In reality Ezekiel chapters 45-48, the rest of the Book, discuss the “dividing” of the Land, again during the Millennium. And the unique thing about this “survey” is that it requires “Land for the Lord!” And since the “reed,” which we studied earlier, is just over 10 feet in length (10.5 is more exact) … the Lord’s “Allotment” of land measures approximately 50 miles by 20 miles! It’s in this Parcel that the “Temple” will sit.

Read verses 1-3 of Ezekiel 45 please. “Moreover, when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye shall offer an oblation (gift, offering) unto the LORD, an HOLY PORTION OF THE LAND: the length shall be the length of five and twenty thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand. This shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about. Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length, with five hundred in breadth, square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs thereof. And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand: and IN IT shall be the SANCTUARY and the MOST HOLY PLACE.”

Wow!

This set of statistics begins the vast list of numbers Ezekiel shares, all measuring that future possession of Israel, of the Lord! In other words, Ezekiel’s closing chapters read (at places) like a surveyor’s “plat.”

But today, in Ezekiel chapter 45, I believe I see three of the ancient (Leviticus 23) Feasts Israel was to observe (celebrate) before the Lord, annually in fact. That automatically then means some of the ancient Feasts of Israel will no longer be observed!

Let me show you the three of which I am sure. And I have checked with some conservative, Bible-believing commentators to be sure I’m not way “out there” somewhere in my teaching.

In Ezekiel 45:21-24 certainly Passover (along with the accompanying Feast of Unleavened Bread) is being taught. “In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the PASSOVER, a feast of seven days; UNLEAVENED BREAD shall be eaten. And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering. And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the LORD, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering. And he shall prepare a meat offering of an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and an hin of oil for an ephah.”

That’s two of the seven Israel observed, Feasts unto the Lord.

Then I believe: “In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat offering, and according to the oil.” Ezekiel 45:25, the beginning date of the Feast of Tabernacles in Israel. Also called “Booths.” The Millennium will be a time of rejoicing!

(Here’s how Leviticus 23:39-43 describes “Tabernacles,” as inspired by the Holy Spirit. “In the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and YE SHALL REJOICE before the LORD your God seven days. And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in BOOTHS seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” What a future God had planned for his people; celebrating liberty, deliverance, redemption!)

So there will be for those 1,000 years (the Millennium) a pattern of worship established, and Ezekiel has given us some of the details.

Much is yet to be learned, of course.

So the Lord willing, Monday morning, we shall wade into Ezekiel 46.

I wish I had a model of this Temple and its environs!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

The “Priests!”

Where there is a Temple (particularly of this mammoth size) there surely must be a priesthood!

And this System is approved of God, obviously.

Priestly offerings and sacrifices!

Just like the Old Testament “sacrifices” LOOKED FORWARD to Jesus’ Death on the Cross … the Millennial “sacrifices” (“offerings”) will LOOK BACK on Jesus’ Death on the Cross. They will be “memorials” of that world-changing Epochal Event!

And the Lord is very precise about the conduct of those priests!

Even about their qualifications!

Hence, our discussion today from Ezekiel chapter 44 …

“But the priests the Levites, the sons of ZADOK, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD. They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.” Verses 15 and 16

Only the sons of Zadok (meaning “righteous”) will be able to serve directly before God, “come near” to God! This is because the other “lines” of the priesthood had become (due to one reason or another) unfaithful to God through the years. But the sons of Zadok had remained faithful, both to God and to His King, David. So … God apparently rewards them in the Millennium for their steadfastness and loyalty!

Watch this specificity continue now …

God tells these priest what to wear! “And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat. And when they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments.” Verses 17-19, Wow!

How to groom themselves! “Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll (clip, trim) their heads.” Verse 20

What to drink! “Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.” Verse 21, and maybe a “flashback” to the Nadab and Abihu incident of Leviticus chapter 10.

Whom to marry, or not to marry! “Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.” Verse 22, interesting.

Their main job! “And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.” Verse 23, I love that word “teach!” (Ministering in the Word!)

Even rules concerning dead bodies! “And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves. And after he (the priest) is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days. And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, saith the Lord GOD.” Verses 25-27

Serving as “judges” too, in matters of ritual purity! “And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.” Verse 24, living the standards they espouse!

