Introduction
Every so often I feel the need to remind everyone that all Scripture is breathed out by God and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God — the preacher — may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
And this evening is one of those times, because this evening we’re studying these three chapters from Ezekiel, where Ezekiel describes for us a vision he received of a temple. And as Ezekiel is given a tour of the temple and as he describes what he sees, we can wonder to ourselves what relevance does any of this have for us. What’s the point of this vision? What spiritual value does it have for us today?
And so, we need to remind ourselves that while the significance of this chapter may not be obvious, nevertheless this passage is important and it’s worth our while to study it, because all Scripture — including Ezekiel 40 to 42 — is breathed out by God. It’s inspired by God. And it’s useful. It’s useful for all of us and it’s particularly useful for me as a preacher. Somehow or other it’s useful for me as a preacher for teaching and for rebuking and for correcting and for training God’s people in righteousness. And since that’s true, then we should look to the Lord for the help we need to understand these things and to benefit from them.
Some people think that God’s purpose in giving this vision to Ezekiel is so that we would build what he saw. So, at some point in the future, we can expect an architect and a group of builders to take what Ezekiel has recorded here and to construct a new temple in Jerusalem which matches what Ezekiel saw. However, you may have noticed, when we read through the verses, that Ezekiel doesn’t say much about the height of what he saw. He mentions the height of the outside wall, but that’s about the only height he mentions. And he doesn’t tell us much about what this temple was made of. By contrast, the description we have of the tabernacle which Moses built and the temple which Solomon built are much more specific and we know what they were made of and we know the height of the tabernacle and of Solomon’s temple. So, Ezekiel doesn’t give us much detail and that suggests that he didn’t expect anyone to build what he saw.
And, of course, in the vision, Ezekiel saw an altar and he mentions the various sacrificial offerings which God’s people were required to offer him in Old Testament times. But why would we ever want to build a temple with an altar for sacrifices? Why would we want to reinstitute the offering of animal sacrifices to God when Christ has already offered himself as the once-for-all perfect sacrifice for sins? Since Christ offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for sins, there is no need for anyone to offer another animal sacrifice to God. And since that’s the case, why would we think that we need to build what Ezekiel saw in this vision? We don’t need an altar today. We don’t need to offer animal sacrifices today. And so, we don’t need a temple like the one Ezekiel saw in this vision.
So, what’s the point of this vision? The point of the vision is this: the Lord is using the imagery of a temple to reveal to Ezekiel and to us what eternal life in the presence of God will be like. What we’re studying this evening is only part of what God revealed to Ezekiel. There’s more to follow in chapters 43 to 48. And what the Lord reveals to Ezekiel in throughout these final chapters is what eternal life in the presence of God will be like for all of God’s people.
Last week’s chapter was about the last battle, when satan — represented by Gog in Ezekiel’s prophecy — will assemble an army from every nation for one last attack on the Lord’s people. And as soon as satan and his army assemble, the Lord will pour down fire on them from heaven to destroy them. And satan will be thrown into a lake of burning sulphur to be tormented for ever. So, right before Christ comes again, satan will be conquered and sent away to be punished for ever. And after satan is conquered, Christ our King will gather his people from every nation and from every generation and he’ll bring us into the presence of God. And Ezekiel chapters 40 to 48 are about what that will be like. And since these things were written originally for the exiles in Babylon, then the Lord used images familiar to them to convey his message about the future.
40:1–4
Let’s turn to the first four verses of chapter 40 where there’s a date stamp. Ezekiel received this vision from the Lord in the twenty-fifth year of the exile. And it’s also been fourteen years since Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. So, the exiles been away from the Promised Land for a quarter of a century. And the temple in Jerusalem — which was God’s dwelling place among his people — has been in ruins for fourteen years. No doubt the people were wondering what does the future hold for them? Do they have any future to speak of?
