Ezekiel’s Temple

This transcript was generated automatically. Its accuracy may vary

Short Summary

The speaker expresses gratitude for Brother Brad’s summary of the temple and reflects on their own unexpected assignment to study Ezekiel’s temple, which ultimately became a blessing. They emphasize that Ezekiel’s vision, while complex, symbolizes God’s desire to dwell with humanity and represents the restitution of mankind, connecting it to the gathering of Israel and the healing found in both Ezekiel’s temple and the one described in Revelation. The discourse also highlights the roles of various groups within the temple framework, the significance of sacrifices, and the life-giving river that symbolizes spiritual progress and divine blessings for humanity.

Long Summary

### Summary of Ezekiel’s Temple Discourse

Introduction and Context:
– Encourages the audience to approach Ezekiel’s temple with an open mind, highlighting that it reflects familiar beliefs from a different perspective.

Ezekiel’s Vision:
– The discourse begins by discussing Solomon’s Temple as a type, followed by Ezekiel’s vision, which serves as a prophetic representation.
– Emphasizes that Ezekiel’s vision symbolizes a future time—after the destruction of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38-39).
– Mentions Ezekiel 37, which relates to the gathering of Israel, linking it to the broader theme of restoration.

Connection to Revelation:
– Draws parallels between Ezekiel’s temple (Ezekiel 40-48) and the temple in Revelation 21.
– Both temples begin on a high mountain, symbolizing the Kingdom of God.
– Stresses God’s desire to dwell with His people, a theme rooted in the Garden of Eden.

Symbolism and Themes:
– Healing trees and life-giving waters are central motifs in both visions, representing restoration and perfection.
– References to the 12 tribes of Israel illustrate the importance of both physical and spiritual Israel in God’s plan.
– The river flowing from the temple symbolizes eternal life and the blessings that arise from God’s presence.

Temple Description:
– Ezekiel 40 details the temple’s dimensions and layout, including steps leading to the inner court, representing the journey of spiritual progress.
– The absence of a western gate implies no exit, emphasizing the need for progress towards divine perfection.

Gates and Chambers:
– Describes the gates and chambers surrounding the temple, symbolizing the inclusivity of salvation for all who seek God.
– Each gate’s orientation and the representation of chambers may indicate various classes of people involved in the restoration process.

Classes of People:
– The discourse identifies four groups: 
Children of Israel: Representing mankind.
Princes: Symbolizing the ancient worthies.
Levites: Representing the Great Company.
Priests: The Church – More faithful individuals to God, with a focus on their special relationship with Him.

Ezekiel 44 Insights:
– Discusses the responsibilities of the priests and their unique relationship with God, emphasizing their role in teaching righteousness.
– Highlights that God Himself will be the inheritance for the priests, a significant blessing.

Sacrifices and Worship:
– Ezekiel 45-46 outlines the role of sacrifices in the reconciliation process, suggesting they may serve as reminders of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice.
– The six lambs offered symbolize the period of human imperfection before receiving perfection in the Kingdom.

River of Life:
– Ezekiel 47 presents the river of life flowing from the temple, symbolizing the sustenance and healing available to mankind.
– The progression in water depth signifies the necessary spiritual immersion for individuals as they grow towards God.

Conclusion:
– The speaker concludes by reiterating the vision of God’s desire to dwell with His people and the glorious future of mankind’s restoration.
– Encourages the audience to remain faithful and participate in bringing blessings to humanity, referencing Habakkuk 2:3 about waiting for the vision to be fulfilled.

### Bible Verses Mentioned:
Matthew 7:7: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
Micah 4:1: “But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains.”
Isaiah 35:8: “And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.”
Ezekiel 47:12: “And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.”
Revelation 7:15: “Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.”
Revelation 14:13: “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.”

This summary encapsulates the essential themes and details of the discourse on Ezekiel’s temple, highlighting its significance in the context of God’s overarching plan for humanity.

Transcript

Thank you, Brother Brad, for the beautiful short summary of the temple, and you made it very easy for us to understand, but you made it a little bit hard for me to follow after you. So just to give you a very quick disclaimer, when I received the assignment from the brethren in Orlando about Ezekiel, it was a little bit interesting. So it was not really on my agenda to study, but I got a big blessing studying it, and I encourage each one of you that even if the temple of Ezekiel might feel a little bit intimidating, or maybe we don’t know a lot about it, but it’s not that easy.

