Vision of the New Temple

 

 

Ezekiel 40:1-16

 

November 20, 2024

 

Vision of the New Temple

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.  In 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.  When 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.  And 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 so that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”

Ezekiel was born into the priestly line (Ezekiel 1:3), but he served God as a prophet. The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there. (Taken from Got Question)

The East Gate to the Outer Court

And 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.  Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep.  And 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.  Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, on the inside, one reed.  Then 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.  And 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.  Then he measured the width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits; and the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits.  There was a barrier before the side rooms, one cubit on either side. And the side rooms were six cubits on either side.  Then 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.  He also measured the vestibule, sixty cubits. And around the vestibule of the gateway was the court.  From the front of the gate at the entrance to the front of the inner vestibule of the gate was fifty cubits.  And 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.

I believe it is helpful to understand that a reed was used in measuring in feet, about 10 feet.  A Cubit was about 1.5 feet, so you do the math, it you want to find the answer to how big this new Temple was going to be.

 

But the real question is, has this Temple already happened, and I would agree with the majority that it is still in the future.  So once again, I looked at Got Question to see how they handle the subject.

 

Most who expect a literal fulfillment of Ezekiel’s temple expect it to be erected in the millennial kingdom, a 1,000-year reign of Christ upon the earth. During the millennium, glorified saints from the present age will live in contact with natural human beings who will still need to make a decision for Christ in order to be saved, and many will choose not to trust Him. The sacrificial system described in Ezekiel cannot be for the forgiveness of sins, for Christ has accomplished that once and for all (Hebrews 10:1–4, 11–14). In this interpretive approach, the sacrifices are seen as memorials of Christ’s death or as rites for the ceremonial cleansing of the temple, but not as a means to forgive sins.

In the figurative view of Ezekiel’s temple, the prophet’s vision simply reiterates that God will once again dwell with His people in a perfect relationship. This relationship is described in the language that the people of the day (and especially for Ezekiel as a priest) would have understood—a Jewish temple of magnificent proportions, with regular, perfect sacrifices, with the Messiah presiding, and with the glory of God visibly evident. In later visions to other prophets, God revealed more about how He would accomplish this with the Messiah Himself replacing the temple, the sacrifices, and the land. The presence of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit would be more immediately evident than ever before. The fulfillment of Ezekiel’s temple could thus be realized in the church age to some degree and, in the age to come, to perfection.

Regardless of which approach is taken, the vision of Ezekiel’s temple says that God has not forsaken His people and that His relationship with them will be restored and elevated to a new, never-before-conceived glory and intimacy. Present circumstances should never cause one to doubt the promises of God.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

A sacrificial feast for the birds and beasts

 

 

Ezekiel 39:17-24

 

February 5, 2024

 

A sacrificial feast for the birds and beasts

 

“As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God: Speak to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field: ‘Assemble and come, gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood. You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats, of bulls, all of them fat beasts of Bashan.  And you shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you.  And you shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all kinds of warriors,’ declares the Lord God.

“And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them.  The house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God, from that day forward.  And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with me that I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword.  I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions and hid my face from them.

 

God is telling Ezekiel to call the birds and beasts of the fields to come and have a feast.  When the nations come against Israel, God will send Michael the Archangel, and the prince of Israel to fight and kill the nations that come against Israel.

 

What is going to require us as a people to believe what is written and act on it?  We have seen the report of the six-day war, where many nations thought they would destroy Israel, and it was clear that God fought for Israel, and once more He is going to do so.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Gog will fall on the mountains od Israel

 

Ezekiel 39:1-13

 

February 4, 2024

 

“And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus, says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.  And I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel.  Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand.  You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.  You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

“And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.  Behold, it is coming, and it will be brought about, declares the Lord God. That is the day of which I have spoken.

“Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers, bow and arrows, clubs, and spears; and they will make fires of them for seven years so that they will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any out of the forests, for they will make their fires of the weapons. They will seize the spoil of those who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord God.

