Ezekiel
40
This is a very
difficult passage but seems to be dealing with the restoration
of
of the Rock,
Islam’s second holiest shrine, stands where the temple once
was.
what I gather,
the earthquake in Zechariah 14:4, will clear the site.
I heard years ago
that
temple (
late 1950’s and
early 60’s – it is hearsay and I am not teaching it
as truth – [since
writing the above I have verified this on the Internet –
CY – 2017] TIME
WILL TELL AND GOD WILL WORK AS HE
WANTS TO IN HIS
GREAT SOVEREIGNTY – (CY 2009)
The magnificent temple-vision, as it is usually styled, a
description of which
forms the closing section of this book (Ezekiel 40-48.),
was the last
extended “word” communicated to the prophet,
and was given him in the
five and twentieth year of the Captivity, i.e. about
B.C. 575. Two years
later he received a brief revelation concerning
his volume, he incorporated with the other prophecies
relating to the same
subject (ch. 29:17-21). Of the present
oracle as a whole the significance will
be best understood when its several parts have been
examined in detail.
Meanwhile it may suffice to note that it manifestly
connects itself with the
promise in ch. 37:27-28, and
forms an appropriate conclusion to the series
of consolatory predictions which the prophet began to utter
when tidings
came to him that the city was smitten (ch.
33:22, 28). Having set forth the
moral and spiritual conditions upon which alone restoration
was possible for
of whom
better day for
and re-established in her old land, with Jehovah’s
sanctuary in its midst
(Ezekiel 37.), and predicted the utter and final overthrow
of all future
combinations of hostile powers against her (Ezekiel 38.,
39.), the prophet
proceeds to develop the thought to which he has already
alluded, that of
reorganized community or
vision. His material he arranges in three main divisions:
Ø
speaking first of a
re-erected temple (Ezekiel 40-43.),
Ø
next of a reorganized
worship (Ezekiel 44-46.), and
Ø
lastly of a
redistributed territory (Ezekiel 47., 48.).
That Ezekiel, sorrowing over the first
the fall of
anticipations of the golden era which was then beginning to
loom up before
him in ever fairer proportions and brighter colors — that
Ezekiel himself
may have inwardly believed or hoped the picture he was then
placing on his
canvas would be ultimately realized upon the old soil, is
by no means
improbable; that the
Holy Spirit, the real Author of the temple-vision, was
drafting for the new
religious and political constitution, which could not be
satisfied with any
merely local, temporal, and material realization, such as
might be given to
it in
broader, and more spiritual, even to the Israel of Messianic times, i.e. to
the
design is at least an idea which one might be pardoned for
entertaining.
(For the different views which have been held as to the
proper
interpretation of this vision, see note at the end of
Ezekiel 48.)
The Introduction to the Vision (vs. 1-4)
1 “In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the
beginning of
the year, in the
tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after
that the city was
smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD was
upon me, and
brought me thither.” In
the five and twentieth year of our
captivity; i.e. in B.C.
575, assuming Jehoiakin’s deportation to have
taken place
B.C. 600, i.e. in the fiftieth year of the prophet’s age, in the twenty-fifth of his
prophetic calling,
and in the fourteenth after the fall of
note of time was
the twelfth year (ch. 32:17), it may be assumed the
interval was largely occupied in receiving and delivering
the prophecies
that fall between those dates, though it is more than
likely a period of
silence preceded the vision of which this last section of
the book preserves
an account. If not the last of the prophet’s utterances
(see ch. 29:17), it was
beyond question the grandest and most momentous.
Accordingly, the prophet
notes with his customary exactness that the vision came to
him in the beginning
of the year, which Hitzig, whom Dr. Currey, in the ‘Speaker’s Commentary’
follows, believes to have been a jubilee year, which began
on the tenth day of the
seventh month. As, however, the practice of commencing the
year with this month
was not introduced among the Jews till after the exile, and
as Ezekiel everywhere
follows the purely Mosaic arrangement of the year, the
presumption is that
the beginning of the year here alluded to was the month Abib, and that the
tenth day of the
month was
the day on which the Torah enjoined the
selection of a lamb for the Passover. Indeed, the two
clauses in Ezekiel
read like an abbreviation of the Mosaic statute (Exodus
12:2-3) — a
circumstance sufficiently striking and probably
significant, though emphasis
should not, with Hengstenberg, be
laid upon the fact that every word in
Ezekiel’s copy is found in the Exodus original. On that
day, which was the
anniversary of the beginning of a merciful deliverance to
the initial step in a gracious process of transforming
Pharaoh’s captives
into a nation, — on that day (for emphasis the selfsame day, as in
ch.
24:2), the prophet’s soul was rapt into an ecstasy (see on ch.1:3), in which
he seemed to be transported thither, i.e. towards
the smitten city, and a
disclosure made to him concerning that new community which
Jehovah was
about to form out of old
2 “In the visions of God brought He me into the
me upon a very
high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city
on the
south.” In the visions of God; i.e. in the clairvoyant state which had
been superinduced upon him by the
hand of God, and in which he became
conscious both of bodily sensations and mental perceptions
transcending
those that were possible to him in his natural condition. Upon a very high
mountain (compare Matthew 4:8;
Luke 4:5). Schroder stands alone
in taking אֶל, as
“beside” rather than “upon,” other interpreters considering
that אֶל, has
here the force of עַל, as in ch.18:6, and ch.31:12. That this mountain,
though resembling the temple hill in
mountain of the
Lord’s house” of Messianic times (see
on ch. 43:12; and
compare ch.17:22-23; 20:40; Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:6), may be
inferred from its
greater altitude than that of either Moriah
or
the loftier spiritual elevation of the new Jerusalem. As the frame of a city on
the south. What Ezekiel beheld
was not “beside” or “by” (Authorized
Version), but “on”
the mountain, and was not, as Havernick, Ewald, and
Kliefoth suppose, the new city of
measure of accuracy be described as lying south of Moriah on which the
temple stood, but the temple itself, which, with its walls
and gates,
chambers and courts, rose majestically before the prophet’s
view, with all
the magnificence, and indeed (as the particle כִי. indicates), with the
external appearance of a city. That the prophet should
speak of it as “on
the south” receives sufficient explanation from the circumstance that
he
himself came from the north, and had it always before him
in a southerly
direction. The idea is correctly enough expressed by the ἀπέναντι – apenanti –
of the Septuagint, which signifies “over against” to one coming from the north.
The Exalted City (v. 2)
Ezekiel now comes to an elaborate vision of the restored
condition of the
Jews — first that of their city, and then that of the
temple which is its
crowning glory. Being well acquainted with his native land,
which he could
never forget in the weary days by the waters of
picture its scenes when inspired with prophetic sight. He
sees the city of
the future, “upon a very high mountain.” As the
Swiss pines for his
mountain home when banished to some dreary flat land, the
Jewish
highlander turns in thought from the low river-banks of
the longed-for heights of his native
dream of a city crowning a mountain height.
standing some two thousand feet above the level of the
Viewed from the wilderness, which, indeed, sinks down
another eighteen
hundred feet to the
air like the habitations of a city in cloud-land. The
visionary
appears to the rapt seer as an even more exalted city.
- THE CITY OF
under the image of a splendid
city.
new Jerusalem, as the type of the glorious
society
Christianized. The Greeks conceived
their ideal of perfected human
life after the model of a
pattern city. Undoubtedly, writing as he was to the
captives of
his language be understood by
his contemporaries. But the definite,
material prediction embodies and
exemplifies ideas that may be applied to
the spiritual restoration of
man, illustrated by this city prospect.
Ø There is to be a blessed life on earth. The mountain-city is terrestrial.
The Apocalyptic
new Jerusalem is let down from heaven. The city of
is set up here
in the Christian Church, as
is as yet but a
poor realization of the grand prophetic dream. A few shanties
mark the site
of the glorious city of the future. That
city is yet to be.
Ø This blessed life will be social. Perhaps the ancient and the Eastern
prized the city
— well-walled and safe-guarded — more than we do in the
crowded West,
with our modern love of the country. But the essential
thought
here is that the perfect state is social. In the perfect city order is
supreme
through universal love —
a strange contrast to our
miserable
cities of sin and selfishness. It is the best that, being corrupted,
becomes
the worst.
- ITS EXALTED POSITION.
Ø It is in the land of Israel. Men must enter the
true
followers of Christ, if we would enjoy the privileges of the glorious
future.
Ø It is “set upon a very high
mountain.” The
exaltation of the city suggests
many
advantages.
o
Its
glory. It is exalted
in favor — crowning a height.
o
Its
strength. Cities were
set aloft that nature might fortify them.
o
Its
salubrity (favorability to health and
well being). High
lands
are
bracing. The Christian life braces the soul in spiritual health.
o
Its
nearness to heaven.
Nothing overshadows the exalted city. The
people of
God are lifted into direct relations with heaven.
o
Its
conspicuousness. “A
city that is set upon a hill cannot be hid”
(Matthew 5:14).
The Church is to bear witness to the world. The
best gospel
is that of lofty Christian living.
3 “And He brought me thither, 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.”
The word “thither” carries the thought back
to v. 1. When the
prophet had been brought into the
the building, he perceived a man, whoso appearance was like the
appearance of
brass, or,
according to the Septuagint, “shining or polished
brass,” χαλκοῦ στίλβοντος chalkou stilbontos – burnished, or polished
brass - as in ch. 1:7 — a
description recalling those of the likeness of Jehovah
in ch. 1:26-27, of the angel who
appeared to Daniel (Daniel 10:6), and of the
glorified Christ (Revelation 1:15), and suggesting ideas of
strength, beauty, and
durability. In his hand he carried a line of flax and a measuring-reed
(kaneh hammidah, or “reed of measuring,” reed having been the
customary
material out of which such rods were made; compare the
Assyrian for a
measuring-reed qanu, the
Greek κανών – kanon – reed,rod,rule
- and the
Latin canna). Possibly he carried
these as “emblems of building activity”
(Hengstenberg), and because “he
had many and different things to measure”
(Kliefoth); but most likely the
line was meant to measure large dimensions
(compare ch. 47:3) and such as
could not be taken by a straight stick, as e.g.
the girth of pillars, and the rod to measure smaller
dimensions, like those of
the gates and walls of the temple. Hitzig’s
conjecture, that the line was linen
because the place to be measured was the sanctuary, whose
priests were
obliged to clothe themselves in linen, Kliefoth
rightly pronounces artificial and
inaccurate, since the line was made, not of manufactured
flax, or linen, but
of the raw material. That the “man” was Jehovah or the
Angel of the
Presence (compare ch. 9:2) the
analogy of Amos 8:7-8 and the
statement of Ezekiel in ch. 44:2,
5 would seem to suggest; only it
is not certain in the last of these passages that the
speaker was “the man”
and not rather “the God of
house (see ch. 43:2), and whose
voice is once at least distinguished
from that of the man (ibid.
v. 6). Accordingly, Kliefoth, Smend,
and others identify the “man” with the ordinary angelus interpres (the
interpreting angel – compare Revelation 21:9). The gate in which he stood
“waiting for the new comer” was manifestly the north gate,
since Ezekiel
came from the north, though Havernick
and Smend put in a plea for the east
gate, on the grounds that it was the principal entrance to
the sanctuary, and
the distance between it and the north gate, five hundred
cubits, was too
great to be passed over so slightly as in v. 6.
The Man with the Measuring-Reed
(v. 3)
We shall lose ourselves in a jungle of fancies if we
attempt to see mystical
allusions in the various measurements of Ezekiel’s
prophetic city. What we
may call Pythagorean theology, the exegesis that
runs riot among the
numbers and dates of prophecy, has done much to suggest
doubt as to the
plain, direct use of the Bible. We have no evidence that
the measurements
of the exalted city contain any spiritual symbolism.
Neither, as
Hengstenberg has wisely pointed out, are the proportions of the city so
colossal as to suggest an unheard-of splendor of size. The
new Jerusalem is
much smaller than
were joined on to our huge
for a city.
Why, then, does Ezekiel call attention to the man with the
measuring-reed?
And why does he give the exact details of the plan of the
city and temple?
