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<p>The tree of the field shall yield its fruit and the earth shall yield its increase and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them- The deliverance from Babylon was to be at the same time as dramatic fertility in the revived land of Israel. The returned exiles would dwell there securely- because Babylon would have destroyed one group of local nations, and then God Himself would destroy Babylon and her supporters as Jeremiah had made clear. This scenario didn’t happen, but will do at the return of the Lord Jesus.</p>


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<p>They shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the animals of the earth devour them- This can only be really true in the last days, for after the restoration Israel continued to be a prey.</p><p>But they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid- This is the situation predicted when Israel were faithful to the old covenant (<a href='B:30 25:18-19'>Lev 25:18-19</a>; <a href='B:30 26:5'>Lev 26:5</a>). But there is no mention in Ezekiel 34 of Israel repenting or living righteously; rather the emphasis is that God by pure grace shall go forth and regather His people and make a new covenant with them (:25)- a covenant of grace, whereby He saves them almost in spite of their disobedience. And this is the same new covenant made with us. On one hand, repentance and obedience are required; but on another hand, salvation under the new covenant is by grace alone. And I see no reconciliation between these two poles, at least not by any intellectual process or clever feat of exegesis. This is the mystery of grace and salvation which will have its final revelation at the day of judgment. Note that dwelling securely without fear is the situation developed in <a href='B:330 38:8'>Eze 38:8</a>; <a href='B:330 38:11'>Eze 38:11</a>; <a href='B:330 38:14'>Eze 38:14</a>; the invasion led by the man Gog will happen after Israel have returned to the covenant. Any signs of an imminent invasion by a figure apparently answering to Gog must therefore be tempered by a recognition that such an invasion will happen after God’s intervention in regathering His people and welcoming them into the new covenant blessings- a situation not currently seen in the land of Israel.</p>


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<p>I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations any more- Shame for sin is a major theme with Ezekiel. The days of shame would come to an end (<a href='B:330 16:54'>Eze 16:54</a>; <a href='B:330 34:29'>Eze 34:29</a>; <a href='B:330 36:15'>Eze 36:15</a>; <a href='B:330 39:26'>Eze 39:26</a>)- if Jerusalem accepted shame for her sins. But <a href='B:330 44:13'>Eze 44:13</a> says that the sins of the Jerusalem priesthood were such that in the restored temple, they would bear their shame in that they would never again minister in it. Likewise the Jewish priesthood who persecuted Jeremiah at this time were to bear a shame that would last for ever (<a href='B:300 20:11'>Jer 20:11</a>). And yet the hope of Israel was that they would eternally be unashamed, world without end (<a href='B:290 45:17'>Isa 45:17</a>). The resolution of this may be in God’s willingness to count them totally righteous by grace, upon their repentance. And Ezra"blushed"[s:w."ashamed"] because of Israel’s sins (<a href='B:150 9:6'>Ezr 9:6</a>), and Jeremiah at this time cast himself down in shame because of them (<a href='B:300 3:25'>Jer 3:25</a>). This representative intercession for Judah had some effect. Just as the Lord Jesus bore the shame of Israel and all sinners on the cross (<a href='B:290 50:6'>Isa 50:6</a>), and yet because of that He would not be ashamed eternally (<a href='B:290 50:7'>Isa 50:7</a>). He was to become representative of the repentant Israel of God; for the same words are used of how they too would have unashamed faces eternally (<a href='B:290 54:4'>Isa 54:4</a>). But the Jerusalem priesthood refused to take shame, they were unashamed of their whoredoms (<a href='B:300 3:3'>Jer 3:3</a>; <a href='B:300 8:12'>Jer 8:12</a>). Ezekiel’s appeal in Ezekiel 16 was so that they would recognize their sins, and be ashamed (<a href='B:330 16:2'>Eze 16:2</a>). There was time for them to do so right up until they were led captive, in the final attempt to make them realize their shame. For when they went into captivity, then God intended that they would be"ashamed"(<a href='B:300 22:22'>Jer 22:22</a>). The final vision of Ezekiel, of the potential that was possible in a restored Zion, was in order to make the exiles ashamed of their sins when they realized the possibilities they had wasted and yet which were still possible by grace (<a href='B:330 43:10-11'>Eze 43:10-11</a>). But they didn’t respond to that vision, they refused to build and operate such a temple system; because they refused to be ashamed in exile, although it was God’s intention that they should be. And so it is for us as a new Israel to be ashamed for our sins, and identify with the Messiah figure who would bear Israel’s shame and thereby emerge eternally unashamed.</p>


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<p>They shall know that I, Yahweh their God, am with them; and that they, the house of Israel, are My people, says the Lord Yahweh- Having God as their God was a repetition of the covenant promise to Abraham:"I will be their God". The new covenant deal with Judah was to be based upon the promises to Abraham. The"they"refers to the nations of :30 who had abused Israel; they were to perceive that amazingly, this sinful people were truly the people of Yahweh. His grace to them would be understood and noticed, and would serve to convert the nations.</p>


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<p>You My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, says the Lord Yahweh- God didn’t want Judah to miss the wonder of it all; they really were men, but they were His sheep. His being their God parallels Hispromise to be their shepherd; He was more than a shepherd to them, but their God. They would be released from prison in Babylon to free pastures (<a href='B:290 49:9'>Isa 49:9</a> s:w:). The tragedy was that this continual statement of such amazing love and care was disregarded by them.</p>


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<p>Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me saying- The entire section from Ezekiel 33-39 outlines the possibility of the exiles repenting and a Divine kingdom being reestablished in Israel, with Judah joined by the repentant remnants of the ten tribes and the surrounding nations. In the prophecies against the seven Gentile nations in Ezekiel 26-32, all are envisaged as coming to"know Yahweh", i:e. to enter relationship with Him; except Edom. The unforgiveable sin, it seems, is of hatred of ones’ brother as Esau / Edom / Seir hated Jacob / Israel. And so the total elimination of"Mount Seir"was intended as coming at this time of restoration. It didn’t, then, because the wider prophetic picture didn’t come about, and has been transferred, reapplied and rescheduled to our last days. But see on :9.</p>


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<p>Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it- This prophecy isn’t just inserted here for no reason. It follows on the prediction that Judah shall be saved by God’s grace, and made to"dwell safely", which I pointed out in the commentary on chapter 34 is the language of Israel rewarded for obedience to the Old Covenant. They were not obedient to that covenant, but under the new covenant of grace introduced in <a href='B:330 34:25'>Eze 34:25</a>, they are counted as if they were obedient and given the blessing for obedience, even though they were disobedient. Seeing God’s righteousness has been imputed to Israel, now we read of the judgment of Seir / Esau / Edom, who mocked Judah’s unrighteousness at the time of her exile, and joined in the judgment upon her. So now, Judah is counted righteous, and those who judged her for her unrighteousness are now judged.</p>


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<p>And tell it, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out My hand against you, I will make you a desolation and an astonishment- The very phrase used about the judgment upon Judah which Edom / Seir participated in bringing about (<a href='B:330 6:14'>Eze 6:14</a>; <a href='B:330 33:28-29'>Eze 33:28-29</a>). See on :1. In commentary upon the book of Revelation, I have noted that the seals refer to judgments upon Israel in the last days, but then the essence of those judgments is found again in the later judgments poured out upon the beast system which brings those judgments. Edom / Seir / Esau’s descendants (the Arabic peoples surrounding Israel) are therefore very much associated with the latter day Babylon who is the beast.</p>


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<p>I will lay your cities waste and you shall be desolate; and you shall know that I am Yahweh- This could imply an ultimate repentance by Seir / Esau, leading to the final reconciliation between Jacob and Esau. Or it could mean that in the death throes of condemnation, they come to know Yahweh- but all too late. Just as those who condemned the Lord Jesus will be resurrected and say"Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!", but tragically all too late. See on :1,9,11,12.</p>


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<p>Because you have had a perpetual hatred- The age old tension between Esau and Jacob. But"perpetual"is literally"old"or"ancient". The"enmity"is the same word as in <a href='B:10 3:15'>Gen 3:15</a>, and the ’ancient’ enmity strengthens the allusion. They were the seed of the serpent at enmity with Israel, the seed of the woman; which considering Judah’s deep sin at this time, reveals how God by grace still saw them as His special people of purpose.</p><p>And have given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity- The prophecy against Edom in <a href='B:380 1:13-14'>Oba 1:13-14</a> makes the same point, as in <a href='B:230 137:7'>Psa 137:7</a>, giving more detail as to Edom’s abuse of Judah at the time of the Babylonian invasion.</p><p>At the time when the punishment of their iniquity had an end- There is no very solid evidence for the total destruction of Edom in the terms of this prophecy as a result of their viciously joining in with the Babylonian judgment of Judah. Neither was the Babylonian invasion"the time when the punishment of [Judah’s] iniquity had an end". Such language has to refer to our last days; and so we are to look for a latter day Seir / Edom / Esau’s descendants who will join in the assault upon Israel by the latter day Babylonian, and who will receive their judgment in the terms of this prophecy. For God’s words here shall finally come true. With Israel today surrounded by Esau’s descendants, the required scenario is ripe for fulfillment. See on <a href='B:330 35:14'>Eze 35:14</a> When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.</p>


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<p>Therefore, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you. Since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you- &nbsp;See on <a href='B:730 6:9'>Rev 6:9</a>."Edom"means ’red’, hence the play on the word ’blood’. The idea of pursuit suggests the revenger of blood. And it was God who would avenge the blood of His people, upon Edom. Edom is held far more culpable than Babylon- because they were behaving like this against their brother.</p>


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<p>Thus will I make Mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation; and I will cut off from it the one who passes through and the one who returns- The one who returns may refer to the returning exiles, the returned / repentant ones [as they were envisaged], who would skirt around mount Seir and not pass through it. Or the idea may be as GNB"I will make the hill country of Edom a wasteland and kill everyone who travels through it". The area would gather the reputation of being haunted, a place to be avoided by travellers.</p>


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<p>I will fill its mountains with its slain. In your hills and in your valleys and in all your watercourses shall they fall who are slain with the sword- All these terms are used elsewhere about the judgment upon Israel at the hand of her invaders (e.g. <a href='B:330 6:3'>Eze 6:3</a>). What is done to Israel will be done to her invaders. Those who destroy the earth / land of Israel will be destroyed (<a href='B:730 11:18'>Rev 11:18</a>). See on :11 I will do according to your anger. But there was no such wholesale murder of the Edomites at the time; they continued for centuries. The intended prophetic scenario for that time didn’t come about because Judah didn’t repent and the Kingdom wasn’t reestablished under the new covenant and a Messiah figure, as was potentially possible. And so Edom wasn’t totally destroyed either, although these things will have their final fulfilment in the last days.</p>


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<p>I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited; and you shall know that I am Yahweh- Heb."your cities shall not return", whereas even though Jerusalem was as Sodom, yet she and Samaria would be cities which returned to their former estate (<a href='B:330 16:55'>Eze 16:55</a>). But Edom would not share in such a revival. I noted on :1 that in the prophecies against the seven Gentile nations in Ezekiel 26-32, all are envisaged as coming to"know Yahweh", i:e. to enter relationship with Him; except Edom. The unforgiveable sin, it seems, is of hatred of ones’ brother as Esau / Edom / Seir hated Jacob / Israel. And so the total elimination of"Mount Seir"was intended as coming at this time of restoration. They would only"know Yahweh"in that as explained on :11,12, they would all too late come to know that Yahweh had heard their insults and remembered their harsh attitude to their brother in his time of rightful judgment for sin.</p>


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<p>Because you have said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it- Edom thought that by siding with Babylon in the destruction of Jerusalem(<a href='B:230 137:7'>Psa 137:7</a>) they would be granted possession of Israel by Babylon. But this didn’t happen. So although they didn’t get their desire, yet their desires were still judged.</p><p>Whereas Yahweh was there- Perhaps it is to the physical presence of the Angel in the land (see on <a href='B:50 11:12'>Deu 11:12</a>) that this refers. Ezekiel’s prophecy closes with the statement that"Yahweh is there"(<a href='B:330 48:35'>Eze 48:35</a>), but in essence, His presence was just as real in the land at the time of Judah’s exile as it will be in the Kingdom. This has profound relevance to our own sense of Yahweh’s presence; for He is essentially with us now just as really as He will be in the Kingdom age. And it continues a theme developed in Ezekiel through the cherubim visions- that the presence of Yahweh was just as much with Judah in captivity as it had been with them in the days of temple worship before the exile.</p><p>The Divine presence as symbolized by the cherubim Angels was in the land until Judah went into captivity; hence the cherubim removed from Jerusalem. But here we read that “the Lord was there” after the fall of Jerusalem. Yet God’s intention was that His people would return, the Angel cherubim of glory would return, and again it would finally be true that “the Lord is there” (<a href='B:330 48:35'>Eze 48:35</a>). See on <a href='B:330 3:23'>Eze 3:23</a>. And so God speaks of His presence as still being there. It’s a case of ’now but not yet’.</p>


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<p>Therefore, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have shown out of your hatred against them- &nbsp;See on <a href='B:330 35:8'>Eze 35:8</a>. What we feel about others is often done to us. Edom will be judged according to what they did or intended to do to God’s people.</p><p>I will make Myself known among them, when I shall judge you- God’s Name is articulated in the condemnation of the wicked. This is why His judgments will make the world learn righteousness (<a href='B:290 26:9'>Isa 26:9</a>). There is here a difference between"them"and"you". The"you"is Edom (:12) and the"them"is Israel and Judah (:10). When God’s people know Yahweh, i:e. re-enter relationship with Him, then Edom would be judged; they would only ’know Yahweh’ (see on :9) insofar as they would"know"then that Yahweh had heard their insults against their brother Jacob (:12).</p>


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<p>You shall know that I, Yahweh, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they have been given us to devour-&nbsp; God listens to the words of pagan nations. His knowledge is total, and this should influence our walk before Him. Verse 13 continues the theme:"I have heard". See on :1,9,11. Edom thought that by siding with Babylon in the destruction of Jerusalem (<a href='B:230 137:7'>Psa 137:7</a>) they would be granted possession of Israel by Babylon. But this didn’t happen. So although they didn’t get their desire, yet their desires were still judged. And the full judgment of Edom for these things is yet future, for not every detail of these judgments against her came true at Ezekiel’s time. This is a sober warning to us concerning our desires and feelings against others, even against those who are under rightful judgment for their sins.</p>


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<p>You have magnified yourselves against Me with your mouth, and have multiplied your words against Me, which I have heard- They had spoken against God’s people, but whoever touches Israel touches the apple of God’s eye. He was and is intensely manifest in us His people. He is extremely sensitive to all evil done to us. And at that time, Judah wererightfully under condemnation for their sins. But all the same, even in that state, God still identified with His sinful people under judgment. How much more does He do so with us who are in His dear Son.</p>


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<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate- Another indication that this prophecy is of the latter days, at the time of the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth. The same words for"the earth rejoices"are used about the time of the Kingdom when God reigns in Israel (<a href='B:130 16:31'>1Ch 16:31</a>; <a href='B:230 67:4'>Psa 67:4</a>; <a href='B:230 96:11'>Psa 96:11</a>; <a href='B:230 97:4'>Psa 97:4</a>). But the nations of the eretz / earth were intended to repent after the judgments of and upon Babylon, and thus come to joy. That joy was to be in Zion, the reestablished temple system where the presence of Yahweh would be (<a href='B:230 48:2'>Psa 48:2</a>; <a href='B:300 33:9'>Jer 33:9</a>; <a href='B:310 2:15'>Lam 2:15</a>). The joy of Edom’s heart was the destruction of Zion (<a href='B:330 36:5'>Eze 36:5</a>), so their exclusion from the eternal joy of the restored Zion is appropriate.</p><p>Edom would differ from the other nations in that they alone would not rejoice. Thus in the prophecies against the seven Gentile nations in Ezekiel 26-32, all are envisaged as finally coming to"know Yahweh", i:e. to enter relationship with Him; except Edom. The unforgiveable sin, it seems, is of hatred of ones’ brother as Esau / Edom / Seir hated Jacob / Israel. But see on :9.</p>


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<p>As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do to you. You shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it; and they shall know that I am Yahweh- As noted on :1, Edom / Esau is the only one of the seven nations judged in Ezekiel 26-32 who doesn’t in the end come to"know Yahweh", into relationship with Him. So here we do not read that"you", Edom,"shall know...", but rather that"they shall know that I am Yahweh", referring to the nations of"the whole earth"/ eretz promised to Abraham in :14. But see on :9.</p>


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<p>You, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, You mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh-"Mountains"here may be an intensive plural for the great mountain, Zion,"the ancient high place"of :2. The theme may continue from Ezekiel 35 which speaks of the specific desire of Esau / Edom to destroy Zion and possess it (as in <a href='B:230 137:7'>Psa 137:7</a>). But on :14 I discuss how the stress on the mountains is because these were the location of Israel's unfaithfulness to Yahweh; Ezekiel 6 has made this connection very clear. Here, verse 15 will specifically state of the mountains "that neither shall you cause your nation to stumble any more". In this way the mountains "bereaved" Israel of its people, quite literally in that child sacrifice was practiced there. The new covenant, the new deal, was to as it were enforce their faithfulness to Yahweh by permanently stopping the idolatry that took place there. Hence the repeated statements that the mountains would be transformed.</p>


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<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because the enemy- The specific enemy in view may be Edom; see on :1. As explained in commentary on <a href='B:330 34:28'>Eze 34:28</a>, the new covenant with Israel of <a href='B:330 34:25'>Eze 34:25</a> will mean that Israel are counted as righteous, as having been obedient to the old covenant when in fact they were not; and therefore the blessings of the old covenant will come upon them. One of those blessings was victory over their enemies, as mentioned frequently in Leviticus 26.</p><p>Has said against you, Aha! and, The ancient high places are ours in possession- Sadly, the Gentiles envied the way Israel used the mountains / hills as idol sanctuaries. But this could be an intensive plural, referring to the great high place- Jerusalem and the temple mount. And this continues to be the"ancient"argument between Jacob and Esau / Edom / Seir, which is the"enemy"in view in the preceding chapter (Ezekiel 35). Edom is mentioned specifically here in 36:5. See on :5 That have appointed My land to themselves for a possession. The argument of Esau / Edom was that the high places were their inheritance or"possession". The Koran and the hadith twist around the Biblical record of the promises to the Jewish fathers, to the intent that the land of Israel was promised to Esau and Jacob / Israel / theJews was the son rejected from the inheritance. The picture presented here in Ezekiel 36, whereby Israel’s enemies insist that they are the rightful inheritors of Palestine and the supreme high place of the temple mount, is exactly relevant to the Muslim claims of today. See on :3 You became the possession of the rest of the nations.</p><p>"The high places" are consistently the idol shrines. God was willing to reverse everything. He would forcibly take away idolatry from His people, and indeed turn those very places into places reflecting His saving grace. This explains why there is so much prophecy about the mountains / high places, and other areas where idolatry was focused.</p>


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<p>Therefore prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh. Because, even because they have made you desolate and swallowed you up on every side- Israel’s latter day enemies (see on <a href='B:330 35:5'>Eze 35:5</a>; <a href='B:330 35:14'>Eze 35:14</a> for the latter day relevance) are likened to a beast with a huge mouth, which is exactly the imagery of the latter day beast prophecies of Daniel and Revelation."Every side"suggests that what is now known as Jordan will become more intensely anti Israel.</p><p>So that you became the possession of the rest of the nations- The Hebrew translated"rest"is also translated"posterity". Esau / Edom / Seir / the Muslim Arabs claim that they are the posterity who according to the Koran were promised the land of Palestine as their possession. See on :2 The ancient high places are ours in possession.</p><p>And you became the talk and evil gossip of the nations-Exactly the scenario we see developing today, with anti-Israel gossip and rhetoric rife amongst the nations around Israel.</p>


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<p>Therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh. Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which are become a prey and a mockery to the other nations that are all around- The forsaken cities refer primarily to those which had already fallen before Jerusalem fell. In the latter day application, the picture is of present day Israel destroyed and the thriving cities such as Tel Aviv and Haifa left in ruins. Such widespread desolation in rural areas was not seen after the Babylonian invasion, although Ezekiel’s prophecies had predicted it. The scenario didn’t fully happen then; perhaps because of the link between desolation and repentance. God foreknew that wouldn’t happen, and so the total desolation prophecies were reapplied and rescheduled to the last days.</p>


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<p>therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Surely in the fire of My jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom- We note God's absolute passion. “Jealousy” is injured self-consciousness; He is so involved in us and with us, and His emotions are deeply involved with us. The residue of the nations refers in the first instance to the remains of the nations judged by Babylon at the same time as Judah. Edom is singled out for special mention:&nbsp; In the prophecies against the seven Gentile nations in Ezekiel 26-32, all are envisaged as coming to"know Yahweh", i:e. to enter relationship with Him; except Edom. The unforgiveable sin, it seems, is of hatred of ones’ brother as Esau / Edom / Seir hated Jacob / Israel. And so the total elimination of"Mount Seir"in Ezekiel 35 was intended as coming at this time of restoration. It didn’t, then, because the wider prophetic picture didn’t come about, and has been transferred, reapplied and rescheduled to our last days.</p><p>We sense God's intense fury with Edom for supporting the Babylonians, urging them to raze the temple to the foundation. Edom thought they could possess the land, hence Ez. 35 has spoken so much of Edom's judgment. They appear to have started building forts on the mountains of Israel. Hence the insistence that Israel shall be eternally possessed by God's people and not Edom. Note God's fury with Edom at this point. But He had just sent Judah to Babylon in fury, taking away their king in His wrath. He presents as highly emotional, and so He is.</p><p>That have appointed My land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul, to cast it out for a prey- Again we see the concept of"possession". The Muslim Arabs are convinced from the Koran and hadith that Palestine is their rightful possession, and this language is likewise found in the position statements of the PLO and similar terrorist organizations. <a href='B:230 83:11-12'>Psa 83:11-12</a> records how the leaders of the latter day invasion will focus upon the idea of possession of the holy places in Jerusalem:"Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession".</p>


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<p>Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and tell to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I have spoken in My zeal and in My wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations- This and other prophecies frequently mention the"shame"which will be upon Israel at the hands of their latter day enemies. This is because the Koran repeatedly speaks of the"shameful doom"to come upon the Jews because they do not accept Mohammad."They shall be held up to shame in this world"(2:114). he scene speaks clearly of the expectations and desires of Israel’s Islamic neighbours.</p><p>But "shame" can be seen as a reference to Baal, "that shameful thing" as the prophets describe it. Hills, rivers and valleys were all locations of the idol shrines, and this shame was to be removed. The shame for sin would be dissolved by the new covenant.</p>


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<p>Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: I have sworn saying, Surely the nations that are around you, they shall bear their shame- The focus of Bible prophecy is upon the peoples of the eretz promised to Abraham,"the nations that are around"Judah.</p>


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<p>But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel; for they are at hand to return- The idea is that there would be a resurgence of fruitfulness just before Judah left Babylon, so that when they arrived there would be abundant fruit for them ready to eat. This presupposes a specific time for the exodus from Babylon, which would have been when Babylon fell by Divine judgment. All these possibilities were precluded by Judah’s lack of repentance. And so the rest of the scenario didn’t work out at the time, although it will do in the last days. In fact after dribs and drabs of exiles returned after the decree of Cyrus, they found a famine in the land (Haggai 1), rather than trees loaded with fruit for them. And these famine conditions continued into the time of Malachi. This reflected their lack of repentance.</p><p>"At hand to return" surely suggests that this revival could have happened at Ezekiel's time. Likewise :32 NET "I am about to act". Those who were in exile could themselves have returned. Such huge potential was wasted. But as noted on :37, which seems the 'end stress' of the prophecy, all they had to do was ask for it, to want it. And so much would've been given. It may seem barely believable- until we reflect how many of those near and dear to us stedfastly refuse to simply say "yes" to the offer of grace in the Lord Jesus.</p>


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<p>For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you- Elsewhere we read that God will turn unto Israel when they turn unto Him (<a href='B:450 1:3'>Zec 1:3</a>). But there is no mention here nor in Ezekiel 34 of any such turning or repentance of Israel. The covenant of grace introduced in <a href='B:330 34:25'>Eze 34:25</a> and expanded upon later here in chapter 36 means that God intervenes by grace alone to treat His beloved people as if they are more spiritual than they are. And in the New Testament, He is known for giving repentance and not just forgiveness; He turns hearts by His Spirit acting upon the human spirit (<a href='B:510 3:26'>Act 3:26</a>; <a href='B:510 11:18'>Act 11:18</a>).</p><p>Jer. 31 has described Israel saying "Turn me, and I shall be turned"- and then repenting. The initiative in this turning is always from God.</p><p>And you shall be cultivated and sown- Along with :8, the implication is that in the very last days, the land of Israel will be uncultivated and barren when overrun by Edom / Israel’s neighbours. This could be due to a scorched earth policy by Israel, or the use of weaponry which destroys the fertility of the land. Such a scenario is now imaginable.</p>


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<p>And I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built- This multiplication of men depended upon those"men"returning from exile. But most of them preferred to remain in Babylon. This multiplication of men was to be in response to Judah’s prayer (:37 AV); and this was lacking. So we are reading here of potentials. The multiplication refers to the multiplying of Abraham’s seed- for those within that covenant. And the promises to Abraham were the basis of the new covenant offered Judah. But they chose not to accept that new covenant, and so the promised multiplication didn’t happen.</p>


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<p>I will multiply on you man and animal- The destruction commented upon in :9 is going to be so major that the majority of animals and people are destroyed. This is the kind of picture we encounter in the prophecies of the land’s final turmoil in Revelation; we recall that Zechariah predicts the cutting off of the majority of Jews in the land. The reference to animals suggests the use of fearsome weaponry which leaves the land physically and literally desolate. The increase and multiplication of men in Israel would be a sign that again they were in receipt of the covenant blessings (<a href='B:30 26:9'>Lev 26:9</a>).</p><p>And they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former manner, and I will do better to you than at your beginnings; and you shall know that I am Yahweh- It was obedience to the covenant that would result in becoming fruitful and increased (Lev. 26:4). They had not been obedient to that covenant, and yet the blessings are given- because the new covenant offers those blessings simply by grace. "Increase and be fruitful"is the term used about how things were in the eretz at creation (<a href='B:10 1:22'>Gen 1:22</a>; <a href='B:10 1:28'>Gen 1:28</a>). A new creation is in view. This is the language of a restoration of the previous kingdom"after your former manner... at your beginnings", rather than a totally unprecedented new entity. The kingdom of God to come upon earth at the Lord’s return is a reestablishment of His Kingdom as it was previously in the form of Israel (<a href='B:330 21:25-27'>Eze 21:25-27</a>). As noted on :8, the idea is that there would be a resurgence of fruitfulness just before Judah left Babylon, so that when they arrived there would be abundant fruit for them ready to eat.</p>


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<p>Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even My people Israel- The emphasis on such literality could have been because the very people to whom Ezekiel was preaching in Babylon could have been the very ones who would again walk in the literal land of Israel. The period to be spent in captivity was flexible, in accordance with their repentance. It could have been less than 70 year (see on Ezekiel 4), and in reality it turned out to be longer than 70 years.</p><p>And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance- The emphasis being on the word"their", seeing that the Muslim Arab argument is that the land and Jerusalem are their Divine inheritance. See the earlier comment about the significance of the language of"possession"in this prophecy.</p><p>And you shall no more henceforth bereave them of children- The old system had bereaved them of their children because they sacrificed them to the idols. But this was to be no more.</p>


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<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because they say to you, You are a destroyer of men, and have caused bereavement in your nation- The byword was that Israel was a cursed land, those who lived there always seemed to die. This was to be turned right around, as the land was to become associated with life and blessing. These words were those of the unfaithful spies (<a href='B:40 13:32'>Num 13:32</a>), so the idea was that if Israel had faith, unlike them, and re-entered the land in faith- then this wrong impression of the land would be changed.</p>


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<p>Therefore you shall destroy men no more, neither cause bereavement in your nation any more, says the Lord Yahweh- God comes over as very sensitive as to what people think of Him. He even changed His plan to destroy Israel after Moses pointed out that the nations would mock His ability to save. This is not because God is as it were overly interested in His image, but because He wishes human salvation so earnestly, and wishes to clear up misunderstandings and misrepresentations. We should have this same motivation in any debates we may enter regarding interpretation.</p><p>Israel and Judah worshipped idols on the mountains. This is a major theme throughout the prophetic criticisms of Israel. The high places had led them to adultery against God and hence their judgment. In this sense the mountains devoured men. God says that this will not happen ever again, but that therefore means that He will stop Israel worshipping idols and make them loyal to Him for ever. This making loyal and faithful is exactly what the new covenant is all about. This explains why the high places and hills and mountains of Israel are spoken of so often in the new covenant prophecies. God was going to forcibly stop idolatry and unfaithfulness to Him, making His beloved loyal to Him.</p>


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<p>Neither will I let you hear any more the shame of the nations, neither shall you bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shall you cause your nation to stumble any more, says the Lord Yahweh- The literal hills of Israel were the location of their high places and idol worship. It is latter day idolatry which will bring about the predicted devastation of Israel.</p><p>Shame for sin is a major theme with Ezekiel. The days of shame would come to an end (<a href='B:330 16:54'>Eze 16:54</a>; <a href='B:330 34:29'>Eze 34:29</a>; <a href='B:330 36:15'>Eze 36:15</a>; <a href='B:330 39:26'>Eze 39:26</a>)- if Jerusalem accepted shame for her sins. But <a href='B:330 44:13'>Eze 44:13</a> says that the sins of the Jerusalem priesthood were such that in the restored temple, they would bear their shame in that they would never again minister in it. Likewise the Jewish priesthood who persecuted Jeremiah at this time were to bear a shame that would last for ever (<a href='B:300 20:11'>Jer 20:11</a>). And yet the hope of Israel was that they would eternally be unashamed, world without end (<a href='B:290 45:17'>Isa 45:17</a>). The resolution of this may be in God’s willingness to count them totally righteous by grace, upon their repentance. And Ezra"blushed"[s:w."ashamed"] because of Israel’s sins (<a href='B:150 9:6'>Ezr 9:6</a>), and Jeremiah at this time cast himself down in shame because of them (<a href='B:300 3:25'>Jer 3:25</a>). This representative intercession for Judah had some effect. Just as the Lord Jesus bore the shame of Israel and all sinners on the cross (<a href='B:290 50:6'>Isa 50:6</a>), and yet because of that He would not be ashamed eternally (<a href='B:290 50:7'>Isa 50:7</a>). He was to become representative of the repentant Israel of God; for the same words are used of how they too would have unashamed faces eternally (<a href='B:290 54:4'>Isa 54:4</a>). But the Jerusalem priesthood refused to take shame, they were unashamed of their whoredoms (<a href='B:300 3:3'>Jer 3:3</a>; <a href='B:300 8:12'>Jer 8:12</a>). Ezekiel’s appeal in Ezekiel 16 was so that they would recognize their sins, and be ashamed (<a href='B:330 16:2'>Eze 16:2</a>). There was time for them to do so right up until they were led captive, in the final attempt to make them realize their shame. For when they went into captivity, then God intended that they would be"ashamed"(<a href='B:300 22:22'>Jer 22:22</a>). The final vision of Ezekiel, of the potential that was possible in a restored Zion, was in order to make the exiles ashamed of their sins when they realized the possibilities they had wasted and yet which were still possible by grace (<a href='B:330 43:10-11'>Eze 43:10-11</a>). But they didn’t respond to that vision, they refused to build and operate such a temple system; because they refused to be ashamed in exile, although it was God’s intention that they should be. And so it is for us as a new Israel to be ashamed for our sins, and identify with the Messiah figure who would bear Israel’s shame and thereby emerge eternally unashamed.</p>


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<p>Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me saying- Lest there should be any sense that this great program of restoration was in any sense downplaying or disregarding Israel’s sin, the balance is now corrected.</p>


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<p>Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings. Their way before Me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity- A menstruating woman was to have a hiatus in her intimate relationships with her husband, and she could not enter the sanctuary for worship. Hosea spoke in the same way, of how Israel would have a period of enforced separation from God, to bring them to Him. God very graciously uses this figure, suggesting their uncleanness is just for a limited time, and soon He will resume intimate relationships with them. As discussed on :8, we continually have the impression that the exile [of both Israel and Judah] was temporary and would very soon be gloriously reversed; but Israel refused that potential. And this is how God currently looks upon Israel. See on :25. At Ezekiel’s time, He was prepared to restore relationship with them by washing them from their blood through the new covenant. But they were unwilling.</p>


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<p>Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols- The pouring out of blood is again associated with idolatry. The reference is to the sacrifice of children and perhaps other categories of people to the idols. We note the parallel between the pouring out of Divine wrath, and their pouring out of blood. The phrase ’to pour out blood’ occurs multiple times in the Mosaic law; the idea was that life, represented by the blood, was to be poured out to Yahweh. Instead, they had poured out life to idols. And this can be done today, so easily, in the pouring out of life’s minutes and hours to images and modern day idols.</p>


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<p>And I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. According to their way and according to their doings I judged them- The reference to"the nations"could suggest that God also has in view the ten tribes here. This is God being positive; because He did not carry out the full extent of the threatened judgments, the majority of them,"the poor of the land", remained in Judah; and at this very time of restoration, Ezra reflects that God had punished them"less than our iniquities deserve"(<a href='B:150 9:13'>Ezr 9:13</a>).</p>


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<p>When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name; in that men said of them, These are the people of Yahweh, and are gone forth out of His land- God accepts that the exiles had not repented as they ought to have done. The idea seems to be that the nations realized that the exiles had been exiled because of their sins, and noted that they continued in them. Child sacrifice to Moloch is specifically described as profaning God’s Name (<a href='B:30 18:21'>Lev 18:21</a>), and that is the context here (:18). It seems they continued to do this in exile, at least initially. And yet they still carried God’s Name, despite having broken covenant with Him. This is proof for all time that God never gives up with His people, even if they give up with Him.</p>


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<p>But I had respect for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went-"Respect"is the word elsewhere translated"pity". The wonder of God’s grace was that His eye did spare and He did pity at the restoration (also <a href='B:360 2:18'>Joe 2:18</a>; <a href='B:460 3:17'>Mal 3:17</a> s:w:), just as His eye had spared them in the desert (<a href='B:330 20:17'>Eze 20:17</a>). Whereas in His wrath He had said thatHe would never again pity Judah (<a href='B:330 5:11'>Eze 5:11</a>; <a href='B:330 7:4'>Eze 7:4</a>; <a href='B:330 8:18'>Eze 8:18</a>; <a href='B:330 9:10'>Eze 9:10</a>). This reveals the emotion of God, His pity even for the spiritually weak, and how this triumphs over His judgment. Ezekiel speaks as if God’s people had already gone amongst the nations; he may have in view the ten tribes as well, for it was God’s intention to regather them along with Judah.</p>


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<p>Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I don’t do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went- Clearly although there had not been the intended repentance of the exiles in captivity, yet God by all means sought reasons, even excuses, to still restore His beloved people. And so He cites here the need to stop His Name being mocked as a reason for restoring Israel. As mentioned several times in this exposition, the final salvation of Israel under the new covenant is not because of their repentance or spirituality, but by grace alone, and because God respects the grace and pure love which is bound up in His Name / essential personality. It is this salvation of Israel by such pure grace that will cause the nations to gasp at God’s love for His people:"I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes"(:23).</p><p>Hosea has shown how the Name of God involves both His gracious, loving salvation- and also His judgment of sin. These two poles are in some kind of conflict within Him, but His Name develops in that He comes down on the side of love and grace toward Israel. Therefore their salvation is not because of their repentance, but because of His Name. Because of Him and how He finally is. Is. 43:24,25 says the same: "You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices; but you have burdened Me with your sins. You have wearied Me with your iniquities. I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins". Ezekiel talks about God's "Name", Isaiah "for My own sake". His Name is Him, He Himself, His very own "sake". But it is exactly this amazing grace that leads to repentance and being ashamed of our ways (:32). Earlier in Ez. 14 and Ez. 18 there have been appeals for repentance, but there was no response. God now in any case forces through His plan for Israel, just as He does with us.</p><p>God had said He would destroy Israel and make of Moses a new nation. But He relented of that, and in <a href='B:330 20:22'>Eze 20:22</a> we see the picture of His internal struggle, working for His Name’s sake, for the sake of the principles incorporated within His Name. So it is an intrinsic part of His Name and essential personality that He changes His judgments from pity. When the Psalmist of <a href='B:230 109:21'>Psa 109:21</a> asks for God’s grace, He asks God to"do"or"work"for the sake of His Name, and not bring about a threatened judgment. Jeremiah likewise understood this and asks God to still be gracious to Israel despite their lack of repentance- through working for His Name’s sake (<a href='B:300 14:7'>Jer 14:7</a>). To save by grace was therefore working or doing according to His Name’s sake, rather than according to human merit (<a href='B:330 36:22'>Eze 36:22</a>). Thus by working for His Name’s sake, the repentant exiles would come to ’know Yahweh’ (<a href='B:330 20:44'>Eze 20:44</a>), they would come to see who He essentially is. And He is revealed as the very opposite of a stone faced, unchanging, insensitive God, which was then the standard conception of a deity.</p>


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<p>I will sanctify My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, says the Lord Yahweh, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes- The returned exiles however did just what a previous generation had done before the exile. They profaned the Name (<a href='B:330 36:20'>Eze 36:20</a>), the Sabbath and also the covenant and temple (<a href='B:460 1:12'>Mal 1:12</a>; <a href='B:460 2:10-11'>Mal 2:10-11</a>), in that they saw it all as mere religion, and the fire of a true relationship with the Almighty was smothered.</p><p>All the "I will..." statements allude to His Name, I will be who I will be. His revival of Israel is for the sake of that Name, and experiencing that Name makes us "know [experientially] that I am Yahweh". “I will sanctify my great name” (v 23); “I will take you...and gather you...and bring you into your own land” (v 24); “I will sprinkle clean water upon you” (v 25); “I will put my spirit within you” (v 27); “I will be your God” (v 28); “I will deliver you...” (v 29); “I will make the fruit of the tree” (v 30).</p><p>
The taking of Israel out from the nations would lead to the nations knowing Yahweh's Name. This didn't happen in the 20th century. The idea is that they had been disgusted at the moral depravity of Israel, and this had reflected badly on their God. He appeared merely a God of judgment. But they would see His extreme grace in saving them without their repentance, and thus they would know His Name as it really is- of grace triumphing over the pole of judgment.</p>


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<p>For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land- Time and again in the context of the restoration it is emphasized that God would return to His exiled people if they returned to Him (<a href='B:450 1:3'>Zec 1:3</a>; <a href='B:460 3:7'>Mal 3:7</a>). And they didn’t return to Him- most chose not to return to the land, and those who did for the most part did not return to their God in their hearts. The whole basis of Israel’s covenant relationship with God was that if they were exiled from the land for their sins, they must repent and then God would return to them (<a href='B:50 30:1-10'>Deu 30:1-10</a>). Yet God graciously states to the exiles:"I am returned unto you"(<a href='B:450 1:16'>Zec 1:16</a>; <a href='B:450 8:3'>Zec 8:3</a>). Here was grace indeed. Passages like <a href='B:330 36:24-31'>Eze 36:24-31</a> therefore speak as if God’s grace to the exiles was effectively a new covenant- which has in essence been extended to us. Having stated the conditionality of His ’returning’ to His people, and recognizing they hadn’t fulfilled their part of the conditions- God all the same returns to them, such was and is His almost desperate desire for relationship with His beloved people. This is a lesson for us in our relationships with others- to continue our acceptance and ’return’ to them, even if they don’t fulfill their part of the deal. For this, day by day, is how our God deals not only with us but with His weak and wayward people as a whole.</p><p>This verse repeats the words of the new covenant offer in Jer. 32:37. But they generally refused to be gathered from 'all nations'. This element of the new covenant is now articulated through the great commission, inviting people from all nations to the covenant; calling out of the nations a people for His Name.</p>


