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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of
the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of
the city—on that very day the hand of the Lord was on me and He took me there. In
visions of God, He took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high
mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. He
took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was
standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. The
man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay
attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been
brought here. Tell the people of Israel everything you see.”
The East Gate to the Outer Court
I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The
length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits, each of
which was a cubit and a handbreadth. He measured the wall; it was one measuring
rod thick and one rod high.
Then he went to the east gate. He climbed its steps and
measured the threshold of the gate; it was one rod deep. The alcoves for the
guards were one rod long and one rod wide, and the projecting walls between the
alcoves were five cubits thick. And the threshold of the gate next to the
portico facing the temple was one rod deep.
Then he measured the portico of the gateway; it was eight
cubits deep and its jambs were two cubits thick. The portico of the gateway
faced the temple.
Inside the east gate were three alcoves on each side; the
three had the same measurements, and the faces of the projecting walls on each
side had the same measurements. Then he measured the width of the entrance of
the gateway; it was ten cubits and its length was thirteen cubits. In front of
each alcove was a wall one cubit high, and the alcoves were six cubits square. Then
he measured the gateway from the top of the rear wall of one alcove to the top
of the opposite one; the distance was twenty-five cubits from one parapet
opening to the opposite one. He measured along the faces of the projecting
walls all around the inside of the gateway—sixty cubits. The measurement was up
to the portico facing the courtyard. The distance from the entrance of the
gateway to the far end of its portico was fifty cubits. The alcoves and the
projecting walls inside the gateway were surmounted by narrow parapet openings
all around, as was the portico; the openings all around faced inward. The faces
of the projecting walls were decorated with palm trees.
The Outer Court
Then he brought me into the outer court. There I saw some
rooms and a pavement that had been constructed all around the court; there were
thirty rooms along the pavement. It abutted the sides of the gateways and was
as wide as they were long; this was the lower pavement. Then he measured the
distance from the inside of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner
court; it was a hundred cubits on the east side as well as on the north.
The North Gate
Then he measured the length and width of the north gate,
leading into the outer court. Its alcoves—three on each side—its projecting
walls and its portico had the same measurements as those of the first gateway.
It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. Its openings, its portico
and its palm tree decorations had the same measurements as those of the gate
facing east. Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them. There
was a gate to the inner court facing the north gate, just as there was on the
east. He measured from one gate to the opposite one; it was a hundred cubits.
The South Gate
Then he led me to the south side and I saw the south gate.
He measured its jambs and its portico, and they had the same measurements as
the others. The gateway and its portico had narrow openings all around, like
the openings of the others. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits
wide. Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them; it had palm
tree decorations on the faces of the projecting walls on each side. The inner
court also had a gate facing south, and he measured from this gate to the outer
gate on the south side; it was a hundred cubits.
The Gates to the Inner Court
Then he brought me into the inner court through the south
gate, and he measured the south gate; it had the same measurements as the
others. Its alcoves, its projecting walls and its portico had the same
measurements as the others. The gateway and its portico had openings all
around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. (The porticoes of
the gateways around the inner court were twenty-five cubits wide and five
cubits deep.) Its portico faced the outer court; palm trees decorated its
jambs, and eight steps led up to it.
Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and
he measured the gateway; it had the same measurements as the others. Its
alcoves, its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as the
others. The gateway and its portico had openings all around. It was fifty
cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. Its portico faced the outer court;
palm trees decorated the jambs on either side, and eight steps led up to it.
Then he brought me to the north gate and measured it. It had
the same measurements as the others, as did its alcoves, its projecting walls
and its portico, and it had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and
twenty-five cubits wide. Its portico faced the outer court; palm trees
decorated the jambs on either side, and eight steps led up to it.
The Rooms for Preparing Sacrifices
A room with a doorway was by the portico in each of the
inner gateways, where the burnt offerings were washed. In the portico of the
gateway were two tables on each side, on which the burnt offerings, sin
offerings and guilt offerings were slaughtered. By the outside wall of the
portico of the gateway, near the steps at the entrance of the north gateway
were two tables, and on the other side of the steps were two tables. So there
were four tables on one side of the gateway and four on the other—eight tables
in all—on which the sacrifices were slaughtered. There were also four tables of
dressed stone for the burnt offerings, each a cubit and a half long, a cubit
and a half wide and a cubit high. On them were placed the utensils for
slaughtering the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices. And double-pronged
hooks, each a handbreadth long, were attached to the wall all
around. The tables were for the flesh of the offerings.
