What a treat we get to see today! In this vision, God comes to the Temple. And the Lord speaks to Ezekiel. Such a treat after all the measurements, but here, we hear laws. So pay close attention and don’t let your eyes be glazed over. Watch for Him. Listen to Him. Let’s pray:
Lord Jesus, thank You for this surprise. I don’t know how I missed this chapter in other readings, but Lord, thank You for slowing me down and revealing it to me. All the community of the Trinity is visible here. Each part of the Trinity is here. Thank You, Lord. Lead please lead. For Your Glory.
Please read Ezekiel 43:1-5
Vision of the Glory of God Filling the Temple
1 Then he (the angel) led me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east. 2 And behold, the glory and brilliance of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east; and His voice was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.3 And it was like the appearance of the vision which I saw, like the vision I saw when He came to destroy the city. And the visions were like the vision I saw beside the River Chebar [near Babylon]; and I fell face downward. 4 And the glory and brilliance of the Lord entered the [a]temple by way of the gate facing toward the east. 5 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner courtyard; and behold, the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the temple.
Theophany – a vision of God, some would also call it a manifestation of Him as He is clearly seen and we’ll see even more of Him here. But whatever you call it, the glory and brilliance of the Lord is more than our eyes can see and our selves can hold up to, so Ezekiel’s falling down is a totally normal response. His holiness and our not holiness make His brilliance all the more holy and us all the more not, so don’t expect if He reveals Himself to you in a vision that you won’t also fall face down as though dead. Yet, the Spirit lifted Ezekiel up and took him inside the Most Holy place. In that short section we’ve seen God and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is coming too. The entire Trinity is here.
Please read Ezekiel 43:6-9
I Heard One Speaking…
6 And I heard One speaking to me from the temple, while a man was standing beside me. 7 And He [the Lord] said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the sons (descendants) of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their [idolatrous] prostitution and by the corpses and monuments of their kings in their graves,8 by setting their threshold by My threshold and their doorpost beside My doorpost, with [only] the wall between Me and them. They have defiled and desecrated My holy name by the vile atrocities which they have committed. So I have consumed them in My anger. 9 Now let them put far away from Me their [idolatrous] prostitution and the corpses and monuments of their kings, and I will dwell in their midst forever.”
Jesus, the One, the man standing beside Ezekiel, The Lord. Listen to Him. The entire Trinity is here. I love the community and love in this community of God, Jesus & the Holy Spirit. All of them can work separately but they are always united. And we can be included too if we’re in Jesus and have the Holy Spirit within us.
Did you see His demands? There will be no idolatry no desecration of His holy Name, no atrocities, all of those He will have consumed in His anger. Only when all of those bad things are far away from us will we have Him dwelling in our midst. And having Him with us is far better than anything else we can have.
Short vignette here. Years ago, when our daughter was 2 or 3, I can’t really remember what other than she was little, we had a fountain. She and I were outside playing in the fountain, I was grabbing water and making it fall out of my hands while saying something like ‘water is falling’ and she was giggling and I distinctly heard Jesus’ laugh. It was above and behind me and it was delightful. How did I know it? Well for one, it was wholly different than my daughter’s or mine. And so full of Joy.
Please read Ezekiel 43:10-12
Describe This Part of the Vision…
10 “As for you, son of man, [b]describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they will be ashamed of their sins; and let them measure its plan [in detail]. 11 If they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple (house), its layout, its exits, its entrances, all its designs, all its statutes, and all its laws. And write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its statutes and do them. 12 This is the law of the temple: Its entire [c]area all around on the top of the mountain [d](Mount Moriah) shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.”
Describe it so they will keep its design and statutes and do them. Because doing them is most important. If you want to live, you have to live like He says.
The entire area around the top of Mount Moriah is Most Holy. BEHOLD, did you hear that? Behold, this is the LAW of the Temple. Not that He yells, but the words hit harder when I read them, did they do that with you? Can you imagine, Jesus is standing beside Ezekiel telling him this stuff in this vision. He is with us too. Our omnipresent God. Sometimes we can’t tell it though. Trust me, He is with me.
He leaves nothing questionable about how we should act. He is worthy of all our devotion, all our obeying, all our love and attention and all our focus. Even if it’s stated in what not to do here. Not all of it in expressed in a vision, in other books there is direct teaching on how to walk out our lives here on this earth and how to see Him in the future. Keep studying. Keep reading.