However we may shun mysticism in favor of prosaic
literalism, we must
not forget that Ezekiel was a prophet, not an architect.
Why, then, does he
fill his pages with these architectural details? Ezekiel
must mean to suggest
certain characteristics of the happy future.
- REALITY. Ezekiel here comes down
to concrete facts. There is nothing
that so impresses men with a
sense of reality as a vivid presentation of
details. Much religious teaching
is unimpressive because it is too general
and abstract. Christ’s teaching
was very concrete; he dwelt on illustrative
specimens, rather than on
general principles. Therefore “the common
people heard him
gladly” (Mark 12:37). Reality marked off the teaching
of Christ from the dry
discussions of rabbinical lore. A significant rebuke
of much religious teaching is
unconsciously conveyed by the remark of the
rustic who, on hearing that some
one had been to
with amazement, “I thought
- DEFINITENESS. The new Jerusalem is
to be no city of cloudland, its
golden streets and rosy domes
passing one into another and melting while
we gaze at it. Here we have
sharp outlines as well as solid substances.
Many people sadly
need a man with the measuring-reed to define their
religions
notions. We are suffering from a
violent reaction against the old
exactness of theological definition,
according to which heavenly things
were most minutely mapped out
without a shadow of doubt. We now
greatly lack precision of
thought. Men’s ideas are generally hazy. They
want outline.
- ORDER. The several parts being
measured off will stand in their
allotted places. The private
house will not trespass on the line of the street,
nor will one builder interfere
with the foundations of another. There is
order in the kingdom of
religion. We need it:
Ø
in thought, that our
ideas may be rightly arranged;
Ø
in work, that we may
not clash with one another;
Ø
in the social element
of religion, that each may take his place.
The Church is not a mob.
- DIVINE
DIRECTION. Ezekiel wrote
as a prophet, as a messenger of
God. Moses was to make the
tabernacle after the pattern shown to him in
the mount (Exodus 25:40). God
cares for the smallest details of His
people’s life and work. We
should seek for His guidance in these matters.
Measurement (v. 3)
It strikes the reader of this prophetic book as strange that
several chapters
towards its close should be chiefly occupied with
measurements of the
temple which Ezekiel saw in his vision. The reed and the
line seem at first
sight to have little to do with a prophetic vision.
Especially does this seem
the case when it is perceived to how large an extent these
measurements
are a repetition of those found in earlier books of the
Scriptures. But
reflection will show us that measurements such as are here
described may
suggest thoughts very helpful to the devout, religious
mind.
- MEASUREMENTS ARE NECESSARY IN ORDER TO
THE
EXPLANATION OF PROPORTION ORDER, AND BEAUTY. It is well
known to students of science
that mathematical relations are found to exist
where an ordinary observer would
little expect to find them. When they
come to ask whether explanation
can be given of such differences as those
which obtain between different
colors and different sounds, they are led to
investigations which show that
regular variations in the number of
vibrations in a second, whether
of the ether or of the atmosphere, account
for the differences in question.
When they come to ask why the heavenly
bodies fulfill their regular
movements and preserve their beautiful harmony,
they are led to investigations
which issue in the discovery that
mathematical laws govern — as
the phrase is — the movements which
excite our wonder and
admiration. These are but familiar illustrations of a
principle which is recognized
throughout the material universe. If we may
use such language with
reverence, we may say that the cosmos is
evidently
the work of a
great Mathematician, Measurer, and Mechanic. When we
turn from the works of nature to
works of art, we are confronted by the
same principle. If a building,
whether a temple or a palace, be erected, it is
constructed upon principles
which involve numerical relations and
measurements. The sculptor
measures his proportions in trunk and head
and limb; the poet measures the
feet in his verse. Wherever we find order
and beauty, we have but to look
below the surface, and we shall discover
numbers and measurements.
- MEASUREMENTS ARE EVIDENCES OF MIND.
There are
different grades of
intelligence, and this is nowhere more obvious than in
the varying degrees in which
human workmanship is regulated by
mathematical principles. The
rudest wigwam is a proof of design and of
adaptation, of the possession by
the builder of some powers of space-
measurement. But a complicated machine, such as a watch or
a steam
engine, bears unmistakable
evidence of mathematical as well as of
manipulative ability. If a
temple be constructed, of vast size, of harmonious
proportions, of symmetry,
containing many parts all bound into an organic
unity, it speaks to every
beholder of a mind — a mind capable and
cultured, a mind patient and
comprehensive. To those who believe in the
existence of God, the material
universe is full of evidences of His
unequalled and
supreme intellect; the measurements of
the scientific
observer are sufficient to
establish this conviction. The universe is God’s
temple, and all its lines are
laid down, all its parts are coordinated, in such a
manner as to evince what, in
human language, we may term measurements
the most complete
and the most exact. To the deeply
reflecting mind, the
existence of the spiritual
temple is even more eloquent concerning the
attributes and especially the
comprehensive and foreseeing wisdom of the
Eternal.
- MATERIAL MEASUREMENTS ARE PROPERLY
SYMBOLICAL
OF THE SPIRITUAL. A
reflecting reader of these chapters will hardly rest
in any conclusions regarding a
structure of stone, of timber, of precious
metal. Whatever may be his canon
of interpretation, whether he adopts the
literal or the figurative
principle, whether or not he looks for a material
temple still to be reared upon the
soil of
him the material and perishable
constructions of human skill and labor are
chiefly interesting as the
embodiment of thought and the suggestion of
eternal realities. The universe
is God’s temple; the body of Christ was
God’s temple; the Church is the
chosen and sacred temple of the Eternal
and Supreme. The thoughts of
those who meditate upon these remarkable
chapters of Ezekiel will be
sadly misdirected if they do not ascend to Him
who is both the Architect of the
sanctuary and the one supreme Deity to
whom is directed all the
sacrifice and all the worship presented within its
hallowed precincts.
Divine Measurement (v. 3)
Assuming that the realization of this vision is found in no
actual structure
ever built by the hand of man, but in that great spiritual
edifice, the Church
of Jesus Christ, which is still in course of erection,
we ask what it is that is
measured by the tape, or the reed, which the heavenly
messenger holds in
his hand. What are the heights and the depths and the
lengths that are seen
and reckoned in the
- SINCERITY.
There may be much singing and many “prayers,” and
much preaching; there may be
multiplied activities of many kinds; but if
there be not sincerity and
simplicity of heart, there will be nothing for the
measuring angel to record. If,
however, in the culture of our own character
or in the work we do for our
Lord, our hearts go forth in genuine
endeavor, if we think and feel
what we say, if we mean what we do, if the
purpose of our soul is toward
God and toward the honor of His Name, —
then we are really “building"; and the more of spirituality and of
earnestness there is in our
effort, the higher will the figure be which the
recording angel enters in his
book.
- TRUSTFULNESS. “Without faith it is impossible to please God”
(Hebrews
11:6)in anything we
undertake for Him. The measure of our trustfulness is,
to a large extent, the
degree of our acceptableness. Trustfulness is in the
freeness and
fullness of the grace of God, in the presence and the promises
of the Son of
God, in the power of the Spirit of God to enlighten and to
renew. The more of this element in our personal relations with God
and in
our Christian walk, the higher
the sacred fabric rises in the reckoning of the
heavenly world.
- LOVE.
This is an essential element in all Christian edification.
Ø Love to Christ Himself.
o
The restraining love, which keeps back from all evil;
o
the
constraining love, which inspires to cheerful and prompt
obedience;
o
the
submissive love, which knows how to endure as seeing the
Invisible
One;
o
the
lasting love, which outlives all the changes and
triumphs
over all
the difficulties of human life.
Ø Love
to Christian men; which
is more and better than being drawn
toward the
amiable and the attractive; which consists in the outgoing of
the heart
toward all the disciples of Jesus Christ because they are such,
even though in
taste and temper and habit of life they may differ from
ourselves;
which includes the willingness to acknowledge all that love
Christ, and to
work with them in every open way.
Ø Love to those outside the Christian pale — the love of a holy pity for
men who are
wrong because they are wrong, which shows itself in active,
practical,
self-denying labor to raise and to restore them. The practical
question for
each man and for every Church to ask is this — When the
measuring angel
comes to us, and applies his reed to our worship, our
work, our life,
what is the entry he makes? what is his measurement? There
may be
balance-sheets and attendances, activities and engagements, which
are very
satisfactory in the human estimate, but if simplicity, trustfulness,
love, be not found,
there is nothing to count in the reckoning of Heaven
(see I
Corinthians 13.).
4 “And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes,
and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart
upon all that I shall
shew thee; for to the
intent that I might shew them unto thee art
thou brought
hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of
ch.
44:5) intimated the importance of the communication about to be made,
and reminded him of the necessity of giving it the closest attention in order
to be able to impart it to the people (compare
ch.43:10-11).
Vision of the New
These
visions of the restored temple are a fitting close to
this series of
revelations. The opening visions displayed the righteous
God marching
forth in majestic splendor to vindicate Himself. His vast
army is at hand to
execute His royal will. Now the will of God upon
Exile has done its gracious work. The old love of idolatry is
killed. In
vision at least the people have returned in loyalty to
their own King. A
regeneration of heart and life has occurred. Bright prospects of return to
permanently in
temple. This had been the visible symbol of their elevation
and their
strength. Shall their temple lift its royal domes
heavenward again?
- RIGHT
ASPIRATIONS QUALIFY MEN TO RECEIVE FRESH
REVELATIONS FROM GOD. The frame of thought and feeling in
Ezekiel’s mind was an essential condition for obtaining this vision. Natural
principles prevailed then as
now. Ezekiel was by birth and office a priest.
Nor was he, as many had been, a
priest simply by hereditary right. He was
in every fiber of his nature a
priest. His soul yearned to see Jehovah
enthroned in his
temple at
at the altars of the Most High.
The visions and promises God had
vouchsafed to him touching the
reoccupation of the land had revived his
hopes. He longed to see the
gracious promise fulfilled. To Ezekiel, in this
state of sanguine hopefulness,
the new vision came. Earnest zeal for God’s
glory is a condition essential
to gain further knowledge of his will. “The
secret of the Lord
is with them that fear Him, and he will show to them His
covenant.” (Psalm 25:14) As steel points draw off the electric fluid,
so
a state of childlike affection
draws down communications from God.
- FOR EVERY KIND OF
SERVANTS. As soon as
Ezekiel was transported in vision to
Mount
the new temple. Without doubt
the unfallen angels have differences of
character and differences of endowment
as great as appear among men.
Very likely qualities of mind
are even more varied and diverse in heaven
than upon earth.
Ø
Gabriel is described to us as the presence-angel — a sort
of prime minister.
Ø
Michael is always spoken of as engaging in battle for
Jehovah — a
commander-in-chief in the army of God.
Some angels at least have gifts
of music and of song. This visitor from the
heavenly realm who met Ezekiel
on the mount was endowed with architectural
skill, and unfolded
specifications and plans for the house of God. “His
appearance was
like the appearance of brass” —
steadfast, durable,
irresistible. His qualities were
the very opposite of a weak, timid, vacillating
person. The circumstances were
such that severe opposition was expected,
and the architect of God was
well-prepared for his task. So has it always
been in human history.
Ø
Gideon was the man for
his times.
Ø
Elijah was well
adapted for his age.
Ø
Paul well fitted the
niche he occupied.
- TO RECEIVE
REVELATIONS FROM GOD EVERY HUMAN
ORGAN MUST BE ACTIVE.
“Behold with thine
eyes, and hear with
thine ears, and set thine heart upon
all that I shall show thee.” The eye and
the ear are the
channels through which we obtain the raw material of
information, which
is manufactured into wisdom by the machinery of the
mind. God does degrade men by using them only as machines. He
will not
do for them what they can do for
themselves. He will give no premium to
indolence. By the diligent use
of our highest faculties we rise into higher
states of life and joy.
Ø
It was after a season
of prayer that Jesus was transfigured.
