WHEN EZEKIEL wrote down his description

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1 The Testimony, June The temple of Ezekiel s prophecy and its altar The temple of Ezekiel s prophecy is sometimes depicted as an enormous circular structure with an altar on a hilltop in the centre. This article puts forward the iew that Ezekiel s temple follows the pattern of the tabernacle and preious temples, with the altar situated in a court in front of the entrance. WHEN EZEKIEL wrote down his description of the millennial temple, as gien to him in a remarkable ision, where did he place the altar? The tabernacle in the wilderness, Solomon s temple on Mount Moriah, the temple built by Zerubbabel after the restoration from Babylon, and the magnificent temple built by Herod the Great, all had the altar placed in the court, between the entrance and the laer. Daid Moore From Ezekiel 40:47 it seems plain that the altar of the millennial temple is similarly situated: So he measured the court, an hundred cubits long, and an hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar that was before the house. The altar is before, or in front of, the house; in other words, in front of the front door, or porch, in a foursquare court measuring a hundred cubits each way. Howeer, the standard Christadelphian work on the millennial temple describes a circle of buildings, within a square of larger buildings, surrounding a mountain. On top of the mountain is a huge altar from which smoke perpetually arises from the offerings sacrificed upon it. Eerything within the circle is known as the most holy place (see Figure 1) See The Temple of Ezekiel s Prophecy, Henry Sulley. Fig. 1. Drawing taken from Brother Henry Sulley s Temple of Ezekiel s Prophecy.

2 180 The Testimony, June ,000 10,000 5,000 PORTION FOR PRIESTS PORTION FOR THE SONS OF ZADOK Area for growing food (48:18) 25,000 City Sanctuary Fig. 2. The diisions of the holy oblation This article is not a detailed exposition of Ezekiel s temple. It is, howeer, intended as a reminder that the temples of Solomon, Zerubbabel and Herod followed a pattern that is consistent with the original design of the tabernacle in the wilderness, and that the often-accepted Christadelphian iew of its design is a radical departure from this pattern and in conflict with at least some of its principles. Ezekiel and his ision According to Ezekiel 1:1,2, the prophet began his ministry in the fifth year of Jehoiachin s captiity, when he himself was thirty years old, a suitable time for a priest to begin teaching the people. Ezekiel had been taken captie with Jehoiachin and about ten thousand others (2 Kgs. 24:12-14) and was liing in Babylon at Tel Abib, close to the man-made rier Chebar. It was Ezekiel s task to cause the people to remember their heritage and to remain separate from Babylon, although they were liing in it. He was gien a detailed description of the temple to be built in the Millennium, and was told to pass on this information to his fellow-jews in captiity. Area for growing food Ezekiel 40 opens with the prophet being brought by God, in ision, to a ery high mountain in the land of Israel. This ision applies to a time subsequent to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, when the topography of Israel will hae been changed dramatically, with the Mount of Olies split from east to west, and the two parts diided by a huge alley (Zech. 14:4). Ezekiel was shown what appeared to him to be the frame of a city to the south (40:2). The word translated frame primarily means a building according to Strong s. The NIV has: In isions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a ery high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. There would, of course, be many buildings, because the city is ery large, and the words looked like are not in the Hebrew and are not necessary. What Ezekiel saw to the south was the large collection of buildings which formed a city. It is clear from Ezekiel s record that the city was to the south and the sanctuary to the north, as shown in Figure 2. At the moment there are no ery high mountains in the area, but Zechariah says that the whole of the Jerusalem area will be lifted up (14:10), which would indicate that there will be a high mountain there in the Kingdom. This is confirmed by Isaiah 2:2: the mountain of the LORD S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted aboe the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it (cf. Mic. 4:1). The area is a hilly region, and it seems clear from this erse that Mount Zion soars aboe the smaller hills as a result of the earthquake, and that it contains the throne of the Lord Jesus Christ and the city of Jerusalem. According to Zechariah 14:10 the top of this mountain will be a plain, and Ezekiel explains in chapter 48 that on this there will be an area known as the holy oblation, which, as shown in Figure 2, will be diided into three main parts:

3 The Testimony, June a portion for the sons of Zadok, which contains the sanctuary ( ) a portion for the Leites (.,14) to the south a portion for the city and its suburbs ( ). 2 A sanctuary for Israel only The sanctuary itself will only be able to be entered by Jews: For in Mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, sere Me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. I will accept you with your sweet saour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye hae been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen (20:40,41); And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for eermore (37:28). The Lord Jesus Christ quoted Isaiah when he said that the temple would be a house of prayer for all people (Mt. 21:; cf. Isa. 56:7), but Ezekiel makes it clear that this does not apply to Gentiles in general, who will not be permitted near the sanctuary: Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel (44:9). It is true that many thousands of people from all nations will go up to Jerusalem from year to year, but this is not to worship at the sanctuary, but to worship the King of the world and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, as Zechariah makes clear: And it shall come to pass, that eery one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall een go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, een upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that hae no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles (14:16-19). The Feast of Tabernacles will not require the people of the nations to attend the sanctuary. Tens of thousands of Gentiles from all nations will attend on the King at Jerusalem to hear his instruction, and to take part in the feast. They will presumably be called up on a rostered basis, but they will not participate in the temple actiities because they will still be uncircumcised in heart and body. The Jewish people will be the ones who will participate in the ceremonies in the sanctuary. The Gentiles will be able to obsere that God regards His own people as holy and sanctified: And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for eermore (Ezek. 37:28). Howeer, those Gentiles who hae join[ed] themseles to the LORD are also welcomed into the sanctuary: Also the sons of the stranger, that join themseles to the LORD, to sere Him, and to loe the name of the LORD, to be His serants, eery one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My coenant; een them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon Mine altar; for Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people (Isa. 56:6,7). So, eligible Gentiles from any nation in the world will be welcomed at the sanctuary, but not all Gentiles from all nations. Once that is understood, it is clear that a temple the size of Solomon s, surrounded by the walls of the sanctuary, will be ample for the sacrificial arrangements commanded by Yahweh to be obeyed. I beliee that most competent draftsmen would be able to use the dimensions in Ezekiel s prophecy to show that the temple he describes is almost identical with the temple built by Solomon. The holy area The whole area around the mountain is most holy: Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house (Ezek. 43:12). This area is a large one, and includes the entire sanctuary, not just a part of it, as well as the throne of the Lord Jesus Christ in Mount Zion, and also the latter-day Jerusalem. It must not 2. See Ezekiel s isions of the Millennium, Part 2, The holy oblation, Geoff Cae, Jan. 2002, p. 26, from which Figure 2 is taken.

4 182 The Testimony, June Outer gates 2. Inner gates 3. Inner court 4. Altar 5. Chamber for temple priests 6. Chamber for altar priests 7. North holy chambers 8. Temple and side chambers 9. South holy chambers Temple yard (separate place) 11. Temple kitchen 12. Courts for boiling. Chambers for singers(?) 14. Lower paement 15. Outer court Fig. 3. Oerall iew of the sanctuary be confused with the most holy place in the temple itself, which is a ery small area of twenty cubits in breadth and length, just beyond the holy place where God would commune with the high priests. The sanctuary is described in great detail by Ezekiel, with the exception of the furniture of the holy place, such as the lampstand, the table of shewbread and the altar of incense. A plan of the sanctuary is shown at Figure 3. 3 In his description Ezekiel makes two other notable omissions, and one addition. The omissions are the ark, which is not stated as being present in the holy of holies, and the laer, which in Solomon s time was between the altar of burnt offering and the entrance to the holy place, with the altar being slightly to the north of it. Ezekiel makes no mention of the laer or the ark. In the time of Solomon the ark contained only the two tables of the Law (the ten commandments), but its glory was the golden lid with its two cherubim, known as the mercy seat. As this pointed forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, who in Ezekiel s ision is already enthroned in Zion, presumably the ark will no longer be required. Jeremiah refers to this time: And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the coenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they isit it; neither shall that be done any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their eil heart (3:16,17). The laer is a different matter, as it was used by the priests to wash themseles in before and after sacrificing at the altar. In place of the laer Ezekiel is shown an extraordinary addition to former temples. Water springs from beneath the southern doorpost of the porch, flows eastwards, just south of the altar, deepening as it goes, continues through the alley (presumably the one in the midst of the Mount of Olies) and empties itself into the Dead Sea: Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through 3. Taken from Ibid., Part 4, The temple (Mar. 2002, p. 96).

5 The Testimony, June the waters; the waters were to the ankles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a rier that I could not pass oer: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a rier that could not be passed oer (Ezek. 47:1-5). We do not hae space in this article to deal with the details of the eastern end of the stream and the trees along its banks; that is another fascinating subject. It is, though, necessary to explain that the waters issue from under the southern threshold of the temple and not from under the altar. The most holy place and the altar Like the tabernacle, Solomon s temple and Zerubbabel s temple before it, the temple of Ezekiel s prophecy had a holy place and a most holy place. These are the same size as their equialents in the temple of Solomon. As stated at the beginning of the article, the traditional Christadelphian iew is that the most holy place is a circle of buildings surrounding a mountain, on top of which is an altar of tremendous size. It is important to bear in mind that the most holy is a place of great sanctity; so much so that only the high priest was allowed in it, and then only once a year. No one else could enter it, and most certainly it could not contain an altar, because the sacrifices hae to be performed outside the holy place in the inner court of the temple before een the holy place can be entered by the ministering priests. Yet the often accepted exposition of Ezekiel not only places the altar atop a mountain in the midst of what it describes as the most holy place, but says that water flows from beneath it on all sides, flowing into streams that proceed ultimately through the buildings of the temple eastwards, but both on the north and the south. In other words, it says that the waters start to flow from beneath the altar, instead of the southerly front door post of the temple. The running waters are clearly defined by Ezekiel as proceeding from beneath the southern threshold of the porch of the holy place, and are intended to replace the still waters of the laer for the priests to wash in before and after offering sacrifices. The eastward-flowing waters are ery shallow at this point, and they pass just to the south of the altar of burnt offering, which is in the 14½ reeds or 174 feet same position as it was in all preious temples and the tabernacle: between the entrance to the inner court and the door of the porch of the temple. It is the same size as Solomon s altar. The size of the altar According to Ezekiel 43:-17 the altar had a hearth of either twele cubits or reeds square on which the sacrifices were burned. Around it was what the ESV calls a ledge, and a rim of 2½ cubits or reeds in width for the priests to walk and work on, making the oerall dimensions 14½ by 14½ cubits or reeds. Which is correct, cubits or reeds? The English equialent of 14½ cubits is 25.3 feet or 7.7 metres. This would gie an area of 59.3 square metres, a ery respectable size. Measured in reeds, the size of the altar is significantly enlarged. The English equialent of 14½ reeds is 174 feet or fifty-three metres. This would mean an altar of 2,809 square metres. This is a ery large area, and to be able to comprehend its size we need to compare it with measurements which mean something to us. The standard measurement of a double lawn tennis court, according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, is seenty-eight feet long by thirty-six feet wide. Eight tennis courts arranged in two rows of four would coer an area 156 feet long by 144 feet wide, which works out at 2,083 square metres (see Figure 4). Thus an area equialent ½ reeds or 174 feet Fig. 4. An altar of 14½ reeds square would be bigger than 8 tennis courts. 36

