Through My Bible Yr 02 – July 01

Ezekiel 42:1 – 43:12

Through My Bible – July 01

Ezekiel 42:1 – 43:12 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Rooms North of the Temple

Ezekiel 42

1 Then he led me out into the outer courtyard which was north of the temple building, and he brought me to a set of rooms which bordered on the south side of the restricted area and was north of the structure of the temple building. [1] 2 This building north of the temple, which had doors facing north, was one hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide. [2]

3 On each side of the north courtyard, across from the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner courtyard on the south side and across from the pavement that belonged to the outer courtyard on the north side, two sets of balconies faced each other. [3] Each was three stories high. [4] 4 In front of the rooms on the inside of the courtyard was a walkway [5] ten cubits wide and one hundred cubits long. [6] The entrances of the rooms faced north. [7]

5 The upper rooms were narrower, because the balconies took more space away from them than from the building’s bottom and middle floors. 6 These rooms were arranged in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars in the courtyards, so as you went up from ground level, the upper story had to be set back more than the lower and middle ones. [8]

7 There was a wall in the outer courtyard, which ran parallel to the rooms on the east side. [9] It was fifty cubits long. 8 The length of the set of rooms on the east side of the building facing toward the outer courtyard was fifty cubits, but the length of those on the north side was one hundred cubits long. [10] 9 On the bottom floor of these rooms on the east end of the building, there was an entrance, through which one could enter them from the outer courtyard. [11]

The Same Rooms on the South Side

10 At the head of the wall of the courtyard, [12] on the south [13] side of the temple, opposite the restricted area and opposite the building, there were rooms. 11 They also had a passageway in front of them. They looked just like the rooms on the north. They were the same length and also the same width, and they were the same in regard to all their exits, their designs, and their entrances. 12 Also identical were the entrances to the rooms on the south, at the head of the passageway, that is, the passageway opposite the corresponding wall, as one enters them from the east.

13 Then he said to me, “The northern and southern rooms in front of the restricted area are holy rooms where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will deposit the most holy offerings, the grain offering, the sin offering, and the restitution offering, for the place is holy. 14 When the priests go to enter these rooms, they must not go out from the holy place into the outer courtyard until they have put away their vestments in which they have ministered there, because the vestments are holy. They must put on other clothing before they approach the area that is for the people.”

15 In this way the man finished the measurements of the interior of the temple complex. Then he led me out through the gate on the east side of the temple complex and measured the temple area all the way around. 16 He measured the east side using the measuring rod. It measured five hundred cubits, [14] using canes, that is, the measuring rod. 17 Then he turned and measured the north side. It was five hundred cubits, using canes, that is, the measuring rod. 18 Then he turned and measured the south side. It was five hundred cubits, using canes, that is, the measuring rod. 19 He turned to the west side and measured again. It also was five hundred cubits, using canes, that is, the measuring rod. 20 Thus he measured the temple area on all four sides. It had a wall all the way around it. It was five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, in order to separate the holy from the common.

The Return of the Glory of the Lord

Ezekiel 43

1 Then he led me to the gate, the gate that faces east. 2 Suddenly I saw that the Glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. His voice sounded like the roar of rushing water, and the earth was shining with his glory. 3 The appearance of the vision that I saw was like the vision I saw when he [15] came to destroy the city—visions like the vision I saw by the Kebar Canal, and I fell on my face. 4 The Glory of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east. 5 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court, and the Glory of the Lord filled the temple.

6 I heard someone speaking to me from the temple while the man was standing beside me. 7 The voice said to me:

Son of man, this is the place of my throne, and this is the place for the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. Never again will the house of Israel profane my holy name, neither they nor their kings, neither by their prostitution nor by the memorials [16] to their dead kings at their high places. 8 Whenever they placed their threshold next to my threshold and their doorpost beside my doorpost with only a wall between me and them, they would defile my holy name by their abominations that they did, so I exterminated them in my anger. 9 Now let them remove their prostitution and the memorials of their dead kings from my presence, and I will dwell among them forever.

10 But you, son of man, are to describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they may be ashamed of their sins. Let them measure its perfect pattern. 11 If they are ashamed of everything they have done, teach them the design of the temple and its layout, its exits and its entrances, all its designs and all its ordinances, all its designs and all its regulations. Write them down in their sight so that they may keep its whole plan and all its ordinances and carry them out. 12 This is the law for the temple. On the top of the mountain, the whole territory of the temple and all the area surrounding its perimeter will be most holy. This is indeed the law for the temple.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 42:1 The interpretation of verses 1 and 2 is very difficult. It seems best to understand them as a reference to feature Q on the diagram, as the translation above does. This fits well with the measurements given in verse 2. Some, however, interpret these verses as a reference to feature C on the diagram and translate then he led me out into the outer courtyard north of the temple, and he brought me to a set of rooms on the other side of the restricted area, across from the temple along the north wall of the temple compound.
  2. Ezekiel 42:2 About 175 feet by 90 feet
  3. Ezekiel 42:3 Verse 3 is very difficult. It seems to refer to balconies on features Q and E on the diagram.
  4. Ezekiel 42:3 Or on the third floor
  5. Ezekiel 42:4 Feature R on the diagram
  6. Ezekiel 42:4 One hundred cubits is the reading of the Greek and Syriac. The Hebrew reads one cubit.
  7. Ezekiel 42:4 This apparently refers to the rooms on the south side of the northern courtyard.
  8. Ezekiel 42:6 The meaning of this verse is uncertain.
  9. Ezekiel 42:7 Feature S on the diagram
  10. Ezekiel 42:8 This seems to refer to rooms on the short and long sides of building Q.
  11. Ezekiel 42:9 The meaning of this verse is uncertain.
  12. Ezekiel 42:10 The translation follows the Greek. The Hebrew reads in the thickness of the wall.
  13. Ezekiel 42:10 The translation follows the Greek. The Hebrew reads on the east.
  14. Ezekiel 42:16 About 875 feet. The reading five hundred is from the margin of the Hebrew text. The in-text reading is five. There is also a textual question whether the dimensions of the area are 500 cubits or 500 rods.
  15. Ezekiel 43:3 The translation follows a variant found in some Hebrew manuscripts and ancient versions. Most Hebrew manuscripts read I. The reading I is possible if it refers to the fact that Ezekiel foretold the destruction.
  16. Ezekiel 43:7 The word most often means corpses or lifeless idols. There is no evidence for kings being buried at high places, so the reference is probably to lifeless idols or to ceremonies for the spirits of the dead kings.

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.