“A man is a little thing while he works by and for himself;
but when he gives voice to the rules of love and justice, he is godlike.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Introduction
At its heart, the book of Ezekiel is a portrait of God’s love for His people and the Ezekiel temple is a focal point of that love. The Ezekiel temple prophecy is a notoriously difficult piece of literature to interpret as it has elements that are prophetic, physical, spiritual, and symbolic. To complicate matters, the temple text seems to disagree with other portions of Scripture. Thus, to avoid pitfalls, any study of Ezekiel must begin with an understanding of the state that Israel was in during the time of writing. The sinfulness and deprivation of Israel made the original readers ripe for any semblance of hope that, even though it had departed, God’s glory would not be gone forever. With this backdrop of utter desolation, the Ezekiel temple begins to make sense as a diagram of how God would undo everything about the exile. God declared that one day His glory would return to the new temple, never again to depart. He demonstrated how He would bring prosperity and bounty back to the land and the people of Israel so that they would again be a nation of blessing rather than scorn. God promised to give Israel a true king who would reign in righteousness – in direct contrast to the prior kings of Israel, many of whom were moral failures. Finally, God declared that He would once and for all deal with the problem of sin in the hearts of men, giving them the power to live out the commands He set. From start to finish, the Ezekiel temple serves as a nexus point for God’s love to be poured out on Israel, resulting in the end of exile, the end of desolation, and the end of sin.
The State of Israel during the Exile of Ezekiel
“In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, while I was among the exiles by the Chebar Canal, the heavens opened and I saw the visions of God.”[1] Ezekiel lived and prophesied during “the greatest crisis in Israel’s history – the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, plus the exile of Judah’s leading citizens to Babylon.”[2] But this crisis was not random nor a situation with which to sympathize; rather, the destruction and the exile were brought about by God as a punishment for the sins of the people. First, Ezekiel deals with explicating these sins. Next, Ezekiel also brings to mind all of the things which the Israelites had lost as a result of their sin, including “the land” being “stripped of everything in it.”[3] Finally, the physical pangs of exile are left behind as Ezekiel depicts the most dramatic, painful, and brutal departure of the glory of the Lord from the temple, leaving Israel without holiness, prosperity, land, and most importantly without their God.
The Sinfulness of Israel
The sins of Israel affected every aspect of life and prohibited God from being in covenant relationship with the people. Ezekiel 16 is a perfect example of the levels of depravity to which the Israelites had sunk. Israel was declared a “harlot” for cheating on God, but this was hardly the worst of her offenses.[4] God also accused Israel of taking its “sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrific[ing] them” to false idols forcing them “through the fire to the images.”[5] Ezekiel also explicitly depicts the Israelite’s worship of other gods in terms of female promiscuity.[6] For example, the Israelites melted down their jewelry into “male images so that [the people] could engage in prostitution with them.”[7] These verses about infidelity also symbolize political treaties and entanglements with other nations.[8] The image of Israel “spread[ing] [her] legs to everyone who passed by and increas[ing] [her] prostitution” is a direct reference to making covenants with other kings for protection.[9]
Israel’s leaders were also corrupt and cited for being “men who plan evil and give wicked advice” in Jerusalem.[10] Though hard to decipher at first, the accusation that the leaders of Israel “have multiplied your slain in this city, filling its streets with the dead” and the description of the city as a “pot” full of the “meat” of the dead refers to the building of the city off of the backs and wealth of the citizens.[11] The leaders were also guilty of not only sacrificing children to other gods, but also to “war and siege” stemming from political alliances.[12] Finally, the leaders also engaged in dishonesty toward their own citizens. In Ezekiel 45, the “princes of Israel” were guilty of “violence and oppression” which took the form of evicting people from their homes and cheating people through dishonest monetary weights and measures.[13] Though seemingly small compared to rampant child sacrifice, these economic concerns displeased the Lord all the same and contributed to the state of exile.[14]
The Deprivation of Exile
