We’re going to be taking some more overview of Ezekiel’s vision of the fourth temple, which is the temple that the Lord Jesus will rule and reign from. And last Wednesday evening, we looked at the things that would be found in the temple. And we found some various things that would be there.
It would be a place of prayer, a place of remembrance, a place of peace, a place of preaching. It would also be a place of praise, a place of remembrance, and a place of the presence of the Lord. This evening we’re going to be looking, and this afternoon we’re going to be taking a look at some additional scriptures, some of them from Ezekiel, some of them from the Psalms and other prophets.
But I want us to look at just some information about the Messianic temple, the temple that Christ shall rule from. The first four verses, again, out of Ezekiel chapter 1, we’ll just read those one more time, just to give us an overview of what is happening when the Lord appears to Ezekiel to give him this vision of the coming temple. And as we look at what is happening in the world around us today, we realize that it is becoming ever more clear that this day is drawing nearer, as we see that the last days are, the prophecies dealing with the last days are becoming evident around us.
Ezekiel 40:1-4
In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and brought me thither. 2 In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south. 3 And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. 4 And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.
The majority of the people from Judah, were now in captivity in Babylon when he receives these visions.
And the existing temple had been destroyed, the temple of Solomon had been destroyed, the city walls had been destroyed, and the city of Jerusalem had been ravaged. And so now we find that the Lord appears, and he’s showing the nation of Israel through the prophecy of Ezekiel and the visions that he’s seeing, that one day the temple will be restored, but it’s going to be a very special temple. It’ll be not as the other temples, because it’s going to be the temple by which the Lord shall rule and reign the Millennial Kingdom in preparation for the new heavens and the new earth.
So we want to look at the command that he gives about the Messianic temple tonight. He says, The point in time when this vision was given, it was the twenty-fifth year of their captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year, after the city was smitten, in the selfsame way the hand of the Lord was upon me and brought me thither. Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed by Babylon in the year 586.
And we see that that had happened earlier during the time that Ezekiel was beginning to give these prophecies, that as some of these prophecies were given, the temple and the city were destroyed. In 572 B.C., the tenth day of Nisan, the Passover lamb is selected. And we see that now it’s interesting that this vision is speaking of that day, because we also know that the tenth day of Nisan and the Passover lamb entered in when the Lord Jesus went into Jerusalem prior to his crucifixion.
And there’s great significance around the day of Passover, because it’s the day that ultimately leads to our salvation. The place where the vision was given is found in verse 2. Into the land of Israel, so the vision was set upon the very high mountain by which was the frame of the city on the south of this high mountain. Now, a lot of people, the highest mountain, if you go to Israel today, would be Mount Hermon, which is way in the north end of Israel.
That was not the mountain that he’s speaking about. I believe he’s speaking about Mount Zion. And now also we know that we’re going to see, not maybe this afternoon, but later on you’re going to see in the visions of Ezekiel, that there’s going to be quite a transformation that occurs on Mount Zion.
When the Lord returns, he’s going to return to Mount Carmel. I’m having a hard time this afternoon. He’s going to be returning to the east of Mount Zion, which is Mount of Olives, thank you, which is the Mount of Olives.
And he’ll be returning to the east to the Mount of Olives. And when he returns to the Mount of Olives, some unique things are going to happen. There’s going to be a giant earthquake.
There’s going to be a division that’s going to go between Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives. And the whole topography of that region will be changed. There’s going to be a river that flows from Mount Zion.
And we may get into a little bit of that towards the end of the message today about what that means. This is a very high mountain. And we see that Isaiah 2, verse 2 says, And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and all the nations shall flow unto it.
Now, if you go to Mount, where Mount Zion is today, it doesn’t seem to stand that much higher than the other mountains around it. Although it is higher because everybody always, in the scriptures, it talks about always going up to Jerusalem. And so we see that Jerusalem and Mount Zion are up in the mountains in central Israel.
But as I mentioned, the topography will change. As we know what’s happening right now on the big island in Hawaii, the topography of the island is changing. There’s a storm that’s going on, a hurricane.
There’s been all kinds of horrendous rainstorms, which are causing floods to occur and things are being washed away. The hills are experiencing mudslides and things in Hawaii. They also have a volcano going on and there’s an earthquake.