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<p>I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you- A reference to the water which cleansed a woman from the uncleanness of her separation from her husband (<a href='B:40 19:9'>Num 19:9</a> Heb:). Israel have been likened to a woman unclean by reason of menstruation in :17. We note throughout that the initiative is with God in this work of cleansing. They were taken from among the many nations that comprised Babylon / Persia; they were brought, as many as could be bothered to go, to their own land. They were cleansed there (s:w. <a href='B:150 6:20'>Ezr 6:20</a>; <a href='B:160 12:30'>Neh 12:30</a>). But they became un-cleansed through allowing Tobiah into the temple chambers, by trading on the Sabbath, and by marrying Gentiles (<a href='B:160 13:9'>Neh 13:9</a>; <a href='B:160 13:22'>Neh 13:22</a>; <a href='B:160 13:30'>Neh 13:30</a>). The priesthood needed to be “cleansed” again (<a href='B:460 3:3'>Mal 3:3</a> s:w:). The promise of Ezekiel 36 sounds unconditional- as if, whoosh, God would make His sinful people righteous regardless of their own will. And so some have misunderstood the operation of God’s Spirit in our own days. But although not directly stated, the promise of entry into the new covenant, whereby God would encourage obedience through the work of His Spirit, was conditional. Judah could have entered the new covenant there and then, with all its requirements for a Messiah figure to abrogate the Mosaic law. But they turned back to their uncleannesses, they would not keep God’s statutes, and their potential Messiah figures failed to appear. Yet again, the promise of entry into a new covenant was deferred, to be fulfilled in a new Israel who are sprinkled through the waters of baptism. The promise was fulfilled, but in a far different context to that intended.</p><p>The word for "sprinkle" is nearly always used about the sprinkling of blood. The idea seems to be that blood will wash and cleanse as water does. The new covenant here was therefore confirmed and made operative by the Lord's blood, the blood of the new covenant. So as Paul says, His death confirmed the new covenant.</p><p>
But ritual water sprinkling is nearly always used for the consecration of priests (Ex. 29:4) and Levites (Num. 8:7). And it was done by priests to priests. The priesthood was corrupted. So God Himself would be the priest, and would turn Israel into a nation of priests, as originally intended.</p>


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<p>I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh- see on <a href='B:90 10:9'>1Sa 10:9</a>. The new covenant involves God on His initiative giving His people a new psychology ("within you") that makes them obedient (:27). This same gift of a holy spirit is likewise available to all who accept the new covenant today. "Also" suggests that the new heart and spirit is given at the same time as the regathering of :25. The word is redundant otherwise. So it is hard to see the return of some Jews to Israel in the 20th century as fulfilling this, seeing this return wasn't accompanied by a change of their hearts nor entry into the new covenant. These prophecies play on the word shub meaning both to return and to repent. The return was to be associated with repentance. In Ez. 11:19 and 18:31, Israel had been told to get a new heart and spirit. They hadn't done so, and now God says that anyway, He will give them this, as it were enforcing it upon them because He wants them for Himself. </p><p>
This "new heart" matches the new covenant promise of Jer. 32:39: "I will give them one heart and one way". To sing "Lord, give me an undivided heart" is to ask for this to happen now. This again is without conditions. It is a heart transplant operation, unilaterally decided upon by God. "Out of your flesh" encourages us to imagine a literal heart transplant operation. This is how carefully and delicately God would work.  </p><p>
Hearts of flesh rather than stone imply sensitive, responsive hearts. This is what Hosea wanted from Gomer, and what God wanted from Israel. Hearts that were for Him, sensitive and not hard to Him. For love is sensitivity. 2 Cor. 3:3 alludes to this verse and applies it to the new covenant experience which we now have, and which Israel are yet to experience: "you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on tablets of human hearts... who made us adequate to be servants of a new covenant not based on the letter but on the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life... But their minds were hardened, for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains, because in Christ it passes away. But to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit".
</p><p>The great restoration prophecies of <a href='B:300 23:1-8'>Jer 23:1-8</a> and <a href='B:330 34:1-31'>Eze 34:1-31</a> speak of the flock of Israel going astray due to bad shepherds, being saved by the good shepherd, being delivered / gathered, and then returning to the land. The Hebrew word shub means both ’to return’ in the sense of returning to the land, and ’turning’ in the sense of repentance. Butthese restoration prophecies are packed with allusion to the great shepherd Psalms 23. Here, David says that the good shepherd ’causes me to repent’ (<a href='B:230 23:3'>Psa 23:3</a> Heb:). This is matched in Ezekiel 36 by the idea of God giving Israel a new heart. And the Lord’s amazing parable of the good shepherd (<a href='B:490 15:1-7'>Luk 15:1-7</a>) brings together Psalms 23 and also these restoration passages, in speaking of how He goes out and finds the lost sheep and brings it back home. The sheep is found, and accepts being found- there is no actual mention of repentance. Thus the ’return’ of Judah to their land was intended as a work of God- He would make them return, He would give them repentance [note how <a href='B:510 11:18'>Act 11:18</a> speaks of God granting men repentance]. This is all such wonderful grace. The even more incredible thing, though, is that Judah refused to accept this grace; they didn’t ’return’ to the land because they saw no need to ’return’ to God. They willingly forgot that they were only in Babylon because of their sins; to ’return’ to the land was a ’return’ to God, which He had enabled. But they were like the lost sheep refusing to sit on the shepherd’s shoulders, preferring to sit in a hole and die... and this is the warning to us. For truly, absolutely all things have been prepared for us to enter the Kingdom. It’s only those who don’t want to be there who won’t be.</p><p>36:27 I will put My Spirit within you- This is the same idea as developed in the valley of dry bones prophecy, where God causes His Spirit to enter into Israel and revives them (<a href='B:330 37:5'>Eze 37:5</a>). The Corinthians were given the Spirit potentially, but were"not spiritual"(<a href='B:530 3:1'>1Co 3:1</a>). Like many today, they wasted the potential. And the same was true of Judah at the restoration. <a href='B:150 9:9'>Ezr 9:9</a>: “For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us [s:w. “put” my spirit] a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations”. They revived the stones out of the heaps (<a href='B:160 4:2'>Neh 4:2</a>). A new spirit was potentially given to them, God put in the heart of men like Nehemiah to revive the work (<a href='B:160 2:12'>Neh 2:12</a> s:w:). But this didn’t force them to be obedient. They chose not to be, and so the promised kingdom blessings of corn etc. were replaced by famines, in the times of Nehemiah, Haggai and Malachi. Judah were forgiven at the restoration; but they failed to live the life of response to that grace, and therefore the spirit did not continue with them.</p><p>And cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My laws and do them- God under the new covenant gives a spirit of obedience, He makes us obedient to Him.</p>


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<p>You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be My people, and I will be your God- This restoration of the exiles in Babylon would be all of grace, for they had not repented. But many of them preferred to remain there, as did the ten tribes in the former Assyrian empire. Such huge grace was turned down. And it’s the same today. God is thirsting to make people His obedient people, His Kingdom; and most refuse because the petty issues of material life block their vision of anything else, just as with the exiles.</p><p>This is the equivalent to the statement under the new covenant of Jer. 32:38, which states [with no command to obey God] that God will make Israel His people, and He their God. This differed from the original offer of the covenant in Jer. 7:23: “Obey my voice, and I will become your God and you will become my people”. It is in the Spirit of Yahweh in Hosea concluding that somehow He will make His beloved Israel "His" even though they are unfaithful to Him.</p>


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<p>I will save you from all your uncleanness, and I willcall for the grain and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you- There are many links discernible between Ezekiel and Zechariah, as they both prophesy concerning the same scattering and restoration of Israel. Here the connection is with <a href='B:450 9:17'>Zec 9:17</a>"Corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids... how great is His goodness"(in forgiveness):This was potentially possible at the restoration, but as Haggai and Malachi reveal, there were instead famines and the potential blessing wasn’t poured out.</p><p>The grace shown by God to His people, reflected in Hosea’s grace toward Gomer, was especially shown to the exiled Jews in Babylon. By grace, Hosea and God granted forgiveness to their women in order to lead them to repentance (<a href='B:350 2:16'>Hos 2:16</a>; <a href='B:350 7:1'>Hos 7:1</a>). Hosea wanted to call Gomer and her children “my people”, and to give them grain and all the good things that went with a marriage relationship (Hos. 2:24). But this is the very language of <a href='B:330 36:24-31'>Eze 36:24-31</a> about God’s intentions for the restoration from Babylon- the people would be cleansed, called “my people”, given grain and all God’s blessings- in the hope that then they would repent and loathe their immorality and unfaithfulness. Such is God’s grace that His acceptance leads to repentance, rather than repentance being a condition of His grace and acceptance. Hosea’s attitude to Gomer says it all.</p><p>But the exiles refused all this grace. And so as Haggai and Malachi records, the exiles had famine laid upon them."Save"is yasha, component of ’Yahoshua’, Jesus, Yah’s salvation or saving. Finally this wonderful salvation was to be fulfilled in Him, and in we who say yes to it.</p>


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<p>I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations- These are all blessings for obedience to the covenant. But that obedience as explained in the previous verses, is given by God directly upon their hearts. Their having the fruit of the spirit means that the physical land would respond in fruitfulness.  This was the potential available for the exiles if they had repented; they would have returned to a land full of fruit. But most of them didn’t return and those who did, didn’t return to God in their hearts. And so as Haggai records, they experienced famine. But the words will have their main fulfilment at the time of the Lord’s return and the full reestablishment of the Kingdom on earth. They don’t apply to any usage of agricultural technology in 20th century Israel; that was a multiplication of harvest by human strength, whereas what is in view here is something miraculous, directly from God, and associated with the repentance of His people.</p>


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<p>Then you shall remember your evil ways and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations- Note the chronology. They are made obedient, by grace, and then they realize how wicked they have been and repent of it. The goodness of God leads them to repentance. It cannot be over emphasized that God is not facing off against man over an open Bible, and telling us that if we repent, then He will forgive us. Here we see God taking the initiative and forgiving Israel without repentance, cleansing their hearts, making them obedient- and that experience of grace leads them to repentance. On a far lower level, we see the same in our human relationships. A policy of ’Forgiveness upon repentance’ rarely works; the grant of forgiveness, frankly and sincerely, is that leads the sinner to repentance and restored relationship.</p><p>The self loathing for sin is spoken of in <a href='B:330 20:43'>Eze 20:43</a>. The idea originally had been that the remnant would repent in exile and then be restored. But they didn’t. And so the Divine hope was that by restoring them in impenitence, they would remember their sins and loathe what they had done:It’s the same reason why Jesus broke His bread with as yet impenitent sinners- because He as a doctor was trying to bring sinners to repentance. We note that it was the exiles with Ezekiel who were to loathe themselves for their pollutions, or that was the intention. It was they there in exile who were still offering their children to their idols,"to this day"(<a href='B:330 20:31'>Eze 20:31</a>). Their self loathing uses the word translated"grieve"regarding God’s grieving for Israel’s idolatry in the wilderness (<a href='B:230 95:10'>Psa 95:10</a>). They would come to see their sins as God saw and felt them; that is part of repentance. But initially it had been God’s plan that they would grieve or loathe their sins whilst in captivity in Babylon (s:w. <a href='B:330 6:9'>Eze 6:9</a>). But then the plan in <a href='B:330 20:34-38'>Eze 20:34-38</a> was different; seeing they had not done so, they would be forcibly brought out from Babylon into the undefined"wilderness"situation, where God would purge the rebels from the rebellious house, and then the remnant would be allowed to return to the land; and only then would they loathe themselves for their sins. But now in <a href='B:330 36:21'>Eze 36:21</a> the grace was extended even further- it was after the restoration of the kingdom conditions in the land that they would be thus provoked to loathe their former sins. God’s grace is such that He ammends His plans if by any means He might save some. He has that same passion for human salvation today.</p><p>The chronology is in sharp contrast to that of the old covenant in Lev. 26:40-42: "If they confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers... and also recognize that because they walked contrary to Me,
... if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity;
 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham; and I will remember the land". Here, there is no "if... then". God will circumcise their heart, remember the [re]newed covenant made to Abraham and the fathers, and only then  will they confess their sins. This is proactive grace extraordinaire. And this is the same chronology of Jer. 31:18,19: "Turn me, and I shall be turned; for You are Yahweh my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I struck on my thigh: I was ashamed, yes, even confounded".</p>


text:
<p>Not for your sake do I this, says the Lord Yahweh, be it known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel- Having been unable to achieve their repentance in exile, God now tries another way. Instead of abandoning His program of restoration because of the lack of repentance, He offers to restore them anyway by pure grace, in the hope that this would be appreciated and elicit from them an appropriate shame. But even this was refused by most of Judah and the ten tribes; they preferred to remain in the world rather than participate in the restored Kingdom of God."Ashamed and confounded"is the same Hebrew phrase used by Ezra in his prayer at the restoration (<a href='B:150 9:6'>Ezr 9:6</a>). He was taking note of Ezekiel’s prophecy here, but the majority didn’t. The term is also used of condemnation at the last day (<a href='B:230 70:2'>Psa 70:2</a>; <a href='B:290 41:11'>Isa 41:11</a>; <a href='B:290 45:16'>Isa 45:16</a>); in repentance, we are to recognize that our condemnation would be just, and as it were feel as if we are condemned at the judgment seat; and thence we shall know the wonder of forgiveness, salvation, and the change of verdict which Romans 1-8 speak of.</p><p>"Do I this" suggests immediately, NET "I am about to act"; see on :8. God was about to do this. But the exiles wasted such huge potential. The implication of :37 in the NET is that these things would happen if Israel asked for them. God had opened that possibility, He had allowed then to ask for them. But they didn't: "This is what the sovereign LORD says: I will allow the house of Israel to ask me to do this for them: I will multiply their people like sheep". All the stress that "I will..." do these things was conditional upon the exiles wanting it. </p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day that I cleanse you from all your wickedness, I will cause the cities to be inhabited and the waste places shall be built- There is a&nbsp; connection between Judah’s forgiveness and the rebuilding of the land. The returned exiles were forgiven, they did rebuild... but they didn’t repent, despite this huge initiative of God’s grace. The suggestion here could be that the rebuilding would be achieved miraculously. Perhaps the latter day fulfilment of this will be in the new Jerusalem literally coming down from God out of heaven, ready built (<a href='B:730 21:2'>Rev 21:2</a>).</p>


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<p>The land that was desolate shall be cultivated whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all who passed by-"Cultivated"is the word used of how Adam before the fall was intended to"till"the eretz (<a href='B:10 2:5'>Gen 2:5</a>; <a href='B:10 2:15'>Gen 2:15</a>). And :35 specifically talks about Eden. The final fulfilment will be at the Lord’s return, when the original situation in Eden shall be restored. To claim this applies to Jewish settlers cultivating the land of Palestine in the latter half of the 20th century is to wrest this passage completely out of its context. And contrary to what many seem to think, Palestine was not"desolate"before their arrival. The British Census of Palestine recorded Jereusalem as having a population of 157,000 in 1944.</p>


text:
<p>They shall say, This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden- One of many hints that Eden was in fact the eretz promised to Abraham. The restoration of Israel makes it clear that this prophecy has its major fulfillment in the last days, when the Kingdom is established physically upon earth. In any case, there were no previous examples of this happening- and God’s word shall come true.</p><p>And the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited-"Ruined [Heb. ’beaten down’] cities"is the phrase specifically used about what Babylon did to Judah (<a href='B:290 14:17'>Isa 14:17</a>). They really could have been fortified by God at Ezekiel’s time. They would marvel at this because the rebuilding was to be miraculous, perhaps a literal miracle was potentially in view; the latter day fulfilment of this will be in the new Jerusalem literally coming down from God out of heaven, ready built (<a href='B:730 21:2'>Rev 21:2</a>).</p>


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<p>Then the nations that are left around you shall know that I, Yahweh, have built the ruined places and planted that which was desolate. I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and I will do it- Ezekiel’s prophecies of Israel’s regathering had their primary fulfilment in the restoration. The other nations that the Babylonians had placed in Israel would"know that I the Lord build the ruined places", by the miraculous rebuilding of the temple amidst great opposition and against all odds. But the idea of :37 seems to be that this would only happen if Judah prayed for it.</p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: For this also will I be inquired of- Previously, as noted on <a href='B:330 20:3'>Eze 20:3</a>; <a href='B:330 20:31'>Eze 20:31</a>, they had not been permitted to inquire of God. The elders who came to Ezekiel are in the same category as those in Judah who did not seek / inquire of Yahweh, although they did externally (<a href='B:300 10:21'>Jer 10:21</a>). We can pray and come to God’s word, when in reality we are not doing so from our whole heart and are doing this simply on the level of religious interest rather than wholehearted devotion. They would only ’find’ God is they ’sought’ with their whole heart (<a href='B:300 29:13'>Jer 29:13</a>). But now in the new covenant, they would seek God with their whole heart and so inquire of Him.</p><p>This could be the end stress of this section. All this unconditional making of Israe righteous, changing their heart- had to be asked for. It was theirs for the asking. And they didn't even want it. But we surely do. And so the new covenant is offered to us and we are taken out from the nations for the sake of His Name.
</p><p>By the house of Israel, to do it for them. I will increase them with men like a flock- The idea may be that all this great potential would come about if Israel really prayed for it."The house of Israel"suggests Israel and Judah would unite at the restoration, as envisaged in several of the restoration prophecies."Inquired"could as well be translated ’worshipped’. Israel will eternally worship God for His grace. The original text however is unclear. Some variants of the Hebrew and LXX read:"I will also further reveal My grace to the house of Israel, in that I will multiply their people as a flock"[see the Russian Synodal version]. This fits admirably with the theme of grace which dominates the chapter.</p>


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<p>As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the wasted cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am Yahweh- There is a parallel between the men and the flock. They were to respond to all this grace by becoming living sacrifices (<a href='B:520 12:1'>Rom 12:1</a>).</p>


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<p>The hand of Yahweh was on me and He brought me out in the Spirit of Yahweh, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones- The Spirit comes into these bones, thus continuing the teaching of <a href='B:330 34:25'>Eze 34:25</a> and chapter 36, that God will give a new heart to latter day Israel."The valley"suggests a specific valley in view, and I suggest in the latter day fulfilment, it is the valley of Armageddon. Although initially it was the valley near the Chebar of <a href='B:330 3:22'>Eze 3:22</a>, from where the exiles could have been revived. They were being offered a new deal, a new covenant seeing they had broken the old one, which would be eternal in that they would be given a new heart (Ez. 36) which would never again be able to sin: "I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them and multiply them and will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore" (Ez. 37:26). As discussed on Ez. 36:8, that generation could have been revived and those of Rachel's children slain by the Babylonians (Jer. 31) could have been resurrected. Hence the connection with the valley / plain where the exiles were currently located as Ezekiel gave this prophecy. These are the bones in the pot of Ez. 24:1-14, boiled dry by the Babylonian invasions; they are specifically, initially, relevant to the exiles with whom Ezekiel was sitting in the Chebar valley. The bones are unburied, suggesting they had been slain in wartime and not the death of old age, and not given any burial rites. This was the curse for breaking the covenant in Dt. 28:26, specifically applied to those who went into exile in Jer. 34:20, that Israel's bodies would be left unburied on the open fields of the valleys. Jeremiah laments that many Jews were left unburied by the Babylonians. They had broken the covenant- but God was going to force through the fulfilment of the new covenant with them. The figure is reversed two chapters later, when Gog's army is left as unburied bones in a valley. This vision primarily concerns the exiles with whom Ezekiel was and the possibility of a reversal and resurrection at that time. After the news that Jerusalem has fallen arrives with the exiles in Ez. 33, the rest of the prophecy from Ez. 34-37 is full of positive new covenant blessing. The judgment for their sins had happened, as predicted by Ezekiel earlier in his prophecy. But it seems God was now going to force through the new covenant with them, even to the point of resurrecting and saving them. Hosea has said the same, speaking of how God will ransom Israel from the power of the grave (Hos. 13:14), and raise up Israel "on the third day" (Hos. 6:1-3). </p><p>
Dan. 12:2 may appear to contradict this, by speaking of how although "your [Daniel's] people" would be delivered (Dan. 12:1), there would be a resurrection where some receive eternal life and others "shame and everlasting contempt". But those terms "shame" and "contempt" are often used of the Gentile nations around Israel and Judah; possibly those resurrected to shame are the Gentile abusers of God's people during their exile. It was those nations who had shamed and despised [s.w. "contempt"] Israel and Judah in exile (this is stated very often, s.w. Neh. 1:3; 2:17; 4:4; 5:9; Ps. 44:13; 79:4; Is. 4:1; 25:8; Jer. 24:9; 29:18; 44:12; 51:51;  Lam. 5:1; Ez. 5:14; 16:57; 21:28; 22:4; 36:15; Dan. 9:16;  "reproach" is s.w. "shame"). Those who had shamed and reproached God's people would be the ones who experience shame and reproach at the day of judgment at the resurrection. Thus Ps. 79:12 "Render unto our neighbours sevenfold their reproach wherewith they have reproached". This will come true at their judgment at the resurrection. Thus Egypt will finally have "shame and reproach" (Is. 30:5) as will Edom (Jer. 49:13), the very words here used of the shame and reproach given to those rejected after resurrection to judgment. </p><p>
 But there can also be a specific latter day application of these things. The bones in that valley connect with the picture developed in chapters 34-36 of the final destruction of Israel and the people in the land just before the Lord’s coming. The earthquake associated with their revival (:7) is that which brings down the cities of the nations in Revelation, and is perhaps also referred to in Zechariah 14 as occurring when the Lord Jesus sets foot on earth. The significance of the earthquake is totally missed by those who misinterpret the vision as referring solely to the national revival of the state of Israel in the 20th century. I suggest that the vision of Ezekiel 37 speaks of their literal resurrection and a new heart being given them. Ezekiel 39 then speaks of a revived Israel burying the multitudes of their invaders in the valley- surely the same valley is in view. What they did to Israel shall be done to them, as the prophets frequently say will happen.</p><p>Elsewhere in these notes on Ezekiel I have commented that there are multiple allusions to the garden of Eden. This is to be restored on earth at the Lord’s coming. The idea of bones becoming a living person very much alludes to the creation of Eve, the first Biblical reference to"bones"(<a href='B:10 2:23'>Gen 2:23</a>). The symbology is appropriate to the restoration of Eden which is to come at the Lord’s return, and not to the Zionist creation of the state of Israel in the middle of the 20th century. See on :6. The recreation of a body into which the spirit is breathed likewise alludes to <a href='B:10 2:7'>Gen 2:7</a>.</p>


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<p>He caused me to pass by them all around: and, there were very many in the open valley; and, they were very dry- God as it were augmented the pile of firewood by adding the bones out of the boiled dry cauldron to it (<a href='B:330 24:5'>Eze 24:5</a>). The resurrection and revival of these dry, charred bones in Ezekiel 37 is therefore all the more miraculous, just as in Ezekiel 15 the charred vine twigs were to be revived and used by God. The language of the restoration is used of us in the New Testament; this is how amazing is His ability to use we who were rendered worse than useless by sin. We see here the power of the Spirit and the prophetic word to revive that which was totally destroyed. They are later called "these slain" (:9); and so these "very many" bones are initially talking about those slain during the Babylonian invasion and capture of Jerusalem: "You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain" (Ez. 11:6). </p>


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<p>He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? I answered, Lord Yahweh, You know- This continues the idea of <a href='B:330 33:10'>Eze 33:10</a>, where Israel pine away in their sins and ask"How should we then live?". The question is whether Israel can really be forgiven of the enormity of their sins. The revival of the bones therefore speaks of their forgiveness and spiritual restoration, rather than the faithless creation of a Zionist entity by a group of Jewish agnostics and Eastern European atheists which happened in the 20th century. God’s response in <a href='B:330 33:11'>Eze 33:11</a> is to say that Israel must turn from their sins and"live". Beginning in Ezekiel 34 we saw however that God as it were gives up on the idea of Israel repenting and decides to send His Spirit into them, binding them into the new covenant- grace indeed. Here we see the same- the Spirit is sent into the bones and they are revived, made to live; rather than them coming to spiritual life themselves.</p><p>Over 45 times we read the word "life" in Ezekiel. Usually the context is that the repentant and righteous will live, but the disobedient will die and not live. And Israel were disobedient. Yet they would be made to live by God's grace shown through the work of His Spirit. That is what the new covenant is all about; the reversal of condemnation by grace and His Spirit. Paul in Romans develops this point- that God's grace works out through the work of His Spirit. His grace, charis, is the word used for the gift of His Spirit. This promise of life to dead bones is the answer to Israel's miserable complaint that they were dead in sins: "'Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we waste away because of them, how can we live?'" (Ez. 33:10-11). And the promise of the Spirit is likewise the answer to those who feel hopelessly dead in sins.  God didn't want them to die but to live, and so He had urged them to repentance (Ez. 18:32; 33:11; cp. 3:16-21). But they chose death over life. But by grace He still gives them life.</p><p>
The revival is now, but it will come to full term at the resurrection of the body. The resurrection, future aspect to the promise is what helps us cope with the fact that our spiritual transformation now is clearly so incomplete and partial. Speaking of the same work of the Spirit, Paul can say that we see in a mirror in darkness, with just partial transformation of our image, just some parts changed and just seeing / knowing some parts of Him; but then in completion, face to face. </p>


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<p>Again He said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, you dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh- Note the parallel between God’s Spirit and His word. Ezekiel appears to represent the latter day Elijah who will bring about this resurrection and revival through his latter day ministry; and again, this speaks of the latter days, not of Israel’s political fortunes in the 20th century. The grace of it all is in the fact that dry bones can't hear God's word, neither can the dead exiles whom the bones represent. So obedience is not the basis for God's action- as so often stated, it is because of His Name, His essential love for Israel. </p><p>
The idea of dryness has been used earlier in Ez. 17:9,10 for how Judah had been a healthy vine that was now dried up. The same figure is in Ez. 19:12 "it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong rods were broken off and withered". Likewise the idea that "our hope is lost" (:11) has been used in Ez. 19:5 of how the lioness of Judah "saw that she had waited and her hope was lost". Ezekiel is saying that his prophecies of condemnation and permanent destruction of God's people were going to be reversed. By the grace of the new covenant; and, as he labours, not because Israel had repented but because of the grace associated with God's Name. God's Name, as Hosea explains, involves a struggle between the pole of His grace and that of His judgment, with His love and grace finally winning out.</p>


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<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: I will cause spirit to enter into you, and you shall live- God takes the initiative; He no longer awaits their revival on their own initiative (<a href='B:330 33:11'>Eze 33:11</a>), now He causes His Spirit to enter and transform them; and this is the token of the new covenant which we too have entered by grace. Ezekiel 37 had its primary fulfilment in the return under Ezra. Then, Israel was given “a quickening” (<a href='B:150 9:9'>Ezr 9:9</a> LXX), in fulfilment of how the dry bones in captivity were revived. At that time, Judah could have fully revived. But most of them chose to stay in Babylon. And so the prophecy was rescheduled and reapplied. But this gift of the Spirit is part of the promise of the new covenant, the new heart and spirit of Jeremiah 30, 31; Ezekiel 20, 36 etc. And God is willing to give that to all who enter it by baptism today.</p><p>We note that what happens here had been Ezekiel's personal experiencing at the time of his first calling (Ez. 2:2). The Spirit had entered him, and he stood upon his feet to serve Yahweh. All Israel were going to have the same experience- on a national level, they were to become Yahweh's servants as much as Ezekiel had been.</p>


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<p>I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am Yahweh- The language of creation; see on 37:1 bones. It could be that the literal resurrection of those slain by the Babylonians was in view. But this was transferred to refer to thespiritual enlivenment possible for those within the new covenant. The sinews of flesh are perhaps intended to contrast with how Israel had previously had"iron sinews"(<a href='B:290 48:4'>Isa 48:4</a>); the idea is that now they had been given a heart of flesh, a soft heart to God’s ways, rather than a hard heart. Many times, Israel had been bidden "know Yahweh", to have relationship with Him- and they had refused. The work of the Spirit however is to make them "know Yahweh" (:13,14 too). This is part of the same theme of Ez. 36- a new heart and Spirit will be given to God's people, apparently without their requesting it. The vision clearly speaks of the bodily resurrection of the last day [if scripture interprets scripture, that conclusion is unavoidable], but also of spiritual revival now. This is exactly the position we are in. The resurrection to eternal life is related to our possession of the Spirit now-  "if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Rom. 8:11). Therefore those "who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for... the redemption of our bodies" at the resurrection (Rom. 8:23). Just as the Lord Jesus was put to death in the flesh but was made alive by "the Spirit of Christ" which He had in His life (1 Pet. 3:18). </p>


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<p>So I prophesied as I was commanded. As I prophesied, there was a noise- This meant that the “whole house of Israel” was to stand up from their graves and return as a mighty army to the land. The “noise” is s:w. in <a href='B:150 1:1'>Ezr 1:1</a> about the “proclamation” of Cyrus for Judah to return to the land. All of God’s people didn’t return; the majority preferred to stay in Babylon.</p><p>And an earthquake- Heb. ’a shaking’. The cherubim spoke of God’s people. The sound of the cherubim Angels which Ezekiel heard was like the noise of an earthquake (<a href='B:330 3:12'>Eze 3:12</a> LXX). Now he hears the"noise"of"shaking"or earthquake as the bones of Israel in exile come together by the spirit / Angelic operation of Yahweh (<a href='B:330 37:7'>Eze 37:7</a>). The same word is used about the latter day events in Israel when the latter day ’king of the north’ invades (<a href='B:290 9:5'>Isa 9:5</a>; <a href='B:290 29:6'>Isa 29:6</a>; <a href='B:300 10:22'>Jer 10:22</a>; <a href='B:300 47:3'>Jer 47:3</a>). And the same word is soon to be used in <a href='B:330 38:19'>Eze 38:19</a> for the earthquake which will happen when Gog is destroyed, and which will happen at Christ’s return to save a Jerusalem which has fallen to her enemies (<a href='B:450 14:5'>Zec 14:5</a>). They may well refer to the same event- for events will happen quickly at the time of the Lord’s coming and the meaning of time may well be changed. See on :9.</p><p>And the bones came together, bone to its bone- There was to be a unity between the ten tribes and Judah, brought about by the experience of repentance, forgiveness and the work of God’s Spirit. But this didn’t happen at the restoration from Babylon; the nobles continued to oppress the people.</p>


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<p>I saw, and, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them- See on :6. The Divine intention had been that the exiles repented, and then He would return them to Zion, having miraculously judged Babylon and also released the ten tribes from their captivity. But they wouldn’t repent, and so God brought them back to their land anyway. This perhaps is the significance of the bodies being rebuilt but still lacking the Spirit / breath. Yet the allusion is clearly to the creation of Adam, who was likewise created and then given the Spirit. This is to be Eden restored, a new creation. But the exiles stubbornly refused all this. The whole prophetic scene here has been transferred to our days, when any man in Christ is a new creation (<a href='B:540 5:17'>2Co 5:17</a>) and filled with the Spirit within. And this is to happen nationally to Israel in the last days.</p><p>"No breath in them" references similar statements about idols. Israel had become like that which they worshipped, and yet even from that hopeless situation, God was able to revive them. Just as in Hosea, His people had refused His overtures and turned to idols, but still He wanted them as His own- and He would get them, through His Spirit.</p>


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<p>Then He said to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind- God makes His Angels spirits / winds. Is this the command to Michael, Israel’s Angel which comes into action for them in the last days (<a href='B:340 12:1'>Dan 12:1</a>) to start&nbsp; to revive Israel? He is called forth from his exalted place dwelling between the four&nbsp; cherubim ngels. The language is reminiscent of that in <a href='B:10 2:7'>Gen 2:7</a>, where the Angel breathed into man the breath of life, which caused him to stand up upon his feet (cp. <a href='B:330 37:10'>Eze 37:10</a>)- and here the Angel is being asked to do the same, to Israel. Further connections between the"wind"and Israel’s Angel are in <a href='B:300 4:11-13'>Jer 4:11-13</a>.</p><p>But the meaning in reality is that the prophetic word was to be the source of the Spirit entering into the repentant exiles, if they repented. For the wind / spirit / breath is presented as under the control and bidding of Ezekiel the prophet.</p><p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live- The Spirit came from four places (<a href='B:330 37:9'>Eze 37:9</a>)- just as there were four cherubim. As the sound of the cherubim was as of a great army (<a href='B:330 1:24'>Eze 1:24</a>), so revived Israel stood up as a great army (<a href='B:330 37:10'>Eze 37:10</a>):The Angel cherubim would work with God’s disillusioned and broken people, to revive them, so that they would become like the guardian Angels of Israel above them. The point was that the Angel cherubim system which Ezekiel had seen at work amongst the captives was able to gather them together, and give life to the nation. And yet that didn’t happen to those exiles- because they didn’t walk in step with the spirit. The potential was that just as the exiles had been scattered to the four winds, so they would be spiritually revived wherever they were, and brought to Zion.</p><p>The revived bones represent those who had been "slain", the children of 'Rachel' for whom she wept because they were not. The slain Jews could have been resurrected then; but the whole program has been deferred to our last days.</p>


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<p>So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army- See on :9. The potential was that God would have used them as an army to destroy Babylon;" You are my battle axe and weapons of war: and with you will I break in pieces the nations; and with you will I destroy kingdoms; and with you will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with you will I break in pieces the chariot and him who rides therein; and with you will I break in pieces man and woman; and with you will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with you will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin"(<a href='B:300 51:20-22'>Jer 51:20-22</a>). The Jews who had been slain by the Babylonians would be resurrected and in turn become a mighty army who would judge Babylon. This is the meaning of the repeated "with you...". The strong emphasis upon ’breaking in pieces’ recalls the little stone of Daniel 2 cut out from the great mountain (Babylon) which was to destroy the kingdoms of men then dominating Israel and become a great kingdom of God on earth. This potential didn’t happen; but it shall do finally in the last days.</p><p>Ezekiel had experienced the same personally, in the same "valley" (see on :1). He had been as dead, and the Spirit came to him, revived him, and set him on his feet to do God's work (Ez. 2:2; 3:24). His physical revival was to be that of Israel. A literal resurrection is therefore in view here, regardless of what other dimensions there are to the revival. The two stage re-creation here, forming the dead body and then putting spirit into it, recalls man's creation in Gen. 2:7. Here we have a new creation, realized now when we are "in Christ" (2 Cor. 5:17); and yet clearly looking ahead to the "not yet" of literal resurrection and transformation at the Lord's return. Physical, literal resurrection is so clearly in view here; limiting it to some highly doubtful connection with Israel's becoming a state in 1948 seems to miss so much. The two stages are also seen in Ezekiel's personal experience; he fell on his face as dead, but then the Spirit of God entered him and he stood up as God's prophet and priest (Ez. 1:27; 2:2). He became representative of what God was to do to all Israel. </p>


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<p>Then He said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are totally cut off- The valley of dry bones vision in Ezekiel 37 depicted Israel in captivity as bones waiting to come together and return to the land as a great army. <a href='B:300 8:1'>Jer 8:1</a> and other passages earlier in Ezekiel (<a href='B:330 6:5'>Eze 6:5</a>; <a href='B:330 24:4'>Eze 24:4</a>) had described both Judah and Israel as dry bones. The feeling of those bones was that"our bones are dried and our hope is lost"(<a href='B:330 37:11'>Eze 37:11</a>). Judah in captivity felt that they had no"hope", that God had cast them off, and that they were unable to have a full relationship with Him outside the land. However, it seems that this was a rather convenient piece of theology for them- they were doing well in Babylon, and despite the opportunity to return to the land, they largely chose to remain in Babylon."The whole house of Israel"repeats the great prophetic theme- that both Israel and Judah were to revive and return to Zion. But they would not (see on :22). The reason why this didn’t happen is the same reason as to why people aren’t revived today; the exiles thought they were just too far gone, they had lost their hope and were too lifeless to be revived, so they&nbsp; may as well remain in Babylon and live their lives out there, for better or for worse. This is exactly the reason why people refuse to accept the work of the Spirit in their lives today; they lack the faith to believe that from an apparently hopeless human situation, God can revive.</p><p>"Cut off" suggests they were cut off from their people through condemnation (Num. 9:13), cut off from the temple, from the holy space of Israel [as they understood it], cut off from God, cut off from Israel as a people, cut off from the covenant. They had no "hope" of the Kingdom, they had lost it. The idea is of salation through resurrection even for the condemned of Israel. This is the grace of the new covenant. The Old Testament clearly teaches the condemnation of those who leave the covenant, and the salvation of those who abide in it. But just as the wages of sin is death yet we are quite illegitimately saved from this by grace in Christ, so it seems the historical Israel, at least up to the time of the end of the old covenant in Christ, shall be resurrected. By grace alone. And so all Israel shall be saved, and we share Paul's marvel at the depth of God's grace and eternal love for Israel. And that love is for us too under the new covenant.  </p><p>
There seems an allusion to Ps. 88:4-7, which implies that being cut off from God is permanent: "I am like a man who has no help, set apart among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom You remember no more- they are cut off from Your hand... Your wrath lies heavily upon me". But the point is that apparently irreversible condemnation in death can be reversed. Just as their wound was "incurable" but was cured; or as Hosea puts it, they had been mauled to death and consumed by the Divine lion, but would be resurrected. The wonder of it all is that Israel themselves considered they were beyond salvation. But God didn't and the new covenant is about His grace in saving them despite their belief that they were beyond saving. This is grace in its most radical form. </p><p>
"Behold, they say..." continues a theme in Ezekiel- that God knows the very words of the exiles and the sayings they have. Ez. 12:21 is an example: "What is this proverb that you have about the land of Israel: saying, 'The days grow long, and every vision comes to nought'". Likewise Ez. 18:2: "What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'? As I live, says the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you". See too Ez. 11:3; 33:24. The simple point is that the exiles, who felt forgotten by God, were to know that He looked carefully at their thoughts and heard all their words. And their depressive words were going to be mightily upended by His prophetic plan. This all provides comfort for those in depression and with the sense that God is distant.</p>


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<p>Therefore prophesy and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel- God really would have done this at the restoration from Babylon, but the exiles lacked the faith in these simple words. For them to be addressed with these words, we can conclude that it is spiritual revival which is in view. Although a literal resurrection may also have been possible then. The resurrection is presented here as happening before they enter the land of Israel. That resurrection would be by such grace that they would know Yahweh through it (:13); something which didn't happen in any figurative 'resurrection' of the state of Israel in the 1940s. Those Jews who emigrated to Israel in the 1940s and 1950s died without knowing Yahweh nor having any spiritual revival. "My people" is a hint that God has unilaterally accepted them again as His people. For during their great divorce, as explained in Hosea, God has called them lo-ammi, 'not My people'. But He is as it were forcing through His purpose with them here, by resurrecting them and calling them "My people" once again.</p>


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<p>You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, My people, and caused you to come up out of your graves- The opening of the graves precedes the coming into the land of Israel (:12). It cannot be that the opening of graves refers to a revival of Israel after the holocaust in Europe; for they did not then ’know Yahweh’ before entering the land. Rather I suggest does this refer to the literal resurrection of Jews killed during the  Babylonian invasions and perhaps also to those killed during the latter day desolation of the land. Radical Islam speaks of burying the bones of every Jew now alive in Israel. If this happens, then this prophecy will have a comfortable literal fulfillment. The way a revived Israel then bury the bones of their abusers in Ezekiel 39 would be a way of demonstrating that the judgments meted out upon Israel by her latter day enemies are then meted out to the invaders.</p><p>This whole section concludes with the comment that Israel would know Yahweh through being gathered back to the land through resurrection and spiritual transformation. This knowing of Yahweh means knowing His amazing grace. If indeed the historical Israel of the time are resurrected and transformed, they will spend eternity marvelling at His grace. Thus Ez. 39:28,29: "They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them to their own land... neither will I hide My face any more from them; for I have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel". To have the Spirit is therefore to see God's face, to be in open relationship with Him because of the assurance that sin has been dealt with. </p>


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<p>I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land; and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it, says Yahweh- This alludes directly back to the vision of the Angel-cherubim’s spirit being placed in the"wheels"of natural Israel in <a href='B:330 1:20-21'>Eze 1:20-21</a>. The placing of the Spirit within them was to be associated with their return to the land; being"placed"there suggests God’s work. This isn’t what happened in the 20th century revival of the state of Israel; although that was not without significance. For the prophecies require an invasion of the land in the last days and suffering of Jews within it, and so they had to be gathered there for this to happen. The phrase"place you in your own land"is used in <a href='B:290 14:1'>Isa 14:1</a> of the time when the Gentiles"shall be joined with them and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob". This is yet future, but it was potentially possible at the time of the restoration from Babylon. But sadly the Gentiles mocked Judah for continuing serving their idols, and were hardly encouraged to connect with the hope of Israel.</p><p>In the first context, the subjects of resurrection are those who had died outside the land. Clearly the exiles are in view. The vision is in the valley / plain, the same as that of Ez. 3:22 where the exiles were. Those who were dying in exile would be resurrected and return to the land- that is the message. They would be 'placed in their own land', or "I will bring you home". We could argue that they failed to realize this amazing potential. Or that this whole plan was reapplied to spiritual Israel. Or that quite simply, they will be resurrected by pure grace alone at the last day.</p>


