Eze 41:1-2<\/strong><\/span> .<\/strong> Measurement of the “temple,” the holy place, Fig. 2, B<\/p>\n 1<\/strong>. The “posts” or jambs of the entrance wall were 6 cubits thick, Fig. 2, cd<\/em>.<\/p>\n breadth of the tabernacle<\/em> ] Heb. tent<\/em>. The word does not occur in the prophet except in the compounds Oholah and Oholibah. Read: other side: the breadth of the posts.<\/p>\n The Temple – <\/B>Properly the holy place (a), as distinguished from the porch (G) and the holy of holies (B) 1Ki 6:17<\/span>; 1Ki 7:50<\/span>.<\/P> The posts – <\/B>The outer wall of the temple was six cubits thick Eze 41:5<\/span>. The eastern posts of this wall forming part of the front of the temple were ornamented with pillars, six cubits on each side.<\/P> He measured the breadth – <\/B>This breadth was twenty cubits Eze 41:2<\/span>. Omit which was. tabernacle is here the interior (the covered portion) of the temple.<\/P><\/p>\n Eze 41:1<\/span><\/p>\n He brought me to the temple.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The heavenly temple<\/strong><\/p>\n The Church of God as a temple<\/strong><\/p>\n The Christian Church<\/strong><\/p>\n This description presents to us–<\/p>\n All life planned and measured<\/strong><\/p>\n Then consider that life is a plan. It is not a cloud; it could be more perfectly illustrated by geometry than by clouds and mist or vapour. It has its four points, its main boundaries, its architectural shape; its elevation, imposing, and all its appointments detailed with scrupulous care towards the education and spiritual comfort of the inhabitant. Work on that plan, and all will be right. Ask for the plan every morning; go into the little office, and have a look at the paper. Here is the great skeleton building with all its anatomy of scaffolding and planking: what is that little house or wooden shed outside? That is where the plan is kept. Why do men go in there now and then? To look at the plan. Can they not carry the plan in their heads? Not well. Can they not make the plan as they go on? No. Architecture is not conjecture. It is settled, designed; every little part mapped out, and put down and set to scale. And art thou, poor fool, building a life house without a plan? The only man who has ever grasped life in all its bearings and relationships and issues is the Son of God. You can hew away at this old book called the Bible as much as you please, you cannot get away from this living and all-dominating fact, that no man known to history has so laid hold of life in all its depth and length and breadth and height, in all its pain, tragedy, agony, destiny, in all its discipline, education, and culture, with such grasp, such clearness, and such wisdom, as it has been realised and provided for by the Christ of God. There are other religions, and many of them fine, fantastic speculation, beautiful, cloudy, rainbow-like dreaming; but for culture of the soul, for discipline of the will, for stirring the whole nature into benevolent impulse towards other men, Christianity stands alone. To that Christ I ask my fellow men; to that Christ I would go every day and say, Lord Jesus, what is the next thing to be done? and tell me how to do it, and never leave me one moment to myself; measure out the thousand cubits, tell me which is the north side, the south side, the west side, the east side, and if it comes to a great fight, show me how to stand, how to move, how to stretch: Lord, be with me all the time, till the hurly-burlys done, till the battles fought and won. Given a young man who goes out to make his own fortune and his own destiny, and you have an image of folly: given a young soul who says, As everything else is meted out, measured, adjusted, and balanced, mayhap my poor little life is treated in the same way; I will go to the Divine measurer, and He will tell me within what lines to work, where to stop and how to live–and in that young soul you have an image of Wisdom. (J. Parker.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The temple of the future<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>It is sacred. The selection of portions of time for Sabbaths, of families of men for priests, seems to have been chiefly designed to teach what is meant by setting apart of time or men to high and holy purposes, so that afterwards we may learn how all time and all men may be so set apart. So the setting apart of one building as a temple, teaches how spaces and places and services may be devoted to high and holy purposes. Its rich and its poor, its cultured and its ignorant, its art, its science, its commerce, its festivals, are all to be sanctified.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>It is conspicuous. This temple stands on a very high mountain, and so standing is of course prominent and widely seen. How true an emblem of the kingdom of God! for goodness, like its Incarnate Pattern and Inspirer, cannot be hid.