So I’m sure that if you go to the big island of Hawaii, after everything is settled down from the storm, the volcano, the hurricane, and the flooding, that you go back there, it’s going to look different than when you were there before. Well, Jerusalem and Mount Zion are going to look a lot different when the Lord returns. And the topography of the land will change tremendously.
And Mount Zion could be raised up so it would even be above the other mountains more than it is today. The third thing is the person who delivered this command in verse 3, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of brass with a line of flax in his hands and a measuring reed and he stood in the gate. Most Bible scholars and I would be in agreement with them that this is the Lord Jesus Christ.
You get the same type of description of him found in other places in Ezekiel’s prophecy and also in the book of Revelation. It has similar descriptions of him, especially the concept of being a man in brass. And then the concept of fine linen is also found elsewhere in Ezekiel back when he was by the river and he saw this man that was giving him the words there.
This man appears to be the Lord Jesus the Messiah. Ezekiel 43, 6-7 says, And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house, and a man stood by me. And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever, and my holy name shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they nor their kings, nor their whoredom, nor by the carcasses of their kings in their high places.
Now, this definitely is the Lord speaking because who had they defiled? And that’s why they were in captivity now is because of their defiling the name of the Lord and their whoredoms of going after false gods and abandoning the worship of the true God and not realizing all the blessings God had given them, especially by placing them in the residence of the temple where he came to dwell and have them worship him. And so we see that this is Jesus that’s speaking this in Ezekiel 43, 6-7. In Ezekiel 44, 1-2, Ezekiel says the following, Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary, which looked toward the east, and it was shut.
Now, if you go to Israel today, the east gate is shut. It was blocked up during the Ottoman Empire because the prophecy was given that we’re looking at even today in Ezekiel, we’ll just touch on it briefly, that the Lord, when he returns, is going to return through the eastern gate. The Muslims wanted to keep Jesus from returning and so they blocked it all up.
And as I mentioned last week, they put a cemetery in front of the east gate because they knew that the Jews would be defiled if they came into a cemetery. And so they’re trying to keep Jesus away by doing those things. But it says here that he sees the east gate and it’s blocked up.
Then said the Lord unto me, This gate shall be shut, and it shall not be opened. And no man shall enter in by it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. And so we see that the Lord was the last one, when he left, when he had his earthly ministry, he went out.
The last day he walked out through the east gate, down the Kidron Valley, up the Mount of Olives, and then he went up and talked to his disciples. And shortly thereafter, he was betrayed and taken into captivity. And so he left by the east gate.
We also know that during the time of Solomon, the Shekinah glory of the Lord left through the east gate. The Lord shall enter again when he comes back through this gate, but no man shall enter until the Lord does return. And it will be shut up so no man can.
The purpose for this command is found in the last portion of verse 4 of the verses we just read. Declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel. Why was Ezekiel supposed to be giving this prophecy about this temple that was going to be built by Jesus, by the Messiah? Why was he supposed to be giving this prophecy about the Messiah returning? Why was he supposed to be giving this prophecy about the Messiah ruling and reigning from Mount Zion and the temple? Because the nation of Israel had thought they would never again go back to the Promised Land.
They would never again see Jerusalem. They would never again have a temple. And they realized their dilemma that they were in right now.
And Ezekiel is saying, your hope is yet to come because your Messiah shall come and do all that he delivers and says. The construction of the temple is found in Ezekiel chapter 40, verses 5 through 42, verse 20. The words he measured are found in these verses and they appear 25 times in the book of Ezekiel and 22 times in this section.
The details of these three chapters clearly point to a literal temple in the future. And today we’re not going to again spend a lot of detail going with the exact measurements, the rooms, the chambers, the altars of offering. We’re not going to lay out how God lays out this temple, but it’s to be laid out in a very similar format to the previous temples that went before it.
But it’s going to be unique in that God says, I will rule and reign from it. And then also in Ezekiel chapter 43, verses 1 through 5, we see that there’s the coming glory of God and that Ezekiel says the following, the words which he spoke in verse 2, his voice was like a noise of many waters. Where you also see that term many waters, you’ll also see it found in the Psalms, you’ll also see it found in Revelation and whenever you see it found that they had a voice of many waters, it’s speaking about the Lord when he speaks.
In Psalm 29, verses 2 through 3, it says, Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters.
