Ezekiel 33–48

Richard Belcher offers an overview of chapters 33–48 of Ezekiel. He focuses on themes such as repentance, renewal, and the hope for restoration. Belcher highlights God’s promise of restoration for His people and the coming of a new covenant, emphasizing the importance of obedience and faithfulness.

The following unedited transcript is provided by Beluga AI.

---

This audio lecture is brought to you by RTS on iTunesu at the virtual campus of Reformed Theological Seminary. To listen to other lectures and to access additional resources, please visit us at itunes rts.edu. For additional information on how to take distance education courses for credit towards a fully accredited Master of Arts in Religion degree, please visit our website at virtual rts.edu. Now we turn the corner, if you will, not only for Ezekiel, but really for the rest of this class. We turn the corner, not that there will not be any more judgment oracles.

There will be. But with Ezekiel 33, we really turn the corner toward restoration. We are looking now beyond the fall of Jerusalem, and we are looking for restoration. We will see that in Daniel as well. The prophecies in Daniel deal a lot with restoration. Then after Daniel, I think we have three prophets left: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Haggai and Zechariah will occur in the context of the rebuilding of the temple, and then Malachi is much later. So that’s really beyond the restoration.

And there’s other issues going on in Malachi, but we’re sort of turning a corner here. We’ve had a lot of oracles of judgment in Jeremiah, in Ezekiel, a lot of oracles of judgment. But there’s a greater emphasis in Ezekiel on restoration, and that starts in Ezekiel 33. So we are turning the corner. What Ezekiel was told to expect in Ezekiel 24 now becomes a reality. In Ezekiel 33, a survivor arrives to bring news of Jerusalem’s demise. That’s Ezekiel 33:22. And what happens when Ezekiel hears about the fall of Jerusalem?

God takes away his partial muteness, and now he is able to speak more regularly. Ezekiel 33:22.

²² Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning, so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute. (Ezekiel 33:22, ESV)

So my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute. Why? Why the change? Why, on the day that he hears about Jerusalem’s fall, is his partial muteness taken away? It relates to the change of message.

Up to this point, the message was judgment, and there was a restraint on Ezekiel because he was limited in proclaiming that message of judgment. Now that Jerusalem has fallen, there is a wider message. There is still going to be some judgment. There is still going to be some warnings for the exiles, but now a message of restoration. And so he is freer now in the sense of it’s not only judgment, but restoration is a part, the major part of his message.

As we get into chapters 33 and beyond among the exiles, Egypt, Ezekiel has become an item of popularity. Ezekiel 33:30-33,

³¹ 0 “As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’ ³¹ And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. ³² And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it. ³³ When this comes—and come it will!—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.” (Ezekiel 33:31-33, ESV)

Has things really changed among God’s people in exile? Some things need to take place among the good figs. Some things need to happen in order for restoration to take place. And that’s basically what we have laid out for us in these chapters of Ezekiel, things that need to happen, things that need to take place for restoration to come about. A lot of these things.

God himself is the one who’s going to do it. But these are things that Ezekiel lays out, things that are necessary for restoration to take place. And you see that they are necessary because of what is said in Ezekiel 33:31. They hear what you say, Ezekiel. They love your word. you’re an item of popularity. Let’s go hear Ezekiel. But will they do what you want them to do? Where is their heart? As verse 31 says, is it set on gain?

And so the necessity for these things that are laid out in chapters 34 to 48, for these things to happen, for God to bring these things about, for restoration to take place. So what is needed? We’ll just go through some things that Ezekiel talks about here. Things needed for restoration. The first thing that comes to the fore, a very powerful passage in chapter 34 on the shepherds: powerful condemnation of the false shepherds, showing the need for God to raise up true shepherds. For restoration to take place, there must be true shepherds.

The condemnation of the false shepherds talks about what the false shepherds have done. They’ve exploited the flock. Verses two and three. They fattened themselves at the expense of the sheep. Shepherds that don’t care about the sheep, shepherds that only care about what they can get from being a shepherd, caring about themselves, not caring about the condition of the flock, a lack of compassion. Verse four.

