Ezekiel
40 – A New City, a new Temple
The
center of worship in the Millennium will be the temple. This will be an
altogether new temple constructed especially for use during the thousand-year
reign of Christ.
Ezekiel
received this vison a little over a third of the way through the 70 years of
captivity prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer. 29:10). A dozen years after the
destruction of Jerusalem the exiles needed a fresh word of hope to keep them
focused in a positive way on the future. They needed a reminder that God would
indeed return them to the Promised Land, and Ezekiel’s vision of a staggering
new temple brought encouragement to their hearts.
It
is very likely the temple Ezekiel saw belongs to the period of the Millennium
and is in Jerusalem (Isa. 2:2; Micah 4:1).
A
divine messenger, a being, who had the appearance of bronze served as Ezekiel’s
tour guide for the temple. The messenger made it very clear that the prophet was
to pay attention to everything he saw and heard in the vision, and then
communicate everything in the vision with care to the countrymen. While the
wealth of detail may not seem very important or interesting to us, it
communicated to the exiles that God had very meticulous and expansive plans for
the nation of Israel, despite the present captivity.
One
day the scattered people would be regathered, and the defiled people cleansed.
The land would be restored to beauty and fruitfulness, and there would be a new
city, a new temple, and a new priesthood serving the Lord in holiness.
This
vision was to be declared to the people so that they would repent their sins.
The assurance of a glorious future helps to sustain God’s people during the
trials of life (John 17:22-24)
Please
read the chapter listed so that you can understand God’s Word better.
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you have missed any lessons, you can go to: God Plans For You at https://sherrysouthard.blogspot.com.
Nelson’s
Quick Reference Commentary.
Dr.
David Jeremiah Study Bible
J.
Vernon McGee Thru the Bible
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