We come to chapter 40 in the book of Ezekiel. And it’s interesting as you look at chapter 40, it’s really speaking, I believe, of the millennial kingdom. Ezekiel has been called to bring the prophetic word to the nation of Israel that has been enduring tremendous persecution and it’s really been a chastisement from the Lord because of the rebellion against him.
They have been put in a position where the vast majority of the Jewish people had been led into captivity, as we shared before, the northern kingdom of Israel led into captivity by the Assyrians. Assyria, I didn’t put the maps up tonight, but Assyria is what is current day Iraq, is where Assyria would be located. And then the northern kingdom of Israel was led captive by the Assyrians.
Then the southern kingdom of Judah, about 100 years later, was led into captivity by the Persians, which is today referred to as Iran. And so the countries that are in the news today were in the news when Ezekiel was living, just that they were under different names. As you look at what happened when the people were taken from Judah and taken away into captivity with the third invasion of Nebuchadnezzar, the temple was destroyed, the walls of Jerusalem were destroyed, the city was ravaged, and the people, just about everybody, was driven from the land.
I want us to look tonight, as we come to chapter 40, that as God has been revealing the events that would happen when His chastisement would begin to become finalized against the nation of Israel, and we talked about the invasion of Gog and Magog, and I probably didn’t emphasize strong enough that really, as you look at events that are happening in our world today, and really look at the scriptures, Magog is probably Turkey, and you also look at some of the other nations that were referenced there, it would be other portions of Turkey, and then the nations that we looked at. We realize today that Turkey is rising up as one of the great adversaries of Israel, and the leader Erdogan of Turkey wants Israel out of the way. And he wants a caliphate throughout the world, and he wants Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, to be re-established, and he wants to be leader of it.
He desires that Israel be put out of the way. I believe that at the heart of all of this is a spiritual battle. Now it’s interesting as you come to chapter 40, all of the Lord has revealed how He’s going to deliver Israel, when it appears that all is lost, it will be His power that is going to deliver them, as we saw in chapters 38 and 39, and that He would establish them once again in the land.
Chapter 40 talks about another temple being built. But this is a very unique temple, and I just want to look at the first four verses out of chapter 40, and then I want to go back and look at types of the temples that God has given to the nation of Israel, and that they’re all pointing to this temple.
Ezekiel 40:1
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.
Now when He says the city was smitten, it’s referring to the fact the temple was destroyed, the walls were destroyed, the city was gone. And that’s what He’s saying.
Ezekiel 40:2-4
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.
There’s a man that appears, and the description of the man, and if you go to the book of Revelation, I believe you see that this man is Jesus Christ. It’s our Lord. And He appears before him, and He’s got measuring tools in His hand.
Now, the measuring tools that He speaks of, their measurements are different. And when we get further into the chapter, it can be a little confusing, because He’s talking about reeds and cubits, and cubits and hand brass, and various things. And the line of flax is another measurement.
And those are the line of flaxes for the longer measurements, and the reed and the hand brass are about ten and a half feet. And a cubit is around, the cubit in the time of the Bible, was about from the fingertips to the elbow, the forearm of a man, about eighteen inches. And these are terms that the readers, or the listeners that were hearing Ezekiel speak, would understand.
We have a little more difficult time today, because we don’t talk in cubits and those things. But I want us to take a look at that He’s standing, and destruction has come upon Israel. And it has been absolute, total destruction by Babylon.
This person comes in a vision to the Lord, a vision to rather Ezekiel, I believe it’s the Lord, comes and shows him this vision, and he says, this vision is to be shared and revealed to all the people. And what it’s to do is to show them the ultimate purpose of everything that has happened, and that in the latter days, when God comes to judge the world, He’s also going to establish a new temple in Jerusalem.
Now I just want us to take a look at the fact that there have been, if you count the tabernacles, and if you refer to the second temple as a second temple, and Herod’s temple as the third temple, but really what Herod did, is he expanded and beautified the second temple, that really ultimately became six temples.
