half wide, and a *cubit high. v43 There were nails in the walls. These nails were in pairs and the length of a nail was the width of a hand. The stone tables were for the bodies of the animals for the *sacrifices.

v44 There were two rooms in the inner area. One was by the north gate toward the south. The other was by the south gate toward the north. v45 The man said to me, ‘The room toward the south is for the priests. It is for those priests who serve in the *temple. v46 The room toward the north is for the priests who serve at the *altar. These priests belong to the family of their *ancestor Zadok. Zadok belonged to the *tribe called Levi. Only these priests can come near to the *LORD to serve him at the *altar.’

v47 The man measured the inner area. It was a square, 100 *cubits long and 100 *cubits wide. The *altar was in front of the *temple.

Verses 38-43 Outside each of the inner gates, there was a room. Here the priests would wash the animals. Also, outside the east and the south gates there were two tables. On these tables, the priests killed the animals for the *sacrifices because of *sin and blame. Outside the north gate, there were 8 tables. On these 8 tables, the priests would kill the animals for the *sacrifices.

There were another 4 small stone tables. The priests’ would keep their tools on these tables. And they would cut up the dead bodies of the animals on these tables.

At the time of the *Old Testament, the people killed animals so that God could forgive their *sins. These *sacrifices referred forward to the death of Jesus. His death is the one *sacrifice for *sin.

The blood of animals could not and cannot take away *sin. These *sacrifices in the future *temple will remind the *Israelites of the one perfect *sacrifice, that is, the death of Jesus.

Verses 44-46 These two rooms were in the inner area. One was by the north gate and the other one was by the south gate. The one by the south gate (toward the north) was for the priests who served in the *temple. The room by the north gate (toward the south) was for the priests who served at the *altar.

These priests had to be of the family of Zadok. In chapter 44, Ezekiel explains why God chose Zadok.

Verse 47 The inner area was a square of 175 feet (53.8 metres) long and 175 feet (53.8 metres) wide. The entrance to the *temple building – Ezekiel 40:47-49 v48 The man brought me to the entrance of the *temple. He measured each wall at the side of the entrance. Each one was 5 *cubits thick. The entrance was 14 *cubits wide. The walls at the side of the door were each three *cubits wide. v49 The entrance hall was 20 *cubits wide and 11 *cubits long. There were 10 steps up to the entrance. There were two columns, one on each side of the entrance.

Verses 48-49 In the inner area, there were the gates to the north, the south and the east. At the west end of the square was the entrance to the *temple building.

In the centre of the inner area was the *altar of *sacrifice. Ezekiel describes this *altar in chapter 43.

The way into the *temple was 24½ feet (7.5 metres) wide. The walls at the side of this entrance were 9 feet (2.8 metres) thick. The walls at the sides of the door were 5½ feet (1.6 metres) thick. Inside the door was an entrance hall. This was 35 feet (10.7 metres) across and 19½ feet (7 metres) long.

There were 10 steps up from the inner area to the gate of the *temple building.

© 2008, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

August 2008

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var w3 = new Array;w3[0]=’<b%3Etemple</b%3E ~ a special building for the worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.