At that time, the Lord took Ezekiel in a vision to the land of Israel and set him on a very high mountain, where he saw some buildings that looked like a city. Now, this is not the first time Ezekiel has been taken away in a vision. Back in chapters 8 and 9 and 10, he was taken in a vision to Jerusalem to see the idolatry that was taking place there. And he also saw the glory of the Lord depart from Jerusalem because of the sinfulness of the people. So, that was a vision of the Lord’s departure. In this vision, which begins in chapter 40, Ezekiel will not only see a new temple, but he’ll also see the return of God’s glory. We’ll get to that next time, but for now Ezekiel arrives back in Israel on a high mountain next to a city.
And according to verse 3 God took him to the city, where he saw a man whose appearance was like bronze. So, his appearance was bright and gleaming. This is probably an angel. And the angel held in his hands a linen cord and a measuring rod. The rod was like a ruler for measuring short distances. The linen cord was for measuring longer distances. And the man, or the angel, spoke to Ezekiel, telling the prophet to look with his eyes and to hear with his ears. So, keep your eyes and ears open and pay attention to everything you will see and hear. This is why Ezekiel has been brought here: he’s been brought here in this vision to see and hear these things. And then he’s to tell it to God’s people so that they too will know these things.
And so, that’s the introduction to the vision. And in the verses which follow, Ezekiel’s guide takes him on a tour of the temple and Ezekiel records what he saw and heard.
40:5–42:20
The NIV has conveniently broken up the text into different sections and the title of each section summarises what the section is about. You also have the plan in your hand which I’ve copied from one of the commentaries. And the first thing Ezekiel tells us is that the temple area was surrounded by a wall. He doesn’t tell us here the length of the walls, but he tells us they were one rod thick and one rod high. Normally he’s not too interested in the height of anything, but here he tells us the height of the wall. The commentators tells us that one rod is 10 feet. So, the wall is 10 feet thick and 10 feet high. In other words, it’s a strong wall.
He then tells us that there was a gate in the east side. You can see it on the plan. It’s marked with the letter A on the right side of the plan. And he mentions almost in passing that there were steps which he had to climb as he went through the gateway. He also mentions that there was an alcove for guards. So, there’s a wall all around the temple area. And at the gate, there are guards. The walls and guards means this place is secure.
He goes on to describe other features about the gate, which I won’t mention. But having described the east gate, he goes on to describe the outer court, which is marked in your plan with the letter N. We can imagine him on his tour, stepping through the gate and looking around at the courtyard in front of him. He notices that there are rooms and a pavement around the court. And then, as he looks around, he sees that not only is there a gate on the east side of the wall, which he has just come through, but there are also gates on the north side and on the south side. And he describes them briefly, because they’re just the same as the east gate.
His guide then takes him into the inner court, which is marked on the plan with the letter M. There are three gates into the inner court. The gates are marked with the letter B. And the guide takes him through each of the gates, beginning with the one on the south side. Then he went through the one on the east side and then he went through the one on the north side. And it turns out the gates are identical to one another and there were eight steps at each of the gates. The eight steps tell us that the inner court is elevated. So, since there were steps at the outer gates, then that tells us that the whole temple area is higher than the surrounding area. And then the inner courtyard is higher than the outer courtyard. As you move into the temple, you’re going upwards.
He then mentions the two rooms which are marked with the letter H in the plan. He says the burnt offerings are washed in these rooms. And he says that there were tables where the offerings were slaughtered; and he saw some of the tools they used. And he refers to burnt offerings and sin offerings and guilt offerings. Rules for how these offerings were to be made are set down in the book of Leviticus. So, you can imagine Ezekiel doing what we do when we visit an old castle or a cathedral and there are certain pieces of furniture and objects which interest us because we’re already familiar with them. ‘Oh, I know what that is’, we say to ourselves. ‘I’ve seen that kind of thing before.’ And Ezekiel is familiar with the sacrificial offerings.
The guide then shows him the rooms for the priests. They are marked with the letter G. These are Levitical priests, as were all the priests who served in the tabernacle and Solomon’s temple.
And while he was in the inner court, he measured the court itself. And he noticed the altar which was standing in the inner court. It’s marked with the letter C in the plan. This is where the offerings were burned and offered to the Lord.
And next he came to the temple building itself. That’s the building marked with the letter D. And according to verse 49 of chapter 40, it was reached by another flight of stairs. So, once again, as you go further into the temple area, you’re going upwards.
