Introduction
Last week we studied Ezekiel chapters 40 to 42 where Ezekiel recorded for us the vision he received from the Lord of a new temple. In the vision, he was met by an angelic guide who took him on a tour of the temple, showing him the wall which surrounded the whole temple complex; and the three outer gates leading into the outer court; and the three inner gates leading into the inner court. He was also shown the altar which was within the inner court. And the guide showed him various rooms in the temple complex. And then there was the temple itself comprising a vestibule and the outer sanctuary and the inner sanctuary, which is also known as the Most Holy Place. This was God’s throne room.
And you might also remember that there were steps at the outer gates; and there were steps and at inner gates; and there were steps leading up to the temple. So, worshippers would go up to worship the Lord. God was higher than everything else, because he lives in a high and holy place.
And, of course, the wall which surrounded the temple complex was there to separate the holy from the common. That is to say, it was there to prevent anything common — or anything that is not holy — from coming into the presence of the Lord our God who is holy, holy, holy.
And I said last week that while some believers think that the Lord showed Ezekiel this temple so that it would one day be built in Jerusalem, it’s more likely that the purpose of the vision was to reveal to Ezekiel and to us what eternal life in the presence of God will be like. In that case, it matches the vision which the Apostle John received from the Lord and which he recorded for us in Revelation 21 of the new Jerusalem which came down from heaven to earth. And the city John saw was really a temple, because the whole city was filled with the presence of God. God’s glory shone throughout that temple-city.
And both visions make clear that not everyone will be able to enter the presence of God and live with him for ever in perfect peace and rest and happiness, because the temple in Ezekiel’s vision and the city in John’s vision were both surrounded by a high wall. And the walls were there to signify that what is not holy will be excluded from God’s holy presence. And none of us is holy by nature. All of us are sinners by nature and we sin against the Lord continually. We do not deserve eternal life in the presence of God. In fact, what we deserve because of Adam’s sin in the beginning and because of our own personal guilt is to be sent out of God’s presence for ever to be punished for ever for all that we have done wrong. And yet, thanks be to God, because whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave up his life on the cross to make peace for us with God, is pardoned by God for all that we have done wrong; and we are accepted as holy in God’s sight, because of the perfect righteousness of Christ which he shares with his believing people. And so, everyone who believes in him can look forward to coming into the presence of God to live with him for ever in the new and better world to come.
That’s what we were thinking about last week. And Ezekiel’s vision continues into today’s chapter where he sees the glory of the Lord coming to the temple. In other words, God himself was coming to the temple. And then Ezekiel describes for us the altar that was located in the inner court of the temple complex. He tells us what it looked like and how it was to be consecrated.
God’s glorious presence in the OT
And so, that’s what we’re thinking about this evening: the coming of the Lord to the temple; and the altar for offering sacrifices to the Lord.
But before we get to that, let me summarise what the Old Testament says about God’s glorious presence. And we have to begin at the beginning where we read in Genesis 3 that Adam and Eve heard the sound of the Lord as he was walking in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day. So, before the Fall, the Lord would come into the Garden, which was a kind of temple, to meet Adam and Eve. And so, in those days, Adam and Eve enjoyed the presence of the Lord in their midst. And the Tree of Life in the Garden held out to them the promise of everlasting life in the presence of God.
However, once they disobeyed the Lord, Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden and away from the Tree of Life; and God himself withdrew from them to heaven.
From time to time afterwards, the Lord spoke to people from heaven. For instance, he spoke to Cain after Cain killed his brother. And he spoke to Noah to tell him to build the ark. In due course, he spoke to Abraham and called him to leave his father’s household and go to the land the Lord will show him. And the Lord spoke to Abraham on other occasions. On one memorable occasion, the Lord appeared to Abraham to talk to him about Sodom. But afterwards, the Lord went away from him again.
Years later God spoke to Rebekah concerning her sons, Jacob and Esau. He also spoke to Jacob, who became the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. And then he spoke to Moses from out of the burning bush about rescuing his people from Egypt.
Up until this point, the Lord spoke to his people from time to time. He came and said what he had to say and then he withdrew from them once again. But on the night he led his people out of Egypt, the Lord went before them in the pillar of cloud and fire. And that glory-cloud made clear to the people that God was with them. When they looked at the glory-cloud, they knew God was with them, leading them in the way they should go.