And their “income?” The Lord is their pay! “And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I AM THEIR INHERITANCE: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I AM THEIR POSSESSION. They shall eat the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every dedicated thing in Israel shall be THEIRS. And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, SHALL BE THE PRIEST’S: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house. The priests shall not eat of any thing that is dead of itself, or torn, whether it be fowl or beast.” Verses 28-31, quite sufficient!

Get that last line. “That he (the priest) may cause the blessing to rest in thine house.”

No doubt this refers to the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:22-26 … “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying: Speak unto Aaron (no longer Aaron now, but Zadok) and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them: The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: the LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.”

Oh, the power God invested in these men!

Again, this is Millennial!

And these priests in no way diminish the High Priestly Honor rightfully due to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

It is called the “Eastern Gate.”

Located in Jerusalem, well known around the world, I suppose.

It is blocked, walled up, shut … and has been for a long time, since Medieval days (since the year 1630 AD).

By the way, it’s also called the “Golden Gate” at times.

This is such a famed (both historically and prophetically) location in the City that multitudes have visited, photographed and reveled in its importance.

In fact, if I ever get to personally visit Jerusalem … the Lord willing, I want to see that “Gate!”

And Ezekiel 44, today’s chapter, mentioned this very place!

Verse 1 has Ezekiel relating the story: “Then he (an angel who looks like a man but glows like bronze) brought me back the way of the GATE of the outward sanctuary which LOOKETH TOWARD THE EAST; and it was shut.” (clearly the “Eastern Gate”)

Now the Lord just prophesied that the Gate (apparently used for entering both the Temple and the City) would some day be “shut.” This verb is used (translated) in the King James Bible once as “closed!” Again, very “clear.”

Verse 2 continues: “Then said the LORD (no longer the angel) unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it.” Again, this happened a thousand years after Ezekiel wrote these words. Enemies who had conquered Jerusalem “closed” the gate, they think permanently!

But WHY?

Ezekiel verse 2 adds yet more: “Because THE LORD, THE GOD OF ISRAEL, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.” Look what Jesus has just been called, “THE LORD, THE GOD OF ISRAEL!”

Because once (an event that would have been prophecy too Ezekiel but is history to us) … JESUS literally entered that gate!

This would have been at Jesus’ “Triumphal Entry” (so-called yet today) when our Lord rode that little donkey into Jerusalem, a few days before His Crucifixion!

This is recorded in both Luke 19:28-48 and Matthew 21:1-16. From the Mount of Olives to the Temple, the route He used, would have carried Jesus right through the Eastern Gate!

Ezekiel is both a historian and a Prophet!

By the way, in our last Ezekiel chapter (yesterday’s lesson, chapter 43) we saw the Glory of God return to the temple … via the Eastern Gate!

Thrilling!

Now let me make a suggestion.

When Jesus comes again (to earth), after the Tribulation and Armageddon have ended … “His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east.” Zechariah 14:4

Then this occurs … based on Malachi 3:1, I believe: “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD (Jesus), whom ye seek, SHALL SUDDENLY COME TO HIS TEMPLE, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, HE SHALL COME, saith the LORD of hosts.” Wow!

And (again) the straightest route from the Mount of Olives to the Temple proper, its very heart … is right through the Eastern Gate!

Jesus will “open” that Gate some day!

And Ezekiel 44:3 may be a “hint” a “foreshadowing” or “symbol” of that grand Event! “It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.”

I know there is a lot of discussion over the identity of this “prince.” And it may (in fact, cannot) not literally be Jesus … but I am suggesting he can be a “type” of Jesus, the true Prince of God, Son of God, King of Kings!

If so … “HE SHALL ENTER IN BY WAY OF THE PORCH OF THAT GATE!”

Wow!

Is Ezekiel relevant yet today?

What a Book, God’s Word the Bible!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

The Lord willing, another “Ezekiel 44” Lesson tomorrow morning.

 

Yes, two statements that cannot be overlooked!

First, the Glory of Almighty God, which had departed from the Temple back in Ezekiel chapters 10 and 11 … RETURNS! In this yet future Millennial Day, a thousand-year Day, by the way! God then (during the Kingdom Reign of Jesus Christ) chooses to “live” in the Temple! I am talking “Shekinah” Glory style! (A Hebrew verb that means “to dwell” or “to abide!” Not merely “to visit!” Permanence!)

Read every word here: “Afterward he (the angel who had been Ezekiel’s ‘tour’ guide) brought me (the Prophet Ezekiel, of course) to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east (the ‘famed’ Eastern Gate): and, behold, the GLORY of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and THE EARTH SHINED WITH HIS GLORY. And it was according to the appearance of the … vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. And the GLORY of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the GLORY of the LORD filled the house.” Ezekiel 43:1-5, “filled the House,” the Temple!