The temple building is divided into three areas. There’s the portico or vestibule. Then there’s the outer sanctuary. And then, right at the back of the temple building, there’s the inner sanctuary. This is also known as the Most Holy Place. This is God’s throne room. And you’ll notice in verse 3 of chapter 41 that only Ezekiel’s guide entered the Most Holy Place. Ezekiel remained in the outer sanctuary. And the Most Holy Place is square in shape.
Around the temple building are rooms on three levels. These are marked with the letter I on the plan. And there was another room on the west side marked with the letter E.
Ezekiel then notes down for us that the surfaces of the temple building were covered with wood; and images of cherubim and palm trees were carved into the wood. He also mentioned a wooden altar in the temple building. This is perhaps not an altar, but the table for the bread of presence. In Solomon’s temple, the priests had to put fresh bread on it every day.
He mentions rooms for the priests next. These are marked with the letter F in the plan. These had three floors. According to verses 13 and 14 of chapter 42 the priests were to eat the sacrificial offerings here. The priests were also to change their clothes here, because they aren’t to wear their priestly garments when they go out of the temple building.
And the tour is now over. Ezekiel’s guide led him out of the temple area by way of the east gate. And the guide measured the east side and it was 500 cubits. That’s about 850 feet or 260 metres. He measured the north side and it was the same. He measured the south side and it was the same. And he measured the west side and it too was the same. And so, the whole temple area was a square. And Ezekiel reminds us that it had a wall all around it. And the purpose of the wall was to separate the holy from the common. What is inside the temple wall is holy, whereas what is outside the temple wall is common. From the book of Leviticus we learn that something that is common can be sanctified and become holy. And when something is holy it can come into the presence of the Lord who is himself holy, holy, holy.
Application
Ezekiel received a vision of a temple which was surrounded by a wall. And the purpose of the wall was to separate what is holy from everything else that is not holy. What is not holy could spoil what is holy. And while the wall contained gates, so that people could enter the temple area, there were guards stationed at the gates. And so, the guards were there to keep out what is not holy.
In the beginning, when God made the heavens and the earth, he planted a garden. And the Lord put Adam in the garden to work it and to take care of it. He was to work it by cultivating the garden. And he was to take care of it by guarding it.
You see, the garden of Eden was a kind of temple, where God used to meet with his people. And Adam was responsible for preserving the holiness of the garden. He was to keep out anything that might spoil its holiness. But Adam failed to do what he was supposed to do, because he let the serpent enter the garden and approach Eve. And so, the serpent was allowed to tempt Eve to disobey the Lord. And so, Eve took the forbidden fruit and she gave some to Adam and he ate it too. And from that moment on, everything in God’s good creation was spoiled, because Adam had opened a door into the world for sin and misery and death. And after God confronted Adam and Eve about their disobedience, he drove them from that temple–garden, because they had become unholy and unfit for the presence of the Lord.
In due course, God gave Moses instructions on how to build a tabernacle to be a kind of mobile temple. And he provided instructions about the sacrifices the people could offer for the forgiveness of their sins, so that — even though they were sinners and unholy — he was able to dwell in their midst. And he appointed priests to serve him in the tabernacle. And even though the priests were sinners, they were regarded by the Lord as holy in his sight so long as they offered the necessary sacrifices for their sins. When they did so, they were allowed to come into the tabernacle and serve in the presence of the Lord. But even then, only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place of God’s presence. And the High Priest could enter it only once a year after offering the right sacrifices. So, while they could approach the Lord, there were all these restrictions and no-one was able to live in God’s presence.
Nothing much changed once Solomon’s temple replaced the tabernacle. But then, because of the persistent sin and unbelief of his people over many generations, the Lord finally drove his people out of his presence when he sent them into exile to Babylon. God’s glory departed from the temple and the temple was destroyed when Jerusalem fell.
But now the Lord was revealing to his people in exile that there would once again be a temple. That meant the Lord will once again dwell with his people. And the Lord will do what Adam should have done, but failed to do, because the Lord will build a wall around the temple and he will place guards at the gates to ensure that nothing which is unholy will be allowed into the temple to defile it.
