In Defense of the Gospel

November 30, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. ²I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. ³But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. ⁴Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— ⁵to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. ⁶And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. ⁷On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised ⁸(for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), ⁹and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. – Galatians 2:1-10 ESV

As Paul continues his defense of his apostolic ministry and message, he relates how he actively ministered the gospel among the Gentiles for 14 years before making his way to Jerusalem – the primary hub of the rapidly expanding Christian movement. Paul records that he and Barnabas made the trip together. According to Luke’s account in the book of Acts, Paul had been helping Barnabas minister to the Gentiles in Antioch. Luke provides important insights into what transpired in the early days of the gospel’s growth in Jerusalem. After the stoning of Stephen in Jerusalem, many of the new followers of Christ fled for their safety out of fear for their own lives.

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. – Luke 8:1 ESV

Paul, up until his conversion, had played a major role in that persecution, and Luke goes on to say that it resulted in believers moving even further away from Judea.

Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. – Acts 11:19-24 ESV

The gospel’s expansion into the region of Phoenicia, the city of Antioch, and the island of Cyprus forced the leadership in Jerusalem to develop a plan for overseeing their rapidly expanding network of fledgling congregations. This organic growth was fueled by those whose lives had been transformed upon hearing the gospel on the Day of Pentecost. Jews from all over the known world had traveled to Jerusalem for this annual feast. In the Book of Acts, Luke records that these ethnic Jews and proselytes to Judaism heard the good news of the gospel being proclaimed in their own languages from a small group of uneducated Galilean men.

…at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” – Acts 2:6-11 NLT

Peter took advantage of this captive audience and preached a powerful message that resulted in more than 3,000 individuals coming to faith in Christ. In time, most of these new believers were forced to return to their native countries. Some attempted to remain in Jerusalem out of a desire to remain under the teaching of the apostles but eventually, they made their way home, taking the gospel with them.

These unofficial missionaries were effective in sharing the news that had transformed their own lives. When news reached Jerusalem that the gospel had taken root in these far-flung regions they sent Barnabas to investigate. What he found was both encouraging and concerning. He knew that these new converts to Christianity were going to need assistance and oversight. Their knowledge of the gospel was rudimentary at best and they had received no exposure to the teachings of Jesus.

Barnabas, familiar with Paul’s ministry to Gentiles, decided to recruit him for the ministry needs in Antioch. Barabas traveled all the way to Tarsus to find Paul and for the next year, they would minister to the new congregations in Antioch.

Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.) – Acts 11:26 NLT

Eventually, Paul and Barnabas returned to Jerusalem to provide the apostles with a report of their activities in Antioch. More than likely, Barnabas wanted Paul there as an expert witness. But Paul makes it clear that he returned to Jerusalem because of a vision he received from God, not because of the invitation of Barnabas.

I went up because of a revelation and set before them…the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. – Galatians 2:2 ESV

As Paul has already made clear, he is not a man-pleaser. He wanted the Galatians to understand that everything he did was under the direction of God, not men. He truly believed that God wanted this matter of the conversion of the Gentiles to become a top priority among the leadership of the growing church. It was essential that all of the apostles be on the same page regarding how these newly converted Gentiles were to be handled.

There were still some who were expecting them to be circumcised and to adhere to the rules and rituals of Judaism. Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles had been hounded by a group of individuals who were demanding that all Gentile converts be circumcised in order to validate their salvation. Paul had vigorously opposed this teaching as a distortion of the gospel message, exposing it for what it was: a blatant contradiction to the message of faith in Christ alone.

In these opening verses of chapter two, Paul informs his readers that he was willing to stand up to the much-revered apostles of Jesus, including Peter, James, and John. Paul was not starry-eyed or awestruck in his meeting with these men. If anything, Paul viewed himself as their equal. While he had not had the privilege of serving as a disciple of Jesus during His three years of earthly ministry, Paul had received His ministry commission from Jesus Himself.

He clearly stated his purpose for going to Jerusalem: “to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain” (Galatians 2:2 ESV). Paul had no doubts about the accuracy of his message, but he was very concerned about the influence of the Judaizers and those who were propagating some kind of hybrid form of salvation that included faith in Christ as well as adherence to Judaism. If those who were demanding circumcision of the Gentiles were not stopped, the purity of the gospel would be damaged.

Paul was preaching a simple plan of salvation that was made possible by the grace of God alone through faith in Christ alone. Nothing else was necessary. To add any other requirement would produce a “contrary” gospel. Any attempt to add good works or obedience to a set of rules or regulations to the gospel would only end up invalidating it.

Adding a requirement of circumcision would undermine the message of the gospel and add an unnecessary barrier or roadblock to the path of salvation. So his trip to Jerusalem was intended to defend his God-ordained message and convince his peers that his ministry to the Gentiles was valid and his message was complete.

As Paul would later tell the believers in Rome, circumcision was a matter of the heart, not the flesh.

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. – Romans 2:28-29 ESV

While circumcision had been a God-given sign or seal of the unique relationship the people of Israel had with Him, Paul argued that the indwelling Holy Spirit was God’s new seal of approval. Paul told the Gentile believers in Ephesus, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13 ESV).

Man has always been obsessed with the idea that there is something he must do to earn favor with God. We are wired to believe that we must work our way into God’s good graces, but the beauty of the gospel is that everything has been done for us. There is nothing for us to add to the equation. It is Jesus plus nothing so that no one can boast or brag. Salvation is the work of God, from beginning to end. As the great old hymn, Rock of Ages, says…

Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Lord is There

February 18, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹“These are the names of the tribes: Beginning at the northern extreme, beside the way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan (which is on the northern border of Damascus over against Hamath), and extending from the east side to the west, Dan, one portion. ²Adjoining the territory of Dan, from the east side to the west, Asher, one portion. ³Adjoining the territory of Asher, from the east side to the west, Naphtali, one portion. ⁴Adjoining the territory of Naphtali, from the east side to the west, Manasseh, one portion. ⁵Adjoining the territory of Manasseh, from the east side to the west, Ephraim, one portion. ⁶Adjoining the territory of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, Reuben, one portion. ⁷Adjoining the territory of Reuben, from the east side to the west, Judah, one portion.

⁸“Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be the portion which you shall set apart, 25,000 cubits in breadth, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the midst of it. ⁹The portion that you shall set apart for the Lord shall be 25,000 cubits in length, and 20,000 in breadth. ¹⁰These shall be the allotments of the holy portion: the priests shall have an allotment measuring 25,000 cubits on the northern side, 10,000 cubits in breadth on the western side, 10,000 in breadth on the eastern side, and 25,000 in length on the southern side, with the sanctuary of the Lord in the midst of it. ¹¹This shall be for the consecrated priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, as the Levites did. ¹²And it shall belong to them as a special portion from the holy portion of the land, a most holy place, adjoining the territory of the Levites. ¹³And alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an allotment 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in breadth. The whole length shall be 25,000 cubits and the breadth 20,000. ¹⁴They shall not sell or exchange any of it. They shall not alienate this choice portion of the land, for it is holy to the Lord.

¹⁵“The remainder, 5,000 cubits in breadth and 25,000 in length, shall be for common use for the city, for dwellings and for open country. In the midst of it shall be the city, ¹⁶and these shall be its measurements: the north side 4,500 cubits, the south side 4,500, the east side 4,500, and the west side 4,500. ¹⁷And the city shall have open land: on the north 250 cubits, on the south 250, on the east 250, and on the west 250. ¹⁸The remainder of the length alongside the holy portion shall be 10,000 cubits to the east, and 10,000 to the west, and it shall be alongside the holy portion. Its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. ¹⁹And the workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall till it. ²⁰The whole portion that you shall set apart shall be 25,000 cubits square, that is, the holy portion together with the property of the city.

²¹“What remains on both sides of the holy portion and of the property of the city shall belong to the prince. Extending from the 25,000 cubits of the holy portion to the east border, and westward from the 25,000 cubits to the west border, parallel to the tribal portions, it shall belong to the prince. The holy portion with the sanctuary of the temple shall be in its midst. ²²It shall be separate from the property of the Levites and the property of the city, which are in the midst of that which belongs to the prince. The portion of the prince shall lie between the territory of Judah and the territory of Benjamin.