But the fourth temple, or the sixth, if you count the two, the fourth temple would be the one that is built by the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes to rule and reign from the nation of Israel. And I want us to show how God has showed Israel throughout the years, and gave them types of the ultimate temple that the Lord Jesus was going to come and establish, and His purpose in establishing it. So let’s just begin by opening in prayer.
Father, I pray that you just help us to understand your word, and help us just see how that you worked through the nation of Israel, beginning at the time of Moses, to reveal how you would come to tabernacle with the people. And how that ultimately you will come to tabernacle and bring your temple, the one that you shall construct, and the one that shall be there for you to rule and reign from, not only to tabernacle with the nation of Israel that has come to believe in you, but to tabernacle with the whole world. And that this is the purpose of your coming the first time, was to establish your coming the second time, and that you would have those that could trust and believe in you, and receive the gift of salvation, so that they could fellowship with you through eternity.
What a privileging gift it is that we have that. Lord, now I pray that you just help us to understand how you worked throughout history in the lives of the Jewish people to reveal not only to them, but to the world, your ultimate purpose and plan. This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Back in the book of Exodus, Moses was going through the wilderness. He had taken the nation of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
He led them out of the land. God had supernaturally delivered them from the Egyptians. He supernaturally allowed them to cross the Red Sea.
He brought them in to the desert, the backside of the desert. Brought them to Mount Sinai. And at Mount Sinai, he gave them the law.
But also, he gave them something else. If you turn with me to Exodus chapter 25. So, Exodus chapter 25.
And in Exodus chapter 25, we see what the Lord gives to the nation of Israel, which is an amazing thing. Exodus chapter 25 speaks of the institution or the creation of the tabernacle. And if you look at in Exodus chapter 25, verse 40, it says,
Exodus 25:40
40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.
So, when Moses was on Mount Sinai, the Lord had revealed to Moses a number of things that would be a pattern. And this pattern was to be used, the things that he had revealed to Moses were to be used to establish and build the tabernacle. Now, when God built the tabernacle, there were artisans that began to build this.
God gave them great abilities in order to create the beautiful articles of the tabernacle. And if you turn with me to Exodus 25.8, we see that Moses has said,
Exodus 25.8
8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
The purpose of the tabernacle prior to that, God had not dwelt with his people.
When he had come to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he had come in an intimate way. And they had a relationship with God, but he didn’t dwell amongst them. When Jacob had his 12 sons, and they went to Egypt, and they became a mighty nation that was brought out of Egypt, the Lord didn’t dwell among them.
But God comes to Moses, he goes on Mount Sinai, and when he’s on Mount Sinai, he reveals to Moses a number of things besides the law. And some of the things it says in Exodus 25, it reveals to him the pattern of things that Moses is supposed to oversee and see that it is constructed to build a sanctuary or a tabernacle or a place where the Lord can come and dwell amongst his people. Now, when Moses oversees the building of the tabernacle, we see that the tabernacle is, and I guess I should have brought the book, because we have a book at home that shows the tabernacle and it shows Solomon’s temple, and it shows some of the features of those.
And when we studied out of the Kings and we were studying what the tabernacle and temple looked like, we studied that. But the tabernacle had all the elements that were later found in Solomon’s temple, that were later found in what is referred to as the second temple that was built during the time of Ezra, which would be the third, if you would, sanctuary of the Lord. And then it would be the same elements that would be found that Herod expanded in the temple in Herod’s temple, which would be the same, it would be built and attached to the second temple, but it would also, you could call it the fourth sanctuary of the Lord.
And then we see that later on, at the end of, at the beginning rather, of the tribulation, the Jewish people are going to build another tabernacle, but it’s going to be one that’s built by them and it’s not really built by God. And that would be really the fifth sanctuary or the fourth temple. And then the third, rather, and then we will see that we come to what is referred to as the fourth temple or the sixth sanctuary of the Lord that God himself will build at the beginning, rather, at the beginning of the millennial kingdom.