One of the primary results of the exile was the separation from the Promised Land.[15] Unlike other people groups, the Israelites could not simply find a new place to live. Their lives, livelihoods, and God were all linked to their inhabitation of the Promised Land and to be deprived of that land was to be cut off from life. God started out the judgment of exile by reminding them of their wrongdoing (“eat[ing] meat with blood in it, rais[ing] your eyes to your idols, and shed[ding] blood”) and then asking them the rhetorical question “Should you then receive possession of the land?”[16] God answered with an emphatic “no,” and then proceeded to tell them how the land itself would be ruined saying, “I will make the land a desolate waste, and its proud strength will come to an end… the mountains of Israel will become desolate, with no one passing through.”[17] The land made Israel a prosperous nation, so in His judgment of Oholah (Israel) and Oholibah (Judah), God declareed that their “nose and ears” shall be “cut off” and that “the shame of your debauchery will be exposed.”[18] In other words, the land would no longer be able to make Israel and Judah a source of beauty; rather, Israel would simply be ashamed and humiliated. Additionally, God laid judgment on the religious places of Israel, declaring that “your altars will be desolate, and your incense altars smashed” while He throws “down your slain in front of your idols.”[19] The results of the exile on the land are clear — not only would the people be removed, but the land itself would be destroyed for their sins.
Second, the exile also exposed the Israelites to a culture and civilization that was not their own.[20] Babylon was a civilization that vastly dwarfed Israel in many cultural respects. Specifically, the main cities of the Babylonian empire would have been “crowded with the monumental structures of the Babylonian past.”[21] There was a continual process whereby religious temples were “being restored and expanded” in order to maintain the glory of both the civilization and gods.[22] This would have been a daily reminder to the people of Israel of their own temple which laid in desolation and desecration. Nevertheless, the reminder would also act as a shard of hope that one day their temple would be restored. The issues of desolation and physical exile in a foreign land are addressed by God in the Ezekiel temple vision where all would eventually be restored.
Israel and the Ichabod of God
Finally, and most importantly, Israel in exile was also in a state of “Ichabod” or “The Departed Glory” of God.[23] The departure of God began in Ezekiel 10 where the “temple was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s glory.”[24] The “Hebrew horror story” continued as “the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the temple” and “stood at the entrance to the eastern gate.”[25] One could almost feel the tension of a spouse getting ready to leave his or her home over infidelity and his or her partner is oblivious to the entire situation. Finally, God’s glory left the city and stood on the “mountain east of the city.” It is as though God had one last look at the love of His life before departing and leaving her to her own destruction.
The desolation of the land, the threat of enemies, and the exile in general were not random events, they were precipitated by the departure of the glory of God from the temple and Jerusalem. With God’s “protective presence” gone, Israel had essentially rolled out the red carpet for its enemies.[26] The glory of God is what made the land beautiful and it with its departure, the land became desolate, the people were driven out, and the exile was complete. To the priest/prophet Ezekiel, it was this loss of God’s glory that was most devastating. And it was this that he desperately looked forward to in the temple of His prophecy. For God to manifest His love for His people eternally, He had to start with the return of His glory.
The Love of God Manifest Eternally through the Ezekiel Temple
When Ezekiel received his prophetic vision of the temple, God’s punishment was complete: the glory of God had departed, the land had been desolated, the king and his people were sent into exile, and the core issue of the sin within people’s hearts had not been dealt with. The restorative aspects of Ezekiel’s vision dealt with each of these problems in turn. First, God proscribed a plan by which His glory could return to the temple and reside there permanently. Second, God provided a new covenant with His people by which the land would be restored, and the problem of internal sin would be dealt with. Third, God provided a new king who would reign with justice and righteousness forever. Taken as a whole, the Ezekiel temple vision is nothing short of the full manifestation of the love of God to reunite Himself with His people for eternity.
The “Chabod” of God Restored
Entry of the “Chabod” of God
The opening chapters of the temple vision acted as a grand build up to a main event. The descriptions of the temple walls were vital to understanding that the primary purpose of Ezekiel’s vision was not to describe a beautiful temple with many adornments; rather, his descriptions were explicitly setting up sacred space.[27] To Ezekiel and those who heard his message, it would be akin to preparing a room for a guest in your house prior to visiting. By making space for the guest there is an implication of a visit.