The God of glory thundereth, and the Lord is upon many waters. And if you look at when he’s speaking of many waters, it’s speaking of the fact that the Lord has great power, great authority and he’s over all. He is not like the false gods, the demonic entities that the nation of Israel had abandoned the Lord to embrace, but he is the true God and as the true God he is over all.
And in speaking of the many waters, it’s a reference to his omnipotence and his omniscience. The second thing is the wonder of his presence found in the second portion of the second verse. It says, And the earth shined with his glory.
We’re also told that when the Lord returns and establishes the millennial kingdom, at the end of the millennial kingdom he’ll establish the new heavens and the new earth. And a unique thing will happen when the new heavens and the new earth comes. It says that there will no longer be a need for the sun and the moon and the stars.
Because the glory of the Lord will shine and they will give us light. And we will no longer need what we see today for light because it will be a totally different creation from what it is today. The glory of God will be all the light that we need.
And the third thing is the worship of Ezekiel. In the last portion of the third verse it says, And I fell upon my face. Not only Ezekiel has had this happen before, but we see that Jeremiah had the same thing happen to him.
John the apostle had the same thing happen to him. When they come into the presence of Jesus, and this is another reason that we know that it’s Jesus, the Lord, that is speaking and appearing to Ezekiel here, is Ezekiel falls on his face. They fall on their face because you cannot stand in the presence of God unless God allows you to do that.
Because of the power and the glory and the majesty that he possesses. And Ezekiel falls on his face in worship before him. Also by falling on one’s face, you are putting yourself in a position where you are showing that you are falling before them, you are showing obeisance before them, and that you are truly worshiping this person.
And Ezekiel would not worship anybody but God. And so we see that this is another indication that this is the Lord. The fourth thing he talks about is the way in which his presence filled the house.
And we find this in verse 4. It says, And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. And so again we see that the glory of the Lord comes in through the gate. As I mentioned earlier in the message, the glory of the Lord left through the east gate when the Shekinah glory left the temple of Solomon.
It also, the Lord Jesus left through the east gate. And the Lord Jesus is referred to as the glory of the Lord was present amongst the nation of Israel when Jesus came. Because truly Jesus is the fulfillment of the glory of the Lord.
What makes us understand the completeness and bigness and wonderment of God more than the Son that came to redeem His creation and mankind from the ravages of sin. And His great glory was revealed. And so when Jesus left, the glory left Jerusalem through that same gate.
When He left and it shall enter again when He returns. In Ezekiel chapter 43 verses 18-27, it speaks of the cleansing of the altar. And it talks about the fact that there will be sacrifices offered.
We talked a little bit about that last week. And the fact that the sacrifices are not going to be sacrifices as were being offered before. Because Jesus came and offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice.
He was the Lamb of God that came to take away the sins of the world. But really during the millennial kingdom there will be sacrifices offered. And those sacrifices will be much like our memorial service that we had again this morning.
Where we had a communion service, a memorial Lord’s Supper. Where we remember what Jesus did for us. And really these sacrifices that are offered, they’re looking back to what Christ has done.
And all that He did and people will be reminded as they offer these sacrifices. It says the sacrifices will be offered in verse 18. It says to offer burnt offerings thereon and to sprinkle the blood thereon.
And the burnt offerings and the sprinkling of blood, once again are the symbolism of making that which was unpure, pure. Making that which was unholy, holy. And so He says here in verse 19, sin will be cleansed and sin was cleansed by Jesus.
And it will be again revealed how that was done through His blood. A young bullock for a sin offering. Offer a kid of goats without blemish for a sin offering.
And they shall cleanse the altar. And then I want us to take in closing a look at the fact that there’s still going to be three celebrations of Jewish worship that will be occurring on Mount Zion during the Millennial Kingdom and when Jesus returns to rule. In Ezekiel chapter 45 verses 21 through 25 and 46, 1 through 18, it talks about these three celebrations.
The first is Passover will be celebrated. Ezekiel 45, 21 through 23. And here it talks about the Passover service will continue to be something that not only the nation of Israel will be involved in, but the whole world will see and the nations will come up to the city of Jerusalem and up to the Temple Mount during these celebrations.
And the Passover is once again to remind us of what God has done in delivering us. The Passover service was originally given to the nation of Israel after the deliverance from Egypt and underneath the enslavement to Pharaoh and the fact that God set them free. It was really pointing to again the final deliverance that enabled them to be set free was when the lamb’s blood was shed and the blood was put on the doorposts and the lintel and all those that had the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and the lintel, the angel of death passed over and otherwise the firstborn of animal and human would be put to death.