Now, when Moses comes and builds the tabernacle, everything about the tabernacle really talks about God’s relationship to man. And it really shows our need for salvation. And also the tabernacle was constructed in such a way and then copied by Solomon in the temple to show that God was dealing not with the Jewish people, even though they were the instrument that was to be used to be light to the world, but there was an element made within the tabernacle so that Gentiles could come and worship as well.
Even though they would be separated from some of the more intimate places, there was still a place for them. And so we have the court of the Gentiles. We have another more inner court.
Then we have the holy place where the priests are at. And then you have the holy of holies where all of the instruments dealing with the Ark of the Covenant and the elements that would be put into the Ark of the Covenant, which would be the law and manna and Aaron’s rod. These things would be put into the Ark of the Covenant as a reminder of God’s blessing.
And the mercy seat on the top of the Ark would be evident that man could not gain them by the things that were inside the Ark, but he had to come to those things through the mercy seat. And the only thing that would enable one to come to the mercy seat was that once a year the high priest would go into the holy of holies and offer a sacrifice and sprinkle blood upon the mercy seat as an atonement for the sins of all the Jewish people. But it had to be done every year.
But it was a picture of an atonement that we made on the mercy seat of God that would be made by the Lamb of God that would be made once and for all. And then the mercy seat would not have to be sprinkled every year. These elements, and I haven’t given you all the elements because we won’t have time to go through them all, but the thing is they were all part of pictures of salvation, how the law had been given to the nation of Israel and then God gave the tabernacle where it showed God coming down and His shekinah glory rested within the holy of holies in the tabernacle and that the people couldn’t just come in there on their own.
There was a curtain that separated the holy of holies from the holy place. Even the priests couldn’t go in there. And yet we saw that on the outer fringes you had the court of the Gentiles.
So the Gentiles were to understand and understand that they needed to come to God the same way that the Jewish people did. And that the Jews needed to come through the sacrificial system which was all pointing to Jesus. And if you get a picture of the tabernacle, which I can bring that book next week so you can take a look at it if you didn’t get to look at it before, it has the various places where the sacrifices were offered and what the sacrifices meant.
Some were sacrifices for sin. Some were sacrifices reflecting fellowship with God. Some were sacrifices of offerings to the Lord.
And so various sacrifices showing the relationship, but it all started with the fact that the mercy seat was the only way that one could come to a relationship with God. So we have Moses’ tabernacle and God gives the tabernacle. And part of the reason that he gave the tabernacle is why.
The people of Israel were at this time nomads. They were going to be traveling through the desert for 40 years. Then they get into the land and they wouldn’t even be totally settled once they got there.
And so the tabernacle would be taken down and it could be put back up. It had specific ways that it was to be done. Certain descendants of Aaron had certain responsibilities when it came to taking the tabernacle down and also carrying the tabernacle to the next place and setting it up.
And so we understand that this was a portable place. David took the tabernacle and if you remember, he’s the one that wanted a permanent place for the tabernacle to be. When we were in Israel the last time, we went to the city of Shiloh.
In English we say Shiloh, in Hebrew they say Shiloh. It is over towards Mount Ebal and Gerizim, closer to the eastern portion of Israel. And when we were there, they have different things because you can see the area where the tabernacle had been set up and how the people would be encamped around the tabernacle.
They come to worship at the tabernacle and you can kind of picture when they point out the various areas of the land around there, how it would have happened. That tabernacle was moved from Shiloh and eventually David took it to Jerusalem. And David placed it on a hill that he purchased and later became the Temple Mount.
And that’s where the tabernacle was established during the time of David. David wanted to build a more permanent structure because he wanted the people to see that God had come to permanently dwell amongst them. He wasn’t going to leave and they weren’t going to be moving all over any longer.