Our Lord said, ask and you shall receive. Knock and it shall be opened, and we can see that it’s not anything new. It’s just the same things that we believe, just from a different angle. So let’s continue with Ezekiel’s temple.

We looked that, we talked about Solomon’s Temple, and that was a type, and then we had Ezekiel’s vision, which is Ezekiel’s temple, which is a vision, and the difference is the same thing. It’s just from a different angle. While the tabernacle shadows, it’s also a type, a vision.

Clearly, we see that it means something. It was a vision pointing to a certain time. So from the start, it tells us that this symbolizes something, and we would like to look a little bit at the context so we can see where this vision fits. So if we go in Ezekiel 37, we have the Valley of the Dry Bones.

We all know that this represents the gathering of the nation of Israel back in their land in. Back in 1878. Then we have Ezekiel 38, where we have Gog and Magog going against Israel, and many of us believe that that is still in the future. Then we have Ezekiel 39, where it speaks about God’s destruction and Israel’s restoration.

And there it starts to connect us into Ezekiel 40, where we have, from chapter 40 all the way through 48, we have this vision of the temple, and we can see that even the context puts this vision after the destruction of Gog and Magog, and as we go to the detail, through the details of the temple, we’ll see how beautiful that fits with, and we’ll see that it’s a very beautiful vision about the restitution and primarily the restitution of the world, of mankind, and since we have the tabernacle shadows and Brother Brad went very well with the four classes and other lessons in there, we’ll see how beautiful.

Here we continue the same line of thought, and just very briefly, before we get into that, we see and we have another layer of like brother Matt spoke yesterday about different angles, how we can prove that what we believe is right. We have the temple in Revelation 21, and we can. I would like very briefly to go through a few similarities between this temple in Ezekiel 40, 48 and the one in Revelation 21. We can see that both temples, when both visions begin on a high mountain.

And how beautiful that tells us that this is the symbol of the kingdom. We know that mountain represents kingdom and this context is the kingdom of God. Then we have the concept of Lord dwelling permanently with his people, and as we look at this, let’s keep this in mind, where there are a lot of details that Ezekiel’s temple has the main lesson as we have it on the scripture here, and the main banner, we have it that God’s desire is to dwell back to his people. This is what was lost in the Garden of Eden.

And here what God wants to restore. We might get into the details, it might be literally, might not, but the main purpose and God’s purpose is to dwell back with his creation. We remember how he was going through the garden and talking with Adam, and we won’t go into the details how that happened, but that concept of that relationship is what our heavenly Father wants to restore, and this is the beautiful picture that we have here. This is the great picture.

Then in both visions we have healing trees with fruit and leaves, and look how beautiful the scriptures and the parallels we have, and definitely Revelation tells us that this is for the help of mankind to come back to perfection. Then we have the emphasis on the 12 tribes in both visions again giving us a glimpse of the importance of the nation of Israel and the spiritual Israel in this reconciliation process, and then we have a life giving river flowing from God’s dwelling.

And we know that in Ezekiel 47 it says that this river was coming from below the threshold of the temple, and we see the same river of water there. We see the river in the book of Genesis as well, that was dividing into four heads, and Jesus says that whosoever drinks of the water that I’ll give you, he shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life, pointing that if we are faithful, we will be part of that river to bring the blessing to the whole world and mankind. So basically what we have in Genesis we have the human creation, perfect created, then man fell in sin.

And then in Revelation we have the restoration. Actually the first three Chapters in Genesis have a lot of parallels with the last three chapters in Revelation, and then in Ezekiel, almost like in the middle of the Bible, we have a reminder of what is about to come, and let’s go to Ezekiel 40. Here we have the description of the temple, including many details, dimensions.