And on the way to the Promised Land, he instructed them to build him a tabernacle in which to dwell. So, just as they lived in tents in those days, so he would live in the tabernacle which was a kind of tent. And once the tabernacle was built, and everything was ready, the Lord’s glory-cloud filled the tabernacle. By filling the tabernacle, the Lord made clear to them that this was his dwelling place among them and he would not leave them nor forsake them so long as they trusted him.
Years later, after David defeated their enemies in the Promised Land and they were living in peace, God allowed Solomon to build him a temple to replace the tabernacle. And when all the work of construction was complete and the temple had been dedicated to the Lord, the Lord’s glory-cloud filled the temple to make clear to his people that he was prepared to live among them.
Of course, Solomon understood that no earthly building can contain the Lord. And so, when he was dedicating the temple, he said that the highest heaven cannot contain the Lord. It cannot contain the Lord, because he is present everywhere all at once. Nevertheless, the glory-cloud made clear to the people that the Lord would dwell among them in a unique way; and when they prayed towards the temple, he would hear from heaven and answer them. And so, the people understood that God was with them and whenever they went up to the temple in Jerusalem, they were going up to meet the Lord their God.
The glory-cloud, that pillar of cloud and fire, signified God’s presence with his people. And at the beginning of the book of Ezekiel, when Ezekiel was in Babylon along with the other exiles, the Lord revealed his glory to Ezekiel, when the appeared to Ezekiel in a vision. Remember? Ezekiel saw an immense cloud with flashing lightning which was surrounded by brilliant light. And at the centre of the fire, he saw four angels. And the angels were standing around a kind of throne-chariot, or a throne on wheels. And then, as Ezekiel looked, he saw above the chariot-throne a figure like that of a man, but this figure also looked like glowing metal. And Ezekiel is clearly having a hard time describing what he saw. But in the end, he tells us that what he was looking at in this vision was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. He saw the glory of the Lord. God was with them, even in exile.
And that’s not the only time that Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord. He also saw the glory of the Lord in the vision he records for us in chapters 8 to 11. He was taken away in a vision from Babylon to Jerusalem where he saw all the terrible things the people were doing, because instead of worshipping the Lord in his temple, they were bowing down to idols and they were worshipping false gods and not the true God who made all things and who had chosen them as his people. And in the vision, Ezekiel saw how the Lord was going to punish them for their wickedness. Those who grieved over the idolatry in Jerusalem would be spared, but the rest will be killed.
And in the vision, Ezekiel also saw something else: he saw the same chariot-throne as before with the angels and he saw the Lord’s glory. And he saw how the angels and the chariot-throne and the Lord’s glory went upwards and they stopped at the east gate. The Lord was poised to leave the temple. His holy house had been defiled by the idolatry and sinfulness of his people. And since his holy house had been defiled, he was getting ready to leave. And after Ezekiel saw that vision, the Lord soon sent the Babylonians to destroy the city and to destroy the temple. Once he left the temple, he sent the Babylonians to destroy it. And he let it be destroyed, because his people had defiled it.
And so, we come to today’s passage, where Ezekiel saw the Lord’s glory once again.
Verses 1 to 9
He tells us in verse 1 that his angelic guide brought him to the east gate. In Ezekiel’s vision back in chapters 8 to 11, he saw the Lord depart from the east gate. In this new vision, he saw the Lord return from the east.
And Ezekiel tells us that the Lord’s voice was like the roar of rushing waters. Once again Ezekiel is struggling to find the words to describe what he heard and saw. Each time he saw the Lord, he says the Lord looked like this and he looked like that. He can’t quite find the right words. And so, here he says the Lord’s voice was like the sound of rushing waters. He’s trying to convey to us how the voice of the Lord thunders like a waterfall.
And according to the end of verse 2 the land was radiant with God’s glory. The brightness of God’s glory was so strong, so brilliant, that it lit up the whole of the land. No-one could miss it.
And Ezekiel tells us that this vision of the Lord’s glory was like the earlier visions he had received. So, it was like the visions he recorded for us in chapter 1 when he was by the Kebar River and he saw the Lord’s glory and the chariot-throne. And it was like the vision he received when the Lord’s glory departed from the temple. Interestingly, Ezekiel refers to that vision here as ‘when [the Lord] came to destroy the city.’ That previous vision was both a vision of the Lord’s departure from the city and it was, at the same time, a vision of the Lord coming to destroy the city. It was a vision of both things, because by departing from the city, he was leaving it to the Babylonians to destroy it. And the point Ezekiel is making is that in each vision he saw the same thing: he saw the glory of the Lord. And as before, as soon as he saw the Lord’s glory, he fell face down in fear, because who can look upon the glory of God and live?