He wanted to build a permanent temple and it wouldn’t be temporary. And so what David did is he went to the Lord and he began to gather materials to build this and the Lord came to David and said, David, you can’t build this. Because you have got blood on your hands and your son Solomon will build my temple.
And so Solomon built the first temple. The first temple was built on the Temple Mount and it was a beautiful temple. And it had all the elements of the tabernacle except they were expanded.
And instead of cloth, the walls and everything were made of brass and gold and silver. And the whole thing is described in 1 Chronicles where it talks about Solomon building the temple. And it gives all the elements.
But the main focus of the temple was still the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. And the Ark of the Covenant still was in the Holy of Holies. And the curtain was still between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.
Only the high priest was allowed to go into the Holy of Holies once a year to offer sacrifice upon the Ark of the Covenant. Showing the sacrifice that would be from the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. The Temple of Solomon was the temple that would have been there that Ezekiel would have initially worshipped in.
And he had been of the priestly class. He would have known what the temple looked like. And he would have been involved in worshipping at the temple.
When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple, the people began to realize, they thought that as long as they had the temple, God would never judge them. He wouldn’t chastise them because they had the temple. God showed that the temple was a symbol or a picture of a relationship that was supposed to be between them and Him.
That is, between the Jewish people and the Lord and ultimately the whole world and God. And that it all centered around the Ark of the Covenant and the Bema Seed. Now, I mean the Ark of the Covenant and where the sacrifice was given.
And when it was destroyed, the people, those that saw that God was serious about His judgment, and that truly His presence had left them. Because He wasn’t dwelling amongst them like He had been. Ezra, during the time of Ezra, and then it would be the Persians under Cyrus.
Cyrus made a decree that the nation of Israel could return to the land. And Cyrus also decreed that Ezra would be able to rebuild the temple. And it’s interesting that the second temple or the third sanctuary of the Lord that would be used amongst the people, was built during the time of Ezra.
And if you turn with me to Ezra chapter 5, Ezra chapter 5 verses 1 and 2, it says, Then the prophets Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of God of Israel, even unto them. And then arose up Zerubbabel the son of Sheoliel and Jeshua the son of Jehoshaphat, and began to build the house of God which is in Jerusalem. And with them were the prophets of God helping them.
And so we see that this is the second temple that begins to be constructed during the time of Ezra and just before Nehemiah comes back into the land. Now an amazing thing happens with this temple. They do not have the resources of Solomon.
If you look back, the resources of David and Solomon were tremendous. David and Solomon were the only kings of Israel that actually controlled what was just about most of the land that had been promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It wasn’t all of it, but they controlled most of it.
They were also extremely wealthy. And Solomon had tremendous wealth. Solomon had gold mines.
Solomon had just hundreds and thousands of cattle and sheep and herds. He was just a very, very wealthy man. And plus Hiram from what would be Tyre up in Sidon even today.
Hiram was the king of that area and he sent wood down first to David and then later on to Solomon for the building of the temple. And the temple was amazing. It was gold covered, brass covered, silver covered and the Lord showed it.
But at the center of that temple, as I mentioned, was the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat. When they came to Ezra’s time and they built the temple during Ezra, they didn’t have those resources. And they had a whole lot less to work with.
And now this temple wasn’t compared at all. But one of the things that was there was the Shekinah glory of the Lord. And the Lord resided and brought sanctuary amongst the people.
And that was the most important thing. And the mercy seat and the offerings, establishment of the offerings, and the pointing to the coming Messiah, and the whole means of salvation, all of that remained. And it was the most important thing because it was the picture of the greater things to come.
Well, fast forward to the time of Herod. Herod becomes king. And Herod rebuilds and makes the temple, expands the temple.
He puts gold all over the temple again. So that it appeared much more like the temple of Solomon. And one of the reasons that they tore the temple down is even it’s said that he put gold in the mortar when he put the bricks and when he used mortar anywhere in the temple, he put gold in it.