And when will this temple appear? Well, after the exiles returned from exile in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, they rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem. But that temple fell short in so many ways; and the Lord had something even better in mind for his people. In fact, the temple they rebuilt was destroyed by the Romans in AD70.
And after the coming of the Lord Jesus — when God came to dwell among his people in the person of his Son, and to offer himself as the perfect sacrifice for sins — God revealed to the Apostle John a vision of eternal life in his presence which is very similar to the vision which Ezekiel received. It is similar to Ezekiel’s vision, but it’s also even better. And the similarities suggest that John was seeing the same thing as Ezekiel saw. But since Christ has now come to save his people, then what he saw was better than what Ezekiel saw.
So, in Revelation 21, John saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth — this heaven and earth which is filled with sin and misery — had passed away. And while he was standing on a high mountain, similar to the high mountain where Ezekiel was taken, John saw what he called the Holy City or the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from God. So, Ezekiel saw a temple, whereas John saw a city. But John tells us later in his vision that the whole city in his vision was like a temple, because the whole city was filled with the presence of God. God’s glory filled the whole of the city. And so, it was a temple–city
And in John’s vision, he saw that a great high wall surrounded the city. It didn’t have three gates, but twelve gates. And there were angels at the gates. And those angels are presumably there to serve as guards: to let in only those who belong and to keep out all those who do not belong. So, the wall and the angels were there to separate the holy from what is not holy.
And there was an angel with John who measured the city. And it turns out the city was a square, like the temple in Ezekiel’s vision.
And John described the walls and foundations of the city and the gates of the city and the great street in the city and they were made either of precious stones or of gold. And precious stones and gold is better than the wood in Ezekiel’s vision.
And right at the end of John’s description of the city, he says that nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful. And so, like Ezekiel’s vision, John’s vision includes the idea that what is unholy is kept out. Nothing impure or unclean or sinful will enter the presence of the Lord.
So, who will be there? John tells us: only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lamb. He the Lamb of God who takes away our sin. And he has a book containing the names of all his people. And the reason he came into the world the first time was to give up his life on the cross to pay for the sins of his people, whose names are written in that book. He gave up his life as the ransom to pay for their sins and he shed his blood to cleanse them. He offered himself as the perfect sacrifice to take away the guilt of their sins and to cleanse them from all that is not right and to suffer the wrath of God in their place. He did this once for all when he died on the cross. And so, in John’s vision of the temple–city, there are no altars and there are no animal sacrifices. Ezekiel’s vision contained an altar and sacrifices because Ezekiel received his vision before the Lord’s death on the cross. But after Christ’s death on the cross, God could give John a vision of a temple without an altar and without animal sacrifices, because John understood that Christ offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins and there is no need now for an altar or for animal sacrifices.
And so, all those for whom Christ died and whose names are written in his book will live in this temple–city where they will enjoy the presence of God for ever.
Conclusion
Ezekiel’s vision is an Old Testament version of John’s vision. And it’s a vision of eternal life in the presence of God. You and I don’t deserve to live there. You and I are unholy. We are sinners. We are unclean. We are guilty. We sin against the Lord continually in thought and word and deed. We deserve to be shut out of his presence for ever. We deserve to be thrown into the lake of fire with satan to be tormented for ever for all that we have done wrong.
That’s what you and I deserve. But God, who is merciful and gracious and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love sent his Only Begotten Son into the world as one of us to pay the penalty we deserve with his life; and to make us holy in God’s sight; and to open up the way for us into God’s wonderful temple–city, where we will be with the Lord our God for ever and for ever, beholding his glory and enjoying that fullness of joy and pleasures for evermore which he has prepared for us.
And while we wait to enter it, we should live holy lives of obedience to the Lord our God, doing his will in our daily lives and seeking to honour him in all we do and say. In this way, the life we live here on earth will reflect the glory of the temple–city to come, which is where we now belong because of Christ; and it’s where we will one day come, thanks to Christ our Saviour who died so that we can live.
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