²³“As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west, Benjamin, one portion. ²⁴Adjoining the territory of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, Simeon, one portion. ²⁵Adjoining the territory of Simeon, from the east side to the west, Issachar, one portion. ²⁶Adjoining the territory of Issachar, from the east side to the west, Zebulun, one portion. ²⁷Adjoining the territory of Zebulun, from the east side to the west, Gad, one portion. ²⁸And adjoining the territory of Gad to the south, the boundary shall run from Tamar to the waters of Meribah-kadesh, from there along the Brook of Egypt to the Great Sea. ²⁹This is the land that you shall allot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, declares the Lord God.

³⁰“These shall be the exits of the city: On the north side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, ³¹three gates, the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi, the gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel. ³²On the east side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan. ³³On the south side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, three gates, the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun. ³⁴On the west side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali. ³⁵The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord Is There.” – Ezekiel 48:1-35 ESV

In this closing chapter of his book, Ezekiel provides a detailed layout of the tribal allotment within the Millennial Kingdom. Beginning in the north and working his way down, he describes God’s plan for the geographical arrangement of the 12 tribes, beginning with Dan and ending with Gad. Each tribe will occupy a portion of the land of promise that extends from east to west, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. The tribes of Issachar, Zebulun, and Gad will have the “Brook of Egypt” as their western border. Unlike the division of the land under Joshua, the Millennial Kingdom will allot equal portions of real estate to each of the tribes. When Moses had set aside the land for the people of Israel, he had done so based on the population size of each tribe. But in the Millennial Kingdom, the distribution of the land will be based on very different criteria. Rather than size, it appears to be based on faithfulness.

Genesis 35 provides the names of the 12 sons of Israel (Jacob).

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant: Dan and Naphtali. The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram. – Genesis 35:21-26 ESV

In examining the north-to-south allotment of the land, it becomes clear that there is an intended progression to their order. Dan, one of the most unfaithful tribes, will find itself located in the far north of the land. The tribe of Gad will bookend the land from its location in the south. It’s interesting to note that the four sons born to Jacob’s concubines (Dan, Asher, Naphtali, and Gad) all occupy land on the extreme edges of the Kingdom. Yet Judah and Benjamin are located on either side of the holy district, the site of the Millennial Temple. These were the two tribes that made up the southern kingdom of Judah after God split Solomon’s kingdom in two. During the days of the divided kingdom, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin displayed the greatest degree of faithfulness to Yahweh and yielded the largest number of godly kings. Their reward for their faithfulness will be in the form of land allotments on either side of the holy district. The rest of the sons born to Jacob’s two wives, Leah and Rachel, will occupy land toward the center of the kingdom.

Proximity to the Millennial Temple seems to be the point in all of this because that is where God’s presence will dwell. Ezekiel saw the vision of God’s glory reentering the new temple and taking up residence in the Most Holy Place (Ezekiel 43:4). The Millennial Temple will sit within the holy city, and Ezekiel describes this future Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:8) as being six miles in circumference. It will have 12 gates, three on each side, dedicated to the 12 tribes of Israel.

His description of the city and its gates mirrors the one given by the apostle John in the book of Revelation. But John was describing the New Jerusalem.

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. – Revelation 21:10-13 ESV

He was not describing the Jerusalem of the Millennial Kingdom, but yet another iteration of the holy city that will appear at the end of the millennial age when God makes all things new (Revelation 21:5). This New Jerusalem will have 12 gates named after the 12 tribes of Israel, but it will also feature 12 foundations, dedicated to the 12 apostles.

And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. – Revelation 21:14 ESV

The greatest difference between these two versions of the city of Jerusalem appears to be the timing of their appearance. The Jerusalem that will exist during the Millennial Kingdom will feature a temple and a reinstated sacrificial system. The city will be occupied by both Jews and Gentiles, but not all will be Christ followers. In the New Jerusalem, the occupants will be from every tribe, nation, and tongue, and share a common faith in Christ. It will be filled with the elect of God from all eras, including both Jews and Gentiles.

The Millennial Kingdom is dedicated to the nation of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Its very existence culminates God’s covenant promises to the patriarchs and fulfills every commitment He had made to them. But that kingdom will come to an end and be replaced by the New Jerusalem and the eternal state, and at that time, “it will be “true” Israel—those who have trusted in Jesus Christ—that will enter the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is through the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem that the true tribal people—believers of Jewish descent as well as Gentiles who have been “grafted in” with God’s people (Romans 11:17–25)—will enter the joy of the Lord (see Matthew 25:21). (https://www.gotquestions.org/twelve-gates-Revelation.html).

But there is one important factor that both Jerusalems have in common: The presence of God. John describes his vision of the New Jerusalem descending out of heaven.

I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” – Revelation 21:1-4 ESV

The dwelling place of God will be with man. He will dwell with them. God himself will be with them as their God. There is a promise of permanence in this passage. God will come to live among His people – on earth. Our final destination is not heaven, but earth. All the redeemed will live in perfect unity with God the Father and God the Son – for all eternity. And in this future Jerusalem, there will be no temple.

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it… – Revelation 21:22-24 ESV

But the Jerusalem of the Millennial Kingdom, with its glorious temple filled with the glory of God, will also enjoy God’s presence. In fact, the very name of the main gate that will lead into this future city is “The Lord Is There” (Ezekiel 48:35 ESV).

The book of Ezekiel has finally come to an end. It has been 22 years since Ezekiel first saw his vision of God and received his commission as God’s prophet to the people of Judah. His ministry began with an unbelievable glimpse of the glory of God. He was given a word to deliver from the very mouth of God, predicting the coming siege of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the deportation of the people of Judah to Babylon. In chapter ten, Ezekiel was shown the real tragedy of it all – the glory of God departing the temple. The very presence and power of God were removed from the midst of the people due to their sin and rebellion. But two decades later, God gave Ezekiel another vision of a rebuilt temple, a restored Jerusalem, and a revived relationship with the people of God.

The book of Ezekiel ends with the city of Jerusalem referred to by the name, “The Lord Is There,” and if the Lord is there that means His glory has returned once again to the city. This book began with the glory of God and ends with it. God will one day take up residence in the city of Jerusalem. The abiding presence of God is a powerful image with which to sum up this book. While God had to punish His people for their sins, He never abandoned them completely. He remained faithful and committed to His plan for them. Even while they were in exile, He sent His prophets to communicate His message to them. And ultimately, God returned them to the land. But there is a day yet future when God will complete His plan for the people of Israel and fully fulfill His promises to them. He will once again make His place among them, so that the city of Jerusalem can truly be called, “The Lord Is There.”

Hindsight is 20/20

February 15, 2023 / kdmiller55 / 1 Comment

¹“Thus says the Lord God: The gate of the inner court that faces east shall be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. ²The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside, and shall take his stand by the post of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening. ³The people of the land shall bow down at the entrance of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the new moons. ⁴The burnt offering that the prince offers to the Lord on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish. ⁵And the grain offering with the ram shall be an ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he is able, together with a hin of oil to each ephah. ⁶On the day of the new moon he shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish, and six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish. ⁷As a grain offering he shall provide an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he is able, together with a hin of oil to each ephah. ⁸When the prince enters, he shall enter by the vestibule of the gate, and he shall go out by the same way.

⁹“When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed feasts, he who enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate, and he who enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: no one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but each shall go out straight ahead. ¹⁰When they enter, the prince shall enter with them, and when they go out, he shall go out.

¹¹“At the feasts and the appointed festivals, the grain offering with a young bull shall be an ephah, and with a ram an ephah, and with the lambs as much as one is able to give, together with a hin of oil to an ephah. ¹²When the prince provides a freewill offering, either a burnt offering or peace offerings as a freewill offering to the Lord, the gate facing east shall be opened for him. And he shall offer his burnt offering or his peace offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out the gate shall be shut.

¹³“You shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to the Lord daily; morning by morning you shall provide it. ¹⁴And you shall provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, one sixth of an ephah, and one third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour, as a grain offering to the Lord. This is a perpetual statute. ¹⁵Thus the lamb and the meal offering and the oil shall be provided, morning by morning, for a regular burnt offering.

¹⁶“Thus says the Lord God: If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons as his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons. It is their property by inheritance. ¹⁷But if he makes a gift out of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty. Then it shall revert to the prince; surely it is his inheritance—it shall belong to his sons. ¹⁸The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their property. He shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people shall be scattered from his property.”

