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| EZEKIEL |
| Explanatory Footnotes - page 4 |
| common origin. God promised to reunite the two - even though one had been in exile, scattered among other nations, for over 100 years. 41:2 Seeing the New Temple You'll find it easier to visualize Ezekiel's temple if you look at a sketch from a Bible dictionary. (Look under "Temple" or "Ezekiel.") Ezekiel's description reveals fascinating insights. For instance, the number of steps up toward the Holy Place grows greater at each stage, so that a worshiper mounts increasingly higher. But the doorways grow narrower (40:48; 41:2-3) - suggesting that the nearer to God's presence one climbs, the narrower the path he or she must follow. 43:4 The Glory Returns Nineteen years had passed since Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord leave the temple (11:22-23). That temple was now dust and ashes and broken stones: the conquering Babylonians had burnt and destroyed it. The new temple Ezekiel saw in this vision symbolized that God would live again with his renewed people. 45:10 Honest Weight The Bible, always practical, doesn't bother to define honesty in philosophic terms. It merely says, "Don't cheat on your measures." Such cheating was a common problem in Judah (see, for instance, Micah 6:10-12). Archaeologists have found many weights once used in Hebrew marketplaces, but very few have weighed exactly the weight inscribed on them. 47:12 The River from the Temple This river, flowing from the temple, had miraculous properties: it reversed the deadly saltiness of the Dead Sea and produced healing fruit on its banks. The early Christians used similar symbolism; in John's vision of a new Jerusalem (Revelation 22), he saw a river of live flowing from the throne of God. |