The Rooms for the Priests
Outside the inner gate, within the inner court, were two
rooms, one at the side of the north gate and facing south, and another at the
side of the south gate and facing north. He said to me, “The room facing south
is for the priests who guard the temple, and the room facing north is for the
priests who guard the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who are the only
Levites who may draw near to the Lord to minister before him.”
Then he measured the court: It was square—a hundred cubits
long and a hundred cubits wide. And the altar was in front of the temple.
The New Temple
He brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the
jambs of the portico; they were five cubits wide on either side. The width of
the entrance was fourteen cubits and its projecting walls were three cubits
wide on either side. The portico was twenty cubits wide, and twelve cubits from
front to back. It was reached by a flight of stairs, and there were pillars on
each side of the jambs.
Then the man brought me to the main hall and measured the
jambs; the width of the jambs was six cubits on each side. The entrance was ten
cubits wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were five cubits wide.
He also measured the main hall; it was forty cubits long and twenty cubits
wide.
Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs
of the entrance; each was two cubits wide. The entrance was six cubits wide,
and the projecting walls on each side of it were seven cubits wide. And he
measured the length of the inner sanctuary; it was twenty cubits, and its width
was twenty cubits across the end of the main hall. He said to me, “This is the
Most Holy Place.”
Then he measured the wall of the temple; it was six cubits
thick, and each side room around the temple was four cubit wide. The side rooms
were on three levels, one above another, thirty on each level. There were
ledges all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side
rooms, so that the supports were not inserted into the wall of the temple. The
side rooms all around the temple were wider at each successive level. The
structure surrounding the temple was built in ascending stages, so that the
rooms widened as one went upward. A stairway went up from the lowest floor to
the top floor through the middle floor.
I saw that the temple had a raised base all around it,
forming the foundation of the side rooms. It was the length of the rod, six
long cubits. The outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits thick. The open
area between the side rooms of the temple and the priests’ rooms was twenty
cubits wide all around the temple. There were entrances to the side rooms from
the open area, one on the north and another on the south; and the base
adjoining the open area was five cubits wide all around.
The building facing the temple courtyard on the west side
was seventy cubits wide. The wall of the building was five cubits thick all
around, and its length was ninety cubits.
Then he measured the temple; it was a hundred cubits long,
and the temple courtyard and the building with its walls were also a hundred
cubits long. The width of the temple courtyard on the east, including the front
of the temple, was a hundred cubits.
Then he measured the length of the building facing the
courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries on each side; it
was a hundred cubits.
The main hall, the inner sanctuary and the portico facing
the court, as well as the thresholds and the narrow windows and galleries
around the three of them—everything beyond and including the threshold was
covered with wood. The floor, the wall up to the windows, and the windows were
covered. In the space above the outside of the entrance to the inner sanctuary
and on the walls at regular intervals all around the inner and outer sanctuary were
carved cherubim and palm trees. Palm trees alternated with cherubim. Each
cherub had two faces: the face of a human being toward the palm tree on one
side and the face of a lion toward the palm tree on the other. They were carved
all around the whole temple. From the floor to the area above the entrance,
cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the main hall.
The main hall had a rectangular doorframe, and the one at
the front of the Most Holy Place was similar. There was a wooden altar three
cubits high and two cubits square; its corners, its base and its sides were of
wood. The man said to me, “This is the table that is before the Lord.” Both the
main hall and the Most Holy Place had double doors. Each door had two
leaves—two hinged leaves for each door. And on the doors of the main hall were
carved cherubim and palm trees like those carved on the walls, and there was a
wooden overhang on the front of the portico. On the sidewalls of the portico
were narrow windows with palm trees carved on each side. The side rooms of the
temple also had overhangs.
Ezekiel 40 and 41
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The Israelites had fallen into a steady lifestyle of sin
while abiding in the holy land God had given them through their ancestors.
There was a laundry list of transgressions committed, the worst of which was
disrespecting and dishonoring God by worshiping false gods and idols, and so
God took action against His people who refused to heed His warnings sent
through His prophets.