¹⁹Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, to the north row of the holy chambers for the priests, and behold, a place was there at the extreme western end of them. ²⁰And he said to me, “This is the place where the priests shall boil the guilt offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the grain offering, in order not to bring them out into the outer court and so transmit holiness to the people.”

²¹Then he brought me out to the outer court and led me around to the four corners of the court. And behold, in each corner of the court there was another court— ²²in the four corners of the court were small courts, forty cubits long and thirty broad; the four were of the same size. ²³On the inside, around each of the four courts was a row of masonry, with hearths made at the bottom of the rows all around. ²⁴Then he said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple shall boil the sacrifices of the people.” – Ezekiel 46:1-24 ESV

God is giving Ezekiel a tour of the new temple that will exist in the Millennial Kingdom. This is the period of 1,000 years after Christ’s return when He will rule and reign in the city of Jerusalem from the throne of David. During this time, God will have the temple rebuilt, the priesthood reestablished, and the sacrificial system reinstated. But that begs the question, “Why?”

If Christ died for sins once for all (1 Peter 3:18), then why would there be the need for a sacrificial system? If Christ’s death on the cross paid the price for our sins and fully satisfied the just demands of a holy God, there seems to be no purpose for having the sacrifices reinstated during the Millennial Kingdom.

But God is very specific when describing what He will expect during those days. He provides precise details concerning which sacrifices are to be offered and the method for doing so. So, God must have a purpose.

It’s interesting to note that the two feasts God seems to emphasize are the Feast of Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. Both of these events were associated with the Exodus and God’s deliverance of the people from their bondage in Egypt. The Passover was instituted as a memorial commemorating and celebrating God’s miraculous deliverance of the people of God from the Death Angel that visited the land of Egypt and struck down the firstborn male of every household. God spared the Israelites as long as they followed His instructions to sacrifice an unblemished lamb and put its blood on the doorways of their homes.

The Feast of Booths was meant to commemorate the time when the people had been forced to erect hastily-built shelters to protect them as they made their way through the wilderness on the way to the land of promise. All throughout their history, God had ordered them to reenact this event through this annual celebration. It was meant to remind them of the years they had spent wandering through the wilderness.

These festivals were to be symbols of God’s provision and protection during those difficult years as they made their way to the promised land. All of these sacrifices and celebrations were intended to serve as reminders of God’s grace, provision, and deliverance. They were all designed to point to God’s future provision and deliverance through Christ. They were representative of the future work of Christ.

In the Millennial Kingdom they will continue to be representative, but more by way of reminder. They will be looking BACK, not forward. These sacrifices, once symbolic of Christ’s coming and His future sacrifice on the cross, will be reminders of what Christ has DONE. He will be living among the people, reigning and ruling from the throne of David. They will be looking back, in retrospect, to Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. So in that sense, they will be memorials and will probably have nothing to do with forgiveness of sins.

But God is very clear with Ezekiel that these sacrifices will be a part of worship in the Millennial Kingdom and they must be done according to God’s exacting standards. It should remind us that God has a reason for everything that He does. The sacrificial system was not just a temporary requirement that lived out its usefulness and purpose. God has a reason behind all that He does and one day that same sacrificial system will be reinstated, completing its purpose of pointing men to Christ. The Lamb of God will sit on the throne in Jerusalem, and innocent, unblemished lambs will be sacrificed as a visual reminder of the redemptive work that Jesus did on the cross.

Enough is Enough

February 12, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east. And it was shut. ²And the Lord said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. ³Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord. He shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.”

⁴Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord. And I fell on my face. ⁵And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning all the statutes of the temple of the Lord and all its laws. And mark well the entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary. ⁶And say to the rebellious house,to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: O house of Israel, enough of all your abominations, ⁷in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. ⁸And you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.

⁹“Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary. ¹⁰But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment. ¹¹They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before the people, to minister to them. ¹²Because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment. ¹³They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed. ¹⁴Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its service and all that is to be done in it. – Ezekiel 44:1-14 ESV

Ezekiel had been given the privilege of witnessing the glory of the Lord enter the temple and fill the Holy of Holies. The return of God’s divine presence to the temple was a sign that He will one day return His people to the land of promise and restore their relationship with Him. Ezekiel had seen the glory of the Lord depart and now he had seen it return. But as Ezekiel’s divine guide led him back to the eastern gate of the Millennial Temple, he notices that the gate has been closed. This was the very gate through which the glory of the Lord had entered the Holy of Holies (Ezekiel 43:1-5). The sight of a closed and locked gate must have left Ezekiel a bit confused. It conveyed the idea of inaccessibility to God’s presence. Perhaps noticing the perplexity on Ezekiel’s face, his guide provided an explanation.

“This gate must remain closed; it will never again be opened. No one will ever open it and pass through, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered here. Therefore, it must always remain shut.” – Ezekiel 44:2 NLT

This closure will be meant to commemorate the eastern gate as the place where God’s presence reentered the temple. It will set apart (make holy) this particular gate because of its unique role in God’s return to His house and His people. Only one individual will be allowed access to this gate and the guide describes him as “the prince.”

“Only the prince himself may sit inside this gateway to feast in the Lord’s presence. But he may come and go only through the entry room of the gateway.”– Ezekiel 44:3 NLT

Many have assumed this to be a reference to Jesus, the Messiah because He is repeatedly referred to throughout the book of Ezekiel as “the prince.”

“And I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them.And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among my people. I, the Lord, have spoken!” – Ezekiel 34:24 NLT

As the Son of David, Jesus is the rightful heir to the throne of Israel, and during the Millennial Kingdom, He will rule over the world from His throne in Jerusalem.

“My servant David will be their king, and they will have only one shepherd. They will obey my regulations and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren after them will live there forever, generation after generation. And my servant David will be their prince forever.” – Ezekiel 37:24-25 NLT

The Hebrew word that is translated as “prince” is nāśî’ (נָשִׂיא). Like most Hebrew words, it can have a variety of meanings, including “chief, prince, captain, leader.” Ezekiel uses it repeatedly and not always in reference to the Messiah. And while it would be easy to assume that the “prince” who is given access to the closed eastern gate is a reference to Jesus, the rest of Ezekiel’s book would refute that notion.

In the very next chapter, Ezekiel describes this same prince making a blood sacrifice as atonement for his sins.

“On the day of Passover the prince will provide a young bull as a sin offering for himself and the people of Israel.”– Ezekiel 45:22 NLT

This could not be a reference to Jesus. Secondly, in chapter 46, Ezekiel reveals that this very same prince will father children, which would seem to make it an unlikely reference to the Messiah.

“…the prince may never take anyone’s property by force. If he gives property to his sons, it must be from his own land, for I do not want any of my people unjustly evicted from their property.” – Ezekiel 46:18 NLT

Finally, this prince will serve as an intermediary for the people but will not be a priest.

“The east gateway of the inner courtyard will be closed during the six workdays each week, but it will be open on Sabbath days and the days of new moon celebrations.The prince will enter the entry room of the gateway from the outside. Then he will stand by the gatepost while the priest offers his burnt offering and peace offering. He will bow down in worship inside the gateway passage and then go back out the way he came.” – Ezekiel 46:1-2 NLT

Yet, the book of Hebrews describes Jesus as our high priest forever (Hebrews 6:20), and, as the greater high priest, He is not required to offer sacrifices for Himself or for the people because He offered Himself as the perfect, sinless sacrifice.

He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven.Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins.– Hebrews 7:26-27 NLT

So, who is this prince? It is likely an individual who is given authority over the temple itself. He will be appointed by God to serve as chief or governor of the temple complex. And in his role, he will be given access to the eastern gate each Sabbath day so that he might oversee the presentation of offerings to God. But only he will be able to enter and exit the eastern gate. The rest of the people will enter through the northern gate and exit through the southern gate (Ezekiel 46:8-10).

Having seen the closed eastern gate, Ezekiel is taken to the northern gate where he enters and is able to see the glory of the Lord hovering over the temple yet again. And as before, Ezekiel falls on his face in awe and reverent fear.

As Ezekiel lies prostrate on the ground, the voice of the Lord provides him with a solemn warning to deliver to the people of Israel.