And he spared no expense in refurbishing and rebuilding or adding on to the temple. And this would have been the third temple, the fourth sanctuary of the Lord amongst the Jewish people. Now in 70 AD, the Lord had prophesied through his prophets, one being Ezekiel, that the people, because of their rebellion, would be scattered amongst the nations and the temple would be destroyed.
Jesus himself said that as he sat on the Mount of Olives before he went to the cross. And he’s looking out and he said that they will destroy the temple, but I shall raise it up in three days. And the people were thinking he was talking about the temple temple.
He was talking about his body that they would kill him and he would rise again in three days. But the disciples were enamored with the temple as they sat and looked from the Mount of Olives, which you can do today. Look across the Mount of Olives and you’ll see the old city of Jerusalem, the old walls of Jerusalem.
And you would have seen at the time of Jesus the temple of Herod sitting there with all of its gold and beauty. And the disciples, if you remember when he was in Matthew chapter 24, they were looking at this and they were saying, isn’t it, look at this, it’s amazing. And Jesus said that not one stone would be left upon another.
And they couldn’t believe it. But in about 30 years, that’s exactly what happened. Because in 70 AD, the Jewish people were constantly rising up in rebellion against the Roman Empire.
Titus got tired of it. And so they came in and they wiped out Jerusalem, just like Jesus had said, and they destroyed the temple. So the third temple, the fourth sanctuary of God was destroyed.
There’s going to be another temple built. That will be the fourth temple, what is referred to as the fifth sanctuary of God, but it will be the fourth temple. This one, it says, is going to be built right before the tribulation.
What’s very interesting today is you look at all the world events that Jesus foretold in chapter 24 would be happening before the last days came upon us. And then ultimately, he would return and establish his kingdom. The thing is, he said that all these things would be happening.
And the prophets also foretold that there would be a temple built, because we know that there’s a temple built, because this temple is established before the tribulation begins, because the Antichrist comes to power, which was revealed in Daniel when we were studying Daniel. And when he comes to power, it says that he brings a peace treaty. So there’s two things that have to happen before the tribulation begins.
Well, actually there’s three. One is the church is raptured. That happens before the tribulation.
The second thing is, the Antichrist, who still the people won’t understand that he’s the Antichrist. They’ll believe that he’s this great man who’s finally bringing peace to the Middle East. He’s going to establish, according to the scriptures, he’s going to establish a peace treaty with Israel and her enemies.
And so he’s going to bring peace to Israel once and for all, supposedly. And at the same time that that happens, there will be this fourth temple, or the fifth place that is referred to as the Sanctuary of the Lord. And that’ll be built, but it won’t be built by God.
It’s going to be built by men. And what you have happening in Israel today is very interesting. The last two times that we were in Israel, we went up to what is referred to as where the temple, lost the term, but it’s where the people are gathering all the instruments that will be used in the temple.
They’ve got the plan laid out for the temple. They’ve even got the menorah that they’ve got sitting in an encasing in a solid gold, and it stands about this tall. They’ve got that sitting out where everyone can see, but it’s encased in bullet resistant plexiglass, so people can’t get at it.
And they have the robes designed for the priests. They’re in the process of teaching priests what their duties will be in the temple, and they are waiting to rebuild the temple. And it’s not going to take a hundred years to rebuild.
It’s not going to even take as long as Ezra took to rebuild his, because they have got so many parts and components already ready, that they feel they can build the temple in a relatively short period of time. So the church is raptured. They will come up and they will rebuild the temple.
It may occur before the rapture or after the rapture, but the temple will be built by these group of Jews that say they have to rebuild the temple. And then we know that it has to be rebuilt because at the midpoint of the tribulation, Ezekiel referred to it, Daniel referred to it, the Lord Himself referred to it, and Paul refers to it. You’re going to have the abomination of desolations that occur at the midpoint of the tribulation.
Now we know from Daniel, when he talked about the Greek general Antiochus Epiphanes, that he did the abomination of desolations that occurred during that time. And he tells us what it was. He offered a pig on the altar of the Jewish temple and declared himself to be God.