Please read Ezekiel 43:13-17
The Altar of Sacrifice
13 “And these are the measurements of the altar [of burnt offering] in cubits (the cubit being a [long] cubit [the length of a forearm] and a hand width): the [e]base shall be a cubit [long] and a cubit wide, with its border on its edge all around it of a span [in width]. And this shall be the height of the [f]base of the altar. 14 From the base on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits and the width one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge shall be four cubits and the width one cubit. 15 The altar hearth shall be four cubits high, and from the altar hearth shall extend upwards four horns [one from each corner, each one cubit high]. 16 Now the altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long by twelve wide, square in its four sides. 17 The ledge shall be fourteen cubits long by fourteen wide on its four sides, and the border around it shall be half a cubit; and its base shall be a cubit all around, and its steps shall face the east.”
For the fun of it I measured my forearm and hand width. for fun would you like to hear what that is? 12 inches total. My hand span is 7 inches. that’s where you hold your hand out as wide as you can and measure it, it was in our math lesson this week. So basically my span is twice as wide as the width of my hand. Ooh, let’s try this. Measure from where your arm bends to the tip of your longest finger. Mine is 14 inches. Likely a good measurement to know. Never know when you might have to measure something by a known thing where you don’t have a measuring tape with you. Did you know East was an important direction? Count how many times it shows up in this chapter. Not counting when I just wrote it I count five in this one chapter (including the footnotes.)
Please read Ezekiel 43:18-21
The Offerings
18 And He [the Lord] said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘These are the statutes and regulations for [the use of] the altar on the day that it is built, to offer burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it. 19You shall give to the priests, the Levites who are from the descendants of Zadok, who are close to Me to minister to Me,’ says the Lord God, ‘a young bull for a sin offering [as a memorial to Christ’s sacrifice]. 20 And you shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns [of the altar of burnt offering] and on the four corners of the ledge and on the border all around; thus you shall cleanse it (from sin) and make atonement for it. 21 You shall also take the bull for the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place of the temple, outside the sanctuary.”
Those who are close to God to minister to God. Here the Son is telling what the Father says. It’s kind of gross, but when Jesus died for us, these sacrifices are no longer needed. At least for those of us who count on what He’s done for us. Now all our sacrifices are within ourselves, our time, our praise, all that we give Him. Most certainly our thanking Him.
Please read Ezekiel 43:22-27
Atonement
22 “‘On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering, and they shall cleanse the altar as they cleansed it with the bull. 23 When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish. 24 You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall throw salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. 25 For seven days you shall prepare daily a goat for a sin offering; also a young bull and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be prepared. 26 For seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it; so the priests shall consecrate it [to receive offerings]. 27 When they have completed these days, on the eighth day and from then onward, the priests shall offer your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you,’ says the Lord God.”
How do you think this all felt in light of God himself near and Jesus, God Himself, to Ezekiel? Having Jesus next to us is an everyday experience for those who believe, but here, Ezekiel is experiencing it visibly and audibly. He can see the body language and gestures Jesus is making as He tells Ezekiel all of this. How would you feel?
I love to know, He has atoned for us. We no longer need any atonement, He has us yesterday, today and forever. It’s kind of all over the New Testament after the death and resurrection of Jesus. So if you missed it in your reading, look up the word atone in your Bible concordance or on biblegateway and filter for the New Testament.
Always, keep learning. Keep growing your faith.
I hope you found this vision simply delightful, I sure did.
If you would like a shorter study now, go here. Or if you would rather not go to Matthew but want a shorter study, look under the Faith tab above, all of the quick studies are there.
If you want more Ezekiel, go here.
Footnotes
[a] Ezekiel 43:4 -the [a]temple- Lit house.
[b] Ezekiel 43:10 –[b]describe the temple- Lit inform about.
[c] Ezekiel 43:12 -Its entire [c]area- Lit boundary.
[d] Ezekiel 43:12 –[d](Mount Moriah)- Moriah is identified in Gen 22:2 as the region where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac, and is identified in 2 Chr 3:1 as the site of the temple built by Solomon.
[e] Ezekiel 43:13 -the [e]base- Lit lap. The metric and architectural terminology corresponds to human physiology. While this is natural enough for an ancient culture, it also serves at least three purposes: 1) it ensures that the scale of the structures will be practical for human occupation; 2) it communicates across cultures; and 3) terms like “shoulder” and “lap” indicate something of the shape and/or purpose of the item, such as the task of load-bearing.
[f] Ezekiel 43:13 –the height of the [f]base of the altar- Lit back.