“…give these rebels, the people of Israel, this message from the Sovereign Lord: O people of Israel, enough of your detestable sins! You have brought uncircumcised foreigners into my sanctuary—people who have no heart for God. In this way, you defiled my Temple even as you offered me my food, the fat and blood of sacrifices. In addition to all your other detestable sins, you have broken my covenant. Instead of safeguarding my sacred rituals, you have hired foreigners to take charge of my sanctuary.” – Ezekiel 44:6-8 NLT

Throughout his vision, Ezekiel has seen no other human beings. His only companion has been his guide. So, this message must be intended for his fellow exiles in Babylon. God has given Ezekiel a glimpse of a future day when He will return His people to the land and restore the nation of Israel to its former glory. In fact, its glory will far exceed anything the people of Israel ever experienced under David or Solomon because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, will be their King. And they will worship God in a magnificent Temple that will put Solomon’s grand structure to shame.

But God makes it clear that He expects His people to repent of their sins – even now. The people of Judah were guilty of desecrating His former temple and that is why it had been reduced to a pile of rubble by the Babylonians. They had ignored God’s commands, broken His covenant, and abused the very house where His presence dwelt. So, God commanded Ezekiel to give his fellow exiles this sobering message of warning.

In God’s Millennial Temple, holiness will rule supreme. There will be no place for the uncircumcised and impure. Even the Levites, whom God had consecrated as priests and caretakers of the temple, would lose their divine privileges because of their role in Israel’s denigration of His house. They had forfeited their right to serve in His Millennial Temple because they had failed to maintain the holiness of Solomon’s temple.

“But they encouraged my people to worship idols, causing Israel to fall into deep sin. So I have taken a solemn oath that they must bear the consequences for their sins, says the Sovereign Lord.” – Ezekiel 44:12 NLT

Many of their descendants will be disqualified from service because of the sins of their fathers. They will still be able to serve as caretakers of the temple grounds and gates, but they will be restricted from any involvement in the sacrificial system.

“They may not approach me to minister as priests. They may not touch any of my holy things or the holy offerings, for they must bear the shame of all the detestable sins they have committed. They are to serve as the Temple caretakers, taking charge of the maintenance work and performing general duties.” – Ezekiel 44:13-14 NLT

But as the remainder of chapter 44 will show, there will be a remnant among the Levites who are able to serve as priests. God will allow the descendants of Zadok to fulfill their priestly duties in the Millennial Temple because they had remained faithful when everyone else had turned their backs on God.

God wanted His rebellious people to know that things were going to be drastically different in the future Kingdom of His Son. Holiness will be non-optional and required of all who serve in His house. His presence will be permanent and His requirement of righteousness will be non-negotiable. From the priest to the prince, everyone will be required to be holy as He is holy.

The Gravity and Glory of God’s Grace

February 10, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east. ²And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. ³And the vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and just like the vision that I had seen by the Chebar canal. And I fell on my face. ⁴As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east, ⁵the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

⁶While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple, ⁷and 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 people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies of their kings at their high places, ⁸by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They have defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. ⁹Now let them put away their whoring and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.

¹⁰“As for you, son of man, describe to the house of Israel the temple, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the plan. ¹¹And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out. ¹²This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple. – Ezekiel 43:1-12 ESV

“Son of man, describe to the people of Israel the Temple I have shown you, so they will be ashamed of all their sins. Let them study its plan, and they will be ashamed of what they have done. Describe to them all the specifications of the Temple—including its entrances and exits—and everything else about it. Tell them about its decrees and laws. Write down all these specifications and decrees as they watch so they will be sure to remember and follow them.” – Ezekiel 43:10-11 NLT

After completing his tour of the future temple, Ezekiel was given a glimpse of God’s majestic glory returning to the very site it had vacated in his earlier vision. He describes seeing the glory of the Lord coming from the east and recalls having seen it before.

This vision was just like the others I had seen, first by the Kebar River and then when he came to destroy Jerusalem. – Ezekiel 43:3 NLT

Ezekiel opened his book with his vivid, out-of-this-world description of God’s glory arriving in Babylon by the Kebar River. It began as a storm cloud with flashing lightning and rolling peals of thunder. But upon close examination, Ezekiel saw that “From the center of the cloud came four living beings that looked human, except that each had four faces and four wings” (Ezekiel 1:5-6 NLT).

Each of these living beings “had a human face in the front, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle at the back” (Ezekiel 1:10 NLT). They were equipped with wings and glowed “like bright coals of fire or brilliant torches, and lightning seemed to flash back and forth among them” (Ezekiel 1:13 NLT).

But the most important part of this vision was the presence of “a figure whose appearance resembled a man” (Ezekiel 1:26 NLT), who sat on a throne made of blue lapis lazuli. Ezekiel provided great detail in describing this royal figure.

From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. – Ezekiel 1:27-28 NLT

Ezekiel was certain as to the figure’s identity. It was none other than Yahweh, God Almighty, who had come to distant Babylon to reveal Himself to Ezekiel and to commission him as His prophet.

In a later vision Ezekiel received, he saw the very same representation of God’s glory, but this time it appeared in Jerusalem, hovering over the temple.

In my vision I saw what appeared to be a throne of blue lapis lazuli above the crystal surface over the heads of the cherubim. – Ezekiel 10:1 NLT

Ezekiel recognized the cherubim as the four living beings he had seen in his earlier vision.

These were the same living beings I had seen beside the Kebar River. – Ezekiel 10:15 NLT

As Ezekiel continued to watch this spectacular display of God’s glory, he must have been shocked to see it begin to make its way from the temple itself and towards the eastern gate of the temple complex.

Then the glory of the Lord moved out from the entrance of the Temple and hovered above the cherubim. And as I watched, the cherubim flew with their wheels to the east gate of the Lord’s Temple. And the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them. – Ezekiel 10:18-19 NLT

But God’s glory didn’t stop there. It went beyond the eastern gate, across the Kidron Valley, and onto the Mount of Olives. Then it disappeared altogether.

Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city. And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me. – Ezekiel 10:22-24 NLT

The significance of this vision did not escape Ezekiel. He had just witnessed the glory of God departing the temple and vacating the city of Jerusalem. Yahweh was symbolically abandoning His house and His chosen people. But years later, Ezekiel was given the privilege of seeing the glory of God return. After taking Ezekiel on a whirlwind tour of the Millennial Temple, “the man” took the prophet to the very same spot where he had seen the glory of God depart.

…he led me to the gate, the gate facing east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. – Ezekiel 43:1-2 ESV

Blown away by what he saw, Ezekiel fell on his face in awe and gratitude. But as God’s glory reentered the temple and took up residence once again in the Holy of Holies, Ezekiel was there to witness the entire scene. And in a state of stupified wonder, all Ezekiel could say was “and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple” (Ezekiel 43:5 ESV). God had returned. He had not abandoned His people after all. And God confirmed the permanence of His return by stating, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place where I will rest my feet. I will live here forever among the people of Israel” (Ezekiel 43:7 NLT).

God had left, but had returned and, this time, it was to stay. This was a new temple and a new era, and God had promised to give His chosen people new hearts so they could worship Him faithfully and fully. To quote the apostle Paul, “The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV).

God wanted Ezekiel to know that the day was coming when all things would be made new. There would be a new temple but there would also be a renewed people of God. Their sins had resulted in God’s judgment. Their rebellion against Him had led to His departure from among them. But Ezekiel was being given a glimpse of the future when God would miraculously restore His people to a right relationship with Himself. And He states that, on that day, things will be radically different. God commands Ezekiel to tell his fellow exiles all that he has seen and to give them this sobering reminder concerning that coming day.

“And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness! The entire top of the mountain where the Temple is built is holy. Yes, this is the basic law of the Temple.” – Ezekiel 43:12 NLT

What an amazing picture of God’s grace. He was declaring His intention to restore His apostate people and return them to a life of holiness and sanctification. No more sin. No more rebellion. Instead, they would enjoy permanent fellowship with God in His eternal kingdom.

I sometimes think we take grace for granted. I love what Dallas Willard says: “We have a problem today in Evangelical circles. We’re not only saved by grace, we’re paralyzed by it.” We have allowed grace to become a one-dimensional concept that is tied solely to our salvation. We talk about the idea of being saved by grace. It is a priceless gift, unearned and undeserved. But the grace of God should have a long-lasting influence on our lives. There is a future element to God’s grace that I must never lose sight of because the reality is that I can no more earn my coming glorification than I could my salvation. A day is coming when I will be made complete and whole. I will be like Christ, with no sin nature and an ability to live righteously – completely and permanently. Future grace is a great motivator for present behavior. The reality of my guaranteed place in His presence for eternity should have a tremendous impact on the way I live my life now.