⁴ The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. (Ezekiel 34:4, ESV)

They’ve not been concerned about the weak, the sick, or the lost. They’ve not brought back the lost. They’ve not sought after those who have strayed. That’s what these false shepherds have not done. And the results in verses five and six are that the sheep are scattered. God holds these false shepherds responsible for the condition of the flock and the scattering of the flock. Verses nine and ten, this comes out especially: I’m against the shepherds. I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep.

Now, in the context of the ancient Near East, kings were considered to be shepherds, and this certainly includes an indictment against the kings of Judah in the closing days and even before, but in the closing days of the southern kingdom. And so, God is going to rectify this situation by becoming their shepherd. It’s very clear here. God himself says, I will shepherd my flock. And it goes through and lists, beginning in verse twelve, all the things that God is going to do.

The shepherd, the flock, he’ll seek the scattered sheep, he’ll seek them out, he’ll bring them back to their land, no doubt referring to the sheep that are scattered all throughout exile. He’ll provide them with food and shelter. Verse 14, he’ll seek the weak and the lost. Verse 16, he will separate the sheep. Perhaps an implication there, separating them from others. Well, it says in verse 17,

¹⁷ “As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God : Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. (Ezekiel 34:17, ESV)

And Jesus says, separating the sheep from the goats, same kind of idea. And then a very important passage, verses 23 and 24.

²³ And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And I, the Lord , will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord ; I have spoken. (Ezekiel 34:23-24, ESV)

This is an important passage. God says, I will shepherd the people. I will bring them back to the land. I will gather those who are scattered. I will shepherd them, and I will set over them my servant David as prince. We’ll talk about the meaning of the word prince when we get over to chapters 40 through 48. But David, my servant David, he will be their shepherd. And the servant concept here stresses David’s close relationship with God. He will be the one to lead them. So God has to step in as shepherd because the false shepherds have not shepherded God’s people. And then God will establish the situation where he will then set up a shepherd.

Of course, it’s very easy to make connections here to Christ, is it not? Because you don’t have a shepherd that arises in the post-exilic community? He has Zerubbabel. We’ll talk about Zerubbabel in the book of Haggai. He is governor. He is of the line of David, but he disappears from history. And it’s very clear in terms of what the New Testament says about Jesus. He’s the shepherd. He is the one who seeks the lost. Luke 15, he provides for the sheep. John 10, he’s the shepherd of the sheep.

He fulfills that role of the line of David, my servant David. And so there are important connections made to the work of Christ. And of course, you can take another step. The word pastor in the New Testament comes from the shepherd word. It is the shepherd word, really. The word pastor is the word for shepherd. And so pastors, elders have that shepherding function among God’s flock. 1 Peter 5:1 would be a passage that talks about that; 1 Peter 5:3.

¹ So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: ² shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; ³ not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. (1 Peter 5:1-3, ESV)

There are other passages in Acts 20 that mention the shepherding function of the elders. So, those would be important passages where you have Christ as the servant of David, the one who is there as a shepherd. But then, now you have among God’s people, under shepherds, if you will, who have certain responsibility toward the flock. So all these, Chapter 34 is foundational for these connections. Restoration includes the right kind of shepherds, the right leadership, beginning with the one, beginning with God, gathering his people and then establishing that one as the shepherd.

So that’s important for restoration to take place. Then you have in chapters 35 and 36 issues related to security. You have in chapter 35, judgment on Edom. Edom is the great enemy of Israel. You have in chapter 36 the return of God’s people to the land of promise. And so you have security issues relating to the enemies of God’s people. Edom is a specific enemy. But Edom may also be representative of an enemy of God’s people. And then you have problems dealing with problems of exile. People are exiled.

They need to be brought back to their land. That also is in view in these two chapters. So, issues of security. What is needed for restoration to take place? God has to bring his people back to his land and provide security for them in the land. That means taking care of their enemies. That means giving them security within the land, as this restoration project is laid out here. So that’s important. Chapter 35. And then a portion of chapter 36, you also have, beginning in 30:16, the total transformation of God’s people is necessary for restoration.

And here is the spiritual angle that takes care of the problem. We saw in chapter 33, that God’s people, they hear the word of God, but they don’t do the word of God. It’s a spiritual problem. And so you have this emphasis in chapter 36. you’re very familiar with this passage, I’m sure. 36:25-26.