The Antichrist is going to do the same thing. He is going to come into the temple and he is going to desecrate the temple and he is going to declare himself to be God. He is going to stop all the sacrificial system that will have been reinstated by the Jewish people.
He is going to stop the sacrificial system. He is going to declare himself as God. He is going to desecrate the temple.
And then he is going to seek to destroy the Jews. Jesus says when you see that event happen, he tells the Jews that are living in Jerusalem, flee, flee from the hills. Why? Because the Antichrist at this time is going to reveal his true character.
He hates the Jewish people because he is not only inspired, but he is really possessed by Satan. And Satan hates the Jews. His goal is to kill all the Jewish people.
His full intent is to kill all the Jewish people. His whole deal of putting on this facade of peace and allowing them to begin their worship in the temple was to gain their confidence so he could destroy them. And at the midpoint of the tribulation, at the third and a half year, this will happen.
Now, then we see that Jesus, at the end of that, that’s the great tribulation, the last three and a half years of what is referred to as the tribulation. That will be the great tribulation. And what happens is, at the end of that time, God’s judgment will be poured out upon the earth, his wrath will be poured out upon the earth, and Jesus will return with his ten thousands of saints, and by his word, as all the world gathers against Israel, to wipe them out, the Jews once and for all, to have all the armies of the nations of the world are gathered against Israel, the Lord will return and deliver Israel, and then he will establish his kingdom on earth.
And when he establishes his kingdom on earth, we have the fifth temple, and the sixth sanctuary of God. And that is the temple that Jesus will build. That is the temple that the Lord will build.
That’s what Ezekiel is speaking of right here. Where this man, that appears in bronze and linen, and he comes with these measuring tools, and he’s measuring out the temple. And he’s measuring it out because he’s building it, and he will come and reside with his people.
Now all of these things that have led up to this, were to show not only Israel, but the world that God’s intent was always to have sanctuary amongst his people, and to have sanctuary amongst the world. What happens when this temple of the Lord is built, and Jesus comes and rules and reigns from Jerusalem to Mount Zion, and he rules and reigns from the temple. It says that all the nations of the world during the millennial kingdom will have to come to where? Jerusalem to worship.
And part of it is to understand that God has come to dwell amongst his people. And that this dwelling is now the beginning of what will be an eternal dwelling. And that ultimately we’ll have the new heavens and the new earth, and God will rule and reign the new heavens and new earth with those that are the redeemed, and his people will always be with him.
I wanted to give you a background into all the tabernacle, the temples, so that you could understand as Ezekiel brings this, the people would have an understanding of what he’s talking about. They’d have an understanding of the measuring things that he’s using, because we sure don’t. We have to reinterpret them, because we don’t use those terms every day.
But the people would understand, and Ezekiel is told to bring this. To whom? To the Jews that are amongst you. So they will know God has not forgotten, and God will fulfill his promises.
And God will come back, and there’s going to be the temples that he’s spoken of. And that ultimately he will rule and reign with you, and all of this was given as a picture, and a type to show to his son, that would come as Ezekiel spoke of, that would come to take away the sins of the world, and had been shown in all the temples to do that, that you and I could have eternal life and have fellowship with him forever, and he could dwell amongst us. What a beautiful picture that’s given by the temples, and I trust that I haven’t done adequate in explaining it all, because I didn’t have time, but I just want to try and give you an overview of what was leading up to this vision that Ezekiel had.
Let’s just close in prayer. Lord, I pray that you just help us to understand this. Lord, I pray that you just speak to us through your word.
Help us to see that we’re living in amazing times. We’re living where the fifth temple, the fourth temple, the fifth sanctuary of the Lord, that the Antichrist will desecrate is just waiting to be built, and all the events of the world are pointing to that event to be coming. And Lord, I pray that you would just help us to be prepared, and help us to be excited, and help us to share with others the hope we have in Jesus.
This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.