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>It is vast. Not only has it many gates and is thus accessible from every quarter, but it is reckoned that the measurements of the temple and land, as seen by Ezekiel, would give a temple larger than all Jerusalem, and a Jerusalem larger than all the land of Canaan. So we have a beautiful indication of the growing influence of the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>It is complete. The particularisation of the details of the temple Ezekiel saw, is so minute, that, excepting as we judge it by similar minute particularisations in his other visions, we should be compelled to consider it must be literal. But it is rather an emphatic method of showing Divine knowledge of and care for every, even the smallest detail of the kingdom of truth amongst men.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>It is sacrificial. Of course we find in the delineation of the temple, altars, and in the ritual for the house, directions for priests and arrangements for slaying animals for sacrifice. And in the great temple of truth and goodness, though now there is no need for sacrifice for sin, since the propitiation for the worlds sin has died, there is, and there will ever be, for discipline and for development of the highest life, the many altars of daily self-denials, the high altar of complete self-sacrifice.<\/p>\n 6. <\/strong>It is beautiful. Amongst the adornments Ezekiel described, were the cherubim, the symbol of ideal creature life, and the palm trees, the boughs of whose feathery foliage, beautiful in themselves, were the chosen signs of victory. So morally strength and beauty, the Strength of the sterner and the beauty of the gentler virtues, are in the sanctuary of Gods kingdom.<\/p>\n 7. <\/strong>It is God-inhabited. The return of God to dwell in the temple is the climax of the vision, the crown of all its glory. We have the mind of Christ. He walks in the midst of the Churches, inspires all, and reigns over all.<\/p>\n CHAPTER XLI <\/P> In this chapter the prophet gives us a circumstantial account<\/I><\/P> of the measures, parts, chambers, and ornaments of the temple<\/I>,<\/P> 1-26. <\/P> NOTES ON CHAP. XLI<\/P> <\/P> Verse 1<\/span>. To the temple<\/B><\/I>] He had first described the courts and the porch. See Eze 40:5-49<\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n 1. tabernacle<\/B>As in themeasurement of the outer porch he had pointed to Solomon’s temple,<\/I>so here in the edifice itself, he points to the old tabernacle,<\/I>which being eight boards in breadth (each one and a half cubitsbroad) would make in all twelve cubits, as here. On the interior itwas only ten cubits.<\/P><\/p>\n Afterward he brought me to the temple<\/strong>,…. Having measured the porch into it, its posts, and gate. This is the body of the building, which was the “frame” of a city first shown, the principal fabric; for hitherto he had been only measuring the outward and inner courts, and their gates, and what were in them; but now he is come to the house itself, called a temple; by which not only particular Gospel churches are called, 1Co 3:16<\/span>, but the Gospel church state in general, Zec 6:12<\/span>, and especially as in the latter day; so the Philadelphian church state, which represents the spiritual reign of Christ, or the glory of the latter day, is called the temple of my God, Re 3:12<\/span>, which will be a holy temple to the Lord where he will dwell in a gracious manner, and be worshipped in spirit and in truth; and here his glory will be seen; it will be built up of precious and costly stones, even living and lively ones; a spiritual house to offer up the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise: and, as in the material temple or holy place stood the candlestick and table of shewbread; here the light of the Gospel will burn clearly; and Christ the bread of life be held forth in the ordinance of the supper; where, as at a table, saints shall have intimate fellowship with him:<\/p>\n and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side<\/strong> these were the posts of the door of the temple, and stood on each side of it, on the north and south; and this was the thickness, six cubits or a reed each, three yards and a half; this was the frontispiece of the door of the palace of the King of kings:<\/p>\n which was the breadth of the tabernacle<\/strong>; the tabernacle of Moses; that is, these posts, or this frontispiece, were as broad as the whole tabernacle of Moses was; which had eight boards in the breadth, each board being a cubit and a half, made twelve cubits, just the breadth of these two posts, Ex 26:16<\/span>, this shows how far superior the Gospel church is to the old synagogue; how larger is the one, and the entrance into it wider, than the other. Some understand by “the tabernacle” the upper lintel, of the same breadth with the posts; and was in a recurve, and as a covering to the door; so the Jewish commentators, and others that follow them.<\/p>\n The Inner Space of the Temple (see Plate III B<\/em> and C<\/em>)<\/p>\n Eze 41:1<\/span>. And he led me into the temple, and measured the pillars, six cubits breadth on this side and six cubits breadth on that side, with regard to the breadth of the tent. <\/em> Eze 41:2<\/span>. And the breadth of the door was ten cubits; and the shoulders of the door, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that: and he measured its length, forty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits. <\/em> Eze 41:3<\/span>. And he went within the measured the pillar of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits. <\/em> Eze 41:4<\/span>. And he measured its length, twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, toward the temple; and said to me, This is the holy of holies.