²⁵ I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. ²⁶ And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:25-26, ESV)

Putting my spirit within you, causing you to walk in my statutes and obeying my rules. Those are things that must take place. God must bring this spiritual transformation in order for restoration to take place. This reminds us of things connected with regeneration. The spiritual transformation of a dead heart, which is described here. It’s very important. And then God’s people are able to do what God wants them to do, you see, to walk in the way he wants them to walk.

The exiles, chapter 33. They’re not in a position to do what God wants them to do. Dead hearts. God must bring this regenerating power of the Spirit into their lives. So regeneration seems to be a part of what’s in view here. Then you come right into chapter 37. The valley of dry bones. The valley is a place of death. And you may have a picture here of the aftermath of the battle, with all kinds of corpses laid out. And time has passed so that now there’s nothing but skeletons scattered throughout this valley. And this is described in chapter 37.

Maybe we could read the first six verses there, Mister Reader.

¹ 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. ² 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. ³ And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God , you know.” ⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord . ⁵ Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. ⁶ 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 .” (Ezekiel 37:1-6, ESV)

Okay, you got a bunch of dead bones. Ezekiel, can these bones live? True? Smart answer, Lord. Only you know whether they can live or not. That was perceptive on his part, because the obvious answer is, they’re dead bones come to life. Preach to them, Ezekiel. Preach to these dead bones. Prophesy to them. And then God sends the spirit, and these bones come alive. They are able to come alive through the power of the Spirit of God.

There is a debate about what’s in view here in chapter 37, whether this is regeneration. And I don’t have a problem with looking at this as regeneration, because this is, again, what takes place in regeneration.

You got dead people through the foolishness of preaching, preaching to dead people, and yet God brings them to life through the power of His word, through the Spirit. And so, I don’t have a problem with looking at this as regeneration. Others, and I don’t have a problem with this either, apply this more to resurrection, the power of God to bring life out of death in terms of resurrection. And Jewish tradition has a tendency of taking this as resurrection.

And old Palmer Robertson, in his book Christ of the Prophets, argues, I think, fairly persuasively that resurrection may also be in view, and that for full restoration to take place to their land, there has to be restoration. So, you sort of have interesting connections. You have regeneration, which clearly is in chapter 36. You may have regeneration ideas or even resurrection ideas in chapter 37, and not until then will there be full restoration to the land, which really fits into looking at these chapters, and we’ll talk about this.

But looking at these chapters, resurrection leading to full restoration in land, well, that would fit, in my view, a new heavens, new earth kind of thing connection, which we will talk about as we flesh out the implications of these chapters. You also then have in chapter 37, toward the end of the chapter, another sign act of Ezekiel, where he takes two sticks, two separate sticks, and he brings them together. One of the sticks represents the northern kingdom, one of the sticks represents the southern kingdom.

And by bringing these two sticks together, he’s emphasizing the unification of the two kingdoms. There will be one people. What does Jesus say in John 10? Or what is. Yeah, what he says in John 10: One shepherd over one flock. I would not try to connect this necessarily to trying to restore the ten lost tribes of Israel, but ultimately see this as fulfilled in the work of our shepherd, Jesus Christ.

Now that begins to be fulfilled, that post-exilic restoration that begins to take place is important, but we will see some very important things related to that post-exilic community. The full restoration never, ever comes to that post-exilic community. There are various ways that we will see that, but it is important for laying the foundation for what is going to happen when the king comes to his people, which Jesus Christ is that king. And the king is mentioned in this context, 37:24. And the sanctuary is mentioned in 37:26.

And we’ll talk about sanctuary temple ideas when we talk about chapters 40 through 48. Then, what is needed for restoration to take place? The unification of God’s people that happens through Christ. Ultimately, then you have in chapters 38 through 39, the deliverance of God’s people from the ultimate enemy, Gog and Magog. And we will come back to talk about these chapters in more detail. But you have this assault upon God’s people, this great battle that is described in 38 and 39.

And we will come back and talk about how these chapters relate in the various eschatological views. Maybe in a few minutes, we may not get to it till next week. But this is the deliverance of God’s people from the ultimate enemy. This is the last battle, if you will. That’s followed by chapters 40 through 48, the glorious vision of a renewed temple. This vision, and again, it is a vision. So you got chapters 1 through 38, and 40 through 48. These are all visions, probably occurs as is identified in chapter 40 and 57:2.

