EZEKIEL 42-43 THE MILLENNIAL TEMPLE CONTINUED2011 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Ezekiel 42-43 The Millennial Temple Continued

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2011. Looking at 43 as well of the book of Ezekiel, we're dealing with what is called the Millennial Temple. And the Millennial Temple is a temple that will be built...

during the thousand-year reign of Christ. If you remember the outline that we've been following on Sunday mornings going through the book of Revelation, you and I as believers are looking forward to the rapture of the church. We believe that that is going to happen very soon and that Jesus is going to catch us up together. We're going to meet him in the clouds and then we will forever be with the Lord.

Meanwhile, the earth is going to go through seven years of tribulation. And that's what we've been dealing with in the book of Revelation on Sunday mornings. Well, at the end of that seven years of tribulation, Jesus will come back. He will bring back the saints with him. He will establish his kingdom here on the earth and he will rule and reign on the earth for 1000 years.

That time that he rules and reigns on the earth is going to be an incredible time, a time of peace, a time of righteousness. The earth will be renewed and restored. He will be ruling and reigning from Jerusalem. And what we're studying here in the book of Ezekiel is the temple that will exist during that thousand year reign of Christ. The temple that will be built there in Jerusalem during that reign.

And so as we look at the last portion of Ezekiel, we started it last week in chapter 40 and 41, giving kind of an outline and an overview of what the temple is and the structure that would be there. And as we go forward today, we'll be looking at a couple more particular things

within the temple. And then the next couple of weeks, we'll be looking at the services and the things that will be happening within the temple. And so we're looking kind of at the structure. We're looking at the buildings and getting an understanding of the dimensions, the sizes and where they're located and things like that.

Now, in talking about the temple during the millennium, the question that often comes up is, why will there need to be a temple if Jesus is here? And why will they be performing sacrifices? We'll talk a little bit about the altar tonight. And so what will be the purpose of sacrifices then in the millennium since Jesus Christ has already died upon the cross?

Well, the simple answer to that is that the sacrifices that will be taking place during the millennium will be memorial sacrifices. That is, they're done in memory of... They're not actually taking away sin or they're not done because the sacrifice of Christ was insufficient, but they're done in memory...

Much like we partake of communion today. We remember what Christ did for us upon the cross and we partake of communion as he instructed us to. In the same way, these sacrifices will be in place at God's instruction in memory of what took place at the cross. If you go back to the Old Testament and the Levitical system, the sacrifices that were in place...

You can go through the book of Leviticus, chapters 1 through 7, and look at the different sacrifices and do a good study. You'll find that each sacrifice points forward to and foreshadows the work of Jesus Christ in the life of a believer. And so the sacrifices in the Old Testament were pointing towards Jesus Christ and what he accomplished at the cross. It was an activity that was done in obedience and in faith.

Hebrews tells us that the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. And so the sacrifices of the Old Testament were never really doing away with sin. They weren't dealing with sin completely. They were a temporary thing that people did in obedience to God because that's what he laid out until Jesus Christ came.

Well, in a similar way, the millennium, the sacrifices that go on at that time will be memorial. They won't be dealing with or taking away sin. Jesus Christ already did that at the cross, but they will be doing it in obedience because that is what God has set up. And it will be pointing back. Those sacrifices will be reminding those who are worshiping God in that way about what Jesus did for them at the cross.

And so that is kind of the simple or quick look at the purpose and what's going to be happening with the Millennial Temple and the sacrifices.

Now as we get started this evening, I want to do a quick overview of the structure. And so I have it up here on the screen for you. Now this is a slightly different image than what I shared last week. It's a different artist's rendering of it. And I did that on purpose so that you can get a little bit different perspective and see how these things might be fulfilled in structure. So what we're looking at here is the whole temple complex.

The green on the outside, of course, is everything outside of the temple. And then you see the roads going in or the paths going in. And those are the three entrances to the temple complex or the temple area. Maybe I should scoot back here for you guys so you can see a little bit better.

So those are the three entrances. The one here on the bottom, that would be the east gate. And you would walk. Actually, that's not, you know, for normal people to be able to walk through, but we'll deal with that next week. But to get into the temple, you would walk through the gate. And then this gray area in the middle is called the outer court.