Thus, after taking Ezekiel on a tour of the temple, the angelic guide brought Ezekiel to the east Gate. Historically, the east gate was pregnant with anticipation. The original meeting place of mankind with God, the garden of Eden, was “planted … in the east.”[28] Additionally, when mankind had to leave the presence of God they had to exit out of the east gate which was then guarded by cherubim.[29] Later, when the tabernacle and the first temple were set up, they were designed with an eastward-facing entry in remembrance that God would return to the people by the way that they had to leave.[30] As such, “the glory of the Lord entered the temple by way of the gate that faced east.”[31] As the vision unfolded, Ezekiel was brought up to the inner court and “the glory of the Lord filled the temple.”[32] In direct contrast to the departing glory, the arrival of God’s glory in this temple was the precursor to the reception of a multitude of blessings and restoration of the people of God.
“Chabod” Is Based on God Not on Man
However, the return of the glory of the Lord to the Ezekiel temple was fundamentally different than any other inhabitation of God’s presence in Israel’s history. For the first time, the presence of the “Chabod” glory of God would not be rooted in an action of mankind but in God alone. One of the first deviations from past infillings was that a high priest would not have to dedicate/consecrate the implements of the temple prior to the presence of God resting in the sanctuary.[33] Similarly, there was no mention of a high priest anywhere in the Ezekiel temple prophecy nor any mention of temple rites, like “burn[ing] incense, kindl[ing] the lights in the lampstand, chang[ing] the bread of display every week and purg[ing] the Temple on the Day of Atonement.”[34] The impression that Ezekiel gave of these rituals was that they would be “unnecessary” in the preparation for the glory of God to return and that they would not be needed to maintain His presence.[35] Instead, it seemed as though God Himself would make the temple holy and keep it that way. Thus, idea of sacred space further defined why a high priest would not be. If people were simply not allowed in to certain parts of the temple, e.g. the Holy of Holies, then there would be parts of the temple that could never be defiled.[36]
Second, in the Ezekiel temple, “protection of sacred space is prominent” and there was no place for holiness that was achieved by acting morally.”[37] The presence or lack thereof of the glory of God in the temple ceased to be based on the actions and immorality of the people of God. This was evidenced by the fact that the angelic guide was not holding a rod or a scroll, but a measuring tool. In other words, the revelation of God was not coming in the form of a punishment due to justice, or a new law, but by what God Himself was building. By basing holiness on spatial designations rather than on ethical ones, “transgressions are not considered a defilement of the temple;” rather, they simply made the transgressor unclean.[38] Thus the transgressor could be “withdrawn from the sacred precinct” rather than making the entire temple defiled.[39] Under this new relationship, God was essentially fulfilling both the human and the divine aspects of the covenant. This dual fulfillment was prominent throughout most of the temple vision and was vital in terms of its maintenance and the possibility of God actually dwelling with the people. Additionally, the types of transgressions people will commit in the eschatological temple will not be of the same order as the ones that the Israelites committed under the Mosaic Covenant. This will be analyzed further in the section entitled “A Covenant of Peace.”
Third, the Ezekiel temple was set up on two fundamental axes which clearly delineated what God will accomplish vs. what God expects of mankind; in this section, the God (East-West) axis will be discussed. The temple of Ezekiel oriented all temple and altar structures around the East-West axis.[40] Only the Lord was allowed to travel on this axis and anything accomplished on this axis was accomplished by Him alone.[41] Thus, the return of the glory of the Lord to the temple occurred on the East-West axis and was shown to be an act wholly precipitated by God.[42] In direct contrast to this, people are only ever seen entering and exiting the temple grounds from the North and the South, and they specifically walk around the inner courts unless they are of a priestly class that can enter those areas.[43]
Another interesting aspect of God’s sovereignty over the temple is that there was no command anywhere in the temple prophecy for the people to build it.[44] In Ezekiel’s vision, the temple simply existed from the beginning. God would have to divinely intervene to bring about the circumstances wherein the Ezekiel temple could even be built. For example, in order for there to be enough room for the temple as depicted in Ezekiel, the land would have to change dramatically through earthquakes, with new mountains being “raised up,” and “the creation of new valleys and rivers.”[45] Thus, God must be involved directly in the creation of the new temple; as such, the new temple and the return of His glory are firmly in His hands.