<\/em> – Eze 41:1<\/span> and Eze 41:2<\/span> give the measurements of the holy place. is used here in the more restricted sense for the nave of the temple, the holy place ( B<\/em>), without the porch and the holy of holies (cf. 1Ki 6:17<\/span>). The measuring commences with the front (eastern) wall, in which there was the entrance door. This wall had pillars ( e e<\/em>) of six cubits breadth on either side (on the right hand and the left), and between the pillars a door (d) ten cubits broad, with door-shoulders ( e e<\/em>) of five cubits on this side and that ( Eze 41:2<\/span><\/em>). These measurements (6 + 6 + 10 + 5 + 5) yield for the front wall a total breadth of thirty-two cubits. This agrees with the measurements which follow: twenty cubits, the (internal) breadth of the holy place, and six cubits the thickness of the wall ( e<\/em>) on either side (Eze 41:5<\/span>). The only remaining difficulty is in the very obscure words appended, , in which Ewald and Hitzig propose to alter into otni re , because the lxx have substituted , but without making any improvement, as is still more inexplicable. Kliefoth, after examining the various attempts to explain these words, comes to the conclusion that no other course is left than to take as signifying the inner space of Ezekiel’s temple, consisting of the holy place and the holy of holies, which was the same in the entire building as the tabernacle had been, – viz. the tent of God’s meeting with His people, and which is designated as to show the substantial identity of this space and the tabernacle. The clause is thus attached to the preceding double (i.e., to the measurement of the two pillars bounding the holy space), in an elliptical manner, in the following sense: “he measured the breadth of the pillars, on this side and that, which marked off the breadth of the tent, on the outside, that is to say, of the inner space of the holy place which resembled the tabernacle;” so that this clause formed a loose apposition, meaning, “with regard to the breath of the tent.” are the walls on both sides of the door (e e), between the door and the boundary pillars. – The internal length and breadth of the holy place are the same as in the holy place of Solomon’s temple (1Ki 6:2<\/span>, 1Ki 6:17<\/span>).<\/p>\n Eze 41:3<\/span> and Eze 41:4<\/span> refer to the holy of holies ( c<\/em>). “He went within.” We have (for ) and not (Eze 41:1<\/span>), because the prophet was not allowed to tread the most holy place, and therefore the angel went in alone. is defined in Eze 41:4<\/span> as the holy of holies. The measurements in Eze 41:3<\/span> refer to the partition wall between the holy place and the most holy ( g<\/em>). , the pillar-work of the door, stands for the pillars on both sides of the door; and the measurement of two cubits no doubt applies to each pillar, denoting, not the thickness, but the breadth which it covered on the wall. There is a difficulty in the double measurement which follows: the door six cubits, and the breadth of the door seven cubits. As the latter is perfectly clear, and also apparently in accordance with the fact, and on measuring a door the height is the only thing which can come into consideration in addition to the breadth, we agree with Kliefoth in taking the six cubits as a statement of the height. The height of six cubits bears a fitting proportion to the breadth of seven cubits, if there were folding-doors; and the seven is significant in the case of the door to the holy of holies, the dwelling of God. The Seventy, however, did not know what to do with this text, and changed into , in which they have been followed by Bttcher, Hitzig, and others. But it is obvious at once that the Seventy have simply derived these data<\/em> from the measurements of the front of the holy place (Eze 41:2<\/span>), and have overlooked the fact, that in the first place, beside the measure of the , i.e., , the , or breadth<\/em> of the door, is also expressly measured there, whereas here, on the contrary, it is preceded by alone, without ; and secondly, as the measurement of the given in Eze 41:1<\/span> indicates their breadth (from south to north), in the present instance also the measure ascribed to the can only refer to the breadth of the , and not to its thickness (from east to west). But if we explain the first clause of Eze 41:3<\/span> in this manner, as both the language and the fact require, the reading of the lxx is proved to be a false correction, by the fact that it yields a breadth of twenty-two or twenty-four cubits (2 + 2 + 6 + 7 + 7), whereas the holy of holies, like the holy place, was only twenty cubits broad. The dimensions of the holy of holies also correspond to the space covered by the holy of holies in Solomon’s temple (1Ki 6:20<\/span>). The expression , “toward the holy place,” is to be explained by the supposition that the measuring angel, after he had proceeded to the western end of the holy of holies for the purpose of measuring the length, turned round again to measure the breadth, so that this breadth lay “toward the holy place.”