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<p>The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying- The unity of God’s people was and remains a major concern with God. The common experience of grace and repentance was intended to unite Israel with the Gentiles (see on :14) and also to unite Judah with the ten tribes.</p>


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<p>You, son of man, take one stick and write on it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions. Then take another stick and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions-   Unity between Israel and Judah was a major dimension of the new covenant. "Joseph" is used here to make the point- he was the one separate from his brethren and in this sign, he is now joined to his brethren. There are many links discernible between Ezekiel and Zechariah, as they both prophesy concerning the same scattering and restoration of Israel. Here, the connection is with <a href='B:450 10:6'>Zec 10:6</a>"The house of Judah... the house of Joseph... they of Ephraim". There was envisaged a unity between Judah and Israel [Ephraim] at the restoration, but it never came about. And finally Zechariah breaks his sticks, as if to say the potential prophesied by Ezekiel was not going to happen in the restored community; although it shall come finally true in the last days.</p><p>There is a massive stress upon the unity which would be achieved under the new covenant. "The whole house of Israel" were to experience unity through the resurrection (:11). And now the acted parable of the united sticks is used to preface the dramatic presentation of Israel's spiritual revival under the new covenant. The word ‘one’ is used 11 times in Ezekiel 37:15−28 (verses 16 [2 times], 17 [3 times], 19 [2 times], 22 [2 times], and 24 [2 times]). This is a huge emphasis. This unity is predicated upon the one King who reigns over them represented  by the one stick or ruling rod. This is the sceptre of Messiah, called "David" here in Ez. 37 because it suggests the resurrection of David, and the Messiah being his descendant: “there will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms” (Ez. 27:22). For those who have accepted the new covenant, unity under King Jesus is in fact a sign of being in the covenant. Whilst it is a case of "now but not yet", it is also so that actions of disunity with those in the covenant are actually a denial of that covenant. </p>


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<p>Join them yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand- The intention was that the prophetic word of Ezekiel would be the basis for the unity of God’s people; this unity would happen through his hand. But they didn’t take him seriously, and so this didn’t happen at the time of the restoration."Join"is the word used for the exiles joining or coming near to Yahweh (<a href='B:330 44:16'>Eze 44:16</a>; <a href='B:430 3:2'>Zep 3:2</a>); as to this day, our connection with God becomes our connection with our brethren, and we cannot have one without the other. ’Becoming one’ continues the allusions to the creation; it is the phrase used about"man"becoming one flesh through the union of Adam and Eve (<a href='B:10 2:24'>Gen 2:24</a>).  The joining together of the sticks matches the coming together of the dry bones, bone to bone is marched by stick to stick. The stick is really a ruling scepter; the idea is that the unity of God's people is connected with His reigning over them, being accepted as their Lord. Unity between His people is required for His Kingdom reigning over them. But again, it is now but not yet. We are to live in unity with all others in the new covenant, and the cup of the covenant is to be the bond of that. But unity between persons eludes us in this life, and we will only experience it under the Lord's literal kingship at His return when "we shall be changed". </p>


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<p>When the children of your people shall speak to you saying, Will you not show us what you mean by these?- Ezekiel performed the miracle before their eyes. The message was obvious because the sticks were clearly marked (:16). Failure to understand God’s word nearly always has a moral basis. They naturally recoiled at the idea of such unity with those whom they considered inferior. And so they make out that they don’t understand, even though the explanation given in :19 is really only stating the obvious from what the miracle of the joined sticks had itself taught.</p>


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<p>Tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in My hand- See on :18. Ezekiel’s hand was to be seen as God’s hand (:17"in your hand"). The rods represented leadership and kingship; the hand of Ephraim was to no longer hold a stick, neither would Judah; God’s hand would hold the united stick. There was to be a new, Divinely appointed kingship. ten tribes were all the same</p><p>"I will take" is Heb. "I am about to take". We see here the huge potential that was available right then for the exiles. They wasted so much Divine potential; He so wanted to act to end the exile and resurrect those who had been "slain" (:9). </p>


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<p>The sticks whereon you write shall be in your hand before their eyes- The idea is that Ezekiel’s hand was to be seen as representing God’s hand (:17,19). They were to see with their eyes that in a miraculous way, God through Ezekiel’s word could unite Israel and Judah with Him as king, holding the rod or stick which represented rulership. But as ever, petty parochialism meant that this great potential didn’t happen at that time.</p>


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<p>Say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations where they are gone, and will gather them on every side and bring them into their own land-"Take... gather... bring"suggests they were to be assembled and then brought together back to Zion. This never happened with the exiles; the gathering together by the river Ahava (<a href='B:150 8:15'>Ezr 8:15</a>; <a href='B:150 8:21'>Ezr 8:21</a>; <a href='B:150 8:31'>Ezr 8:31</a>) was a very small fulfilment, but the majority weren’t interested. The fulfilment therefore has to be in the last days. The same words"take... gather... bring"are found in <a href='B:330 36:24'>Eze 36:24</a>, where this is to happen before they are sprinkled and given a new heart by the work of God’s Spirit (<a href='B:330 36:25-26'>Eze 36:25-26</a>). It is this new heart which would empower the exiles from whatever background to become"one nation"(:22). Unity is a gift of the Spirit, beyond our human achievement- but we must be open to receive it.</p>


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<p>I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all- &nbsp;"Make them one nation"suggests that unity is brought about by the work of God on men’s’ hearts; see on :21. This is the interpretation of how God made the two one stick (:19 s:w:). It was a psychological miracle of the spirit that He was willing to perform, just as the two sticks had&nbsp; miraculously become joined in Ezekiel’s hand. Remnants of the 10 tribes had been taken into captivity along with the two tribes; it could have been that at the restoration, the difference between Israel and Judah was ended and one Messianic King reigned over them. This was likewise in view in <a href='B:290 11:13'>Isa 11:13</a>; <a href='B:300 3:18'>Jer 3:18</a>; <a href='B:350 1:11'>Hos 1:11</a> etc:. But they refused. The majestic prophecy of <a href='B:300 23:5-7'>Jer 23:5-7</a> had prophesied that when Israel returned from Babylon, “the branch” would rise and save them “and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth”, i:e. establish the Messianic Kingdom (cp. <a href='B:230 72:2'>Psa 72:2</a>; <a href='B:290 9:7'>Isa 9:7</a>). But Zerubbabel, the “branch-from-Babylon”, lead the people back from Babylon, half heartedly built a temple- which faithful men wept at, when they saw how feeble it was compared to that which should have been (<a href='B:150 3:12'>Ezr 3:12</a>). And then he beat it back to Babylon. Significantly, <a href='B:160 7:7'>Neh 7:7</a> describes Zerubbabel as being at the head of twelve leaders of the returning exiles, who are called “the people of Israel” (cp. <a href='B:150 2:2'>Ezr 2:2</a>).</p><p>Some of the ten tribes did return with Judah. Thus “the Jews” is used synonymously with “Israelite” (<a href='B:160 2:10'>Neh 2:10</a>; <a href='B:160 4:1'>Neh 4:1</a>; <a href='B:160 5:1'>Neh 5:1</a>; <a href='B:160 5:8'>Neh 5:8</a>; <a href='B:160 7:73'>Neh 7:73</a>; <a href='B:160 12:47'>Neh 12:47</a>). 12 he-goats and 12 bulls were offered for “all Israel” in <a href='B:150 6:17'>Ezr 6:17</a>; <a href='B:150 8:35'>Ezr 8:35</a>. But still Judah and Israel remained divided; and no “prince” arose to fulfil the prophecies. The intended unity between God’s people will only happen in the last days when they are bound together by their repentance and experience of forgiveness.</p>


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<p>Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places in which they have sinned and will cleanse them. So shall they be My people, and I will be their God- Not serving idols is paralleled with no longer being divided (:22). Idolatry in whatever form leads to division amongst God’s people. The existence of only one God is therefore a demand for total unity between His worshippers- for their whole hearts will be for Him and not for anything else. Paul, writing to those who thought they believed in the unity of God, had to remind them that this simple fact implies the need for unity amongst us His children, seeing He treats us all equally as a truly good Father:"If so be that God is one... he shall justify the circumcision by faith, and [likewise] the uncircumcision through faith"(<a href='B:520 3:30'>Rom 3:30</a> RV).</p><p>"Their dwelling places"are the places in exile to where they had been scattered. But they were the places in which they had sinned by idolatry. This supports the impression that the exiles whom Ezekiel was addressing were idolaters still at that time. LXX "out of all their backslidings", as in Hos. 14. Those slipping back hopelessly can be stopped from that by the power of God's reviving Spirit. </p><p>
"They will be my people, and I will be their God" repeats the promise to Abraham of Gen. 17:7,8. Being God's people [through being made not to sin any more and to be faithful to Him] and Yahweh being their God is therefore a fulfilment of the promises to Abraham- which are the basis of the new or renewed covenant. Thus Peter perceives that those promises imply being "turned away" from our sins (Acts 3:25,26). </p><p>
We must be aware that the idolatry mentioned here is the idolatry of the exiles with whom Ezekiel was living and working. For they were the ones 'defiling' themselves with idols, as Ez. 20:30,31, spoken to the elders of the Jewish exiles, is explicit: "Tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Do you defile yourselves in the way of your fathers? and do you play the prostitute after their abominations? Shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you".</p>


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<p>My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd. They shall also walk in My ordinances and observe My statutes and do them- This is clearly the same “prince” as referred to in Ezekiel 45-48. The restoration prophecy of <a href='B:300 30:9'>Jer 30:9</a> speaks of a returned Judah serving “David their king, whom I shall raise up unto them”- implying that David would have been resurrected at the restoration, if all had gone according to what was possible? But Zechariah 6 offers other potential fulfilments for the prince in Zerubbabel and Joshua; but these also didn’t come about. And so the final fulfilment will be in the Lord Jesus. Likewise Cyrus could have been Yahweh’s shepherd at the restoration (<a href='B:290 44:28'>Isa 44:28</a>). There were so many potentials possible, just as there are in our lives and those of so many. God’s enthusiasm and interest in us given our failures as a race and His people... is so wonderful. He must be so thrilled when we at least try to respond and allow His plans to progress in us.</p>


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<p>They shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they shall dwell therein, they and their children and their children’s children, forever: and David My servant shall be their prince for ever- Had Judah repented at the time of the restoration, a Davidic ruler would have been raised up, Zerubbabel is the most obvious candidate (see on Zechariah 6). He would have reigned"for ever", perhaps for an age. But he dropped the baton, or at least Judah were unwilling for this scenario. And so the prophecies were reinterpreted and rescheduled for total and eternalfulfilment in the Lord Jesus."The prince"of the envisaged restored temple in Ezekiel 40-48 refers to this same individual. “The prince” of Ezekiel 40-48 is hard to understand as an immortal being such as the Lord Jesus. “The prince” of <a href='B:330 21:27'>Eze 21:27</a> was Judah’s last ruler- so “the prince” later in Ezekiel would appear to be a promise of a restored monarchy. Yet tragically, the royal family chose to remain in Babylon.</p><p>The restoration was to be associated with the appearance of a potential Messiah figure. This is a point repeatedly made in so many prophecies of the restoration. Take <a href='B:290 61:1-4'>Isa 61:1-4</a>: “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison [Babylon] to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion [the “poor of the land” allowed to remain after the Babylonian invasion], to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness [cp. how they sat and wept by the rivers of Babylon]…And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations”. And there are many other such prophecies which connect the appearance of a Messiah with the rebuilding of Zion. Haggai prophesied to encourage the people to get on with building the temple (<a href='B:150 5:1'>Ezr 5:1</a>), and yet he spoke of the desire of all nations (Messiah) coming with an earthquake and glory filling the temple (<a href='B:440 2:7'>Hag 2:7</a>). I submit that this is a prophecy of what could have happened at that time, but it has been deferred to the second coming of the Lord Jesus:&nbsp;&nbsp; The cherubim visions of Ezekiel 1, 9, 10 are applied in the New Testament to the glorified Christ (<a href='B:730 2:18'>Rev 2:18</a>; <a href='B:670 4:17'>1Pe 4:17</a>; <a href='B:680 2:4-9'>2Pe 2:4-9</a>). This surely implies that they were ultimately fulfilled in the Messiah; and perhaps we are to understand that they could have had fulfilment in a Messiah figure at the time of the restoration.</p>


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<p>Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them and multiply them and will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore- They had broken the old covenant, and so a new covenant was offered- which would last eternally and would achieve peace with God. It could only last eternally because the possibility of Israel breaking their side of it would be removed, through the work of the Spirit in their hearts.  This would be the fulfilment of the promises to Abraham, for it was those promises which spoke of their ’multiplication’. The promises to Abraham are to this day the basis of the new covenant, which we too can enter, although the exiles refused it."My sanctuary"appears parallel with"my tent"(:27,28). The essence of this will finally come true as described at the end of Revelation- God will Himself dwell with men. In the context of the possible scenario at the exile, they could have witnessed this dwelling of God with them by building the temple system of Ezekiel 40-48, into which the shekinah glory of God would have entered to represent His dwelling with them. But they didn’t build it as commanded, and so they precluded the possibility of all this.</p>


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<p>My tent also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people- Although the exiles were commanded to build the temple of Ezekiel 40-48, they were to be aware that essentially God doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands. He had always made that point by dwelling in a tent. And this is therefore brought to view again here.</p>


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<p>The nations shall know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in their midst forevermore- The sanctuary God envisioned originally was one which His hands made (<a href='B:20 15:17'>Exo 15:17</a>; <a href='B:230 78:69'>Psa 78:69</a>). The permission to&nbsp; build a temple with human hands was a concession to human weakness; although the word is used many times in Ezekiel 40-48 of the temple Israel were to build. But they refused to do so as commanded:&nbsp; The essence of the sanctuary was to be Messiah; He was to be a sanctuary for God’s people (<a href='B:290 8:14'>Isa 8:14</a>). And this was and is how Yahweh shall eternally tabernacle with His people.</p>


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<p>The word of Yahweh came to me saying- Ezekiel 38 must be understood within its context. Ezekiel was a captive in Babylon, and the book bearing his name records series of prophecies which he gave. <a href='B:330 33:21'>Eze 33:21</a> to <a href='B:330 39:29'>Eze 39:29</a> is a complete section within the book. I understand <a href='B:330 33:21-22'>Eze 33:21-22</a> to mean that Ezekiel opened his mouth and gave the six prophetic utterances in this section on the night before the exiles received the news that Jerusalem had fallen. It was on the fifth day of the tenth month of the 12th year of the exile (<a href='B:330 33:21'>Eze 33:21</a>). Ezekiel’s mouth was opened by Divine inspiration that evening, and he gave these messages through the night until the messenger arrived in the morning with the news that Jerusalem had fallen. Each of the six messages begin with the rubric “Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying…”. The message has been that Judah shall enter a new covenant, although there will be terrible times of trouble and judgment for both her and her enemies. Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, and so it is understandable that the invasion described in chapter 38 alludes to the Babylonian invasion, but climaxing in the good news that Messiah’s coming will save Judah and all Israel. The message was that the tragedy of losing Jerusalem was to be repeated again, on an even grander scale, in the last days- and yet it was to be but a prelude to Messiah’s triumphal coming and the permanent establishment of God’s Kingdom based in Israel. The various nations listed in Ezekiel 38 may well have been those who were confederate with Babylon in the historical invasion of Judah- this would have been their relevance to Ezekiel’s initial audience of captives in Babylon. Ten nations from within the land are listed in total, plus Persia- and Revelation speaks of an entity, a “beast”, dominated by Babylon but having ten horns, or powers, associated with it. These would correspond to the ten toes of the image of Daniel 2. The significance of the nations listed is that they are from every point of the compass around Jerusalem: Gomer and Togarmah from the North, Persia from the East, Cush from the South and Put / Tarshish from the West. The common description of the invasion of Judah by ‘all the nations round about’ thus comes to term in the prophecy of Ezekiel 38.</p><p>There could have been the restoration promised in Ezekiel 35-37, followed by the invasion by the surrounding nations in Ezekiel 38, and then the judgment of those nations and establishment of the restored Kingdom as detailed in Ezekiel 39, followed by an obedient Judah building and operating the temple of Ezekiel 40-48:&nbsp;Ezekiel 37 had its primary fulfilment in the return under Ezra. Then, Israel was given “a quickening” (<a href='B:150 9:9'>Ezr 9:9</a> LXX), in fulfilment of how the dry bones in captivity were revived. At that time, Judah could have fully revived. But most of them chose to stay in Babylon. If there had been a full revival, then the events of Ezekiel 38, 39 would have taken place. It has been suggested that there was a&nbsp; primary fulfilment of Ezekiel 38/9 in an unrecorded invasion of the land at the time of the restoration. However, historical evidence for this is severely lacking. And yet the Scythian tribes such as Magog, Gomer, Meshech, Tubal etc. are all recorded as being the scourge of the Middle East at that time. They were marauding into more prosperous areas “to take a spoil”, especially “cattle and goods”, at around Ezekiel’s time. They could so easily have turned their attentions toward Israel. That invasion could have happened; but it didn’t:&nbsp; But because Israel were not faithful the temple was not built properly, and therefore the Ezekiel 38 invasion didn’t happen, and therefore Yahweh’s intervention and establishment of His Kingdom as described in Ezekiel 39 didn’t occur. In some ways, the&nbsp; Ezekiel 38 invasion and 39 defeat could have occurred but instead has been deferred until the last days... because through that invasion the establishment of the Kingdom is led into. This suggestion makes sense of the thorny problem of <a href='B:330 38:11'>Eze 38:11</a> stating that the invasion would come at a time when Judah would be living in unwalled towns, without bars nor gates, “at rest”- which is the very language of <a href='B:300 30:10'>Jer 30:10</a>, that the restored Judah would be “in rest and be quiet”. The same word is usedin <a href='B:450 1:11'>Zec 1:11</a> to describe how the land was “at rest” when the captives returned to rebuild Zion.</p><p>We must also factor in that Haggai and Zechariah outline a scenario in which the Jewish exiles would rise up against Babylon / Persia, and before Zerubbabel the great mountain of Babylon / Persia would have become a plain. And so the image of Dan. 2 would have been brought down at that point. 
</p><p>Haggai 2:6 says that "Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land". In a "short time", God would yet once more (GNB) shakes the heavens and earth as He had done at Sinai. The potential was that soon after Haggai's words [in "a little while"] there would be direct Divine intervention involving earthquakes and the shaking of all nations (Hag. 2:7) to support the re-establishment of God's Kingdom in Israel under the Messianic rulership of Zerubbabel. This is also foreseen in Zech. 14, where the earthquake is seen as creating a new plateau upon which a new temple could be built. This plateau was also see in the opening of the Ez. 40-48 vision of the commandments as to how to build the new temple complex. This could be brought about by the shaking / earthquake which could have come at the end of the Ez. 38 invasion: "in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel... all the men who are on the surface of the earth, shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall and every wall shall fall to the ground" (Ez. 38:19,20). Had Judah accepted the new covenant offered to them in Ez. 33,34, they would have revived as in Ez. 37, the Ez. 38 invasion and earthquake would have happened and then on the resultant plateau, the new temple would have been built. Despite Judah's failures to engage with these things, Haggai and Zechariah were saying that if the people wanted, they could have the earthquake and temple. God really was trying to force through His saving purpose.
</p><p>But it didn't happen then. Judah didn't repent, and Zerubbabel beat it back to Babylon. These words have therefore been reapplied and rescheduled, to the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross and to the final literal establishment of the Kingdom at His second coming; in this context they are quoted in Heb. 12:26-28.
</p><p>Zech. 2:9 gives more possibilities: "For, behold, I will shake My hand over them"- an idiom for direct Divine action in the destruction of Babylon (Zech. 2:7). Although Babylon had fallen to Cyrus, he left the city intact. The total destruction of the city envisioned in the prophets didn't happen at that time- perhaps because God's people weren't ready to leave as they should have done. For the exit of the Jews from Babylon was envisaged as preceding Babylon's total destruction (Isaiah 13,48; Jeremiah 50,51). Although the people hadn't left Babylon, God now gives another scenario- they could leave now, and then Babylon would fall as predicted. Ezra leads another group from Babylon in response to this call (Ezra 7), but again there was very limited response to his efforts to get the Jews to leave. We marvel at God's desire to somehow make it all work out. We note too how what happens amongst nations is directly related to the readiness of God's people to respond. Thus the Persians reversed the decree to rebuild the temple because God's people didn't really want to build it. Darius could easily have failed to regain control of Persia and Persia would have fallen before Zerubbabel; had the Jews left Babylon, the city would have been reduced to rubble as prophesied.
</p><p>Zech. 2:9 goes on to say that "They will be a spoil to those who served them". The NET brings out how immediately Persia was to fall by internal division: "I am about to punish them so that they will be looted by their own slaves”, or "by those who were once their servants". This began to happen on the death of Smerdis as the subject tribes and territories began to rebel. The tribes of Ez. 38 could have risen to power and invaded the recently revived state of Judah. This was what could have happened and was set to. But Judah just didn't respond despite all God's enthusiasm, and so Darius stabilized the empire and it continued another 200 years. And the Scythian tribes were overcome by Darius rather than becoming strong enough to attack Judah. 
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<p>Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog- This chapter speaks of an invasion of Israel at some point after the Jews have returned to their land (Ezekiel 37) and before the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth (Ezekiel 39, 40). This latter day invader will be destroyed by Divine intervention. The language is clearly based upon the historical Assyrian: <a href='B:330 38:4'>Eze 38:4</a> = <a href='B:290 37:29'>Isa 37:29</a>; <a href='B:330 38:7'>Eze 38:7</a> = <a href='B:290 8:7'>Isa 8:7</a>; <a href='B:330 38:8'>Eze 38:8</a> = <a href='B:290 8:8'>Isa 8:8</a>; <a href='B:290 10:3'>Isa 10:3</a>; <a href='B:330 38:9-10'>Eze 38:9-10</a> = <a href='B:290 28:2'>Isa 28:2</a>; <a href='B:290 8:9'>Isa 8:9</a>; <a href='B:290 8:21'>Isa 8:21</a>; <a href='B:290 10:3'>Isa 10:3</a>; <a href='B:290 10:7'>Isa 10:7</a>; <a href='B:330 38:11'>Eze 38:11</a> = <a href='B:290 37:24'>Isa 37:24</a>; <a href='B:330 38:12'>Eze 38:12</a> = <a href='B:290 10:6'>Isa 10:6</a>; <a href='B:330 38:19'>Eze 38:19</a> = <a href='B:290 30:27'>Isa 30:27</a>; <a href='B:330 38:22'>Eze 38:22</a> = <a href='B:290 29:6'>Isa 29:6</a>; <a href='B:290 30:30'>Isa 30:30</a>; <a href='B:330 38:19-20'>Eze 38:19-20</a> = <a href='B:290 29:6'>Isa 29:6</a>; <a href='B:290 30:25'>Isa 30:25</a>; <a href='B:330 38:23'>Eze 38:23</a> = <a href='B:290 10:15'>Isa 10:15</a>; <a href='B:330 39:10'>Eze 39:10</a> = <a href='B:290 33:1'>Isa 33:1</a>. See on :17; <a href='B:330 39:3'>Eze 39:3</a>. <a href='B:730 20:8'>Rev 20:8</a> defines “the nations which are in the four quarters of the land” as being “Gog and Magog”; clearly the Ezekiel 38 Gog is being defined as the epitome of the nations along the borders of Israel, who both historically and currently are Israel’s main enemies.</p><p>Gog is a personal name, he will be the rosh or prince / caliph of the invading group of nations. The only Biblical Gog was an Israelite who went away from the core of Israelite worship and lived on the East of Jordan, and later assimilated into the Assyrian territories and lived on the banks of the Euphrates (<a href='B:130 5:4-9'>1Ch 5:4-9</a>; <a href='B:130 5:25-26'>1Ch 5:25-26</a>). The Biblical Gog is therefore from the far northern boundary of the land promised to Abraham, the ends of the eretz / earth. Gog is described as coming from his homeland in the uttermost parts of the north (<a href='B:330 38:15'>Eze 38:15</a>). His origin will be on the northern edge of the land promised to Abraham- which is the Euphrates River. This, then, is the location of Magog; which would explain why there are no cuneiform inscriptions bearing this name. It is simply the land of Gog, and its exact location is irrelevant- it’s simply presented as a territory on the far northern border of the land promised to Abraham. We can look for the latter day Gog to be born somewhere along the Euphrates River.</p><p>The usage of the term Gog suggests that this invasion is being made and led by a false Israel. And we find that idea continued when the invaders are described as “a great company” (<a href='B:330 38:4'>Eze 38:4</a>; <a href='B:330 38:7'>Eze 38:7</a>; <a href='B:330 38:13'>Eze 38:13</a>; <a href='B:330 38:15'>Eze 38:15</a>); yet the qahal is a term usually used about the congregation of Israel (<a href='B:230 22:26'>Psa 22:26</a>; <a href='B:230 35:18'>Psa 35:18</a>; <a href='B:230 40:10-11'>Psa 40:10-11</a>; <a href='B:150 10:1'>Ezr 10:1</a>). Gog is “the chief prince” (<a href='B:330 38:2'>Eze 38:2</a>), but this term is elsewhere used only of the chief princes of the tribes of Israel (<a href='B:40 10:4'>Num 10:4</a>; <a href='B:40 36:1'>Num 36:1</a>). The invaders “come to a land”, Israel (<a href='B:330 38:8'>Eze 38:8</a>)- using the very expression used of how Israel were to “come to a land”, that of Israel (<a href='B:30 14:34'>Lev 14:34</a>; <a href='B:40 15:2'>Num 15:2</a>; <a href='B:40 34:2'>Num 34:2</a>; <a href='B:50 8:7'>Deu 8:7</a>; <a href='B:50 17:14'>Deu 17:14</a>; <a href='B:50 18:9'>Deu 18:9</a>; <a href='B:50 26:1'>Deu 26:1</a>; <a href='B:50 32:52'>Deu 32:52</a>). Likewise the beast / whore in Revelation is described in terms of Solomon’s Kingdom, trading in the same goods, and associated with the number 666 as Solomon was (<a href='B:110 10:14'>1Ki 10:14</a>). The point may be that the beast / whore system is a fake Israel, a mock Kingdom of God. Which fits ISIS and Islam. The anti-Christ doesn’t mean so much ’against Christ’ as’that which appears as Christ’, in the place of Christ. And likewise there is a fake Kingdom of God, a pseudo-Israel... which is what Islam created when Mohammed in the Quran twisted the Genesis record to make the Arab peoples ’Isaac’ and the Jews from Jacob as ’Ishmael’. And this would explain why the codename for the leader of the invasion is Gog, an apostate Israelite who likewise lived on the Euphrates.</p><p>It’s worth noting that some versions of the LXX in the apocryphal book of Sir_48:17 speak of Gog coming to Jerusalem at the time of the Assyrian invasion at Hezekiah’s time. This would definitely associate Gog with the leader of an Assyrian invasion. It’s also interesting that the LXX of <a href='B:50 3:1'>Deu 3:1</a>; <a href='B:50 3:13'>Deu 3:13</a>; <a href='B:50 4:47'>Deu 4:47</a> speaks of “Og king of Bashan” as “Gog”. Bashan refers to the area of the Golan Heights- the northern entrance to Israel, on the border with Syria. This is exactly where the IS are building up their forces and this would be the logical invasion point into Israel.</p><p>Haman “the Agagite” is surely another prototype for Gog; Agag and Gog are very similar original words. The similarity is not simply in the similarity of the names. The “wicked device” or plan of Haman to destroy the Jews (<a href='B:190 8:3'>Est 8:3</a>; <a href='B:190 8:5'>Est 8:5</a>; <a href='B:190 9:25'>Est 9:25</a>) is described with the very same word used of how Gog thinks up an evil plan against Israel (<a href='B:330 38:10'>Eze 38:10</a>).</p><p>We should note that “Gog” occurs in another place in the LXX, but not in the Masoretic Text: “Thus has the Lord God shewed me; and, behold, a swarm of locusts coming from the east; and, behold, one caterpillar, king Gog” (<a href='B:370 7:1'>Amo 7:1</a>). Israel’s enemies are typically described as coming from the north, because armies from Babylon and Assyria [to the East of Israel] would follow the transport routes along the Euphrates and then come down from the north into Israel- rather than marching across the trackless desert. But Gog is described as coming “from the east”. This makes sense if Gog is a person, rather than a nation or army. His origin was to the east of Israel. The “locusts” whom he leads connect with the Assyrians being called locusts (<a href='B:290 33:4'>Isa 33:4</a>), and the locusts of <a href='B:730 9:3'>Rev 9:3</a>; <a href='B:730 9:7'>Rev 9:7</a> being paralleled with thousands of horsemen coming against Israel from the Euphrates. Before dismissing the LXX too quickly, remember that the vast majority of Old Testament quotations found in the New Testament are from the LXX, and that version is often preferred over the Hebrew [Masoretic] Text. Yet Amos intercedes:"Repent, O Lord, for this. And this shall not be, saith the Lord". This would suggest that the Gog invasion was conditional and was forestalled by the intercession of Amos; thus not only Ezekiel 40-48 would be conditional prophecy, but Ezekiel 38, 39 also.</p><p>The chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him- I calculate ten nations in Ezekiel 38 [cp. the ten horns on the beast] on the basis that rosh is a proper noun meaning ‘chief prince’ and doesn’t refer to any nation bearing the name rosh. There was no such nation. All attempts to force this word into equivalence with the Kievan rus, from whence ‘Russia’, are opportunistic and cavalier in the extreme. Because two words contain two identical letters when transliterated doesn’t mean they are one and the same word. Further, I understand “Are you come to take a spoil?” in <a href='B:330 38:13'>Eze 38:13</a> to not be a challenge, but rather said with the implication ‘Are you going to spoil them? We will come too!’.</p><p>In <a href='B:330 27:13'>Eze 27:13</a>, Meshech and Tubal are mentioned as being sellers of slaves to Tyre; and in <a href='B:330 32:26'>Eze 32:26</a>, they are spoken of as" instilling terror in the land of the living."Meshech is thought to be a people called the Moschi dwelling in the Caucasus mountain regions according to Assyrian inscriptions. Tubal is thought to be a people called the Tibareni dwelling on the Southeast shores of the Black Sea [perhaps from whence modern Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia]. But whoever they were, they were connected with the nations of Genesis 10; for all the nations of Ezekiel 38 are found in that list. We note that none of the descendants of Shem in Genesis 10 are found here in Ezekiel 38. The nations of Genesis 10 were all peoples within the eretz promised to Abraham; the area which was flooded and then repopulated after the flood, which is the context of Genesis 10.</p>


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<p>And say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal-"Chief prince"means just that; it is facile to try to interpret"rosh"["chief"] as a proper noun. The word occurs very many times in the Bible and simply means"chief". The same phrase chief prince" often occurs about the princes of the tribes of Israel (<a href='B:40 1:16'>Num 1:16</a>; <a href='B:40 7:2'>Num 7:2</a>; <a href='B:40 10:4'>Num 10:4</a>; <a href='B:40 36:1'>Num 36:1</a> etc:).</p>


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<p>I will turn you around- There are many similarities between Assyria and the Gog invasion. The two invasions of Gog (or three? <a href='B:330 38:4'>Eze 38:4</a>; <a href='B:330 38:8'>Eze 38:8</a>; <a href='B:330 38:10'>Eze 38:10</a>; or four if v. 4 implies two invasions: "I will turn you back... and bring you forth"- again) find their basis in Assyria coming up several times before the final onslaught on Jerusalem.</p><p>We naturally want to know who precisely the specific nations refer to. But readers of Ezekiel will have been struck by the fact that a number of the nations listed have already been mentioned in Ezekiel- in prophecies which predict or describe their destruction. Tyre (Tarshish), Meshech and Tubal have all been described as having come to their end (<a href='B:330 27:13'>Eze 27:13</a>; <a href='B:330 32:5'>Eze 32:5</a>; <a href='B:330 32:26-27'>Eze 32:26-27</a>). The impression, therefore, is that there will be a latter day revival of these nations. And that is what we are seeing happening in the lands around Israel, whose peoples and geographical areas were dormant and insignificant for centuries- until their revival in recent times. A coalition of those nations will arise which includes those territories or ethnic groups. And their intention is clearly and ultimately to invade Israel and destroy the Jews. Radical Islam is already in control of much of the eretz / land promised to Abraham. Indeed, <a href='B:330 38:4'>Eze 38:4</a> opens the prophecy by saying that God will ‘return’ Gog [AV “turn thee back”], and the Hebraism is well translated elsewhere as ‘restore the fortunes of…’. A revived Gog means a revived Assyria / Babylon. The question is, why does Ezekiel not specifically mention Assyria / Babylon as the leader of this group of nations? Why refer obliquely to them as ’Gog’? The answer may be that because Ezekiel was a captive in Babylon at the time, he referred to them under this code name. Peter does the same in referring to Rome under the code name of Babylon (<a href='B:670 5:13'>1Pe 5:13</a>). It may be that some of the other nations mentioned in Ezekiel 38 are likewise code names- because it is very hard to conclusively demonstrate that some of the nations or peoples bearing exactly those same names existed in Ezekiel’s time. The description of Gog’s destruction in Ezekiel 39 is likewise hard to take literally, and this may mesh well with ‘Gog’ being used as a codename. See the later notes on Ezekiel 39.</p><p>Put hooks into your jaws, and will bring you out- Gog is manipulated with hooks in his jaws (<a href='B:330 38:4-6'>Eze 38:4-6</a>). This alludes to how the Assyrians presented themselves in steles and other art forms as putting hooks in the mouths of those they conquered. The Zincirli Stele pictures Esarhaddon holding Egypt and Tyre by hooks in their jaws; Assyria "took Manasseh captive in hooks" (<a href='B:140 33:11'>2Ch 33:11</a> Heb:). The point is, that what Assyria did to others is effectively being done to the latter day Assyrian by God:&nbsp; This is the very picture of <a href='B:730 13:10'>Rev 13:10</a> - the beast who led God’s people into captivity shall be taken into captivity by God at the last day, and hooks being put in the jaw is the very picture of captivity. Gog and his entity is the beast of Revelation. Indeed, the whole language of putting hooks in the jaws is based upon God’s word to Assyria, that He would put hooks in their jaws and a bridle in their mouth (<a href='B:290 37:29'>Isa 37:29</a>)- as if they were an aggressive beast.</p><p>The idea is found far back in <a href='B:10 27:40'>Gen 27:40</a>, where Jacob made a promise about the relationship between Jacob (Israel) and Esau (forefather of many of the nations living in the land promised to Abraham). Jacob predicted that although Esau would be beneath Jacob, there would come a time “when you shall have dominion [Heb. ‘to trample down’, which will happen when Israel and Jerusalem are trodden down by Esau’s invasion of the last days, and will rule or have dominion over Jacob]; and you [Esau] shall break his [Jacob’s] yoke from off your neck”. This suggests that the families of Esau are again presented as a beast that must be controlled. Jacob’s words have so far had no significant fulfilment; but they will do, however briefly, when the beast of Esau takes over Israel and dominates the Jews.</p><p>With all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armour, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords- One cannot miss the emphasis in Ezekiel 38 on the many "horses and horsemen", and the type of armour described ("Bucklers and shields") gives the impression of many well armed cavalry men. Notice <a href='B:330 38:15'>Eze 38:15</a> too: "All of them riding upon horses". Why this emphasis on cavalry? The Angels are described as horse riders in Zechariah and Revelation; the horses in the chariots of Zechariah 6 are also Angels), and there is the obvious connection with the Angel-cherubim chariot. Further Angelic language is found in <a href='B:330 38:20'>Eze 38:20</a> "My presence"; <a href='B:330 39:7'>Eze 39:7</a> "The Holy One".</p><p><a href='B:730 9:14-18'>Rev 9:14-18</a> describes how 200,000,000 horsemen came from just beyond the Euphrates (exactly where the jihadist hordes have come), using "fire and smoke and brimstone" to punish God’s apostate people:&nbsp;This was John in the first century struggling under ‘the tyranny of words’ to describe modern warfare. "By these three was the third part of men killed", suggesting that this invading army has three aspects to its work:&nbsp;The huge number of horsemen must allude to the "great company" of horsemen of <a href='B:330 38:4'>Eze 38:4</a>, which we have shown (:2) to be rooted in the Assyrian invasion:&nbsp;The 200,000,000 horsemen of <a href='B:730 9:16'>Rev 9:16</a> may correspond to the fact that history records the strength of the Assyrian army which came against Jerusalem as being 200,000 men. The jihadist culture is full of allusion to horsemen, seeing themselves as the revival of previous horse-mounted Islamic warriors. The motif is common in jihadist promotionalvideos. Jerusalem was truly “compassed with armies” by the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, and perhaps the Lord has this in mind when He predicted that Jerusalem would again be like this in the last days.</p>


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<p>Persia, Ethiopia and Libya with them, all of them with shield and helmet- We note the lack of reference to Babylon and Assyria in the list of ten nations. The primary, potential application of the prophecy was to the repentant captives standing up as a great army in Ezekiel 37, destroying Babylon and returning to Zion along with the repentant ten tribes and the six nations of Ezekiel 26-32 who repent and "know Yahweh". They would come to a land made miraculously fruitful for them (Ezekiel 36). The nations listed here in Ezekiel 38 are those from all around the compass who then come up to invade the reestablished kingdom of God with its Messianic king. But the invasion is unsuccessful. This prophetic scenario however didn’t happen, because the humans involved in it refused to repent. This invasion by various peoples and the Scyths, who were not confederate with the two contemporary power blocks of Babylon and Egypt, could have happened; but it didn’t, and so the essence of it will be fulfilled in the last days. I have suggested on Revelation 20 that the Ezekiel 38 invasion is there described as happening around the return of the Lord Jesus. This would then be the scenario of Psalms 2, with the Lord Jesus enthroned in Zion, surrounded by His enemies, but easily destroying them.</p><p>I have explained elsewhere that the latter day beast with ten horns is to dominate the eretz / land of Israel, the area promised to Abraham from Egypt to the Euphrates. The ten toes of Daniel’s image are rooted in the earth / land, and these are the basis for the ten horns in the later development of that vision in Daniel 7 and Revelation. This entity is dominated by a charismatic leader, the little horn; also expressed in Revelation as the whore riding the beast. In Ezekiel 38, we have ten nations plus Persia, led by an individual called Gog [reading rosh not as a nation but as “chief prince”, as it is always elsewhere translated]. Those ten nations are all from within the land promised to Abraham, because they are extracted from the list of nations in the land in Genesis 10. The picture presented is of ten nations or leaders [horns, toes] from within the land promised to Abraham- perhaps to be fulfilled in an Islamic caliphate dominating that area, with ten leaders or factions or peoples under its control. Plus Persia- Iran. It’s unthinkable given current geopolitics that such an invasion would happen and Iran would not get involved. They will- according to Ezekiel 38. It’s also worth noting that Sheba, Dedan and Tarshish appear to join in the invasion as a separate entity. We are left wondering whether this has relevance to the three horns mentioned separately in <a href='B:340 7:8'>Dan 7:8</a>; <a href='B:340 7:20'>Dan 7:20</a>; <a href='B:340 7:24'>Dan 7:24</a>.</p>


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<p>Gomer, and all his hordes- Gomer is thought to have been the Cimmerians, who occupied central Turkey in the days of the Assyrian empire [perhaps the forerunners of the Kurds, who came to live within the eretz promised to Abraham].</p><p>The house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north and all his hordes; even many peoples with you- The names of the peoples mentioned are solely relevant to the land promised to Abraham. Thus when we read that Togarmah comes from “the north border [AV “quarters”]” (<a href='B:330 38:6'>Eze 38:6</a>), this refers to the northern limit of the land / eretz promised to Abraham. The allusion to the Genesis 10 list of nations in Ezekiel 38 would therefore be to signal that the peoples of the land, the kings of the land, would come up against Israel in the last days- and the only outside nation who joins in is Persia / Iran. And that is absolutely imaginable today! The numerical value in the Hebrew for the term Gog and Magog is seventy- and there are 70 peoples listed in the table of nations in Genesis 10. There is no need to become fixated by issues of historical geography in trying to locate where these peoples may have once lived- they are all within the land promised to Abraham. Any reference to Russia, Turkey, Europe etc. is thereby made inappropriate.</p><p>Nearly all of the nations mentioned occur in the table of nations in Genesis 10. Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Cush [AV “Ethiopia”], Put [AV “Libya”], Gomer, Togarmah, Dedan, Tarshish and Sheba are all mentioned there- in fact, all of them apart from Persia (Iran is beyond the land promised to Abraham). The connection between Ezekiel 38 and the Genesis 10 table of nations must therefore be highly significant. That table of nations served as an explanation to ancient Israel of the origins of the nations in the eretz / land promised to Abraham. They wondered why they were attacked and opposed by the peoples of the land- and Moses was given Genesis to explain to them the context of geography and history in which they were situated. Genesis and the Pentateuch are God’s version of history, geography and geopolitics for His people. Given this relevance to the situation in the land promised to Abraham, it is foolhardy to speculate that Shem, Ham or Japheth refer to Africans, Europeans etc. Ham refers specifically to “Canaan”, and his servitude under Shem [Israel]; the predicted tension between Shem and Ham refers to the Jew-Arab tension, and not any other tension such as between black people and white European colonialists. This is just wishful thinking, and reflects the cavalier, opportunistic usage of Bible verses for which 19th century Western European theologians have become famous.</p>