And just to briefly give you an overview of these chapters, that’s not where our focus is going to be. Our focus is going to be how do the different eschatological views understand 40 to 48. But let me just comment briefly, and again, you’ll have more notes here in this section than what we’re going to comment on. But let me just briefly comment on chapters 40 to 42 is a visionary guided tour of the new temple. You then have the function of the temple emphasized, the offering of sacrifices.

So there is a priesthood and there are sacrifices in this renewed temple, the zadokot priesthood and the offering of sacrifices. In Chapter 43, you have the return of the glory of the Lord to the new temple. Remember, in chapters eight through eleven, you have the abandonment of God’s presence. Now, you have the return of God’s presence in Chapter 43 to this new temple. You have in Chapters 44 to 46 the sacred personnel of the temple. And what’s interesting in Chapters 44 to 46 is the position of the prince.

The prince, who is the leader, takes a very secondary role in these chapters. Now, we’ve had earlier in Ezekiel the term prince applied to David, my servant David. We’ve also had earlier in, I think it’s chapter 36 as well, the term king used of my servant David. In the context of 40 to 48, it’s the term prince, and the prince takes a secondary role. It’s almost as if the temple itself is what’s most important as the primary messianic figure at the end of Ezekiel.

Part of the reason for this may be that the primary concern of 40 through 48 is cultic, not political, in terms of what the temple stands for. And there is an emphasis on the presence of Yahweh. So, it is almost as if the presence of Yahweh and what this temple stands for overshadows the role of the prince. Now, you put all this together in Ezekiel, and it’s not an either-or situation.

And this is how both of these concepts come together beautifully in Jesus, who is Yahweh, who brings the presence of Yahweh, and who is my servant David. He’s got both the divine and the human together. Some places of Ezekiel, you’ve got the human aspect emphasized. In some places, you have more of what God is going to do in Jesus. Both of these things come together. And so again, you’ve got these Old Testament emphases that come together in Jesus Christ. But the prince, the leader, has a very secondary role.

In the context of these chapters, you also have living water, Chapter 47, that flows from the temple. This water flows out into the desert area and brings paradise levels of fertility to the land. And the trees along this river are for healing. We’ll come back and talk about the significance of this picture of this river that flows from this temple.

And then finally, at the end of the vision, you have the full restoration of the land with the distribution of the land. And we’ll come back next week. I don’t think we’ll have time to get to it today and talk about whether this vision was ever meant to be implemented. Could you build this temple the way it’s described? The meaning of the vision? What does this vision mean? Well, the meaning of the vision comes at the end of this section, Ezekiel 48:35.

³⁵ The 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 48:35, ESV)

The very last sentence, Yahweh is there. That’s the meaning. The presence of God with his people. That’s what this means. And from a priestly perspective, how else will you describe the presence of God with his people but through a temple?

So that’s just an overview of the content of this section. Now, what we want to do, and we won’t have time to really get into it today, but what we want to do is now come back and look at these chapters 34 through 48 in light of the different eschatological positions. How do the different eschatological positions understand these chapters? And as we do that, we’ll fill out some of the details that we haven’t mentioned in these chapters. Before we go, let me ask you in terms of your notes, see if I’ve got it here.

Do you have anything in your notes that look like this? Okay, well, I’ll use that. I forgot if I’d put that in any notes. I could have looked this morning, and I didn’t. I’ll use that as sort of a basis to sort of get at the different approaches to this section. Yes. Yeah. Probably because I added post-millennialism, which may not be on here. So I’ll try to incorporate that.

The other thing that I would encourage you, and I don’t know if I want to, if there’s copyright issues, but sometimes when you read chapters 40 through 48, it’s really good to have a picture in front of you. And at the back of Ian Duguid’s commentary on Ezekiel in the Nyvax series, I think it’s Duguid. Nyvak. He has some really excellent. This is his thing of the temple area.

And so I don’t know if you find it, make a copy of it as you read through this section, if that helps you at all. He’s also got some other things at the end there that are important. This is sort of his revision of the land of Israel in terms of the tribe. And you can see it’s not ending like it was earlier. So these are some of the things that we will talk about. But if you want to find that at the end of Dogood’s commentary, that may help you as you read through.

Through this section. All right, we need to finish up Ezekiel and then get a start on Daniel. And we talked last week. We just went through the content of Ezekiel 34 to 48, gave an overview of the content of Ezekiel 34 to 48. And we’ve broken that content down into three sections, a, b, and c. You have this in your notes, restoration to the land, 34 through 37, and all that that includes, in terms of its content, Gog and Magog, 38 through 39, and then the restored temple and worship in 40 through 48.

Now, we’re going to break this down into bait four. You have four in your notes. I’ve got three on the overhead, four basic ways to approach this passage. Two of those ways overlap a lot, but we just want to work through how each of these views that we’ve talked about in this class, and they’re up here on the board, classic dispensationalism. And then you got historic, premill and progressive dispensationalism.

And then we’re kind of putting together postmillennialism and amillennialism for this, looking at Ezekiel 40 to 48, how these views deal with each of these sections. So we’ll sort of work our way through this. Dispensationalism and premillennialism tend to push things off to the future, to see these things as being fulfilled at some point in the future. The other views tend to push things back more toward the historical context of the events.

But if we look at dispensationalism and we think about Acts 34 through 37, dispensationalism might say that that began to be fulfilled back there in the Old Testament. But remember, when the Jewish people rejected Christ, there’s sort of a parenthetical church age. Remember, dispensationalism, classic dispensationalism keeps distinct Israel and the church. So the prophecies related to Israel refer to Israel, the nation of Israel, not the church. And they keep those two distinct.

And so, really, the prophetic clock stopped here, and the things in Ezekiel 34 to 48 will now be fulfilled at some point in the future. And so, the things associated with section Ezekiel 34 through 37, a lot of that begins with the return of Israel to their land. 1948 is a key date. And even the things that we read about in chapters 36 and 37, the outpouring of the spirit, that’s not Pentecost, that’s still future in relationship to the nation of Israel.

And so a, in the classic dispensational view, is sort of started with the return to the land, but most of that is still to be fulfilled in the future. It started, but it will still be fulfilled in the future. If you look at the historic, premier and progressive dispensationalists they remember, see that some of the Old Testament prophecies related to Israel are fulfilled in the church.

And so you may have some people emphasizing a back here, but they are going to see a lot of a being fulfilled in the millennial period, especially the things related to Israel as a nation now. Some of the things in a may be fulfilled now. So the Spirit and a new heart, some of them may understand that as being fulfilled now. The amillennialist and post millennialist, definitely a begins back here and is continuing to be fulfilled in the church. When it talks about the spirit, the outpouring of the spirit, that is a reference to Pentecost.

And so, some of those things that are talked about in Ezekiel 34-37 are happening now. And so that would be the emphasis. They’re not related to the nation of Israel, Hamils and most post mills would say, but they are fulfilled primarily in the church. And so 34 through 37, depending on which view and how you nuance it, would be looked at in those ways. In chapters 38 through 39, we have Gog and Magog, and everybody agrees that Ezekiel 38-39 is a description of a great battle.

It just depends where you put this battle, at what point you see this battle taking place. There’s always also a tendency to try to identify the characters Gog and Magog. This has been a tendency all throughout church history. The Targum identifies them with Rome. Targums were the Jewish Aramaic paraphrases of the Old Testament. They identify 38:39 with Rome, Augustine with the barbarians. Luther identified Gog and Magog with the Turks. Classic dispensationalism takes the phrase, if you look at 38:1 in my translation, actually it’s verse two.

² “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him (Ezekiel 38:2, ESV)

Chief prince. They translate it prince of Rosh, or Rosh. As you know, Hebrew. Rosh is the Hebrew word for head or chief. And they identify this with Russia. Some of the classic dispensationalists think that it’s talking about the prince of Rosh, Russia. And in some of the dispensationalist views, Meshech becomes Moscow and Tubal becomes Tobolk, if that’s the way you pronounce it. Others think that this is a problem, that Roche is not a place name.

The classic dispensationalists take it as a place name, others take it as an adjective. Chief prints head prints of Meshech and Tubal, so that’s a minor difference. Classic dispensationalism takes this battle to occur at the end of the tribulation period before the millennium. Some of them see a two stage battle. It begins here, it’s interrupted with the millennium, but there’s also a battle that takes place at the end of the millennium. And so some of them, like cooperation in his commentary on Ezekiel, sees a two stage battle. But there’s a tendency to identify these names.

If you look at Meshech and Tubal, they are place names. They generally occur together in the Old Testament. They occur in Ezekiel, in chapter 20:12-13. They’re ancient ethnic groups which carried on trade with Tyre in Ezekiel 32:26. They seem to be a power that is now gone, once a mighty power, now gone. Many argue that Meshech and Tubal sort of take on a trans historical character in the context of the world of Ezekiel’s day.

They’re on the sort of the perimeter of the nations and they sort of take on this trans historical reality. you’ll find Meshech and Tubal also mentioned back in Genesis ten in the table of nations related to Japheth. And so some say that there is an allusion here to the battle between the seat of the woman and the seat of Satan, between the line of Shem and the line of Japheth. And so that this is talking about something that is not necessarily it’s historical, but it takes on greater eschatological proportions.

In chapters 38 through 39, Gog and Magog, Meshech and Tubal seem to represent evil forces gathered together against God’s people. And historic premillennialism and progressive dispensationalism tend to put b here at the battle at the end of the millennium. And amillennialists and post millennialists tend to put b here at the great battle connected to the second coming. Every view believes that there’s bad stuff that happens at the end.

And so this battle is usually related to that last great battle that will take place before either the millennium or before the new heavens and the new earth. Obviously, the first, the top two views argue for 1000 year millennium on the earth. The bottom two views do not argue for a thousand year millennium, but argue for a new heavens and new earth, as we talked about these views earlier in the semester. But everybody’s agreed this is a great battle that takes place at the end. It’s just a matter of where you put this battle.

Alright, then you come to chapters 40 through 48, which is our sea, the restored temple, the vision of Ezekiel in chapters 40 through 48. And again, dispensationalists take this as a description of a literal temple, that during the millennial period there will be a temple that will be rebuilt. And that’s what chapters 40 to 48 is referring to. Some even argue. Most classic dispensationalists argue that sacrifices will be offered at this temple, but sacrifices are described in chapters 40 through 48. That’s a part of what this temple is all about. Well, why sacrifices?

That seems to be problematic in relationship to what the book of Hebrews says. Cooper has written commentary on Ezekiel. Well, let me put his name here in the NAC series. The NAC series, New American Commentary series, is an excellent series in the Pentateuch and the historical books. When you get to the prophets, you just have to know that they come at the prophets from a dispensational perspective. So that’s good or bad, depending on your perspective. But Cooper argues that there will be sacrifices during the millennium, and this is his rationale.

He says Israel has never used a sacrificial system with proper perspective, that is, with the messiah in view as the supreme sacrifice for sin. The millennium allows Israel to remember Israel and the church are separated. The millennium allows Israel to realize its missionary purpose and practice the symbols of their covenant. For the first time since the church is taken out of the world, the millennium will offer Israel the opportunity to reinstate their covenant to commemorate the redemptive work of the Messiah. So, it is a commemorative work.

Feinberg argues that the Old Testament sacrifices didn’t have redemptive significance anyway, and they won’t have redemptive significance in the millennium either. So that’s the rationale: a literal temple with sacrifices offered. And that’s what chapters 40 through 48 is describing. Now, historic premills and progressive dispensationalism do not hold to the distinctions that classic dispensationalism does. And so, both historic premills and progressive dispensationalism are willing to recognize that some things related to 40-48 may be taking place in the church, the building of the temple, the house of God by Christ.

Many would recognize that as a legitimate option. But they’re also going to see many historic premiers, and progressive dispensationalists are also. Some of them are going to see Ezekiel 40-48 as being fulfilled in the millennium. Some of them. Kaiser argues that there will not be sacrifices. You don’t need sacrifices if the king is present, is his view. But many of them also see Ezekiel 40 through 48 as being a description of the new heavens and the new earth. We’ll come back and talk about that particular view in just a few minutes.

But there are some who would see this Ezekiel 40-48 as being a description of the new heavens and new earth. So it’s a mixed bag. Some of them would take it during the millennium, some of them would take it during the new heavens and the new earth. Some of them would argue for sacrifices. Some of them would say sacrifices are not going to be offered. So it all depends on who you read. Some would argue. Bloch argues this in the nicotine commentary on Ezekiel.

Bloch argues that Ezekiel 40 through 48 is an ideal description. It’s idealized. And he argues that the issue is not physical realities but spiritual realities. And so he thinks 40 through 48 lays the foundation for the development of ten temple ideas in the New Testament related to Christ building the church, sort of a spiritualization. He doesn’t think, Bloch doesn’t think that it has any eschatological implications. I would want to argue both that 40 through 48 may have some implications for and a lot of post millennialists stress this aspect of it for Christ building the church.

But I also want to argue that 40 through 48 really is primarily looking forward to the new heavens and the new earth. So let me go and talk about that part of the issue. The discussion in 43, 48 is whether this is a description of a temple that can really be built. And I would argue that 40 through 48, the way this temple is described, it really can’t be built in history as we know it because of the way it is described.

You have this river that flows from the temple that produces paradise conditions, this river that starts small and flows into the judean desert and becomes a wide, vast river with trees for healing of the nations along this river. And it turns that desert into a paradise fertility. That is a picture picked up from the garden of Eden, a picture that is throughout the Old Testament. But I think that that is referring to paradise.

You have also, and this is somewhat debated, the dimensions of the temple are much larger than just what would be there at the temple mount. And so the dimensions of the temple are very large compared to what we know was there during Solomon’s time and even is there today. You have the fact that this is a vision. Exodus 25 through 40 is information given to Moses, and he’s told, “you build this tabernacle exactly the way that I have described it,” and that tabernacle was meant to be built. This is a vision.

And there are things that take place in 40 through 48 that make you conclude that this was not really meant to be built. There’s no reference to this passage in the post-exilic community trying to build that second temple in line with this description of the temple. You also have Beale argues this; in fact, one of the best analyses of Ezekiel 40 through 48 is by Beale. You may know Beale from the New Testament as the author of the commentary on Revelation. I forget which series that’s in.

Is that the Knick knit series in ICNT, or is that. No. Is that the group? You can figure it out. But his book, the Temple and the church’s mission, is one of the best analysis of chapters 40 through 48 that I’ve come across. He argues in there that there are things missing in Ezekiel’s description of the temple. There is no ark of the Covenant. There is no large bronze basin in the courtyard. There is no golden lampstand. There is no table of showbread. There is no altar of incense.

There is no veil separating the holy of holies. And he argues that what Ezekiel 40 to 48 is describing is something that is beyond this history. It’s describing and reflecting cosmic changes and the alteration of that particular part of the world in its description. In essence, Beale says that Ezekiel 40-48 is describing a new creation. Now, I agree with that, and I would stress the eschatological emphasis of 40 through 48.

And I would draw parallels between Ezekiel 40 to 48 and the book of Revelation to argue for an eschatological understanding of chapters 40 through 48. There are general parallels, and I have them listed in your notes. You take 34 through 37 of Ezekiel, and you can parallel them with Revelation 21:6. However, you understand Revelation 21:6, which we don’t need to get into here. Ezekiel 34-37 could parallel Revelation 21:6. And the reason we say that is because Gog and Magog are specifically mentioned in Revelation 20:7-9.

That’s the hinge. Revelation 27:9 mentions Gog and Magog. Therefore, 21:6 would parallel 34 through 37:27. Nine would parallel 38:39 of Ezekiel. Therefore, 40 through 48 of Ezekiel would then parallel Revelation 21 and 22, the New Jerusalem. So those general parallels established that 40 through 48 would be a description of what John is describing in Revelation 21 and 22. And Revelation 21 and 22 does pick up key concepts from Ezekiel 40 to 48. And I’ve got some of those specific parallels mentioned in your notes.

Ezekiel 40:3 parallels Revelation 21:15. Both passages have someone with a measuring rod to measure the city’s walls and gates. You have another parallel between the city and the twelve gates. Ezekiel 48:30-35, Revelation 21:12-14. The key parallel, I think, is the second one I have in your notes, where this river that flows out of this temple and becomes a river of life, a river that transforms the Judean desert into a paradise, that is also picked up in Revelation 22:1-3.