“Chabod” is Permanent
One of the most important parts of the Ezekiel prophecy concerning the return of the “chabod” is that it would be a permanent return. Ezekiel described this permanency in a number of ways. First, at the end of his vision of the return of “chabod”, the East gate was closed and an order was issued that “this gate will remain closed … because the Lord … has entered through it.”[46] That the gate on the East-West axis would be shut is significant because only God is allowed to pass through that gate. This “attests to God’s eternal presence in His abode … [and] the lack of any intention on His part to leave the Temple.”[47] This enthronement in the temple had far reaching consequences as historically a king would only sit on the throne when all was under his rule. By God’s permanent residence, He was essentially saying that never again would anything threaten His kingdom for His kingdom reigns eternal.
The eternality of “chabod” was also symbolized by the barring of any human being from the Holy of Holies. At the dedication of both Moses’ tabernacle and Solomon’s temple, the glory of the Lord temporarily filled the space so that the priests could not do their rituals and duties. However, in the Ezekiel temple, the glory is represented as permanent and thus “no man or woman may enter the Temple.”[48] In the Ezekiel temple, God’s permanent presence negated the possibility of a high priest serving in the Holy of Holies, thus this priest is absent from the temple description. Finally, reinforcing the eternality of God’s presence in the temple was the five-fold repetition of the word “forever (olam)” in the promises of God’s presence. Moshe Greenberg argues:
“the fivefold repetition of “forever” stresses the irreversibility of the new dispensation. Unlike God’s past experiment with Israel, the future restoration will have a guarantee of success; its capstone will be God’s sanctifying presence dwelling forever in the sanctuary amidst his people.”[49]
This return of glory to the temple would be the final return as its permanence was secured by God.
The Covenant of Peace Details of the Covenant
Ezekiel 37 detailed the features of the “covenant of peace” that was in force during the time of the Ezekiel temple:
“They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live in it forever with their children and grandchildren, and My servant David will be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them. I will establish and multiply them and will set My sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them. I will be their God, and they will be My people. When My sanctuary is among them forever, the nations will know that I, Yahweh, sanctify Israel.”[50]
A centerpiece of the covenant of peace was that it provided a permanent end to the exile. The land would be restored to the Israelites and “they will live in it forever,” including “children and grandchildren.” The fulfillment of this covenant was given in full color in the final chapter of Ezekiel. First, the prophet outlined how all of the tribes of Israel would be reunited under one nation, and the land would again be restored to all twelve tribes of Israel. Each tribe was then given a specific plot of land in this new rulership that would be its inheritance forever.