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<p>Be prepared, yes, prepare yourself- The idea is that this confederacy would prepare themselves and yet be confirmed in their own freewill direction by being prepared by God. The ’preparation’ is for military action (s:w. <a href='B:330 7:14'>Eze 7:14</a>; <a href='B:410 2:3'>Nah 2:3</a>).</p><p>You, and all your companies who are assembled to you, and be a guard to them- They assemble together in order to "take a prey" (:13); according to Ezekiel 36, the returned exiles could have come to a land miraculously fruitful and prosperous. This would explain the attraction, at the time of the restoration, for the war weary nations to come and take a prey. Gog personally would be a guard to these nations, as if they feel that under his charismatic leadership, they can come to no harm.</p>


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<p>After many days you shall be visited. In the latter years- Gog was to "be visited". This is Angelic language. The related passage in <a href='B:290 24:21-23'>Isa 24:21-23</a> also speaks of the Gog confederacy: "And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall punish (Heb. ’visit’) the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered together in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. Then... the Lord of Hosts (Angels) shall reign". There are clear parallels with Gog’s confederacy being visited by God, after they have been ’imprisoned’ by Gog in order to support Gog’s invasion. Gog is to be a "guard"- ’a prison’ (s. w. <a href='B:10 42:19'>Gen 42:19</a>)- to the other nations (38:7):&nbsp; "The host of the high ones that are on high (Heaven), and the kings of the earth upon the earth" refers to both the Angels and their earthly charges. The Isaiah passage implies a gathering together of the confederacy&nbsp; associated with a first Angelic ’visiting’, followed by a "many days" period after which&nbsp; there will be a second Angelic visiting and the final invasion. The phrase "many days" does not necessarily imply a very long period of&nbsp; years- "Jacob... mourned for his son many days" (<a href='B:10 37:34'>Gen 37:34</a>)- not more than twenty years at the outside. A woman could have "an issue of her blood many days" (<a href='B:30 15:25'>Lev 15:25</a>). "Ye abode in&nbsp; Kadesh many days" (<a href='B:50 1:46'>Deu 1:46</a>). Shimei "dwelt in Jerusalem&nbsp; many&nbsp; days" (<a href='B:110 2:38'>1Ki 2:38</a>). These two Angelic visitings are spoken of in Ezekiel 38 too: "I (the Angels) will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth". And secondly "After many days thou (Gog) shalt be visited" by the Angels; "things (shall) come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: and thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages" (v. 10,11). This thinking was a result of Angelic visiting of Gog- to achieve their purpose of making both Assyria and Gog invade Israel, the Angels acted and will act directly on the hearts of the leaders of those nations.</p><p>I observed on Ezekiel 4 and elsewhere that the length of the exile was flexible. But perhaps that was the "many days" in the primary application of this prophecy.</p><p>You shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword- The word for "brought... back" is to be found in the references to Judah’s return at the restoration (Ezr 21; <a href='B:150 6:21'>Ezr 6:21</a>; <a href='B:160 7:6'>Neh 7:6</a>; <a href='B:160 8:17'>Neh 8:17</a>). The same word is to be found in <a href='B:330 38:8'>Eze 38:8</a>; <a href='B:330 39:27'>Eze 39:27</a>, where again, the invasion is to happen once Judah had been ‘brought again’ from captivity. Judah returned, and yet they didn’t rebuild the temple as they were commanded. Therefore the invasion didn’t come, and therefore the Kingdom wasn’t then established. As if knowing this, <a href='B:350 6:11'>Hos 6:11</a> had prophesied [otherwise strangely] that Judah would reap their punishment, when they returned from captivity. They returned [s:w. ‘bring again’], but not to the Most High (<a href='B:350 7:16'>Hos 7:16</a>). They were brought back from the sword perhaps in the sense that Ezekiel’s earlier prophecies had predicted they would be totally destroyed by the sword; but they were saved or brought back from this by grace.</p><p>That is gathered out of many peoples- The various provinces of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires. The latter day application could be to the state of Israel established on the basis of immigrants from many peoples. But it could also be that there will be a latter day scattering of Jews from Israel after the various latter day invasions, and they are to return from that scattering before "Gog" invades.</p><p>On the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste- Ezekiel 37, 38 predict that when the Jews have returned to their land, then there will be a ten nation invasion by a group of surrounding nations, headed up by ‘Gog’- which is to be destroyed by the direct intervention of God to establish His Kingdom. This invasion is to be after the Jews have returned to their land, and will begin with an incursion onto “the mountains of Israel”- which are bordering Syria, the Golan heights: “In the latter years you shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the nations” (<a href='B:330 38:8'>Eze 38:8</a>). Only since 1948 and the uprise of serious Arab powers around Israel could this prophecy come true. All we’re waiting for is the Arab confederacy to push into the Golan Heights. And we could view the news on the internet or turn on the telly- and find it’s happening. Any moment now. And the next step will be the actual return of Christ to earth.</p><p>But it is brought forth out of the peoples- This ’bringing forth’&nbsp; was by grace, because they had not met the required spiritual preconditions- in that they had not in fact cast away their idols (see on <a href='B:330 20:6-8'>Eze 20:6-8</a>). They were caused to be brought forth (s:w. <a href='B:330 20:10'>Eze 20:10</a>; see note there). And it was to be the same in the exodus from Babylon. This Divine ’causing to go forth’ was by the Spirit, for those who left captivity did so because their minds were stirred up by the Spirit to do so, even though they were not spiritually qualified for the restoration (<a href='B:150 1:5'>Ezr 1:5</a>). They had been commanded to "go forth" from Babylon (<a href='B:290 52:11'>Isa 52:11</a> s:w:) but it was God who caused them to do this by the grace of His Spirit’s operation on their hearts. The same is true of our exodus from this world through the water of baptism. It is all of grace and confirmation of the smallest desire to do so; and so this causing to go forth was by God’s "mighty hand" (<a href='B:330 20:34'>Eze 20:34</a> s:w:).</p><p>And they shall dwell securely all of them- The invasion occurs when Israel dwell safely, without bars and gates. This is indeed the language of the Kingdom of God on earth, and the idea of Israel dwelling safely has been used in Ezekiel to describe the situation for Israel after they have repented and accepted Christ (<a href='B:330 34:25'>Eze 34:25</a>; <a href='B:330 34:27-28'>Eze 34:27-28</a>). It could be that the invasion happens after Christ has returned and the little stone has begun to establish Kingdom conditions in the land of Israel. This would then fit with Psalms 2, which describes the kings of the earth [a term used by the Islamic jihadists about themselves] attacking Jerusalem with Christ enthroned there. But this need not make us think that therefore Ezekiel 38 is irrelevant to present conditions. Because Christ could return today and establish His Kingdom in Jerusalem. But the enemies of Israel, Gog and his followers, would have been moved into a position whereby they could immediately then attack Him. Or it could be that in line with predictions in Daniel 8, 11, Israel make a covenant with their enemies which appears successful, and then when all are saying "peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes". But the very same words are used about Hazor’s confident state just before the Babylonian invasion: "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has made a plan against you and formed a purpose against you. Rise up, advance against a nation at ease, that dwells securely, declares the LORD, that has no gates or bars, that dwells alone. Their camels shall become plunder, their herds of livestock a spoil" (<a href='B:300 49:30-31'>Jer 49:30-31</a>). As Babylon invaded Hazor, so the latter day Gog, as a revived Babylon-Assyria, will invade Israel. Hazor was not then in the Kingdom of God; the language rather speaks of self confidence and assurance. This is indeed how the Hebrew word translated "safely" in <a href='B:330 38:14'>Eze 38:14</a> is elsewhere used (<a href='B:70 8:11'>Jdg 8:11</a>; <a href='B:70 18:7'>Jdg 18:7</a> "they lived carelessly"; <a href='B:220 11:18'>Job 11:18</a>; <a href='B:240 3:29'>Pro 3:29</a>; <a href='B:290 32:17'>Isa 32:17</a> "assuredness"; <a href='B:290 47:8'>Isa 47:8</a> "carelessly"; <a href='B:330 28:26'>Eze 28:26</a> "with confidence"; 30:9 "careless"; 39:6 "carelessly"; <a href='B:400 2:8'>Mic 2:8</a> "securely"). Such a position could be brought about by an Israeli military victory against her enemies, or by a peace agreement which appears to hold.</p>


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<p>You shall ascend, you shall come like a storm, you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you, and all your hordes, and many peoples with you- For "ascend" and "come", see on :16; <a href='B:330 39:2'>Eze 39:2</a>. Gog comes as a "storm" to cover the land. This is the very language and Hebrew word shoa used of the Assyrian invasion in <a href='B:290 10:3'>Isa 10:3</a>. And of course the shoa is the term used by Jews today to describe the Nazi holocaust. That is to come again- but in "the land" promised to Abraham. The ascent and covering of the land like a cloud could refer to a massive airborne invasion; or perhaps the mushroom cloud of nuclear weapons. Covering the land with a cloud means that the sun and stars are no longer visible (s:w. <a href='B:330 32:7'>Eze 32:7</a>), and perhaps in this sense some of the imagery of the Olivet prophecy and Revelation will come literally true over the land of Israel; the heavenly bodies will no longer be visible for a brief period, as a sign that the final end is about to come.</p>


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<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: It shall happen in that day, that thoughts shall come into your mind, and you shall devise- As noted on :11,16 and <a href='B:330 39:2'>Eze 39:2</a>, Gog’s freewill is emphasized, although he is Divinely confirmed in that freewill. Or perhaps the thoughts that come to Gog’s mind are from God, but Gog does the devising of an evil plan. Thoughts coming into the mind is a phrase which could refer to a memory returning, although not necessarily; the phrase is used like this in <a href='B:300 51:50'>Jer 51:50</a>. The invasion would therefore in this case be motivated by a desireto settle the ancient scores between Israel and her neighbours the Arabs.</p><p>An evil plan- The very same words used about the plan of Haman the Agagite, the man of Gog, to liquidate the Jewish population (<a href='B:190 8:3'>Est 8:3</a>; <a href='B:190 9:25'>Est 9:25</a>). The actions of Gog in Ezekiel 38 are clearly based upon Haman’s evil plan. The same phrase is used about the leader of Assyria, who was to devise an evil plan against God’s people and thereby Yahweh Himself (<a href='B:410 1:11'>Nah 1:11</a>).</p>


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<p>You shall say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages- <a href='B:450 2:4'>Zec 2:4</a> had foretold that “Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein”, seeing that Yahweh Himself would be as a wall of fire around her to protect her from her adversaries (Ezra had recognised this promise, that God would be a wall to them- <a href='B:150 9:9'>Ezr 9:9</a>). Note how this prophecy is introduced by an Angel with a measuring reed measuring out the rebuilt Zion (<a href='B:450 2:1'>Zec 2:1</a>), just as we have in Ezekiel 40. But Judah disbelieved the promise of a Divine wall of fire, and insisted on building a physical wall to protect them; and the record in Nehemiah has plenty of reference to their setting up of bars and gates in their fear (<a href='B:160 3:3'>Neh 3:3</a>; <a href='B:160 3:6'>Neh 3:6</a>; <a href='B:160 3:13-15'>Neh 3:13-15</a>). By doing so they disallowed the fulfilment of <a href='B:330 38:11'>Eze 38:11</a>, and thereby precluded what was prophesied as subsequently following. If they had trusted Him and paid their tithes, their cattle would have multiplied, and the Scythian tribes would have come down to seek to take them, as <a href='B:330 38:12-13'>Eze 38:12-13</a> foretold. But as it happened, their cattle were diseased and their agriculture not blessed because of their dilatory attention to Yahweh’s house that lay waste (<a href='B:440 1:11'>Hag 1:11</a>). So therefore there was no invasion, and no victory against the nations, and no Kingdom established at that time. See on :1.</p><p>"Go up" is "ascend" in :9,16. The thought of Gog is that he and his coalition will "ascend and go up". But the same words are used in :16 of how God will make them ascend and go up. God will work through their own desires and magnify and confirm them; this is how He places hooks in Gog’s jaws to manipulate him. But the manipulation is not total, but rather a confirmation of men in that which they themselves wish to do.</p><p>I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates- See on :1. Israel dwelling in ‘peace and safety’ in Ezekiel 38 could refer to the conditions of the Messianic Kingdom; or it could refer to a sense of security which arises in literally the very last days before the Lord’s return, as a result of some peace agreement being reached. Whenever the invasion happens chronologically is not our immediate concern; what is significant is the preparation of the geopolitical situation to enable such a situation. And that is what we are seeing now developing.</p><p>There is much evidence that the Kingdom starts initially in Jerusalem and then spreads worldwide slowly. Many of the prophecies concerning it are addressed to "Jerusalem" and "Mount Zion". The stone of Daniel 2 hits the earth and grows from there to cover the earth. It is logical if it hits the earth at Jerusalem, where all the kingdoms of men represented by the metals will be present, gathered together against Jerusalem. It appears that the unworthy having been destroyed, a colony of saints is established around Jerusalem, living in Kingdom conditions. They live in "the land of unwalled villages…&nbsp; dwelling safely all of them... without walls, and having neither bars nor gates" (<a href='B:330 38:11'>Eze 38:11</a>)- Kingdom language. The Angels give Gog the "evil thought" of invading the "land of unwalled villages", apparently after the invasions of the land as a whole. The people living there are "gathered out of the nations"- capable of reference to the saints (<a href='B:470 25:31-34'>Mat 25:31-34</a>) who have just been gathered from all nations. The great wealth which attracts Gog must be due to the Kingdom conditions there- the Arab invasions of Zechariah 14 (which must be before the second coming, seeing that Jerusalem is ransacked) will have devastated the land of its present wealth. The sudden prosperity reported around Jerusalem will no doubt intrigue the world, and prove a fatal attraction.</p>


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<p>To take the spoil and to take the wealth- It could be argued that because Ezekiel 38 doesn’t specifically describe any success of the invasion or suffering of Israel, that it therefore describes a futile attack on the Lord Jesus once He is established in Jerusalem. However, the absence of such languagedoesn’t mean that the invasion will not be successful. It could be that the focus of Ezekiel 38, 39 is upon the final destruction of the invader, and therefore the suffering of Israel is not mentioned- because that is not the burden of these oracles about Gog. The perspective is not so much upon Gog’s conflict with Israel, but rather upon Gog’s conflict with God. The prophecy is elevating the issue far higher- Gog is to have a showdown with God through making this invasion. Gog comes to take spoil (<a href='B:330 38:12-13'>Eze 38:12-13</a>). But <a href='B:450 14:1'>Zec 14:1</a> uses the same word in predicting that Jerusalem will indeed be captured by the final invaders, the women raped, and “your spoil shall be divided in the midst of you”. We must also give due weight to <a href='B:330 39:22'>Eze 39:22</a>: “The house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God, from that day forward”. It is their salvation from Gog and the process of Gog’s destruction which persuades Israel that Yahweh is their God “from that day forward”. That reads very awkwardly if they have already repented and are sitting happily in God’s Kingdom when the Ezekiel 38 invasion happens.</p><p>Having repeatedly said that sinful Jerusalem would be given for a prey (<a href='B:300 15:13'>Jer 15:13</a>; <a href='B:300 17:3'>Jer 17:3</a>; <a href='B:330 7:21'>Eze 7:21</a>; <a href='B:330 23:46'>Eze 23:46</a>) we read that the latter day invasion of Israel comes as a great company (as in <a href='B:330 23:46'>Eze 23:46</a>) to "take a prey" or "spoil" (<a href='B:330 38:12-13'>Eze 38:12-13</a>); but that invasion is not to be successful, unlike the previous historical invasions which took Jerusalem for a prey. The implication therefore is that Jerusalem finally repents, and so shall not be given for a prey in the very last invasion.</p><p>To turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten livestock and goods- "The waste places that are now inhabited"&nbsp;in the latter day context probably refers specifically&nbsp; to the temple area/old city of Jerusalem which will have been the scene of much bitter Israeli/Arab fighting. Thus the final onslaught of Gog and his followers occurs, this time with Christ and the redeemed in Jerusalem, thus fulfilling Psalms 2 : "The kings of the earth (cp. <a href='B:290 24:21'>Isa 24:21</a>) set themselves... against the Lord, and against His anointed (Christ)... yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion". Revelation 20 describes how Gog and Magog will push the saints back into Jerusalem with Christ, until He breaks out upon them again.</p><p>Who dwell in the middle of the land- The invasion comes against "the navel of the land" (<a href='B:330 38:12'>Eze 38:12</a>). This could be a reference to the ultimate ’high place’, Jerusalem. Both the Bible and Judaism speak of ‘going up’ to Jerusalem or ‘coming down’ from there. The Greeks wrote of their sanctuaries at Dydima, Miletus and Delphi as being ’the navel of the land’; so there could be a reference to the temple mount. Or it could allude to how the land currently inhabited by Israel is the highest point in the land promised to Abraham, from the Euphrates to the river of Egypt. Just as Assyria’s focus was upon Jerusalem, so the latter day Assyrian will have the same interest. And that fits an Islamic Assyrian, for Jerusalem is the burning issue for Islam. The many allusions to the Assyrian invasion which we find in Ezekiel 38 are specifically alluding to how Assyria came up against Jerusalem. Gog ‘ascends’ against the once wasted mountains [an intensive plural for the great mountain- Zion?], he ‘comes up’ against the land(<a href='B:330 38:9'>Eze 38:9</a>; <a href='B:330 38:11'>Eze 38:11</a>; <a href='B:330 38:16'>Eze 38:16</a>; <a href='B:330 39:2'>Eze 39:2</a> - quite some emphasis). The language of ‘ascent’ is relevant specifically to ‘going up’ to Jerusalem specifically. And <a href='B:730 20:9'>Rev 20:9</a> has Gog’s armies specifically coming up against Jerusalem. The jihadist Magazine Dabiq number 4 (October 2014) is clear that whatever battles are going on in Iraq and Syria, their focus ultimately is Jerusalem: “We perform jihad here while our eyes are upon al-Quds” (p:4).</p>


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<p>Sheba, Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish- These three nations make up a total of ten nations who come against Israel, inviting connection with the ten nations of Psalms 83, the ten toes of the latter day image and ten horns of the latter day beast. The ten nations of Ezekiel 38 are from the points of the compass around Israel, going around clockwise. The picture is of Israel’s enemies coming at her like a whirlwind from all points of the compass. There may not, therefore, be undue significance in the actual names of the nations- rather is the picture being created of all the surrounding nations, from every point of the compass, coming against Israel under the leadership of Gog as their rosh or "chief prince". Isaiah 23 clearly associates Tyre with Tarshish; Jonah’s journey to Tarshish was clearly to some point known to people living in Israel at his time, rather than to some unfamiliar place such as Britain. Sheba and Dedan were sons of Abraham through Keturah, and are therefore ancestors of some Middle Eastern peoples (<a href='B:130 1:32'>1Ch 1:32</a>). Dedan is noted in <a href='B:300 25:23'>Jer 25:23</a> as being an associate of Tyre / Tarshish who will be confederate with latter day Babylon, and will drink the same cup of judgment given to Babylon. So this group of three nations, whilst mentioned separately, are hardly on Israel’s side in the last days. "The calamity of Esau" will come upon Dedan (<a href='B:300 49:8'>Jer 49:8</a>), for Dedan was within the territory of Edom which is Esau (<a href='B:330 25:13'>Eze 25:13</a>). The men of Dedan worked for Tyre as "traffickers" (<a href='B:330 27:15'>Eze 27:15</a>), so we can understand the association of Dedan with the merchants of Tarshish / Tyre. These three nations along with most of the others mentioned in Ezekiel 38 are all taken from the table of nations in Genesis 10, which refers to the peoples within the land promised to Abraham, which is the focus of Bible prophecy. The Bible therefore has very little to say about nations outside of that area.</p><p>It could be argued that this verse suggests that the other nations so far listed are somehow under the leadership of Tyre. It has been observed that the nations listed in Ez. 38 were all the historical allies of Tyre against Babylon. They formed an alliance to resist Babylon, which failed and was defeated. Their attack on Israel here likewise fails. The primary fulfilment may be that this alliance under Tyre went to fight against Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon within the territory of Israel, and was defeated.</p><p>Sheba, Dedan and the merchants of Tyre / Tarshish are the nations of the extreme East and West of the land promised to Abraham. The picture is of Israel’s enemies coming at her like a whirlwind from all points of the compass. There may not, therefore, be undue significance in the actual names of the nations- rather is the picture being created of all the surrounding nations, from every point of the compass, coming against Israel under the leadership of Gog.</p><p>Sheba is the same word translated "Sabeans" in <a href='B:220 1:15'>Job 1:15</a>; the people of Sheba fell upon a peaceful member of God’s people whilst he lived in "peace and safety" without bars or walls and "took away" his cattle and goods, and slew the servants with the edge of the sword. These are the very same Hebrew words used about the behaviour of the people of Sheba in <a href='B:330 38:13'>Eze 38:13</a>. Tarshish is associated with those who are against God’s people, not with them or defending them.</p><p>The "merchants" are attracted to the "silver and gold" perceived to be in Israel. Hence ISV renders: "Businessmen based in Sheba, Dedan, Tarshish...".</p><p>The nations with Gog are defined in <a href='B:330 39:18'>Eze 39:18</a> as “the princes / kings of the earth”- the leaders of the peoples within the earth/ eretz promised to Abraham. These are the same “kings of the earth / land” which are so often mentioned in Revelation as coming against God’s people as part of the beast entity (<a href='B:730 6:15'>Rev 6:15</a>; <a href='B:730 16:14'>Rev 16:14</a>; <a href='B:730 17:2'>Rev 17:2</a>; <a href='B:730 17:18'>Rev 17:18</a>; <a href='B:730 18:3'>Rev 18:3</a>; <a href='B:730 18:9'>Rev 18:9</a>). This alludes to the kings of the earth who are raised up from the borders of the earth / land and come with Babylon to invade Israel (<a href='B:300 50:41'>Jer 50:41</a>). The very idea of ‘the borders of the earth’ suggests that ‘the earth’ doesn’t refer to a sphere like the globe, but rather to a specifically defined territory. That territory is the land promised to Abraham. When we read that all “the kings of the earth” came from the very ends of the earth to hear Solomon’s wisdom, we likewise are to understand “the earth” as the land promised to Abraham. The Queen of Sheba was at the end of that earth / land; but the kings of New Zealand or Hawaii didn’t come.</p><p>Tarshish is associated with Tyre in <a href='B:290 23:1'>Isa 23:1</a>: "The burden of Tyre. Howl you ships of Tarshish...":&nbsp; It could be that "Tarshish" strictly referred to the isle off the coast of Tyre to which the Tyrians fled when under attack. Hence <a href='B:290 23:6'>Isa 23:6</a>: "Pass over to Tarshish! Wail, you inhabitants of the isle!". Tarshish is associated with gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks (<a href='B:140 9:21'>2Ch 9:21</a>)- not exactly things which Britain is famed for. To suggest that ’Tarshish = Britain’ one would have to read passages such as Jonah going to Tarshish as referring to Britain. This equation just doesn’t work in the various Biblical references to Tarshish. &nbsp;At best it would refer to the trading ships of Tyre, which become as it were a trademark term for any long distance trading vessel.</p><p>Readers of Ezekiel will have been struck by the fact that a number of the nations listed have already been mentioned in Ezekiel- in prophecies which predict or describe their destruction. Tyre (Tarshish), Meshech and Tubal have all been described as having come to their end (<a href='B:330 27:13'>Eze 27:13</a>; <a href='B:330 32:5'>Eze 32:5</a>; <a href='B:330 32:26-27'>Eze 32:26-27</a>). The impression, therefore, is that there will be a latter day revival of these nations; the invasion could have happened in Ezekiel’s time, but the potential prophetic scenario didn’t then happen. And that is what we are seeing happening in the lands around Israel, whose peoples and geographical areas were dormant and insignificant for centuries- until their revival in recent times. A coalition of those nations will arise which includes those territories or ethnic groups. And their intention is clearly and ultimately to invade Israel and destroy the Jews. Radical Islam is already in control of much of the eretz / land promised to Abraham.</p><p>With all her young lions- The "young lions" of Tyre could refer to "all her kings" [as in the Jewish Targum on this phrase], "all her traders", "all her leaders" (ESV) or "all her villages". The same Hebrew word translated "young lions" is rendered "villages" in <a href='B:160 6:2'>Neh 6:2</a>. "Young lions" has been used in Ezekiel to refer to princes (<a href='B:330 19:2'>Eze 19:2</a>; <a href='B:330 32:2'>Eze 32:2</a>). The Biblical references to young lions associate them with aggression; they are used to describe the Assyrian invaders of Israel (<a href='B:290 5:29'>Isa 5:29</a>; <a href='B:290 31:4'>Isa 31:4</a>), and it is clear enough that ’Gog’ of Ezekiel 38 is portrayed as a latter day Assyrian invader of Judah. "Young lions" be appropriate language for those who are part of the Assyrian invasion, and not for those against it. The same figure is used for other invaders, such as the Babylonians: "The young lions have roared at him [Israel] and yelled, they have desolated his land" (<a href='B:300 2:15'>Jer 2:15</a>; <a href='B:300 25:38'>Jer 25:38</a>; <a href='B:300 51:38'>Jer 51:38</a>). The imagery of lions and young lions is heavily associated with Israel’s neighbouring enemies, especially Assyria and Babylon. The suggestion that the imagery of ’young lions’ suggests ’former colonies’ or those raised under the influence of another is simply not supported by the majority of references to "young lions" in the Bible. The common picture is of aggression, and particularly aggression against God’s people. There is a Hebrew phrase which means "young lions", but that is not what is used here; one Hebrew word alone is used, and it could be fairly rendered "growling lions" as ISV. So the idea of youth or of them having been raised by a mother lion is not necessarily present.</p><p>Shall say to you: Have you assembled your company to take the wealth?- The Hebrew implies that these three nations will join in with the invasion, rather than challenge it. This was noted by Harry Whittaker, and see Jacob Milgrom and Daniel Israel Block, Ezekiel’s Hope: A Commentary on Ezekiel 38-48 (Wipf & Stock, 2012) p. 12.</p><p>To carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great spoil?- Ezekiel 38 describes the desire of the invaders to take the wealth and houses of the land of Israel. This is precisely the language used in the Koran regarding how Moslems have a duty to take these things from the disobedient children of Israel: "Allah brought those of the People of the Scripture... down from their strongholds, and cast panic into their hearts. Some ye slew, and ye made captive some. And Allah caused you to inherit their land and their houses and their wealth, and land ye have not trodden. Allah is ever able to do all things" (Sura 33:26,27). The jihadists are carefully observant of the Koran and Hadith, which so often are garbled versions of the Bible, doubtless because Mohammad first heard the Bible in an oral form or by rumour passed on by travelers. But by their careful observance of their holy books, the jihadists will in fact fulfil Bible prophecy exactly.</p><p>The Koran teaches that Moslems who go to battle with the Jews will not only win but will be rewarded with much spoil: "And much booty that they will capture. Allah is ever Mighty, Wise. Allah promiseth you much booty that ye will capture…&nbsp; that it may be a token for the believers" (Sura 48:19,20). The enthusiasm of the Ezekiel 38 invaders for "spoil" and "prey" is therefore appropriate for Islamic jihadist invaders.</p>


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<p>Therefore, son of man, prophesy and tell Gog, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In that day when My people Israel dwells securely, shall you not know it?- The idea seems to be as in GNB and LXX: "Wilt thou not arise in that day, when my people Israel are dwelling securely…?". Perhaps the sense is that Gog realizes that the people are "dwelling securely" as the reestablished kingdom of God, and consciously wishes to attack an entity clearly under God’s protection and blessing.</p>


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<p>You shall come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you, and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses- See on :4. The "horses" suggest the Scythian hordes of Ezekiel’s day which surrounded Israel, who could potentially have fulfilled this prophecy. "Uttermost parts of the north" is not the best translation; if read literally it would refer not to Moscow, as wrongly claimed, but to the very northernmost parts of the Arctic. But such a literal reading is unwarranted; the original clearly means ’from the very northern border / side’, and the side or boundary in view is that of eretz Israel. And already the jihadist factions are massing on the northern borders of eretz Israel.</p><p>A great company and a mighty army- Human armies are often described in Angelic language because there are Angels controlling them. This is also the case here with he Gog invasion, which is fitting seeing that Angels were behind the initial Assyrian invasion which is the prototype of that of Gog. They are described as "a great company, a mighty army"- reflecting the mighty Heavenly host. The language here is a parody of <a href='B:300 31:8'>Jer 31:8</a>, which speaks of the "great company" (s:w:) of Israel coming from the north and returning to Zion. And it is a revived Israel who in Ezekiel 37 stand up as a "mighty army". The invaders are therefore presented as a fake, imitation Israel. This image is exactly that of their jihadist enemies, claiming to be the true seed of Abraham, who are massed on the northern borders of the eretz.</p>


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<p>And you shall come up against My people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land. It shall happen in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, that the nations may know Me, when I shall be sanctified in you, Gog, before their eyes- "I will bring you..." means that Gog’s desire to ascend and go [s:w. "bring"] against the land in :11 is confirmed by God; see on :11. The ’coming up’ or ascending is because God makes them come up (<a href='B:330 39:2'>Eze 39:2</a> s:w:). At every step, Gog’s freewill is allowed but is confirmed. God works through human sin; the whole intention of Gog’s latter day destruction is to bring the remaining nations to "know Yahweh", to enter relationship with Him.</p>


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<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Are you he of whom I spoke in old time by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?- This invader was repeatedly spoken of by the prophets- it can’t refer therefore to Russia but to Assyria / Babylon, of whom the prophets repeatedly speak. And yet the invasion is clearly in the last days. Assyria, therefore, must be revived in some way. The nations listed in Ezekiel 38 are never spoken of in the prophets as invading Israel; it is usually Babylon and Assyria who are in view. And so we can detect here another case of prophetic transference. The prophecies about Babylon and Assyria are to be transferred to this coalition of the last days; which is why, as pointed out on :2, this invasion is full of allusion to the Assyrians.</p>


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<p>It shall happen in that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, that My wrath shall come up into My nostrils- This Divine wrath would lead to a literal shaking in Israel (:19). The metaphor is used repeatedly of God’s anger with Israel resulting in Him taking them out of their land (e.g. <a href='B:50 29:28'>Deu 29:28</a>). That wrath is now transferred to their abusers. Even in this we see God’s love for His people. A more human God would have felt that all His faithless people had suffered was justified; but His wrath with those who so abused them is of itself a testament to the depth of His love for His sinful people.</p>


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<p>For in My anger and in the fire of My wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel- This could be the same earthquake as spoken of in Ezekiel 37 which causes the resurrection and revival of Israel. The chronological conflicts (for at this stage Israel are apparently already revived and living safely in their land) need not concern us once we realize that we are reading apocalyptic here. We are not being necessarily given a chronological sequence of events, but rather snapshots from various points in the overall saga. This especially needs to be appreciated in understanding the book of Revelation.</p>


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<p>So that the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field and all creeping things which creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface of the earth, shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall and every wall shall fall to the ground- The impression given is that this is more than a theophany, with God symbolically and metaphorically ’coming down’; but the literal coming down of God to earth, or the land promised to Abraham, resulting in the fulfilment of the final parts of Revelation, where God Himself dwells with men. Absolutely every strata of creation will be aware of this presence. It is the language of <a href='B:410 1:5'>Nah 1:5</a> about the destruction of Assyria, and also of the theophany at Sinai (<a href='B:230 68:8'>Psa 68:8</a>). For the destruction of Israel’s enemies is to be associated with God claiming Israel finally and fully for Himself in eternal covenant. Walls falling to the ground is the language ofthe fall of all Israel’s historical enemies: Babylon (<a href='B:300 51:44'>Jer 51:44</a>), Syria (<a href='B:110 20:30'>1Ki 20:30</a>) and the Canaanites in Jericho (<a href='B:60 6:5'>Jos 6:5</a>).</p>


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<p>I will call to all My mountains for a sword against him, says the Lord Yahweh- This is quoting from <a href='B:300 25:29'>Jer 25:29</a>, where the context is of a group of neighbouring nations invading the land and a sword being called upon them. There are several other links with the nations of Ezekiel 38 when we look closer at <a href='B:300 25:19-26'>Jer 25:19-26</a>. Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish (<a href='B:300 25:22-23'>Jer 25:22-23</a>) are also part of the invading force in Ezekiel 38, not against it. "All the kings of the north, far and near" (<a href='B:300 25:26'>Jer 25:26</a>) of course includes Gog from the north. These nations all had their part in the Babylonian invasion, which is why they were to be punished in the end after Israel’s restoration from captivity (<a href='B:300 25:12'>Jer 25:12</a>). Ezekiel was prophesying about the time of the restoration- after Ezekiel 38, 39 he goes on to give&nbsp; commands about how to rebuild the temple on their return from captivity. This is the context in which Ezekiel alludes back to Jeremiah 25.</p><p>Every man’s sword shall be against his brother- The manner of Gog’s destruction also hints at the origin of Gog and those with him. They will be destroyed by every man’s sword turning against his brother. But this is the very language of the curse upon Ishmael, the forefather of so many of the Moslem people who now live in the territory of the land promised to Abraham (<a href='B:10 16:12'>Gen 16:12</a>).</p>


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<p>With pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his hordes and on the many peoples who are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and sulphur- Entering into judgment could imply that God is pleading with them even in their last moments for their repentance. The destruction of the Gog invasion by fire (<a href='B:730 20:9'>Rev 20:9</a>) is exactly as here in <a href='B:330 38:22'>Eze 38:22</a>; <a href='B:330 39:6'>Eze 39:6</a>. It is the same invasion in view. It didn’t happen as was potentially possible in Ezekiel’s time, and so it is transferred to the last days for fulfilment. I would go with Harry Whittaker’s suggestion that this invasion by Gog of <a href='B:730 20:8'>Rev 20:8</a> is when the 1000 year reign is established [not "expired" as in AV]; this would fit with the beast / Gog coming against Christ once He has returned and Israel are dwelling confidently and safely. The beast is destroyed at Christ’s return, and yet has a revival. This is very much the theme of the various prophecies about the beast receiving a deadly wound but reviving. Yet the chronological issues should not overly concern us. I have elsewhere explained that Bible prophecy is conditional, and therefore there are various possible outcomes and sequences of events. And further, it seems likely that the nature of time will be compressed or changed around the time of the Lord’s return.</p>


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<p>I will magnify Myself, and sanctify Myself, and I will make Myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Yahweh- It could have been that at the restoration, Yahweh would have been magnified from the border of Israel (<a href='B:460 1:5'>Mal 1:5</a> s:w:). But this prophetic scenario was precluded at the time by Israel’s lack of repentance. But it shall come ultimately true in the last days. This is the purpose of all this blood and judgment; to bring about the Kingdom on God on earth, where the remaining nations "know Yahweh", i:e. enter relationship with Him. "Magnify" is the word used in <a href='B:360 2:20-21'>Joe 2:20-21</a> and <a href='B:400 5:4'>Mic 5:4</a> of how God will "do great things" in destroying the northern invader; and those great things are in the end for God in the sense that they are for His beloved people.</p>


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<p>You, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech, and Tubal- It is unclear whether Ezekiel 39 is a repeat of the situation in Ezekiel 38, or whether Gog attempts to come up a second time. The language is so similar to Ezekiel 38 that I would come down on the side of thinking that this is typical apocalyptic genre, describing the same events from a slightly different angle; in Ezekiel 39, the focus is more upon the judgment of God.</p>


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<p>And I will turn you around, and will lead you on, and will cause you to come up from the uttermost parts of the north; and I will bring you on the mountains of Israel- The repeated emphasis is that God causes Gog to come up, He brings or makes Gog to "go" against Israel. But it was of Gog’s own freewill that he himself decided to do these things; see on <a href='B:330 38:11'>Eze 38:11</a>; <a href='B:330 38:16'>Eze 38:16</a>. <a href='B:730 20:8'>Rev 20:8</a> parallels all the nations in the earth / land with Gog: “To deceive the nations which are in the four quarters / borders of the land / earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle”. The language of deceit is also picking up that of Ezekiel 38 about Gog. "I will drive you forward" (<a href='B:330 39:2'>Eze 39:2</a>, AV "leave the sixth part of thee") appears to be a Hebraism meaning ’I will deceive you’ ; see Jacob Milgrom and Daniel Israel Block, Ezekiel’s Hope: A Commentary on Ezekiel 38-48 (Wipf & Stock, 2012) p. 20. Gog is led into the conflict by God, and the entire showdown is not so much between Gog and Israel as between God and Gog. The events in the Middle East are not, therefore, running out of control. All is carefully planned and executed by God, just as the historical Assyrian was a rod in Yahweh’s hand, manipulated by Him.</p><p>"The mountains" may be an intensive plural referring to the great mountain, Zion, which is the goal of jihadist domination at this time. For "uttermost parts of the north" see on <a href='B:330 38:15'>Eze 38:15</a>.</p>


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<p>And I will strike your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand- Assyrian bas-reliefs frequently show them posing with their bows:&nbsp;This is another Assyrian allusion; see on <a href='B:330 38:2'>Eze 38:2</a>; <a href='B:330 38:17'>Eze 38:17</a>. The idea may be that the military technology in which they trusted is to be removed. The Scythian tribes were famed for their horses and archery; these were the peoples who could potentially have fulfilled the prophecy at Ezekiel’s time, but that scenario was precluded by Israel’s impenitence.</p>


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<p>You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you, and all your hordes, and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to the birds of prey of every sort, and to the animals of the field to be devoured- The "mountains" may be an intensive plural for the great mountain, Zion, the focus of radical jihadist attention at this time. And it is the city of God which Gog focuses upon according to the interpretation of this passage in Revelation 20. <a href='B:340 11:45'>Dan 11:45</a> likewise says that the final destruction of the northern invader will be upon "the glorious holy mountain". The wild animals would then refer to the surrounding nations who are converted to God’s perspective upon the invaders, who come up to Zion to destroy the remnants of Gog’s coalition, and turn to Yahweh themselves. The birds which Abraham successfully drove away in Genesis 15 referred to the surrounding tribes of the eretz which Abraham feared would persecute him at that time. And they likely refer to the same peoples in this latter day application.</p><p>"Hordes" is a word only used by Ezekiel. It refers to bands of marauders, and is more appropriate to the Scythians than to the organized regiments of Babylon or Assyria. The Scythians could have fulfilled the prophecy in Ezekiel’s time, but Israel’s impenitence precluded the entire scenario envisaged in Ezekiel 33-48.</p>


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<p>You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh- The fall will be upon the great mountain of Israel, Zion (:4), so the idea of "the open field" is that they will not be buried, but fall in the open and be devoured there (:4); the classic shame for people of Ezekiel’s time.</p>


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<p>I will send a fire on Magog, and on those who dwell confidently along the sea coasts; and they shall know that I am Yahweh- The destruction of Gog by fire is also spoken of in Revelation 20, confirming our suggestion there that Revelation 20 describes this same event. The sea coasts would refer to the maritime powers in the confederacy, Sheba, Dedan and Tarshish. But "the coastal lands" of the land could also refer to the Gaza Strip. The latter day Assyrian will therefore have connection with the Palestinians in Gaza- which is exactly what we are seeing today. We can note that they are described as living peaceably, "confidently", like Israel in Ezekiel 38; this might support the suggestion that the peace and safety in the land is brought about by an Israeli-Arab peace accord that appears to last.</p><p>This sending of fire uses the same Hebrew phrase used of the final sending of Divine fire of judgment upon Gaza and Tyre (<a href='B:370 1:7'>Amo 1:7</a>; <a href='B:370 1:10'>Amo 1:10</a>). These are the sea coasts who support "Magog". And the wonder of it all is that some of them will finally come to have relationship with Yahweh, to "know Yahweh".</p>


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<p>My holy name will I make known in the midst of My people Israel; neither will I allow My holy name to be profaned any more: and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel- This surely alludes to the similar language used in <a href='B:30 22:31-32'>Lev 22:31-32</a> about the sanctification of God’s Name in Israel as a result of their obedience to Him. We can therefore see in this a hint that the invasion leads to Israel’s repentance. The language here suggests that both Israel and the nations will be in permanent, eternal relationship with God, and Israel will never again profane His Name. The only way for these things to be really true is by a change of nature, to eternal, sinless nature. And therefore the main fulfillment will be at the Lord’s return.</p>


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<p>Behold, it has come, and it is done, says the Lord Yahweh; this is the day about which I have spoken- As noted on :7, the implication of the language is that this is all to be fulfilled in the last days. And this final coming of the Kingdom was so certain that it was as if it had already come and was done in Ezekiel’s day. If this was the final reality, then they in his day should have lived the kingdom life there and then.</p>


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<p>Those who dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the war clubs, and the spears, and they shall make fires of them seven years- Understandable concern has been raised concerning the seven months of burning Gog’s corpses, and the rather unreal feel of the punishments of Gog and the cleansing of the land in Ezekiel 39. Notice the usage of the number seven. There are seven enemies of Israel listed in the opening part of Ezekiel 38, joined in later by another three. The enemies have seven weapons (<a href='B:330 39:9'>Eze 39:9</a>), seven years’ worth of fuel is provided by burning them (<a href='B:330 39:9'>Eze 39:9</a>), and it takes seven months to burn the corpses (<a href='B:330 39:12'>Eze 39:12</a>). One wonders whether we are intended to read the ’sevens’ literally, or whether this is a device to indicate completeness. If indeed the language here is figurative, then we are the more encouraged to read ‘Gog’ as a codename rather than seek for a literal historico-geographical reference for him. The simple point is that the invaders will have an array of military technology which will be brought to nothing and permanently destroyed.</p>


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<p>They shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall make fires of the weapons- These wooden weapons are understandable if indeed Ezekiel 38, 39 had a potential primary fulfillment in Ezekiel’s time or soon after. This is the invasion and victory that could have happened at the restoration. There seems an intentional contrast with how when Israel first entered the land, they retained the wooden images of the Canaanite tribes (<a href='B:70 1:27-28'>Jdg 1:27-28</a>). The Maccabees tried to obey this command by burning anything that belonged to the Seleucids and Antiochus who had desecrated the temple. But clearly the prophesy was not then fulfilled, at best that was a foretaste of the future cleansing.</p><p>And they shall plunder those who plundered them, and rob those who robbed them, says the Lord Yahweh- There is no indication that the invasion of Gog to "take a prey" was successful; and so his followers are judged for what they intended doing, i:e. robbing and plundering, even though they didn’t actually do it. This serves as a reminder for all time that we are judged according to our dreams and intentions, whether or not we actually fulfill them; as the sermon on the mount makes clear enough.</p>


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<p>It shall happen in that day, that I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the valley of those who pass through on the east of the sea; and it shall stop those who pass through. There shall they bury Gog and all his multitude; and they shall call it The valley of Hamon Gog- See on :17. This would be close to the location of Sodom and Gomorrah, which likewise suffered "eternal fire" in that their destruction was to be an eternal lesson for others (<a href='B:720 1:7'>Jud 1:7</a>). The allusion is to the highway which then passed through that valley, connecting Syria with Petra and Egypt. This likely has more relevance to the potential fulfillment at Ezekiel’s time than to anything in the latter days.</p>


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<p>Seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land- For the significance of "seven", see on :9. The lament had been that the land had not been cleansed of Israel’s sins (<a href='B:330 22:24'>Eze 22:24</a> s:w:). Now the land was to be permanently cleansed of all sin, Jewish and pagan, by the repentant Jews themselves.</p>


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<p>Yes, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them for a renown in the day that I shall be glorified, says the Lord Yahweh- "A renown" is literally "a name". The name we shall be given eternally will be a reflection of who we are and what we have done in this life, just as Yahweh’s Name is the same- a reflection of His character and history. Those who are involved in burying Gog’s followers will it seems have this as part of their eternal Name, which will itself be a part in the final glorification of Yahweh’s Name in His people. See on :16.</p>


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<p>After the seven months are over, men will be chosen to travel through the land in order to find and bury those bodies remaining on the ground, so that they can cleanse the land- The AV suggests that the travellers themselves will help these appointed men: "passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it". There is also the implication that some of the bodies might have been missed, and after seven months there has to be a check made. This all sounds very human, and relevant to the primary fulfillment potentially possible in Ezekiel’s time rather than to the last days.</p>


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<p>They shall go up and down the land; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, until the undertakers have buried it in the valley of Hamon Gog- There is still the fear of defilement by touching dead bones; hence only "the undertakers" deal with them, and those who notice the bones simply set up a sign by them. This fear of defilement suggests that this aspect of the prophecy was particularly relevant to its potential fulfillment in Ezekiel’s time rather than to the last days.</p>


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<p>Hamonah shall also be the name of a city. Thus shall they cleanse the land- Possibly it is Jerusalem which is in view, and this will be one of her names, "multitude". As explained on :13, the names given in the eternal kingdom will be a reflection of history, just as the Yahweh Name is. See on :12.</p>


text:
<p>You, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Speak thus to the birds of prey, and to every animal of the field: Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to My sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood- As explained on :19, this invitation to partake of a religious meal with God is an invitation to fellowship with Him through participating in the destruction of His enemies. The destruction of the Ezekiel 38 invasion is described in <a href='B:330 39:17-20'>Eze 39:17-20</a> in terms of a great supper, and the language is the basis for the description of the final destruction of "the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies" at the ’bird supper’ in <a href='B:730 19:17-18'>Rev 19:17-18</a>. The nations listed in Ezekiel 38 are therefore the kings of the earth / land. They cannot, therefore, refer to nations outside of the land promised to Abraham (e.g. England and Russia). The emphasis upon horses in <a href='B:330 38:4-7'>Eze 38:4-7</a>; <a href='B:330 38:9'>Eze 38:9</a>; <a href='B:330 38:15'>Eze 38:15</a>; <a href='B:330 38:22'>Eze 38:22</a>; <a href='B:330 39:4'>Eze 39:4</a>; <a href='B:330 39:11'>Eze 39:11</a> and the destruction / ’eating’ of their flesh is matched by the horse mounted nations of <a href='B:730 19:15-21'>Rev 19:15-21</a> being destroyed and their flesh likewise ’eaten’. The calling for a sword against Gog is matched by the sword proceeding out of Christ’s mouth in Revelation 19. It isn’t therefore incidental that <a href='B:730 20:8'>Rev 20:8</a> goes on to use the terms Gog and Magog in describing the final enemies of God. The nations with Gog and Magog come from "the four corners of the earth / land" (<a href='B:730 20:8'>Rev 20:8</a>), and this is alluding to how the nations with Gog in Ezekiel 38 are from the four compass points around Israel. This is incidental proof that the ten nations of Ezekiel 38 are all with Gog; "Are you come to take a spoil?" of <a href='B:330 38:13'>Eze 38:13</a> is therefore not a protest but rather a joining in with the group spoiling of Israel.</p>


text:
<p>You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan- The nations with Gog are defined here as “the princes / kings of the earth”- the leaders of the peoples within the earth / eretz promised to Abraham. These are the same “kings of the earth / land” which are so often mentioned in Revelation as coming against God’s people as part of the beast entity (<a href='B:730 6:15'>Rev 6:15</a>; <a href='B:730 16:14'>Rev 16:14</a>; <a href='B:730 17:2'>Rev 17:2</a>; <a href='B:730 17:18'>Rev 17:18</a>; Rev 183; <a href='B:730 18:9'>Rev 18:9</a>). This alludes to the kings of the earth who are raised up from the borders of the earth / land and come with Babylon to invade Israel (<a href='B:300 50:41'>Jer 50:41</a>). The very idea of ‘the borders of the earth’ suggests that ‘the earth’ doesn’t refer to a sphere like the globe, but rather to a specifically defined territory. That territory is the land promised to Abraham. When we read that all “the kings of the earth” came from the very ends of the earth to hear Solomon’s wisdom, we likewise are to understand “the earth” as the land promised to Abraham. The Queen of Sheba was at the end of that earth / land; but the kings of New Zealand or Hawaii didn’t come. "Bashan" implies the area east of the Jordan, from where the jihadists will come in the last days, and from where the Scythians would have come in the potential fulfillment.</p>


text:
<p>You shall eat fat until you be full, and drink blood until you are drunk, of My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you- The surrounding nations are invited to eat at the Lord’s table or altar, upon which are sacrificed Gog and his followers. This invitation to eat "at My table" (:20) is an invitation to fellowship and relationship. It implies that the remaining people in the eretz of the last days will come to relationship with God through destroying the remnants of Gog.</p>


text:
<p>You shall be filled at My table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, says the Lord Yahweh- AV "There you shall be filled at My table" implies that there on the great mountain of Israel, Zion, would be the altar or table of Yahweh. "Chariots" is put for the charioteers. Participating in the destruction of Gog would be a sign of fellowship with Yahweh.</p>


text:
<p>I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see My judgment that I have executed, and My hand that I have laid on them- "Set" is s:w. "give". God is to be given glory by the remaining nations when they recognize God’s hand / judgment upon them was correct. It will achieve the intended result, of eliciting their repentance and glorification of God. The returned exiles could have ’given / set glory’ to Yahweh (s:w. <a href='B:460 2:2'>Mal 2:2</a>) at the restoration, but they didn’t. And so the whole scenario was transferred to the last days for fulfillment.</p>


text:
<p>So the house of Israel shall know that I am Yahweh their God, from that day and forward- See on <a href='B:330 38:12'>Eze 38:12</a>. This could imply that it is not until the destruction of Gog that Israel are permanently and forever in relationship with God, even though it seems that they are already "dwelling safely" with the Lord Jesus amongst them when the Ezekiel 38 invasion comes.</p>


text:
<p>The nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they trespassed against Me, and I hid My face from them: so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they fell all of them by the sword- This hiding of the face was intended to make Israel repent and seek God’s face, and finally this will happen (<a href='B:50 31:17'>Deu 31:17</a>; <a href='B:290 59:2'>Isa 59:2</a>). The nations will realize that their earlier triumphs over Israel were not due to their righteousness or human strength, but because they were used by God to take Israel captive for their sins. Israel did not "all" fall by the sword, although this was the punishment threatened. God’s grace and pity meant that the deserved judgment wasn’t fully carried out. See on :24.</p>


text:
<p>According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions did I to them; and I hid My face from them- As explained on :23, God did not actually execute all His wrath upon His people. He did not in fact judge them "according to" their sins, but less than what those sins deserved (<a href='B:150 9:13'>Ezr 9:13</a>). But by grace He counts the judgment to have happened. This may have been simply due to His pity and grace; or maybe there was the repentance and intercession of a minority. They were like Cain, driven out of the land / sanctuary and hidden from God’s face (<a href='B:10 4:14'>Gen 4:14</a> s:w:); and yet by grace, a way back was found for them. And it was by the hiding of God’s face from them that their seeking for His face would be elicited (<a href='B:50 31:17-18'>Deu 31:17-18</a>; <a href='B:50 32:20'>Deu 32:20</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name- "The whole house of Israel" looks ahead to the final reuniting of Judah with the ten tribes which was possible at Ezekiel’s time if they had all alike repented. But <a href='B:520 11:26'>Rom 11:26</a> gives this a wider application; "so all Israel shall be saved" is understood as meaning both Jew and Gentile alike shall comprise the "all Israel", both natural and spiritual Jews.</p>


text:
<p>They shall bear their shame, and all their trespasses by which they have trespassed against Me, when they shall dwell securely in their land, and none shall make them afraid- Shame for sin is a major theme with Ezekiel. The days of shame would come to an end (<a href='B:330 16:54'>Eze 16:54</a>; <a href='B:330 34:29'>Eze 34:29</a>; <a href='B:330 36:15'>Eze 36:15</a>; <a href='B:330 39:26'>Eze 39:26</a>)- if Jerusalem accepted shame for her sins. But <a href='B:330 44:13'>Eze 44:13</a> says that the sins of the Jerusalem priesthood were such that in the restored temple, they would bear their shame in that they would never again minister in it. Likewise the Jewish priesthood who persecuted Jeremiah at this time were to bear a shame that would last for ever (<a href='B:300 20:11'>Jer 20:11</a>). And yet the hope of Israel was that they would eternally be unashamed, world without end (<a href='B:290 45:17'>Isa 45:17</a>). The resolution of this may be in God’s willingness to count them totally righteous by grace, upon their repentance. And Ezra "blushed" [s:w. "ashamed"] because of Israel’s sins (<a href='B:150 9:6'>Ezr 9:6</a>), and Jeremiah at this time cast himself down in shame because of them (<a href='B:300 3:25'>Jer 3:25</a>). This representative intercession for Judah had some effect. Just as the Lord Jesus bore the shame of Israel and all sinners on the cross (<a href='B:290 50:6'>Isa 50:6</a>), and yet because of that He would not be ashamed eternally (<a href='B:290 50:7'>Isa 50:7</a>). He was to become representative of the repentant Israel of God; for the same words are used of how they too would have unashamed faces eternally (<a href='B:290 54:4'>Isa 54:4</a>). But the Jerusalem priesthood refused to take shame, they were unashamed of their whoredoms (<a href='B:300 3:3'>Jer 3:3</a>; <a href='B:300 8:12'>Jer 8:12</a>). Ezekiel’s appeal in Ezekiel 16 was so that they would recognize their sins, and be ashamed (<a href='B:330 16:2'>Eze 16:2</a>). There was time for them to do so right up until they were led captive, in the final attempt to make them realize their shame. For when they went into captivity, then God intended that they would be "ashamed" (<a href='B:300 22:22'>Jer 22:22</a>). The final vision of Ezekiel, of the potential that was possible in a restored Zion, was in order to make the exiles ashamed of their sins when they realized the possibilities they had wasted and yet which were still possible by grace(<a href='B:330 43:10-11'>Eze 43:10-11</a>). But they didn’t respond to that vision, they refused to build and operate such a temple system; because they refused to be ashamed in exile, although it was God’s intention that they should be. And so it is for us as a new Israel to be ashamed for our sins, and identify with the Messiah figure who would bear Israel’s shame and thereby emerge eternally unashamed.</p><p>The AV offers "When they dwelt safely in their land". This would mean that they will reflect that they had dwelt safely earlier in their history without repentance. They would be ashamed that they had been treated as righteous when they had not been, and this realization of God’s utter grace would elicit even deeper repentance.</p>


text:
<p>When I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations- The word for "brought... back" is to be found in the references to Judah’s return at the restoration (<a href='B:150 2:1'>Ezr 2:1</a>; <a href='B:150 6:21'>Ezr 6:21</a>; <a href='B:160 7:6'>Neh 7:6</a>; <a href='B:160 8:17'>Neh 8:17</a>). The same word is to be found in <a href='B:330 38:8'>Eze 38:8</a>, where again, the invasion is to happen once Judah had been ‘brought again’ from captivity. Judah returned, and yet they didn’t rebuild the temple as they were commanded. Therefore the invasion didn’t come, and therefore the Kingdom wasn’t then established. As if knowing this, <a href='B:350 6:11'>Hos 6:11</a> had prophesied [otherwise strangely] that Judah would reap their punishment, when they returned from captivity. They returned [s:w. ‘bring again’], but not to the Most High (<a href='B:350 7:16'>Hos 7:16</a>).</p>


text:
<p>They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them to their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there- Such total restoration would be a parade example of God’s grace. And in this they would "know" or experience Yahweh. His grace was the causative factor in both their exile and restoration.</p>


text:
<p>Neither will I hide My face any more from them; for I have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh- The pouring out of the Spirit is parallel to God’s face being revealed and not hidden. The activity of the Spirit is therefore in order to reveal God, to bring people into relationship with Him. Thus the Spirit is poured out as part of the new covenant with Israel in order to make them repentant, all of God’s initiative, rather than as a response to their righteousness (<a href='B:450 12:10'>Zec 12:10</a> "the spirit of grace and supplication", as if this Spirit provokes their supplication / prayer to God; <a href='B:360 2:28'>Joe 2:28</a>). This will be the parade example of "prevenient grace".</p>


text:
<p>In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity- The captivity of the Jews began in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, when Daniel and his companions were carried away, thirty-two years previously. Daniel would have been seven years in captivity when Ezekiel arrived. Daniel and his three friends are presented as the only faithful ones amongst the captives, but clearly Ezekiel was there. There’s no reference to their having any contact, perhaps because Ezekiel was at the exile encampment by the Chebar river.</p><p>In the beginning of the year- This phrase is used about the jubilee year, and it has been calculated that BC575 would have been a jubilee year. Perhaps the idea was that now was the time for the exiles to accept the proclamation of release, at least in their hearts.</p><p>In the tenth day of the month- The month isn’t defined, which is understandable if the reference is to the proclamation of a jubilee year on the day of atonement in the tenth day of the seventh month (<a href='B:30 25:9'>Lev 25:9</a>). The idea was that Judah had been forgiven, although they hadn’t yet claimed it by repentance, and they were to now consider the glorious potential future which was thereby possible for them. Hence the emphasis upon "on that very day" in the next clause.</p><p>In the fourteenth year after that the city was struck, on that very day, the hand of Yahweh was on me and He brought me there- The city was struck towards the end of the twelfth year of Ezekiel’s captivity (<a href='B:330 33:21'>Eze 33:21</a>). The submission of this study is that the return could have led to the establishment of the Kingdom on earth, replete with a Messiah figure and a temple according to the pattern showed to Ezekiel in Ezekiel 40-48. Parts of many of the prophets looked forward to this time, as did the restoration prophecies of Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Isaiah 40-66. All of these could have had their fulfilment in the return under Ezra, but this was disabled by the poor response to the call to return. Under Nehemiah and then even in Malachi’s time, these Kingdom prophecies could have had their fulfilment, but time and again Judah failed to live up to the necessary preconditions. In all this lies abundant exhortation for us; so much could happen but doesn’t, because of our failure to live out and fulfil prophecy... instead, like Judah, we tend to assume that the time for its’ fulfilment will inexorably arrive some day, regardless of our effort.</p>


text:
<p>In the visions of God brought He me into the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain, whereon was as it were the frame of a city- Ezekiel saw the temple as if it were already there, located at Jerusalem; he wasn’t transported to Heaven to view it. And it was there, potentially, that whole glorious temple. But the captives had to return and build it. turning the prophetic word into flesh, the logos into reality. But they didn’t. Mount Zion is called "very high" although it isn’t, relatively speaking. But it was "very high" in God’s purpose and Ezekiel visually got this impression.</p><p>On the south- This refers to how Ezekiel was brought to the scene from the north, from Babylon, by the cherubim.</p>


text:
<p>He brought me there; 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- This man with the measuring line is the same Angel of <a href='B:450 2:1'>Zec 2:1</a>, who was enabling the restoration of Zion at the time of the returned exiles; but they refused to make use of the potential. The "appearance of brass" recalls the vision of <a href='B:330 1:5'>Eze 1:5</a>, confirming that the opening vision of the cherubim is connected with Angelic activity. The line of flax would have been to measure the land areas, and the reed to measure the masonry of the buildings.</p>


text:
<p>The man said to me, Son of man, see with your eyes and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I shall show you; for you are brought here with the intent that I may show these things to you: declare all that you see to the people of Israel- Ezekiel was not merely to act as a transmitter of information, but to be personally involved in the message. This is the challenge to us all in any teaching or sharing of God’s word. The command to declare the vision to "the people of Israel" could mean thatwhilst in Jerusalem, Ezekiel was to share the message with the impoverished remnant who remained there, as well as with the captives back in Babylon. There is a clear similarity with the command to Moses in <a href='B:20 25:9'>Exo 25:9</a>; the tabernacle was to be built by Israel according to what "I show thee", you singular, Moses. The fulfilment of the potential was therefore dependent upon the faithfulness of Ezekiel in accurately sharing the vision. And that is true for all who bring God’s word to others.</p>


text:
<p>See, a wall on the outside of the house all around, and in the man’s hand a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a handbreadth each: so he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed- The wall wasn’t very high; it was not for defence, but to mark the difference between the sacred and profane. The measuring reed or rod is here defined as being 6 cubits plus 6 handbreadths. We recall the presence of a man’s hand, Ezekiel’s, within the cherubim visions (see on <a href='B:330 10:8'>Eze 10:8</a>). That represented the human part of the whole wondrous vision; God requires human response, but would work powerfully with it. That may explain this otherwise strange measuring unit which mixed a human hand with the cubit measure.</p>


text:
<p>Then he came to the gate which looks toward the east, and went up its steps: and he measured the threshold of the gate, one reed broad; and the other threshold, one reed broad- We firstly read of the east gate because the intention was that the cherubim of glory would return through the east gate. Contra Henry Sulley, there is no evidence that the temple is circular. The temple can hardly face East, as we are told it will in <a href='B:330 47:1'>Eze 47:1</a>, if it is circular. We note the use of steps (seven of them, :22), forbidden in the Mosaic system; human uncleanness would have been dealt with to some extent in the restored community.</p>


text:
<p>Every lodge was one reed long, and one reed broad; and the space between the lodges was five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate toward the house was one reed- These lodges recalled the guard rooms which were commonly placed next to gates of a city. The priests were to keep the charge of these gates and not allow anything unclean to enter (<a href='B:330 44:11'>Eze 44:11</a>). This sounds appropriate to the restored community, but not to a scenario in the Kingdom of God under the rulership of the returned Lord Jesus. See on :21. Then, this truth will be spiritually understood in the vision in which John sees no temple in the new city; "there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles, neither works abomination, or makes a lie" (<a href='B:730 21:27'>Rev 21:27</a>).</p>


text:
<p>He measured also the porch of the gate toward the house, one reed- The measurement given in :9 would be that of the porch in the wider sense, including the projecting side-walls upon it (2 cubits).</p>


text:
<p>Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and its posts, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was toward the house- LXX "inward". It seems :9 is measuring the length of the porch from north to south, whereas :8 measures the depth of it from east to west.</p>


text:
<p>The lodges of the gate eastward were three on this side and three on that side; these three were of the same measure: and the posts had the same measure on this side and on that side- Nehemiah did his very best to bring the potential Kingdom of God about by urging the people to repentance and conformity to God’s will, such was his perception of what was going on; that the coming of God’s Kingdom was being limited by the apathy of his own people. No fewer than 24 times in Ezekiel 40-48 are we told that the temple was to be built by ‘measure’ (e.g. <a href='B:330 40:3'>Eze 40:3</a>; <a href='B:330 40:5'>Eze 40:5</a>; <a href='B:330 40:10'>Eze 40:10</a>; <a href='B:330 40:21-22'>Eze 40:21-22</a>; <a href='B:330 40:24'>Eze 40:24</a>; <a href='B:330 40:28-29'>Eze 40:28-29</a>); and the same word occurs frequently in describing how Nehemiah gave various groups of Jews their own ‘measure’ in the work of rebuilding Jerusalem (<a href='B:160 3:11'>Neh 3:11</a>; <a href='B:160 3:19-20'>Neh 3:19-20</a>; <a href='B:160 3:22'>Neh 3:22</a>; <a href='B:160 3:24'>Neh 3:24</a>; <a href='B:160 3:27'>Neh 3:27</a>).</p>


text:
<p>He measured the breadth of the opening of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits- The opening of the gate is its entire width. "The length" appears to mean effectively "the height"; the Hebrew is not specific.</p>


text:
<p>And a border before the lodges of one cubit on this side, and a border of one cubit on that side; and the lodges, six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side- "The border" is really a barrier. The ten cubits of :11 is therefore reduced by one cubit on each side, to limit the passage to eight cubits. The implication is that there may have been crowd control problems and the guards / gate keepers needed to be able to manage any possible crush. Again, this is a scenario appropriate to a temple rebuilt by the exiles, but not to the future Kingdom of the Lord Jesus. See on <a href='B:330 46:8'>Eze 46:8</a>.</p>


text:
<p>He measured the gate from the roof of the one lodge to the roof of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; door against door- This is the entire breadth of the gate-buildings.</p>


text:
<p>He made also posts, sixty cubits; and the court reached to the posts, around the gate- It was an Angel who described to Ezekiel the nature of the temple which the exiles were intended to build; and we even read here that “He made…” [e.g. the posts of the temple]. The Angels had potentially built that temple; it was for Israel to build according to the pattern of it. The measuring now becomes making; what was potentially measured up was thereby as good as made. It all depended upon God’s people to actually do it. And for each of us, there are wonderful things prepared for us to achieve for the Lord, made potentially possible, with all the host of Heaven eagerly awaiting our fulfillment of them on earth. But so very often they remain only poorly replicated by us. And the temple prophecies of Ezekiel are a classic example. See on :38; <a href='B:330 1:1'>Eze 1:1</a>; <a href='B:330 1:20'>Eze 1:20</a>; <a href='B:330 10:8'>Eze 10:8</a>; <a href='B:330 11:24'>Eze 11:24</a>.</p>


text:
<p>From the forefront of the gate at the entrance to the forefront of the inner porch of the gate were fifty cubits- The man on the seventh step would see it clearly: first threshold, 6 cubits; three guardrooms with two intervening spaces, 28 cubits; second threshold, 6 cubits; porch, 6 cubits; projection of the side and gate-pillars, 4 cubits = 50 cubits. This length is double the breadth.</p>


text:
<p>There were closed windows to the lodges, and to their posts within the gate all around, and likewise to the arches; and windows were around inward; and on each post were palm trees- There are many links between Solomon’s temple and that described by Ezekiel. The repeated stress on the cherubim / palm tree decor in both the records of Solomon’s temple and also Ezekiel’s encourages the idea that the prophesied temple was to be seen as a re-establishment of Solomon’s (<a href='B:110 6:29'>1Ki 6:29</a>; <a href='B:110 6:32'>1Ki 6:32</a>; <a href='B:110 6:35'>1Ki 6:35</a>; <a href='B:110 7:36'>1Ki 7:36</a> cp. <a href='B:330 40:16'>Eze 40:16</a>; <a href='B:330 40:22'>Eze 40:22</a>; <a href='B:330 40:26'>Eze 40:26</a>; <a href='B:330 40:31'>Eze 40:31</a>; <a href='B:330 40:34'>Eze 40:34</a>; <a href='B:330 40:37'>Eze 40:37</a>; <a href='B:330 41:18-20'>Eze 41:18-20</a>; <a href='B:330 41:25-26'>Eze 41:25-26</a>).</p><p>It’s easy to assume that the temple was totally destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. The fact a new foundation stone was laid doesn’t actually mean that the entire structure was razed to the ground. <a href='B:300 41:5'>Jer 41:5</a> refers to 80 people coming to offer offerings and perform some kind of worship there even after the Babylonian destruction. There’s ample historical reference to the essential ground plan and some structure still standing even after the Babylonians had effectively destroyed it and rendered it useless (See R:S. Foster, The Restoration Of Israel (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1970) p. 28; John Bright, A History of Israel (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1981) p. 325; Martin Noth, The History of Israel (London: SCM, 1983) p. 291). This makes it more appealing to consider Ezekiel’s vision as a blueprint for the exiles’ reconstructing the existing temple, rather than a totally new structure. It’s even been suggested that Ezekiel 40-42 was intended as an architectural record of the ’old’ temple upon which a new one was to be reconstructed. Zerubbabel is pictured as bringing forth "the premier stone" for the temple (<a href='B:450 4:7'>Zec 4:7</a>). This is a technical term, used in Mesopotamia about "a unit of building material removed from the former temple ruins and then incorporated into the new building" (C:L. & E:M. Meyers, Haggai, Zechariah 1-8, The Anchor Bible (New York: Doubleday, 2004) p. 270:). This demonstrates how the projected new temple was a rebuilding of Solomon’s temple. The "shouts" with which it was laid (<a href='B:450 4:7'>Zec 4:7</a>) were the "shouts" of the foundation ceremony described in <a href='B:150 3:10-12'>Ezr 3:10-12</a>.</p>


text:
<p>Then brought he me into the outer court; and behold, there were rooms and a pavement, made for the court all around: thirty rooms were on the pavement- Earlier Ezekiel had seen the wings of the cherubim over the "outer court" (<a href='B:330 10:8'>Eze 10:8</a>). That outer court was now to be rebuilt. The cherubim, simply representing the operation of God for His people, would likewise be involved just as they had been in its destruction; if Judah wished to work with them.</p>


text:
<p>The pavement was by the side of the gates, answerable to the length of the gates, even the lower pavement- The length of the gates fixed the breadth of the stone pavement. Ezekiel 40-48 stress the “gates” dozens of times; and Nehemiah’s account likewise stresses many times the attention he paid to setting up the “gates” [s:w:] as if he saw his work as fulfilling Ezekiel’s words.</p>


text:
<p>Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate to the forefront of the inner court outside, one hundred cubits- He measures the breadth of the outer court, starting from the east gate, the gate already referred to, measuring from the front of its porch.</p><p>Both on the east and on the north- "Thus with respect to the east side, and the same with respect to the north side".</p>


text:
<p>The gate of the outer court whose prospect is toward the north, he measured its length and its breadth- This becomes the standard measure of the other gates (:21).</p>


text:
<p>The lodges of it were three on this side and three on that side; and its posts and its arches were after the measure of the first gate: its length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits- We have to note the emphasis upon the guard rooms in the dimensions and measuring; see on :7.</p>


text:
<p>The windows of it, and its arches, and the palm trees of it, were after the measure of the gate whose prospect is toward the east; and they went up to it by seven steps; and its arches were before them- If indeed Ezekiel 40-48 are conditional prophecies, this opens up the possibility that so too are many other prophecies- especially those which involve allusion to them. For example, <a href='B:730 11:1'>Rev 11:1</a> speaks of a command to measure the temple- and immediately our minds are sent back to the temple being measured in such detail in <a href='B:330 40:10'>Eze 40:10</a>; <a href='B:330 40:21-22'>Eze 40:21-22</a> etc. Is this to be read as a sign that we are about to receive another conditional prophecy? Assuming that Revelation was given just prior to the fall of Jerusalem in AD70, we could read the ensuing prophecy in Revelation 11 as saying that although Jerusalem and the outer court would fall to the Romans, the zealots in the inner sanctuary would be preserved, and a command to repentance would be issued by two prophets. Now of course, this didn’t happen; but perhaps it could’ve done, potentially? Consider the possibility- both here and in so many other Bible passages.</p>


text:
<p>There was a gate to the inner court over against the other gate, both on the north and on the east; and he measured from gate to gate one hundred cubits- Now we are introduced to the relation of the gate (of the inner court) to the gate (of the outer court); and we see it as it were by reference to the two gates described northward and eastward.</p>


text:
<p>He led me toward the south; and behold, a gate toward the south: and he measured its posts and its arches according to these measures- Ezekiel was now close to the measuring Angel, so close he could be led by Him.</p>


text:
<p>There were windows in it and in its arches all around, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits- Like the windows in the gates of :22.</p>


text:
<p>There were seven steps to go up to it, and its arches were before them; and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, on its posts- Perhaps by every pillar stood two artificial palms. But literal palm trees may be in view.</p>


text:
<p>There was a gate to the inner court toward the south: and he measured from gate to gate toward the south a hundred cubits- "Gate" is literally ’an opening’. Whether there were doors upon the gates is left for us to imagine; perhaps if not, we have the impression of a welcoming openness towards the most holy space.</p>


text:
<p>Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the south gate according to these measures- Ezekiel was "led" in :24, but now "brought". The Hebrew terms are different but too wide in meaning to be certain of the difference, but the idea could be of some reluctance on Ezekiel’s part.</p>


text:
<p>And its lodges, and its posts, and its arches, according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in its arches all around; it was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits broad- The "lodges" or "chambers" of the temple (s:w. <a href='B:110 14:28'>1Ki 14:28</a>) are the basis of the Lord’s statement that in the Father’s house are many abiding places (<a href='B:500 14:1-3'>Joh 14:1-3</a>); the rebuilding of this temple didn’t work out as envisaged, but the essence of the prophecy still comes true in a spiritual sense.</p>


text:
<p>There were arches all around, twenty-five cubits long, and five cubits broad- The Hebrew for "arches" can also mean a colonnade or portico.</p>


text:
<p>The arches of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts: and the ascent to it had eight steps- This compares with the seven steps of :22, possibly implying that this was of greater holiness, requiring more effort in human ascent.</p>


text:
<p>He brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures- This now describes the inner part of the east gate.</p>


text:
<p>And its lodges, and its posts, and its arches, according to these measures: and there were windows therein and in its arches all around; it was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits broad- Repeating the style of :29.</p>


text:
<p>The arches of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts, on this side, and on that side: and the ascent to it had eight steps- The motif of palm trees is perhaps to create the idea of direct, upward growth, characteristic of the flourishing of the righteous (<a href='B:230 92:12'>Psa 92:12</a>). Likewise the feet of the cherubim were "straight". The idea is that we respond directly and immediately to spiritual things and possibilities, without all the meandering and distraction so typical of the flesh.</p>


text:
<p>He brought me to the north gate: and he measured it according to these measures- "Measure" is literally ’to stretch oneself’. It could perhaps be that the measure was the height of the Angel; which would then make sense of <a href='B:730 21:17'>Rev 21:17</a> where the wall of the new Jerusalem is measured "according to the measure of a man, that is an Angel".</p>


text:
<p>Its lodges, its posts, and its arches: and there were windows therein all around; the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five cubits- The prevalence of "windows... all around" recalls the cherubim being full of eyes all around (<a href='B:330 10:18'>Eze 10:18</a>). There is clearly an impression given that the cherubim were to be involved in the rebuilding and functioning of this new temple system; every human effort to engage with it would be blessed and multiplied by the huge Angelic help available.</p>


text:
<p>The posts of it were toward the outer court; and palm trees were on its posts, on this side, and on that side: and the ascent to it had eight steps- "The outer court" is LXX "the porch", corresponding with :31,34.</p>


text:
<p>A room with its door was by the posts at the gates; there they washed the burnt offering- Ezekiel saw a functioning temple- he speaks of “where they washed the burnt offering”, he saw animals being killed, things being laid on tables (:38-43). It was all- potentially- ‘happening’. It just had to be realized on earth. See on :14.</p>


text:
<p>In the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to kill thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering- The order of the offerings usually features the burnt offering last; after recognizing sin and obtaining forgiveness, there was [and is] to be the dedication to God represented by the burnt offering. But God was so eager to accept the returning exiles that He had forgiven them although they had not generally repented. He wanted them to respond in dedication, and then for His grace to elicit from them the recognition of their sins.</p>


text:
<p>On the one side outside, as one goes up to the entry of the gate toward the north, were two tables; and on the other side, which belonged to the porch of the gate, were two tables- There were twelve tables, eight were used for slaughtering and laying the carcasses, and the remaining four for the instruments employed in killing the animals. Of the eight, four stood within the porch of the gate, two on each side, and four outside—two on the side "as one goes up to the entry of the north gate". This seems to mean "at the shoulder to one going up to the gate opening towards the north", i:e. on the outside of the porch’s north wall; and two on the other side or shoulder, i:e. on the outside of the porch’s south wall. The gate in view is therefore not the north gate, as the AV conjectures, but the east gate, whose side walls looked towards the north and south. The third group of four tables appears to have been planted at the steps, presumably two on each side, "at the ascent", i:e. at the staircase (cp. :26).</p>


text:
<p>Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon they killed the sacrifices- See on :40.</p>


text:
<p>There were four tables for the burnt offering, of cut stone, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high; whereupon they laid the instruments with which they killed the burnt offering and the sacrifice- This speaks of the vessels to be used in the temple [NEV “instruments”] with the same word used for the temple vessels which were brought up out of Babylon back to Judah, in fulfilment of several of Isaiah’s ‘Kingdom’ passages (<a href='B:150 1:6-11'>Ezr 1:6-11</a>; <a href='B:150 8:25-33'>Ezr 8:25-33</a> cp. <a href='B:290 52:11'>Isa 52:11</a>; <a href='B:290 66:20'>Isa 66:20</a>). The tables on which the carcasses were placed were of stone, maybe implying the tables for the instruments were of wood.</p>


text:
<p>The hooks, a handbreadth long, were fastened within all around: and on the tables was the flesh of the offering-&nbsp; "Hooks" is LXX "ledges," or "border guards", to keep the instruments or flesh from falling off; or they could refer to&nbsp; "pegs" fastened in the wall for hanging the carcasses before they were flayed.</p>


text:
<p>Outside of the inner gate were rooms for the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate; and their prospect was toward the south; one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north- The chambers for the singers appear to have been the priestly chambers (:45,46). In Solomon’s temple, the Levites managed the singing (<a href='B:130 6:33-47'>1Ch 6:33-47</a>; <a href='B:130 15:17'>1Ch 15:17</a>; <a href='B:140 20:19'>2Ch 20:19</a>). Now the priests were apparently to do so. LXX: "And he led me unto the inner court, and behold two chambers in the inner court, one at the back of the gate which looks towards the north, and bearing towards the south, and one at the back of the gate which looks towards the south, and bearing towards the north". The emphasis upon the singers is appropriate seeing that so manyrestoration prophecies envisaged the returned exiles singing praises.</p>


text:
<p>He said to me, This room, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the duty of the house- The phrase ’to keep the duty / charge / ordinance’ is used multiple times as a commandment. The priests were to keep the duty, whereas previously they had not. But the same phrase is used in <a href='B:460 3:14'>Mal 3:14</a> of how the restored exiles complained that they had ’kept the duty’ of the temple for no profit. The greatest tragedy is when potentials are thrown away, and this was and is the tragedy of God’s people.</p>


text:
<p>And the room whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok, who from among the sons of Levi come near to Yahweh to minister to Him- It was in this kind of chamber in the restored temple that the enemies of the Jews were allowed a living place and the apostate Tobiah stored his "stuff" (<a href='B:160 13:8'>Neh 13:8</a>). This explains Nehemiah’s anger about the situation- they were precluding the fulfilment of the potential envisaged here in <a href='B:330 40:46'>Eze 40:46</a>.</p><p>Ezekiel emphasized that the sons of Zadok were to organize priestly work in the temple (<a href='B:330 40:46'>Eze 40:46</a>; <a href='B:330 43:19'>Eze 43:19</a>; <a href='B:330 44:15'>Eze 44:15</a>; <a href='B:330 48:11'>Eze 48:11</a>); and it was surely not incidental that Ezra, the leader of the initial restoration, was one of the sons of Zadok (<a href='B:150 7:2'>Ezr 7:2</a>). He was in a position to fulfil those prophecies, although the bulk of his brethren seem to have precluded this. Ezra was enabled to “beautify” the temple (<a href='B:150 7:27'>Ezr 7:27</a>), the very same word used in <a href='B:290 60:7'>Isa 60:7</a>; <a href='B:290 60:9'>Isa 60:9</a>; <a href='B:290 60:13'>Isa 60:13</a> about how God would “glorify” [s:w:] His temple with merchandise from throughout the Babylonian empire- all of which was willingly offered by Cyrus and Darius. But the people didn’t respond to Ezra, and so this scenario didn’t come about.</p>


text:
<p>He measured the court, one hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar was before the house- Henry Sulley and other popular reconstructions place it, without justification, in the Most Holy Place. Ezekiel commanded that the priests were not to wear their holy garments in the outer courts; and yet if as the popular view suggests they wear them in a central area, at the altar, and then go into their chambers on the edge of the temple, they would have to wear them in the outer courts.</p>


text:
<p>Then he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side- Matching Solomon’s temple (<a href='B:110 6:3'>1Ki 6:3</a>). The "porch" appears to have been entered by a folding door of two leaves, each three cubits broad, which were attached to two side pillars five cubits broad, and met in the middle, so that the whole breadth of the porch front was six cubits, or, including the posts, sixteen cubits. The measurements in :49 of the length of the porch (from east to west) twenty cubits, and the breadth (from north to south) eleven cubits, assumes that the pillars, which were five cubits bread in front, were only half that breadth in the inside, the side wall dividing it in two, so that, although to one entering the opening was only six cubits, the moment one stood in the interior it was 6 cubits + 2 x 2:5 cubits = 11 cubits</p>


text:
<p>The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; even by the steps by which they went up to it: and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side- Matching Solomon’s temple (<a href='B:110 7:21'>1Ki 7:21</a>). See on :48.</p>


text:
<p>He brought me to the temple and measured the doorposts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the structure- "The temple" here refers to the holy place, the nave. "Structure" is ’tabernacle’, to ever remind the people that the temple was but a masonry expression of the simple tent in the wilderness where God met with His wandering people. All organized religious structures must ever remember this.</p>