<\/p>\n The Vision of the Temple.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 574.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> 1 Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was<\/I> the breadth of the tabernacle. 2 And the breadth of the door was<\/I> ten cubits; and the sides of the door were<\/I> five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits: and the breadth, twenty cubits. 3 Then went he inward, and measured the post of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits. 4 So he measured the length thereof, twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is<\/I> the most holy place.<\/I> 5 After he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every<\/I> side chamber, four cubits, round about the house on every side. 6 And the side chambers were<\/I> three, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which was<\/I> of the house for the side chambers round about, that they might have hold, but they had not hold in the wall of the house. 7 And there was<\/I> an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still<\/I> upward, and so increased from<\/I> the lowest chamber<\/I> to the highest by the midst. 8 I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the side chambers were<\/I> a full reed of six great cubits. 9 The thickness of the wall, which was<\/I> for the side chamber without, was<\/I> five cubits: and that<\/I> which was<\/I> left was<\/I> the place of the side chambers that were<\/I> within. 10 And between the chambers was<\/I> the wideness of twenty cubits round about the house on every side. 11 And the doors of the side chambers were<\/I> toward the place that was<\/I> left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left was<\/I> five cubits round about.<\/P> We are still attending a prophet that is under the guidance of an angel, and therefore attend with reverence, though we are often at a loss to know both what this is and what it is to us. Observe here, 1. After the prophet had observed the courts he was at length brought to the temple,<\/I> v.<\/span> 1<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. If we diligently attend to the instructions given us in the plainer parts of religion, and profit by them, we shall be led further into an acquaintance with the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Those that are willing to dwell in God’s courts shall at length be brought into his temple. Ezekiel was himself a priest, but by the iniquity and calamity of the times was cut short of his birthright privilege of ministering in the temple; but God makes up the loss to him by introducing him into this prophetical, evangelical, celestial temple, and employing him to transmit a description of it to the church, in which he was dignified above all the rest of his order. 2. When our Lord Jesus spoke of the destroying of this temple,<\/I> which his hearers understood of this second temple of Jerusalem, he spoke of the temple of his body (Joh 2:19<\/span>; Joh 2:21<\/span>); and with good reason might he speak so ambiguously when Ezekiel’s vision had a joint respect to them both together, including also his mystical body the church, which is called the house of God<\/I> (1 Tim. iii. 15<\/span>), and all the members of that body, which are living temples,<\/I> in which the Spirit dwells. 3. The very posts of this temple, the door-posts, were as far one from the other, and consequently the door was as wide, as the<\/I> whole breadth of the tabernacle<\/I> of Moses (v.<\/I><\/span> 1<\/span>), namely, twelve cubits, Exo 26:16<\/span>; Exo 26:22<\/span>; Exo 26:25<\/span>. In comparison with what had been under the law we may say, Wide is the gate<\/I> which leads into the church, the ceremonial law, that wall of partition which had so much straitened the gate, being taken down. 4. The most holy place was an exact square, twenty cubits each way, v.<\/I><\/span> 4<\/span>. For the new Jerusalem is exactly square (Rev. xxi. 16<\/span>), denoting its stability; for we look for a city that cannot be moved. 5. The upper stories were larger than the lower, v.<\/I><\/span> 7<\/span>. The walls of the temple were six cubits thick at the bottom, five in the middle story, and four in the highest, which gave room to enlarge the chambers the higher they went; but care was taken that the timber might have fast hold<\/I> (though God builds high, he builds firmly), yet so as not to weaken one part for the strengthening of another; they had hold, but not in the wall of the house.<\/I> By this spreading gradually, the side-chambers<\/I> that were on the height of the house<\/I> (in the uppermost story of all) were six cubits, whereas the lowest were but four; they gained a cubit every story. The higher we build up ourselves in our most holy faith the more should our hearts, those living temples, be enlarged.<\/P> <\/p>\n EZEKIEL – CHAPTER 41<\/strong><\/p>\n THE TEMPLE AND ITS ORNAMENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n Verses 1-4:<\/strong><\/p>\n This chapter continues a description of the temple or house of the Lord under four parts: <\/strong>v. 1-4 describe the interior; v. 5-11 describe the wall and side buildings; v. 12-14 describe the separate place; and v. 13-26 describe the projecting portions of the building.<\/p>\n THE INTERIOR OF THE TEMPLE<\/strong><\/p>\n Verse 1 states <\/strong>that the temple-measuring man brought Ezekiel to the temple or “temple proper,” the holy place, as distinguished from the porch, described in Eze 40:48-49<\/span> and from the Holy of Holies, 1Ki 6:17<\/span>; 1Ki 7:50<\/span>. While Solomon’s temple was pointed to in measuring the outer porch, here the measuring man points to the tabernacle, with eight boards in breadth, each a cubit and a half broad, making twelve cubits as here given. While internally it was but 10 cubits. See Zec 6:12<\/span>; 2Co 6:16<\/span>; Rev 3:12<\/span>.<\/p>\n Verse 2 describes <\/strong>the door separating the holy of holies with a breadth of ten cubits within the holy place or tabernacle; Each side of the door was five cubits. The length was measured to be forty cubits (60 feet) and the breadth twenty cubits (30 feet), Exo 26:36<\/span>; Exo 36:37<\/span>. These are internal dimensions.<\/p>\n Verse 3 gives dimensions <\/strong>of the doors that separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies as six cubits and the breadth of the door, including the hanging with the hinges as seven cubits. Each of the posts projected half a cubit beyond the hinge of the door that opened inward. The angel-man went in to do the measuring, as Ezekiel stood without the holy place, the only part accessible to him.<\/p>\n Verse 4 restates <\/strong>that the man with the measuring reed entered the holy of Holies and announced that the length of the most holy place was twenty cubits and the breadth of it was twenty cubits, then told Ezekiel, “This is the most holy place,” into which only the High priest was to enter, as related 1Ki 6:20<\/span>; 2Ch 3:8<\/span>; Rev 21:2-3<\/span>; Rev 21:16-17<\/span>.<\/p>\n THE TEMPLE AND ITS ORNAMENTS (Chap, 41)<\/p>\n EXEGETICAL NOTES.Eze. 41:1<\/span>. The temple<\/strong>the holy place, the Temple proper, as distinguished from the porch, described in chap. Eze. 40:48-49<\/span>, and from the Holy of Holies (1Ki. 6:17<\/span>; 1Ki. 7:50<\/span>). Which was the breadth of the tabernacle.<\/strong> Which was<\/em> is not in the original, and should be omitted. As in the measurement of the porch the angel had pointed to Solomons Temple, so here in the edifice itself he points to the old Tabernacle. Worship is progressive, and expresses itself in harmony with the culture of every age.<\/p>\n Eze. 41:2<\/span>. The breadth twenty cubits.<\/strong> The measurements are internal, the same as in the Temple of Solomon.<\/p>\n Eze. 41:3<\/span>. Then went he inward.<\/strong> Towards the Holy of Holies. It is significant that in this case it is not said he brought me in,<\/em> but he went in,<\/em> because the Holy of Holies was not to be entered even by a priest like Ezekiel, but only by the high priest once a year. So the angel enters, and announces the measurements to Ezekiel whilst he stood in front of the Temple. The door six cubits, and the breadth of the door seven cubits.<\/strong> The first measurement of the door was from post to post six cubits, and the second measurement, the breadth of the door,<\/em> was the breadth of the actual doors which shut off the Holy of Holies, and which may have been so hung that each of the posts projected half a cubit beyond the hinge of the door, which opened inwards.<\/p>\n Eze. 41:4<\/span>. So he measured the length thereof<\/strong> The measurements of the Holy of Holies exactly correspond with those in Solomons Temple (1Ki. 6:20<\/span>).<\/p>\n Eze. 41:5<\/span>. The wall of the house<\/strong>the outer wall of the Temple itself. Its thickness of six cubits corresponds with the colossal proportions of the architecture of the East. Every side<\/strong> chamber<\/strong>the singular used collectively for the plural, to denote the whole series of side chambers.<\/p>\n Eze. 41:6<\/span>. Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I.<\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>The place of this temple. You find in the 43rd chapter that this temple was placed on a mountain. This is a figurative form of speech, to denote that Christs holiness exalts us above all that we are as sinners; that Christs righteousness–for in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted–exalts us above all condemnation. Here every sin, every spot, every law charge, is completely banished. We shall never live happy in our religion, and we shall never live happy with God, if we ever lose sight of that completeness we have in Christ. There is the exultation. And if you ask what it is that hath established the law of holiness, how it is that this law is established, the apostle will tell you,–that while Aaron was a priest after the law of a carnal commandment, Jesus Christ is a priest after the order of Melchisedec; He has put away sin, and established the law of holiness. And this law of holiness derives its strength from Christs eternal priesthood; so that my holiness that I have in Him will fail when Christs priesthood shall fail, but not before; our justification, our peace with God, and Gods approbation of us and dwelling with us, will cease when Christs righteousness shall fail, but not before; and when the Saviour can be conquered, but not before.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The forms and fashions of this house. The Lord said to Ezekiel, If they be ashamed of all that they have done, and brought to see and feel that their righteousness is as filthy rags, then shew them the form of the house, etc. First, let us see if we can find out the form; and if it is a form that you approve, I shall be very glad of it, because it will prove that you are ashamed of all your own doings, renounce the whole, and that you fall in, by faith, and understanding, and love, with what the Lord has done. I go to the first chapter of the Hebrews, and there I get the form. Jesus Christ is the form of the house; He is the form to which everything must be conformed. What think you of this mediatorial form, this sacrificial form, this form of everlasting life, this form of mercy, this form of grace, this form of truth? Canst thou say that thy soul fails in with it? If so, then you are a part of this temple. Growing into an holy temple–where? in yourselves? No, in the Lord; fitly framed together in Him for an habitation of God through the Spirit. There is the form. But then there is the fashion–Shew them the fashion. Well, I will now notice the fashion. It is a good fashion that I am going to name–a fashion that is very much gone out now in the professing world, but it is a gospel fashion; it is s fashion that will never change while time shall last. What is the fashion? We must go to the 2nd of Mark to get at what the fashion of this house is,–that is, what Gods manner of dealing with men is; that is the meaning of the fashion. I know it is a fashion that will make you very singular. People will say, Dear me, that man is very singular in his fashion. As John Bunyan somewhere says of his pilgrims, They wore a foreign robe, that this world knew nothing of; therefore the people stared and thought they were very singular in their fashion and in their taste. But so it is. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Such is the fashion. Solomon, in his prayer, speaketh of the stranger, the poor Gentile stranger, or whoever he might be, that might come unto Gods holy temple and call unto Him: such was the fashion there, that there was a sacrifice for sin; there was a mercy seat, and there was a God that delighted in mercy. So, then, show them the form, and show them the fashion also.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>The fulness of the house. Take first the 6th of Isaiah. The prophet says, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Jesus Christ died, and God highly exalted Him; and by Christs death and by His exaltation there came in a train of promises and a train of blessings–blessing after blessing, until the whole temple is filled with blessing. Every Christian shall thus be filled with blessing. That is the train–the train of promises and the train of blessings that follow the Saviours humiliation and exaltation. Who can despair that is blessed with saving faith in such a gospel as this, such a God as this, such a Christ as this? Then in the 43rd of Ezekiel you will find the same things repeated. Ezekiel saith, The glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. Now the east was the place of the sunrising; we will read it so; The glory of the Lord came from the way of the sunrising. And so the glory of the Lord comes into the house by the resurrection of Christ. With great power bare they witness of the resurrection of Christ, and great grace was upon them all. And His voice, in coming in, was like a noise of many waters. Is not that a beautiful description? What can you have to equal it? Was not the voice of God by the apostles as the voice of many waters? Take the many waters to represent the mercies, the blessings, of the everlasting gospel. Many waters; so it is many mercies, many blessings. And the earth shined with His glory. Was it not so? Did not the Lord command the light to shine into the souls of men? He gave them the hearing ear, to hear these many waters–the sound of abundance of rain, the sound of those mercies; and then light came to show them the way to these living waters; they drank, lived, and shall live forever. And the house was filled with the glory of the Lord, the presence of the Lord. One more Scripture–the 15th of the Revelation. The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power. What a happy place is every assembly when it is filled with the fragrance of His name, from the glory of the Lord, from the glory of our great High Priest! He offers much incense with the prayers of the saints. The house was filled with the fragrance of His blessed name, from the glory of God, and from His power. Jesus exercised omnipotent power when He wrought salvation, casting the enemy out, and bringing His glory in. (James Wells.