And so for normal human beings, for normal people, we would be going through the south gate, which is here on the left, or the north gate, which is there on the right, and going into the temple area by those gates. There would be walls all around the temple, and so the only way to get in would be through those gates. That outer courtyard is there, and there will be some things happening in that area, but then the

center there, those buildings, that's known as the inner court. And so here you have, you can kind of see it, four, five, and six, those are the north, south, and east gates. They're called the inner gates because they take you from the outer court to the inner court. And so here you have the south inner gates, here you have the north inner gates, and then here you have the east inner gates.

And this area right in here, this lighter gray, is called the inner court. And that is where the altar is. That's where sacrifices will be offered. And then just beyond the inner court and the altar, here you have the temple structure. And so that's where the actual temple will be with the holy place, with the altar of incense inside of it, with the most holy place where the presence of God dwells. That's all going to be there as well.

And then this building here at the end, that's called the West Building. And we'll talk a little bit more about that in the coming weeks. And so this is kind of an overview of the structure. And now as we go on into chapter 42...

We'll be dealing with some particular elements within this structure, within this complex. We did look at a lot of these components last week, and so if you missed it, I encourage you to watch the video online or get the CD, and you can kind of try to catch up. But here, that kind of hopefully brings you up to speed a little bit on what the temple looks like. And now let's head into chapter 42 and look at verse 1 through 4. It says this,

Verse 2.

opposite the inner court of twenty cubits and opposite the pavement of the outer court was gallery against gallery in three stories in front of the chambers toward the inside was a walk ten cubits wide at a distance of one cubit and their doors faced north

Now as we read these first few verses, I think it gives us a little bit of appreciation of why it's good to have the pictures on the screen because these things are very detailed and intricate and very difficult to imagine as we're reading them. There's some very specific dimensions and across from this and across from that and it's hard to visualize those things.

And so what we're talking about here in chapter 42 is chambers that exist for the priests. And this is known as the north chambers where the priests would be able to perform their functions. And we'll deal with that in verse 13 when we get to it. But here's kind of a close-up of what those buildings may look like.

Now there to the left of the screen, that dark wood, that is the side of the temple. And so we're talking about these rooms or these chambers that are built right alongside the temple and they're built in three levels. And so the bottom level is the widest.

and then you go up a level that's a little bit more narrow and you go up another level and it's a little bit more narrow. It's just as long as the actual temple and then right across from it, you see there's a little bit of gap here right in the middle and then there's this other building that's three stories high.

it's pretty much identical except for it's half as long. And so it's 50 cubits long instead of 100 cubits long, but it's three stories. The widest is on the bottom, then it narrows up on the second floor, and then the third floor gets even more narrow. And so here in verses 1 through 4, what we have being described here is the location and the existence of these chambers that were for the priests.

And the three different stories that were part of these chambers. And then the little walkway that goes between them and around them. And so we're looking at these north chambers which exist for the priests. And he continues to talk about those in verse 5.

It says, Now the upper chambers were shorter because the galleries took away space from them more than from the lower and middle stories of the building. For they were in three stories and did not have pillars like the pillars of the courts. Therefore, the upper level was shortened more than the lower and middle levels from the ground up. And a wall which was outside ran parallel to the chambers at the front of the chambers toward the outer court. Its length was 50 cubits.

The length of the chambers toward the outer court was 50 cubits, whereas that facing the temple was 100 cubits. At the lower chambers was the entrance on the east side as one goes into them from the outer court.

So he's just giving a little bit more detail here in verses 5 through 9 about these two buildings. And so he specifies there that the one nearest the temple, that's 100 cubits long. Now we're dealing with cubits. We're kind of roughly estimating a cubit is about 18 inches long.

Scholars actually looking at this because it gives a little bit more detail about the cubit, suggests that the dimensions that Ezekiel is using is actually 21 inches because he talks about a cubit and a hand breadth. And so it's actually a couple inches, and so 21 inches. But 18 inches is a little bit easier to do the math. So we'll go with that for now. So 18 inches, 100...

that makes it about 150 feet long, would be that longest building. And then the one across from it is 50 cubits. And he mentions that there in verse 8. And so those links are mentioned. He talks about the wall that's there, the three stories, and how they're three different sizes because there's not pillars holding them up and gives those details for us as well.

By the way, there is on the back table for those who were not here last week, we handed it out. There's a little diagram page on the back table of the whole temple complex. And you can see many of these dimensions that we're dealing with and talking about for your own reference later on. Verse 10 says,

Also, there were chambers in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, opposite the separating courtyard and opposite the building. There was a walk in front of them also, and their appearance was like the chambers which were toward the north. They were as long and as wide as the others, and all their exits and entrances were according to plan.