text:
<p>The breadth of the entrance was ten cubits- The door into the porch was eleven cubits (<a href='B:330 40:49'>Eze 40:49</a>). This would have the effect of rendering the door into the holy place more conspicuous.</p><p>And the sides of the entrance were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured its length, forty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits- Matching Solomon’s temple (<a href='B:110 6:16-17'>1Ki 6:16-17</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Then he went inside and measured each post of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the breadth of the entrance, seven cubits- The Angel entered the Most Holy, and presumably called out the measurements to Ezekiel.</p>


text:
<p>He measured its length, twenty cubits, and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple. He said to me, This is the most holy place- Matching Solomon’s temple (<a href='B:110 6:19-20'>1Ki 6:19-20</a>). No details are given of what was within the most holy place, perhaps because it was simply to be indwelt by the glory of God. In Ezekiel’s system there is a lack of many things required under the Mosaic system (see too <a href='B:330 45:23'>Eze 45:23</a>), because at the restoration they could have been spiritually fulfilled. That didn’t work out, and so the fulfilment has been reapplied and rescheduled to the work of the Lord Jesus. There was:</p><p>?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; No Laver (see <a href='B:330 36:24-27'>Eze 36:24-27</a>, <a href='B:500 15:3'>Joh 15:3</a>) ;</p><p>?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; No Table of Shewbread (see <a href='B:400 5:4'>Mic 5:4</a>, <a href='B:500 6:35'>Joh 6:35</a>);</p><p>?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; No Lampstand or Menorah (see <a href='B:290 49:6'>Isa 49:6</a>, <a href='B:500 8:12'>Joh 8:12</a>);</p><p>?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; No Golden Altar of Incense (<a href='B:450 8:20-23'>Zec 8:20-23</a>, <a href='B:500 14:6'>Joh 14:6</a>)</p><p>?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; No Veil (<a href='B:290 25:6-8'>Isa 25:6-8</a>, <a href='B:470 27:51'>Mat 27:51</a>) ;</p><p>?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; No Ark of the Covenant (<a href='B:300 3:16'>Jer 3:16</a>, <a href='B:500 10:30-33'>Joh 10:30-33</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Then he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of every side room, four cubits, all around the house on every side- Solomon’s system of “chambers” or "ribs" was replicated (<a href='B:110 6:5'>1Ki 6:5</a>; <a href='B:110 6:8'>1Ki 6:8</a>; <a href='B:110 6:16'>1Ki 6:16</a> cp. <a href='B:330 41:5-11'>Eze 41:5-11</a> s:w:). The measuring began with the outer wall, which, beginning at the pillars (<a href='B:330 41:1'>Eze 41:1</a>), enclosed the temple on its south, west, and north sides.</p>


text:
<p>The side rooms were in three floors, one over another, and thirty on each floor. The outer wall on each floor was thinner than on the floor below, so that the rooms could rest on the wall without being anchored into it- Matching Solomon’s temple (<a href='B:110 6:6'>1Ki 6:6</a>; <a href='B:110 6:10'>1Ki 6:10</a>):The chambers were ranged in three stories of thirty each; Josephus (Antiquities 8:3:2) claims this was exactly how it was in Solomon’s temple. Perhaps there were twelve threes on each of the longer sides, the north and the south, and six threes on the shorter or western side.</p>


text:
<p>The walls of the house, when seen from the outside, seemed to have the same thickness all the way to the top. Against the house’s outer wall, on the outside of the rooms, two wide stairways were built, so that it was possible to go from the lower story to the middle and the upper stories- Matching Solomon’s temple (<a href='B:110 6:6'>1Ki 6:6</a>; <a href='B:110 6:8'>1Ki 6:8</a>). The AV speaks of an "enlarging", as if the floor area of each floor increased from the first to the third story. The AV "and a winding about still upward to the side chambers" could suggest that Ezekiel’s temple had a spiral staircase like that in Solomon’s temple (see <a href='B:110 6:8'>1Ki 6:8</a>).</p>


text:
<p>I saw also that the house had a raised base all around: the foundations of the side rooms were a full reed of six great cubits- RV "A raised basement". The six cubits are the height of the ceiling above the floor in each story, which would give a height of eighteen cubits for the three stories; but probably they mark only the height of the temple and side chamber measured from above ground level.</p>


text:
<p>The thickness of the wall, which was for the side rooms, on the outside, was five cubits: and that which was left was the place of the side rooms that belonged to the house- The five cubits were between the temple wall and the side chambers.</p>


text:
<p>Between the rooms was a breadth of twenty cubits around the house on every side- The LXX combines :9 and :10: "And that which was left between the side chambers of the house and the cells [along the inner court wall] was twenty cubits round about the house on every side".</p>


text:
<p>The doors of the side rooms were toward the place that was left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the free space that was left was five cubits all around- The breadth of the court was comprised of: 1. Breadth of the house 20 cubits; 2. Breadth of wall, 6 x 2 cubits = 12 cubits; 3. Breadth of chambers, 4 x 2 cubits = 8 cubits; 4. Breadth of chamber wall, 5 x 2 cubits = 10 cubits; 5. Breadth of corridor, 5 x 2 cubits = 10 cubits; 6. Breadth of free space, 20 x 2 cubits = 40 cubits. Total = 100 cubits. The length of the court was comprised of: 1. The length of the house—60 cubits; 2. The temple wall—6 cubits; 3. The chambers—4 cubits; 4. The chamber wall—5 cubits; 5. The corridor ["free space"]—5 cubits; 6. The space towards the west—20 cubits. Total = 100 cubits. The "house" was thus one hundred cubits square.</p>


text:
<p>The building that was before the separate place at the side toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits- "The separate [’cut off’] place" refers to a space behind the temple on the west, which was marked off from the rest of the ground on which the temple with its courts and chambers stood. There was a similar space behind Solomon’s temple (<a href='B:120 23:11'>2Ki 23:11</a>; <a href='B:130 26:18'>1Ch 26:18</a>), apparently for rubbish.</p>


text:
<p>So he measured the house, one hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with its walls, one hundred cubits long- See on :14.</p>


text:
<p>Also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, one hundred cubits- We can summarize: The breadth of the area from west to east:</p><p>1. The separate place (including walls)—100 cubits</p><p>2. The "house" (with free space behind)—100 cubits</p><p>3. The inner court—100 cubits</p><p>4. The outer court (the two gates with space between them)—200 cubits</p><p>Total = 500 cubits</p><p>The length of the area from north to south—</p><p>1. The outer court (the two northern gates with spaces between them)—200 cubits</p><p>2. The "house" (with free space on both sides)—100 cubits</p><p>3. The outer court (the two southern gates with distance between them)—200 cubits</p><p>Total = 500 cubits.</p>


text:
<p>He measured the length of the building before the separate place which was at its back, and its galleries on the one side and on the other side, one hundred cubits; and the inner temple, and the porches of the court- The "galleries" could be "ledges", or some kind of terrace buildings.</p>


text:
<p>The thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries around on their three stories, over against the threshold, with wood ceilings all around, and from the ground up to the windows, (now the windows were covered)- If parts of the structure were to be made of wood, we wonder whether this was really intended to last for 1000 years, as required by the view that this temple is that of a future illennial reign of Christ. The ’covering’ of the windows could refer to a lattice, or it could imply that from below, they were not seen.</p>


text:
<p>To the space above the door, even to the inner house, and outside, and by all the wall all around inside and outside, by measure- The ’complete covering’ (GNB) with cherubim (:18) reflected the complete and total presence of God and His activity for His people, which is what the cherubim represented.</p>


text:
<p>It was made with cherubim and palm trees; and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and each cherub had two faces- The temple was to have cherubim motifs throughout it- as if to show that the Cherubim of Ezekiel 1 had now ‘landed’ on the temple at the end of the prophecy. The vision of God’s glory entering the temple “was according to the vision… that I saw by the river Chebar” back in Babylon (<a href='B:330 43:2-3'>Eze 43:2-3</a>). This is the meaning of the fact that cherubim visions both begin and end the prophecy of Ezekiel. The cherubim would move from Judah to Babylon and then back to Judah, to enter into and dwell in the temple. Yet God’s glory did not enter the temple which Nehemiah built. This was because the people had not followed Ezekiel’s example, they had not identified themselves with the Angelic movements above them, but rather remained dominated by their petty self interests. They never really repented- for <a href='B:330 43:11'>Eze 43:11</a> records Ezekiel being told to only give Judah “the form of the house” and “write it in their sight” only “if&nbsp; they be ashamed of all that they have done”. There is no record of Ezekiel giving them the promised further plans for the temple- so the wonderful prophecy could not be fulfilled, because they did not repent.</p>


text:
<p>So that there was the face of a man toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. Thus was it made through all the house all around- Each cherub had only two of its faces revealed on the wall. Perhaps the allusion was to the man who was to be the lion of Judah, the Messiah figure who could have arisen at the restoration.</p>


text:
<p>From the ground to above the door were cherubim and palm trees made: thus was the wall of the temple- The entire wall was covered with this motif.</p>


text:
<p>As for the temple, the door posts were squared; and as for the face of the sanctuary, the appearance of it was as the appearance of the temple- The emphasis upon the !squared"pattern again connects with the four fold nature of the cherubim vision of Ezekiel 1. The cherubim of glory had as it were landed permanently in the temple. And all of God’s people who identified with His work would likewise come there.</p>


text:
<p>The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and its length two cubits; and its corners, and its length, and its walls, were of wood: and he said to me, This is the table that is before Yahweh- Matching Solomon’s temple (<a href='B:110 6:20'>1Ki 6:20</a>; <a href='B:110 6:22'>1Ki 6:22</a>). A wooden altar may seem unsuitable for the task. But the idea of the altar was that it was God’s table, at which He as it were ate in fellowship with men. We too sit at such a humanly inadequate table in fellowship with the same God. However a wooden altar may imply this was the altar of incense (<a href='B:20 30:1'>Exo 30:1</a>; <a href='B:110 7:48'>1Ki 7:48</a>). But again we note a difference with the old system; the dimensions of this altar in the tabernacle were two cubits high and one cubit long and broad.</p>


text:
<p>The temple and the sanctuary had two doors- Matching Solomon’s temple (<a href='B:110 6:31-35'>1Ki 6:31-35</a>; <a href='B:110 6:32'>1Ki 6:32</a> AVmg:).</p>


text:
<p>The doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves: two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other- Considering all the detail given of even the doors, the absence of any mention of an ark of the covenant within them is significant. The glory of God was to dwell there. Or perhaps the details of the most holy place would have been given later, had Judah been responsive to this outline description (<a href='B:330 43:11'>Eze 43:11</a>).</p>


text:
<p>There were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm trees, like as were made on the walls- Matching Solomon’s temple (<a href='B:110 6:32'>1Ki 6:32</a>).</p><p>And there was a threshold of wood on the face of the porch outside-"Wood"is"thick planks". There are many links between Solomon’s temple and that described by Ezekiel:&nbsp; There were “thick planks” upon the porch of Solomon’s temple; and the same word is only used elsewhere in describing how this would feature in Ezekiel’s temple too (<a href='B:110 7:6'>1Ki 7:6</a> cp. <a href='B:330 41:25-26'>Eze 41:25-26</a>).</p>


text:
<p>There were closed windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch: thus were the side rooms of the house, and the thresholds- :&nbsp; Even the “windows of narrow lights” of Solomon’s temple (<a href='B:110 6:4'>1Ki 6:4</a>) were to be replicated (<a href='B:330 40:16'>Eze 40:16</a>; <a href='B:330 41:16'>Eze 41:16</a>; <a href='B:330 41:26'>Eze 41:26</a>). The idea is that the Davidic throne and kingdom was to be reestablished, and we know from Zechariah that this was envisaged as happening at the restoration from Babylon.</p>


text:
<p>Then he brought me forth into the outer court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the room that was opposite the separate place, and which was opposite the building toward the north- Earlier we heard of chambers for the officiating priests on the north and south gates of the inner court (<a href='B:330 40:44-46'>Eze 40:44-46</a>). He now as it were returns to take a closer look at them.</p>


text:
<p>The length of the building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits, and the breadth was fifty cubits- It was the front length of the cell building to which Ezekiel sees himself brought. The hundred cubits length agree with <a href='B:330 41:13'>Eze 41:13</a>.</p>


text:
<p>Over against the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and over against the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in the third story- No staircase seems mentioned; the focus of the vision is upon the existence of so many rooms; see on :5.</p>


text:
<p>Before the rooms was a walk of ten cubits’ breadth inward, a way of one cubit- The walkways are emphasized. <a href='B:450 3:7-10'>Zec 3:7-10</a> encouraged Joshua to be the king-priest of the restored kingdom: “If you will walk in my ways, and if you will keep my charge [as so frequently commanded in <a href='B:330 40:46'>Eze 40:46</a>; <a href='B:330 44:8'>Eze 44:8</a>; <a href='B:330 44:14-16'>Eze 44:14-16</a> s:w:], then you shall also judge my house (as prophesied in Ezekiel 40-48), and shalt also keep my courts (so often mentioned in Ezekiel 40-48), and I will give you places to walk (s:w. <a href='B:330 42:4'>Eze 42:4</a> about the walkways in the prophesied temple)... hear now, O Joshua”. But he didn’t. He didn’t keep the courts, but allowed Tobiah the Ammonite to set up his office for subversion in the temple chambers.</p><p>And their doors were toward the north- Time and again, the new system is described in terms which allude to the bad practices in the old system- e.g. the stress of <a href='B:330 42:4'>Eze 42:4</a> etc. that the doors of the new chambers were"toward the north"connects with how Ezekiel had earlier seen women weeping for Tammuz"towards the north"in the temple (<a href='B:330 8:14'>Eze 8:14</a>; <a href='B:330 9:2'>Eze 9:2</a>). See on :20.</p>


text:
<p>Now the upper rooms were shorter; for the galleries took away from these, more than from the lower and the middle, in the building- The huge attention given to the chambers is surely because they would come to represent the places in the Father’s house prepared for His people (<a href='B:500 14:1-3'>Joh 14:1-3</a>), who would all be as it were about the work of His house. And there was a huge number of them, far more perhaps than was required in the restored temple situation. The sheer number of them and attention given to them in the plans was to highlight a symbolic meaning to them, even at the time. For the literal"sons of Zadok"were likely not enough to have lived in or used them all.</p>


text:
<p>For they were in three stories, and they had no pillars like the pillars of the courts. Thus the upper chambers were set back from the ground more than the lower and the middle ones- The chambers rose in terrace form, each of the upper stories receding from that below it, as was customary in Babylonian architecture. Likewise the form of the cherubim and palm tree motif was similar to what they had seen in Babylon. God in His grace and sensitive understanding was giving the exiles a plan to follow which would have been acceptable to them in accordance with the culture they had picked up in Babylon. And this thought confirms the impression that the temple was intended for the returned exiles to build, and not far any far later generation.</p>


text:
<p>The wall that was outside by the side of the rooms, toward the outer court before the rooms, its length was fifty cubits- This"wall"is the word used in <a href='B:330 13:5'>Eze 13:5</a>. Judah had not previously built nor maintained such a wall or fence; and now on return from exile they were to do what they had earlier failed to. The fence was perhaps intended to screen the side windows of the lower chambers from public gaze, since these were to be occupied as robing and disrobing rooms for the priests (<a href='B:330 44:19'>Eze 44:19</a>). This all sounds very much of a human situation, rather than that after the return of the Lord Jesus.</p>


text:
<p>For the length of the rooms that were in the outer court was fifty cubits: and see, before the temple were one hundred cubits- The chambers whose windows looked into the outer court, projected fifty cubits into the outer court; i:e. this was their breadth or depth from north to south. Those before the temple were an hundred cubits; i:e. the chambers whose windows fronted the temple, were a hundred cubits from east to west.</p>


text:
<p>From under these rooms was the entry on the east side, as one goes into them from the outer court- This entry ran along the east side of the building, and led from the outer to the temple court. Because the outer court was higher than the temple and could only be reached by steps,"the entry"is represented as lying under the rooms</p>


text:
<p>In the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, before the separate place, and before the building, there were rooms- As noted on :5, there is a huge emphasis upon the rooms, seeing they would come to represent places of personal salvation in Christ. But we reflect that these rooms are places of work and connected to work. Salvation will be about active work for the Lord and not an eternal rest.</p>


text:
<p>The way before them was like the appearance of the way of the rooms which were toward the north; according to their length so was their breadth: and all their exits were both according to their fashions, and according to their doors- The existence of walkways is stressed in these plans. As explained on <a href='B:450 3:7'>Zec 3:7</a>, these are the"places to walk"which would have become real and actual had the returned exiles responded to this great plan.</p>


text:
<p>According to the doors of the rooms that were toward the south was a door at the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one enters into them- See on :11.</p>


text:
<p>Then he said to me, The north rooms and the south rooms, which are before the separate place, they are the holy rooms, where the priests who are near to Yahweh shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meal offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy- The same words are found in <a href='B:150 2:63'>Ezr 2:63</a> and <a href='B:160 7:65'>Neh 7:65</a> - it wasn’t possible for the priests to eat of the holy things [signifying God’s acceptance of His people], because there was no record of their genealogy. Their names were not written in the “register” in fulfilment of <a href='B:330 13:9'>Eze 13:9</a>: “neither shall they be written in the writing [s:w. ‘register’, <a href='B:150 2:62'>Ezr 2:62</a>] of the house of Israel”. Only if a priest stood up with urim and thummim could they eat of the holy things. These were two engraven stones carried in a pouch in the breastplate which flashed out Divine decisions (see H:A. Whittaker, Samuel, Saul And David for an excellent study of this). <a href='B:450 3:9'>Zec 3:9</a> prophesies that Joshua the High Priest would have the engraven stone with seven eyes- the urim and thummim. It would thereby have been possible for a priesthood who had lost their genealogy record during the sacking of the first temple to eat the holy things, and thus fulfil <a href='B:330 42:13'>Eze 42:13</a>. In a restoration context, <a href='B:290 66:21'>Isa 66:21</a> had prophesied that Yahweh would regather Judah, “And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD”. This implies, surely, that He would accept some as Levites who could not otherwise prove they were. <a href='B:450 6:11'>Zec 6:11</a>; <a href='B:450 6:13'>Zec 6:13</a> speaks of Joshua being crowned with the High Priestly mitre and ‘bearing the glory’, i:e. carrying the urim and thummim in the breastplate. But all this was conditional on Joshua’s obedience: “This shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey” (<a href='B:450 6:15'>Zec 6:15</a>). Because Joshua failed, he didn’t have urim and thummim, therefore no decision could be given about who was an acceptable priest, and therefore the‘Kingdom’ prophecy of <a href='B:330 42:13'>Eze 42:13</a> was left unfulfilled. So much depended upon that man. And likewise, the eternal destiny of many others depends on us. Isaiah’s prophecies of the restoration feature “the servant”- who was a symbol of both the people and a Messianic individual. His success was bound up with theirs. Thus <a href='B:290 65:9'>Isa 65:9</a>: “And I will bring forth a seed [singular] out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor [singular] of my mountains: and mine elect [plural] shall inherit it, and my servants [plural] shall dwell there”. His obedience would enable the peoples’ establishment as the Kingdom.</p>


text:
<p>When the priests enter in, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the outer court, but there they shall lay their garments in which they minister; for they are holy: and they shall put on other garments, and shall approach to those things which are for the people- The LXX gives the sense:"None shall go in thither except the priests, and they shall not go forth of the holy place into the outer court, that they that draw nigh to me may be continually holy, and may not touch their garments in which they minister, with defilement, for they are holy; and they shall put on other garments whenever they come in contact with the people". The language of defilement reads contrasts with the New Testament teaching that defilement has now been ended in Christ; and the veil to the Most Holy was torn at the Lord’s death to demonstrate that now, access to the Holiest was possible for"the people". And Hebrews builds on this, showing that all in Christ are now able to enter. It is not therefore good enough to argue that this temple will be built after the Lord’s return, and these things will point back to Him as the Mosaic sacrifices pointed forward to Him. The reality is that"the people"can get direct access to the Holiest, and that is now a reality for all time that will not be changed.</p>


text:
<p>Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it all around- He now measures the wall which was around the house and its courts. And Ezekiel was apparently led out by the east gate to observe this.</p>


text:
<p>He measured on the east side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed all around- For discussion of the size of the temple, see on <a href='B:330 45:1'>Eze 45:1</a>. The LXX sees this wall as that of the outer court, and changes the"reeds"into"cubits".</p>


text:
<p>He measured on the north side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed all around- The temple of Ezekiel was of broadly similar dimensions to that of Solomon, 500 cubits square (see RSV). The Hebrew translated"reeds"is hard to interpret; but many expositors have concluded that"cubits"is meant, amongst them Mark Allfree, Worship In The Age To Come and Philip Hinde & Ivan Sturman, Ezekiel’s Last Vision.</p>


text:
<p>He measured on the south side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed- The LXX reads"cubits"instead of"reeds".</p>


text:
<p>He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed- Reading with LXX"cubits"makes more sense. Otherwise there is a huge area of space enclosed for no apparent reason.</p>


text:
<p>He measured it on the four sides: it had a wall around it, the length five hundred, and the breadth five hundred, to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common- This is alluding back to Ezekiel’s earlier lament that Judah had not made that very separation (<a href='B:330 22:26'>Eze 22:26</a>). See on <a href='B:330 44:6'>Eze 44:6</a>. Thisreflected the difference between God’s people, His “sanctuary” (<a href='B:230 114:2'>Psa 114:2</a>), and the surrounding world. But Judah did not ‘separate’ themselves from the surrounding tribes but instead married them and worshipped their idols (s:w. <a href='B:150 9:1'>Ezr 9:1</a> “The people of Israel... have not separated themselves from the people of the land, doing according to their abominations... for they have taken of their daughters for themselves”). The same word for “abominations” occurs in the same context in <a href='B:460 2:11'>Mal 2:11</a>: “Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god”. Yet it had been emphasized that the temple system Ezekiel described was to be free of all the “abominations” [s:w:] previously committed by Israel (<a href='B:330 43:8'>Eze 43:8</a>; <a href='B:330 44:6-7'>Eze 44:6-7</a>; <a href='B:330 44:13'>Eze 44:13</a>).</p><p>In fact, the account of Judah’s separation from the surrounding peoples reads similar to that of the purges from idolatry during the reign of the kings. They separated / purged, and then, within a few years, we read of them doing so again. Initially, the exiles separated from the peoples of the land (<a href='B:150 6:21'>Ezr 6:21</a>); by <a href='B:150 9:1'>Ezr 9:1</a> they are in need of separating again; and by <a href='B:150 10:11'>Ezr 10:11</a> likewise; then they separate (<a href='B:150 10:16'>Ezr 10:16</a>), only to need another call to separation by the time of <a href='B:160 9:2'>Neh 9:2</a>; <a href='B:160 13:3'>Neh 13:3</a>. They obviously found it extremely difficult to be separated from the surrounding world unto God’s law (<a href='B:160 10:28'>Neh 10:28</a>). There was a powerful logic- either separate from the world around, or be separated from the people of God (<a href='B:150 10:8'>Ezr 10:8</a>). It’s a separation- one way or the other. Judah chose not to make that separation, and so the spirit of the new temple was precluded from coming about in that form at that time.</p>


text:
<p>Afterward he brought me to the gate that looks toward the east- The same words are translated"prepare the way"in <a href='B:460 3:1'>Mal 3:1</a> and <a href='B:290 40:3'>Isa 40:3</a> (see too <a href='B:330 43:1'>Eze 43:1</a>; <a href='B:330 44:1'>Eze 44:1</a>; <a href='B:330 47:2'>Eze 47:2</a>). The way&nbsp; is ’prepared’ or ’looks’ eastward. This was the way or road over which the glory was to re-enter the restored temple. But Judah didn’t rebuild that temple as specified and as Malachi often demonstrates, the priests failed to act as commanded in Ezekiel 40-48. And so the messenger of the covenant who was to prepare that way likewise failed; but finally the essence of the prophecies will come true through the work of the Elijah prophet and John the Baptist [also a priest] preparing the way of the Lord Jesus, so that His glory and Spirit could enter a spiritual temple of restored people.</p>


text:
<p>Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the east: and His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shined with His glory- This refers to the cherubim, who made the same sound according to Ezekiel’s earlier visions of them.</p>


text:
<p>It was according to the appearance of the vision which 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 on my face- The vision of God’s glory entering the temple “was according to the vision… that I saw by the river Chebar” back in Babylon. This is the meaning of the fact that cherubim visions both begin and end the prophecy of Ezekiel. The cherubim would move from Judah to Babylon and then back to Judah, to enter into and dwell in the temple. Yet God’s glory did not enter the temple which Nehemiah built. This was because the people had not followed Ezekiel’s example, they had not identified themselves with the Angelic movements above them, but rather remained dominated by their petty self interests. They never really repented- for <a href='B:330 43:11'>Eze 43:11</a> records Ezekiel being told to only give Judah “the form of the house” and “write it in their sight” only “if&nbsp; they be ashamed of all that they have done”. There is no record of Ezekiel giving them the promised further plans for the temple- so the wonderful prophecy could not be fulfilled, because they did not repent.</p>


text:
<p>The glory of Yahweh came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east- Ezekiel prophesied that ultimately the glory would fill the temple as it had done then (<a href='B:330 43:4-5'>Eze 43:4-5</a>). But God’s prophesy of this in <a href='B:290 60:7'>Isa 60:7</a>, that He would glorify His house, meant that He was prepared to work through men to glorify it. The fulfilment of Ezekiel’s vision of the cloud of glory entering the temple again could have been fulfilled if the exiles had done what Artaxerxes empowered them to do- to glorify the house of glory. And so the fulfilment was delayed. The glory of the temple the exiles built was tragically less than the glory of the first temple; and so it would only be in the last day of Messiah’s second coming that the house shall truly be filled with glory (<a href='B:440 2:3'>Hag 2:3</a>; <a href='B:440 2:7'>Hag 2:7</a>; <a href='B:440 2:9'>Hag 2:9</a>). And the lesson ought to be clear for us, in the various projects and callings of our lives: it becomes crucial for us to discern God’s specific purposes for us, and insofar as we follow His leading, we will feel a blessing and power which is clearly Divine.</p>


text:
<p>The Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of Yahweh filled the house- The glory of Yahweh was to fill Ezekiel’s temple as it had done Solomon’s (<a href='B:330 43:5'>Eze 43:5</a> cp. <a href='B:110 8:10'>1Ki 8:10</a>).</p>


text:
<p>I heard one speaking to me out of the house; and a man stood by me- The references to Yahweh’s ’return’ to Zion were to be fulfilled in the Angel of His presence again dwelling there. And this is the Angelic person who is now located within the house and speaks to Ezekiel.</p>


text:
<p>He said to me, Son of man, this is the place of My throne, and theplace of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever- God’s throne was that of David; the restored throne of David is in view.</p><p>The house of Israel shall no more defile My holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their prostitution, and by the dead bodies of their kings in their high places- . Judah in the new temple would not “defile” Yahweh’s Name any more (:8); but they were lazy to keep the uncleanness laws, they did defile Yahweh by touching dead bodied and then offering the sacrifices (<a href='B:440 2:13-14'>Hag 2:13-14</a> s:w:), just as Israel previously had been defiled by touching the dead bodies of their kings and then offering sacrifices; but after the restoration, Judah thought they were above God’s law, and therefore did exactly the same things which had caused the temple to be destroyed in the first place.</p>


text:
<p>In their setting of their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost beside My doorpost, and there was but the wall between Me and them; and they have defiled My holy name by their abominations which they have committed: therefore I have consumed them in My anger- We gasp at the closeness of God to men, even before the even greater proximity achieved in the work of Jesus.</p>


text:
<p>Now let them put away their prostitution- Whilst Ezekiel was prophesying before the return from exile, he speaks as if the temple has been built but Judah are still unfaithful to the covenant. He was inspired to see that the restoration would happen, but the returned exiles would need exhortation to return spiritually to God and not just physically to Zion.</p><p>And the dead bodies of their kings, far from Me; and I will dwell in their midst forever- Instead of focusing upon the dead bodies of apostate kings, they should instead look to the restoration of the Davidic line in a Messianic prince. The promise that Yahweh would dwell in the new temple was conditional on them not touching dead bodies; but <a href='B:440 2:13'>Hag 2:13</a> makes it apparent that they did this very thing at the time of the restoration. The kingdom prophecy of <a href='B:360 3:21'>Joe 3:21</a> could then had had some fulfilment: “I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed; for the LORD dwells [s:w:] in Zion”. See on <a href='B:330 47:1'>Eze 47:1</a>.</p>


text:
<p>You, son of man, show the house to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern- Ezekiel was showing the captives that they would return but would likely fall back into the very"prostitution"to the covenant (:9) which led to their exile; and Ezekiel is as it were asking them to repent ahead of time. Ezekiel shewed Judah the general picture of the temple; if they were obedient, then God promised to give them more details so they could build it in reality (perhaps these would have included details of the contents of the most holy place, of which nothing is said). In the same way as the Angel-cherubim were to be followed back on earth by Judah from Babylon to Jerusalem, so in the same way as the Angel is described as measuring the new temple, so Judah were to"measure the pattern"and build accordingly. But they didn’t.</p><p>Israel would only be able to build the temple properly if they were “ashamed of their iniquities”. This was the tragedy felt by Ezra, when he realized the exiles were not living as they should be: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God; for our iniquities are increased” (<a href='B:150 9:6'>Ezr 9:6</a>). And Ezra knew they weren’t"ashamed of their iniquities". And thus he sought to take upon himself that shame, believing that God would accept his shame on behalf of the people. Note in passing how he speaks of blushing before God. You only blush in someone’s presence. And this was how close and real Ezra felt his God to be.</p>


text:
<p>If they be ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the form of the house, and its fashion, and its exits, and its entrances, and all its forms, and all its ordinances, and all its forms, and all its laws; and write it in their sight; that they may keep the whole form of it, and all its ordinances, and do them- The fact Ezekiel does make known the form of the house would suggest that a minority amongst the exiles did repent. Or perhaps they didn’t, and by grace God all the same revealed to them the wonderful"form"of all the possibilities for them, in the hope that would elicit their repentance. Perhaps this repentance of a remnant explains why in fact the record ofEzekiel’s temple was written down at all- for it would be written down if Judah were ashamed of their sins. Ezekiel’s opening chapters record him being forewarned by God that they would not generally be responsive to his ministry; and yet some like Ezra were (see on :10), and maybe this was eagerly seized upon by God as the basis for allowing the writing down and preservation of the specifications we have in Ezekiel 40-48.</p><p>The temple vision should have made them ashamed of their sins (<a href='B:330 43:10-11'>Eze 43:10-11</a>). It should have motivated them to live the Kingdom life in their lives: “describe the Temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them match their lives to its pattern”. But they didn’t. It may have been partly due to lack of familiarity with the text of the prophecy- Ezekiel would have preached it to them, but many of them were too busy with the Babylon life to reflect upon it. Those who returned to the land may well have done so not so much in order to get on with conformity to Ezekiel’s vision of the Kingdom, but for other reasons- their family and friends were going back, they felt some vague conscience that they ought to, perhaps their own experience of Babylon life hadn’t been positive and they vaguely hoped for something better... and so when they got there, they simply weren’t interested in serious conformity to the prophecies about restoration. And in principle, our own lives and apparent commitment before God can be just the same. It is evident that they didn’t reflect upon the real implications of the prophecies which they must all have vaguely known. And these&nbsp; weaknesses must serve as the basis for our own self-examination: are we familiar with the text of Scripture, and more so, are we really meditating upon the personal implications for us?</p>


text:
<p>This is the law of the house: on the top of the mountain the whole limit around it shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house- This is one of the clearest statements that what we have in Ezekiel 40-48 is command rather than prediction. They were a law, a commandment to be fulfilled. This explains the commandment style of the instructions, e.g. <a href='B:330 44:2'>Eze 44:2</a>: “This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened”. The"law of the house"should not be confused with the law of Moses; there are significant differences.</p>


text:
<p>These are the measures of the altar by cubits (the cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth): the bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and its border around its edge a span; and this shall be the base of the altar-</p>


text:
<p>From the bottom on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser ledge to the greater ledge shall be four cubits, and the breadth a cubit- The impression given by the language is that the altar rises up out of the earth. This is a purposeful juxtaposition with the unusual word used for it in :15, harel,"the mount of God". The impression is that arising from the dust on man’s side, God meets with man there at His table and fellowships with us in eating together.</p>


text:
<p>The upper altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar hearth and upward there shall be four horns-"Upper altar"is harel, literally"the mount of God". The altar is therefore presented as the pinnacle of mount Zion. The teaching is not so much that sacrifice is the pinnacle of devotion to God, but rather His desire to share a table with man, to eat with man, is the pinnacle. The four horns perhaps connect with the four cherubim, who have as it were landed permanently in the new temple.</p>


text:
<p>The altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long by twelve broad, square in the four sides of it- This was large, but the twelve square arrangement looked forward to the united twelve tribes of Israel having one altar. The restoration prophecies indicate that there was envisaged a unity between the restored tribes of Israel, centred around a joint experience of forgiveness and desire to worship at the same altar (cp. <a href='B:140 32:12'>2Ch 32:12</a>). Ezekiel had earlier seen the altar as the place of Divine judgment for the abuses committed there (<a href='B:330 9:2'>Eze 9:2</a>). Now, the restored exiles were to do better.</p>


text:
<p>The ledge shall be fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad in the four sides of it; and the border about it shall be half a cubit; and its bottom shall be a cubit around; and its steps shall look toward the east- The altar would have steps leading up to it, whereas this was forbidden in <a href='B:20 20:26'>Exo 20:26</a>. The intended new system would not need to be so concerned about human uncleanness because this had been dealt with under the new covenant offered them.</p>


text:
<p>He said to me, Son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh: These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon-"In the day..."implies they were not to use it until they had immediately offered a sin offering upon it (:19). That the altar needed cleansing again indicates an abiding imperfection in the whole system which would not be appropriate if this temple is to be built and operated by the Lord Jesus and the redeemed in the future.</p>


text:
<p>You shall give to the priests the Levites who are of the seed of Zadok, who are near to Me, to minister to Me, says the Lord Yahweh, a young bull for a sin offering- Before we can offer anything to God on His altar (:18), there must be the recognition that we are sinners; what we are offering, therefore, is not in order to obtain forgiveness, but in gratitude for that forgiveness already received. The"you"was addressed to Ezekiel and suggests it could have been built within Ezekiel’s lifetime, for he was to give the animals to the sons of Zadok to offer in the temple; Ezekiel was to prepare the daily sacrifice (<a href='B:330 46:13'>Eze 46:13</a>). The Zadok of <a href='B:330 43:19'>Eze 43:19</a> may well be the Zadok of <a href='B:160 13:13'>Neh 13:13</a>; meaning that although the potential for fulfilment in Ezekiel’s lifetime had been missed, the next generation were still capable of fulfilling it.</p>


text:
<p>You shall take of its blood, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the ledge, and on the border all around: thus you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it- Ezekiel himself, as a priest, was to inaugurate the altar by sprinkling blood upon it and making an offering (<a href='B:330 43:20-25'>Eze 43:20-25</a>). Ezekiel personally was to give the priests a bullock to offer on the new altar and to cleanse it (<a href='B:330 43:19-20'>Eze 43:19-20</a>)- as if the temple was intended to be built during Ezekiel’s lifetime:&nbsp; See on :19.</p>


text:
<p>You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burnt in the appointed place of the house, outside of the sanctuary- Nehemiah did his very best to bring the potential Kingdom of God about by urging the people to repentance and conformity to God’s will, such was his perception of what was going on; that the coming of God’s Kingdom was being limited by the apathy of his own people. See on <a href='B:330 40:10'>Eze 40:10</a>. He arranged for 12 gates to be built in the wall, as <a href='B:330 48:31-34'>Eze 48:31-34</a> had commanded there to be. He built ‘miphkad’, “the Muster Gate” (<a href='B:160 3:31'>Neh 3:31</a> RSV), the “appointed place” [s:w:] of <a href='B:330 43:21'>Eze 43:21</a>.</p>


text:
<p>On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they cleansed it with the bull- Malachi and Haggai so bitterly complain at the way the priests didn’t serve God properly in the restored temple. They offered blemished sacrifices, when it had been prophesied / commanded in Ezekiel that Israel were not to do this (<a href='B:460 1:8'>Mal 1:8</a>).</p>


text:
<p>When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish- But they offered blemished animals (<a href='B:460 1:8'>Mal 1:8</a>), because they wanted the nicer meat and more money for themselves- petty materialism stopped the Kingdom experience being realized.</p>


text:
<p>You shall bring them near to Yahweh, and the priests shall cast salt on them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering to Yahweh- The salt was a sign of covenant relationship (<a href='B:30 2:13'>Lev 2:13</a>). The inauguration of the altar would be a sign of acceptance of the new covenant with the returned exiles which is envisaged in Ezekiel 20 and Jeremiah 31. The reality is that they didn’t really accept it.</p>


text:
<p>Seven days you shall prepare every day a goat for a sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bull, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish- The contrast between"you"and"they"suggest that Ezekiel himself is envisaged as acting as a priest. The prophecy could have come true in his life time; the 70 year period of captivity could have been reduced. Instead, it was extended.</p>


text:
<p>Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they consecrate it- There was to be a seven day dedication of the altar (<a href='B:330 43:26'>Eze 43:26</a>) just as had happened in Solomon’s time (<a href='B:140 7:9'>2Ch 7:9</a>).</p>


text:
<p>When they have accomplished the days, it shall be that on the eighth day, and onwards, the priests shall make your burnt offerings on the altar and your peace offerings- Both Solomon and Ezekiel’s temples were to be ready for operation on “the eighth day” after their consecration (cp. <a href='B:110 8:66'>1Ki 8:66</a>). I suggest that contrary to how it is often presented, Ezekiel’s temple was to be of a similar size to that of Solomon’s. Even the statement that finally, the Lord would be there in the temple, is alluding back to how Yahweh came and dwelt in Solomon’s temple.</p><p>And I will accept you, says the Lord Yahweh- Ezekiel 20 gives the clearest outline of the envisaged sequence of events at the restoration. Verses 3-33 describe Israel’s sins up to the captivity; then there is the pleading with Israel in captivity (:35 = <a href='B:330 17:20'>Eze 17:20</a>), with the intention that there in Babylon Israel would repent (:43). Then they would return to their land, build a temple and offer acceptable sacrifices, and be “accepted” (<a href='B:330 20:41'>Eze 20:41</a>). The idea of God ‘accepting’ Israel is found here in <a href='B:330 43:27'>Eze 43:27</a>; when the temple was built and the sacrifices offered, “I will accept you”. If Judah resumed building the temple according to Ezekiel’s plan, “I will take pleasure” in it, God offered (<a href='B:440 1:8'>Hag 1:8</a>). The same word is used in <a href='B:330 43:27'>Eze 43:27</a> - then, when the temple of Ezekiel was built, Yahweh would “accept / take pleasure in” His people and temple. But because they built and served Him with such a mean spirit, He did not “accept” them at that time (<a href='B:460 1:10'>Mal 1:10</a>; <a href='B:460 1:13'>Mal 1:13</a> s:w:). Note how <a href='B:440 1:8'>Hag 1:8</a> describes the need to go up onto the mountain and build the temple- as if to recall attention to Ezekiel’s opening vision of the temple as built on a mountain. But Judah would not, and therefore the Kingdom blessings of corn, new wine and oil, as well as fruitfulness on the mountains, were all withheld (<a href='B:440 1:11'>Hag 1:11</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looks toward the east; and it was shut- The intention was that when the temple was built and functioning as required, operated and used by a repentant Judah, Yahweh’s glory would return through the east gate. But in the vision, it was still"shut". The same words are translated"prepare the way"in <a href='B:460 3:1'>Mal 3:1</a> and <a href='B:290 40:3'>Isa 40:3</a> (see too <a href='B:330 43:1'>Eze 43:1</a>; <a href='B:330 47:2'>Eze 47:2</a>). The way&nbsp; is ’prepared’ or ’looks’ eastward. This was the way or road over which the glory was to re-enter the restored temple. But Judah didn’t rebuild that temple as specified and as Malachi often demonstrates, the priests failed to act as commanded in Ezekiel 40-48. And so the messenger of the covenant who was to prepare that way likewise failed; but finally the essence of the prophecies will come true through the work of the Elijah prophet and John the Baptist [also a priest] preparing the way of the Lord Jesus, so that His glory and Spirit could enter a spiritual temple of restored people.</p>