The boundaries of the tribes were very important as they represented a “highly artificial North-South stack of horizontal East-West strips.”[51] This contrasted with the original allotment in which “five tribes were totally surrounded by other tribes.[52] This reorganization in a “stick-like” pattern forced any person journeying from Egypt to Assyria to have to pass through all twelve tribes and the temple itself. Thus, the twelve tribes could act as ambassadors to the nations demonstrating proper worship of God as the peoples of the world pass through. Second, the East-West orientation is a demonstration that God is sovereignly setting, protecting, and maintaining the tribal allotments.[53] This orientation is also a symbolic reiteration that the permanence of the people in the land would not be based on their obedience to the law but on God’s sovereignty alone. In the Ezekiel temple, God fulfilled His promise to Israel that He would “take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.”[54]
The Reality of a New Constitution / The Spirit of God in Man
Another crucial aspect to the covenant of peace is that it would come with a dramatic change in the anthropology of mankind. The decoupling of morality as the determinant of whether God’s glory would reside in the temple came with a fundamental change that was entirely enacted by God:
“I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statues and carefully observe My ordinances. Then you will live in the land that I gave your fathers.”[55]
This reconstitution of mankind highlights the primary difference between the Mosaic covenant and this new covenant. The Mosaic covenant was a set of rules that mankind was unable to follow, and thus would ultimately result in the departure of the glory of God.[56] However, under this new covenant, man-centric sacrifices and rituals would not cleanse the people from impurity and false worship – God would cleanse them Himself. The means by which He would accomplish this task was through the indwelling of the Spirit of God and the impartation of a new heart. In a divine reversal of the fall, God recreated mankind’s initial state of concreated holiness in which mankind was now “inclined” toward holiness (result of a new heart), but with one essential difference: the Spirit of God would now hold a person in that state of holiness ensuring the end of sin in his or her life.[57] As Ezekiel stated, the Spirit of God would “cause you to follow My statutes.”[58] Through the covenant of peace, God made a way for His glory to permanently reside among His people. No longer would the people be able to defile the temple as under the Mosaic Covenant; now true “shalom” or peace would reign eternal.[59]
Restoration of the Land through the River of God
The return of the glory of God to the temple also paved the way for one of the most beautiful depictions of the Ezekiel temple prophecy: “The Life-Giving River.”[60] The river “flows from under the threshold of the temple toward the East.”[61] This immediately placed the river on the East-West axis that was indicative of the sovereignty of God.[62] Next the angelic guide again drew out his measuring line and measured off portions of the river with each portion getting deeper until it was unbridgeable on foot because the waters went over the prophet’s head.[63] This indicated that unlike the prior cleansings, this cleansing would be fully complete and would encompass everything.
What the river accomplishes is nothing short of miraculous. Along the sides of the river, a “very large number of trees” would shoot up, “the sea of foul water” would turn into a fresh water reservoir, “every kind of living creature that swarms will live wherever the river flows,” and “there will be a huge number of fish.”[64] Trees would provide all kinds of food every month of the year and would provide “medicine” for those who are sick.[65] Thus, the return of the glory of the Lord would result in the direct restoration of the Promised Land. The land that was once desolate and destroyed because of the sins of the people would be completely restored even past its former glory under the provision of the Ezekiel temple. The symbols of the river of life and the tree of life that are found prominently in this section speak of the fact that “YHWH was the source of life and order, and that Sinai and Zion were loci of stability and protection.”[66] Alongside the premise that the river of God flowed out of the temple is the realization that the blessings of God would no longer be bound to the temple and Israel. Under the old covenant, the glory of God was bound to the ark and His presence was for His people alone. But under this new covenant, nations would be able to share in the blessings. In summation, the promise of the river would have given the exiles great hope as no other covenant God had made with them promised “security and well-being” that included “completely eliminating harmful animals, guaranteeing security from any foreign invasion, and bringing unparalleled agricultural renewal accompanied by divinely sent seasonal rains.”[67] For the first time in its history, Israel would reflect its creator and be able to be a true light to the nations.