“On that day, I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea. It will block the travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-Gog.  For seven months, the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land.  All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day that I show my glory, declares the Lord God.  They will set apart men to travel through the land regularly and bury those travelers remaining on the face of the land, so as to cleanse it. At the end of seven months, they will make their search.  And when these travel through the land, and anyone sees a human bone, then he shall set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. (Hamonah is also the name of the city.) Thus, shall they cleanse the land?

 

A day is coming when God is going to get the nations from the north to attack Israel, and it will be God who fights for Israel, and this mass army will be killed by God.  When Jesus comes, we know that the old serpent will be bound for a thousand years, and then we will have the final battle, and Jesus and His bride will rule, and there will be no more evil, for the source of evil will be cast into hell.

We do not know who Gog is, but it is believed that it is a person.  It looks as if Russia or that area will be the one to gather the other nations to attack Israel.  It's not going to go well for them.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Prophecy Against Gog

 

 

Ezekiel 38: 1-23

 

February 3, 2024

 

The word of the Lord came to me:  “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.  And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords.  Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-Togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes—many peoples are with you.

“Be ready and keep ready, you and all your hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them.  After many days, you will be mustered. In the latter years, you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and now dwell securely, all of them.  You will advance, coming on like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.

“Thus says the Lord God: On that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme and say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,’ to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth.  Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its leaders will say to you, ‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?’

“Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to Gog, Thus, says the Lord God: On that day when my people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not know it?  You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army.  You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days, I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

“Thus says the Lord God: Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for years that I would bring you against them?  But on that day, the day that Gog shall come against the land of Israel, declares the Lord God, my wrath will be roused in my anger.  For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.  The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground.  I will summon a sword against Gog^] on all my mountains, declares the Lord God. Every man's sword will be against his brother.  With pestilence and bloodshed, I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire, and sulfur.  So, I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

 

As I stated earlier, the book of Ezekiel is about two areas of prophecy that will happen in the days of Ezekiel, and those that are in the future, chapters 38-39, are yet to happen.  So, I went to a reliable source to see their thoughts on these two chapters.  The following is from (Got Questions).

 

“Gog and Magog appear in Ezekiel 38-39 and in Revelation 20:7-8. While these two passages use the same names, a close study of Scripture clearly demonstrates they do not refer to the same people and events. The events are separated by at least 1,000 years. In Ezekiel’s prophecy, Gog will be the leader of a great army that attacks the land of Israel, which is “peaceful and unsuspecting” at the time (Ezekiel 38:11). Gog is described as “of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal” (Ezekiel 38:2–3). When will Ezekiel’s battle of Gog and Magog occur? 

 

Gog is a person. Whoever Gog is, he is from the land of Magog and is the leader of Tubal and Meshek (some translations add “Rosh” to the list) and a confederacy of other nations: Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer, and Beth Togarmah (Ezekiel 38:5–6). And, whoever he is, he will have plans to “attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people,” viz., Israel (verses 11, 14, and 18). But, regardless of Gog’s plans, the Lord God is against him and will defeat him soundly (Ezekiel 38:4, 19–23; 39:3–5).

Magog is a land “in the far north,” from Israel’s point of view (Ezekiel 38:15; 39:2). Most Bible commentators interpret “Magog” as Russia, and, indeed, Russia is straight north of Israel, all the way up to the Arctic Circle. According to this view, “Rosh” is a reference to Russia, “Meshek” is either Moscow or the people north of the Black Sea (the area of southern Russia and Ukraine), and “Tubal,” which is always listed with Meshek in Scripture, is identified as a city in Siberia or an area in central Turkey.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

The Path to the Father

 

 

 

 

The Path to the Father
 
 
Wendell, to restore the heart of a man, if I were giving the introduction, this is how I would begin.  If your dad was flawed or the best of dads, he was not God, your creator, who longs to have an intimate relationship with you. He longs for you to know Him as your Father.  Two quotes come to mind; one by a man who lived in the sixteenth century, whose name was Blaise Pascal
"All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone."
 