And corresponding to the doors of the chambers that were facing south as one enters them, there was a door in front of the walk, the way directly in front of the wall toward the east. So what we're talking about here is, first of all, I did forget one thing, that entrance there in verse 9 tells us is from the east. And so this passage,

The way that we're facing it, the bottom here would be the east. And so you would enter these chambers from the east and there would be a walkway into there, which isn't really fully pictured here. Then in verses 10 through 12, it talks about the walls that are the courtyard toward the east.

Now there is some discussion that scholars have over this because it's probably talking about here the south chambers. Identical to these north chambers where you see the three on top of each other on one side and the three on top of each other on the other side. Identical to that there's another set of these buildings exactly the opposite on the other side of the temple.

And so that's what's being described here in verses 10 through 12. Although it says east here, the Septuagint and some other versions refer to it as south instead of east. And so there's some discrepancy there that scholars can dispute. But it's clear that these...

same structures that we're looking at here exist on the other side, even as we'll see in verse 13. It says, "...then he said to me, the north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the separating courtyard, are the holy chambers, where the priests who approach the Lord shall eat the most holy offerings."

Verse 2.

And so here in verse 13 and 14, we have an explanation about what these rooms are for, what these chambers are for. And we find out here that they are for the priests. And so in the temple complex, there's going to be sacrifices that are being made.

Now in the Old Testament, it describes for us the sacrifices and it gives the details about each sacrifice and which portion of each sacrifice belongs to the priest who is offering the sacrifice.

In those days, that's how the priests would basically make their money or be able to provide for their family. In doing their labor of sacrificing the animal, they would get pieces of the animal to be able to go home and provide for their family in that way. And so these chambers are for that purpose. As the priests are offering these sacrifices...

They're able to take the pieces of the animal that are, you know, apportioned to them. And then they're able to go here and to enjoy them with their family. Now, it talks about...

that these are for the priests and when they go here, they're not to go straight into the outer courtyard the way that they are, but they're to change their clothes. Because in the inner court, they're to have their priestly garments that are dedicated to the Lord. And as soon as they go outside into the outer court, they need to have different garments on. Garments that are not set apart unto the Lord, but that which is common for the people. And

And so they had their garments that they would wear inside the inner court where they would perform their duties as priests. And then they would have the garments that they would wear as they went outside into the outer court and then on into wherever else they were going.

Now it tells us here, this is for the priests, the holy chambers for the priests who approach the Lord, and this is where they will eat the most holy offerings. And so again, this is where they would be able to consume and enjoy the food that God had provided for them in the offerings that are being sacrificed.

And so these are chambers for the priests to eat. We have a set of them on the north side and a set of them on the south side of the temple where the priests will be able to enjoy their food. Verse 15.

Now, when he had finished measuring the inner temple, he brought me out through the gateway that faces toward the east and measured it all around. He measured the east side with the measuring rod, 500 rods by the measuring rod all around. He measured the north side, 500 rods by the measuring rod all around.

He measured the south side 500 rods by the measuring rod. He came around to the west side and measured 500 rods by the measuring rod. Verse 20. He measured it on the four sides. It had a wall all around 500 cubits long and 500 wide to separate the holy areas from the common.

And so here in verses 15 through 20, what we have now is we're moving on from the priestly chambers and we're looking once again at the outer wall, the whole overview of the temple complex. And so here it is once again. And so what he's describing is the angel that he's with is measuring the whole outside of the temple one wall at a time.

And so he measures the east wall and it's 500 cubits. He measures the north wall and it's 500 cubits. The west wall and it's 500 cubits. The south wall and it's 500 cubits. Now again, using our 18 inches, that makes it about 750 feet long on each side. And again, those are approximates and there's...

some debate and discussion you could have over the length of a cubit. But it's a good reference for us to understand the size and the scope of this building that will exist. And so this will be 500 cubits on all sides for the temple complex.

Now as we head into chapter 43, we'll begin to see some things take place and some activity happen. We've kind of looked at all the structures, the different pieces and elements, but now there's some things that are going to be taking place in the temple area. Chapter 43 verse 1 says, "...afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east." Now that would be the gate on the bottom of the screen here, the east gate. Verse 2, "...and

And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw, like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the river Chabar, and I fell on my face. And the glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east."

