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Ezekiel - Study 6

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Ezekiel 40-48

Study 6 of 6

 

These final chapters of Ezekiel form a bridge between the book of Exodus and the visions given to the apostle John. Here the prophet expounded Moses’ Sinaiatic instructions for the new situation of the exiles—who looked to a future envisioned in light of some of the same religious structures their ancestors enjoyed in Jerusalem. Specifically, Ezekiel prophesied of:

  1. A renewed Temple (chs 40-43). In Ezekiel’s vision the LORD took him from the land of the Chaldeans to his homeland in Judah, where an intermediary, “whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand” (40.3), instructed him in the dimensions of the temple. A place of worship had been significant for Israel since the exodus (cf. Ex 33.7-11); yet Nebuchadnezzar burned and destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. Ezekiel’s words thus provided a concrete figure of hope for the surviving remnant. The detailed account of the temple wall, outer and inner gates, rooms for sacrifices, singers and priests all set the stage for the return of the LORD’s glory (ch 43; cf. Ex 40.34-38; 2 Ch 5.2-14). Earlier in his prophesy Ezekiel proclaimed that during a visionary trip to Jerusalem he saw the glory of the LORD rise from the temple, “Then the glory of the LORD moved away from the threshold of the temple and stood above the cherubim. The cherubim lifted their wings and ascended from the earth right before my eyes” (10.18-19a). In ch 43 the prophet announced His return: “I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice sounded like the roar of mighty waters, and the earth shone with His glory. The vision I saw was like the one I had seen when He came to destroy the city, and like the ones I had seen by the Chebar Canal. I fell facedown” (43.2-4)
  2. A renewal of life under the law (chs 44-46). The prince of Ezekiel’s vision may be a pre-Messianic apocalyptic figure—whose adherence to the temple practices of the law far exceeded that of the temple officials during the divided kingdom (cf. Amos 5.10, 12, 15). In Ezekiel’s vision, justice at the gate would have specific stipulations: “This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You have gone too far, princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of My people.’ This is the declaration of the Lord GOD. ‘You must have honest balances, an honest dry measure, and an honest liquid measure’” (45.9-10). Beyond these principles of justice and equity, Israel was to renew the sacrificial calendar (45.13-46.15)
  3. A renewal of life in the Promised Land (chs 47-48). In the apocalyptic vision, Ezekiel saw a life-giving river essentially flowing east out of the temple and into the Kidron valley. So powerful was this water that “Every kind of living creature that swarms will live wherever the river flows, and there will be a huge number of fish because this water goes there. Since the water will become fresh, there will be life everywhere the river goes…All kinds of trees providing food will grow along both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. Each month they will bear fresh fruit because the water comes from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be used for food and their leaves for medicine” (47.9, 12). The magnificence of the river clearly presents God as the source of life for the exiles who longed to return to their home—there they would again enjoy life in their God. Their ears would have given further attention—if this were possible—when the prophet began to announce the hope of a redistribution of land so that each tribe of Jacob (cf. Gen 49; Jos 12-21) would be settled in the land originally promised to Abraham (cf. Gen 12.1-3). Of all things, the exiles hoped for a return to the city whose name would be: “Yahweh is there” (48.35)
 

Several approaches have been put forward regarding how one should understand Ezk 40-48. Beyond providing hope to the immediate audience, the prophet’s words are foundational for the development of the storyline of Scripture:

  1. The mode of the apostle John’s vision paralleled that of Ezekiel. Ezekiel stated that his prophetic vision of the future restoration of Israel began when God took him and set him on a very high mountain, the southern slope of which housed what resembled a city (40.2). When he later described the new temple, he said that “the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple” (43.5). The prophet’s experience was echoed by John, who wrote that at the conclusion of his prophetic-apocalyptic vision an angel carried him away “in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, arrayed with God’s glory” (Rev 21.10-11). Further, Ezekiel noted that the voice speaking to him “sounded like the roar of mighty waters” (43.2), similar to the voice of the risen Christ—who spoke to John at the outset of his vision (Rev 1.15)
  2. Ezekiel’s vision of the new temple was echoed in John’s description of the new Jerusalem. Ezekiel noted that in his vision he saw an angelic figure employ a measuring rod to account the size of the temple (40.3). John’s vision of the New Jerusalem included a similar motif; he recorded that the angelic figure guiding his prophetic vision had “a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall” (Rev 21.15b). In 45.2-3 and 48.8-13 Ezekiel noted that the section of the Promised Land belonging to the LORD was cube-shaped; likewise, the outer walls of the new temple complex would resemble a cube (42.20). These geometrical configurations were perhaps meant to reflect the Holy of Holies of the temple (2 Ch 3.8-14). The apostle John stated that the new, heavenly Jerusalem was likewise a cube: “The city is laid out in a square; its length and width are the same. He measured the city with the rod at 12,000 stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal” (Rev 21.16). The LORD told Ezekiel concerning the new temple, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever” (43.7); indeed, the prophet understood that the entire city of the new Jerusalem would be called, “Yahweh Is There” (48.35). It is thus not surprising that John would record of his apocalyptic vision: “Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: ‘Look! God’s dwelling is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God” (Rev 21.3). In 47.1, 7, and 12 Ezekiel described a river flowing eastward from underneath the temple, with many trees lining the river, each bearing seasonal fruit and never withering.   Again John’s vision mirrored that of Ezekiel, but with a significant difference; he wrote that he saw “the river of living water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the broad street of the city. On both sides of the river was the tree of life bearing 12 kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations” (Rev 22.1-2; italics added for emphasis)
  3. Ezekiel prophesied that sacrifices would be central to Israel’s temple, but the New Testament declares the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ. In 43.18, Ezekiel heard the word of the LORD concerning that construction of the altar, where burnt offerings were to be sacrificed, and blood was to be sprinkled. The author to the Hebrews detailed a heavenly tabernacle, where Christ’s blood was spilled (9.11-22). The temple of Ezekiel’s vision would be the place where Israel would offer continual and regular sacrifices, but the author to the Hebrews noted that the new, heavenly tabernacle enjoyed only one sacrifice, saying, “He (Christ) doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do—first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all when He offered Himself” (Heb 7.27). the author to the Hebrews did notice one parallel between the practices of Ezekiel’s new temple and those which accord Christ; the bull of the sin offering was to be burned “outside the sanctuary” (43.21; cf. Ex 29.14), and Christ suffered outside the city gates, requiring that His followers bear His disgrace away from the structures of Judaism (Heb 13.11-13)
  4. Ezekiel described the quality of life the nations would enjoy with the restored Israelites. Concerning the borders of the new Promised Land, the prophet said, “You will allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners living among you, who have fathered children among you. You will treat them like native-born Israelites; along with you, the will be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel” (47.22). This theme is echoed, and expanded, throughout the New Testament (cf. Acts 11; 15.9; Rom 11; Eph 2.12-14, 3.6; Col 3.11).
 
 

*For a complete list of references, please see scripturestoryline.com