Whereas the river in Revelation 22 is the river of life, specifically identified as the river of life flowing next to the tree of life. And the leaves there are for the healing of the nations.

¹ Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1-2, ESV)

And so, you have this river picture, which is prominent throughout scripture. Eden has a river, a little river flowing out of it. Water, the blessing of God, Psalm 46, the temple described with a river flowing out of it. You get this picture in Ezekiel 47. And you get this picture again in Revelation 22.

And so these would be arguments that would argue that what Ezekiel 40 to 48 mainly has in view is a description of the new heavens and the new earth, and that this is not a blueprint to be, to try to build it, but that this is really a description of a new creation. And you could argue that also on the basis of the way the tribes are divided out, the basis of the land division and things like that. But the meaning of Ezekiel 40 to 48 and the meaning of Revelation 21:22 is the same.

What’s that meaning? How does Ezekiel 48 end? The Lord is there. That’s the whole purpose of the temple, right? The presence of the Lord. And that’s what Ezekiel is describing. He’s a priest, and he’s looking to the future, and he’s describing from his Old Testament perspective, how do you describe God’s presence with his people? He’s already talked about the mobility of God’s presence, and now he looks to the future and describes it in this way.

The book of Revelation comes along, picks up some of these concepts, and talks about the new heavens and the new earth. And what does the book of Revelation say? You don’t need a temple because you have God’s presence. And these concepts are picked up. That’s why it’s significant. Jesus identifies himself, “Destroy this temple in three days, I will raise it up.”

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19, ESV)

And the church is the temple. And we’ve talked about those concepts throughout this course. But ultimately, Ezekiel 40:48 has an eschatological meaning that is, I think, referring primarily to the new heavens and the new earth. So the main thing is the presence of the Lord is there? Yes, sir. It’s just the way that Ezekiel describes the worship of God. Those concepts are used in the New Testament to describe our worship, but we don’t bring literal sacrifices anymore because Christ has fulfilled the sacrificial system. We still offer, as Hebrews says, the sacrifice of praise.

And that terminology that is used to describe the Old Testament sacrifices, le tour Guia is a key term, is now used of the church. The church offers true and pure worship through Christ. And Ezekiel, from his old Testament context, describes from his context what it would be like. And he’s going to use a sacrificial system. That’s one of the arguments that many use. Because you have all these details, many think that, that this is some reality that has to be implemented.

But if you are convinced by Beale’s understanding that there are key things missing in this temple, this isn’t really describing something that. This is describing a new creation that begins with Christ and then is fulfilled in the new heavens, new earth. And it’s just a matter of understanding this from the Old Testament perspective, but then understanding what happens when Christ comes, so that now we don’t need sacrifices. And the book of Revelation obviously doesn’t include literal sacrifices. So it’s that movement from Old Testament to fulfillment in Christ is the way I would answer that.

Yes, sir. Just for clarification, you mentioned that some progressive disciples believe in the reinstitution of sacrifices, and some don’t. But the historic pre-mills, is that true of them as well? Or would they be a mixed bag? Yeah, it would be a mixed bag. A lot of historic pre-mills see Ezekiel 40-48 as being a description of new heavens, new earth. So there’s not much difference between those historic pre-mills and the amill and post-mills.

And remember, we said there’s a lot that these views have in common, because all of these views are willing to recognize that the prophecies related to Israel are in some sense fulfilled in the church. It’s only the top view that is not willing to recognize that. And so, there is a lot in common, that common hermeneutical stance. But what is different between these two, this one and this one, is that this view still wants to hold on to some national Israel stuff which will be fulfilled in the millennium.

The two bottom views don’t want to hold. I mean, God still has a work to do among Jewish people, but it’s not going to be connected to the nation of Israel. It’s all through the gospel and the church. So there are differences, but there is this common hermeneutical basis.

This audio lecture is brought to you by RTS on iTunesU at the virtual campus of Reformed Theological Seminary. To listen to other lectures and to access additional resources, please visit us at itunes.rts.edu.

For additional information on how to take distance education courses for credit towards a fully accredited Master of Arts in Religion degree, please visit our website at virtual rts.edu.