Thursday - Ezekiel 42 - Plenty of Room

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E are on our third day trying to grasp Ezekiel's portrayal of the layout of what will be the temple of Jehovah during the millennial kingdom. So far, there have been repeated descriptions of the various gates to the outer court as well as similar descriptions of the gates into the inner court where the temple will stand. And, we found details about the temple itself as well as its immediate surroundings. This chapter continues the description of those structures that will be closest to the temple, then we jump to the perimeter of the complex.

On the north and south sides of the temple there will be chambers or rooms that will be set aside for the priests. In these rooms, the priests will eat the appropriate parts of the sacrifices, and there they will exchange their priestly garments for common ones, and vice versa (Ezekiel 42:13-14). Of course, the resumption of sin offerings, burnt offerings and such should seem strange to us. Christ was the final sacrifice. No other blood needs to be shed. The Father is satisfied, and all sins have been paid for. Explanation: the sacrifices in Moses' system pointed forward to the great sacrifice that was to come. These sacrifices will point backward.

Beginning in verse 15 of this chapter, it appears that the angel (who was giving Ezekiel this tour) brought him to the eastern gate of the complex and had him watch as he (the angel) measured the empty space that will surround that temple compound. While it seems that the structures, which we have read about so far, would almost fit on a couple football fields (if the fields were drawn out side by side), the area of space surrounding the compound will be approximately one square mile. Of course, this is considerably larger than any of the holy structures which came before the millennium temple. This should lead us to believe that the number of worshippers and pilgrims who will be passing through there will be notably greater than the number that came to Moses' Tabernacle, Solomon's Temple or to Herod's Temple.