The Bible Recap - Day 252 (Ezekiel 40-42) - Year 4

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible recap. Buckle up! We've got three days of descriptions of Ezekiel's temple vision. But guess what? You've already got one day under your belt. You're almost halfway through. We made it through five chapters of Blueprints for the first temple back in Exodus, plus 18 more chapters of the descriptions of building and finishing it, so I'm confident we can tackle

Starting point is 00:00:30 this too. But before we spend another minute of these three days in this text, I want to give you a heads up. Ezekiel 40 through 48 is one of the most challenging sections of Scripture in the whole Bible. It's not as hard to read as it is to interpret. Commentators are at odds on how to view this text, and I'll explain more about that as we continue in the passage, but I don't want to give too much away yet, so here's what we need to know for now. God is giving this vision to Ezekiel in 573 BC, at a time when his people are in exile in a foreign land. For God to go on for nine chapters about this temple is like him showing up and saying,

Starting point is 00:01:05 hey, I know you've lost everything. I know the first temple was destroyed. The one Solomon built about 350 years ago, and we're all living here in the land of our enemies. But I want you to know without question that I've got a plan for restoration. You're not forgotten. I'm with you. On the day Ezekiel has this vision, it's not just any day, it's Passover. That's the day that commemorates the Israelites' Exodus from Egyptian slavery. And the Passover celebration also corresponds to our modern-day celebration of Easter, because Jesus had gone to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover when he was crucified. As part of Ezekiel's Passover vision, God gives him a complimentary tour guide.

Starting point is 00:01:44 He kind of resembles the fiery man Ezekiel saw back in chapter 8. And remember how the linen man in chapter 9 brought his own tool belt for writing? Bronze Man also comes with tools. They're both tools for measuring, a read and a cord, which serve kind of like a tape measure and a ruler. Bronze Man and Ezekiel go around measuring everything, from the gates to the inner and outer courts to the priest chambers, then in chapter 41 they head into the inner temple area. Bronzeman leads Ezekiel up to the most holy place, the holy of Holies, but Ezekiel doesn't go inside.

Starting point is 00:02:18 Next, while he's describing the walls of the nave and the vestibule, you may have noticed that they have cherubim carved on them, the created beings who serve as guardians of the nave and the vestibule, you may have noticed that they have cherubim carved on them, the created beings who serve as guardians of the holy places. And maybe like me, you wondered why they only have two faces when Ezekiel has plainly told us about their quad-faced heads. Not to worry, there's an explanation. Wall surfaces are too dimensional, so it makes much more sense to carve two faces than four.

Starting point is 00:02:44 If these were three dimensional statues not wall carvings, I'd demand the full four faces or half my money back, but since they're wall carvings, I'll let it slide. In chapter 42, Ezekiel sees into the temple's chambers. I know it's hard to translate cubits and defeat in your head, but the measurements described in this vision are massive, especially compared to Temple 1.0. In fact, the temple courts are bigger than the surface of the whole Temple Mount. If you want to see what this vision may have looked like, we'll link to a picture in the show notes today. It's important to take any artist rendering with a grain of salt,

Starting point is 00:03:20 but there's another reason you maybe shouldn't get to attach to this picture. We'll talk about that when we finish the descriptions in two days, so stay tuned. Today's tour ends where it began, back at the Eastern Gate. The Eastern Gate is also known as the Golden Gate and the King's Gate, and it's the Gate Jesus will come through when he returns. We'll read about that tomorrow. But it's also where I saw my God shot for today. Ezekiel describes an outer wall that runs along the perimeter of the whole massive temple complex. It's

Starting point is 00:03:50 a large wall as far as circumference is concerned, but it's not a tall wall. According to chapter 40 verse 5, it's only about 10 and a half feet high. So it's pretty clear right off the bat that this wall isn't a defensive wall. The point of it isn't to keep people out. According to 42-20, the purpose of this wall is to be a line of demarcation between the holy and the common. One of the common accusations people make toward Christianity is they say it's exclusive, but the gospel of Christ isn't exclusive, it's just specific. It says, Here is the truth. All who believe the truth are invited in to everlasting life. The truth, the way in, the life everlasting, is Jesus.

Starting point is 00:04:32 He's the only way to the Father. In John 146, Jesus said, No one comes to the Father except through me. The walls aren't to keep people out. They're to make a line of demarcation. And there's a gate right there. If you wouldn't to keep people out there to make a line of demarcation and there's a gate right there. If you wouldn't identify yourself as a Christian and can't figure out why you keep being drawn into these episodes or why you spent 20 minutes today reading about dimensions, but for

Starting point is 00:04:56 some reason you can't stop reading and listening in, then this is me standing at the open door and saying, come inside, you belong on this side of the wall. Come through the open gate, he's where the joy is. It's weekly check-in time. We are so close to finishing book of Ezekiel. I know these books at the profits can be challenging, especially because this part of the plan has a sticking with one profit at a time instead of hopping back and forth.

Starting point is 00:05:25 In my opinion, that's far less confusing than jumping from profit to profit chronologically, but both ways have their own confusing elements for sure. So, if you're a linear thinker and you'd like some help, we've linked to a helpful graphic in the show notes today. Some of the people in our Patreon Facebook groups shared it as a resource they love, so I wanted to pass it along to everyone. We want to do all we can to help remove stumbling blocks for you here, and while we can't do it completely or perfectly, we're always happy to help provide you with resources and tools

Starting point is 00:05:54 that will keep you plugging along day by day. The Bible Recap is brought to you by D-Group, the Cypher ship and Bible study groups that meet in homes and churches around the world each week. you by D-group, discipleship and Bible study groups that made in homes and churches around the world each week.

The Bible Recap - Day 252 (Ezekiel 40-42) - Year 4

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