Ezekiel Forty Two
by Dr. Henry M. Morris
(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)
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Ezekiel 42:1 Then he brought me forth into the utter court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the chamber that was over against the separate place, and which was before the building toward the north.
Ezekiel 42:2 Before the length of an hundred cubits was the north door, and the breadth was fifty cubits.
Ezekiel 42:3 Over against the twenty cubits which were for the inner court, and over against the pavement which was for the utter court, was gallery against gallery in three stories.
Ezekiel 42:4 And before the chambers was a walk of ten cubits breadth inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors toward the north.
Ezekiel 42:5 Now the upper chambers were shorter: for the galleries were higher than these, than the lower, and than the middlemost of the building.
Ezekiel 42:6 For they were in three stories, but had not pillars as the pillars of the courts: therefore the building was straitened more than the lowest and the middlemost from the ground.
Ezekiel 42:7 And the wall that was without over against the chambers, toward the utter court on the forepart of the chambers, the length thereof was fifty cubits.
Ezekiel 42:8 For the length of the chambers that were in the utter court was fifty cubits: and, lo, before the temple were an hundred cubits.
Ezekiel 42:9 And from under these chambers was the entry on the east side, as one goeth into them from the utter court.
Ezekiel 42:10 The chambers were in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, over against the separate place, and over against the building.
Ezekiel 42:11 And the way before them was like the appearance of the chambers which were toward the north, as long as they, and as broad as they: and all their goings out were both according to their fashions, and according to their doors.
Ezekiel 42:12 And according to the doors of the chambers that were toward the south was a door in the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one entereth into them.
Ezekiel 42:13 Then said he unto me, The north chambers and the south chambers, which are before the separate place, they be holy chambers, where the priests that approach unto the LORD shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy.
trespass offering. The various temple sacrificial offerings are to be restored in this millennial temple, with certain of the Levitical priests officiating again, even though the Lord Jesus Christ, as “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29) had long before “offered one sacrifice for sins for ever” (Hebrews 10:12). These sacrifices obviously are memorial, rather than anticipatory, in nature, designed to cause people to remember the sufferings of Christ for their sins, and to demonstrate their saving faith in Christ's sacrifice by prayerfully observing the suffering and death of these innocent substitutes. Otherwise, as new generations are born and raised throughout many centuries, living in a world of peace and plenty and outward righteousness, it would be easy for them to forget about the awful wickedness of the natural state of man without Christ. It is significant that, not only the Israelites, but the Gentiles as well, will be required to make annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem (to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles” (Zechariah 14:16-19). This feast incorporates seven days of offerings (Leviticus 23:33-36). The logistics and details of these future observances are not revealed, but the principle of remembrance is the vital feature of these future sacrificial offerings.
Ezekiel 42:14 When the priests enter therein, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the utter court, but there they shall lay their garments wherein they minister; for they are holy; and shall put on other garments, and shall approach to those things which are for the people.
Ezekiel 42:15 Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth toward the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it round about.
Ezekiel 42:16 He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.
five hundred reeds. Thus the whole temple square will be (500 x 10.5) feet on each side, making a large square almost one mile square. This is far too large to be built atop Mount Moriah, where Solomon's temple stood, but there will be great topographic changes in and around Jerusalem just before the millennium (Zechariah 14:9-11). The dimensions of the temple itself are far smaller, leading some to suggest that a copyist error led to 500 reeds instead of 500 cubits (that is, 875 feet) as the outer wall length. However, it is not likely that the same copyist mistake would be made six times (Ezekiel 42:16-20). Perhaps much of the outer court between the temple proper and the boundary pavements will be a park-like area, or for some other appropriate use that has not yet been revealed.
Ezekiel 42:17 He measured the north side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about.
Ezekiel 42:18 He measured the south side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed.
Ezekiel 42:19 He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed.
Ezekiel 42:20 He measured it by the four sides: it had a wall round about, five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.