(Matthew 17)
Ø
While David “mused,
the fire burned.” (Psalm 39:3)
Ø
He that uses well his
ten talents obtains largest reward. (Matthew 25:16)
Ø
The eunuch was diligently
scanning the Scriptures when the interpreter
came to him. (Acts 8:27-40)
Ø
While Daniel was
speaking in prayer, Gabriel arrived to unfold the
heavenly mysteries. (Daniel
9:21)
We do not receive larger and
clearer revelation from God because our minds
and hearts are not open wide to
receive it. The oil stayed because there was
no empty vessel.
- DIVINE
KNOWLEDGE IS GIVEN THAT IT MAY BE
COMMUNICATED. “Declare all that thou seest
to the house of
the
in order that he may distribute.
This is God’s great principle of economy.
He kindles the light on one
point, that from this point other torches may be
lighted. “Freely ye have received, freely
give.” The fount of knowledge is
fed by what it gives out, as
well as by what it receives. By virtue of St.
Paul’s possession of the gospel
mysteries he counted himself a debtor both
to the Greek and to the
barbarian. Men of God are stewards of spiritual
blessing, God’s almoners to the world. God has enlightened us that
the
light may shine out upon others.
God has enriched us that we may enrich
the poor. God has filled us with
sacred comfort that we may comfort the
distressed. God has made His
servants trustees for humanity. “No man
liveth unto himself; no man dieth unto
himself.”
The Office of the Prophet (v. 4)
The angel who was
appointed to show to Ezekiel the temple of vision, and
to take its measurements in his presence, and to explain
its details and its
various purposes, prefaced his special mission by an
exhortation in which
he expressed, in a very complete and instructive manner,
the vocation and
functions of a true prophet.
- IN ORDER
THAT THERE MAY BE PROPHECY, THERE MUST
BE A REVELATION. In the case before us there was a temple to be seen,
and there was an angel to
exhibit and to explain it. In every case where a
man has been called upon to
fulfill the office of a prophet, there has been a
special
manifestation of the Divine mind and will. The prophet may be
gifted, original, luminous; but he does not, so far as he is a prophet, utter
forth his own thoughts or deal
with any matter according to the light of his
own reason. There must be a
communication from the Being who is the
Source of all
good for men. Otherwise the vocation
of the prophet is
endued with no peculiar, Divine
authority.
- IN ORDER THAT THERE MAY BE PROPHECY,
THERE MUST
BE THE ATTENTIVE AND OBSERVANT INTELLIGENCE. “Behold
with thine eyes, and hear with thine
ears.” Such was the admonition of the
angel to Ezekiel. A prophet must
be a man gifted with powers of
observation and understanding.
He is not a passive medium, but an active
agent. He exercises his human
faculties, thinks and feels in a truly human
way. Even if they had not
received the prophetic commission, the seers of
signs of the times.”
In a word, to be a prophet, one must be a man.
- IN ORDER
THAT THERE MAY BE PROPHECY, THERE MUST
BE A RECEPTIVE SPIRITUAL NATURE. “Set thine heart
upon all that
I shall show
thee.” Such was the further admonition
addressed to the
prophet. His was not a work to
be discharged in a perfunctory, official,
uninterested manner. Not only was
it required that the intellect should be
alert, the spiritual nature
needed to be receptive and responsive.
Intelligence is sufficient for
some services; but for a spiritual ministry there
is needed a spiritual
susceptibility, a spiritual energy. The message of
God
needs to be assimilated and
appropriated, to enter into the prophet’s very
nature — to become, so to
speak, part of himself. The evidence is
abundant that such was the case
with Ezekiel. He felt deeply what he
received and what he had to communicate.
It was to him “the burden of the
Lord,” by which he was oppressed as well as laden, yet which, for
his
country’s sake he was willing to
bear.
- IN ORDER THAT THERE MAY BE PROPHECY, THERE
MUST
BE THE COMMUNICATION OF THE TIDINGS, THE THREAT OR
THE PROMISE, TO THOSE TO WHOM THE PROPHET IS SENT.
“Declare all that
thou seest to the house of
are receptive, but not
communicative; deep thinkers, who are lacking in the
power of the orator, the author,
the artist; for whose greatness the world
has little reason to be
thankful. Mystic communers with heaven may see
visions and hear voices, and yet
may not be able to communicate their
experiences to their fellow-men.
Not such was the case with the Hebrew
prophets. They went forth from the presence of the Lord as His
heralds and
authoritative
agents and messengers to their countrymen. Nothing hindered
them from discharging the duties
of their office. They sought not men’s
favor and they feared not men’s
frown. Whether men would hear or
forbear was not a matter for
them to consider. It was theirs to
relate what
they had seen
and heard and known of THE COUNSELS OF THE
ETERNAL!
The Outer Court, with its Gates and Chambers (vs. 5-27)
o
the enclosing wall (v.
5);
o
the east gate (vs.
5-16);
o
the outer court (vs.
17-19);
o
the north gale (vs.
20-23);
o
the south gate (vs.
24-27).
5 “And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about,
and in
the man’s hand a
measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit
and an hand
breadth: so he measured the breadth of the building,
one reed; and the
height, one reed.” The enclosing wall. And behold
a wall on the
outside of the house round about. The “house” — tyiB"h"
with the article — was the temple as the
dwelling-place of Jehovah; only
not the temple proper, but the whole complex
structure. The “wall” belonged
to the outer court; that of the inner court being
afterwards mentioned (ch 42:7).
In having a “wall round about” Jehovah’s sanctuary resembled both Greek and
Babylonian shrines (see Herod., 1:18; ‘ Records of the
Past,’ vol. 5:126),
but differed from both the tabernacle, which had none, and
from the
Solomonic temple, whose “wall”
formed no essential part of the sacred
structure, but was more or less of arbitrary erection on
the part of Solomon
and later kings. Here, however, the wall constituted an
integral portion of
the whole; and was designed, like that in ch. 42:20, “to make a
separation between
the sanctuary and the profane place,” as
the Greeks
distinguished between the βέβηλον - bebaelon - threshold and the ἱερόν - hieron -
sanctuary, sacred place, temple - (see Thucyd., 4:95). Its
breadth and height were the same (compare Revelation 21:16)
— one
reed, of six
cubits by the cubit and an hand-breadth; that is to say, each
cubit measured an ordinary cubit and a hand-breadth
(compare ch. 43:13).
Hengstenberg suggests that the greater cubit of Ezekiel was
borrowed from the Chaldeans; and
certainly Herodotus (1. 178) speaks of
a royal cubit in
ordinary measure, while in
were current (Bockhart, ‘Metrol. Untersuch,’ p. 212);
“from which it
might be supposed,” says Smend,
“that the same thing held good for
Minor.” Still, the hypothesis is likelier that the cubit in
question was the old
Mosaic cubit — the cubit of a man (Deuteronomy 2:11), equal
to the
length of the forearm from the elbow to the end of the
longest finger —
which was employed in the building of the Solomonic temple (II Chronicles 3:3).
Assuming the cubit to have been eighteen inches, the height
and breadth of the
wall would be nine feet — no great elevation, and
presenting a striking contrast
to the colossal proportions of city walls in
1:170; ‘ Records of the Past,’ vol. 5:127, 1st series), and
even of the walls of
the first temple in
lay a special significance, since, as the city-like temple
stood in no need of
walls and bulwarks for defense, the lowness of its walls
would permit it the
more easily to be seen, would, in fact, make it a
conspicuous object to all
who might approach it for worship.
6 “Then came he unto the gate which looketh
toward the east, and
went up the
stairs thereof, and measured the threshold of the gate,
which was one
reed broad; and the other threshold of the gate,
which was one
reed broad.” The east gate. The gate which looketh
toward the east; literally, whose face was toward the east. That this
was
not the gate in which
the angel had been first observed standing seems implied
in the statement
that he came to it. That he began with it is satisfactorily
accounted for by remembering that the east gate was the
principal
entrance, and stood directly in front of the porch of the
temple proper. The
same reasons will explain the fullness of description
accorded to it rather
than to the others. It was ascended by stairs, or steps, of which the number
seven is omitted,
though it is mentioned in connection with the north (v. 22)
and south (v. 26) gates. “The significance was obvious,”
writes
Plumptre. “Men must ascend in heart and mind as they enter the
sanctuary,
and the seven steps represented the completeness at last of
that ascension.”
The steps lay outside the wall, and at their head had a threshold (סַפ,
properly an “expansion,” or “spreading out”) one reed broad, i.e.
measuring inwards from east to west, the thickness of the
wall. Its
extension from south to north, afterwards stated, was ten
cubits, or fifteen
feet (v. 11). The last clause, improperly rendered, and the other
threshold (Authorized and Revised Versions), or “the back threshold”
(Ewald), of the gate which was
one reed, should be translated, even one
threshold (Revised
Version margin), or the first threshold, as distinguished
from the second, to be afterwards specified (v. 7);
compare Genesis 1:5,
“the first (one)
day.”
The Gate which Looketh toward the East. (v. 6)
Let us clearly understand that this is only a prosaic
description of part of
cannot fairly see in these words any profound mystical
allusions. But we
may use them as illustrations of other things, as we may
take nature in
illustration of religion without believing that our
parables are founded on
fixed, objective, Swedenborgen-like
correspondences. Let us, then, follow
the fancy which the picture of a gate looking towards the
east may call up
when we take it as an illustration of what may be similar
in other regions of
life.
- AN ORIENTAL OUTLOOK. The
she has a gate which looketh towards the East. We must never forget that
our religion comes from the
East. In form it is Oriental still.
Ø We need to remember this fact when we are
in danger of interpreting its
glowing
metaphors in the cold matter-of-fact style of the West.
Ø It might quiet the pride of
what is best in
European civilization to an Asiatic stock.
Ø The wonder is that the unprogressive East
produced the most
progressive
religion. The world-religion of Christ sprang from
very fact
testifies to its Divine origin.
Ø It shows, however, that Orientals
especially should receive the gospel.
- AN OUTLOOK TOWARDS THE LIGHT.
The light dawns in the
East. We all need light, and
should love, seek, and cherish it. We are too
satisfied with our dim, human, artificial
light, instead of looking for that
Light of the world, which is
indeed the Light of the ages. The true
Christian will be ever looking towards Christ,
his Sun. (Malachi 4:2)
- AN OUTLOOK TOWARDS THE NEW DAY.
Each day begins in
the east. We shall miss the
sunrise if we set our faces towards the west.
Some natures always incline to
turn with a melancholy gaze towards the
waning light of setting suns. They deplore the good old times; they weep
over the days that have been,
but can never be again; they weary their souls
with incessant regrets. This
continuous dreaming on the past is
unwholesome; it tends to
paralyze our energies and leave us in neglect of
the duties as well as the hopes of the
future. They are wiser who, like
Paul, forget the things that are
behind, and reach forth unto those which
are before “I press toward the mark of the
high calling of God in
Christ
Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14). God has a new day of light and
service for the saddest, most
wearied soul that will turn to His grace.
Wise men live in the future;
they look to the rising sun.
- AN OUTLOOK
TOWARDS CHRIST. The first sight which many a
visitor to
earnest desire is to climb the
very hill that Jesus Christ often trod. Of all
sacred spots about
the eastern gate
looks right on the
prospect is profoundly
interesting. Yet CHRIST HAS
ARISEN! HE IS
NOT THERE! What we now look for is an eastern gate of the
soul
turned to that everliving Christ who ascended from the
(I recommend looking at the
pictures in Ezekiel 43 – this website – CY –
2017)
“Faith
has yet her Olivet, And Love her
7 “And every little chamber was one reed long, and one reed
broad;
and between the
little chambers were five cubits; and the threshold
of the gate by
the porch of the gate within was one reed.”
And every little
chamber. Proceeding inward
beneath a
covered porch, the exact width of the gate and threshold, i.e.
ten cubits,
the prophet’s guide, after having passed the threshold,
conducted him to a
series of lodges, תָּאִיִם, or “guard-chambers,” six in number, three on each
side (v. 10), one reed or six cubits square, roofed (v.
11), and
separated from each other by a space of five cubits square,
open overhead
and closed towards the north or south as the case might be
by a side wall.
These “lodges,” or “cells,” were intended for the Levite
sentinels who kept
guard over the house (see ch.
44:11, 14; and compare I Kings
14:28; II Chronicles 12:11). Beyond the cells stretched the
threshold of
the gate by the
porch (Hebrew,
אוּלָם; the Septuagint, αἰλάμ - ailam -Vulgate,
vestibulum, “a portico”) of
the gate within; literally, from the house; i.e.
the gate fronting one coming from the temple, hence the
gate looking
“towards the house.” מֵהַבַּיִת
- “from the house,” does not qualify the
threshold as if to indicate that this was an interior
threshold in contrast to
the former, or exterior, but “the gate,” its intention
being to state that the
porch in front of which extended the second “threshold” was
the vestibule
or portico before the gate which conducted inwards towards the
temple, or
on which one first stepped on his way from the temple.
8 “He measured also the porch of the gate within, one reed.
9 Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and
the posts
thereof, two
cubits; and the porch of the gate was inward.”
The divergent measurements of this porch, which are given
in these verses, led the Septuagint and the Vulgate to
reject v. 8 as spurious,
and it is certainly wanting in some Hebrew manuscripts. Hitzig, Ewald, and
Smend have accordingly expunged it from the text — an altogether
unnecessary proceeding. The seeming discrepancy may be
removed by
supposing either, with Kliefoth,
that v. 8 furnishes the measurement of
the porch from east to west, and v. 9 its measurement from
north to
south, with the measurements in addition of the posts
(אֵלִים,
from אַיִל,
“a ram,” hence anything curved or twisted), i.e. pillars
or jambs; or, with
Keil, that v. 8 states the depth from east to west, and v. 9
the length
from north to south. The “posts,” which were sixty cubits
high (v. 14),
were two cubits square at the base.
10 “And the little chambers of the gate eastward were three on
this
side, and three
on that side; they three were of one measure: and
the posts had one
measure on this side and on that side.”
Having reached the furthest limit westward, the guide
retraces
his steps backward in an easterly direction, noting that on
the side of the
covered way opposite to that already examined the same
arrangements
existed as to “lodges” and “posts,” the latter of which (אֵילִים) are here
first mentioned in connection with the guardrooms, and must
be
understood as signifying pillars or jambs in front of the
walls. Their
measurements, which were equal, were probably as in v. 9,
two cubits
square.
11 “And he measured the breadth of the entry of the gate, ten
cubits; and the
length of the
gate, thirteen cubits.” The breadth of the entry (literally, opening)
of the gate, ten cubits.
Obviously this measurement was taken from north to south
of the gate-entrance
(v. 6), and represented the whole breadth of the doorway
and the threshold, or one-fifth of the entire length of the
gate-building. The
second portion of the verse, the length of the gate thirteen cubits, is
explained by Bottcher, Hitzig, Havernick, Keil (with whom Plumptre
agrees), as signifying the length of the covered way from
the east entrance,
since it is supposed the whole length of forty cubits (the
length of the gate
without the porch) would hardly be roofed in; so that
assuming a similar
covered way of thirteen cubits at the other end of the
gate-building, as one
came “from the house,” there would be an open space, well,
or uncovered
courtyard, of fourteen cubits in length and six broad,
enclosed on all sides
by gate-buildings. The roofs extending from the east and
west would be
supported on the “posts” of the chambers mentioned in v.
10. Smend,
however, infers, from the windows in the posts within the
gate (v. 16),
that the whole extent was roofed in, and accordingly can
offer no
explanation of the clause; Kliefoth
and Schroder prefer to regard the
thirteen cubits as the height of the gate, although the
word translated
“length” never elsewhere has this meaning.
Entrance to the Kingdom (vs. 6-11)
Much mention is made, in this description of the temple, of
the gates of
that building; access was provided in abundance to its
interior as well as
exterior compartments. Having regard to the
this ideal structure is a picture (see homily – v. 3 – Divine
Measurement),
and taking into our thought the work and the teaching of
our Lord on the
subject, we learn:
- THAT THERE
IS
is that Way. “I am the Way,… no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me”
(John 14:6); “I am
the Door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be
saved” (John 10:9). Through Him “both [Jews and Gentiles]
have
access… unto the
Father” (Ephesians 2:18); “There
is one Mediator
between God and
men, the Man Christ Jesus” (I Timothy
2:5). To know
Jesus Christ, to trust and love,
to serve and follow Him — that is the way
to find eternal life. “Whosoever
believeth in Him has life eternal.”
- THAT THERE ARE MANY APPROACHES TO THE
KINGDOM.
Though there is but one “door” or “way” into the kingdom, but one Divine
Savior in whom to trust and by
whom to be redeemed, yet are there many
approaches that may be regarded
as “gates,”
many paths that lead to Him
and to His salvation. We may be
led to Him:
Ø
By our sense of the
priceless value of the human soul and our
knowledge that only He can bless it.
Ø
By our view of the
seriousness of our human life and the desire to
place it under his wise and holy guidance.
Ø
By the example and
influence of those to whom we are most nearly
related.
Ø
By the attractiveness we see in Him, the Lord of love and
truth.
Ø
By the felt force of
the claims of the heavenly Father, and the belief
that it is God’s will that we should hear and follow Him, His
Son!
- THAT MEN COME FROM ALL QUARTERS TO THE
KINGDOM. There were
gates facing the north, the south, and the east;
and in another book (Revelation)
we read of gates in all four directions
(Revelation 21:13). To the broad and blessed
come: it is not a provision for
one type of mind, or for one particular race,
or for one social class, but for all
types, races, classes. In Jesus Christ
there
is neither Greek nor Jew, male
nor female, bond nor free; there is neither
poor nor rich, learned nor
ignorant, philosophical nor simple-minded. From
every quarter in
the great world of men there come to the kingdom those
who need and who
find all that they crave in Christ Jesus the Lord.
(And the nations of them which are saved
shall walk in the light of
it: and the kings of the earth do bring
their glory and honor into it.
And the gates of it shall not be shut at all
by day: for there shall be
no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honor of
the nations
into it. (Revelation 21:24-26)
- THAT THE GATE
IS TOO NARROW FOR SOME. He who is
swollen with pride cannot pass
through it; nor he who is cumbered with
worldliness; nor he who is
filled with selfishness; nor he who is gross with
self-indulgence (Matthew 7:14).
- THAT IT IS BROAD ENOUGH FOR ALL
EARNEST SEEKERS.
They who are in earnest as
disciples of truth, as seekers after God; they
who profoundly
desire to return unto their heavenly Father and to
secure
eternal life, will not find the gate
of the gospel too narrow. They will gladly
part with their pride and their
selfishness, with their vanities and their
indulgences; they will come eagerly to the
Lord and Savior of mankind,
that they may take everything
from Him and yield everything to Him.
12 “The space also before the little chambers was one cubit on
this
side, and the
space was one cubit on that side: and the little
chambers were six
cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side.”
The space also
before the little chambers; more correctly,
and a border before
the ledges. Though the construction of this border,
fence, or barrier (compare 27:4; 43:13, 17; Exodus 19:12)
is
not described, its design most likely was to enable the
guardsman, by
stepping beyond his cell, to observe what was going on in
the gate without
either interrupting or being interrupted by the passengers.
As the barrier
projected one cubit on each side of the ten-cubit way, only
eight cubits
remained for persons going in or out.
13 “He measured then the gate from the roof of one little
chamber to
the roof of
another: the breadth was five and twenty cubits, door
against door.” The breadth of the gate from the roof of one little chamber or
lodge to another, measuring from door to door, was five and twenty
cubits, which were thus made up: 10 cubits of footway + 12 (2 × 6)
cubits
for the two guard-rooms + 3 (2 × say 1.5) cubits for the
thickness of the
two side walls = 25 cubits in all. According to v. 42, the
length of a hewn
stone was one cubit and a half. The doors from which the
measurements
were taken must have been in the side walls at the back of
the guard-looms.
14 “He made also posts of threescore cubits, even unto the
post of the
court round about
the gate.” He made also posts. In using the verb “made”
the prophet either
went back in thought to the time when the man who then
explained the building
had fashioned it (Hengstenberg); or he employed the
term in the
sense of constituit, i.e. fixed or
estimated, “inasmuch as such a height
could not be measured from the bottom to the top with the
measuring-rod”
(Keil). The “posts,” the אֵילִים of v.
9, were sixty cubits high, and
corresponded to the towers in modern churches. To the
objection
sometimes urged against what is called the “exaggerated”
height of these
columns, Kliefoth replies, “If it
had been considered that our church towers
have grown up out of gate-pillars, that one can see, not
merely in Egyptian
obelisks and Turkish minarets, but also in our own hollow
factory
chimneys, how upon a base of two cubits, square pillars of
sixty cubits high
can be erected, and that finally the talk is of a colossal
building seen in
vision, no critical difficulties would have been discovered
in this statement
as to height.” The last clause, even unto the post of the court round
about the gate, should read, and the court reached unto the post
(אַיִל
being used collectively), the gate being round
about (Revised Version); or,
the court round about the gate reached to the pillars (Keil);
or, at the
pillar the court was
round about the gate (Kliefoth). The sense is,
that the
court lay round about the inner egress from the gate. The
Authorized
Version, with which Dr. Currey,
in the ‘Speaker’s Commentary,’ agrees,
thinks of an inner hall between the porch of the gate and
the two most
western guard-chambers, round the sides of which the
sixty-cubit columns
stood. Ewald, following the
corrupt text of the Septuagint translates, “And the
threshold of the outer vestibule twenty cubits, the gate
court abutting on
the chambers round about.”
15 “And from the face of the gate of the entrance unto the
face of the porch of
the inner gate
were fifty cubits.” The whole length of
the gate, from the outer
entrance to the inner
exit fifty cubits, was thus composed:
Ø
An outer threshold — 6
cubits
Ø
Three guard-chambers,
six cubits each —18 cubits
Ø
Two spaces between the
chambers, five cubits each — 10 cubits
Ø
An inner threshold — 6
cubits
Ø
A porch before the
gate — 8 cubits
Ø
One post, or pillar —
2 cubits
Total — 50 cubits
16 “And there were narrow windows to the little chambers, and
to their
posts within the
gate round about, and likewise to the arches: and windows
were round about
inward: and upon each post were palm trees.”
And there were narrow (Hebrew, closed) windows, probably
of lattice-work, so fixed as to prevent either egress or
ingress. That these
“windows” (חַלּ ונות, so called from being perforated) were intended to
impart light to the gateway, either in whole or in part, is
apparent, though
it is difficult to form a clear idea of how they were
situated. They were in
the chambers, and in their posts and in the arches, or colonnades
(Revised
Version margin). In the chambers, or “lodges,” they were
most likely in the
back walls, and in or near the posts, or pillars, belonging
to the doors of
these chambers, the clause, “and in their posts,”
being regarded as
epexegetic ("words added to convey more clearly the meaning
intended),
of the preceding, and designed to furnish a more precise
explanation
of the particular part of the guard-room in which the
windows
were. Similar windows existed in the Solomonic
temple (I Kings 6:4).
The “arches,” or “colonnades” (אֵלַ מּיִת), were probably wall-projections
on the sides of the chambers, so that light was admitted
from three sides.
Thus to one standing within, the whole gateway appeared
studded round
and round with windows. The description of the gate closes
with the
statement that upon each post were palm trees, which may
signify either
that the shaft was fashioned like a palm tree, as is
sometimes seen in
ancient buildings in the East (Dr. Currey,
Plumptre) or that it was
ornamented with representations of palm branches or palm
trees (Keil,
Ewald, Kliefoth). Hengstenberg’s
idea, that “whole palms beside the pillars
are meant,” is favored by Smend,
who cites, in addition to v. 26, ch. 41:18, etc.,
and I Kings 6:29; 7:36.
Palms upon the Posts: Ornamental Strength
(v. 16)
“Upon each post were palm trees.” It is well indeed to bring to the Church
of Christ:
- THE CONTRIBUTION OF STRENGTH.
There are disciples who add
little to the Church but feebleness.