The other is very much like it, and I do not doubt that Blaise took his thoughts from Psalm 46:10
 
“Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”

Update: I am writing on the book of Lamentations, Chapter 3, beginning at verse 25-28a, “The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.   It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.   It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.  Let him sit alone in silence,”  
 
Your identity has everything to do with your search for a relationship with the Father.  If your identity is in anything but Jesus, you will not find His Father.  Being a Baptist is of little worth; having wealth is not the answer, or being a leader in your career, or in your Church, will not help you find the joy of knowing the Father; it begins with a first step, knowing that Jesus Christ is living in you.  The next step is spending time in a quiet room, getting to know God, and I’m excited about your journey.

 

I am only on page 61, but it has some good help, and the key is the heart of the man.  His desires and priorities are not something you can teach, and they pass; it will have to be what they long for.

 
Love the guys and pray that they awake, to desire to have a Father.
 
Ken Shuman sent this quote: It is great; I'm convinced that anger is the fruit, but fear is the root. To produce better fruit in our lives, we need to tend to the roots. Next time you get angry, stop and ask yourself what you are being threatened by."

More updates from today's sermon, in Matthew 20, a mother's request, and more than likely, her sons put her up to it.  They want to be the top dogs; many a man wants that in all areas of life.  But a man seeking a path to the Father wants what our Lord tells him in verses 25-28a, Jesus said You want to be a leader, become a servant.

Some great points Rusty Rice made: “Becoming a servant that a leader, not the guy that believes he should be first. “ He went on to say, “If you make yourself the center of your  world, it is going  to be a small world.”  And my last recall was this: “In God’s kingdom, the man who knows the Father is not at the top of the pyramid; he is at the bottom holding up the others, so that many have a relationship with the Father.”  It's great when a Rice can know such truth.

Your brother in Christ,

Bob

I Will Be Their God; They Shall Be My People

 

Ezekiel 37:15-28

 

February 2, 2024

 

I Will Be Their God; They Shall Be My People

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’  And join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.  And when your people say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’  say to them, Thus, says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah^, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand.  When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, then say to them, Thus, says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land.  And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms.  They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

“My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes.  They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever.  I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.  My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”

 

It might be helpful to begin with a reminder, it found in John’s gospel chapter 1:1-3,” In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”

 

With that established, why did God use Ezekiel, and not just put a big screen in the heavens so that all could see His plan for Israel and Judah?  The answer might be found in Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”  

 

God often used word pictures, such as the two sticks joined together, to tell His people about His plan. We find word pictures all through the Bible, Psalms, Isaiah, and John, all of which Jesus used in His sermon on the Mount.  Some that were used to depict God, Jehovah is depicted as a King, a Lawmaker, a Judge, and a Warrior​—someone you should respect. He is also portrayed as a Shepherd, a Counselor, a Teacher, a Father, a Healer, and a Savior​—someone you can love. (Taken from the internet).

 

When the why, did He do that comes into my very small mind, these verses come to mind: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

The Valley of Dry Bones

 

 

Ezekiel 37:1-14

 

February 1, 2024

 

The Valley of Dry Bones

 

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.  And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.  And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live? ” And I answered, 'O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.  And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

So, I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.  And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.  Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus, says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”  So, I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’  Therefore, prophesy, and say to them, Thus, says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel.  And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

 

A valley of dry bones, turned into a mighty army by God. Question: Do you know of a dictator who can do that?  We, the Church, are a mighty army, a chosen people, a holy nation. Our Lord can take dry bones and make a mighty army, and we fear China and Russia; what is wrong with us?

 

It may be hard for you and me to grasp that taking a valley of dry bones scattered all over a valley and God telling Ezekiel to prophesy over them, and yet that is what happens when one obeys God.  Unlike you and me, Ezekiel learned to obey and do as God directed him. What if we, the Church, learned to do so? 

 

What if the Church followed orders? What if we loved others as ourselves, not choosing the ones we would love and the ones we chose not to love?  What if, as we go, we share our hope in Christ Jesus and how He has changed our lives?  What if you honor God above all others, and study the Scriptures looking for directions on living life on planet earth?

 

What if you and I obey God the first time we hear the Spirit speak to us, for anything less than that is not obedience?

 

Then, and only then, would the Church be that mighty army marching to war, living in the power of a God who can make an Army out of dry bones.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

​

Note: As a member of the Body of Christ, His Church, I had to ask myself these painful questions.  How did you do?

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice