Hello John, Donna Danna, and Doves,
I would like to preface this letter
with:
1) I wouldn't have 'found'
this information (again - I read it years ago) if Donna
Danna hadn't commented on my previous Doves letters
about the Temple and New Jerusalem. So, thank you,
Donna!
I had read Ezekiel 40 plus before,
but thought it was probably about Solomon's Temple and
not THE 'future Temple in the Millennium'. I
thought that these chapters in Ezekiel were just
'jewish' information/directions and they had probably
all been fulfilled in the past and certainly wouldn't
extend past the Second Coming. I had believed that
Jesus was the last sacrifice - the last Passover
lamb. Well...'not so fast!', I discovered in
rereading Exodus 40 - 48. The sacrifices don't
end. And this Millennial Temple information comes
directly after Ezekiel's prophesy of the God and Magog
War. If these chapters are in a 'timeline'
order...it would have been good for me to realize this
Temple followed the God and Magog War..somewhere on the
timeline.
I have mainly relied on The
Revelation for info on the Millennium.
2) The Lord made certain
promises to His Chosen people - the Jewish people - that
have not been fulfilled and, more than likely, won't be
fulfilled until the Millennium time period. God
said "He has poured His spirit upon the house of
Israel." Ezekiel 39:29 There is much still
to fulfill for the Holy Land and the Jewish
people. And it looks like some major fulfillments
will take place during the Millennium~ Such as,
giving all the land promised to Abraham and his
descendants.
3) The Lord told the Jewish
people that they were to do certain things "forever",
"for all their generations" - there were 'statutes of
judgement' or 'statutory ordinances'' 'for you
throughout your generations' or 'from generation to
generation' - taking this literally - that means
in the Millennium also. And in Joel 3:20, we learn
that "...Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from
generation to generation." These 'certain' things will
continue forever. In Leviticus 23, the directions
for the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is
"to be a permanent statute for the generations to come,
wherever you live." And In Exodus 31:13 "Speak
thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my
sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between
me and you thoughout your generations;
that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify
you."
Is the Millennium Temple a
different place than New Jerusalem? The New
Jerusalem comes down out of Heaven. The
Millennial Temple is built on Earth. But is it
built in New Jerusalem or in 'old Jerusalem?
Hmmm.
And the Millennial Temple is
different in many aspects from Solomon's Temple (see
Chuck Missler's video below.)
I have not really studied what
happens during 'the Millennium' so this has been a
very enlightening letter. I know satan is bound
during this time and Jesus rules and reigns from the
Holy City. "And it shall come to pass, that
everyone that is left of all the nations which came
against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year
to worship the King, the Lord of hosts and to keep the
Feast of Tabernacles." Zech 14:16 No
other Feasts of the Lord are mentioned. This
time is followed by the great 'white throne'
judgment. Then satan et al are thrown into the
lake of fire. The Believers will pass on to
'eternal glory'.
So it looks like the Gentiles
(they went against the Jewish people) go to New
Jerusalem on Feast of Tabernacles to worship the Lord
there. In the Millennial Temple, the Jews are to
keep the Sabbaths, new moons, and, possibly, just
three of the Feasts of the Lord? (three are
specifically mentioned, but I think all will be
instituted at this new temple). So there is a
difference between Jew and Gentile in Temple worship.
It looks like the Millennial Temple
is primarily for the Jewish people who make it through
the Tribulation period. The New Jerusalem, that
'comes down out of Heaven from God is for 'the redeemed'
- those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of
Life. Rev. 21:27 Those who worship the beast will
not have their names written in the book. Rev.
13:8 "Nothing unclean will ever enter it (the New
Jerusalem on the New Earth)...but only those who are
written in the Lamb's book of life." Rev
21:27. This book has names from thousands of years
back. And names were inscribed 'before the
foundation of the world'.