The Eternal Prince
The Nasi of Israel
The final piece to the puzzle of Ezekiel’s temple vision is the figure of the Nasi or prince. This person was integral to the temple prophecy, yet multiple details confound scholars. First, the use of the word “nasi,” which means prince, instead of “melek,” which means king, is of significant importance. It is probable that Ezekiel used the term “nasi” preferentially to distance the new ruler and the kind of rule he would bring from the prior kings. This would explain why the only use of “melek” in Ezekiel 40-48 was in a “critical sense.”[68] Rather than kings who thought they were the ultimate authority, the temple vision of Ezekiel paints the prince as one who is completely under the authority of YHWH, who is the true King.[69] Rather than building up his own authority as did Solomon when he built a palace larger than the House of the Lord, the Nasi “asserts YHWH’s kingship” and the “territorial claim as the only King of Israel.”[70] The Nasi’s role is not that of a king ruling over a people, but of a member of the people serving as their representative.[71]
Special Relationship of the Nasi to the Divine and His Role in the Theocracy
The Nasi had a unique relationship to the divine and a unique role in the theocracy of Israel during the time of Ezekiel’s temple. In Ezekiel 44, the prince “crosses the Outer court from the West-facing porch of the East Outer Gate to the East-facing porch of the East Inner Gate.”[72] This East-West traversal was not used to describe any other person in the vision and was a clear indication that the prince in some way operated in conjunction with the sovereignty of God. In this way, the Nasi acted as a mediator or conduit for the people of God to access the glory of God.[73] In the temple vision, the prince ate a meal before the Lord, performing “a cultic function” and demonstrating the new level of sanctification of humanity that permitted such close contact with God.[74]
Through his interaction with the Ezekiel temple, the Nasi takes on multiple aspects of the messiah. The movement along the East-West axis and the singling out for a unique relationship with YHWH all support this conclusion. This conclusion is also reinforced through the type of offering that the prince is required to give. The offerings described in Ezekiel 45 were “to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.”[75] The Nasi himself bore the brunt of the burden of the sacrifices and the sacrifices “only become offerings acceptable for sacrifice through the mediation of the nasi as community leader.”[76] Though not exactly a perfect parallel, the similarity to the Messiah being the mediator between God and man and being the one though whom reconciliation to God will occur is present in the text. Thus, through the Nasi, God provided a way for acceptable sacrifice and worship of Himself. This completely overhauled the Mosaic dispensation of sacrifices and ensured that Israel would be able to have a relationship with YHWH for eternity.
Nasi as the Leader of the People
Finally, the Nasi also operated on the North-South axis as the leader of the people of Israel. Unlike the glory of the Lord, the Nasi entered and exited the temple complex “through the North and South Outer Gates.”[77] He further identified with the people of God as their worship leader in Ezekiel 45:21-46:12, indicating his right to be the one to present the offerings to the priest to be sacrificed. He was “the bearer of the gift to the altar and the transmitter of blessing back to the people whom he represents.”[78] Thus, the Nasi would be the one through whom God would bless the people of Israel on a governmental level. The Nasi was the fulfillment of the promise of a Davidic king who would rule and reign in righteousness forever. In this way, the love of God is expressed through a true shepherd of the people in the Ezekiel temple.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the love of God was expressed through the establishment of the Ezekiel temple by bringing about an end to the exile. First, God restored His “chabod” glory to the temple, promising never again to leave his people. He ensured this through the promise of a new covenant whereby the people of God would receive new hearts and for the first time be able to follow His commands. Additionally, the desolation that the exile wrought would be completely healed by God through the outpouring of the river of God from the alter in the temple. Finally, God would also provide a new leader, the Nasi, who would govern in righteousness and justice. What God establishes in the temple will never change; in the Ezekiel temple, God’s love has won the victory over sin, death, and destruction.
Bibliography
Blenkinsopp, Joseph. Ezekiel. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1990.
Boyle, Brian. “The Figure of the Nasi in Ezekiel’s Vision of the New Temple (Ezekiel 40-48).” Australian Biblical Review 58 (2010): 1–16.
Edward, Jeremy Royal, and Edwin A. Blum, eds. Holman Christian Standard Bible: Study Bible. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2010.
Gentry, Peter J., and Stephen J. Wellum. God’s Kingdom through God’s Covenants: A Concise Biblical Theology. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015.
Greenberg, Moshe. “The Design and Themes of Ezekiel’s Program of Restoration.” Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 38, no. 2 (1984): 181–208.
Henning III, Emil Heller. Ezekiel’s Temple: A Scriptural Framework Illustrating the Covenant of Grace. Maitland, Florida: Xulon Press, 2013.
Jonker, Gerdien. The Topography of Remembrance: The Dead, Tradition and Collective Memory in Mesopotamia. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 1995.
Kasher, Rimmon. “Anthropomorphism, Holiness and Cult: A New Look at Ezekiel 40-48.” Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 110, no. 2 (1998): 192–208.
