Future Plans
The rest of the book of
Ezekiel is dedicated to looking towards the future. Ezekiel is given directions by God about what
the future of the Hebrew people will be.
In the next four chapters we talk about the temple. The following three chapters will deal with
the life around the temple. The final
two chapters of this book will deal with a new land division for the Hebrew
people.
There are two things that need to be understood as we look at this
chapter. First, we must note that the
plans given by God to Ezekiel are not the plans that the Hebrew people follow
when the temple is rebuilt after the exile.
So, we must decide whether these chapters are largely symbolic or if
they reference a temple to be built at a later time. Unfortunately, compelling cases for either
can be made. So we shall investigate
that question as we read.
The second thing that should be understood is that regardless of
whether these chapters are symbolic or literal the fact remains that the first
thing God talks about when it comes to the true restoration of His people is
the temple. In fact, of the remaining
nine chapters in Ezekiel, seven of them will relate to the temple and the
spiritual lives of God’s people. I’m
pretty sure this analysis is making the point that we need to hear. God’s people take the worship of God and
their life with God seriously when they are truly obedient to His call. In fact, I think this analysis implies that
it is fair to say that the worship of God is central to God’s people when they
are truly being obedient to His call.
Ezekiel’s Guide
Ezekiel meets a man who appears as bronze (also interpreted as
copper or brass). In this description we
have many things to consider. I believe
all of these things point us to understand this figure as Christ.
First of all, if we remember back to the first chapter of Ezekiel,
we hear that when Ezekiel receives his theophany he sees God as though he were
gleaming metal. Therefore, it is not
uncommon for Ezekiel to envision God as though having the image of metal. Thus, it is no stretch to see this being as
being God, not a divine angel.
Second, we note that Ezekiel says that the guide was a man. Ezekiel has painted incredible images of
angels in prior chapters. In this chapter,
Ezekiel tells us that it is a man.
Ezekiel, who was familiar with visions, would surely have known the
difference between an angel and a man and I believe he would have told us.
Third, the subject of the tour was the temple. Who would be better suited to give a tour of
God’s temple than God Himself? I realize
that this is not an argument of Bible or logic but of rationalism. But there is a point to it, even if it is a
small one.
The Temple
As we look into the description, I’m going to be pretty
honest. It is measurements. There isn’t a lot of exciting reading
happening in this chapter. However, we
do have two important descriptions to consider.
First, note that the temple is “seen.” This is likely a reference to a genuine
temple. As we think about which temple,
we should understand that it is not likely that Ezekiel is seeing a vision of
the eternal dwelling with God. We know
from the book of Revelation that in the days of our eternal dwelling with God
that there will be no temple because God will be the temple. (See Revelation 21:22) Therefore, as we look to what this temple
might be, we can eliminate a structure in eternity.
Second, notice that the temple envisioned here has altars and
implements to receive sacrifices. As
Christians, we understand that Christ is the final sacrifice. Christ is the one who takes away the sin of
mankind. When Christ died on the cross,
He became the great sacrifice. There is
no other need for sacrifices in Christ.
Therefore, this temple can likely be seen as something that represents a
time prior to Christ.
Third, and perhaps the most convincing argument, is that there are
specific rooms allocated to the priests.
Furthermore, there is a limitation on who can go and serve in what
capacity. When Christ came and gave His
Holy Spirit to all who believe in Him, His followers all became priests to
serve God. When Christ died on the cross,
the temple curtain that kept the Holy of Holies separated from the rest of the
temple was torn. This is why the concept
of the priesthood of all believers is such a significant portion of our Christian
theology today. If Christ truly
instituted the priesthood of all believers, why would there be a need for
specific rooms for specific priests? Why
would there be restrictions on what priests or Levites could come into the
presence and into certain areas of the temple?
This point therefore pushes us to an understanding that this vision is
to be seen as something prior to the coming of Jesus Christ.
So far, it seems most appropriate to interpret these final
chapters of Ezekiel as occurring prior to the coming of Jesus Christ. However, because we know that the
measurements do not actually represent the actual design and size of the temple
that is rebuilt, it leads us to believe that Ezekiel is receiving a symbolic
vision of the time to come in the lives of the Hebrew people prior to Christ. There will be a time when people worship God
in Jerusalem again. There will be a time
when the Hebrew people will be restored.
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