And we see that God’s mercy was found in the shed blood of the innocent lamb and the nation of Israel was required to keep that in pertuity as long as Israel exists. And the thing is they’re still existing during this time and they’re still to remember how God’s delivering hand has been upon them and it’s been through the blood of the lamb. And if you look at the nation of Israel today, the Jewish people, as I mentioned in the message, I think it was two weeks ago, the fact that Jewish people, they keep the Passover and many are not practicing Jews but yet they keep the Passover.
Why do they do that? Because God said they would and because some of them don’t even know why they do it, but they do it. And the thing is it’s going to be kept with purpose and reason during the time that Jesus rules with us. The second celebration that will be kept is found in Ezekiel chapter 45 verse 25 and that is the Feast of the Tabernacles.
And this will have, for the first time in history, it will begin to have the true meaning of what that tabernacle feast was about. The Feast of Tabernacles meant that the Lord would come to tabernacle with his people. The Lord tabernacled with his people when he brought them in the desert.
The pillar of fire went by night. The pillar of the cloud went during the day. And the nation of Israel followed it.
The presence of the Lord was with them. The presence of the Lord resided in the Shekinah glory within the tabernacle that Moses built. And we also see that during this same time they were living in tents.
And what it was saying is God lived in a tent with them. He tabernacled with them. The tabernacle of the Lord went along with the people and the tent of the Lord was set up in the midst of the camp.
If you see a description of how the nation of Israel set up the tabernacle and the nation around them, there would be three tribes on the south, three tribes on the north, three tribes on the west, and three tribes on the east. And they would surround the tabernacle and the tabernacle would be in the center of the camp. And it would show that God was in the midst of all the people.
Well, that had really never been like that. Even during the time when Jesus came, the people didn’t acknowledge him the way that the people acknowledged the significance of the tabernacle when they were being let out in the desert. But the people still kept the Feast of the Tabernacles.
Jesus went up to Israel, or went up to Jerusalem rather, to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. And we know that it was kept then. It is still kept to this day.
We used to have a Jewish synagogue about three blocks from our church here. And during the Feast of Tabernacles, they would put a little tabernacle out, a little tent out in the front of their synagogue to show that they were celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. But the real significance during this time is really the Lord is going to be there.
He is going to be in the midst of them. He is going to be in their temple. He will be there in all of his glory.
And he will be in the midst of all of Israel. And he will be in the midst of the whole world. It is interesting.
Someone said one time, where is the center point of the earth? And a lot of people give, well it is this point, it is that point. The center point of the earth really is Mount Zion. Because that is where the focus of the whole world always is.
It is always on Mount Zion. It is always on Jerusalem. It is always on the Temple Mount.
And because Satan knows that the Lord is ultimately going to come and tabernacle with his people in a real sense when he returns to earth. And they will come and celebrate this feast in a way that they had never celebrated it before Jesus returned. The third thing is that they will continue to celebrate the Shabbat will be honored.
And we find that in Ezekiel 46, verse 3. Shabbat will be honored and the people will literally take time to spend with God. They will take a day to spend with God out of seven. Just as the nation of Israel was called to do.
It was a special day for the nation of Israel. The church celebrates and honors the Lord on the Lord’s day because it is the day of his resurrection. But we see that Shabbat will be honored when the Lord returns and the people will come to fellowship, worship him and everything will be stopped to focus on God during Shabbat.
The changes in the river and then we will close with this. And I mentioned that I didn’t know if we would get there or not. We will get there.
The changes which the river of God will cause. This is found in Ezekiel 47, verses 1-12. Psalm 46, verse 4 says, There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.
Well, if you go to Israel today, you will find that there is a little stream that flows out from underneath the city of Jerusalem and it flows through the Hezekiah’s tunnel but it is not a big river. When the Lord returns, there is going to be a change in the topography. What is just a little stream today is going to become a big huge river.
This river is going to have great significance. It is going to change the land of Israel in significant ways. Let’s see what it says.
This river shall heal the dead sea. Verses 8-10, The waters shall be healed and will bring a very great multitude of fish. If you go to the dead sea today, you don’t find much living in the dead sea.
I just read an article on the dead sea recently and it said that the salt content in the dead sea.