And we won’t necessarily get into that, but we want to get a general overview. As we mentioned, it says that he was on a very high mountain, and as it was the frame of a city on the south and pointing to the south, when we speak about the mountain, it reminds us of Micah 4:1. That tells us that the kingdom of God will be established on top of the mountains. So again, pointing to the kingdom of God. Now, this expression in the south, we’re familiar with it, but we know that north represents heavenly, while south represents earthly, telling us that this is a picture of the earthly phase of the kingdom.

Now the spiritual, earthly, spiritual phase of the kingdom is complete, and these are the blessings that would flow to the world of mankind, and we know that this is not as simple as the tabernacle, and I have a picture here, probably you recognize it. Sister Ruth Cunningham put it together.

It’s very hard to find even pictures about it because there are many details that others don’t really get them, and even if they do something, it’s not really accurate. But this is a very good picture, and we see that there are steps going up, going into the. Into the outer court, and then there is an inner court.

So there are seven steps going there and then eight steps, steps going up together, making 15 representing restitution. Just because there are steps, which gives us a hint that it represents the highway of holiness. People have to go up, meaning they have to make progress from where they are resurrected or restored and reaching a perfect restored state. It reminds us of the scripture, where it says, somewhere in Zechariah, I think, where it says that people will go up to Jerusalem going up. Jerusalem means in a literal way, you go up, because Jerusalem was up on a level up, but in the same time, representing the progress that they have to go making progress in God’s kingdom.

And then we have a temple around it. We can see it here, and then there were three gates, three gates to the outer court, three gates to the inner court. There was one on the east, one on the north and one on the south, symbolizing probably people coming from different directions, people. Now salvation is open to everyone.

However, there was no gate on the western side. Maybe brethren have more thoughts on this, what that could represent. But probably a Thought is that while this is open to people coming from different direction, the goal is to make progress and not to sin again, to go to being there. But there is no exit through the west. Also we remember that in the tabernacle you would enter from east to west.

Also we remember that Abraham, when he went, it says that he went from east to west and so on. I think again, it shows progress in a relationship with God. Then we have the gates, and Also in Ezekiel 40, we have the description of the gates. There were three of them.

And this is not just a simple gate. It’s not just a simple door. It’s more like a hallway, and we could see that there were little rooms in there also showing that it’s a process to go through the door as well. Then we have in verse 17, there were about 30 chambers.

There were 10 on each side. There were no chambers on the west side of the building, and brother Ikanu has a very beautiful thought on these that I think it fits very well. This representing the work of the little flock, and the ancient word is with the world and mankind, almost like representing different rooms or different.

The concept of working individually with people to bringing them back in harmony with God, and that remind, as I was looking into that, it reminded me of Elisha after he crossed the Jordan and went back. We will believe that that represents the work of the ancient world, is when he went back, he restored the school of prophets, and we remember the school of prophets was not very developed during Elijah’s time, but it was. It developed a lot during Elisha’s time.

Again representing the great work during the earthly phase of the kingdom. When they will be brought back. Then we have the temple, it’s in the middle, and we have the inner court, and then the temple was in the middle of the inner court. Now there was, when we look at that the inner court there was 100 by 100.

That was. It’s a square and in the center there was the altar, and the beautiful thing about is that it doesn’t matter from what direction you go. Either from the east, from the north, or from the south. You will go and you will face the altar.

And I think that very beautifully shows that it doesn’t matter how you make progress in the plan of God. You have to recognize Jesus as our sacrifice. He’s right there in the middle. That’s for us, and that’s for anyone who ever will come in anytime will come into a relationship with God, showing that all eyes are on Jesus sacrifice.

Then in Ezekiel 41, we have more details about the temple itself, which in one way is similar to the tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple having a holy and the most holy, and symbolically, it’s the same concept where the outer courts are for the restored humanity when they would congregate, while the inner court would be reserved for those representing that have a closer relationship with our Heavenly Father. One major difference is about the furniture, and I’m sure brethren have more thoughts on that. But the only piece of furniture that is here, it’s in the holy, and that was an wooden altar or it was a wooden table.

There was no other furniture, and that could represent, and that could represent. That could suggest that now the work of the church is complete. While Solomon’s Temple gave a progression in the completion of the church, now we reach the state when the work inside of the temple is complete and all the work has to happen outside that table.