And in this vision he saw the glory of the Lord enter the temple through the east gate. And the Spirit of the Lord lifted Ezekiel from the ground and brought him into the inner court of the temple complex. And Ezekiel saw how the glory of the Lord filled the temple. The light of God’s glory shone brightly and lit up the whole of the temple.
And then Ezekiel heard someone speaking to him from inside the temple. And it’s the voice of the Lord, isn’t it? We know it’s his voice because the voice said to Ezekiel that ‘this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet.’ So, God is speaking to Ezekiel about the temple. And the Lord tells him that it’s his throne room and it’s the place where he sits and, as it were, rests his feet.
And look at the wonderful promise that comes next, because the Lord says to Ezekiel in verse 7 that this is where he will live among the Israelites for ever. Back in chapter 10 he left the temple and city. But now he was promised to dwell there for ever and for ever. He will never leave his people, but will live with them always.
And the next promise is just as wonderful, because he then says that the people of Israel will never again defile his holy name by their prostitution and by the lifeless idols of their kings. When he refers to their prostitution, he means the way they went after false gods and idols. So, instead of remaining faithful to him, they went after other gods. And when he refers to the lifeless idols of their kings, he perhaps means that they used to venerate the spirits of dead kings. They once idolised their dead kings. But the Lord is reassuring Ezekiel that his people will never do such things again. They will never again dishonour the name of the Lord by sinning against him. In the past, God destroyed them for their detestable practices. But now they will put away their false gods and idols and they will worship him alone. The NIV makes verse 9 sound like a command, but it’s better to take the Lord’s words as a promise. They will put their detestable practices away and God will dwell with them for ever.
Application
And so, it’s a wonderful promise, isn’t it? God promises to be with his people for ever and they will never sin against him. It’s wonderful. And it’s a promise that will be fully realised when Christ comes again. When Christ comes again, all of his people will be glorified in God’s presence in the new heavens and earth and we’ll be made perfect for ever. Never again will we sin against the Lord. The idea of sin, or the thought of sin, will not even enter our minds, because our minds and our hearts and our wills will be made completely holy to the Lord and our every thought and desire and inclination will be to obey him.
And God will dwell with us for ever in the new heavens and earth and his glory will fill every part of his renewed creation. And we’ll look upon his glory and we’ll be lost in wonder and adoration and praise and we’ll be perfectly happy for ever and we’ll worship him without weariness. We’ll never grow tired of gazing on him and we’ll never get distracted. We’ll never want to leave. We’ll be transfixed by the sight of his glory and his greatness and his beauty and holiness.
Verses 10 to 12
And in verse 10, the Lord tells Ezekiel to describe the temple to his fellow exiles. And the reason for describing it to them may surprise us, because it’s to make them ashamed of their sins. Yes, the vision of God’s return to his temple is encouraging, because God intends to dwell with his people for ever. But the idea of his return to dwell with his people will also make the exiles ashamed. And they will grieve over their sins. And that’s because when they see the temple plan — and presumably when they see the wall all around it that separates the holy inside the temple from what is not holy outside it — then they will realise that they are unholy and that they need to be holy, otherwise they will be shut out of God’s glorious presence for ever. They will be struck by what the Lord refers to in verse 12 as the law of the temple. And what is the law of the temple? That all the surrounding area of the temple — that is, all of the temple area — is most holy. So, God is holy and he lives in a high and holy place. And, since that’s the case, then how can sinners ever hope to approach him? And that takes us to the second part of today’s passage which is about the altar.
Verses 13 to 27
In verses 13 to 17, Ezekiel records for us what the altar in the temple looks like. He records its measurements and he tells us that there’s a gutter with a rim around its edge, presumably for collecting the blood of the sacrifices. In fact, there are two gutters: one at the top and one of the botteom. And he refers to the hearth, where the offerings are burnt. And the hearth has four horns coming from it. And we’re told in verse 17 that the steps up to the altar face east.
