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Pamphlet #8041 Ezekiel chapter 41

The Millennium Temple we are reading about in these last nine chapters of Ezekiel is to "show the way", the plan, to the true Temple, which is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb.

When we last left God's appointed watchman, Ezekiel had just seen the Altar in the midst of the court and was then taken to the Porch in front of the Temple proper where the angel showed him the measurements of this vestibule, which were 20 cubits in length by 11 cubits in width. He also showed him the two pillars by the posts on either side of it.

It should be pointed out that there is much significance to that area between the Porch and the Altar, called the Separate Place, where we noted in chapter 40 is the place where the kenites killed Zacharias (Yah has remembered) son of Barachias (blessing of Yah) recorded in Mat. 23:35. You see, it is between the Porch and the Altar where the ministers of the LORD stand with their backs toward the Altar and face the Shekinah Glory to "weep" for the people.

Joel 2:17
Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
We now continue in this 41st chapter to build a mental picture of the Kingdom of God during the Millennium and learn what God's Plan will be during that time by SEEING the House of God through its dimensions and measurements thereof.

Ezekiel is now taken to the very entrance of the temple itself as the angel brings him closer to the Inner Temple, which is the Holy of Holies, which is where the Glory of the Lord will reside throughout the Millennium and so shall He be with His people forever more.

THE TEMPLE (sometimes translated Palace, from the Hebrew word "Hekal") (vs. 1-11)

Ezekiel 41:1
Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle.

[2] And the breadth of the door was ten cubits; and the sides of the door were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits: and the breadth, twenty cubits.

The angel measured the entrance and the larger portion of the temple (vs. 1-2) known in Hebrew as the "Hekal". He will now measure the entrance and the inner room of the temple (vs. 3-4) known as the "Debir", the Holy of Holies. See diagram above for reference.
[3] Then went he inward, and measured the post of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits.
If you take the time to read the detailed description of the Temple built by Solomon it will serve to enhance the imagery in your mind. 1 Kings chapter 6 describes some of the details of that Inner Temple, such as in 1 Kings 6:31 where we find that "for the entering of the oracle [Holy of Holies] he made doors of olive tree: the lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall." Olive wood was the symbol of Priestly Israel.

Note: If you would like to learn all about King Solomon's Temple and the meaning of its symbols, then contact Artisan Publishers PO Box 1529, 1409 West Shawnee, Muskogee, OK to purchase a copy of the booklet "King Solomon's Temple", by E. Raymond Capt. You'll be glad you did.

Ezekiel 41:4
So he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most holy place.
This "most holy place" is the Holy of Holies, the dwelling place of the Glory of God, Jesus Christ. It is interesting to note that it is the same size in number of cubits (20 x 20) as the Holy of Holies in Solomon's Temple. Of course we know that the cubit used here is a "great" cubit.

It is important to note that in both the Wilderness Tabernacle and Solomon's Temple the Holy of Holies were CUBES. In Rev. 21:16 the New Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven is also described a CUBE. Let's peek into the Fourth Dimension, the Eighth Dispensation, that Third Earth Age which follows the Great White Throne Judgment, and take a look at the New City of Jerusalem.

Rev. 21:16
And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
Twelve in Biblical numerics means "governmental perfection". It is the number of the tribes of Israel and twelve thousand is the number from each of the twelve tribes who were sealed in Rev. 7, i.e. 12,000 x 12 which is 144,000.
[17] And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
Let's see, 144 is 12 x 12. The number 12 is all over this city.
[18] And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

[19] And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.

These precious "stones" are His children of the 12 tribes of Israel. They ARE the first foundation!

Here they are:

[19 ...continued] The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

[20] The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

There will also be twelve gates of the city as noted in Rev. 21:12 "And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:"
[21] And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

[22] And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

NOTICE, there is no Temple therein! There is no altar of burnt offerings, etc., etc. All we SEE is the CUBE, the Holy of Holies, for the "Lord God Almighty and Lamb are the temple of it." Did you know that you can be a part of the foundation of that city?
Rev. 3:12
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Therefore, the Millennium Temple we are reading about in these last nine chapters of Ezekiel is to "show the way", the plan, to the true Temple, which is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb.