Brother Brad had a very good thought on this, and thank you, Brother Brad. That could represent. We remember when Jesus was talking with them woman, and she was asking, I think, to heal her son, and Jesus said, I won’t take the bread from the children giving to the dogs, and she answered that even the dogs eat the crumbs from the table.

So the table could represent the promises of God. So even if the church is completed, we still have promises left for the world of mankind, and they will benefit from these promises. In Ezekiel 43, Ezekiel 42, we have more about the chambers that we talked about it. We won’t go into more details. Ezekiel 43 speaks about of the glory of God filling the temple and that that’s why we have more details about the inner court.

But again, it comes back to the same concept that God wants to dwell with his creation, and it talks more about that. Ezekiel 44 speaks about the groups of people, and we’ll stop here a little bit more and thank Brother Brett for mentioning the four groups of people that we have in Solomon’s temple, because we see the same four groups of people here as well. So we have first the children of Israel, which represent the world of mankind.

And throughout this eight chapters, starting from chapter 40 all the way through 48, we see the children of Israel and the children of Israel, and they do represent the whole world of mankind, and we can see here that it says that no foreigner, no any uncircumcising heart, or in the flesh shall enter into my sanctuary. That reminds us of Isaiah 35, 8, and a highway shall be there, and a way that it shall behold, a way of holiness.

The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for the redeemed. The next class that we find is a class called the princes, and that’s how they are referred here in the book of Ezekiel, and when we look at their work and when we look at their function, it’s very beautiful, showing that they represent the ancient worlds. Next we have the Levites, which represent the great company and just One Scripture, verse 11:44, 11 and they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversighted the gates of the house, and ministering in the house, they shall slay the burn offering and the sacrifice for the people. They shall stand before them and minister unto them.

It reminds us of Revelation 7:15, which we are very familiar with with it that refers to the same class. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and they shall serve him day and night in the temple, and he that sits on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them as well. The next group or class that we see are the priests, and that goes from verse chapter 44 from 15 all the way through the end, and we have the description there from Levites that but they are a separate class, and we will look just at a few beautiful pictures and aspects of this class that I think it points so beautiful to the faithful and more than overcomers of the Gospel age.

It says in Ezekiel 44:16, they shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near my table to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge. What a beautiful picture. That reminds us when Jesus said, you are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes Israel. This is the table that the more than overcomers will be able to have fellowship with the heavenly Father and to bless the world of mankind also. Psalm 23, you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, and other verses.

Then we have verse 17, they shall be clothed with linen garments. That reminds us, of course, of in Revelation, where it says that the linen represents the righteousness of the saints. It says, no wool shall come upon them, and that’s a very beautiful just aspect to look at. When we look at Revelation 14, it says, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.

Yea, say the Spirit, they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. So we see two things from here. Their works, the works on this side of the veil are following them. So we have to do something today so there would be something to follow us. But the next thing is that it says they may rest from their labors and wool makes you sweat, especially here in Florida.

But what it says that they will not have any wool upon them, showing that the work of the church now is without any sweat. On the other side of the veil it says in Ezekiel 44:23 and they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. Reminds us of Daniel 12:3 and they that shall be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they shall determine you to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. So can we imagine what a big blessing is to be part of this class? We read in 4428.

Toward the end of the chapter God said, and they shall have an inheritance. I am their inheritance, and while all the other tribes and we’ll look in the next chapter, they got an inheritance in the land. God said, I am their inheritance, and you shall give them no possession in Israel. I am their possession.

What a blessing it is as we look at this for our Heavenly Father, for the Creator of the universe, to give Himself, himself and everything that he has to us so he can be our possession and our inheritance. What a loving God we have. Ezekiel 45 speaks about the division of the land and the sacrifices that will be brought. We won’t stop here, but it just points how probably different services will be spread as the work of restitution continues and how people will come into that relationship with God, and also goes into the details of the importance of the priest, of the princes of the ancient worlds.

And it says in 4516 all the people of the land shall give this oblation to the prince in Israel. It shows the respect that the ancient world is will have in the kingdom, that they will have the respect of the people. In Ezekiel 46 we have more details about the reconciliation process, and we know that mankind went through six days of sin and death and is during the seven day that they will receive life. They will receive perfection.