6 184 to eight standard double tennis courts is 726 square metres smaller than the area of the altar if the measurement is in reeds. Only a ery small area around the perimeter of such an altar could be used without special heat-proof coneyors of complex and sophisticated design. If we assume that this altar is on the top of a ery high mountain, and that people from all nations will be able to offer sacrifices there, we are faced with the prospect of thousands of animal carcases being dragged up the hill daily in the holy of holies, exposed to the iew of obserers, whether inside or outside the sanctuary. Whateer work is done around such an altar, and whoeer does the work, the most holy place will hae been profaned. Any officiating priest would be able to enter the holy of holies without any preparation in the way of sacrifice on the The Testimony, June 2005 altar of burnt offering before entering the temple itself, een the holy place. This is obiously quite contrary to all the principles of the Mosaic Law, a law which emphasises holiness, and which is to be reinstituted in the latter days in remembrance of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ instead of looking ahead to it. The holy of holies of old had no windows, no natural light. It was filled with the glory of Yahweh, the shekinah glory, and the high priests had to use a censer as a smoke screen to preent them from being blinded by the intensity of light. To say that the future equialent of that sacred place is a mountain in the open air, circled by a ring of buildings and topped by an altar isible daily in broad daylight to any passer-by, is in my iew a misinterpretation of Scripture and a contradiction of the unchanging nature of the Deity. Your Letters The fulfilment of Daniel 11:40-45 In his article Daniel s time of trouble (Mar. 2005, p. 93) Brother Tony Benson refers to the Turkish Empire as being the king of the north of Daniel 11:40-45 which came to its end at the time of the First World War. This iew, though not widely held, appears to be growing. The seerance of any direct link between these erses and Ezekiel 38 and 39 changes some generally held concepts of latter-day eents, and, as one who has long held the iew that Turkey fulfilled the king of the north role and the Saracens that of the king of the south, I would like to make some obserations: 1 The supposition that there is a coming conflict between Gog and the Tarshish powers is based on the iew that they are respectiely the king of the north and the king of the south of Daniel 11: This idea cannot be found in other scriptures, including Ezekiel 38 and 39 and Reelation 19. Psalm 72:10, The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents [to Christ], seems to suggest that the Tarshish powers are wise enough to Kiss the Son... when his wrath is kindled but a little (2:12). 2 Daniel 11:41, these shall escape of his [the king of the north s] hand, een Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon, is said to link with Israel s fugities sheltering in Moab at the time of Gog s inasion, as per Isaiah 16:4. Howeer, modern ersions do not support the AV rendering of Isaiah 16:4, and Isaiah 15 and also Jeremiah 48 depict Moab herself as being in dire straits. 3 The sequence of eents in Ezekiel is that the Islam problem is to be soled before the Gogian descent; see chapters 35 and 36. Israel is first to be made desolate by the nations round about (as confirmed by Joel 1 and 2), and this is followed by God s judgements on these same nations, as per Joel 3. Ezekiel 28:24-26 confirms this order of eents ery clearly. 4 It is, we suggest, this initial conflict which brings Christ s interention, when he comes to sae the tents of Judah first (Zech. 12:7), perhaps following the pattern of his forefather Daid who reigned oer Judah only for seen years before reigning oer all Israel. This leaes the northern portion of the land in which the later disposal of Gog takes place, when he comes against a people that dwell safely... without walls, and haing neither bars nor gates (Ezek. 38:11). 5 Daniel 11:45 presents a problem if it refers to Gog s future inasion. It is unthinkable that Gog will be allowed to plant his forces