What a Day that will be!

Here is Isaiah’s picture of God’s Glory being abundantly evident in this coming Millennial Paradise. “And the LORD will create upon EVERY DWELLING PLACE of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a CLOUD and SMOKE by day, and the shining of a flaming FIRE by night: for upon all the GLORY shall be a defence.” Isaiah 4:5, “Shekinah” everywhere? Each home?

God living with His people!

Here’s how the Lord Himself characterizes His Stay! “And he (the Lord) said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places.” Ezekiel 43:7, indeed … God has “moved in!” (His Throne, His Footstool, His Home, Dwelling Place!) In THAT Glorious Temple, that FATHER’S HOUSE … there ARE indeed MANY ROOMS! Read the previous chapter, Ezekiel 42!

Wow!

Then for today, secondly, Ezekiel gives a REASON for all this Millennial Temple “detail!” This is an astounding Passage. Verse 10 begins: “Thou son of man, shew the HOUSE to the house of Israel, that ….” And the “house” being displayed, described, “shown,” is none other that the Temple! The verb “shew” is “nagad,” meaning “to explain, preach, to declare, to expound, to report, to tell, to message!” “Shew” is an imperative here, too. Ezekiel has been COMMANDED to exposit data concerning this Temple, in all its details!

But (again) why?

“That” … which begins a statement of cause. Here is WHY!

“Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, THAT they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the FORM of the house, and the FASHION thereof, and the GOINGS OUT thereof, and the COMINGS IN thereof, and all the FORMS thereof, and all the ORDINANCES thereof, and all the FORMS thereof, and all the LAWS thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may KEEP (obey) the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and DO them.” Ezekiel 43:10-11

God believes this Temple (in all its aspects) plus His Presence … will bring about repentance to all Israel! Make them ashamed for their sins and rebellion!

Introduce to them a sense of HOLINESS they may have never experienced and appreciated before, in al their long history!

Verse 12 also … “This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be MOST HOLY. Behold, this is the law of the house.” A mile square! The Biggest Place of Worship I’ve ever known! And best of all … GOD IS THERE!

Holy, Holy, Holy!

Folks, I feel we’ve been on Holy Ground this morning!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Indeed, God saves the “best” for “last!”

 

The Millennial Temple!

That’s what Ezekiel has been describing for us, in great detail.

Today we come to his statement about the overall dimensions of the outer court, outer wall.

“Now when he (an angel) had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth toward the gate whose prospect is toward the east (the eastern gate), and measured it round about. He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about. He measured the north side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about. He measured the south side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed. He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. He measured it by the four sides: it had a wall round about, five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.” Ezekiel 42:15-20

All four directions of the compass, east and north and south and west, in that order.

Clearly the Temple area is a “square,” equidistant in length and breadth.

So was the “Holy of Holies” a square!

So will “New Jerusalem” be a square!”

Consistency, a picture of our great God!

But (best we can tell) how long is a “reed?”

Ezekiel 40:5 answered that question, if you remember. “And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man’s hand a measuring REED of six cubits long … by the cubit (18 inches) and an hand breadth (3 more inches): so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.”

A reed is six cubits long, with a cubit being the standard cubit PLUS a handbreadth! So we’re talking 21 inches times six … just a little over ten feet in length! (Say ten and a half feet.)

And the Temple (Ezekiel 40-48) is how wide, how long at its greatest dimension? At its outer wall?

Five hundred (500) reeds which equals approximately 5,250 feet, if I’ve done my math correctly!

Right at a mile!

A mile long, each of the Temple’s walls!

Wow!

If we take this literally, which I’m going to do, the coming Millennial Temple will NOT even fit on the current Temple Mount in Jerusalem!

An expansion program will have to be initiated!

Which I think will happen (or at least begin to happen) when Jesus returns to earth, the second time! Not the Rapture now, mind you, but at His glorious Revelation!

Zechariah tells us: “And his (Jesus at His Return) feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.” Zechariah 14:4, an earthquake! Rearranging the topography of the City of Jerusalem!

Then … there will be room enough for this Temple!

Wow!

It’s a fact, during the 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth … the Temple (and its associated worship of the Lord our God) will be a major part of life!

“Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

That last verse is Revelation 22:20, the very last prayer in the Bible!