Here we see the sacrifices that will take place here. Definitely there are different thoughts if this would be literal sacrifices or not, and there are different ways to look at this. But the main lesson is that they will have to give up certain things to come in a relationship with God. They will have to remember the great sacrifice.

So it could it is a remembrance of what the church have done, what Jesus went through and what they have do have to do to come in a relationship with God. There were six lambs brought, and we have, in many places we have seven lambs that are brought as a sacrifice. In this case is six, and we know seven represent perfection and spiritual perfection that applies to the Church.

Six could represent the world of mankind, and we have a few parallels when it comes to six that we’ll mention that on Monday a little bit more. But there was a case when the slave would stay for six years with the master, and if they would like to stay with their master, then they would go and they would have their year pierced and they would stay with the master. So those six days again could represent that period of time of the world of mankind that they went through.

And then finally they will decide to stay in a relationship with the Heavenly Father also. These rituals that are happening in Ezekiel 46, and there were other aspects there. They teach principles of worship, consecration, devotion, guiding humanity in their walk with God during the peaceful kingdom, an acknowledgement of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice, and serve as reminders for the mankind’s need for atonement.

In Ezekiel 47 we’ll stop here a little bit more. We have the river of life, and we have the same river in the vision in Revelation as well. Afterward, he brought me again unto the door of the house, and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward. For the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under the right side of the house and at the south side of the altar.

So now we have the door from which the water flows, representing the life giving waters that come from the complete Christ, head and body. Coming from underneath the temple, and the south again is the earthly phase of the kingdom, and we quoted the scripture early where Jesus said that you will, if you are faithful, you will become a well of water springing up unto eternal life. It’s trying to tell us that now the redemption of Christ is finally ready to flow to the world of mankind.

Verse 4 in I don’t think I have it on the screen. In Ezekiel 47:4 it describes the depth of the river and they had to cross it. First the river was up to the ankles, then the knees, then the waist, and finally it was so deep that they had to be immersed or they had to be immersed to go through that or to get fully under in order to pass that river, and I think that picture is very beautiful showing that little by little all have to make progress. They have to give up all the habits and everything that was developed during Those six days of sin and death.

Now, little by little, they have to leave everything behind and be immersed in God’s will to be washed completely. This, as I read the scripture, it reminded me of the passage in Genesis when people went to buy bread from Joseph. We remember at the beginning they went and they gave money and they got bread back, that bread representing life. Then later they got out of money, they had to live their livestock. Then they went back and they gave up their land.

And finally they go to Joseph, and Pharaoh says, we don’t have anything else to give, and what did Joseph tell them? Now you have to give up yourselves to have bread, and this is a very beautiful picture for anyone who wants to receive life either in this age or in the age to come.

They have to give up their own and accept God’s will. Of course, during the Gospel, age is a consecration unto death. For them, it will be a consecration unto life. But the concept of fully accepting God’s will and renouncing to your past, we can see it very well illustrated here. We read that on the side of the river there were trees symbolizing enough help to sustain growth.

And the brother Russell has a comment on 4882 reprint that the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaves thereof for the healing. That’s Ezekiel 47:12, showing the enough nutrition and enough help that will be provided to come to a perfect state. Ezekiel 47:11 reads, but the Murray places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed. They shall be given up to salt, showing that there will be even there there were some territories that were not healed, probably illustrating just a small portion. Or there could be the possibility that some will not accept the great salvation that will be offered.

But we know that most of them will. So as we looked at Solomon’s temple, and we looked at Ezekiel’s temple, just briefly as a summary. I think it gives us and insight of the great vision, the great desire that God has that he wants to dwell with his people, and we have a very beautiful picture of the mankind’s restitution. We saw the four classes of people that will be used, some of them to help them, that ultimately will receive life.

And we saw the work of the church, the close work of the ancient word is that will work together with the church to bring back the mankind in harmony with God. Brethren, it’s a glorious vision. As we mentioned, as we read in Habakkuk, if it carries, wait for it, because it will surely come, will not cherish, continue to be faithful. So we can be part of that river and bring blessings to everyone who have ever lived. May the Lord bless us.

Click Here for the PDF transcript.