The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple."

Here in verses 1 through 5 of chapter 43 now, we begin to see the incredible and very important significance of this millennial temple. It may not be apparent to us, it may not be really obvious to us, but what is happening here in verses 1 through 5 would blow the minds of the Jewish people and specifically of Ezekiel.

Now, if I could take a moment to remind you of the context that Ezekiel is living in as God is giving him this vision. Ezekiel, among with the rest of the Jewish people that survived the battles at Jerusalem, are held captive in the nation of Babylon.

They were conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar several times. The third time he said, that's enough. I'm not going to allow you guys to continue any longer. He knocked down the city walls. He destroyed the temple. The whole land of Israel was laid desolate, just completely bare, no inhabitants. There was actually a few inhabitants that were left and they quickly fled to the land of Egypt. And so the land of Israel is laying desolate.

Now we learned back in chapter 40 that this vision that God is giving to him takes place in their 14th year of captivity. That is that the city has been destroyed, Jerusalem has been destroyed, the temple has been destroyed for 14 years.

Now that's interesting because the Jewish people up until the very end were in denial. They were delusional. They were declaring that they had the temple of God and so God would not allow King Nebuchadnezzar to be victorious. They were convinced that because the temple existed there in Jerusalem that they would be protected even though they were in full on rebellion against God.

And even though they had prophets, you know, calling them back to God, the Word of God kept coming to them over and over, calling them to turn from sin and to follow the Lord. They insisted that they could live their own life and do whatever they wanted because they had this temple. And as long as the temple was there, then they were okay and God would not allow anything really bad to happen to them.

But warning after warning, they rejected. And then finally, it came true. What God said he would do, he did. And the city of Jerusalem and the temple was completely demolished and conquered.

Now as Ezekiel was prophesying about that, the destruction of the temple and the sin that was going on, back in chapter 10 of the book of Ezekiel, there was an important chapter where God takes Ezekiel to Jerusalem and Ezekiel witnesses the glory of God departing from the temple.

The glory of God was leaving the temple because of the people's rebellion against God and because he was bringing this destruction upon it. And so the people had rejected God and rebelled against him to the point that he left. His glory departed. And then they were open for the destruction that King Nebuchadnezzar would bring. Now since that time, the glory has not been restored to the temple.

And so what we're seeing here in chapter 43, when he describes here in verse 3, he says he saw the appearance of the vision which he saw. That's looking back at chapter 1, at chapter 10, at the glory of the Lord, the presence of the Lord. And it says there in verse 4 that the glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. And so the glory of the Lord, the presence of the Lord now enters into the temple.

And the glory of the Lord returns. It's God returning to dwell with His people. Now this is pretty amazing, but again, this would have a huge impact for the Jewish people of the day. Because although they were in denial up to the very end, they've been in captivity. The temple has been destroyed for 14 years. And so by now, it must have sunk in.

And you can imagine the condition, the state, the heart of the Jewish people at that time, realizing we have experienced the fullness of God's judgment for our rebellion against God.

And as Ezekiel is writing these things and describing these things that God is showing to them, this is going to be a great comfort and encouragement to them because it's telling them, it's ministering to them that God is not through with the people of Israel. That God's not done with them. He's not cast them off. He's not rejected them. Even though He's brought judgment, it's not final judgment.

And this is a lesson that you and I, well, we need to learn as well as believers. Because as people of God, we can follow a path similar to the nation of Israel, where we begin to practice those things that we once practiced that are really not of God and the things that He's called us out of and to be away from.

And yet we kind of practice them and we convince ourselves, hey, I go to church or I read my Bible, you know, like they convinced themselves they had the temple structure and so they were fine. We convince ourselves because we do this or we have this in our lives that we're okay and so we can continue practicing these sinful things. And then God brings discipline to correct us in that. He brings us warnings in advance. Often we don't listen to those warnings and so then we get to experience the discipline of God.

And in experiencing the discipline of God, we can become very discouraged because we know God is dealing with us and we know that that means that God loves us, but at the same time, there's that tendency to feel like, man, God's just done with me. There's nothing that I can do. The life that He once had for me is gone. The things that He had once planned for me, they're gone. I've just ruined it. I've just shipwrecked my whole spiritual life.