The same was true for the people of God in Ezekiel’s day. God had given Ezekiel a glimpse of His future kingdom, complete with a newly constructed temple, occupied by God Himself. God instructed Ezekiel to describe to the people the details of the future temple. They were to study its plans and go over every specification. Why? Because it was going to be a real place that was going to exist in real-time in the future. It was a picture of God’s future grace and His promise to reestablish His presence among the people of Israel. In spite of all they had done to offend Him, He was going to extend them grace, and the proof of it was this vision of His glory filling the rebuilt temple.

As Christians, we can easily allow the “grace alone” message to lull us into a sense of spiritual stupor or laziness. God does it all, so we have nothing to do. But grace is opposed to earning, not effort. The knowledge of God’s grace reminds me that I can do nothing to earn His favor. But awareness of His grace should cause me to make every effort to serve Him gratefully and joyfully. By hearing the detailed descriptions of the future Temple, the people of God were to be shamed for their own unfaithfulness as opposed to God’s faithfulness.

The reality that I have a place reserved for me in heaven should make me want to live my life differently here on earth. During their lifetimes, the people of God had desecrated the temple of God time and time again. And ultimately, God had it destroyed. Today there is no temple in Jerusalem. In its place sits a mosque. But God has promised that the day is coming when the temple will be rebuilt; not because the people of God deserve it, but because God has promised it.

Its presence will be proof of God’s grace. He will restore the people of Israel – in spite of themselves. And that future reality should have changed their present behavior. And one day God is going complete His work of sanctification in our lives – glorifying us and transforming us into the likeness of His Son – completely and permanently. Awareness of that future grace should shame me when I consider my present behavior. He has done so much for me and has promised to do so much. How can I live in disobedience and sin when God has such an undeserved future reserved for me?

The Most Holy Place

February 7, 2023February 7, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁴⁴On the outside of the inner gateway there were two chambers in the inner court, one at the side of the north gate facing south, the other at the side of the south gate facing north. ⁴⁵And he said to me, “This chamber that faces south is for the priests who have charge of the temple, ⁴⁶and the chamber that faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who alone among the sons of Levi may come near to the Lord to minister to him.” ⁴⁷And he measured the court, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits broad, a square. And the altar was in front of the temple.

⁴⁸Then he brought me to the vestibule of the temple and measured the jambs of the vestibule, five cubits on either side. And the breadth of the gate was fourteen cubits, and the sidewalls of the gate were three cubits on either side. ⁴⁹The length of the vestibule was twenty cubits, and the breadth twelve cubits, and people would go up to it by ten steps. And there were pillars beside the jambs, one on either side.

¹ Then he brought me to the nave and measured the jambs. On each side six cubits was the breadth of the jambs. ²And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits, and the sidewalls of the entrance were five cubits on either side. And he measured the length of the nave, forty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits. ³Then he went into the inner room and measured the jambs of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the sidewalls on either side of the entrance, seven cubits. ⁴And he measured the length of the room, twenty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, across the nave. And he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”– Ezekiel 40:44-41:4 ESV

Ezekiel’s vision of the Millennial Temple included a view of two chambers located just outside the northern and southern inner gates. In Hebrew, these rooms are described as liškâ šîr, which might best be translated as “the chambers of the singing men.”

These would have been members of the tribe of Levi who served as priests in the temple but also functioned as musicians as part of their service to God. The book of 2 Chronicles mentions these men.

And the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and all their sons and brothers—were dressed in fine linen robes and stood at the east side of the altar playing cymbals, lyres, and harps. They were joined by 120 priests who were playing trumpets. The trumpeters and singers performed together in unison to praise and give thanks to the Lord. – 2 Chronicles 5:12-13 NLT

These men were responsible for providing musical praise to God as part of peoples’ worship.

Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they raised their voices and praised the Lord with these words:

“He is good!
His faithful love endures forever!” – 2 Chronicles 5:14 NLT

And the book of 1 Chronicles states that they lived in special rooms dedicated to their use in the temple.

The musicians, all prominent Levites, lived at the Temple. They were exempt from other responsibilities since they were on duty at all hours. All these men lived in Jerusalem. They were the heads of Levite families and were listed as prominent leaders in their genealogical records. – 1 Chronicles 9:33-34 NLT

The Psalms are filled with descriptions of music as a form of worship and singing as a means of praising God for all He has done.

Come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come to him with thanksgiving.
Let us sing psalms of praise to him. – Psalm 95:1-2 NLT

Shout to the Lord, all the earth;
    break out in praise and sing for joy!
Sing your praise to the Lord with the harp,
    with the harp and melodious song,
with trumpets and the sound of the ram’s horn.
    Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King! – Psalm 98:4-6 NLT

And, according to Ezekiel’s vision, this musical expression of praise and glory for God’s goodness and greatness will continue into the Millennial Kingdom.

The praise of God will never cease in the Millennial Kingdom as God’s people express their heartfelt gratitude for all that He has done. And these priests will be accompanied by others who be responsible for maintaining the temple itself as well as all the elements associated with the altar and the sacrificial system. Each priest will perform his duties with joy and gladness so that the temple may function seamlessly and in full compliance with God’s decrees.

And Ezekiel is told that these men will be the descendants of Zadok, who served as a priest during the reigns of David and Solomon. This ensures the prophet that God will miraculously maintain the line of Zadok so that they may serve Him in this future temple.

As the vision unfolds before Ezekiel’s eyes, he is escorted into the actual doorway of the temple itself, through a portico or inner room that opens into the temple proper. As he moves forward into the recesses of the temple, Ezekiel passes through the Holy Place and into the Holy of Holies. With each step, he moves into a progressively smaller space that is meant to focus his attention on the significance of his final destination: The most holy place. This was the innermost room of the temple where God’s presence was said to dwell above the mercy seat. In Solomon’s temple, this room was highly restricted and off-limits to anyone but the high priest, who could only enter one day out of the entire year, on the Day of Atonement. God had told Moses to warn his brother, Aaron, the high priest, not to venture into the Holy of Holies on any other day or he would face certain death.

The Lord said to Moses, “Warn your brother, Aaron, not to enter the Most Holy Place behind the inner curtain whenever he chooses; if he does, he will die. For the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—is there, and I myself am present in the cloud above the atonement cover.” – Leviticus 16:2 NLT

Aaron was given a series of ceremonial tasks to perform so that he might offer a sacrifice on behalf of the people. It all began with his personal purification and included cleansing of the Holy of Holies, the altar, priests, the congregation, and the tabernacle itself. It all concluded with the release of the scapegoat.

“He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness. As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land.” – Leviticus 16:21-22 NLT

What makes this so important is that, in the future Millennial Kingdom, there will be no need for the scapegoat because of Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice. He bore the sins of mankind with His death on the cross and provided a permanent means of forgiveness for all those who place their faith in Him. Yet, God told Moses and the people of Israel that His commands concerning the Day of Atonement would be permanent.

“This is a permanent law for you. In future generations, the purification ceremony will be performed by the priest who has been anointed and ordained to serve as high priest in place of his ancestor Aaron. He will put on the holy linen garments and purify the Most Holy Place, the Tabernacle, the altar, the priests, and the entire congregation. This is a permanent law for you, to purify the people of Israel from their sins, making them right with the Lord once each year.” – Leviticus 16:31-34 NLT

But what makes the future temple so unique is that it will exist as part of the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ, who will reign as King over Jerusalem, the land of Israel, and the rest of the world. Because of His sacrificial death, resurrection, ascension, and ultimate return as the King of kings and Lord of lords, there will be no need for future purification of the temple. The scapegoat will be unnecessary. Cleansing from sin will no longer be needed.

The Most Holy Place will be permanently holy. The people of God will be eternally righteous, cleansed, and forgiven. Because God and His Son will take up permanent residence with His people.

I Will Put My Temple Among Them

February 5, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me to the city. ²In visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south. ³When he brought me there, behold, there was a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand. And he was standing in the gateway. ⁴And the man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”

⁵And behold, there was a wall all around the outside of the temple area, and the length of the measuring reed in the man’s hand was six long cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadth in length. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed. ⁶Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep. ⁷And the side rooms, one reed long and one reed broad; and the space between the side rooms, five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end, one reed. ⁸Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, on the inside, one reed. ⁹Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end. ¹⁰And there were three side rooms on either side of the east gate. The three were of the same size, and the jambs on either side were of the same size. ¹¹Then he measured the width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits; and the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits. ¹²There was a barrier before the side rooms, one cubit on either side. And the side rooms were six cubits on either side. ¹³Then he measured the gate from the ceiling of the one side room to the ceiling of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; the openings faced each other. ¹⁴He measured also the vestibule, sixty cubits. And around the vestibule of the gateway was the court. ¹⁵From the front of the gate at the entrance to the front of the inner vestibule of the gate was fifty cubits. ¹⁶And the gateway had windows all around, narrowing inwards toward the side rooms and toward their jambs, and likewise the vestibule had windows all around inside, and on the jambs were palm trees. – Ezekiel 40:1-16 ESV

Over the next nine chapters, Ezekiel is going to describe a vision given to him by God. The length of this vision rivals the one that the apostle John experienced and recorded in the book of Revelation. Ezekiel’s vision came not long after God’s declaration of His future plans to restore Israel to the land of Canaan and renew His covenant relationship with them. Part of that plan was to rebuild the temple and reintroduce the sacrificial system.

“…I will put my Temple among them forever. I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And when my Temple is among them forever, the nations will know that I am the Lord, who makes Israel holy.”– Ezekiel 37:26-28 NLT

Ezekiel was given a vision of that future temple in all its glory and majesty, and it would be nothing like the temple that the Babylonians had destroyed. According to Ezekiel’s dating, he was given this vision 12 years after having received news of the fall of Jerusalem and the original temple’s destruction.

In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has been struck down.”– Ezekiel 33:21 ESV

Now, more than a decade later, he records, “In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me to the city” (Ezekiel 40:1 ESV).

But rather than finding the temple in a state of disrepair and decay, he sees “a structure like a city to the south” (Ezekiel 40:2 ESV). Before his eyes lay a massive complex of buildings and walls that appears more like a city than a temple. In his vision, Ezekiel receives a guided tour of the temple complex by a divine guide. And this is not the first time Ezekiel has met this individual. Back in chapter 8, he records a previous encounter with what appears to be the same “man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand” (Ezekiel 40:3 ESV).

Then I looked, and behold, a form that had the appearance of a man. Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming metal.He put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court… – Ezekiel 8:2-3 ESV

But in Ezekiel’s prior vision, what he saw taking place in the temple was disturbing and disconcerting.

“Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.” – Ezekiel 8:6 ESV

In that vision, Ezekiel was given a glimpse into the temple in Jerusalem where the priests and leaders of Judah were committing idolatry and apostasy. They had denigrated the name of God by worshiping false gods in the very temple that had been dedicated to Him alone.

But that vision had taken plan two decades earlier and now the temple was a pile of rubble. Nebuchadnezzar’s forces had completely destroyed the once-glorious house built by King Solomon for the glory of God. Yet, God provided Ezekiel with a telescopic view into the distant future so that He could see a rebuilt and more magnificent temple that far exceeded Solomon’s temple in glory and grandeur. And the whole purpose for this second visit to the temple in Jerusalem was so that Ezekiel might tell his fellow exiles what he saw.

“Son of man, watch and listen. Pay close attention to everything I show you. You have been brought here so I can show you many things. Then you will return to the people of Israel and tell them everything you have seen.”– Ezekiel 40:4 NLT

In interpreting the meaning behind this vision, it is important to consider the audience to whom it was given. Ezekiel is specifically told to give this message to “the people of Israel.” Some have concluded that this vision is purely spiritual in nature and is not to be taken literally. They posit that everything Ezekiel saw was predicting the coming of the church after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Therefore, the images are figurative and not literal. But this view does not explain the great details found in the vision regarding the temple’s size and structure. It is impossible to spiritualize all that Ezekiel sees.

Another view is that this vision was fulfilled when the Israelites returned to the promised land under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. But the temple they rebuilt had no resemblance to what is described in Ezekiel’s vision. And the later expansions to the temple under King Herod would still lack any similarities to what Ezekiel saw in his vision.

The most logical explanation is that Ezekiel was given a view of a literal, eschatological temple that will exist during the millennial reign of Christ. God had already promised Ezekiel that the day was coming when He would put His temple among them forever. Therefore, it cannot be a temporary structure built with human hands. It must be of a supernatural design and built to last throughout eternity.

“Why did Ezekiel take so much space to describe the millennial temple? Here are two reasons: (1) The sanctuary was the visible symbol of God’s presence among His people. The prelude to Israel’s judgment began when God’s glory departed from Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem (Ezek. 8-11). The climax to her restoration as a nation will come when God’s glory reenters the new temple in Jerusalem (43:1-5). (2) The new temple will become the visible reminder of Israel’s relationship to God through His New Covenant. Since God gave detailed instructions for building the tabernacle to accompany His inauguration of the Mosaic Covenant (cf. Ez. 25-40), it is not unusual that He would also supply detailed plans for His new center of worship to accompany the implementation of the New Covenant. This temple will be the focal point for the visible manifestation of Israel’s new relationship with her God.” – Charles H. Dyer, Ezekiel

What Ezekiel receives is a literal blueprint for the millennial temple complex. When Noah received God’s blueprint instructions for the ark, God expected him to build it. But that is not the case here. Ezekiel was not expected to use these detailed measurements to construct this future temple. That would be the work of God. But God wanted Ezekiel to be able to describe in minute detail what he saw in the vision. It would have been next to impossible for Ezekiel to put into words what he saw. And it would have been difficult for his audience to grasp the glory of this eschatological temple without the measurements to provide some idea of its scope and size. And God left nothing out.

From the height of the surrounding wall to the threshold of each gate, God provided Ezekiel with precise measurements for each part of the temple complex. Guard rooms, alcoves, courtyards, and gateways were all included in the guided tour. And the amount of emphasis on gates and guard rooms suggests that the future temple will have restricted access. God will prevent anyone who is unclean or unworthy from entering His holy temple. It will once again be a place of righteousness where God’s presence dwells and God’s people can gather to offer their sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving.

A Reversal of Fortunes

January 27, 2023January 28, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹“And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. ²Thus says the Lord God: Because the enemy said of you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient heights have become our possession,’ ³therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: Precisely because they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you became the talk and evil gossip of the people, ⁴therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which have become a prey and derision to the rest of the nations all around, ⁵therefore thus says the Lord God: Surely I have spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey. ⁶Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I have spoken in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered the reproach of the nations. ⁷Therefore thus says the Lord God: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer reproach.

⁸“But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they will soon come home. ⁹For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. ¹⁰And I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt. ¹¹And I will multiply on you man and beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹²I will let people walk on you, even my people Israel. And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer bereave them of children. ¹³Thus says the Lord God: Because they say to you, ‘You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,’ ¹⁴therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord God.¹⁵And I will not let you hear anymore the reproach of the nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord God.” – Ezekiel 36:1-15 ESV

Twenty fine chapters separate this message from the one Ezekiel received back in chapter six, and a quick perusal reveals their similarities and extreme differences. Back in chapter six, God gave His prophet a message to deliver against the mountains of Israel.

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills and to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring war upon you, and I will smash your pagan shrines. All your altars will be demolished, and your places of worship will be destroyed. I will kill your people in front of your idols.” – Ezekiel 6:3-4 NLT

God goes on to warn of further judgments upon the land, describing shocking scenes of devastation and death. His chosen people will die from war, famine, and disease, as He pours out His fury upon them. And the land will suffer greatly because of the “idols and altars on every hill and mountain and under every green tree and every great shade tree—the places where they offered sacrifices to their idols” (Ezekiel 6:13 NLT).

The sins of the nation had defiled the land that God had set apart as their inheritance. Through repeated acts of immorality and their unrelenting practice of idolatry, they had desecrated the very place that was to have been their forever home. At one point, God had described Israel as “a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands” (Exodus 20:15 ESV), but it had been polluted by the very presence of His ungrateful and unfaithful children. So, God warned of His plan to “clean house” and purge the land of its primary problem: The people who lived there. And long before the Israelites had ever entered the land of Canaan, God had warned them about picking up the habits of the nations that lived in the land before them. Because of the wickedness of the Canaanites, God said,“ the entire land has become defiled” and “I am punishing the people who live there. I will cause the land to vomit them out” (Leviticus 18:25 NLT). But He went on to warn the Israelites not to make the same mistake.

“All these detestable activities are practiced by the people of the land where I am taking you, and this is how the land has become defiled. So do not defile the land and give it a reason to vomit you out, as it will vomit out the people who live there now.” – Leviticus 18:27-28 NLT

As Ezekiel received the words recorded in chapter 36, the damage had been done. He was living among a contingent of Israelites who had already been “spewed out” of the land of promise and found themselves living as exiles in Babylon. And because of the recent fall of Jerusalem, they would soon be joined by a new wave of displaced refugees.

But chapter 36 provides a diametrically different message concerning the land of Israel. In what is almost a mirror image of the message contained in chapter six, God communicates His future plans for the land of promise. This time He has good news for Ezekiel to deliver to the “mountains of Israel” (Ezekiel 36:1 ESV).

“See, I care about you, and I will pay attention to you. Your ground will be plowed and your crops planted. I will greatly increase the population of Israel, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people. I will increase not only the people, but also your animals. O mountains of Israel, I will bring people to live on you once again. I will make you even more prosperous than you were before.” – Ezekiel 36:9-11 NLT

The very people whom God had vomited from the land would be restored and the land would be renewed. But before that could happen, God was going to have to clean house again. This time, He would remove all those nations who had taken up residence in Israel’s forced absence. All the squatters and land-grabbers would be evicted to make way for the return of God’s chosen people.

“Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. He speaks to the hills and mountains, ravines and valleys, and to ruined wastes and long-deserted cities that have been destroyed and mocked by the surrounding nations. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My jealous anger burns against these nations, especially Edom, because they have shown utter contempt for me by gleefully taking my land for themselves as plunder.” – Ezekiel 36:4-5 NLT

When the northern kingdom of Israel had fallen to the Assyrians, it didn’t take long for their neighbors to take advantage of their weakened state and enrich themselves by plundering their property and possessions. And the same thing would take place after the fall of the southern kingdom of Judah to the Babylonians. Nearby nations like Edom would use the opportunity to expand their borders at Judah’s expense. Having escaped annihilation at the hands of the Babylonian army, these smaller neighboring states would see Judah’s demise as a windfall and mock its fall.

“Israel is a land that devours its own people and robs them of their children!” – Ezekiel 36:13 NLT

But God promises to turn their words against them. They can laugh and ridicule all they want, but the day is coming when God will turn the tables once again. He provides a stern rebuke to Judah’s arrogant enemies and warns them that their days in the land are numbered.

“…this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I have taken a solemn oath that those nations will soon have their own shame to endure.” – Ezekiel 36:7 NLT

God was going to wipe the smirk off their faces and eliminate their very presence from the land. This time, they would be spewed out and left homeless. Because God had given the land to His people as their inheritance. The land of milk and honey would be restored to its former glory and filled with the sights and sounds of God’s children enjoying the bounty of His blessings.

“I will make you even more prosperous than you were before.” – Ezekiel 36:11 NLT

The hills, mountains, ravines, and valleys throughout Israel will once again be places of joy and celebration. The fields will be plowed and deliver an abundance of crops. The pastures will produce more than enough food to feed the flocks of God’s people. The ruined wastes and long-deserted cities will be rebuilt and repopulated as God orchestrates the return of His children.

The prophet, Zechariah, echoes these words of future hope and divine restoration.

“Once more I will cause the remnant in Judah and Israel to inherit these blessings. Among the other nations, Judah and Israel became symbols of a cursed nation. But no longer! Now I will rescue you and make you both a symbol and a source of blessing. So don’t be afraid.” – Zechariah 8:12-13 NLT

And God provided Zechariah with further insight into that future day when He will restore the fortunes of His people and reestablish them as the inheritors of His land.

“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: People from nations and cities around the world will travel to Jerusalem. The people of one city will say to the people of another, ‘Come with us to Jerusalem to ask the Lord to bless us. Let’s worship the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. I’m determined to go.’ Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord of Heaven’s Armies and to ask for his blessing.” – Zechariah 8:20-22 NLT

Everything will come full circle because God has ordained it. He is faithful to keep His word and determined to finish what He began.

“Then you will know that I am the Lord.” – Ezekiel 36:11 NLT

Do the Right Thing

January 21, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, ³and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, ⁴then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. ⁵He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. ⁶But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.

⁷“So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. ⁸If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. ⁹But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

¹⁰“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’ ¹¹Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

¹²“And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins. ¹³Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. ¹⁴Again, though I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ yet if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, ¹⁵if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ¹⁶None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.

¹⁷“Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just. ¹⁸When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. ¹⁹And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this. ²⁰Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.” – Ezekiel 33:1-20 ESV

In this chapter, Ezekiel records the message he received from God concerning his ministry and mission. It seems to announce a shift in the focus of Ezekiel’s message. The earlier portions of his book contain repeated warnings of God’s pending judgment. They foreshadow the coming destruction of Judah and the fall of Jerusalem. But in chapters 32-33, Ezekiel received and delivered the news that those prophetic events had become reality. The Babylonian siege of Jerusalem had ended and the city had been destroyed.

At this point, it seems that any calls to repentance would be unnecessary. The people of Judah had failed to turn from their sins and return to the Lord, so the judgment of God had come just as He had promised. But this chapter provides the people of Judah with a much-needed reminder that God was not done with them. His judgment, while just and well-deserved, was not the final chapter in His relationship with them.

The chapter opens with a personal message from God to Ezekiel that explains his role as “a watchman for the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 33:7 ESV), and it is not the first time the prophet has heard these words. All the way back in chapter 3, Ezekiel recorded the original commission he received from God.

“Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately.” – Ezekiel 3:17 NLT

It is as if God is recommissioning Ezekiel. With the fall of Jerusalem, it would have been easy for Ezekiel to assume that his work was done. He had warned of Judah’s coming destruction and now it had taken place. Jerusalem had been leveled and its people taken into captivity or scattered to the four winds. There was no longer any incentive left that might provide the people with sufficient motivation to repent. But God was not done and He wanted Ezekiel to know that his mission had not ended with the fall of Jerusalem. There was more to do.

God begins by reminding Ezekiel of the watchman’s role. He describes the scene of a city facing a possible attack from enemy forces sent by His hand. With the threat of divine judgment looming, the citizens of that city would appoint an individual to serve as an early warning system. His job would be to patrol the walls and announce any signs of enemy encroachment.

In ancient days, most of the larger cities were surrounded by massive defensive walls. On those walls were posted sentries or watchmen, whose responsibility it was to watch for potential threats. Day and night, as long as they were on duty, they had to keep an eye out for possible enemy attacks. When they saw trouble on the horizon, they were to sound an alarm to let the people inside the walls know that danger was imminent and that appropriate action was needed. If the watchman did his job and the people failed to listen, he was absolved of any responsibility for their deaths. But if he saw the threat and refused to warn the people, their deaths would be on his head.

Everything in this message is a repeat of the one Ezekiel received in chapter 3. God is reiterating His call for Ezekiel to serve as the watchman for the people of Israel. While he wasn’t standing high on the wall of a city, Ezekiel was prominently placed in the middle of the exiles living in Babylon. He had a unique vantage point that allowed him to see the future and warn the people of God what was going to happen next. As has already been proven true, his warnings were not idle threats, but God-given predictions of coming disaster, and his job came with obvious dangers. The most prominent one was that if he failed to sound the alarm and warn the people, he would be held responsible for the fate of their souls. But God makes it clear that if Ezekiel continues to do his job and the people fail to listen, then he will be absolved of any responsibility. He would have done his job.

But God wants Ezekiel to know that his ministry is far from done. Though the judgment of God had come and the nation of Judah had fallen to the Babylonians, there was more for Ezekiel to do. That is why God recommissions His prophet by stating, “Now, son of man, I am making you a watchman for the people of Israel” (Ezekiel 33:7 NLT).

This time, God gives Ezekiel a message to deliver to the people that is much more personal than corporate. It focuses on the actions of the individual.

“If I announce that some wicked people are sure to die and you fail to tell them to change their ways, then they will die in their sins, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. But if you warn them to repent and they don’t repent, they will die in their sins, but you will have saved yourself.” – Ezekiel 33:8-9 NLT

With the fall of Jerusalem, the Jews living in exile alongside Ezekiel found themselves in a state of depression and despair. They had lost hope of ever returning to their homeland and wondered what was going to happen to them. There was a palpable sense of guilt pervading the exiles as they questioned their own culpability in Judah’s fall. Were they responsible? Was God going to bring judgment on them? They had become conscious of their sins and were fearful of the possible repercussions, and God knew exactly what they were thinking.

“Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: You are saying, ‘Our sins are heavy upon us; we are wasting away! How can we survive?’” – Ezekiel 33:10 NLT

The hope of returning to Judah one day was all that had kept them going. Now that hope was gone. With their homeland in shambles, they were stuck in Babylon and facing an uncertain future. But God wanted them to know that it was not too late, and He gave Ezekiel a new message to deliver to His despondent people.

“As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?” – Ezekiel 33:11 NLT

In the next nine verses, God delivers a simple message of repentance. He calls on His people to do the right thing. Yes, they were guilty of sin and rebellion against Him, but they could reverse that trend. It was not too late.

In this passage, God is not suggesting that behavior can guarantee one’s eternal security. He is not promoting salvation by works. He is simply explaining the natural consequences of human actions. A man who lives a righteous life and yet commits a sin against God, cannot assume that his past acts of righteousness will exempt him from judgment. And an unrighteous man who decides to turn from his wicked ways must not assume that his past deeds will prevent him from enjoying God’s forgiveness.

God knew that the exiles were accusing Him of injustice. They felt as if they had been treated unfairly and that His judgment of them had been too severe. They exclaimed, “The Lord isn’t doing what’s right” (Ezekiel 33:17 NLT). But God turned the tables on them by stating, “it is they who are not doing what’s right” (Ezekiel 33:17 NLT). He was calling them to repentance and they were refusing to obey. God was looking for a change in attitude that showed up in a change of actions. He expected the righteous to continue pursuing righteousness. If they didn’t, they would face the consequences. He expected the wicked to turn back to Him in repentance. If they did, they would receive forgiveness. If they didn’t, they could expect to be judged accordingly.

And through it all, Ezekiel was expected to maintain his role as God’s watchman and messenger. He was to watch and warn. He was to continue encouraging the people to do the right thing by calling them to pursue righteousness rather than wickedness. God makes the message plain and simple.

“…when righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and turn to evil, they will die. But if wicked people turn from their wickedness and do what is just and right, they will live.” – Ezekiel 33:18-19 NLT

And God knew that the people would continue to accuse Him of being unjust and unfair, but He reminded them, “I judge each of you according to your deeds” (Ezekiel 33:20 NLT). They each had a personal responsibility to heed the warnings of the prophet and respond accordingly. God, the just and righteous one, was simply reiterating the call He had given them from the very beginning.

“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” – Leviticus 19:2 ESV

And Justice For All

January 19, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

“You consider yourself a lion of the nations,
    but you are like a dragon in the seas;
you burst forth in your rivers,
    trouble the waters with your feet,
    and foul their rivers.
³Thus says the Lord God:
    I will throw my net over you
    with a host of many peoples,
    and they will haul you up in my dragnet.
⁴And I will cast you on the ground;
    on the open field I will fling you,
and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you,
    and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you.
⁵I will strew your flesh upon the mountains
    and fill the valleys with your carcass.
⁶I will drench the land even to the mountains
    with your flowing blood,
    and the ravines will be full of you.
⁷When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens
    and make their stars dark;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
    and the moon shall not give its light.
⁸All the bright lights of heaven
    will I make dark over you,
    and put darkness on your land,
declares the Lord God.

⁹“I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries that you have not known. ¹⁰I will make many peoples appalled at you, and the hair of their kings shall bristle with horror because of you, when I brandish my sword before them. They shall tremble every moment, every one for his own life, on the day of your downfall.

¹¹“For thus says the Lord God: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you. ¹²I will cause your multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them most ruthless of nations.

“They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt,
    and all its multitude shall perish.
¹³I will destroy all its beasts
    from beside many waters;
and no foot of man shall trouble them anymore,
    nor shall the hoofs of beasts trouble them.
¹⁴Then I will make their waters clear,
    and cause their rivers to run like oil,
declares the Lord God.
¹⁵When I make the land of Egypt desolate,
    and when the land is desolate of all that fills it,
when I strike down all who dwell in it,
    then they will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁶This is a lamentation that shall be chanted; the daughters of the nations shall chant it; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they chant it, declares the Lord God.” – Ezekiel 32:1-16 ESV

A little less than a year later, God gave Ezekiel another round of mournful lyrics to commemorate the “death” of Egypt. They are delivered as a memorial for Pharaoh, but are intended to recount the sad plight of the entire nation. As their regal representative, Pharaoh stood as their official proxy or substitute. He was the face of the nation and was held accountable by God for the sins of his people. God tells Ezekiel to sing this funeral dirge with Pharaoh in mind.

“Son of man, mourn for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and give him this message…” – Ezekiel 32:2 NLT

God accuses Pharaoh of imagining himself as “a strong young lion among the nations” (Ezekiel 32:2 NLT). This imagery of the Egyptian leader as a fierce predator was memorialized in the form of the sphinx, a figure that combined the body of a lion and the head of the Pharaoh. Hophra, who was likely the Pharaoh on Egypt’s throne at this time, had his very own sphinx statue and fancied himself to be the king of the jungle. But God diminishes Hophra’s visions of grandeur by comparing him to a crocodile thrashing about in the muddy waters of the Nile.

“You think of yourself as a strong young lion among the nations,
but you are really just a sea monster,
heaving around in your own rivers,
stirring up mud with your feet.” – Ezekiel 32:2 NLT

Egypt wasn’t the global superpower she envisioned herself to be. She was nothing more than a regional player with global aspirations that were about to come to an abrupt stop. The Babylonians were going to deal Hophra and his troops a decisive blow that would prove to be the nation’s death knell.

God makes it painfully clear that His plans for Egypt involve their complete destruction.

“The sword of the king of Babylon
will come against you.
I will destroy your hordes with the swords of mighty warriors—
the terror of the nations.” – Ezekiel 32:11-12 NLT

When the dust had settled, Hophra, his people, and all the other nations on earth would know that Egypt’s downfall had been the work of Yahweh, the God of Israel. Their unexpected demise was going to come as a shock to all the surrounding nations. No one expected Egypt to suffer such a devastating defeat, even at the hands of the Babylonians. As a nation, they had been around for millennium. They had proven to have staying power and the resources to maintain their status as a perennial force in the region. So, when they fell, the other kings and nations would view their demise as a bad omen.

“I will disturb many hearts when I bring news of your downfall to distant nations you have never seen. Yes, I will shock many lands, and their kings will be terrified at your fate. They will shudder in fear for their lives as I brandish my sword before them on the day of your fall.” – Ezekiel 32:9-10 NLT

These less powerful nations would quickly conclude that they had no hope against the Babylonian juggernaut, and they would be right. If Egypt couldn’t hold its own against Nebuchadnezzar’s forces, no one could.

And what’s interesting to note is that the events foreshadowed these chapters do not always follow a chronological timeline. This chapter opens with the words, “In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month” (Ezekiel 32:1 ESV). But in chapter 33, Ezekiel records another message he received from God two months earlier.

In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has been struck down.” – Ezekiel 33:12 ESV

In other words, by the time Ezekiel received this oracle concerning Egypt’s defeat, the walls of the city of Jerusalem had already fallen and the Babylonians had destroyed the temple. So, as Ezekiel shared the words of this funeral dirge mourning Egypt’s pending demise, his exiled Jewish audience would have already received the devastating news of Jerusalem’s destruction. Word of Egypt’s fate would have functioned as an emotional salve, helping to alleviate some of the pain they felt concerning their city and their friends and family members back in Judah.

And God wanted them to know that the pride-filled Egyptians would not escape His wrath. They too would meet an untimely end at the hands of the Babylonians. There was no guilty party who would escape God’s judgment. Philistines, Ammonites, Moabites, Phoenicians, Assyrians, and Egyptians would all suffer the same fate. And the common denominator would be Nebuchadnezzar.

“The sword of the king of Babylon
will come against you.” – Ezekiel 32:11 NLT

But that sword, while wielded by the Babylon king, would belong to God Almighty. Nebuchadnezzar would be acting on God’s behalf, carrying out His sovereign will and fulfilling His providential plan for the nations.

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Jerusalem