Konkel, Michael. “The System of Holiness in Ezekiel’s Vision of the New Temple (Ezek 40-48).” In Purity and the Forming of Religious Traditions in the Ancient Mediterranean World and Ancient Judism. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2013.
Leveen, Adriane. “Returning the Body to Its Place: Ezekiel’s Tour of the Temple.” Harvard Theological Review 105, no. 4 (2012): 385–401.
Lyons, Michael A. “Envisioning Restoration: Innovations in Ezekiel 40-48.” In I Lifted My Eyes and Saw: Reading Dream and Vision Reports in the Hebrew Bible. London, U.K.: T&T Clark, 2014.
Price, Randall. The Temple and Bible Prophecy: A Definitive Look at Its Past, Present, and Future. 2nd ed. Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2005.
Shedd, William G. T. Dogmatic Theology. Edited by Alan Gomes. 3rd ed. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2003.
Simon, Bennett. “Ezekiel’s Geometric Vision of the Restored Temple: From the Rod of His Wrath to the Reed of His Measuring.” Harvard Theological Review 102, no. 4 (2009): 411–438.
[1] Ezekiel 1:1 (HCSB).
[2] Jeremy Royal Edward and Edwin A. Blum, eds., Holman Christian Standard Bible: Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2010), 1350.
[3] Ezekiel 12:19 (HCSB).
[4] Bennett Simon, “Ezekiel’s Geometric Vision of the Restored Temple: From the Rod of His Wrath to the Reed of His Measuring,” Harvard Theological Review 102, no. 4 (2009): 420.
[5] Ezekiel 16:20-22 (HCSB).
[6] Simon, “Ezekiel’s Geometric Vision of the Restored Temple: From the Rod of His Wrath to the Reed of His Measuring, 422-423.”
[7] Ezekiel 16:17 (HCSB).
[8] Edward and Blum, Holman Christian Standard Bible: Study Bible, 1372.
[9] Ezekiel 16:25 (HCSB).
[10] Ezekiel 11:2 (HCSB).
[11] Ezekiel 11:6-7 (HCSB).
[12] Simon, “Ezekiel’s Geometric Vision of the Restored Temple: From the Rod of His Wrath to the Reed of His Measuring,” 424.
[13] Ezekiel 45:9-12 (HCSB).
[14] Simon, “Ezekiel’s Geometric Vision of the Restored Temple: From the Rod of His Wrath to the Reed of His Measuring,” 421.
[15] Adriane Leveen, “Returning the Body to Its Place: Ezekiel’s Tour of the Temple,” Harvard Theological Review 105, no. 4 (2012): 387.
[16] Ezekiel 33:23-26 (HCSB).
[17] Ezekiel 33:28 (HCSB).
[18] Ezekiel 23:25-29 (HCSB).
[19] Ezekiel 6:2-4 (HCSB).
[20] Leveen, “Returning the Body to Its Place: Ezekiel’s Tour of the Temple,” 387.
[21] Ibid, 388.
[22] Gerdien Jonker, The Topography of Remembrance: The Dead, Tradition and Collective Memory in Mesopotamia (Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 1995), 36-37.
[23] Randall Price, The Temple and Bible Prophecy: A Definitive Look at Its Past, Present, and Future, 2nd ed. (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2005), 508.
[24] Ezekiel 10:4 (HCSB).
[25] Price, The Temple and Bible Prophecy: A Definitive Look at Its Past, Present, and Future, 508.
[26] Ibid, 509.
[27] Michael A. Lyons, “Envisioning Restoration: Innovations in Ezekiel 40-48,” in I Lifted My Eyes and Saw: Reading Dream and Vision Reports in the Hebrew Bible (London, U.K.: T&T Clark, 2014), 80.
[28] Genesis 2:8 (HCSB).
[29] Genesis 3:24 (HCSB).
[30] Price, The Temple and Bible Prophecy: A Definitive Look at Its Past, Present, and Future, 526.
[31] Ezekiel 43:4 (HCSB).