They want to be continually comforted
or corrected; to be shielded or
to be sustained. We feel that the community
to which they belong would be
the stronger for their absence, except as
they supply suitable objects for
the exercise of Christian kindness, and in
this way for the development of the Church’s strength. But it cannot
be
said that this is at all a
satisfactory way of rendering service. We
rejoice,
and we believe that our Lord
Himself rejoices, in those who bring a solid
contribution of strength to
the cause of wisdom and of piety. These are
they who, with their Christian
principles, bring a trained and robust
intelligence, a sacred
sagacity, a well-gathered knowledge of men and
things; or who bring a liberal
spirit, an open hand, a large proportion of
their substance; or who bring
a loving spirit, a spirit of conciliation and
concession into the council,
and who are on the side of concord; or who
bring warmth, vigor, energy,
sustained zeal and hopefulness to the work
which is undertaken; or who
bring a large measure of devotion, of the spirit
of true reverence to the
worship of the Church. These are the “posts”
of
the temple; they “seem
to be pillars” (Galatians 2:9) and they are such.
And there is no reason why the
same members of the Church who bring
their contribution of strength
should not add:
- THE
ELEMENT OF BEAUTY. “Upon each post were palm trees.”
These posts were not unsightly
props, whose one and only service was that
of sustaining that which rested upon
them; they were so fashioned that they
adorned what they upheld. It is not always so in the spiritual temple. Some
posts have no palm trees
engraved upon them; they are rude, bare,
uncomely. They are tolerated for
the service they render; but for what they
are in themselves they are
heartily disliked. But this need never be. Why
should not the
strong be beautiful as well as helpful?
why should they not
add grace to
power? It is a serious mistake men
make when they think that
they may dispense with the finer
excellences of Christian character and life
because they contribute an
efficiency which others cannot render. The
uncultivated rudeness of many a
pillar in the Christian “temple” detracts
most seriously from its worth;
on the other hand, the palm trees upon the
posts constitute a very
appreciable addition. Be beautiful as well as strong.
“Whatsoever things
are lovely and of good report”
(Philippians 4:8) should
be “considered” well, and should
be secured as well as “whatsoever things
are true, honest,
just, and pure.” (ibid.) Add to your faith
virtue (manliness)
and knowledge, but do not fail
to add temperance (self-command), patience,
and charity as well. (II Peter 1:5-7) Strive after, pray for, carefully cultivate,
all that is beautiful in the
sight of man, in temper, in bearing, in spirit, in
word and deed; so shall the
value of your strength be greatly enhanced
in the estimate of Christ.
17 “Then brought he me into the outward court, and, lo, there
were
chambers, and a pavement
made for the court round about: thirty
chambers were
upon the pavement. 18 And the pavement by the
side
of the gates over
against the length of the gates was the lower pavement.
19 Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower
gate
unto the
forefront of the inner court without, an hundred cubits
eastward and
northward.” The outer court. Emerging from the
doorway
inwards, the prophet,
accompanied by his celestial guide, stepped into the
outward court, i.e.
the area surrounding the temple buildings. There the first
thing observed
was that chambers and a pavement ran
round the court. The
chambers were cells, or rooms — לִשָׁכות
always signifying single rooms in
a building (see ch. 42:1; I
Chronicles 9:26) — whose dimensions, exact sites,
and uses are not specified, though, as they were thirty in
number, it is probable
they were arranged on the east, north, and south sides of
the court, five upon
each side of the gate, and standing somewhat apart from
each other; that they
were large enough to contain as many as thirty persons (see
I Samuel 9:22; and
compare Jeremiah 35:2); and that they were designed for
sacrificial meals and
such-like purposes (see ch. 44:1,
etc.). In pre-exilic times such halls had
been occupied by distinguished persons connected with the
temple service
(see ch. 8:8-12; II Kings 23:11;
Jeremiah 35:4, etc.; 36:10; Ezra 10:6).
The pavement was a tessellated floor (decorated with
mosaics - compare
Esther 1:6; II Chronicles 7:3), which ran round the court
and was named
the lower pavement, to distinguish it from that laid in the inner court which
stood at a higher elevation than the outer. As another note
of position, it is
stated to have been by the side (literally, shoulder)
of the gates over
against — or, answerable
to (Revised Version) — the length
of the
gates. This can only mean that the breadth of the pavement was
fifty cubits
(the length of the gates, v. 15) less six cubits (the
thickness of the wall,
v. 5), or forty-four cubits, and that it ran along the
inner length of the
wall on either side of the gates. The breadth of the court from the
forefront of the
lower gate, i.e. from the
inner end of the east gate or the
edge of the pavement, unto the forefront of the inner court without was
an hundred cubits. Whether the measurement was up to the wall of the
inner court, within which, on this hypothesis, its gate
must have wholly
lain, or only up to the door of the inner court, which, on
this
understanding, must have projected beyond its wall, is
obscure. The first
interpretation derives support from the circumstance that
the terminus ad
quem of the measurement is
said to have been, not the inner gate, but the
inner court; while the second finds countenance in the use
of the
preposition מִחוּצ, which seems to indicate that the measuring proceeded
from the western extremity of the outer gate to the eastern
extremity of the
inner gate, and appears to be confirmed by vs. 23 and 27,
as well as by
the consideration that in this way the symmetry of the
building would be
better preserved than by making the outer gate project into
the court and
the inner gate lie wholly within the inner wall. In this
way the hundred
cubits marked the distance between the extremities of the
gates, the whole
breadth of the court being two hundred cubits, i.e. a
hundred cubits
between the gates, with two gates’ lengths of fifty cubits
each added. The
same measurements applied to the north gate, which the seer
next approached.
20 “And the gate of the outward court that looked toward the
north, he
measured the
length thereof, and the breadth thereof.
21 And
the little
chambers thereof
were three on this side and three on that side; and the
posts thereof and
the arches thereof were after the measure of the first gate:
the length
thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
22 And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees,
were
after the measure
of the gate that looketh toward the east; and they
went up unto it
by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before them.
23 And the gate of the inner court was over against the gate
toward
the north, and
toward the east; and he measured from gate to gate
an hundred
cubits.” The north gate. This was in all respects similar to that
upon the east, though its description proceeds in the
reverse order,
beginning with the three “chambers,” or lodges, on
each side of the
footway (v. 21), going on to the “posts,” “arches,” and
“windows,” and
ending with the outside steps, seven in number (v. 22),
which are here
first mentioned in connection with the gates. Its
dimensions were the same
as those of the “first” gate, fifty cubits long and
twenty-five cubits broad. It
stood exactly in front of a corresponding gate into the
inner court, and the
distance between the two gates was, as before, a hundred
cubits.
24 “After that he brought me toward the south, and behold a
gate
toward the south:
and he measured the posts thereof and the arches
thereof according
to these measures. 25 And there were windows
in it
and in the arches
thereof round about, like those windows: the length
was fifty cubits,
and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
26 And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches
thereof
were before them:
and it had palm trees, one on this side, and
another on that
side, upon the posts thereof. 27 And there was a gate
in the inner
court toward the south: and he measured from gate to gate
toward the south
an hundred cubits.” The south gate. Here again the same
details recur as to the
structure of the gate, its dimensions, and distance from
the gate which led into
the inner court.
God’s Kingdom Divinely Organized (vs. 5-27)
It is no part of God’s procedure to provide a sketch-plan
for His kingdom
and allow others to supply the details. In the kingdom of
material nature
His matchless wisdom has designed the minutest parts. In the construction
of the human body He has taken care to do the best in the
articulation of
every joint — in the interaction of the most delicate organ. So in the
building of His spiritual kingdom He has laid down all the
essential
principles that are to be embodied and perpetuated. At the
same time, there
is ample provision for the adaptation of these principles
to the changes
incident to the development of human character and incident
to the needs
of human society.
- THE LEADING IDEA OF THE
a wall on the
outside of the house round about.” The
etymological meaning
of the word “temple” conveys this lesson. It is a place “cut off,” i.e. cut off
from secular uses. The
MANKIND; yet it excludes whatever is selfish, base, corrupting, or
perishable.
There is exclusion as well as
inclusion. Its mission upon the earth is to
separate the
precious elements from the vile IN EVERY MAN! It is
designed
to elevate and purify what is
excellent in men; but mere dross it purges out. In
this work of separation — the
separation of the evil from the good — it is
a pattern of the heavenly city.
Gates are for exclusion and for safety.
- GOD’S
came he to the
gate... and went up the stairs thereof.”
The mind of man is,
in many respects, dependent upon
his body. As by steps we find an easy
method for bodily elevation, so
with spiritual ascent. An important lesson is
left upon the mind. The
elevation of the body aids the elevation of the soul.
On the great occasions on which
God descended and held intercourse with
men, the scene was the summit of
a mount.
Ø
On Horeb
God manifested Himself to Moses. (Exodus 33:6-23)
Ø
From Gerizim and Ebal the Law was to
be proclaimed.
Ø
On Moriah
Abraham was to present the great sacrifice of faith.
(Genesis 22)
Ø
On Nebo Moses was to
close his earthly career. (Deuteronomy 34)
Ø
On a mountain
(probably Hermon) Jesus was transfigured. (Mark 9)
Ø
From the slopes of
Olivet the Savior ascended to His throne.
(Acts
1:9-11)
Without question temple-worship
helps to lift the soul into a higher life.
The more we are with God the
purer and nobler we become.
- GOD’S
were many. They were wide. They
looked in all directions. These facts
impressed men with the truth
that God desires the society of men. He has
not retired from men into remote
seclusion. He invites them to the most
intimate friendship. His
dwelling shall have capacious gates. As with a
hundred voices, they seem to
accord a hearty welcome. We cannot come
too often. We cannot presume too
much on His friendship. “God is known
in his palaces for
a Refuge.” The
gates of His palace open to every point
—
NORTH, SOUTH, EAST
and WEST!
- GOD’S
the arches and upon the posts
were palm trees. “Strength and beauty are in
His sanctuary.” All beauty has its fount IN
GOD! He finds delight in the
outward forms of beauty. All His
works partake of beauty. But material
beauty is only the shadow of the
really beautiful:
Ø
Holiness is beauty.
Ø
Goodness is beauty.
Ø
Love is beauty.
Therefore in God’s house the
beautiful should everywhere appear.
- GOD’S
“there were
windows, and in the arches thereof round about.” However
small the chamber, it had a
window. For every department of human life
and service God provides light. It is an essential for human progress and
for human sanctity. As fast as
we appropriate God’s spiritual light He
supplies more. “Then
shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord.”
(Hosea 6:3)
- GOD’S
GOD. There was court within court — an outer court and an inner.
The proselytes from the
Gentiles might not come so near the
altars of God as the Hebrews. The
people of the tribe of Levi might
approach nearer than those of
other tribes. The high priest might, once a
year, come into closer access to
God than any other man on earth. All
these arrangements were types of better things, lessons of high spiritual
import. God will not
tolerate a rebellious will, nor allow, in His presence,
falsehood or
impurity. The barriers imposed served to teach men the
real
and tremendous evil of sin; they served to
encourage men IN THE
ABANDONMENT OF SIN that they might have the
friendship of God.
So far as men are in league with
sin they separate themselves from God
and from hope and from heaven.
It is not easy to regain moral purity
after it has been corrupted. It is impossible without God’s
help. But
it
is worth a lifelong effort to
get back to God, and to live as a child in
the sunshine of His smile. The method God has adopted to teach us
this lesson is a singular
accommodation of His grace to our ignorance
and to our weakness.
Vs.
28-47. The inner court, with its gates,
chambers and slaughtering-tables:
Ø
the south gate (vs.
28-31);
Ø
the cast gate (vs.
32-34);
Ø
the north gate (vs.
35-37);
Ø
the arrangements for
sacrifice (vs. 38-43); and
Ø
the chambers for the
officiating priests (vs. 44-47).