The
'Lamb's Book of Life' - 10 Things You Need to Know
Ezekiel describes in GREAT detail
the Millennium Temple in Ezekiel 40 through 48.
This is right after he prophesied the Gog and Magog War
in Ezekiel 38/39.
Ezekiel was given "visions of God"
for Israel, for Jerusalem. And he is told all of
this by the Lord and the Lord said to "..declare all
that thou seest to the house of Israel." Ez 40:4
He is shown a building, in
Jerusalem. This 'building' has gates
and chambers and porches - the detail is amazing...down
to 'palm trees' on the posts. There is an inner
court and an outer court, pavement, and measurements for
everything in cubits. There are many tables where
they are "to slay their sacrifices" with the tools to
slay their sacrifices. And there are tables for
the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass
offering." There are singers and chambers for
them. And a chamber for the priests - the sons of
Levi (of the seed of Zadok) "which come near to the Lord
to minister unto Him." Ez 40:46
And there is an altar of wood -
measured in cubits - "this is the table that is before
the Lord". Ez 41:22 And there is a
temple. He is told about the doors, the wall
thickness, and all the measurements. And about the
"cherubims and palm trees" "from the ground to above the
door". Ez 41:18
There are 'north chambers' and
'upper chambers' and east and south chambers. The
north and south chambers "be holy chambers, where the
priest that approach unto the Lord shall eat the most
holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things,
and the meat offering and the sin offering and the
trespass offering, for the holy place." And the
priests have holy garments.
At the East gate "And the glory of
the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate,
whose prospect is toward the east." "..the
glory of the Lord filled the house." Ez 43:4,5
So who can enter into the sanctuary
of the Lord? "Thus saith the Lord God "No stranger
(foreigner, alien), uncircumcised in heart and
uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary,
of any stranger that is among the children of Israel."
This is because the priests of Israel 'went astray with
idols'. The priests "shall even bear their
iniquity." Ez 44:10
The Lord said to Ezekiel "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 the whoredome, nor by the carcasses of their
kings in their high places." Ezekiel 43:7 He
repeats in vs 9 "and I will dwell in the midst of them
for ever."
The Lord told Ezekiel to tell these
things to the house of Israel.
There is a seven day length of time
for the consecration of the altar. It's the
priests that offer the burnt offerings and sprinkle the
blood on the altar. They will consecrate the altar
- and there are specific daily instructions given for
this. It's the priests that "..approach unto me,
to minister unto me.." Ez 43:19 The young bullock
is for the sin offering on Day 1 of the consecration of
the altar. On Day 2, a kid of a goat is for the
sin offering; then they will offer a young bullock and a
ram - these will be the burnt offering. For seven
days they prepare a goat for the sin offering; and a
young bullock and a ram. Seven days they shall
"purge the altar and purify it; and they shall
consecrate themselves." Ez 43:18 - 27
And on the eighth day and forward,
"the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the
altar and your peace offerings, and I will accept you,
saith the Lord God." Ezekiel 43:27
In Ezekiel 44 the Lord gives the
'rules concerning the priests.' How they dress,
how they wear their hair. "The shall teach my
people the difference between the holy and the profane,
and cause them to discern between the unclear and the
clean." They will keep the Lord's laws and statues
and 'hallow' His sabbaths.
The Lord also told Ezekiel about
princes of the house of Israel and their duties.
They will execute judgment and justice and remove
violence. Ez 45:9
Then the Lord told Ezekiel about
the Feast of Passover on the fourteenth day of the first
month. Seven days to eat unleavened bread.
There will be a sin offering. and a burnt offering and a
meat offering. Ez 45: 21-24. Then the Feast
of Tabernacles - the fifteenth day of the seventh month
- again, the three offerings. And there are daily
burnt offerings - a lamb and a meat offering Ez 46:13,
14
When "the people of the land shall
come before the Lord in the solemn feasts" the Lord
tells them which gates to enter by and leave by.