And after telling Ezekiel what the altar looked like, the Lord goes on in verses 18 to 27 to instruct Ezekiel about how to consecrate the altar. So, this is what is to be done first before the altar can be used. And it will take several days to consecrate it to the Lord. On the first day, Ezekiel should give the priests a young bull for a sin offering. And he’s to take some of the blood from the bull and put it on the four horns on the altar and on the corners of the upper ledge around the altar and the rim. And in this way he will purify the altar and make atonement for it. It will be cleansed of every defilement so that it can be used in the worship of the Lord. And the bull is to be burned outside the camp.
On the second day, he’s to offer a male goat as a sin offering to purify the altar. And he’s also to offer a young bull and a ram. And the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them to the Lord as a burnt offering. And according to verse 25 this is to be repeated for seven days. And from the eighth day onwards, the priests may present burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar for the people. In other words, once the altar is purified, it can be used by the priests for offering the regular burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. Burnt offerings were offered as the ransom to pay for the sins of the people. Fellowship offerings signified that they have peace with God.
Application
And so, the Lord revealed to Ezekiel in this vision of a new temple that there would be an altar where the people could offer the right sacrifices to make up for their sins and to restore peace for them with God. In this way, God will forgive their sins and they will be able to approach him in worship.
And as I said last week, when the Lord revealed these things to Ezekiel and to the exiles in Babylon, he had to use imagery they were familiar with. And so, in order to reveal to them what eternal life in his presence would be like, he had to use the image of a temple and the image of an altar to show them how God will forgive their sins and how he will dwell with them for ever.
But I also said last week that the Lord’s vision to Ezekiel is very similar to the Lord’s vision to the apostle John in Revelation 21. And when the Lord wanted to reveal to the apostle John what eternal life in the presence of God will be like, he had to change Ezekiel’s vision in one very significant way. And the significant difference between Ezekiel’s vision and John’s vision is that in John’s vision, there’s no altar. There’s no altar and there are no sacrifices in the temple-city John saw. In Ezekiel’s vision, there’s an altar. And the altar is right in the middle of the temple complex. It’s at the heart of the temple area. But there’s no altar at all in John’s vision.
Why not? Because John received his vision after the coming of the Lord, who gave up his life on the cross as the perfect, once-and-for-all sacrifice for sins. His sacrifice of himself was a new and better sin offering which cleanses his people from the guilt of our sin. His sacrifice of himself was a new and better burnt offering which pays for our sins in full and for ever. His sacrifice of himself was a new and better fellowship offering, because he has made peace for us with God for ever.
There isn’t an altar in John’s vision of eternal life, because the Lord Jesus Christ offered himself on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for sins. And whoever believes in him is cleansed from all that makes us unclean. So, think of all your sinful thoughts and desires which make you unclean before God. Think of all your sinful words which make you unclean. Think of all your sinful actions which you unclean. Think of all the things you think and say and do which make you ashamed when you think of them. Think of all the uncleanness you have gathered up over a lifetime. But through faith in Christ, we are pardoned and cleansed from all that defiles us. We have peace with God.
When Christ comes again to judge the living and the dead, those who never trusted in Christ will be condemned and sent away from the presence of God to be punished for ever for all that they have done wrong, because nothing that is not holy can come into the presence of a holy God. But all those who trusted in him will be acquitted at the judgment and we will be received into the new heavens and earth where we will be fully and for ever freed from all our sin and misery and we’ll be made perfectly holy and happy in body and soul. And we’ll see God, who will dwell with us for ever; and we’ll be able to enjoy him for ever and for ever.
And until that day comes — when we’re received into the new heavens and earth and we are fully and for ever freed from all sin and misery — God gives us his Holy Spirit to make us more and more holy in this life. The Holy Spirit works in us inwardly to make us more and more willing and able to do God’s will here on earth. He enables us to live holy and obedient lives of service to our great God and Saviour; and he enables us to honour him in all we do and say. Indeed he enables us to offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices so that we become more and more dedicated and devoted to living for his glory here on earth. And the Spirit also fills our hearts with thanksgiving and he enables us to offer to God a sacrifice of praise. And so, he helps us to offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice; and he helps us to offer up to God a sacrifice of praise. That’s what the Spirit does in God’s people right now. And so, every day we should turn to God the Father in prayer through Jesus Christ his Son and seek the help of the Holy Spirit to praise our God and to live our lives for his glory while we wait for the day when we’ll come into the new heavens and earth, to live with God for ever and for ever in glory.
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