THE SIDE CHAMBERS

Ezekiel 41:5
After he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side.

[6] And the side chambers were three, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which was of the house for the side chambers round about, that they might have hold, but they had not hold in the wall of the house.

You can note the ten side chambers on either side of the house in a diagram found in your Companion Bible. Since the picture is drawn from the perspective looking directly down at the temple from above, it does not show that the side chambers are in a terrace, i.e. tiered in three sections making thirty in all. However, if you look closely at the diagram you will notice that the chambers appear to be recessed into the wall, but they are not. These chambers extend to the wall but are not built into the wall. They actually increase in dimension from the lower tier to the upper tier and as they increase so do the rebatements in the wall.
Ezekiel 41:7
And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still upward, and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst.

[8] I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the side chambers were a full reed of six great cubits.

The house also had a "full reed high" raised platform which ran all around the Temple which also formed the foundation of the side chambers. Notice that the full reed is of six "great" cubits, reminding us from chapter one, verse 5, that it is 1/7th larger than a regular cubit of six handbreadths used during the flesh dispensation.
But alas, we peering into the spiritual dispensation here, I can only visualize it as seeing it through a glass darkly, as Paul would say.
Ezekiel 41:9
The thickness of the wall, which was for the side chamber without, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side chambers that were within.

[10] And between the chambers was the wideness of twenty cubits round about the house on every side.

[11] And the doors of the side chambers were toward the place that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left was five cubits round about.

There is one door at the north end and one door at the south end through which one can get from the side cells onto the verandah, that platform that runs around the Temple.

THE BUILDING (that was before the SEPARATE PLACE or THE COURT OF THE HOUSE)

These next few verses have been misinterpreted by some scholars who have erroneously thought there to be a separate building to the west of the temple. However, what is being measured here is the smaller "inner building" of the temple itself, which is "housed" by the 100 cubit square "outer building" as shown in the diagram above. Coming through the east entrance, the inner building is thus west of the Separate Place, which is that entire court area which surrounds the Altar.

Ezekiel 41:12
Now the building that was before the separate place at the end toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick round about, and the length thereof ninety cubits.
Obviously the "building" (vs. 12) is smaller in size than the "house" (vs. 13) which surrounds it.
[13] So he measured the house, an hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, an hundred cubits long;

[14] Also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, an hundred cubits.

LENGTH of the "BUILDING", including the INNER TEMPLE (100 cubits) (vs. 15)
Ezekiel 41:15
And he measured the length of the building over against the separate place which was behind it, and the galleries thereof on the one side and on the other side, an hundred cubits, with the inner temple, and the porches of the court;
THE DOOR (entrance) (vs. 16-21)
Ezekiel 41:16
The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the door, cieled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows were covered;

[17] To that above the door, even unto the inner house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, by measure.

[18] And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces;

Again, this follows closely in design and decoration with the Temple built by Solomon where the Glory of God was present in the Inner House.
1 Kings 6:29
And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.

Ezekiel 41:19
So that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: it was made through all the house round about.

The word for "man" used here is "adam".
[20] From the ground unto above the door were cherubims and palm trees made, and on the wall of the temple.
Try to imagine how glorious and magnificently beautiful this place will be.
[21] The posts of the temple were squared, and the face of the sanctuary; the appearance of the one as the appearance of the other.
THE ALTAR of WOOD within the Sanctuary - "the Table before Yahveh". (vs. 22)
Ezekiel 41:22
The altar of wood was three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before the LORD.
It will be this "the table that is before the LORD" that the Zadok will minister unto Christ as documented in Ezekiel 44:16 "They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge."

THE TWO DOORS (entrances) of the SANCTUARY (vs. 23-26)

Ezekiel 41:23
And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors.
Both the Temple and the Holy of Holies had double doors, each with two swinging leaves.
[24] And the doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves; two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other door.

[25] And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubims and palm trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch without.

"Thick planks" means a "covering" or canopy of "wood". This was at the entrance in front of the porch.
[26] And there were narrow windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and upon the side chambers of the house, and thick planks.
There were Palm Tree decorations everywhere. Kind of reminds one of a picture of Paradise, doesn't it?

That's because it is!


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