text:
<p>Yahweh said to me, This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, neither shall any man enter in by it; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has entered in by it; therefore it shall be shut- Zechariah labours the paradox of grace- that if Judah returned to Yahweh both physically and spiritually, then He would return to them. But He by grace had already returned, so eager was He for this possible scenario to come about. And He has the same Spirit in dealing with us today. See on <a href='B:330 46:12'>Eze 46:12</a>.</p>


text:
<p>As for the prince, he shall sit therein as prince to eat bread before Yahweh; he shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the way of the same- Had Judah repented at the time of the restoration, a Davidic ruler would have been raised up, Zerubbabel is the most obvious candidate (see on Zechariah 6). He would have reigned"for ever", for an age. But he dropped the baton, or at least Judah were unwilling for this scenario. And so the prophecies were reinterpreted and rescheduled for total and eternal fulfilment in the Lord Jesus."The prince"of the envisaged restored temple in Ezekiel 40-48 refers to this same individual. See on <a href='B:330 37:25'>Eze 37:25</a>; <a href='B:330 46:3'>Eze 46:3</a>.</p>


text:
<p>Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh: and I fell on my face-</p>


text:
<p>Yahweh said to me, Son of man, mark well, and see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I tell you concerning all the ordinances of the house of Yahweh, and all its laws; and mark well the entrance of the house, with every exit of the sanctuary- The details of the temple were so detailed- Ezekiel was to “mark well…every going forth”- in order to inspire in Judah repentance for how they had abused the previous temple. Ezekiel’s prophecies should have been an inspiration to Israel, that they might be obedient and live out these things as a reality before them, and thereby see other prophecies come true in their own experience. They could have entered upon an upward spiral of spirituality. The form of the house, the very description of it by Ezekiel, should have inspired them to feel that they had had enough of sin.</p>


text:
<p>You shall tell the rebellious house of Israel- This the same rubric used earlier (<a href='B:330 2:5'>Eze 2:5</a>; <a href='B:330 3:26'>Eze 3:26</a>; <a href='B:330 12:2'>Eze 12:2</a>; <a href='B:330 12:25'>Eze 12:25</a>; <a href='B:330 17:12'>Eze 17:12</a>; <a href='B:330 24:3'>Eze 24:3</a>). There is a congruence between the style of address found in Ezekiel 40-48 and the earlier part of the prophecy. See on <a href='B:330 42:20'>Eze 42:20</a>. This is because Ezekiel is addressing the same audience- those who had heard his criticisms and appeals for repentance were the same group who were now being commanded to build a temple according to the dimensions given.</p><p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: you house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations- These plans for the temple were given in order to elicit Judah’s repentance. These words are picked up from the LXX by Peter, and applied to all of us in <a href='B:670 4:3'>1Pe 4:3</a>: “For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles”. The same word for “abominations” occurs in the same context in <a href='B:460 2:11'>Mal 2:11</a>: “Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and has married the daughter of a strange god”. Yet it had been emphasized that the temple system Ezekiel described was to be free of all the “abominations” [s:w:] previously committed by Israel (<a href='B:330 43:8'>Eze 43:8</a>; <a href='B:330 44:6-7'>Eze 44:6-7</a>; <a href='B:330 44:13'>Eze 44:13</a>).</p>


text:
<p>In that you have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary, to profane it, even My house, when you offer My bread, the fat and the blood- This could be read as referring to what Judah had done before the exile; they were under the impression, according to Ezekiel 18, that they were suffering unfairly. But in the attempt at rebuilding the temple, Judah profaned the Sabbath (<a href='B:160 13:17-18'>Neh 13:17-18</a>), and profaned the temple by their marriage with Gentiles and their “weariness” with the temple ordinances (<a href='B:460 1:12'>Mal 1:12</a>; <a href='B:460 2:10-11'>Mal 2:10-11</a>). They got bored with the things of the Kingdom, and so they had no part in it.</p><p>And they have broken My covenant, to add to all your abominations- Judah broke covenant [s:w:] with Yahweh at the time of the restoration by marrying Gentiles and worshipping their gods (<a href='B:150 9:1'>Ezr 9:1</a>; <a href='B:150 9:14'>Ezr 9:14</a>).</p>


text:
<p>You have not performed the duty of My holy things; but you have set performers of My duty in My sanctuary for yourselves- They had the mentality of many religious people. They thought their religious structures and leaders could do the work of spirituality for them. We recall how Israel didn’t want to hear Yahweh speaking directly to them, but preferred Moses to engage with God for them; and how the spiritually weak asked others to pray to God for them instead of them doing so (<a href='B:300 14:11'>Jer 14:11</a>; <a href='B:510 8:24'>Act 8:24</a>). This is the problem with all organized religion; it tends to take away from personal spirituality and engagement with God.</p><p><a href='B:450 3:7-10'>Zec 3:7-10</a> encouraged Joshua to be the king-priest of the restored kingdom: “If you will walk in my ways, and if you will keep my charge [as so frequently commanded in <a href='B:330 40:46'>Eze 40:46</a>; <a href='B:330 44:8'>Eze 44:8</a>; <a href='B:330 44:14-16'>Eze 44:14-16</a> s:w:], then you shall also judge my house (as prophesied in Ezekiel 40-48), and shalt also keep my courts (so often mentioned in Ezekiel 40-48), and I will give you places to walk (s:w. <a href='B:330 42:4'>Eze 42:4</a> about the walkways in the prophesied temple)... hear now, O Joshua”. But he didn’t. He didn’t keep the courts, but allowed Tobiah the Ammonite to set up his office for subversion in the temple chambers.</p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary, of any foreigners who are among the people of Israel- Joel 3 describes how then there would be a great invasion, to be met by Yahweh’s intervention and the establishment of the Kingdom. Then&nbsp; “So shall you know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no stranger pass through her any more” (<a href='B:360 3:17'>Joe 3:17</a>). This is language undoubtedly to be linked with that of Ezekiel 40-48. There we have Yahweh dwelling in Zion, the city named Yahweh Shammah, ‘Yahweh is there’ (<a href='B:330 48:35'>Eze 48:35</a>). No stranger would pass through Zion, according to <a href='B:330 44:7-9'>Eze 44:7-9</a>.</p>


text:
<p>But the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who went astray from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity- We notice how the religious leaders and the masses are equally blamed. A population get in the end the leadership they really want and deserve, whether or not they practice a democratic system. The priesthood knew what the people wanted and encouraged them in it, for their own ends.</p>


text:
<p>Yet now- Having carried the guilt of their iniquity in the exile (:10), they were now to be rehabilitated as ministers again.</p><p>They are to be ministers in My sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house: they shall kill the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them- The Levites were to"stand before"the people as their inferiors, to serve them, and not as previously, as their controllers and masters.</p>


text:
<p>Because they ministered to them before their idols, and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel; therefore have I lifted up My hand against them, says the Lord Yahweh, and they shall bear their iniquity- As noted on :11, they were in Ezekiel’s time ’bearing their iniquity’ in exile, unable to minister to Yahweh in His temple.</p>


text:
<p>They shall not come near to Me, to execute the office of priest to Me, nor to come near to any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed- They would be able to"minister"for the people, but not to come near before Yahweh (:15). That would be done by the sons of Zadok.</p><p>The people were warned that the temple had been destroyed because of their previous “abominations”, and that the rebuilt temple was not to feature any such abominations (<a href='B:330 43:8'>Eze 43:8</a>; <a href='B:330 44:6-7'>Eze 44:6-7</a>; <a href='B:330 44:13'>Eze 44:13</a>). “let it suffice you of your abominations” they were told- and then told not to allow the uncircumcised into the temple, as they had been doing <a href='B:330 44:6'>Eze 44:6</a>; <a href='B:330 44:9'>Eze 44:9</a>). This sounds as if the prophecy of Ezekiel wasmore command than prediction- to those of his own day. But they returned, and committed the abominations [s:w:] of the Gentiles (<a href='B:150 9:1'>Ezr 9:1</a>; <a href='B:150 9:11'>Ezr 9:11</a>; <a href='B:150 9:14'>Ezr 9:14</a>) and married their daughters; to the extent that Malachi commented upon this: “Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination [s:w:] is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god” (<a href='B:460 2:11'>Mal 2:11</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Yet will I make them performers of the duty of the house, for all its service, and for all that shall be done therein- Judah were to keep the charges of God relating to His house (<a href='B:330 40:46'>Eze 40:46</a>; <a href='B:330 44:8'>Eze 44:8</a>; <a href='B:330 44:14-16'>Eze 44:14-16</a>). Nehemiah, seeking for Israel’s obedience to Ezekiel’s vision, tried to get them to “keep the charges” (s:w. <a href='B:160 7:3'>Neh 7:3</a>; <a href='B:160 12:9'>Neh 12:9</a>; <a href='B:160 12:45'>Neh 12:45</a>; <a href='B:160 13:20'>Neh 13:20</a>). But soon, Judah complained that there was no benefit to them from having kept the charges (<a href='B:460 3:14'>Mal 3:14</a> s:w:). Partial obedience discouraged them from any further effort, because the fullness of blessing can only come from a way of life conformed to God’s Kingdom vision and life. This is why people get disillusioned with religion and lose even the true faith- because they seek for immediate benefit as a result of keeping a few highly specific aspects of God’s law, rather than willingly devoting their way of life to the realization of His vision</p>


text:
<p>But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who performed the duty of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood, says the Lord Yahweh- We wonder if there was a literal"Zadok"at the time of the restoration whose sons could have literally done this.</p>


text:
<p>They shall enter into My sanctuary, and they shall come near to My table, to minister to Me, and they shall keep My instructions- Malachi later laments how this table or altar of Yahweh was despised by the returned exiles, offering small quantities of sick animals upon it, and thereby entertaining Yahweh in a paltry manner. They despised it (<a href='B:460 1:7'>Mal 1:7</a>; <a href='B:460 1:12'>Mal 1:12</a>), they found it such a weariness. And we too have an attitude to the Lord’s table. Paul speaks of us each one partaking of “the table of the Lord” (<a href='B:530 10:21'>1Co 10:21</a>), a phrase used in the LXX for the altar (<a href='B:330 44:16'>Eze 44:16</a>; <a href='B:460 1:7'>Mal 1:7</a>; <a href='B:460 1:12'>Mal 1:12</a>)- the sacrifices whereof only the priests could eat. This would have been radical thinking to a community used to priests and men delegated to take charge of others’ religious affairs. Hebrew 3:13 gets at this idea when we read that we are to exhort one another not to turn away, situated as we are on the brink of the promised land, just as Moses exhorted Israel.</p>


text:
<p>It shall be that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come on them, while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within- The temptation to wear woolen clothesmay have been simply in order to keep warm.</p>


text:
<p>They shall have linen headware on their heads, and shall have linen breeches on their waists; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat- These people are clearly mortal, as sweat is part of the curse.</p>


text:
<p>When they go forth into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they minister, and lay them in the holy rooms; and they shall put on other garments, that they not sanctify the people with unclean garments- We recall how Joshua the high priest was clothed in filthy garments in Zechariah 3. The statements in :18-23) may all be hinting that these things were done by Israel before the captivity; but they were not to be done in the new temple. There was to be repentance.</p>


text:
<p>Neither shall they shave their heads, nor allow their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair of their head- They were to be under something like the Nazirite vow.</p>


text:
<p>Neither shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter into the inner court- These priests are clearly mortal because they are liable to the influence of alcohol.</p>


text:
<p>Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her who is divorced; but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest- These priests are clearly mortal as the immortalized will not marry (<a href='B:490 20:35-36'>Luk 20:35-36</a>), and we have here a surrounding situation envisaged where there is the possibility of divorce and remarriage. If indeed this speaks of a situation in the supposed Millennium, then we have to accept there will be divorce and remarriage then. But after the Lord’s return, surely all that will be part of the tears that are wiped away from our eyes and experience.</p><p>Malachi and Haggai so bitterly complain at the way the priests didn’t serve God properly in the restored temple. The priests married divorced women (<a href='B:460 2:14-16'>Mal 2:14-16</a>), even though Ezekiel 44 commanded they should not do this.</p>


text:
<p>They shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean- It would no longer be the duty of the Levites to teach the people as under the Mosaic law; it is envisaged here as specifically the duty of the sons of Zadok. This again confirms the conclusion that we are not reading here of the Law of Moses being reinstituted; but rather a new deal, a new covenant, offered to the returning exiles which had some similarities with the Mosaic law, but which differed from it.</p><p>The Levites were to teach Judah and to make others discern between good and evil. They should have done this, but instead “ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi” (<a href='B:460 2:7-8'>Mal 2:7-8</a>). The sons of Zadok were descendants of Eleazer and Phinehas (<a href='B:130 6:3-8'>1Ch 6:3-8</a>), and <a href='B:460 2:5'>Mal 2:5</a> alludes to this: “My covenant was with him of life and peace: and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name” (cp. <a href='B:20 32:28'>Exo 32:28</a>). But <a href='B:460 2:6-8'>Mal 2:6-8</a> go on to show that the sons of Zadok, as the descendants of Phinehas, had not lived up to their pedigree; they were making men “stumble at the law”. This shows the connection between the Ezekiel prophecies and Malachi’s commentary on their failed fulfilment in the hands of men like the sons of Zadok.</p>


text:
<p>In a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to My ordinances shall they judge it: and they shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts; and they shall make My Sabbaths holy- The existence of controversies is surely inappropriate to any Millenial reign of Christ; and the Sabbath was fulfilledin the Lord Jesus. The situation here speaks of a scenario after the restoration from Babylon. The Levites were to judge justly. But <a href='B:450 7:9'>Zec 7:9</a>; <a href='B:450 8:16'>Zec 8:16</a> [s:w:] had to exhort them to stop judging unjustly.</p>


text:
<p>They shall not go near a dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister who has had no husband, they may defile themselves- The priests of this new system would have relatives who died, and the possibility of defilement. Clearly they are mortal and not immortal.</p>


text:
<p>After he is cleansed, they shall reckon to him seven days- As noted on :25, the possibility of defilement and the need for cleansing speaks of a very human situation at the time of the restoration, and not of the reign of the Lord Jesus.</p>


text:
<p>In the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord Yahweh- The priests will still be capable of sin and require sin offerings. They are mortal, and not immortal. And the Lord’s sin offering on the cross was and is effective for all time, and thereby ended the need for animal sacrifices to atone for sin and defilement.</p>


text:
<p>They shall have an inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession- The GNB grasps the sense:"The priests have the priesthood as their share of what I have given Israel to be handed down from one generation to another". The honour of serving God today should likewise make our material possessions of little moment to us.</p>


text:
<p>They shall eat the meal offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs- The existence of such offerings clearly speaks of a time prior to the Lord’s death, which was the ultimate offering for sin and all trespass and thereby ended the need for any further such offerings.</p>


text:
<p>The first of all the first fruits of every thing, and every offering of everything, of all your offerings, shall be for the priest: you shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on your house- <a href='B:460 3:8'>Mal 3:8</a> and Nehemiah’s record show how these tithes were not given, and what was given was substandard and abused by the priests. This potential scenario didn’t come about because we are reading here commands rather than prediction.</p>


text:
<p>The priests shall not eat of anything that dies of itself, or is torn, whether it be bird or animal- The priests ’ate’ the offerings to symbolize God eating with the offerer at His table, the altar. But the returned exiles did offer such animals, according to Malachi; see on :30. The existence of animals who will have been “torn” by other animals seems hard to square with the Kingdom prophecies of Isaiah 9, 11 about the animals living at peace with each other. It is the restoration from exile which is in view, not the Kingdom to be established by the Lord Jesus at His return.</p>


text:
<p>Moreover, when you shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an offering to Yahweh, a holy portion of the land; the length shall be the length of twenty-five thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand: it shall be holy in all its border all around- The confusion has been in deciding whether to take some of the measurements in reeds or cubits (which are much smaller), seeing that the Hebrew text strangely omits the measurement unit. The “oblation”&nbsp;would be about 60 miles square if we measure it in reeds. This area would encroach either upon the Mediterranean or the Dead Sea, and it seems contextually more likely that a smaller area measured in cubits is intended. If measured in reeds, this large area somewhat disrupts the distribution of land amongst the tribes as detailed later in Ezekiel. If the missing measurement unit here is cubits and not reeds, it is likely that it is in the dimensions of the temple itself. The holy oblation described in <a href='B:330 45:1'>Eze 45:1</a> is to be “the length of five and twenty thousand”. “Reeds” in the AV is in italics. The following verse speaks of cubits as the measurement unit. Only the context can decide whether cubits or reeds is meant in many of the Ezekiel passages- although the LXX, RSV etc. give cubits rather than reeds in 42:16 and other passages. If it is going to be thousands of reeds, then it would be over 1 mile square. However, <a href='B:300 30:18'>Jer 30:18</a> RSV prophesies: “the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall be where it used to be”. And passages as varied as Zechariah 1, Psalms 68 and Micah 4 all insist that the temple of the restored Kingdom was to built within the city of Jerusalem. If the temple is 500 reeds square, there will be no room for a city, assuming the city will be of the same size as the previous old city of Jerusalem.</p>


text:
<p>Of this there shall be for the holy place five hundred in length by five hundred in breadth, square all around; and fifty cubits for its suburbs all around- As noted on :1, the"five hundred"isn’t defined.</p>


text:
<p>Of this measure you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand, and a breadth of ten thousand: and in it shall be the sanctuary, which is most holy- The sanctuary was in the midst of the tribal allotments (<a href='B:330 48:8'>Eze 48:8</a>). The entire area is described as"the most holy", literally"the holy of holies". The conception of sacred space is challenged in the Ezekiel temple. The most holy in Solomon’s temple was 20 x 20 cubits, about 9 x 9 meters. Now, the entire temple area is the most holy.</p>


text:
<p>It is a holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to minister to Yahweh; and it shall be a place for their houses, and a holy place for the sanctuary- The priests were to live in one specific area near the temple, whereas under the Mosaic Law, the priests were given land to live on in each of the various tribes of Israel. And yet the record of the restoration stresses that the priests lived not around the temple, but in various cities throughout Judah (<a href='B:150 2:70'>Ezr 2:70</a>; <a href='B:160 7:73'>Neh 7:73</a>; <a href='B:160 11:3'>Neh 11:3</a>; <a href='B:160 11:20'>Neh 11:20</a>; <a href='B:160 12:44'>Neh 12:44</a>). They disobeyed about everything in the regulations of Ezekiel 40-48.</p>


text:
<p>Twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth, shall be to the Levites, the ministers of the house, for a possession to themselves, as places to live in- AV"for a possession for twenty chambers". This suggests the number of ministers is relatively small, contradicting the theory of a huge temple for the entire planet. The small size and relatively small number of ministers is far more appropriate to a temple intended to be rebuilt by the returned exiles.</p>


text:
<p>You shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and twenty-five thousand long, side by side with the offering of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel- Adding the 10,000 reeds of breadth for the Levites’ domain, the 10,000 for the priests’ land, and the 5000 for the city quarter, makes a total breadth of 25,000 reeds; so that the tract in which all these were included was a square.</p>


text:
<p>Whatever is for the prince shall be on the one side and on the other side of the holy offering and of the possession of the city, in front of the holy offering and in front of the possession of the city, on the west side westward, and on the east side eastward; and in length answerable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border- Had Judah repented at the time of the restoration, a Davidic ruler would have been raised up, Zerubbabel is the most obvious candidate (see on Zechariah 6). He would have reigned"for ever", for an age. But he dropped the baton, or at least Judah were unwilling for this scenario. And so the prophecies werereinterpreted and rescheduled for total and eternal fulfilment in the Lord Jesus."The prince"of the envisaged restored temple in Ezekiel 40-48 refers to this same individual. See on <a href='B:330 37:25'>Eze 37:25</a>.</p>


text:
<p>In the land it shall be to him for a possession in Israel: and My princes shall no more oppress My people; but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes- The idea that some prophecies are more command than prediction helps make sense of the prophecy of Ezekiel 40-48. When we read “my princes shall no more oppress my people… the shekel shall be twenty gerahs… you shall offer an oblation” (<a href='B:330 45:8'>Eze 45:8</a>; <a href='B:330 45:12-13'>Eze 45:12-13</a>), the emphasis needs to be placed upon the word “shall”. This was a command to the elders of the people- made explicit in passages like <a href='B:330 45:9'>Eze 45:9</a>: “Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil… you shall have just balances”. By failing to be obedient, God’s people effectively disallowed the fulfilment of the ‘prophecy’ that could have come true if they had been obedient to it. “My princes [in this new temple system] shall no more oppress my people” as they did in the recent past (cp. <a href='B:300 22:3'>Jer 22:3</a>; <a href='B:330 18:7'>Eze 18:7</a>; <a href='B:330 18:12'>Eze 18:12</a>; <a href='B:330 18:16'>Eze 18:16</a>; <a href='B:330 22:7'>Eze 22:7</a>; <a href='B:330 22:29'>Eze 22:29</a>; <a href='B:430 3:1'>Zep 3:1</a>, where the same Hebrew word for “oppress” is found). Thus there was to be repentance for the ‘oppression’ which Ezekiel had earlier had to criticize Israel for. They went into captivity because the princes and priests oppressed the people (<a href='B:300 21:12'>Jer 21:12</a>; <a href='B:300 22:3'>Jer 22:3</a>; <a href='B:300 22:17'>Jer 22:17</a>); in the new temple, this was not to be so. The princes were to give the rest of the land to the people of Israel. And yet, in Nehemiah’s time the princes of the people did again oppress them, e.g. through making them mortgage their lands to them so that effectively they took it for themselves (<a href='B:160 5:3'>Neh 5:3</a>). This is the tragedy of Israel’s refusal to learn… The intention was that those hearing Ezekiel’s words in captivity would “bear the punishment of their iniquity… that the house of Israel go no more astray” (<a href='B:330 14:11'>Eze 14:11</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Let it suffice you, princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute justice and righteousness instead of dispossessing My people, says the Lord Yahweh- Nehemiah 5 records that Judah did the very opposite on returning from exile, and Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi all record social injustice as being the order of the day at the time of the restoration</p>


text:
<p>You shall have just balances, a just ephah and a just bath- They were to have “just” balances, as opposed to the “unjust” [s:w:] balances which they had in the lead up to the captivity (<a href='B:300 22:13'>Jer 22:13</a>, AV “unrighteous”).</p>


text:
<p>The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of a homer, and the ephah the tenth part of a homer: its measure shall be after the homer- Malachi and Haggai so bitterly complain at the way the priests didn’t serve God properly in the restored temple:&nbsp; They were to use just measures (:9-14), unlike what they had previously done. But they robbed God in their sacrifices in the restored temple (<a href='B:460 3:8'>Mal 3:8</a>).</p>


text:
<p>The shekel shall be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina- The standard, defining weights were destroyed during the Babylonian attack, according to Josephus.</p>


text:
<p>This is the offering that you shall offer: the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of wheat; and you shall give the sixth part of an ephah from a homer of barley- There are intentional differences with the Mosaic requirements. There is probably no great symbolic meaning in the differences, rather is the point being made that acceptance of the new covenant meant effectively that the Mosaic law had been ended. This is evidence enough that the law of Moses was not literally"eternal"but was for that age or olahm.</p>


text:
<p>And the set portion of oil, of the bath of oil, the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is ten baths, even a homer (for ten baths are a homer)- This is significantly more than the Mosaic law required, although there was to be only one daily offering in the morning, and not also in the evenings.</p>


text:
<p>And one lamb of the flock, out of two hundred, from the well-watered pastures of Israel for a meal offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them, says the Lord Yahweh- The Ezekiel temple prophecies may be a purely conditional prophecy, which will not now come true in that Israel were disobedient. This would then allow us to be more comfortable with the passages in Hebrews which speak as if the system of sacrifices has finished for all time. It would also enable us to sit more comfortably with the Ezekiel passages which speak of the sacrifices offered in that temple as actually achieving atonement, i:e. forgiveness of sins (<a href='B:330 45:15'>Eze 45:15</a>; <a href='B:330 45:22'>Eze 45:22</a>; <a href='B:330 45:25'>Eze 45:25</a>; <a href='B:330 45:17'>Eze 45:17</a>). They are not just ‘pointing back’ as teaching aids to the Lord’s work; they are framed as actually enabling, by their blood, forgiveness. It may be, however, that the Ezekiel prophecies had an intended and possible fulfilment at the time of the restoration under Ezra, but this was nullified by Israel’s lack of response; and therefore, at least in principle, the prophecies had their fulfilment delayed until the second coming. The lesson that comes out of all this is the extent to which God is willing to work with us, to tailor His purpose according to how far we are prepared to work with Him, and in that sense to allow Himself to be limited by us. There could be no greater inspiration to a maximal commitment to His purpose and His work.</p>


text:
<p>All the people of the land shall give to this offering for the prince in Israel- &nbsp;“The people of the land” were to have a part in the new system of things (<a href='B:330 45:16'>Eze 45:16</a>; <a href='B:330 45:22'>Eze 45:22</a>; <a href='B:330 46:3'>Eze 46:3</a>; <a href='B:330 46:9'>Eze 46:9</a>), and yet this very phrase is repeatedly used concerning the Samaritan people who lived in the land at the time of the restoration (<a href='B:150 4:4'>Ezr 4:4</a>; <a href='B:150 10:2'>Ezr 10:2</a>; <a href='B:150 10:11'>Ezr 10:11</a>; <a href='B:160 9:24'>Neh 9:24</a>; <a href='B:160 10:30-31'>Neh 10:30-31</a>). God’s intention was that they should eventually be converted unto Him; it was His intention that Ezekiel’s temple be built at the time of the restoration under Ezra. And yet Judah intermarried with them, learnt their language, and were dragged away from true Yahweh worship by them at the time. The later separation from the ’Samaritans’ was only after a few generations from the restoration. But <a href='B:450 7:10'>Zec 7:10</a>; <a href='B:460 3:5'>Mal 3:5</a>&nbsp; criticize the Jews who returned and built the temple for continuing to oppress the stranger / Gentile. Israel would not. <a href='B:290 56:6'>Isa 56:6</a> defines what is meant by “a house of prayer for all nations”- it is for those of all nations who “join themselves to the Lord, to serve him and to love the name of the Lord... every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant”.</p>


text:
<p>It shall be the prince’s part to give the burnt offerings, and the meal offerings, and the drink offerings, in the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the Sabbaths, in all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering and the meal offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel- It was this which in principle inspired Nehemiah to generously provide food to God’s people and the local people of the land (<a href='B:160 5:17'>Neh 5:17</a>)."The prince"here is presented as also a priest; and Zechariah 6 presents the possibility of a king-priest arising as leader of the returned exiles. But it never came about, and so these things have their spirit fulfilled in the Lord Jesus, although not the exact letter of them.</p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the first month, in the first day of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish; and you shall cleanse the sanctuary- We wonder why the Lord Jesus and His assistant priests would need regular cleansing in the age to come. The entire situation presented here clearly applies to mortal, sinful people and priesthood, which could have arisen at the time of the restoration.</p>


text:
<p>The priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it on the door posts of the house and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court- This alludes to the Passover, which under Moses’ law was to begin on the tenth day of the first month. But this was to be done on the first day of the first month (:18). The differences seem intended to underline the fact that the Mosaic law was over. But Judah refused to accept this revision of the Passover law, and to this day keep the Mosaic law rather than that laid down here.</p>


text:
<p>So you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who errs, and for him who is ignorant: so you shall make atonement for the house- This appears to be a revised form of the day of atonement. We note that sins of ignorance still require atonement. This ought to humble us, realizing that ignorance is no excuse. We are saved by grace rather than specific repentance and obtaining of forgiveness for every sin.</p>


text:
<p>In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten- There is no Day of Atonement mentioned in Ezekiel’s new system, because the exiles were to have repented and been forgiven on a more permanent basis than under the Mosaic system.</p>


text:
<p>On that day shall the prince prepare for himself- That the"prince"needed to prepare for himself a sin offering is surely evidence that the Lord Jesus is not in view; not only does He need no sin offering, but He was Himself the sin offering."The prince"must refer to a prince of the restored line of David at the time of the restoration, although as I have explained on Zechariah, the various possible candidates all dropped the baton.</p><p>And for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering- See on :16;"the people of the land"refer to Gentiles who were envisaged as accepting Yahweh in this new system. This is a revised form of the Passover legislation; but Judah didn’t accept it and continued to attempt to keep the Mosaic legislation. And so the envisaged system didn’t come about.</p>


text:
<p>The seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to Yahweh, seven bulls and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering- This differs from Mosaic legislation; see on <a href='B:330 46:4'>Eze 46:4</a>. Moses’ law required 1 lamb, (daily for 7 days, 2 bulls burnt, 1 ram burnt). There were to be more bulls and rams offered in this new system; perhaps to suggest a greater level of dedication.</p><p>Much thinking about the temple seems to have gotten confused because of an assumption that Ezekiel’s temple will be in order to observe parts of the Mosaic law. But consider the following studied differences between the two. Clearly the system described by Ezekiel implied&nbsp; a change of the Law at the re-institution of the temple; the temple he speaks of was not in order to obey the Mosaic Law:</p><p><strong>Sin offering:</strong></p><p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Eze. : blood daubed, parts burned outside, day 1-1bull, days 2-7-1 kid, 2 bulls, 1 ram</p><p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Law: blood poured, parts burned inside, day 1-1bull + 2 rams, days 2-7-1bull</p><p><strong>Sabbath offering:</strong></p><p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Eze. : 6 lambs, 1 ram (gate open)</p><p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Law: 2 lambs</p><p><strong>New Moon offering:</strong></p><p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Eze:: 1 bull, 1 ram, 6 lambs</p><p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Law: 2 bulls, 1 ram, 7 lambs</p><p><strong>Daily sacrifice:</strong></p><p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Eze:: 1 lamb (in a:m:)</p><p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Law: 2 lambs (1 a:m:, 1 p:m:)</p><p><strong>Passover:</strong></p><p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Eze:: 1bull, (daily thru 7 days: 7 bulls burnt, 7 rams&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; burnt), 1 kid? (sin offering)</p><p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Law: 1 lamb, (daily thru 7 days: 2 bulls burnt, 1 ram burnt), 1 kid? (sin offering)</p><p><strong>Feast of Booths:</strong></p><p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Eze:: 7 bulls + 7 rams (burnt daily,&nbsp;7 days), 1 kid</p><p>·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Law: day 1: 13 bulls, 2 rams, 14 lambs, 1 kid; day 2: 12 bulls, 2 rams, 14 lambs, 1 kid; The number of bulls is reduced by 1 each day…day 7: 7 bulls, 2 rams, 14 lambs, 1 kid</p>


text:
<p>He shall prepare a meal offering, an ephah for a bull, and an ephah for a ram, and a hin of oil to an ephah- This clearly differs from the Mosaic law (<a href='B:40 28:19-22'>Num 28:19-22</a>).</p>


text:
<p>In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, in the feast, shall he do the like the seven days; according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meal offering, and according to the oil- <a href='B:450 7:5'>Zec 7:5</a> criticized the Jews for keeping this feast only externally, but not “unto me”. <a href='B:440 2:1'>Hag 2:1</a> records how on the 21st day of the 7th month- i:e. once the seven day feast that began on the 15th had finished- Haggai was sent to rebuke “the prince”, Zerubbabel, for being so slack in fulfilling Ezekiel’s vision. Even by the time of <a href='B:160 8:14-17'>Neh 8:14-17</a>, it was so that the feast of the 7th month had not been kept by Judah since the time of Joshua. They subconsciously switched off to Ezekiel’s words; just as we can all do. They reasoned that “the time” of which he spoke hadn’t come- even though the temple had miraculously been enabled to be rebuilt, for no human benefit at all to Cyrus (<a href='B:290 45:13'>Isa 45:13</a> “not for price nor reward”). They felt that all the prophecies were “marvellous” in the sense of something incapable of concrete fulfilment in their experience (<a href='B:450 8:6'>Zec 8:6</a>). This is why <a href='B:440 1:2'>Hag 1:2</a> rebuked them for saying “the time is not come…that the Lord’s house should be built”. They didn’t want the prophecy to be fulfilled, because it would mean ‘going up’ from their ceiled houses- both in Babylon and in the farmsteads they had built in Judah- to build the temple.</p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: The gate of the inner court that looks toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened- Whatever the Messianic implications of this, Malachi lamented that the returned exiles wouldn’t even open the gates unless they were paid; or some translations suggest that nobody at all would open or shut the gates (<a href='B:460 1:10'>Mal 1:10</a>). By not opening or closing the gates, the entrance of the Messianic prince was precluded.</p>


text:
<p>The prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate outside, and shall stand by the post of the gate; and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening- Had Judah repented at the time of the restoration, a Davidic ruler would have been raised up, Zerubbabel is the most obvious candidate (see on Zechariah 6). He would have reigned"for ever", for an age. But he dropped the baton, or at least Judah were unwilling for this scenario. And so the prophecies were reinterpreted and rescheduled for total and eternal fulfilment in the Lord Jesus."The prince"of the envisaged restored temple in Ezekiel 40-48 refers to this same individual. See on <a href='B:330 37:25'>Eze 37:25</a>. His standing by the post of the gate records David’s royal descendants doing so (<a href='B:120 11:14'>2Ki 11:14</a>; <a href='B:120 23:3'>2Ki 23:3</a>). The impression is given that the prince is a restoredDavidic ruler at the time of the restoration of the temple. But we note that he must remain at the gate whilst the priest prepares the offerings. This again reads strangely if we are to interpret the prince as the Lord Jesus, for He is both a prince and priest, after the order of Melchizedek.</p>


text:
<p>The people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate before Yahweh on the Sabbaths and on the new moons- Instead, “the people of the land” hung around the gates of the city on the Sabbath in order to do some trading of goods (<a href='B:160 13:19-20'>Neh 13:19-20</a>). Judah intermarried with them rather than leading them to worship Yahweh at the temple on the Sabbaths. Those who insist that these prophecies speak of the future Kingdom of God on earth would have to therefore admit that the Sabbath will be reinstituted. But the New Testament is clear that the Sabbath has been fulfilled in the Lord Jesus.</p>


text:
<p>The burnt offering that the prince shall offer to Yahweh- According to Zechariah 3 and Zechariah 6, we can understand “the prince” as primarily referring to Zerubbabel or Joshua the High Priest (see on <a href='B:330 37:25'>Eze 37:25</a>; <a href='B:330 44:3'>Eze 44:3</a>). Under Joshua, the iniquity of the land could have been removed, and “ye shall call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree” (<a href='B:450 3:8-10'>Zec 3:8-10</a>). The Messianic Kingdom could have been brought in, the new covenant accepted by Israel. It could have been Eliashib- but despite his apparent enthusiasm, he didn’t even build the wall outside his own house (<a href='B:160 3:20-22'>Neh 3:20-22</a>), and arranged for his grandson to marry Sanballat’s daughter (<a href='B:160 12:10-11'>Neh 12:10-11</a>). It is evident from <a href='B:330 46:3'>Eze 46:3</a> and <a href='B:330 44:3'>Eze 44:3</a> that the promised Messiah figure was to be both a king and a priest- which would fit Joshua. He is described as a crowned High Priest, called “the branch”, who would build the temple and reign as “a priest upon his throne”. But this didn’t happen. Because Zechariah concluded this prophecy with the comment: “And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord” (<a href='B:450 6:10-15'>Zec 6:10-15</a>). Joshua-Jesus didn’t live up to it. And Zerubbabel never ruled in Jerusalem- he returned to the soft life in Babylon after the temple was rebuilt. But the prophecies suffered a deferral. They will be fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the branch.</p><p>Shall be on the Sabbath day six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish- Two lambs were required under Mosaic law. This temple whilst based upon Solomon’s was not an exact replica, just as the regulations for sacrifice are similar but differ from those of the Mosaic law. See on <a href='B:330 41:4'>Eze 41:4</a>; <a href='B:330 45:23'>Eze 45:23</a>. Perhaps the greater number of lambs was to teach the exiles the weight of their sins. Seven lambs weren’t required, but six- perhaps hinting that the complete and perfect lamb [seven] was yet to come. But see on :6.</p>


text:
<p>And the meal offering shall be an ephah for the ram, and the meal offering for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah- The Mosaic law required less; whereas it required more than Ezekiel’s system for the new moons in :6.</p>


text:
<p>On the day of the new moon it shall be a young bull without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram; they shall be without blemish- This contrasts with the Mosaic law which required 2 bulls, 1 ram and 7 lambs. See on :4. It almost seems that the regulations are purposefully intended to signal a difference with the Mosaic law.</p>


text:
<p>And he shall prepare a meal offering, an ephah for the bull, and an ephah for the ram, and for the lambs according as he is able, and a hin of oil to an ephah-"Ashe is able"suggests serving God within the limitations of what is available to us. This cuts across all legalism, reflecting God’s earnest desire for fellowship with man in all his limitations. It is also a rather strange thing to read if indeed these words speak of fulfilment of in God’s future Kingdom on earth.</p>


text:
<p>When the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and he shall go out by its way- It seems the east gate is in view (:1,2). This is in contrast to how the people were to enter by one gate and leave by another (:9). See on :10.</p>


text:
<p>But when the people of the land shall come before Yahweh in the appointed feasts- “The people of the land” were to have a part in the new system of things (<a href='B:330 45:16'>Eze 45:16</a>; <a href='B:330 45:22'>Eze 45:22</a>; <a href='B:330 46:3'>Eze 46:3</a>; <a href='B:330 46:9'>Eze 46:9</a>), and yet this very phrase is repeatedly used concerning the Samaritan people who lived in the land at the time of the restoration (<a href='B:150 4:4'>Ezr 4:4</a>; <a href='B:150 10:2'>Ezr 10:2</a>; <a href='B:150 10:11'>Ezr 10:11</a>; <a href='B:160 9:24'>Neh 9:24</a>; <a href='B:160 10:30-31'>Neh 10:30-31</a>). God’s intention was that they should eventually be converted unto Him; it was His intention that Ezekiel’s temple be built at the time of the restoration under Ezra. The scenario of Zechariah 14, with Gentiles coming to Zion to keep Tabernacles, was also potentially possible at the restoration.</p><p>He who enters by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he who enters by the way of the south gate shall go out by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate by which he came in, but shall go out straight before him- We noted earlier the design of the gatehouses and barriers to facilitate crowd control (<a href='B:330 40:12'>Eze 40:12</a>), and this one way system appears to be reflective of a perceived need to control the crowds. This all seems rather human if we think that this scenario is intended for fulfilment in the Kingdom of God. The language of going"straight before him"is another example of how there are continual allusions back to the cherubim visions. The straight feet and path of the cherubim was to be replicated in the path of God’s people on earth (see on <a href='B:330 1:7'>Eze 1:7</a>).</p>


text:
<p>The prince, when they go in, shall go in with them; and when they go out, he shall go out- He enters and leaves by the east gate (:1,2,8). The idea may be that when the people enter by the north or south gates (:9), he enters; and he leaves as they leave. The idea is that the worship of the prince is not separate from that of the ordinary people. There was to be a unity between prince and people, despite his evident superiority to them; and this looks forward to the Lord Jesus.</p>


text:
<p>In the feasts and in the solemnities the meal offering shall be an ephah for a bull and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah- The lack of specific definition of the amount of meal offering required with the lambs is typical of God’s open ended relationship with us. We are to respond as we can. And perhaps it is the lack of legalistic legislation which inspires us to greater generosity and devotion than within a more circumscribed system.</p>


text:
<p>When the prince shall prepare a freewill offering, a burnt offering or peace offerings as a freewill offering to Yahweh, one shall open for him the gate that looks toward the east; and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he does on the Sabbath day: then he shall go out; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate- Malachi and Haggai so bitterly complain at the way the priests didn’t serve God properly in the restored temple. The priests were to shut the gates (<a href='B:330 44:2'>Eze 44:2</a>; <a href='B:330 46:2'>Eze 46:2</a>; <a href='B:330 46:12'>Eze 46:12</a>); but they refused to do this unless they were paid for it (<a href='B:460 1:10'>Mal 1:10</a>). Again we note here how the prince was also able to act as a priest in some feasts. Zechariah 6 taught that just such a figure could have arisen at the restoration.</p>


text:
<p>You shall prepare a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to Yahweh daily: morning by morning you shall prepare it- The"you"was addressed to Ezekiel and suggests this system could have been built within Ezekiel’s lifetime, for he was to give the animals to the sons of Zadok to offer in the temple (<a href='B:330 43:19'>Eze 43:19</a>); Ezekiel was to prepare the daily sacrifice.</p>