And yet what we see here, not only here, it's also taught throughout the scriptures, but what we see here speaking to the people of Israel and speaking to our hearts this evening is that God is a God of second and third and fourth and fifth chances. That He doesn't cast us off completely, although He brings discipline. He brings judgment when it's necessary, when we insist on continuing in rebellion.

But even in the midst of judgment, even having experienced the consequences of our sin and our rebellion against God, it's not final. God's not done with His people. It's not permanent. He tells the people of Israel, one day I'm going to restore my glory into the temple.

I'm going to restore my presence like it once was. Even far better. This temple here that is being described in the book of Ezekiel far exceeds Solomon's temple or Herod's temple. It's far better than the temples that already existed. God says, I have greater things in store for you. And that's what He speaks to us today as well. So I want to encourage you this evening as we continue to look at these things.

This is not just a message about structure and, you know, the buildings, but it's a message of hope and a reminder that God's not done with us. And he still has greater things in store because he's a good and gracious God. Well, let's go on to verse 6. It says, Then I heard him speaking to me from the temple while a man stood beside me.

And he said to me, Son of man, this is 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 forever. No more shall that house of Israel defile my holy name. They nor their kings by their harlotry with their carcasses of their kings on their high places.

When they set their threshold by my threshold and their doorpost by my doorpost and a wall between them and me, they defiled my holy name by the abominations which they committed. Therefore, I have consumed them in my anger. Now let them put their harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from me and I will dwell in their midst forever.

And so here we have God explaining to Ezekiel what is going on and the significance of this thing that we've just seen with the glory of the Lord coming back into the temple. God speaks to Ezekiel and he says, hey, this is what's going on. I am going to once again dwell with my people and

And they're not going to defile my name anymore. He said, they did defile my name. They continued in their rebellion. They made the temple commonplace. And they set up false gods there to worship in the temple. They practiced idolatry there in those places that were supposed to be dedicated to the Lord. Most holy to the Lord. But these people...

The Jewish people in those days disregarded the holiness of God and just did whatever they wanted to do, worshipped the gods that they wanted to worship.

And so God says, that's why I consumed them in my anger. They experienced the judgment, the consequences, the discipline for their rebellion against God. But then in verse 9, he says, let them put off their harlotry. Now, harlotry is spiritual harlotry. That's worshiping other gods. That's giving other things for us today, giving other things in our life the

The devotion, the passion, the prominence, the position that belongs to God. God deserves and belongs to be number one in our lives. First priority, first most or foremost passion in our lives that we're devoted to Him first and foremost.

The children of Israel began to worship and give their devotion and their passion to other things, just like we often do as Christians today. And so God says, let them put away their harlotry. And for believers today, for those who want to get right with God, that's what's necessary. What we see here is this repentance, this turning away from sin. Put away those things that are not of God. And what does God say? He says, I will dwell in their midst forever. Forever.

I will dwell in their midst forever. Again, this is a message of comfort and hope to the people of Israel and to you and I this evening. That even in the midst of suffering consequences of sin, even in the midst of suffering the discipline, the judgment of God, God's not done with us.

And we can think, and the enemy loves to join with us in those thoughts and beat us down and say, yeah, God will never, you'll never hear from God like you used to. He's not going to speak to you that way anymore. He's not going to work in your life like you once did anymore. The enemy tries to throw all those things in us. We beat ourselves up with condemnation. But God says, look, let them put away their harlotry and I will dwell in their midst forever.

It can be restored. God's going to restore His presence in the midst of the nation of Israel. Going on to verse 10, it says, Son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel that they may be ashamed of their iniquities and let them measure the pattern.

And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple and its arrangement, its exits, its entrances, its entire design with all its ordinances, all its forms and all its laws. Write it down in their sight so that they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances and perform them. This is the law of the temple. The whole area surrounding the mountaintop is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple."

Here in verses 10 through 12, God gives some specific instruction to Ezekiel. Now, I would encourage you to pay attention to this instruction. He tells Ezekiel to describe the temple to the house of Israel. Now, Ezekiel is there captive in Babylon with the rest of those who were left in Jerusalem. They're held captive there. God says, let them know about the temple. Describe it to them.

Tell them how big it is. Tell them the dimensions. Tell them about it. And then he says in verse 11, and if they are ashamed. In verse 10 he says, tell them about it that they might be ashamed. Why would they be ashamed? Well, because their temple lies in ruins because of their rebellion against God. And so as Ezekiel describes this new temple that God's going to build, this new work that he's going to do, God says that they're going to be ashamed.

