Topic: Ezekiel’s Temple Vision
The book of Ezekiel closes with a vision of a temple and its associated rituals. In chapter 40, the prophet is transported in vision from his home among the exiles in Babylon to Israel, where a divine messenger holding a measuring rod appears to him. The messenger gives Ezekiel a tour of the temple, measuring the various walls, gates and courts. At one point, the glory of the Lord—which was seen departing from the temple in an earlier vision (chap. 10)—is seen returning to inhabit the temple (43:1–4). The final nine chapters describe various sacrificial rituals performed by priests. Special attention is given to the role of one who is referred to as “the prince.” Near the end, a river is seen flowing out of the temple from under the threshold. The book closes with portions of the land assigned to various tribes.
The temple vision has been described as the most difficult passage in the Old Testament. As with the descriptions in Exodus of the tabernacle and its furnishings, many readers will find this section of Ezekiel tedious due to its many details, but this is not the greatest difficulty presented by these chapters. The greater difficulty has to do with identifying the time and manner of the fulfillment of the vision.
How are we to understand the temple vision?
1. One might reasonably refer to the vision as that which “might have been,” had the Jewish exiles in Babylon exhibited a more thorough repentance than they did. There is an indication that the realization of this vision in Israel’s future was contingent on the people repenting of their past sins: “As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the plan. If they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the house, its structure, its exits, its entrances, all its designs, all its statutes, and all its laws. And write it in their sight, so that they may observe its whole design and all its statutes and do them” (Ezekiel 43:10-11).
2. The response of the Jews to their opportunity to return and to rebuild their temple was not received well. Only a small remnant opted even to return to Jerusalem, while the rest were content to remain in Babylon. As a result, the temple they built proved to be inferior to the one that Ezekiel described. Though the Jews did not meet the conditions to have such a temple as Ezekiel’s, the pattern preserved in these chapters stands as a description of an intended temple, which, had it materialized, would have testified, as the tabernacle once did, as a type and shadow of “heavenly things” (Heb. 8:5)—the temple in Jesus Christ. This, we may assume, was the long-term purpose served by the vision.
3. The New Testament encourages us to see this temple as having been fulfilled in Jesus Christ Himself, who is the final atoning sacrifice and the eternal High Priest of God’s people.
See you Sunday!
Dr. Scott Kallem