28 “And he brought me to the inner court by the south gate:
and he
measured the
south gate according to these measures; 29 And the little
chambers thereof,
and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, according
to these
measures: and there were windows in it and in the arches thereof
round about: it
was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
30 And the arches round about were five and twenty cubits
long, and
five cubits
broad. 31 And the arches thereof were toward the utter court;
and palm trees
were upon the posts thereof: and the going up to it had
eight
steps.” The south gate of the inner court. The construction
and
measurements of this corresponded with those of the gates
in the outer
court, with only two points of difference, viz. that it
possessed a flight of
eight steps instead of seven, and
that the arches, or
wall-projections, were
toward the outer
court. The difference in
the number of the steps was
doubtless of symbolic significance, and pointed not only to
the higher
sanctity in general which attached to the inner court, but
to the truth that,
as one approached the
dwelling-place of Jehovah, an
increasing measure
and degree of holiness were demanded — what Plumptre styles “an
everascending sursum corda.” (lift up your hearts) The seven steps of the
outer door added to the eight steps of this amount to
fifteen, with which
corresponds the number of the pilgrim-psalms (Psalm
120-134.), which are
supposed to have been sung, one upon each step, by the
choir of Levites as
they ascended first into the outer and then into the inner
court. The statement
that the wall projections were towards the outer court
showed that, in walking
through the inner gateway, one would reverse the order of
the outer gate, i.e.
would first pass through the porch, then cross the
threshold to the guardrooms,
next step upon the second threshold, and finally enter the
inner court.
32“And he brought me into the inner court toward the east:
and he
measured the gate
according to these measures. 33 And the little chambers
thereof, and the
posts thereof, and the arches thereof, were according to these
measures: and
there were windows therein and in the arches thereof round
about: it was
fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
34 And the arches thereof were toward the outward court; and
palm
trees were upon
the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side:
and the going up
to it had eight steps.” The east gate of
the inner court.
The same resemblance to
the outer gates are noted in connection with this
doorway, and the same
two points of distinction just commented on.
The Windows of the Church (vs. 22, 25, 29, 33)
Allusion is made again and again to the windows which were
to be provided in
this sacred edifice. The
and they must not be closed, but open for it has to:
- ACQUAINT
ITSELF WITH DIVINE TRUTH. Through the open
window we look out and see the
busy street and the ways of men; or we
see the fields and the hills and
the work of God. We acquaint ourselves
with what is passing in the
world. The
windows open, and be actively engaged in learning all that it can
acquire of
the heart and ways of men, and
also of the truth and the purposes of God.
It, after its Lord, is to be “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). It is
to be the source of all sacred
knowledge to the world; it is to enlighten
men on the two supreme subjects:
Ø
of their own
spiritual nature, with all its
possibilities of good and
evil, and,
Ø
of the Divine
Being, with all His holiness and His grace, with
all His power and
His patience, with all His expectation from them
and all His
nearness to them and His abiding in them.
And if it is to discharge
this high and noble function, the Church must not
only treasure what it has gained of heavenly wisdom, but it must be always
LEARNING OF GOD, always admitting the light of heaven,
always be
recipient of HIS TRUTH as that truth
bears on the present life of men,
as it affects
the spiritual and social struggles they are now passing through.
The Church that would not
close its door must keep its windows open, must
honestly and earnestly
believe that
“God has
yet more light
and truth
To break
forth from His Word.”
- ADMIT
HEAVENLY INFLUENCES. The open window means the
admission, not only of the
light, but also the air of heaven; and we need the
cleansing air quite as much as
the enlightening ray. Shut up to ourselves,
our souls become defiled,
deteriorated, enfeebled; open to the renewing
and cleansing air of heaven,
they are purified, ennobled, strengthened. It is
a very great advantage to live
or to worship in a building of good rather
than of poor dimensions, because
its air is purer and more healthful. It is a
very great benefit to belong to
a Church that is not cramped and bound
within narrow limits, in which
there is ample room for the circulation of all
reverent and earnest thought;
that is the most spiritually healthful
condition. But however large and
free be the community, we must have the
incoming of the influences which
are-outside, WHICH ARE FROM
ABOVE — the quickening,
illumining, kindling, cleansing, power of the
Spirit of
God. Without this we shall surely suffer deterioration and decline
— a decline that
slopes towards DEATH ITSELF! We must keep the heart
open, we must keep the Christian
Church open, to the best and highest
influences, if we would be and do
what Christ calls us to accomplish.
- ENGAGE IN
HOLY ACTIVITIES. We cannot work in the dark; we
pray thus:
“Lord,
give me light
to do thy work!”
And we do well to pray thus. But
we must take care that we do not shut
out the light by our own bad
building, by our own institutions, habits,
organizations, prejudices. We
must make our arrangements, lay our plans,
form our habits, so that we
receive all that we can gain with a special view
to Christian work. The
Church that is not learning of Christ in order to
labor for Him, is lacking in one
most important characteristic; it is missing
one main end of its existence. Let us take care that our institutions, our
societies, our Churches, are
so constructed that we shall be in the best
possible position, be under
the most favorable conditions, for earnest and
efficient work. Otherwise we shall not
be such a spiritual “temple” as our
Lord will look upon with
approval; and His measuring angel (see v. 3)
will have no satisfactory entry
to make in his record and to repeat to his
Lord.
35 “And he brought me to the north gate, and measured it according
to
these measures; 36 The little chambers
thereof, the posts thereof, and the
arches thereof,
and the windows to it round about: the length was fifty
cubits, and the
breadth five and twenty cubits. 37 And the posts thereof
were toward the
utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof,
on this side, and
on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps.”
The north
gate of the inner court. The same minute specification of the
guard-rooms, the pillars, wall-projections, windows, steps,
is again repeated,
as if to show that all
parts in this divinely fashioned edifice were of equal moment.
Vs.
38-43. — The arrangements for sacrifice.
Three things demand attention —
the cells for washing, the tables for slaughtering, and the
hooks.
38 “And the chambers and the entries thereof were by the posts
of the
gates, where they
washed the burnt offering.” The
chambers. As the verse
explains, these were different from the guard-rooms in the gates (vs. 7, 21) and
the chambers on the pavement
(v. 17), although the same Hebrew word is
employed to designate
the latter. The cells under consideration were expressly
designed for
washing “the inwards and the legs” of
the victims brought for
sacrifice (Leviticus
1:9). Whether such a cell stood at each of the three gates, as
the plural seems to indicate, although described only in
connection with the
north (Keil, Kliefoth,
Plumptre), or merely at one gate, and that the north
— because, according to the Law (Leviticus 1:11; 6:18;
7:2), on the
north side of the altar burnt, sin, and trespass offerings
were to be killed
(Havernick, Hengstenberg)
— or the east, which is alluded to in vs. 39-40
(Hitzig, Ewald,
Smend), is controverted,
though the former view seems
the preferable, seeing that, according to ch. 46:1-2, the priests
were to prepare burnt offerings and peace offerings for the
prince at the
posts of the east gate. The situation of the cells is
stated to have been by
(or, beside) the
posts of (i.e. at) the
gates (see on v. 14), but on which
side of the gates, whether near the right or left pillar,
no information is
furnished. Keil and Kliefoth place those at the south and north gates on the
west side; that at the east gate Keil
locates on its north side, Kliefoth
placing one in the side wall at each side of the gate.
39 “And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side,
and two
tables on that
side, to slay thereon the burnt offering and the sin
offering and the
trespass offering.” 40 And at the side without,
as one
goeth up to the entry
of the north gate, were two tables; and on the other
side, which was
at the porch of the gate, were two tables.
41 Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that
side, by the
side of the gate;
eight tables, whereupon they slew their sacrifices.
42 And the four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt
offering, of a
cubit and an half
long, and a cubit and an half broad, and one cubit
high: whereupon
also they laid the instruments wherewith they
slew the burnt
offering and the sacrifice.” The
tables. These were twelve
in number, of which eight were used for slaughtering purposes, i.e. either for
slaying the sacrifices or for laying upon them the carcasses of the slaughtered
victims; and the remaining
four for depositing thereon the instruments employed
in killing the
animals. Of the eight, four stood within the porch of the gate, two
on each side,
and four without — two on the side as
one goeth up to the
entry of the north
gate; rather, at the
shoulder to one going up to the
gate opening towards the north, i.e. on the outside of the porch north wall;
and two on the other side or shoulder, i.e. on the
outside of the porch
south wall. This determines the gate in question to have
been, not the north
gate, as the Authorized Version has conjectured, but the
east gate, whose
side walls looked towards the north and south. The third
quaternion of
tables appears to have been planted at the steps,
presumably two on’ each
side, i.e. if with Kliefoth, Keil, and Schroder, לָעולָה be translated “at the
ascent,” or “going up,” i.e. at the
staircase (compare v. 26). If, however,
with the Authorized and Revised Versions, Ewald, Hengstenberg, Smend,
and others, לָעולָה be read “for the burnt offering,” then the exact
position
of the tables is left undetermined, though in any case they
must have been
near the slaughtering-tables. As they were designed for
heavy instruments,
they were constructed of hewn stones a cubit and a half
long, a cubit and a
half broad, and one cubit high; from which it may be argued
the eight
previously mentioned were made of wood.
Sacrifices in the New
As we read the dry details of the city that is to be
rebuilt and its new
temple, we are suddenly pulled up by a startling item.
Among the various
arrangements of the ancient temple that are to be revived,
provision is
made for the sacrificial rites. There are to be sacrifices
in the new temple.
The burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass
offering are all to
be there. Then sacrifices will be needed after the
restoration. It might have
been supposed that these would now be dispensed with, since
sin was put
away and the people were re-dedicated to God. But as a
matter of fact, the
temple ritual was never before cultivated with such
assiduity and
elaborateness.
- WE NEED REPEATED REDEDICATION OF OUR
LIVES TO GOD.
The burnt offering signified the
self-dedication of the man who presented
it. It was given whole, to show
that he had surrendered his all to God; it
was consumed by fire, to suggest
that he was to make this surrender
complete in:
Ø
depth,
Ø
intensity,
Ø
reality, as well as in
Ø
comprehensiveness.
Now, to have made this offering
once for all did not suffice. It had to be
continually renewed. The
dedication of
their land could not be accepted
as sufficient if it were done once for all. It
had to be made over and over
again. So is it with the Christian’s offering of
himself. When thinking of his
great, decisive step, he may exclaim, in
Doddddge’s well-known words —
“‘Tis done, the great transaction’s done:
I am my
Lord’s, and He is mine.”
Yet if he rests satisfied with
having once taken that step, he will soon find
himself slipping back from his high
resolve. We must continually renew our
self-dedication to Christ. The
sacrament of baptism, which signifies the first
dedication, is taken but once;
but it is followed by that of the Lord’s
Supper, which suggests renewal
of dedication in deliberate intention, as
when the Roman soldier took the
oath of allegiance to his general. This
sacrament we repeat many times.
- WE NEED REPEATED CLEANSING FROM SIN.
There were to be
sin and trespass offerings in
the new temple. This fact is startling and most
painful. Even while the people
are returning, penitent and restored,
provision has to be made for
future falls and sins.
Ø Christian people sin. We know that this is only too true of all
Christian
people. There is no sinless soul on earth. “If we say we have no sin, we
deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (I John 1:8). The
foresight of
the fact is no excuse for us; for God does not make His children
sin. He endeavors to save them from it. Thus
Christ predicted Peter’s fall
although He had
prayed that His disciple might be kept faithful (Luke
22:31-32).
Ø God has provided for the recovery of Christians when they sin. There
were to be
sacrifices in the restored temple. This arrangement shows the
wonderful long-suffering
mercy of God. The same mercy is displayed
towards
Christians. It is a shame that they who have once washed their
robes and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb should again stain
them with the
ruin of sin. Yet as this is done, God provides even again for
cleansing — not
now by repeated sacrifices, but by
the eternal efficacy of
the
one perfect Sacrifice.
“And if any man sin, we have an Advocate
with
the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous:
and he is the Propitiation for our
sins” (I John 2:1-2).
