UNROLL
Dawn at a stone gatehouse, its passage open toward the east and a road running down toward hills where a great brightness is rising; calm, luminous sky above.

The LORD is there

Ezekiel 43

Where have you felt God was far away, and longed for Him to come back?

27 verses≈ 6 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–3Visions of gloryBy the Kebar, about 593 BC: the throne, the scroll, the watchman
  2. 4–7Signs of the siegeA brick, a ration, a razor: the end has come
  3. 8–11The glory departsAbout 592 BC: the temple’s abominations, the mark, the glory goes east
  4. 12–15False hopesExile acted out, false prophets, a useless vine
  5. 16–19Parables and lamentsAn unfaithful bride, two eagles, the one who sins
  6. 20–24The sword drawnRebellion retold; the siege begins, about 588 BC
  7. 25–32The nations judgedAmmon to Egypt: the LORD is Judge of all the earth
  8. 33–36A new heartThe city falls; the Good Shepherd; cleansed and made new
  9. 37–39Dry bones liveOne people raised up, and Gog of Magog defeated
  10. 40–48The LORD is thereAbout 573 BC: the new temple, the river, the landChapter 43

The Glory of the LORD Returns to the Temple

Ezekiel
Looking east out through the open passage of a stone gatehouse: a brilliant white-gold brightness rising over the eastern hills and flooding the land, the gate’s flat jambs dark against it.

Then the man brought me back to the gate that faces east, and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.

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Ezekiel
Ezekiel

The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when He came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the River Kebar. I fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east.

Ezekiel
The inner court of the vision’s temple: the house at the top of its steps, a brilliant cloud of light filling it and pouring out of its porch over the shining court.

Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

0:07

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

God

While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple, and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever.

God

The house of Israel will never again defile My holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and by the funeral offerings for their kings at their deaths. When they placed their threshold next to My threshold and their doorposts beside My doorposts, with only a wall between Me and them, they defiled My holy name by the abominations they committed. Therefore I have consumed them in My anger. Now let them remove far from Me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will dwell among them forever.

God

As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, so that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. Let them measure the plan, and if they are ashamed of all they have done, then make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement and its exits and entrances—its whole design along with all its statutes, forms, and laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its complete design and all its statutes and may carry them out.

God

This is the law of the temple: All its surrounding territory on top of the mountain will be most holy. Yes, this is the law of the temple.

Question

Quick question

Look again at the way the glory came home.

Which way did the glory of the LORD come back into the temple?

The Altar of Sacrifice

God
A great square altar of pale stone in three stepped stages, four short horns at the top corners, a thin smoke rising, its plain steps toward the viewer.

Its measurements

The altar

  1. Gutter and rim

    These are the measurements of the altar in long cubits (a cubit and a handbreadth): Its gutter shall be a cubit deep and a cubit wide, with a rim of one span around its edge. And this is the height of the altar:

  2. The two ledges

    The space from the gutter on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the ledge one cubit wide. The space from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge shall be four cubits, and the ledge one cubit wide.

  3. The hearth and its horns

    The altar hearth shall be four cubits high, and four horns shall project upward from the hearth. The altar hearth shall be square at its four corners, twelve cubits long and twelve cubits wide.

  4. Facing east

    The ledge and the steps

    The ledge shall also be square, fourteen cubits long and fourteen cubits wide, with a rim of half a cubit and a gutter of a cubit all around it. The steps of the altar shall face east.”

God

Then He said to me: “Son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is constructed, so that burnt offerings may be sacrificed on it and blood may be splattered on it: You are to give a young bull from the herd as a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are of the family of Zadok, who approach Me to minister before Me, declares the Lord GOD. You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim; thus you will cleanse the altar and make atonement for it. Then you are to take away the bull for the sin offering and burn it in the appointed part of the temple area outside the sanctuary.

God
God

On the second day you are to present an unblemished male goat as a sin offering, and the altar is to be cleansed as it was with the bull. When you have finished the purification, you are to present a young, unblemished bull and an unblemished ram from the flock. You must present them before the LORD; the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the LORD.

God
Dawn: a straight column of smoke rising from the top of a great stepped altar into still air, the temple porch beyond lit gold, the inner court swept and empty.

For seven days you are to provide a male goat daily for a sin offering; you are also to provide a young bull and a ram from the flock, both unblemished. For seven days the priests are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; so they shall consecrate it. At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Lord GOD.’”

The glory leaves and returns

nineteen yearsIn thetemple8:4To thethreshold10:4To theeast gate10:19To themountaineast11:23From theeast43:2Throughthe eastgate43:4Thetemplefilled43:5

Whiteboard

The way the glory left is the way it comes home.

Pray

Pray

God of Israel, Your glory has come back to dwell with Your people. Make me ashamed of what grieves You, fill me with Your presence, and accept me in Christ. Amen.

You’ve experienced

Ezekiel 43

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A verse to carry with you

Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

Ezekiel 43:5

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