FRIDAY
During the Exile, Ezekiel prophesied about a new temple. This temple was never built (it was likely to be interpreted figuratively), but it describes God’s presence returning to his people after the Exile.
Ezekiel 37:21–28 (NIV) 21 and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God. 24 “ ‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. 25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’”
Ezekiel’s vision includes Jesus, his kingdom, the church and the final consummation of his kingdom when he returns. As is common in prophecy, all of these blend together here and he goes in and out of each of them without warning.
Then in chapters 40-48, Ezekiel describes a new temple and a new city in great detail.
In chapter 47 Ezekiel sees a river (think River of Life from Eden) flowing out from underneath the threshold of the temple. The river gets progressively deeper as it flows out of the temple.
Ezekiel 47:1–12 (NIV) 1 The man bought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. 2 He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side. 3 As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. 4 He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. 5 He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. 6 He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. 8 He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. 10 Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. 11 But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. 12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”
Along the river there are trees. There is flourishing and life to be found in the presence of God which is expanding to fill the earth. The river even makes the salt water fresh instead of the salt contaminating the pure water from the river. Ezekiel is prophesying of the time to come when the presence of God will fulfill its mission of justice, forgiveness, and witness to the world. This points to Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, and the one who tabernacled among us (Jn. 1:14). Jesus is the temple who ushers in this kingdom of God, expanding to the ends of the earth, fulfilling the original intent of Eden and the temple. He is the one who makes the unclean clean when he contacts them. The people of God in the church will continue this mission—carrying forward the presence of God to all the world, pointing people to the abundant life to be found in the river. This is where we are heading in the next couple of weeks.
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