43 “And within were hooks, an hand broad, fastened round
about: and
upon the tables
was the flesh of the offering.” The hooks. The word שְׁפַתַּיִם
occurs again only in Psalm 68:13, where it signifies “sheepfolds,”
or “stalls;”
its older form (מִשְׁפְתַיִם) appearing in
Genesis 49:14 and Judges 5:16. As this
sense is unsuitable,
recourse must be had to its derivation (from שָׁפַת, “to put,
set, or fix”),
which suggests as its import here either, as Ewald, Kliefoth,
Hengstenberg, Havernick, and Smend, following the Septuagint and Vulgate,
prefer, “ledges,” or “border guards,” on the edge of the
tables, to keep the
instruments or flesh from falling off; or, as Kimchi, Gesenius, Furst, Keil,
Schroder, and Plumptre, after the Chaldean paraphrast, explain,
“pegs”
fastened in the wall for hanging the slaughtered carcasses
before they were
flayed. In favor of the first meaning stand the facts that
the second clause
of this verse speaks of “tables,” not of “walls,”
and that the measure of the
shephataim is one of breadth
rather than of length; against it are the
considerations that the dual form, shephataim,
fits better to a forked peg
than to a double border, and that the shephataim
are stated to have been
fastened “in the house” (ba-baith),
which again suits the idea of a peg
fastened in the outer wall of the porch, rather than of a
border fixed upon a
table. The last clause of this verse is rendered by Ewald, after the Septuagint,
“and over the tables” (obviously those standing outside of
the porch) “were
covers to protect them from rain and from drought;” and it
is conceivable
that coverings might have been advantageous for both the
wooden tables
and the officiating priests; only the Hebrew must be
changed before it can
yield this rendering.
44 “And without the inner gate were the chambers of 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 of the singers. According to v. 44, these,
of which the number is not recorded, were situated in the
inner court,
outside of the inner gate, at the side of the north gate,
and looked towards
the south, one only being located at the side of the east
gate with a
prospect towards the north. Interpreted in this way, they
cannot have been
the same as the “priests’
chambers” mentioned in vs. 45-46, though
these also looked in the same direction. The language,
however, seems to
indicate that they were the same, and on this hypothesis it
is difficult to
understand how they should be called “the chambers of the singers,” and at
the same time be assigned to the priests, “the keepers of
the charge of the
house” and “the keepers of the charge of the altar.” Hengstenberg.
Kliefoth, Schroder, and others hold that
Ezekiel purposed to suggest that
in the vision-temple before him the choral service was no
longer to be left
exclusively in the hands of the Levites as it had been in
the Solomonic
temple (I Chronicles 6:33-47; 15:17; II Chronicles 20:19),
but that
the priests were to participate therein. Dr. Currey imagines the chambers
may have been occupied in common by the singers and the
priests when
engaged on duty at the temple. The Septuagint text reads, “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;” and in accordance with this Rosenmüller,
Hitzig, Ewald, Keil,
and Smend propose sundry emendations on the
Hebrew text. Since, however, it cannot be certified that
the Septuagint did
not paraphrase or mistranslate the present rather than
follow a different text, it
is safer to abide by the renderings of the Authorized and
Revised Versions.
Yet one cannot help feeling that the Septuagint translation
has the merit of
clearness and simplicity.
Singers (v. 44)
Praise is an essential part of the worship of God. However
it may be with
the imaginary deities of the heathen, we know of the one true God that He
is infinitely great and infinitely good; and that it therefore
becomes His
creatures to be His worshippers, and that it becomes His worshippers
to
utter forth His praise — the memory of His great goodness. In the Jewish
economy praise occupied a very important part in Divine
service, especially
during and after the time of David, the sweet singer of
persons, gifted by nature and trained by art, who were set
apart for the
purpose of expressing the
nation’s gratitude and devotion, by
performing
“the service of song in the house of the Lord.” These had their appointed
place in the worship of the temple, and their appointed
dwelling-places in
its precincts. Their vocation and ministry symbolize the
service of praise
ever offered both by the Church militant on earth and by
the Church
triumphant in heaven.
- IN ORDER TO PSALMODY, THERE MUST BE AN
INTELLIGENT
NATURE CAPABLE OF APPREHENDING GOD’S GLORIOUS
ATTRIBUTES AND ESPECIALLY HIS GREAT GOODNESS. By a
figure of speech we represent
the heavens, the earth, and the sea, the living
creatures which people the
globe, the wells that spring into the light of day,
the trees of the forests, as all
rendering their tribute of praise to the
Creator. But this is to project
our human feelings upon the world around
us. It is absurd to suppose the
most sagacious of quadrupeds as even
conceiving of God, far less as
consciously speaking or singing His praise.
But it is the glory of man’s
nature that his apprehensions are not limited to
God’s works. He “looks, through
nature, up to nature’s God.” He discerns
the tokens of the
Divine presence, and finds reasons for believing in the
Divine goodness. If he offers praise, his is a reasonable service.
- IN ORDER TO PSALMODY, THERE MUST BE AN
EMOTIONAL
NATURE CAPABLE OF FEELING THE
KINDNESS AND
RESPONDING TO THE LOVE OF
GOD. Music is the vehicle of
emotion.
“Why
should feeling ever speak,
When thou
canst breathe her tones so well?”
A being with no emotion would be
without song. Spontaneous is the
outflow of feeling — of joy, of
sorrow, of love — in the notes of melody.
What so fitted to call forth the
purest and most exalted strains of music as
the
loving-kindness of the Lord? As a matter of fact, much of the most
exquisite music produced by the
great and gifted masters of song has been
inspired by religion and
religious themes. The oratorios, the anthems,
the
chorales, of Christian
composers, rendered with all the resources of
musical art, may be regarded as endeavors to express the tenderest, the
most pathetic,
the sublimest feelings which the mind of man has ever
experienced.
- IN ORDER TO PSALMODY, THERE MUST BE AN
ARTISTIC
NATURE CAPABLE OF CONSTRUCTING APPROPRIATE FORMS
OF MUSICAL EXPRESSIVENESS. These forms vary with the varying
states of human society, of
culture, and of civilization. What is adapted to a
ruder age may be ill suited to
an epoch of refinement. It is a tradition that
the music composed by David, and
preserved for centuries among the
Jews, was taken over by the
Christian Church, and so survives in archaic
forms of psalmody still used
amongst ourselves. However this may be, it
is
certain that there has never
been, in the history of the Jewish or the
Christian Church, a period
when silence
has reigned in the sacred
assemblies, when
speech has not been accompanied by song.
Like all good
things, sacred music has been
abused, and attention has been given to the
artistic qualities rather than to
the spiritual import and impression. Yet this
is an art which deserves
cultivation, and which will repay for cultivation.
Without psalmody, how would our religious
sentiments and aspirations be
repressed!
- IN ORDER TO PSALMODY, THERE MUST BE A
PHYSICAL,
VOCAL CONSTITUTION, CAPABLE OF GIVING EXPRESSION TO
DEVOTIONAL FEELINGS.
Instrumental music has taxed the mental
powers of the composer and the
artistic faculty of the performer to so high
a degree that a cultivated and
honorable profession has found here
abundant scope for study and for
skill. But the art of vocal minstrelsy is
more glorious and delightful
still. There is no music like the human voice;
and if this is so when other
themes inspire the song, how much more when
the high praises
of God are poured forth, whether with
the enchanting
sweetness of a solitary voice,
or with the loud and joyful burst of the
chorus in which the many blend
in one!
45 “And he said unto me, This chamber, whose prospect is toward
the
south, is for the
priests, the keepers of the charge of the house.”
The priests, the
keepers of the charge of the house. Under
the Law the Levite families of Gershon,
Kohath, and Merari had the charge
of the tabernacle and all its belongings (Numbers 3:25,
etc.); but of
these Levites who kept the charge of the sanctuary, Eleazar the son of
Aaron the priest had the oversight. Hence the priests
alluded to by Ezekiel
as the keepers of the charge of the house were most likely
those who
superintended the Levites in the execution of their tasks.
Priests (v. 45)
What would a temple be with no priesthood to minister at
its altars, to
present the offerings of its worshippers? The priests give meaning
and
interest to the temple, not only to the scenery of its
services, but to its
great purpose and aim. The mention in this passage of the
priests who
dwelt and ministered within the temple precincts suggests
reflections of a
more general character regarding the office and those who
were called to
undertake it.
- HUMANITY IS
CONSTITUTED FOR CONSCIOUS AND HAPPY
RELATIONS OF INTIMATE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD.
- HUMANITY
IS BY SIN RENDERED MORALLY UNFIT FOR
SUCH FELLOWSHIP.
- PRIESTHOOD IS APPOINTED BY GOD HIMSELF
AS THE
MEDIUM BY WHICH SUCH FELLOWSHIP MAY BE RESTORED
AND MAINTAINED.
- THE EXERCISE OF THE PRIESTLY OFFICE IS
A PERPETUAL
EXPRESSION OF MAN’S DEPENDENCE FOR EVERY BLESSING
UPON GOD.
- THE OFFICE OF THE PRIESTHOOD IS
ESPECIALLY
DESIGNED TO RESTORE THE INTERRUPTED HARMONY OF
MORAL RELATIONS BETWEEN MAN AND GOD.
- AND TO PRESENT TO GOD FROM MAN THE
TRIBUTE AND
OFFERING EVER DUE.
- THE HEBREW PRIESTHOOD WAS INTENDED TO
PREFIGURE
AND TO PREPARE FOR THE
PRIESTHOOD OF THE SON OF GOD.
- APPLICATION.
The priesthood, as exercised among the Jews, has for us
an interest more than historic.
It foreshadowed facts and principles which
could only reach their perfect fulfillment and realization in the
mediation of
Christ. The Jewish priesthood ought not to be regarded as merely
typical; it
expressed Divine and eternal
truths. At the same time, the sacerdotal office
of the Lord Jesus cannot be
placed upon the same level as the ministry of
the temple at
faintly outlined in His
predecessors. Christ’s was the real offering, the true
sacrifice. And this is made perfectly plain by the provision that He
should
have no successor in the work of
atonement. ("by Himself purged our sins"
Hebrews 1:3) Yet it must not be forgotten that there is a
function of
priesthood which is perpetual in
the Church — the function of obedience
and of praise. In this all true
Christians — ministers and worshippers alike
— take part. This unceasing
offering and sacrifice ascends from the
heart-altars of the faithful
throughout the spiritual temple of the living God.
And this comes up with
acceptance through Him who is the High Priest
of our profession, by whom all offerings
that His people present to
Heaven are laid upon the upper
altar, and are well pleasing to
THE KING AND
SAVIOUR OF ALL!
46 “And the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for
the
priests, the
keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of
Zadok among the sons
of Levi, which come near to the LORD to
minister unto
Him.” The keepers of the charge of
the altar. These formed
another body of priests, whose duties generally were to
officiate in the
temple-worship, and more specifically to sacrifice and burn
incense upon
the altars (Leviticus 1-6.). Under the Law the priests were
all descendants
of Aaron (Exodus 27:20-21; 28:1-4; 29:9, 44-46; 40:15). By David these
were divided into two classes — the sons of Eleazar, at the head of whom
stood Zadok; and the sons of Ithamar, with Ahimelech as their
chief
(I Chronicles 24:3). In the vision-temple the sons of Zadok
among the sons
of Levi have the sole right
of drawing near to the Lord to minister unto Him.
47 “So he measured the court, an hundred cubits long, and an
hundred
cubits broad,
foursquare; and the altar that was before the house.”
He measured the
court... and the altar. The dimensions of
the former, the open space in front of the temple, alone
are given — a
hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits broad; those of
the latter, which
stood before the “house,” and occupied the center of
the square, are
afterwards recorded (ch. 43:13).
The distance from north to south
of the inner court being a hundred cubits, if to these be
added twice two
hundred cubits, the space between the outer court wall and
that of the
inner court, the result will give five hundred cubits as
the breadth of the
outer court, from north gate to south gate. Then as the
length of the inner
court was a hundred cubits, if to these be added first the
hundred cubits
lying before the inner court towards the east, secondly,
the hundred cubits
covered by the temple (ch.
41:13-14), and thirdly, the one hundred
cubits which extended behind the temple (ibid.), the total will amount to
five hundred cubits for the length of the outer court from
east to west.
The outer court, therefore, like the inner, was a square.
Vs.
48-49. — With
these verses the following chapter ought to have
commenced, as the seer now advances to a description of the
house, or
temple proper, as in I Kings 6:2, with its three parts:
Ø
a porch (vs. 48-49),
Ø
a holy place (ch. 41:1), and
Ø
a holy of holies (ibid. v. 4).
48 “And 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.”
The porch, or vestibule, according to Keil,
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 v.