Ez 46:9
And there is a river that runs out
from under 'the threshold of the house eastward' Ez 47:1
This river brings life "and everything shall live
whither the river cometh." Ez 47:9 Along the
banks of the river are trees - whose leaves are for
medicine and the fruit is for eating. Ez
47:12 New fruit is brought forth each month.
The land round about will be
divided "according to the tribes of Israel." Ez
47:21 Their inheritance. It's also for the
"strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget
children among you: and they shall be unto you as bourn
in the country among the children of Israel; they shall
have inheritance with you among the tribes of
Israel. And it shall come to pass, that in what
tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him
his inheritance, saith the Lord God". Ez 47:21-22
There will be 12 gates named for
the tribes of Israel. Ez 48:31
There is much, much more in
Ezekiel 40 - 48.
Some may be wondering, is there
really a Millennial Temple? Do the sacrifices really
come back? This looks to be the case.
Chuck Missler, on Koinonia House
channel, has this Youtube talk on "The Millennial
Temple" He says there are a lot of questions about
the Millennial Temple. He doesn't believe it's totally
symbolic and the topology is totally different from what
we see today. He said the Temple is opened on
Shabbat and the New Moon. Offerings and sacrifices
are resumed. These are memorial of 'the cross'.
There are outer gates where there
is 'less light' than what's at the Temple - some people
outside the gates won't be participants of the Wedding
Supper - these people will be severely disappointed.
run time 10:21
There are some similarities to
New Jerusalem - the twelve gates named for the twelve
tribes of Israel. There are numerous gates - east,
west, north and south. There is a tree of life in
Heaven with leaves for the 'healing of the nations' and
yields a different fruit every month. There is a
river that flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb;
with trees on either side of the river. The throne
of God is in the city. Rev. 22:3 The only
people allowed to enter it have their names written in the
Lamb's Book of Life. Rev 21:7
Why are these things
repeated? The tree of life, the leaves for healing,
lining the river, a fruit each month, the twelve gates
named after the twelve tribes..and many other
similarities... Makes me wonder if we aren't suppose
to somehow combine these two places? Or does God
like these things so much, He's made duplicates?
There is obvious overlap between
Ezekiel's Temple and New Jerusalem. In some descriptions,
they appear to be the same place. The Revelation is
not nearly as detailed as Ezekiel.
I have many questions about
Ezekiel's Temple and New Jerusalem. And I didn't not
actually 'study' Ezekiel 40 - 48. I skimmed through
a lot of the measurements and such.
And we may not get the answers
until we are in the Millennium. Maybe it's just not
on the 'need to know' list. We still have to get to
the Rapture. I'm sure everything will be made clear
in it's time.
On a side note, one thing that
really caught my eye was God likes palm trees - He wants
them 'placed/carved/made?' on the door ways, posts, walls,
etc. That's really cool. He wants palm tress
on His Holy Temple. Not fig trees. In Strong's
Hebrew, "tamar" is palm tree. It's a symbol of
beauty, grace and fruitfulness in the Bible. In
ancient Israel, the palm tree was a symbol of prosperity
and victory, often associated with oases and places of
rest." They are a "powerful symbol of resilience and
rest."
Strong's
Hebrew: 8558. תָּמָר (tamar) -- Tamar
God also wanted chebubims
alongside some of the palm trees. These 'beings' have
wings. He must be especially fond of them too.
He had them placed on the ark of the testimony. I'm
not exactly sure what a cherubim looks like. The
cherubim had the flaming sword to guard the Garden of
Eden. But they must be beautiful also and complement the
palm trees.
Palm trees are beautiful. I
have several lithographs of different types hanging on a
wall in my house. God loves beauty. And I bet there
will be a lot of flowers and flowering trees in His
gardens. Everything we see as beautiful - colors,
fragrances, music, landscapes, architecture, etc - God put
in us - we are made in His image.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
Maranatha!
Chance
PS
See my other letter today with a similar topic.