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I.<\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>The living temple of the living God will exhibit the characteristics of unity and diversity. The Father of our spirits has made none of His intelligent creatures in all respects alike. There is as much difference in their gifts and characteristics as there is in their personal identity, and this variety must border upon the infinite. The idea of a temple involves the bringing together of a great variety of materials, each kind being adapted to serve a special purpose in the building.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The Church of God will be the abode of purity. The word temple involves this idea. A temple is a building set apart, consecrated to a religious use. This temple is represented as being surrounded by a wall of separation. But the living temple will be one of spiritual and conscious purity. The distinctive element in it will be (Rev 21:27<\/span>).<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>This Church of the future will included what was symbolised by the temple of the past. In the beginning of a human life there seems a very little of the spiritual, a great preponderance of the material. But as the child grows, the intellectual and moral part of the man develops itself, until by and by, if the ideal manhood is reached, the animal part of the man is swallowed up in the spiritual part.<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>The dimensions of this spiritual Church can be taken by heavenly measurement only. Solomons temple could be measured by a human hand, the temple of Ezekiels vision needed an angel of God to measure it. Its size could not be rightly estimated by an inhabitant of earth or by earthly measures. The Church of the redeemed will consist of a multitude which no man can number (Rev 7:9<\/span>).<\/p>\n
V. <\/strong>This temple of purity is the dwelling place of God. The living spirit inhabits the human body so long as that body remains in a certain state of purity and unity, viz., so long as it can, by the retaining of its animal life, resist the decomposition which sets in immediately after death. The living spirit is a temple for the living God. (A London Minister.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>The extent and latitude of the Church under Christ. He measured the gate to the east, and the east side, to show that the eastern people should be of the Christian Church. And the north, south, and west sides, to assure us that the people of those parts should come to Zion. Christ sent His apostles to all nations. The Church of Christ is all the world over.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The stability and firmness of the Church. The temple here measured was a perfect square. Such buildings are most firm and lasting. Such is the Church; the gates of hell cannot prevail against it (Mat 16:18<\/span>). It is built upon Christ the chief cornerstone (Eph 2:20<\/span>), and is established in righteousness (Isa 54:14<\/span>).<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>The beauty of the Church. Such a building Ezekiel saw. The Church is the most beautiful and comely thing in the world to such as have spiritual eyes. When the bride of a great prince hath on her royal apparel, is she not beautiful and glorious? Such is the Church, arrayed with fine linen, the righteousness of saints (Rev 19:8<\/span>; Rev 21:10<\/span>; Rev 12:11<\/span>).<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>The sanctity of the Church. The Church of God is a company called oat from the world. The Corinthians were called to be saints (1Co 1:2<\/span>). The Macedonian churches gave themselves to the Lord (2Co 8:5<\/span>). See also 1Pe 2:9<\/span>. As a wall of separation was built around this temple, so God hath set a wall of discipline between the world and the Church. (W. Greenhill, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>The characteristics of the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The qualification for having to do with this kingdom. With a simplicity and directness that make it very clear even in midst of so strange a vision, there is here proclaimed the condition on which men may have the detailed plan of this future temple given to them. They are to have a glance at the house as a whole, and if they are fascinated with its glory, and begin to glow with the hope of enjoying its privileges, they will surely begin to be ashamed of their own sins. The Divine order and purity and goodness will shame their disorder, impurity, and evil. Then, if they are truly humbled by a sense of Gods loving kindness to them in giving them a pledge of His presence in their great unworthiness of it, they become fit to study His designs for their own and the worlds salvation. Repentant men are the men to whom, for themselves and for others, are revelations of duty, and inspirations of earnestness and hope. <\/em>(Homilist.<\/em>)<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n