In verse 11 it says, "If they are ashamed of all that they have done, then make known to them all of the designs." And so the idea is God tells them, you know, give them an overview, give them an outline, and then if they're ashamed, if it brings shame into their hearts, then give them the rest of the details. All of the exits, all of the arrangements, all of the dimensions, the entrances, the ordinances, all the forms. He says, "Write it down in their sight."

Now as we read these things today, we must come to the conclusion that as Ezekiel described the temple to them, that they indeed were ashamed. Why? Well, because what we have recorded is all of the details. The entrances, the exits, the dimensions, the arrangements, the ordinances. And so as Ezekiel shares with them this temple that will be built, it brings them shame. But that's a good thing.

They're ashamed of what they've done. They're ashamed of how they've lived. They're ashamed of their rebellion against God. And because they're ashamed, now God says, great, now you're in the place where I can do the work that I want to do. This idea of being ashamed is important. It's really the condition for restoration, for God to do the work that

in them that he wants to do, well, they first needed to be ashamed. In 1 John 1, verse 9, it tells us that if we confess our sin, that God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That word confess means to agree with God. It's the same idea of what God is talking about here about being ashamed. As they are ashamed, as Ezekiel is describing this temple to them, they're agreeing with God finally. Finally!

Up to this point, they've been fighting with God. They've been saying, no, what we're doing is fine. We can live this way. We don't have to listen to you. But at this point, they now become ashamed. They're agreeing with God. You're right, God. The way that we are behaving, the way that we were acting was sinful, was rebellious, and was deserving of the judgment that you brought.

And so we need to agree with God and confess our sin, to say the same thing as God. And that's really the condition, because when we confess our sin, when we're ashamed, when we agree with God that what we do is sinful and rebellious, then He's faithful to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

In the same way, here, the children of Israel, as these dimensions are given to them, they're ashamed. And God says, that's good. Now you finally agree with me. Now you're ready. I can do the work that I want to do. And so Ezekiel gives them all the dimensions, gives them all the details about this temple. Let them know, I have some great things in store, some good plans.

Verse 12 reminds us something very important as well. It says, This is the law of the temple. The whole area surrounding the mountaintop is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple. And this is something that you and I should consider, meditate on and take to heart. Because Paul tells us a couple times in the New Testament that we are the temple of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit. And what is the law of the temple? Behold, it is most holy.

You are most holy. You are to be completely dedicated to the Lord. It is inappropriate. It is absolutely wrong to be living in compromise, to be dabbling in sin, to be practicing and playing around with things that are not of God. Because the law of the temple, that is you, is that it is to be most holy. It is to be completely and wholly dedicated, consecrated to the Lord. I would encourage you to consider that.

And as you consider that, agree with God. Say the same thing about those things that are in your life that ought not to be there. God has some great things in store. I can't give you all the dimensions and all the details about the things that God has in store for your life, but He does have some good things in store. He wants to work in you and through you. But the law of the temple is that it must be most holy. It's to be dedicated completely to the Lord. Does that describe you? Are you in agreement with God?

About those things in your life that He wants to get out. Well, as we go on now in verses 13 through the end, we'll be looking at the altar.

that is there before the temple in the inner courtyard. Verse 13 says, These are the measurements of the altar in cubits. The cubit is one cubit and a hand breadth. And so you see the 18 inches plus the width of your hand, so that makes it about 21 inches or so. The base would be one cubit high and one cubit wide with a rim all around its edge.

Verse 1.

The altar hearth is 12 cubits long, 12 wide, square at its four corners. The ledge, 14 cubits long and 14 wide on its four sides, with a rim of a half cubit around it, its base one cubit all around, and its face toward the east.

So once again we get all the dimensions and we are thankful for diagrams and pictures that can make it a little bit more understandable to us. And so here's an artist's rendering of these dimensions and what that would look like. There's a guy next to it and so you can kind of get a sample of what an average person would look like next to this altar.

And so it would be quite tall. You see the four horns on the corners there. That would be where they would be offering the sacrifices and burning up the offerings. And that's the temple according to these measurements that are described here in verses 13 through 17. Or that's the altar rather.