text:
<p>You shall prepare a meal offering with it morning by morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of a hin of oil, to moisten the fine flour; a meal offering to Yahweh continually by a perpetual ordinance- The continual burnt offering under Moses’ law was to be made morning and evening (<a href='B:40 28:3'>Num 28:3</a>); now the evening sacrifice is abolished. We note the change of pronouns."The prince"has been in view in :13; now"you", perhaps Ezekiel personally; and then"they"in :15. It is as if Ezekiel is being addressed as representative of the priests; another indication that the prophecy was intended for fulfilment in Ezekiel’s time by people then known to Ezekiel.</p>


text:
<p>Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meal offering, and the oil, morning by morning, for a continual burnt offering-"Morning by morning"appears to stress that the evening offering was now no more.</p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: If the prince give a gift to any of his sons, it is his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance- The idea is that it could never again revert to the prince. This seems to safeguard against the prince making gifts to his sons and then demanding them returned to him; any attempt to interpret the prince as the returned Lord Jesus runs into major difficulty here, as the legislation is designed to keep the prince from being fickle and manipulative with his wealth.</p>


text:
<p>But if he gives of his inheritance as a gift to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty; then it shall return to the prince; but as for his inheritance, it shall be for his sons- He is subject to death (<a href='B:330 46:17-18'>Eze 46:17-18</a>); and&nbsp; has a wife and sons (<a href='B:330 46:16'>Eze 46:16</a>) who will succeed him (<a href='B:330 45:8'>Eze 45:8</a>). Clearly the prince is mortal, and not the immortal Lord Jesus."The year of liberty"could refer to the year of Jubilee, or possibly the seventh year release of slaves from their bondage to a particular master. Although here it is the return of property which is in view, so the reference is more likely to the year of Jubilee.</p>


text:
<p>Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance by thrusting them out of their possession; he shall give an inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that My people not be scattered every man from his possession- This and the surrounding verses are admittedly hard to understand if they really are to be literally fulfilled in relation to Jesus at His second coming. For this legislation seems to guard against the prince abusing the people, as if he is prone to such sin. But it is so understandable within the framework of interpretation here advocated. They had gone into captivity for these kind of abuses, they had indeed been scattered from their possessions; now they were to return and rebuild the temple after the pattern of Solomon’s, repent of their sins, and live righteously, and they would have the possibility of bringing in the Messianic Kingdom. But they chose to be satisfied with a semi-revival, a quasi repentance- just as we can be so easily. And Nehemiah records how the princes did oppress the people, taking their land / possessions away from them:&nbsp;They had ’thrust out’ their brethren before the captivity (<a href='B:300 22:3'>Jer 22:3</a>; <a href='B:330 18:7'>Eze 18:7</a>; <a href='B:330 18:12'>Eze 18:12</a>; <a href='B:330 22:7'>Eze 22:7</a>; <a href='B:330 22:29'>Eze 22:29</a> s:w:), and so had been themselves ’thrust out’ (<a href='B:300 25:38'>Jer 25:38</a> s:w:).</p>


text:
<p>Then he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy rooms for the priests, which looked toward the north: and behold, there was a place on the hinder part westward- There were to be “holy chambers” in the temple for the Levites (here and very often in Ezekiel 40-48). The uncircumcised Gentiles were not to be brought into the sanctuary (<a href='B:330 44:7'>Eze 44:7</a>). It was God’s intention that when Judah returned from Babylon, the uncircumcised would not come into Zion (the temple), and the Kingdom would be established (<a href='B:290 52:1'>Isa 52:1</a>; <a href='B:290 52:11'>Isa 52:11</a>). There was to be no Canaanite in the house of Yahweh (<a href='B:450 14:21'>Zec 14:21</a>). But Tobiah the Ammonite was given a chamber in the temple for him to use as an office for undermining God’s people (<a href='B:160 13:7-9'>Neh 13:7-9</a>).</p>


text:
<p>He said to me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the meal offering; so that they do not bring them into the outer court, to sanctify the people- The clear distinction between the inner and outer court (<a href='B:330 44:19'>Eze 44:19</a>) seems inappropriate now, when the veil of the holiest has been torn down and as Hebrews emphasizes, all can freely enter the presence of God Himself.</p>


text:
<p>Then he brought me into the outer court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and behold, in every corner of the court there was another court- The"Behold"suggests surprise on Ezekiel’s part; because this temple whilst based upon Solomon’s was not an exact replica, just as the regulations for sacrifice are similar but differ from those of the Mosaic law.</p>


text:
<p>In the four corners of the court there were enclosed courts, forty cubits long and thirty broad: these four in the corners were of one measure- Great detail is given about these kitchens, whereas there is nothing at all about what was within the most holy place. The difference in detail is striking and highlights the emphasis of the vision upon the work which God’s restored people were intended to do.</p>


text:
<p>There was a wall around in them, around the four, and boiling places were made under the walls all around- This"wall"could be no more than a low wall with shelves on appropriate for the kitchen utensils or storage.</p>


text:
<p>Then he said to me, These are the boiling houses, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifices of the people- The portions of the people’s offerings which were to be eaten by the priests were to be boiled in these kitchens.</p>


text:
<p>He brought me back to the door of the house; and see, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward (for the front of the house was toward the east); and the waters came down from under the right side of the house, on the south of the altar- The holy waters start from the altar- not from the threshold of the house, as Henry Sulley’s view&nbsp; requires. His claim that the city will be built 30 miles away from the temple is another example of pure imagination which just doesn’t fit the text. This is the situation of <a href='B:360 3:18'>Joe 3:18</a> “a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD”. Joel’s kingdom prophecies likewise could have had some fulfilment in the restoration from Babylon. See on <a href='B:330 43:7'>Eze 43:7</a>; <a href='B:330 43:9'>Eze 43:9</a>. So far in the temple prophecies, we have been given the impression of a very human situation. Much detail has just been given about the kitchens, regulations limiting the prince from abusing the people and about his children, of priests who sweat and must therefore wear appropriate clothing, of guardhouses with crash barriers to enable the smooth flow of people through the temple etc. Now in Ezekiel 47, 48 we have prophecies which are clearly more miraculous in nature. They are alluded to in Revelation and John’s Gospel and given a clearly figurative application, and yet the material is clearly based upon a literal depiction of a situation replete with fishermen fishing, a healed Dead Sea etc. I suggest that had Judah been obedient to the vision and repented as required, then these more miraculous things such as a river of living water would also have come about. The description of the course of the new river requires that the temple structure be built to accommodate it, but there is no evidence that Judah even attempted this at the rebuilding under Ezra and Nehemiah. And so again, the great possibilities in the Divine program for the restored exiles didn’t come about. But the prophecies were not thereby falsified; in spiritual essence, they will come true at the Lord’s return and even in this life, although maybe not in every literal, physical detail.</p><p>The enigmatic <a href='B:500 7:38'>Joh 7:38</a> alludes here:"He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly ("innermost being", NIV) shall flow rivers of living (Gk. spring) water". What"scripture"did the Lord have in mind? Surely <a href='B:330 47:1'>Eze 47:1</a>; <a href='B:330 47:9'>Eze 47:9</a>, the prophecy of how in the restored Kingdom, rivers of spring water would come out from Zion and bring life to the world; and perhaps too the references to spring water being used to cleanse men from leprosy and death (<a href='B:30 14:5'>Lev 14:5</a>; <a href='B:30 15:13'>Lev 15:13</a>; <a href='B:40 19:16'>Num 19:16</a>). The water originated from the sanctuary; and that most holy place is now the"innermost being"of the believer. The literal possibilities in Ezekiel 40-48 didn’t come about, but the essence of it all, although not the physical detail, will be fulfilled in spiritual terms. Out of the innermost being of the true believer, the spring(ing) water of the Gospel will &nbsp;naturally spring up and go out to heal men, both now and more fully in the Kingdom, aided then by the Spirit gifts. The believer, every&nbsp; believer, whoever&nbsp; believes, will preach the word to others from his innermost being, both now and in the Kingdom - without the need for preaching committees or special efforts (not that in themselves I’m decrying them). The tendency is to delegate our responsibilities to these committees. There is no essential difference between faith and works. If we believe, we will do the works of witness, quite spontaneously. And note how the water that sprung out of the Lord’s smitten side is to be compared with the bride that came out of the smitten side of Adam. We, the bride, are the water; thanks to the inspiration of the cross, we go forth in witness, the water of life to this hard land in which we walk.</p>


text:
<p>Then he brought me out by the way of the north gate, and led me round by the way outside to the outer gate, to the gate that looks toward the east; and, there ran out waters on the right side- The same words are translated"prepare the way"in <a href='B:460 3:1'>Mal 3:1</a> and <a href='B:290 40:3'>Isa 40:3</a> (see too <a href='B:330 43:1'>Eze 43:1</a>; <a href='B:330 44:1'>Eze 44:1</a>). The way&nbsp; is ’prepared’ or ’looks’ eastward. This was the way or road over which the glory was to re-enter the restored temple. But Judah didn’t rebuild that temple as specifiedand as Malachi often demonstrates, the priests failed to act as commanded in Ezekiel 40-48. And so the messenger of the covenant who was to prepare that way likewise failed; but finally the essence of the prophecies will come true through the work of the Elijah prophet and John the Baptist [also a priest] preparing the way of the Lord Jesus, so that His glory and Spirit could enter a spiritual temple of restored people.</p>


text:
<p>When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles- This man with the measuring line is the same Angel of <a href='B:450 2:1'>Zec 2:1</a>, who was enabling the restoration of Zion at the time of the returned exiles; but they refused to make use of the potential.</p>


text:
<p>Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees. Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the waist- As explained on :1, there is a miraculous element in this. A water course does not increase in depth so consistently unless other rivers or sources of water enter into it. But these waters increase in depth in a miraculous way. For this was to be no ordinary water, which always naturally finds a consistent level. The idea is that the water is not water as we know it, but has unique properties.</p>


text:
<p>Afterward he measured one thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass through; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through-"Passed through"is the term used in <a href='B:290 33:21'>Isa 33:21</a> of how no ship or boat would pass through or along the new"broad rivers and streams"in the restored Kingdom. But the returning exiles could miraculously pass through this river with God’s miraculous help (s:w. <a href='B:290 43:2'>Isa 43:2</a>).</p>


text:
<p>He said to me, Son of man, have you seen this? Then he brought me and caused me to return to the bank of the river- The question seems to imply that Ezekiel had failed to notice something, and so he had to return to the riverbank.</p>


text:
<p>Now when I had returned, see, on the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other- <a href='B:730 22:2'>Rev 22:2</a> quotes this but in a very symbolic context. This will come true at the Lord’s return, but in a figurative sense; for Revelation 22 is not at all literal but symbolic. These things could have literally come about at the restoration from Babylon, as God’s miraculous response to their obedience. But they didn’t, because Judah were not switched on to the huge Divine potential which there was.</p>


text:
<p>Then he said to me, These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall go down into the Salt Sea Arabah; and the waters of the sea shall be healed- The healing of saltiness, a symbol of bareness, will not be complete in the area (:11). This seems somehow inappropriate to the Kingdom to be established by the Lord Jesus in the future; but it rings true for a scenario at the restoration whereby Judah’s repentant obedience to the plans of Ezekiel 40-46 would have been rewarded by God making miraculous things happen. The same words are used in <a href='B:120 2:21-22'>2Ki 2:21-22</a> of the healing of salty waters by Elisha. Such things had been done by God’s power earlier in human history, and could have been repeated at the restoration.</p>


text:
<p>It shall happen, that every living creature which swarms, in every place where the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters have come there, and the waters of the sea shall be healed, and everything shall live wherever the river comes- The plural"rivers"may just be an intensive plural referring to ’the great river’. Malachi had likewise foreseen a situation at the restoration where"in every place"Gentiles would have been spiritually healed and turned to Yahweh (<a href='B:460 1:11'>Mal 1:11</a>)."Every living creature which swarms"is the language of creation, as if a new creation was going to come about in that local area. The river of living water, as explained on :1, refers now to the Spirit which is given to us and flows from us. Wherever we go, there should be healing- not just dissension, theological controversy and factionism, but real healing for those who hitherto had not had spiritual life. The great multitude of fish is again alluded to in John’s Gospel, where the miracles of catching fish are used as symbolic of how the Lord’s people would"catch men"in the Gospel’s net. The physical realities didn’t come about at the restoration, but the essence of them now comes true in the lives of Spirit filled believers.</p>


text:
<p>It shall happen, that fishermen shall stand by it: from En Gedi even to En Eglaim shall be a place for the spreading of nets; their fish shall be after their species, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many- The two locations mentioned are at the north and south of the Dead Sea. The"fish... after their species"could mean ’every kind of species of fish’. And again we have a connection to the miraculous haul of 153 fishes. As explained on <a href='B:500 21:11'>Joh 21:11</a>, this was the number of species of fish which were then thought to exist. Every species of fish was caught in the net, with the incident clearly speaking of the universal appeal of the Gospel, saving some from all nations. The stress upon"exceeding many", also in :9, connects with the huge number of the seed of Abraham, the converts to the Gospel.</p>


text:
<p>But its muddy places and its marshes shall not be healed; they shall be given over to salt- This rings somewhat strangely if we insist this prophecy must have a fulfilment in the Kingdom of God on earth. See on :8. The idea is that not all would respond, even if the water of life came to them. For the marshes and muddy places were clearly reached by the water flowing from the temple.</p>


text:
<p>By the river on its banks, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for food whose leaf shall not wither, neither shall its fruit fail: it shall bear new fruit every month, because its waters issue out of the sanctuary; and its fruit shall be for food, and its leaf for healing- <a href='B:730 22:2'>Rev 22:2</a> interprets this in a clearly symbolic way with reference to the situation which will come about at the return of the Lord Jesus to Zion. Perhaps the trees with leaves that don’t wither are to be seen as representative of the righteous (<a href='B:240 11:30'>Pro 11:30</a>; <a href='B:230 1:3'>Psa 1:3</a>). Those who respond to the water of life will grow thereby to provide the fruit of the tree of life to others. And that is true in this life too, as <a href='B:240 11:30'>Pro 11:30</a>; <a href='B:230 1:3'>Psa 1:3</a> make clear.</p><p>The reference may be to the amazing fertility around Jerusalem that could have come if the exiles had focused upon rebuilding the temple, rather than upon their own farmlands. See on Hag. 1:9.</p>


text:
<p>Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This shall be the border, by which you shall divide the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions- The latter chapters of Ezekiel stress how Israel were to “inherit” the land; yet the same word is used in other restoration prophecies, about Messiah causing Israel to “inherit” the land again after their return from “the north country” (<a href='B:450 2:12'>Zec 2:12</a>; <a href='B:450 8:12'>Zec 8:12</a>; <a href='B:290 49:8'>Isa 49:8</a>; <a href='B:300 3:18'>Jer 3:18</a>). When Judah returned from the “north country”, then Jerusalem would be the universally recognized “throne of the Lord” (<a href='B:300 3:17-18'>Jer 3:17-18</a>). The Kingdom could have come when Judah returned from Babylon. It was therefore potentially possible for the returning exiles to inherit all the land outlined in <a href='B:330 47:13-21'>Eze 47:13-21</a> and share it out between the 12 tribes. But they grabbed every man for himself, his own farmstead, his own mini-Kingdom. They had no interest in the wider vision, nor in subduing extra land; and the majority of the Jews didn’t even want to inherit it; they preferred the soft life of Babylon, the Kingdom of men rather than the Kingdom of God. And thus the Kingdom made possible was neveractually fulfilled at that time.</p>


text:
<p>You shall inherit it, one as well as another; for I swore to give it to your fathers: and this land shall fall to you for inheritance- This is the language of the tribal lots distributed under Joshua when the people first entered the land from the wilderness journey. It all has deep appropriacy to the giving of the land to the exiles now returning from Babylon, also involving a desert journey. All Judah were&nbsp; to inherit the land,"one as well as another"; whereas in reality at the restoration, Nehemiah 5 records how some grabbed the land of others. If the land was for an inheritance there could be the implication that those who were given it would die and then pass it on as an inheritance- again, appropriate to a restored kingdom at the time of the restoration, but not to the day of the eternal Kingdom of the Lord Jesus.</p>


text:
<p>This shall be the border of the land: On the north side, from the great sea, by the road to Hethlon, to the entrance of Zedad- Numbers 34 and Joshua 15 had defined the land in the order south, west, north, and east. But there the order is north, east, south, west. Perhaps this was because in Joshua’s time Israel came from the south into the land; whereas now they were to return from the land of the north. We marvel at God’s sensitivity to our contexts and situations on earth. See on :17.</p>


text:
<p>Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazer Hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran- The whole style of Ezekiel 40-48 would appear to be relevant to Ezekiel’s own time- note how the borders of the land are described as “Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus… on the north northward is the border of Hamath” (:17). These geographical notes only made sense in Ezekiel’s time.</p>


text:
<p>The border from the sea, shall be from the sea to Hazar Enon at the border of Damascus; and on the north northward is the border of Hamath. This is the north side- There appears to be a double reference to the northern border; as explained on :15, perhaps this was because in Joshua’s time Israel came from the south into the land; whereas now they were to return from the land of the north. We marvel at God’s sensitivity to our contexts and situations on earth.</p>


text:
<p>The east side, between Hauran and Damascus and Gilead, and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan; from the north border to the east sea you shall measure. This is the east side- The Jordan river was to be the eastern border. Yet the territory promised to Abraham extended to the Euphrates. God was making concessions to their weakness by giving them at this stage a more limited area. But the territory in Gilead east of the Jordan river was also envisaged as being possible for their possession (<a href='B:400 7:14'>Mic 7:14</a>; <a href='B:450 10:10'>Zec 10:10</a>). These varying definitions of the promised land are of themselves evidence that God’s purpose with His people is elastic. We can be sure that at the return of the Lord Jesus, the full territory promised to Abraham will be given to Israel, right up to the Euphrates; for God’s promise to Abraham shall surely be fulfilled. So this scenario here in Ezekiel 47 is not that of the future Kingdom after Christ’s return.</p>


text:
<p>The south side southward shall be from Tamar as far as the waters of Meriboth Kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, to the great sea. This is the south side southward- Tamar was apparently at the southern end of the Dead Sea. There would therefore be a diagonal line drawn from there to the"brook of Egypt". As noted on :18, this was a new definition of the promised land. It was intended for the time of the restoration, as in the full Messianic Kingdom, the entire territory promised to Abraham will be inherited.</p>


text:
<p>The west side shall be the great sea, from the south border as far as over against the entrance of Hamath. This is the west side- This is the Hamath of :17. This coastal area included the territory possessed by the Philistines which had always been problematic for Israel. It would’ve all seemed too incredible for the exiles to believe; that powerful localpeoples and the empire of Babylon and Persia would not get in the way of these promises being fulfilled. We too can look at present realities and baulk at the possibility of them all being swept away in order to fulfil the promises within the Gospel of the Kingdom. The Israel who returned instead focused on establishing their own farmsteads, getting a reasonable harvest, getting along with the local tribes, and a religion of external obedience, rather than seeing the huge possibilities open to them. We too face this same temptation.</p>


text:
<p>So you shall divide this land to you according to the tribes of Israel- Which were twelve tribes according to Ezekiel 48. The prophecies of the restoration envisaged both the ten tribes and Judah returning together. But most of them preferred to remain in the lands of their captivity.</p>


text:
<p>It shall happen, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you and to the aliens who live among you, who shall father children among you; and they shall be to you as the native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel- This would have been very hard for the exiles to accept. Ezra and Nehemiah document all the conflicts with the local people who"live among you". To give them a place in the new system would run counter to the core of Judah’s self perception. The idea of course was that these"aliens"would convert to the God of Israel and become joined to natural Israel as His covenant people. But instead the Jews despised them, later terming them ’Samaritans’, refusing to accept them; and initially intermarrying with them and accepting their gods.</p>


text:
<p>It shall happen, that in what tribe the foreigner lives, there you shall give him his inheritance, says the Lord Yahweh- The commandments about giving the Gentiles inheritance amongst the tribal cantons are understandable in the light of the fact that the Samaritans were living in the land at the time of the restoration. Even within Ezekiel, as well as in Malachi, Israel are criticized for oppressing the stranger / Gentile who lived with them (<a href='B:330 22:7'>Eze 22:7</a>; <a href='B:330 22:29'>Eze 22:29</a>); and now they are told that in the new temple system, the stranger must be generously given an inheritance in the land, he must be counted as actually belonging to one of the tribes. But the subsequent history of the returned exiles reveals their development of a xenophobic attitude to Gentiles.</p>


text:
<p>Now these are the names of the tribes: From the north end, beside the way of Hethlon to the entrance of Hamath, Hazar Enan at the border of Damascus, northward beside Hamath, (and they shall have their sides east and west)- The initial audience would have balked at the mention of Damascus. It would’ve seemed impossible to establish a new kingdom bordering on such a powerful city. These descriptions of the borders of the land and the inheritances were therefore a huge challenge to faith, just as the message of a future Kingdom is to us today, surrounded by the seemingly permanent and powerful structures of this world.</p>


text:
<p>By the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, Asher, one portion- By the time of Revelation, the tribe of Dan isn’t mentioned in <a href='B:730 7:5-8'>Rev 7:5-8</a>. But this was not the case at the time of the restoration. This is another reason to understand the entire potential scenario here as relevant to the restoration but not to the return of the Lord Jesus.</p>


text:
<p>By the border of Asher, from the east side even to the west side, Naphtali, one portion- The tribal allotments are all equal in size, and the borders as it were imagined as straight lines. But this would have been unworkable in practice due to issues of topography; greater definition was needed to enable this to be practically done. The implication is that had Israel repentantly returned and responded to the plans of Ezekiel 40-46, then more detail would have been given. This is exactly as stated in <a href='B:330 43:11'>Eze 43:11</a>.</p>


text:
<p>By the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, Manasseh, one portion- The inheritance of Manasseh east of the Jordan is now ignored, and in order to be given parallel swathes of territory, this would meant Naphtali giving some of its former territory to Manasseh.</p>


text:
<p>By the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, Ephraim, one portion- Ephraim as the largest tribe of the ten tribes is still given the same inheritance size. It could be that with the loss of the genealogical records at the destruction of the temple, the captives were not strongly aware of what tribe they came from. And so effectively a new Israel was being declared.</p>


text:
<p>By the border of Ephraim, from the east side even to the west side, Reuben, one portion- The inheritance of Reuben east of the Jordan is now ignored; perhaps because effectively their separation there from the rest of Israel had not been to their spiritual good.</p>


text:
<p>By the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west side, Judah, one portion- The exiles of Judah returning from Babylon would have expected a larger portion, but this was not to be. A new Israel was envisaged here. This division of the land between the tribes was designed to take away any sense of parochialism and superiority based upon previous history.</p>


text:
<p>By the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the district which you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in breadth, and in length as one of the portions, from the east side to the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in its midst- If the sanctuary was to be strictly in the midst of a swathe of land running from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River, then this position would not coincide with mount Zion. Perhaps this was intentional- to as it were relocate Zion, perhaps due to topographical changes God would have brought about. But"in its midst"need not be so literally interpretted. The Hebrew can as well be translated"within it".</p>


text:
<p>The district that you shall offer to Yahweh shall be twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth- The holy district had to be consciously ’offered’ to God by the tribes. This suggests that the scenario in this chapter is more command than prescription of what God would force to come about. <a href='B:330 45:1'>Eze 45:1</a> seems to envisage a ceremony at which the returned exiles formally divided up the land according to these borders and also offered the district to the Lord. But they never did this.</p>


text:
<p>This holy district shall be for the priests: toward the north twenty-five thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south twenty-five thousand in length- This area was to be consciously given to the priests; see on :9. Hence LXX"Out of this shall be the first-fruits of the holy things to the priests".</p><p>And the sanctuary of Yahweh shall be in its midst- See on :8.</p>


text:
<p>It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept My instruction, who didn’t go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray- But there is no record of the sons of Zadok keeping separate from the apostasy of the Levites in the time before the exile. We can conclude that they did have some faith, and this was counted to them for righteousness; hence"Zadok"means ’righteousness’. The sons of Zadok would sanctify others to work as priests, presumably because at the time of the restoration they were so few. Ezra struggled hard to get any Levites to return with him. And there is no evidence that the sons of Zadok ever did this at the restoration.</p>


text:
<p>It shall be to them an offering from the offering of the land, a thing most holy, by the border of the Levites- GNB"So they are to have a special area next to the area belonging to the Levites, and it will be the holiest of all". Again we see the intentional usage of the language of"the holiest of all"used about areas other than the most holy place. The impression given is that holiness will abound, and not be confined to a tiny area of 9 square meters; <a href='B:450 14:20'>Zec 14:20</a> likewise speaks of holiness abounding in the restored temple system. As noted on :9, this area was to be consciously given to the sons of Zadok; hence LXX"And the first-fruits shall be given to them out of the first-fruits of the land, even a most holy portion from the borders of the Levites". But this simply wasn’t done at the restoration.</p>


text:
<p>Opposite the border of the priests, the Levites shall have an area twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and ten thousand in breadth: the entire length shall be twenty-five thousand, and the breadth ten thousand- The division between sons of Zadok, priests sanctified by the sons of Zadok and Levites all seems to contradict the idea that the faithful are and will eternally be ’king-priests’ (see on <a href='B:730 5:10'>Rev 5:10</a>). We conclude therefore that this situation describes what could have happened at the restoration, and not in the future Kingdom of the Lord Jesus.</p>


text:
<p>They shall sell none of it, nor exchange it, nor shall the first fruits of the land be separated; for it is holy to Yahweh- The situation envisaged is where sale and exchange of land is possible, although the Levites must not do so; which hardly sounds appropriate to the Lord’s future Kingdom on earth. The original text is unclear regarding the"first fruits". The GNB offers:"none of it may be sold or exchanged or transferred to anyone else". The Levites were to be provided for, but did not own anything of themselves. And we in this age are to live in the spirit of priesthood (<a href='B:670 2:5'>1Pe 2:5</a>).</p>


text:
<p>The five thousand that are left in the breadth, in front of the twenty-five thousand, shall be for common use, for the city, for dwellings and for suburbs- Ezekiel had earlier explained that Judah went into captivity because the priests made no difference between the holy and the"common"(<a href='B:330 22:26'>Eze 22:26</a> s:w:). The restored system was to correct that and maintain the separation. But Malachi makes clear that they did not do so.</p><p>And the city shall be in its midst- See on :8. There could be here the implication that the exiles had a choice as to where to build the city. Perhaps a new Zion was in view.</p>


text:
<p>These shall be its measures: the north side four thousand five hundred, and the south side four thousand five hundred, and on the east side four thousand five hundred, and the west side four thousand five hundred- The style here is alluded to in the description of the four square city of God in which there is no temple in <a href='B:730 21:13'>Rev 21:13</a>. The idea seems to be that the essence of these prophecies will come true in a spiritual and eternal sense, but without the literal temple system (<a href='B:730 21:22'>Rev 21:22</a>).</p>


text:
<p>The city shall have suburbs: toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty- Whilst the Levites and sons of Zadok lived in the area around the sanctuary, it seems there were to be no other tribes living there. Judah, in whose territory Jerusalem previously stood, had a separate swathe of territory as an inheritance. To as it were lose Jerusalem would have been unattractive to the people of Judah who were in captivity hearing these words for the first time. See on :18.</p>


text:
<p>The remainder in the length, alongside the holy district, shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward; and it shall be adjacent to the holy district; and its increase shall be for food to those who labour in the city- Revelation alludes to these prophecies, and effectively speaks of"the city"as being"the temple"(<a href='B:730 3:12'>Rev 3:12</a>; Revelation 21 cp. <a href='B:290 66:6'>Isa 66:6</a>)."Them that serve the city"could refer to the Levites, who were"to serve the tabernacle"(<a href='B:40 4:24'>Num 4:24</a>; <a href='B:40 4:26'>Num 4:26</a>; <a href='B:40 18:6'>Num 18:6</a>), which was now the temple / city. But the restored exiles considered that it was vain to serve God (<a href='B:460 3:14'>Mal 3:14</a>; <a href='B:460 3:18'>Mal 3:18</a>), and so this just didn’t come about at the restoration.</p>


text:
<p>Those who labour in the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it- I suggested on :17,18 that nobody actually lives in the city; all the tribes have their inheritances elsewhere. The servants of the city may be the Levites. In this case we are to imagine them as under the Mosaic system, scattered throughout the tribes of Israel teaching there, and coming up by groups to work at the temple. One of their jobs will be to grow food for those working in the temple.</p>


text:
<p>The entire district shall be twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand: you shall offer the holy district foursquare, with the possession of the city- Again we note that the returned exiles were to consciously offer this area to God (<a href='B:330 45:1'>Eze 45:1</a>); see on :9.</p>


text:
<p>The residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy offering and of the possession of the city; in front of the twenty-five thousand of the offering toward the east border, and westward in front of the twenty-five thousand toward the west border, answerable to the portions, it shall be for the prince: and the holy offering and the sanctuary of the house shall be in its midst- Had Judah repented at the time of the restoration, a Davidic ruler would have been raised up, Zerubbabel is the most obvious candidate (see on Zechariah 6). He would have reigned"for ever", for an age. But he dropped the baton, or at least Judah were unwilling for this scenario. And so the prophecies were reinterpreted and rescheduled for total and eternal fulfilment in the Lord Jesus."The prince"of the envisaged restored temple in Ezekiel 40-48 refers to this same individual. See on <a href='B:330 37:25'>Eze 37:25</a>.</p>


text:
<p>Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince’s, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, it shall be for the prince- This is the territory which <a href='B:330 46:18'>Eze 46:18</a> says could be passed on by the prince to his sons for a lasting inheritance. But there is no legislation about how his sons could pass it on; over time, the area would have become endlessly subdivided between the prince’s descendants. This is one of the many practical issues which arise in studying these records, just as the division of the land into horizontal swathes along straight lines requires more definition in order to be practically done. As noted on <a href='B:330 43:11'>Eze 43:11</a>, had the returned exiles been obedient, then more details would have been given.</p>


text:
<p>As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one portion- <a href='B:50 33:12'>Deu 33:12</a> had stated that Benjamin would dwell close to Yahweh, and his portion is directly next to the sanctuary area. Jerusalem was originally situated on the border between Benjamin and Judah, although Judah took over Benjamin’s territory at that point and effectively Jerusalem was considered as within Judah. But now, the tribal allotments were such that Jerusalem clearly belonged to neither of them. Such petty squabbles were to be forgotten in the restored kingdom.</p>


text:
<p>By the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one portion- Simeon’s original territory was surrounded by Judah; now they were to be as it were given territory which was once Judah’s, and Judah was given&nbsp; an inheritance to the north of where they had previously inherited. This would have been hard to accept for the men of Judah to whom Ezekiel was preaching. But all sense of pride and clinging on to the once significant things of this life is to be subsumed in the realities of the restored Kingdom. And we can learn a lesson from that.</p>


text:
<p>By the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, one portion- Issachar had previously inherited to the far north of the land. Now they were in the far south. All we once held so dear is to be completely inverted in the inheritance prepared for us in God’s Kingdom.</p>


text:
<p>By the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun, one portion- Likewise Zebulun had previously inherited to the far north of the land. Now they were in the far south. Those who simply wanted to return to what they had once known were to be disappointed. See on :27.</p>


text:
<p>By the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, Gad, one portion- This area would have been desert, as was the area promised to Issachar. To achieve an equality and fairness in the distribution of territory, there must be the implication that the climate and even topography would be changed. The restoration prophesies are full of promises of abundant harvests and blessing upon the physical land. But unless they were believed, Zebulun would have considered that this was not a good deal, and that the good news of this new kingdom held nothing much for them. And so it is with us. The promise of the Kingdom is only meaningful and good news for us if we have the faith to believe that things shall radically change on this earth, and the promised Kingdom will not simply be a return to how we have known secular life in this world; the old and familiar, like the previous inheritance and homesteads of Gad before the exile, will not be returned to us. Something far better is in store.</p>


text:
<p>By the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar to the waters of Meribath Kadesh, to the brook of Egypt, to the great sea- Tamar was apparently at the southern end of the Dead Sea. There would therefore be a diagonal line drawn from there to the"brook of Egypt". As noted on <a href='B:330 47:18'>Eze 47:18</a>, this was a new definition of the promised land. It was intended for the time of the restoration, as in the full Messianic Kingdom, the entire territory promised to Abraham will be inherited.</p>


text:
<p>This is the land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their individual portions, says the Lord Yahweh- It was Ezekiel, as he sat with the exiles in Babylon, who was to divide the land by lot unto the various tribes. The tragedy of all the details recorded in Ezekiel 40-48, and the very reason for their being preserved to this day, is to show us to what great extent God has prepared potential things for His people, and yet they can be totally wasted if we don’t respond. In fact according to <a href='B:400 4:10'>Mic 4:10</a>, it was God’s purpose to exile His people to Babylon, “and there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies”. And yet they preferred to side with their enemies and to prefer non-deliverance from Babylon. The tragedy of it all is almost unthinkable, and yet this is what we do if day by day we chose the things of this world against the deliverance from this world which there is in Christ.</p>


text:
<p>These are the exits of the city: On the north side four thousand five hundred reeds by measure-"Exits"is literally ’goings out’, the word used of Israel’s going out from captivity in Egypt and Babylon. The association is in the fact that if they had truly gone out from Babylon, spiritually as well as literally, then this wonderful city would have been built.</p>


text:
<p>And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel, three gates northward: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one- Nehemiah did his very best to bring the potential Kingdom of God about by urging the people to repentance and conformity to God’s will, such was his perception of what was going on; that the coming of God’s Kingdom was being limited by the apathy of his own people. See on <a href='B:330 40:10'>Eze 40:10</a>. He arranged for 12 gates to be built in the wall, as <a href='B:330 48:31-34'>Eze 48:31-34</a> had commanded there to be. The twelve gates with the names of the tribes of Israel are spoken of in <a href='B:730 21:12'>Rev 21:12</a>; but the language there is completely figurative. Seeing Judah had not built the city commanded in Ezekiel, it would as it were descend ready made from Heaven. But this is all figurative language. Seeing the literal fulfilment had been precluded by Judah’s disobedience, God would fulfil the essence of it in spiritual terms.</p>


text:
<p>At the east side four thousand five hundred reeds, and three gates: even the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one- <a href='B:330 48:31-34'>Eze 48:31-34</a> envisaged the 12 gates of Jerusalem being named after the 12 tribes of Israel. But it seems no accident that twelve separate gates of the city are mentioned in the restoration record- but they weren’t renamed after the tribes of Israel. But the names of the city gates in Nehemiah were: valley (<a href='B:160 3:13'>Neh 3:13</a>); horse (<a href='B:160 3:28'>Neh 3:28</a>); east (<a href='B:160 3:29'>Neh 3:29</a>); Miphkad (<a href='B:160 3:31'>Neh 3:31</a>); water (<a href='B:160 8:16'>Neh 8:16</a>); dung (<a href='B:160 12:31'>Neh 12:31</a>); fountain (<a href='B:160 12:37'>Neh 12:37</a>); Ephraim, old, fish, sheep and prison gates (<a href='B:160 12:39'>Neh 12:39</a>). No wonder some wept when the rebuilt temple was finally dedicated- the pattern ofEzekiel’s vision hadn’t been followed, even on such basic matters as the names of the twelve gates of Jerusalem.</p>


text:
<p>At the south side four thousand five hundred reeds by measure, and three gates: the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one- The division of the tribes into four groups of three in a square formation recalls the cherubim visions of Ezekiel 1. The cherubim speak of the action of God on behalf of His people, and those who wished to could identify themselves with that work. The cherubim could have returned to Jerusalem and been manifested in the twelve tribes of a restored Israel. But this was precluded at the time by their disobedience and simple disinterest.</p>


text:
<p>At the west side four thousand five hundred reeds, with their three gates: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one-&nbsp; There is no reason to think [contra Henry Sulley in The Temple of Ezekiel’s Prophecy] that there will be eleven gates on the West side. This is merely the fantasy of an architect.</p>


text:
<p>It shall be eighteen thousand reeds around: and the name of the city from that day shall be, Yahweh is there- Jerusalem was to be renamed"Yahweh is our righteousness"(<a href='B:300 33:16'>Jer 33:16</a> RV)- <a href='B:330 48:35'>Eze 48:35</a> likewise is a command rather than a prediction, that the city should be called"Yahweh is there". The cherubim of glory would have returned; but as Zechariah makes clear, Judah had to return to God, not just physically returning to Judah and making the motions of worship, but in repentance. The idea that Jerusalem will become the city where “the Lord is there” must be connected with Ezekiel’s early use of the phrase to describe how the Lord “was there” in the land of Israel before the Babylonian invasion (<a href='B:330 35:10'>Eze 35:10</a>); all these details could have come true in Ezekiel’s time; but they did not. When they do so in the last days, the glory will visibly enter by the east gate in the person of the Lord Jesus. Using the prophetic perfect, God had prophesied that at the time of the restoration, He would come and dwell in rebuilt Zion (<a href='B:450 8:3'>Zec 8:3</a>)- just as Ezekiel’s prophecy had concluded: “The name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there” (<a href='B:330 48:35'>Eze 48:35</a>). Clearly, Ezekiel’s prophecies could have been fulfilled at the restoration; God was willing that they should be. But human apathy and self-interest stopped it from happening as it could have done:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>They should have been more committed to building the temple “that I may appear in my glory” (<a href='B:440 1:8'>Hag 1:8</a> RSV). The glory of Yahweh as described at the end of Ezekiel could have appeared in Haggai’s time- but this wonderful possibility was held back by Israel’s petty minded, self-satisficing laziness.</p>


text:
<p>In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Jerusalem, and besieged it- This means that Daniel would have been within the very first wave of captives taken into Babylon; he would have experienced the arrival of others over the next few years, all telling an increasingly bad story of the situation in Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar was not at this point"king", he was regent, although melech could apply to any such leader as he was at the time. This explains the possible chronological problem in Daniel 2.</p>


text:
<p>The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God- od would give the land and people of Judah / Israel “into the hand of” the king of Babylon (Ezra 5:12; Ps. 106:41; Jer. 20:4,5; 22:25; 32:3,28; 34:2,20,21; 44:30; Ez. 16:39; 39:23). Within the book of Daniel the point has been made; for the book opens with the statement that the king of Judah has been ‘given into the hand of’ the king of Babylon (Dan. 1:2). The entities described in Dan. 2 are therefore mentioned from the perspective of their reigning over the land and people of Yahweh.
</p><p>Nebuchadnezzar put Yahweh's temple vessels in the house of his god as a sign that he considered that his god had vanquished Judah's. But in fact it was Judah's God who had given His people and temple into the hand of the Babylonians. He is all powerful. Daniel thus opens with what will become a major theme: That those who consider themselves, and are considered, the mighty and powerful in this world... are in fact not so, but are raised up and used by the one true God of Israel. But as God "gave" Jehoiakim into the hand of his enemies, so God would "give" [s.w.] Daniel grace in the eyes of his captor (:9) and "gave" wisdom to the group of young Jews (:17). Yahweh was and is pulling all the strings in personal and international politics.
This is to be a theme in Daniel; that all such apparent disasters have God in control of them. The remainder of the vessels were taken in later waves of the invasion (<a href='B:120 24:13'>2Ki 24:13</a>; <a href='B:140 36:18'>2Ch 36:18</a>), confirming that Daniel was taken amongst the very first wave of captives (:1). Babylon’s original plan seemed to have been to make Judah a tributary state, taking away the leadership and seeking to make the youngsters like Daniel completely Babylonian, with a view to them returning and governing Judah. Hence only part of the vessels were initially taken. But this changed to a policy of complete destruction.</p><p>And he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god: and he brought the vessels intothe treasure house of his god- The captives were paralleled with the temple treasures; they were taken into the temple as evidence that Yahweh and His people had now been apparently dominated. But Isaiah had prophesied that Bel would be rendered helpless and judged (<a href='B:290 46:1-2'>Isa 46:1-2</a>). The faithful captives would have remembered that, even when it seemed their chips were down.</p><p>The mention of "Shinar" surely points us back to the tower of Babel / Babylon, and its inevitable fall. The "them" who were brought to the temple differs from the vessels brought into the treasury. GNB clarifies: "He took some prisoners back with him to the temple of his gods in Babylon, and put the captured treasures in the temple storerooms". The exiles were brought into the temple of Bel, and the changes of names were therefore conscious statements about the supposed vanquishing of Yahweh, as the Babylonians saw it. The exiles were made to bow before the gods of Babylon at this point, for this was typical behaviour of the victors. They saw victory as a case of their gods having defeated those of their enemies. There is no note to the effect that Daniel and his friends objected. The Babylonian Chronicle reports how after such victories, "everyone must swear a loyalty oath to [the king] by bowing down and paying homage to his gods. He commanded that everyone [of the vanquished] had to worship them". We can safely assume this was done by Daniel and his friends; and we are left to infer their later spiritual growth. </p>


