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Ezekiel's Vision of the New Temple

Illustration of Ezekiel's Vision of the New Temple
Fourteen years after Jerusalem burned, Ezekiel was shown a vast new temple, God's glory returning to fill it, and a river of life flowing out from under its threshold.

In the twenty-fifth year of the captivity, fourteen years after Jerusalem fell, the hand of the LORD brought Ezekiel in visions of God to a very high mountain in the land of Israel. A man whose appearance was like brass, holding a line of flax and a measuring reed, led him through a vast temple, measuring its gates, courts, and chambers. Then Ezekiel saw the glory of the God of Israel come from the east with a voice like many waters and fill the house, the same glory he had earlier seen depart. He later watched a river flow from under the threshold, growing from ankle-deep to a river too deep to cross, bringing life wherever it went and lined with trees whose leaves were for medicine. The vision, filling Ezekiel 40-48, ends with a city named 'The LORD is there.'

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Details

Category
Prophets
Dreamer
Ezekiel
Interpretation
God promised to return and dwell among His people for ever, with a holy temple from which life and healing would flow.

Key Chapters

Key Passages

Brought to a Very High Mountain

Ezekiel 40:1-4

Years into exile, Ezekiel is shown a temple to declare to the house of Israel as a sign of hope.

I1n the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither.

2 In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south. 3 And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. 4 And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.

The Glory Returns

Ezekiel 43:1-7

The glory of the LORD returns from the east to fill the house, where God promises to dwell among His people for ever.

A1fterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east:

2 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. 3 And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. 4 And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. 5 So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house. 6 And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me. 7 And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places.

The River from the Sanctuary

Ezekiel 47:1-12

Waters flowing from God's house grow deeper and deeper, healing everything they touch.

A1fterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.

2 Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. 3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. 4 Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. 5 Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. 6 And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. 7 Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. 9 And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. 10 And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. 11 But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. 12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.

Did You Know?

1

It is the longest single vision in Ezekiel, filling nine chapters.

2

Earlier, Ezekiel had watched God's glory depart from the temple toward the east (Ezekiel 10-11).

3

The river from the temple grows from ankle-deep to a river 'that could not be passed over'.

4

The book ends with the city's new name: 'The LORD is there' (Ezekiel 48:35).