[32] Ezekiel 43:5 (HCSB).
[33] Rimmon Kasher, “Anthropomorphism, Holiness and Cult: A New Look at Ezekiel 40-48,” Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 110, no. 2 (1998): 197.
[34] Ibid, 197.
[35] Ibid, 197.
[36] Michael Konkel, “The System of Holiness in Ezekiel’s Vision of the New Temple (Ezek 40-48),” in Purity and the Forming of Religious Traditions in the Ancient Mediterranean World and Ancient Judism (Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2013), 452.
[37] Ibid, 452.
[38] Ibid, 452.
[39] Ibid, 452.
[40] Emil Heller Henning III, Ezekiel’s Temple: A Scriptural Framework Illustrating the Covenant of Grace (Maitland, Florida: Xulon Press, 2013), 181, Kindle.
[41] Ibid, 181, Kindle.
[42] Ibid, 143, Kindle.
[43] Ibid, 270, Kindle.
[44] Lyons, “Envisioning Restoration: Innovations in Ezekiel 40-48,” 79.
[45] Price, The Temple and Bible Prophecy: A Definitive Look at Its Past, Present, and Future, 532.
[46] Ezekiel 44:1-2 (HCSB).
[47] Kasher, “Anthropomorphism, Holiness and Cult: A New Look at Ezekiel 40-48,” 195.
[48] Ibid, 198.
[49] Moshe Greenberg, “The Design and Themes of Ezekiel’s Program of Restoration,” Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 38, no. 2 (1984): 182.
[50] Ezekiel 37:25-28 (HCSB).
[51] Henning III, Ezekiel’s Temple: A Scriptural Framework Illustrating the Covenant of Grace, 690, Kindle.
[52] Ibid, 708, Kindle.
[53] Ibid, 708, Kindle.
[54] Ezekiel 36:24 (HCSB).
[55] Ezekiel 36:25-28 (HCSB).
[56] Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum, God’s Kingdom through God’s Covenants: A Concise Biblical Theology (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015), 4210, Kindle.
[57] William G. T. Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, ed. Alan Gomes, 3rd ed. (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2003), 15619, Kindle.
[58] Ezekiel 36:27 (HCSB).
[59] Price, The Temple and Bible Prophecy: A Definitive Look at Its Past, Present, and Future, 526.
[60] Edward and Blum, Holman Christian Standard Bible: Study Bible.
[61] Ezekiel 47:1 (HCSB).
[62] Henning III, Ezekiel’s Temple: A Scriptural Framework Illustrating the Covenant of Grace, 187, Kindle.
[63] Ezekiel 74:3-5 (HCSB).
[64] Ezekiel 74:6-10 (HCSB).
[65] Ezekiel 74:12 (HCSB).
[66] Lyons, “Envisioning Restoration: Innovations in Ezekiel 40-48,” 78.
[67] Price, The Temple and Bible Prophecy: A Definitive Look at Its Past, Present, and Future, 519.
[68] Brian Boyle, “The Figure of the Nasi in Ezekiel’s Vision of the New Temple (Ezekiel 40-48),” Australian Biblical Review 58 (2010): 4.
[69] Ezekiel 44 (HCSB).
[70] Boyle, “The Figure of the Nasi in Ezekiel’s Vision of the New Temple (Ezekiel 40-48),” 6.
[71] Ibid, 6.
[72] Henning III, Ezekiel’s Temple: A Scriptural Framework Illustrating the Covenant of Grace, 270, Kindle.
[73] Ibid, 275, Kindle.
[74] Boyle, “The Figure of the Nasi in Ezekiel’s Vision of the New Temple (Ezekiel 40-48),” 7.
[75] Ezekiel 45:17 (HCSB).
[76] Boyle, “The Figure of the Nasi in Ezekiel’s Vision of the New Temple (Ezekiel 40-48),” 8.
[77] Henning III, Ezekiel’s Temple: A Scriptural Framework Illustrating the Covenant of Grace, 275.
[78] Joseph Blenkinsopp, Ezekiel (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1990), 227.
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