49 of the
length of the porch (from east to west) twenty cubits, and
the breadth
(from north to south) eleven cubits, he harmonizes with
this view by
assuming that the pillars, which were five cubits broad 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 × 2.5 cubits = 11
cubits. Kliefoth,
however, rejects this explanation, and understands the
three cubits to refer
to the portion of the entrance on either side which was
closed by a gate,
perhaps of lattice-work, leaving for the ingress and egress
of priests a
passage of five cubits. In this view the whole front of the
porch would be 5
cubits of passage + 6 (2 × 3) cubits of lattice-work + 10
(2 × 5) cubits of
pillar, equal in all to 21 cubits. Dr. Currey,
in the ‘Speaker’s Commentary,’
includes the three cubits of door in the five cubits of
post, and, supposing
the temple entrance to be ten cubits, makes the whole front
to have been
twenty cubits. We prefer Kliefoth’s
opinion.
49 “The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth
eleven
cubits, and he
brought me by the steps whereby they went up to it: and
there were
pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side.”
Like the gates into the courts, the temple porch was
entered by steps, of which
the number is not stated, though, after the Septuagint, it
is usually assumed
to have been ten, Hengstenberg
suggesting fourteen. The last particular noted,
that there were pillars
by the posts, has been
explained to signify that upon
the posts, or bases, stood shafts or pillars (Currey), or with more probability
that by or near the pillars rose columns (Keil, Kliefoth). The height of
these
is not given, though Hengstenberg
again finds it in the elevation of the porch
of Solomon’s temple — a hundred and twenty cubits (II
Chronicles 3:4).
Their exact position is not stated; but they were probably,
like Jachin and
Boaz in the Solomonic temple,
stationed one on each side of the steps.
Sacrifice Essential to Human Worship (vs.
38-47)
The entrances and vestibules of the new temple were planned
on a magnificent scale.
The mind of the worshipper would be naturally impressed
both with the greatness
of the Proprietor and with the transcendent importance of
the use to which it was
devoted. But by what methods will the Sovereign Majesty of
heaven be approached?
More and more this question oppresses a reflecting man. As
he gains the central
courts of the temple the answer is clear. SIN
is the great separator between
man and his Maker. Reconciliation can only be effected by SACRIFICE!
At the
altar of burnt offering God will meet with penitent men,
and confer on them His
mercy. “Without shedding of blood there is no
remission of sin.” (Hebrews
9:22)
- SACRIFICE IS THE TRYSTING-PLACE
BETWEEN MAN AND
GOD. “The altar was
before the house.” From the first days
of man’s fall
the mercy of God allowed access
for man to the presence of his Maker; yet
access not free and
unrestrained, as in the pristine state of innocence.
Access to God’s
favor could
now be found only at the altar of
sacrifice.
Hence Cain’s suit failed because
he brought only the fruits of the ground.
Abel was accepted because his
faith was loyal to the Divine command, and
because he felt the evil of sin.
Such sacrifice of animal life could be in no
respect proper compensation for
moral rebellion against God. Yet it was to
man a revelation that God would accept substitution, and it served as a
matter-of-fact prophecy, that in
due time God would provide an efficacious
sacrifice. It was as much for man’s welfare as for the maintenance of
Divine rule, that God would henceforth
meet His fallen creature, and give
heed to his prayer, only at the
sacrificial altar.
- SACRIFICE
SERVES MANY AND VITAL PURPOSES IN MAN’S
SALVATION. In the
temple sacrifices were of various kinds, and were
presented with great variety of
ceremony. There was the sin offering, the
trespass offering, the wave
offering, etc. These were designed to meet the
several wants of men. They
expressed:
Ø
gratitude for benefit
received;
Ø
submission to the will
of God;
Ø
confession of past
sin;
Ø
acknowledgment that
our sin deserved death;
Ø
acquiescence in God’s
plan for forgiveness;
Ø
a new act of covenant
with God; and
Ø
complete devotion of
self to the service of Jehovah.
The future, as well as the past,
was considered. The minds of men
must be fitly impressed with the
terrific evil of sin and with the excellence
that comes out of
self-sacrifice. God’s stupendous
gift wakens our
profoundest love. We aspire to
act as He acts, and so rise into the better
life. Condescension is the road
to eminence.
- SACRIFICE DEMANDS A VARIETY OF HUMAN
SERVICE.
There were porters to keep the
gates and to prevent base intruders. There
were men to slay the animals,
and men to wash the flesh. There were men
in charge of the building, and
men in charge of the altar. Some kinds of
service were repulsive to the
senses; some kinds were joyous and
exhilarating. In God’s temple there is some service
which every loyal
subject of
Jehovah can render. The least endowed
may perform some
useful mission. As in nature
every dewdrop has its effect, and the tiniest
insect performs a useful task,
so it is also in the kingdom of
grace.
Ø
The tears of the babe
Moses changed the fortunes of the world.
(Exodus 2:1-10)
Ø
The child Samuel was
teacher to the high’ priest of
chapters 2-3)
Ø
A lad in the crowd
possessed the barley loaves which served
as the foundation of the
Savior’s miracle. (Mark 6:32-44)
Provision was made in the temple
for great variety of servants. The
service
of God is not arduous. “They
also serve who only stand and wait.”
- SACRIFICE SHOULD BE ACCOMPANIED BY A
SERVICE OF
SONG. “Without
the inner gate were the chambers of the singers.”
Sacrifice may commence with
sorrow; it also ends with joy. “Blessed are
they that mourn” here; “they shall be comforted.” (Matthew
5:4) Music
well befits temple worship. Here, if anywhere, the souls of men should
go forth in swelling tides of
gladness. Before Jesus and His companions
went to
dungeon at midnight, with feet
bound in the stocks, Paul and Silas sang
to God their praise. (Acts 16:25)
If joy thrills afresh the hearts of angels
when one sinner on earth repents
(Luke 15:7), it is meet that joy should
also fill God’s temple on earth.
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Spiritual Ascent (vs. 26, 31)
“There were seven steps to go up to it” — the outer court; “and the going
up to it [the
inner court] had eight steps.” Translating this into the
Christian analogue, we learn:
- THAT TO BE IN THE
NOBLE HEIGHT. The
base of the temple was the summit of a “very high
mountain” (v. 2); to be anywhere within even its outer precincts was
to
be far above the world. To be in
the
therein, is to stand in the place of very high privilege indeed
(see
Matthew 11:11). But not of
privilege only; of spiritual well-being also.
It is to be high and far above the baseness of
selfishness, of vanity, of
ingratitude, of
rebelliousness; above the low ground of unbelief, of
indecision, of
procrastination. It is to live and
move on the sacred heights
of devotion, of
sacred service, of consecration, of the sonship and
friendship of THE LIVING GOD!
- THAT WITHIN THAT
KINGDOM ARE DEGREES OF SPIRITUAL
ALTITUDE. Not every one that is
“in Christ Jesus” stands on the same
spiritual level. There is not
only considerable variety of character and
service, there is also much difference
in degree of attainment. There are
those who are behind and those
who are before in the race; there are those
who stand lower down in the
outer court and those who stand higher up in
the inner court. Many are the
degrees among the disciples of Christ in:
1. Knowledge. Some have
but a very elementary acquaintance with the
truth of God; some hold the
faith of Christ much mixed with corrupt
accretions; others have a
comparatively clear view of the doctrines taught
by Christ and by his apostles;
there are those who have gone far into “the
deep things of God.”
2. Piety. A Christian
man may have but a slender capacity for devotion; he
may only be able to worship God
and commune with him feebly and
occasionally, with no power of
sustained devotion; or he may have
ascended the higher ground, and
be “praying always;” his “walk may be
close with God;” he may be “a
devout man and full of the Holy Ghost.”
3. Moral worth. From the
recently converted idolater whose licentious
habits cling to him and have to
be hardly and laboriously torn away by long
and earnest struggle, to the
saintly man or woman who, inheriting the
purified nature and disposition
of reverent and godly parents, has breathed
the air of purity and goodness
all his days, and has grown up into holiness
and Christliness
in a very marked degrees there is a great ascent.
4. Influence, and
consequent usefulness. There are those whose influence
counts for very little among
their fellows; there are others who weigh
much, whose presence is a power
for good everywhere, who can produce a
peat and valuable effect by
their words of wisdom.
III. THAT SPIRITUAL ASCENT IS ATTAINED BY DIVINELY
PROVIDED MEANS. There were steps
or stairs leading up from the
lower to the higher ground
within the temple. There are steps of which we
may avail ourselves if we would
rise in the
these:
1. Worship; including
public worship in the sanctuary, meeting the Master
at his table, private prayer in
the home and the quiet chamber.
2. Study; including the
reading of the Scriptures and also of the lives of the
best and noblest of the children
of men.
3. Fellowship with the
good; associating daily and weekly with those likeminded
with ourselves, and choosing for
our most intimate friends those,
and those only, whose
convictions and sympathies are sustaining and
uplifting.
4. Activity in one or
other of the many fields of sacred usefulness. — C.
Ver. 44. —
Sacred song.
“The chambers of the singers.” The ideal Church would not
be complete
without the service of sacred song. Abundant arrangement
was made for
this order of worship in the first temple (<111012>1 Kings 10:12; 1 Chronicles
25.). It was to be a daily offering unto the Lord (1
Chronicles 23. 30). And
it has found a large and honorable place in the
Master himself and his disciples “sang an hymn” on the most
solemn and
sacred of all occasions (<402630>Matthew
26:30); and Paul refers to “psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs” as if they were well known
in the
experience of the early Church. This service of song should
be —
I. COMPREHENSIVE
IN ITS RANGE. It should not only include praise
(with which it is more particularly identified; see infra),
but also adoration,
e.g. “We
praise, we worship thee, O God,” etc.; and confession, e.g.
“Oppressed with sin and woe,” etc.; and faith, e.g.
“My faith looks up to
thee,” etc.; and consecration, e.g. “My
gracious Lord, I own thy rights”
etc.; and prayer for the Divine guidance and
inspiration, e.g. “O thou who
camest from above,” etc., “O God of
resignation, e.g.
“My Gods my Father, while I stray,” etc.; and solemn,
reverent challenge to
one another, e.g. “Come we that love the Lord,”
etc., “Stand up, stand up for Jesus,” etc., “Ye servants of
God,” etc.; and
holy, heavenly
expectation, e.g. “
there is no sentiment suitable to reverent lips, no grace
of Christian
character, that may not find expression in sacred song; and
such utterance
may not only be true worship, but it may give real relief
to the full and
perhaps burdened soul, while it also deepens conviction
and. elevates
character.
II. MARKED
BY THREE CHARACTERISTICS.
1. Musical harmony. For that which we offer to our Lord should be the
very best we can bring; not the blemished but the whole,
not the disfigured
but the beautiful, not the rude but the cultured, not the
discordant but the
harmonious.
2. Spirituality. The God who himself is a Spirit must be worshipped
in
spirit and in truth (<430424>John 4:24). And
however musical may be the sound,
no service of song even approaches the satisfactory
which is not spiritual;
we must make melody in our heart, as well as
with our voice, unto the
Lord (<490519>Ephesians 5:19).
3. Congregational. There are services in which it is not possible for “all
the
people” to participate audibly; but these are exceptional;
as a rule, the
order of worship should be such that every voice should be
heard “blessing
and praising God,” for expression is the true friend of
feeling.
III. JOYOUS
IN ITS PREVAILING NOTE. The word “praise” is
commonly associated with “singing.” The singers sing “the
praises of
Jehovah.” As already said, there is no spiritual experience
to which vocal
utterance may not be well and wisely given in sacred song.
But the
prevailing strain is
that of praise or thanksgiving. And this may well be so
when we realize, as we should in the praise of God:
1. How worthy, in his
own Person and character, is the Lord our Savior of
our most reverent and joyful praise.
2. How great things he
wrought and suffered for us when he dwelt among
us.
3. How perfect is the
“great salvation,” and how open to all mankind
without reserve (Jude 3).
4. How high are the
privileges and how heavenly the blessings we have in
him whilst we live below; how much it is to be able to say,
“For us to live
is Christ.”
5. How grand is the
heritage to which we move. — C.