Dialoge Between Two Brothers; Meditations from Ezekiel's Temple

Hey man,

Any idea why in Ezekiel 43:10 God tells Ezekiel to describe the temple to the people, that they may be ashamed of their sins? What is it about the temple that would shame them?

Josh

Maybe this doesn't answer the question, but check out this parallel from Ez 32

27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. 30 I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

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matthew

That's true--I did notice the realization of shame before. I just couldn't
place why the description of the temple would bring them to that point, as in
the following dialogue:

"Wait, how many cubits are the doorjambs
and thresholds?" [sound of kneeling]

Interesting...

josh

And what's up with the fact that Ezekiel's vision of the temple never get built? I think I get some of the symbolism: thickness of walls are to seperate the holy from the common (43:20) and I'm assuming a similar thing for the distances between all the different places. Also, the steps are a form of seperation (first 7, then 8, then 10). Then there's the increasingly smaller doors...

Did you notice that Ezekiel doesn't go into the Most Holy Place? (41:3)

Weird. Is this the plan for the way that the temple should be built, maybe what Hebrews 9:11 is talking about (But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) ? or is it a visual lesson for God's dealing with man? whoa...

good discussion.

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That is interesting. Ezekiel's version wasn't the one put together by the returning exiles? I do find it interesting that it is so detailed, particularly since Christ is now the sacrifice and it went into great lengths to describe multiple sacrifice tables, altars, etc.

I wasn't sure what to make of Ezekiel 41:3. Saying "he went in to measure"--I couldn't tell if Ezekiel followed him or not, since I've been assuming Ezekiel followed him everywhere else he measured (even into the deep part of the river, a few chapters later). Either way, the fact that he saw the curtainless Most Holy Place must have been incredibly fulfilling for someone who would have gotten to be a priest but for the exile.

josh