That action came in the form of major attacks by the
Assyrians and the Babylonians on the northern and southern kingdoms (Israel and
Judah) respectively, attacks that left the once revered and sacred land plundered,
destroyed, and desolate as the Israelites were taken away into captivity in
lands outside their own. The punishment of exile would last a full seventy
years and Canaan would sit in ruins to include the divine city of Jerusalem
where even God’s temple was leveled.
What happened after God’s imposed penalty was served?
The answer comes down to one simple word: restoration.
That’s the message that we find as we come down the
homestretch in the Book of Ezekiel and so today will be the first in a
devotional series on how God would restore His people once their captivity was
over. Of interest, note that He starts by setting down a plan for His holy
temple to be reconstructed, a plan that Ezekiel was tasked with giving to the
Israelites who were to carry out the construction just as God instructed.
Within the vision Ezekiel receives, he encounters a divine
being who holds a measuring rod in his hand and measures off the exact dimensions
of each part of the temple, passing those measurements off to Ezekiel and there
are a lot of them. I find myself amazed that Ezekiel could ever remember all
the information being passed to him so either he was writing the data down or
God was supernaturally enhancing His prophet’s memory to be able to recall
exactly what he was being told.
I do want to discuss briefly the measuring units this
scripture passage (and other passages in the Bible) talk about. You may find it
as interesting as I do.
First, there is the matter of the cubit. Back in Old
Testament days, there weren’t rulers, yardsticks, or tape measures like we’re
familiar with today. People would use parts of their body to measure distances,
particularly when it came to construction. A cubit would be the distance from
one’s elbow to the end of that person’s fingertips, a distance typically around
18 inches but you could see where it may be shorter or longer based on the
person’s size.
Once we know about a cubit, we can attack the other two
measurements cited in our scripture passage: the long cubit and the measuring
rod held by the divine being.
The long cubit was a standard cubit plus one handbreadth, a
measurement of the hand across the width of the palm (typically a value of 2.5
to 4 inches). Add the distance of the cubit and the handbreadth together and
you had the value for the long cubit (usually between 20 and 21 inches).
Finally, once you know the distance of a long cubit, you
only need to multiply it by six and you would have the length of the measuring
rod.
Armed with all these figures, one can start to sketch out
the dimensions of the temple as God wanted it restored and indeed, the
Israelites would do just what God commanded upon returning to their homeland
after the exile.
What can we take away from this two chapter blueprint for
rebuilding the temple of the Lord?
First, I think it reminds us that God gives full and clear
direction as to what He wants done.
He didn’t just let the matter of rebuilding His temple up to
the Israelites and their ideas as to how it should be constructed. Rather, He
told them exactly what He wanted so that all they needed to do was carry out
the plan as He had laid it out. Nothing was left for debate or question. All
dimensions (length, width, height, and depth) were given.
As we consider the word of God and how it applies to our
lives, we find the Lord always making it clear as to what He wants us to do and
how He wants it done. In Him, we always find clear direction; there is no
guesswork involved, only a requirement and obligation for us to exercise
complete obedience in carrying out what God desires.
This principle applies whether we are rebuilding a temple or
constructing our lives under the Lord’s watchful eye.
The other main takeaway is that the Lord places a premium on
worship.
There was plenty of rebuilding to do in Israel but the Lord
centers the first focused restoration project on His temple. Just ask
yourselves this for one second:
Why was that?
It’s because the people needed to get their spiritual house
in order immediately, They had lived apart from God for seventy years and the
first priority as they returned was to get back into the temple and worship Him
and Him alone. The false gods and idols were to be left buried in the lands
where they were exiled to and the people were to come home ready to show God
they had learned from their past sinfulness, that they were ready to recommit
their hearts, minds, and souls to Him.
And as we read about the Israelite return from captivity in
the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, we find God’s people doing just that, renewing
their commitment to following God in obedience and complying with His will,
word, and way.
As we focus on our own personal spiritual restoration
projects today, perhaps we should keep the key points of this devotion at the
center, allowing God’s clear direction to guide us to the righteousness He
favors and the compliant relationship He expects while ensuring we worship Him
with every fiber of our being, ever giving Him all the honor, glory, and praise
we can muster.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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