Verse 18, And he said to me, Son of man, thus says the Lord God, These are the ordinances for the altar on the day when it is made, for sacrificing burnt offerings on it and for sprinkling blood on it. You shall give a young bull for a sin offering to the priests, the Levites who are of the seed of Zadok, who approach me to minister to me, says the Lord God. You shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, and you shall

on the four corners of the ledge and on the rim around it. Thus you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it.

Then you shall also take the bull of the sin offering and burn it on the appointed place of the temple outside the sanctuary. On the second day you shall offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering, and they shall cleanse the altar as they cleansed it with the bull. When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish. When you offer them before the Lord, the priests shall throw salt on them, and they will offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord."

What he's describing here is kind of the initial ceremony that would need to take place or things that would need to take place when the altar is built. And so before the normal sacrifices can begin, then this process would need to take place. And so they would need to offer a sin offering of a young bull and take the blood and put it on the horns and the corners. In just this way, the priest was to put salt on it.

As well, the second day they were to offer a kid that is a child of the goats and not a human being, by the way, a kid of the goats without blemish. And that would be for a sin offering as well. And they would cleanse the altar in this way. And so they're kind of dedicating it to the Lord with these sacrifices and with these offerings that are being made. And that continues in verse 25. It says, every day for seven days, you shall prepare a goat for a sin offering and

They shall also prepare a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without blemish. Seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it and so consecrate it. When these days are over, it shall be on the eighth day and thereafter that the priest shall offer your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar and I will accept you, says the Lord God.

And so this consecration, this cleansing of the altar would take seven days. They would have to repeat this process every day for seven days. And in doing so, they would dedicate the altar to the Lord. And then once that's done, then God explains, well, then you can go on with the regular services and offerings. And then, you know, God says, I will accept you. And so the altar will be operational at that point. And people could come to worship the Lord in bringing the sacrifices.

And so here in Ezekiel chapter 42 and 43, we have some important elements of the temple. The priestly chambers where they would be able to partake of the sacrifices. And then we have the sacrifices explained here and how to initiate the use of the altar there. The presence of God going into the temple. The shame that the Jews would feel, that the Israelites would feel as this happened.

dimensions and the structures explained to them and the hope that God is giving that as people turn from sin, as they turn to Him, that He does give second chances and third chances and fourth chances and fifth chances. They rebelled against God for several hundred years. He warned them for several hundred years. Now, He doesn't wait that long for us because we don't live for several hundred years. But for the nation, He warned them for several hundred years. For us, He doesn't wait that long

He warns us, He gives us time, and He brings discipline, He brings judgment, because He loves us. And what He desires is to bring to us the point that we agree with Him about sin, so that we cast it off. Why? Because we are the temple of God. And the law of the temple is that we are to be most holy. We are to be most holy. So I want to encourage you this evening, as we consider these things of this temple that will come, God is speaking to us about the importance of holiness.

Dedicating ourselves to the Lord. Agreeing with Him about those things that are sinful in our lives. The worship team is going to come up and lead us in worship. And as they do, as we worship the Lord together, I want to encourage you to let this thing be upon your heart. The law of the temple, that is the law of you, your body, is that it is to be most holy.

Let's dedicate ourselves to the Lord tonight. Wherever you've been, whatever you've done, God's not done with you. He does bring judgment and that can be discouraging. We can let the enemy beat us up sometimes. But God promises that He will bring restoration that we don't deserve, but He will bring it as we confess, as we agree with Him, as we dedicate ourselves to Him. He brings us restoration. He restores His glory. It's not too late.

One final verse before we spend time in worship together. It's in 2 Samuel chapter 14. It tells us there that God does not take away a life, but He devises means so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him. As long as we have breath, we have the opportunity. God's not through with us. God wants you to know He's not done with you. He's got great things in store for you.

But what he's calling us to is repentance. He devises means so that his banished ones aren't expelled. He devises means so that we come to repentance. He brings us through these things. He brings us through these passages. He brings us through the things that we experience in life. That we could see our condition, how much we need him. That we could repent. That we could turn. And that we could experience the fullness of his plans for us.

And so let's take this time to worship the Lord together. To turn from sin. Whatever's going on, whatever God's speaking to your heart, let's turn from sin. Let's get rid of those things. Because the law of the temple is that it's to be most holy. So let's dedicate. Let's cleanse. Let's consecrate ourselves to the Lord as we worship the Lord together.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.