July 20th

EZEKIAL 40 – 48

Ezekial has described the return of the Jewish people to their land, the cleansing of the nation, and the restoring of the land to productivity and security.  But for the picture to be complete, he must give them assurance that their beloved temple and its ministries will be restored, for the presence of God’s glory in the temple was what set Israel apart from all the nations.  Romans 9:4.  These last nine chapters is the Lord speaking through Ezekial as He gives him more visions which he shares with us.  There is described in detail the new temple and its ministry, the new boundaries of the tribes in the land and the return of the glory of God to Israel. 

Chapter 40 begins in the 25^th year of the Babylonian captivity.  A man speaks to Ezekial (the man was an angel and unrestricted. V. 3) “Look with your eyes and hear with your ears and set your heart and mind on all that I will show you, for you are brought here that I may show them to you.  Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”  Could the LORD be speaking similarly to you and me today???

Warren Weirsbe warns against attempting to spiritualize this block of Scripture regarding the temple building to the church; however, there are important points of learning and application as we read through.  The Jewish people had defiled their temple and the glory of the Lord had departed and Israel needed to return to holy worship and abandon their routine of empty religious activity.  It is a present day lesson that the church needs to recover today.  Too much so-called worship is only a demonstration of man-centered religious activity that fails to bring glory to the Lord. 

Weirsbe believes strongly that this is definitely a Jewish temple...to be used in the millennial reign of Christ…the center for worship during the kingdom of Christ, a worship based on the levitical order in the Mosaic Law…to be treated with respect and not like any other building in the neighborhood, and He especially wanted them to abandon their idolatry. 

In this chapter, there is an abundance of mentioning of palm trees.  Does anyone know the importance of the palm tree?

In chapter 44: 5 READ repeated instructions

v.6 WOW! DON’T REPEAT YOUR SINS “let all your previous abominations be enough for you – do not repeat them!” v.9 uncircumcised in heart and flesh, shall not enter into HIS sanctuary.  V. 12 DON’T BE A STUMBLING BLOCK

V. 20…once we are born again, we become HIS sanctuary, HIS temple!  V.21 “Neither shall any priest drink wine, when he enters the inner court…do not marry a widow or a woman separated or divorced from her husband; but they shall marry maidens who are virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel or a widow previously married to a priest.”  What part of this might apply for the present day?

 v. 23 …shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the common or profane, and cause them to distinquish between the unclean and the clean…shall judge according to My judgments…keep my laws and My statutes ….

v. 30 give to the priest the first of your coarse of meal and bread dough that a blessing may rest on your house?????

Chapter 46: 9 What does this mean???  SINGLEMINDEDNESS…repentance!!!

46:13-15 MORNING DEVOTIONAL, importance of daily and continual!

v. 17 Parellel Scripture?? Ephesians 1:11, John 1:12…Keep permanently…for inheritance to son to keep permanently!

47: 5-9 The description of a river…v.9 “everything shall live where the river goes.  V. 12 “because their waters came from out the sanctuary”.  John 7:38 “out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

The prophet noticed a trickle of water issuing from the Holy of Holies, past the altar on the south side…the guile led him out the north gar and around the temple where he saw the water coming out from under the building…it became deeper and deeper as it was measured.  The river flowed to the Dead Sea where it brough new life to that forsaken area…healed as it flowed…LIFE comes from the temple of God not from a palace or a government building!  During the Kingdom Age, Jerusalem will have a river…was not located on a river…like no other nation ever had.  But is this a literal river or merely a sacred symbol of the life-giving power of the Lord?  Perhaps it is both…both illustrates and accomplishes the life giving work of God.  Jesus saw such a river as a symbol of the Holy Spirit.

THE MEANING OF THE NEW TEMPLE:  The spiritual lessons are as meaningful to us today as they were to Israel in Ezekiel’s day, or as they will be to the Jewish people in Messiah’s day…

·        Separation from sin.  Israel drifted into sin because they began to erase the differences between the holy and the unholy, the clean and the unclean.  The temple reminded the people that God put a difference between the clean and the unclean…Isa. 5:20.

·        WORSHIP  The temple was a place of worship but the heart of the worshiper was far more important than his or her gifts.  They began to worship idols right alongside Jehovah.  God’s people don’t decide how they are going to worship the Lord; they simply obey what He tells them in His Word.

·        FULFILLMENT  One of the purposes of the millennial kingdom is that God might fulfill His promises to His people…He had not fulfilled because of their disobedience and rebellion.  He had given Israel a wonderful land, a perfect law, and a glorious Lord.  They defiled the land, disobeyed the law, defiled their Lord and resisted His calls to repentance.  During the kingdom, Israel will trust the Lord, obey His Word, worship in His temple as they should and bring delight to the Lord Who will rule from David’s throne.  Area will be like the Garden of Eden, complete with a river of life and trees of life. 

·        God’s glory and God’s name  A valuable lesson from the book of Ezekiel:  we must honor His name and magnify His glory.  “They shall know that I am the Lord” is a statement found at least 60 times in this book.  While His glory does not dwell in our buildings, He can be glorified or disgraced by what we do in those buildings we have dedicated to Him.  As His people we must be reverent and honor His name.

·        The sovereign rule of God.  Today the church of Jesus Christ is left in this world not just to pray that His will would be done on earth as in heaven, but to help accomplish that will in the power of the Holy Spirit.  God is still on the throne and the Savior has “all authority in heaven and on earth.”

 And Exekial ends with THE LORD IS THERE!!!! As the name of the city!