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7. The Glory Returns

Introduction . 1. Parallel to Torah Instructions: ?Like the instructions of the Torah, those of Ezek are formulated as utterances of God to the prophet and through him to Israel; hence the recurrent messenger-formula, ?Thus said Lord YHWH' in 43.18; 44.6,9; 45.9,18; 46.1,16; 47.13 (a commonplace op

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7. The Glory Returns

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    1. 7. The Glory Returns Ezekiel 40-48

    2. Introduction 1. Parallel to Torah Instructions: “Like the instructions of the Torah, those of Ezek are formulated as utterances of God to the prophet and through him to Israel; hence the recurrent messenger-formula, ‘Thus said Lord YHWH’ in 43.18; 44.6,9; 45.9,18; 46.1,16; 47.13 (a commonplace opening formula in the prophetic literature, absent from the instructions of the Torah). [Greenberg, “The Design and Themes of Ezekiel’s Program’ of Restoration,” Interpretation, 38/2, (April, ‘84), 183-4] “Legislation makes up the bulk of the Torah; in style and content Ezekiel 43-48 is particularly close to the priestly materials in Leviticus.” [Greenberg, “Design...,” 186]

    3. Introduction 2. Structural Framework similar to Temple Vision of 8-11: “Chapters 40-48 of the book of Ezek describe, like chapters 8-11, a great ecstatic vision on the part of the prophet.” [Zimmerli, II, 327] “In both the prophet is transported from his place of exile to Jerusalem and is there led from the outside into the inside of the Temple and is confronted, at various points along his way, here with the ordinances for the new sanctuary, there with the disorder of the old. In both, the whole section circles round the question, more or less clearly explicit, of the presence of the glory of Yahweh in the Jerusalem Temple. While, however, chapters 8-11 show how Yahweh’s glory departs from the unclean, sinful former sanctuary, chapters 40-48 show how it once again takes possession of the now cleansed temple area, which, in its ideal layout, provides a protective citadel for the sanctuary.” [Zimmerli, II, 327]

    4. Introduction 3. Parallels with Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple: “Instructions for making the desert tabernacle are found in Ex 25-30; the narrative describing its building is in Ex 35-40; the narrative description of the description of the building of Solomon’s Temple is in 1 Kgs 6; 7.13-51. None are exactly similar in style to Eze 40-42, which is neither instruction for or narrative of building, but a vision of an already built complex. Yet useful observations can be made from the three for appreciating the last.” [Greenberg, “Design...,” 184] “In itemizing, there is no preferred order.” [Greenberg, “Design...,” 184]

    5. Introduction 4. Parallels with Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple: “Instructions for making the desert tabernacle are found in Ex 25-30; the narrative describing its building is in Ex 35-40; the narrative description of the description of the building of Solomon’s Temple is in 1 Kgs 6; 7.13-51. None are exactly similar in style to Eze 40-42, which is neither instruction for or narrative of building, but a vision of an already built complex. Yet useful observations can be made from the three for appreciating the last.” [Greenberg, “Design...,” 184] “In itemizing, there is no preferred order.” [Greenberg, “Design...,” 184]

    6. Introduction 5. Is the Temple Real?: ". . . scholars to propose that Ezekiel based this vision on a temple plan he had preserved himself, or found in the archives. This, however, is unlikely. The massive, fortified gates of the complex, for example, are all out of proportion to its relatively scant walls. The tripartite structure of the Temple itself is reminiscent of the Solomonic Temple, but the Temple complex Ezekiel describes is decidedly not Solomon's. In fact, nothing like Ezekiel's Temple ever existed. Ezekiel's Temple plan is a hybrid, combining different sorts of structures remembered by the prophet into a wholly unique form. Its pattern came to him, as he tells us, in vision." [Tuell, Steven Shawn, The Law of the Temple in Ezekiel 40-48, HSM 49, 23]

    7. Introduction 6. Chiastic Structure: 40.1-4 Introduction 40.5-42.20 Survey of the Temple Complex 43.1-9 Return of the Divine dwbk 43.10-46.24 The Law of the Temple 47.1-12 The Course of the River of Life 47.13-48.29 Survey of Territorial Allotments and Borders 48.30-35 Conclusion [Tuell, Steven Shawn, The Law of the Temple in Ezekiel 40-48, HSM 49, 20]

    8. A. Setting 1. Renewed Vision of God: 40.1-4 “The temple makes its appearance as a heavenly reality created by Yahweh himself and transplanted to stand on earth. Its appearance is inseparable from the complete transformation of geographical conditions, producing the towering world mountain with its encircling plain and the miraculous river proceeding form it. There is nothing to suggest that it should have a human builder. The entirely miraculous character of the dwelling place of God described in the following passage must therefore be kept in view in estimating its significance as a whole; the same is true of it as of the descriptions scattered through Isa 40-55 of the miraculous journey home across the wilderness by the returning exiles, or the statements made about the new Jerusalem Isa 60.” [Eichrodt, OTL, 542]

    10. A. Setting 2. Two proleptic passages: Ezek 20.40: “In an angry conclusion of a doom oracle, God rejects the plan of the exiles to renew sacrificial worship in Babylonia by announcing the conditions of such a renewal: only in the land of Israel, only on his holy mountain, and only when the entire nation is reconstituted on its soil. Then he will not only accept his people (that is, their tenders of worship), but also he will require of them the holy offerings that signify his reconciliation with them.” [Greenberg, “The Design and Themes of Ezekiel’s Program of Restoration,” Interpretation, XXXVIII/2, (April, 1984), 182]

    11. A. Setting Ezek 37.24b-28: “Thus the prophet sums up his prophecies of restoration in chapters 34-37: The hearts of the people will be bent to observe God’s laws; as a result they will possess their patrimony forever under God’s pious chief. The five-fold repetition of ‘forever’ stresses the irreversibility of the new dispensation. Unlike God’s past experiment with Israel, the future restoration will have a guarantee of success; its capstone will be God’s sanctifying presence dwelling forever in his sanctuary amidst his people. The vision of the restored Temple (and God’s return to it) in chapters 40-48 follows as a proleptic corroboration of these promises.” [Greenberg, “Design,” 182]

    12. B. The New Temple: 40.5-42.20 1. Outer Wall (40.5) “A wall around the temple area (40.5) separates the sacred area from the profane (42.20). According to 22.26 earlier priests had not properly maintained the distinction between the sacred and the profane, while according to 44.23 the teaching of this difference was to be one of their major tasks in the future.” [Klein, Ezekiel, 172] “In the measurement of the wall it is noteworthy that thickness and height have the same measurement (a good three meters). The idea (or tradition?) that lies behind that is no longer discernible.” [Zimmerli, II, 349]

    14. B. The New Temple: 40.5-42.20 2. Gates, Gates and More Gates “These six gates are not military in function, replete with towers, but serve primarily to ward off impurity from the holy region. Each gate leads to a progressively higher area.” [Klein, Ezekiel, 172] “The descriptions of the gates are detailed enough to permit the drawing of a schematic plan. The overall dimensions are 50 by 25 cubits (40.21,25,29,33,36). Extending through the center of each gate was a passageway lined on each side by three days. The passageway of the outer gates ended in a vestibule next to the exit into the outer-court; the inner gates have their vestibule toward the outside and the threshold abuts the inner court.” [Klein, Ezekiel, 172]

    15. B. The New Temple: 40.5-42.20 2. Gates, Gates and More Gates “Archaeologists have demonstrated that this particular style of gate reproduces the architectural style of the tenth century, the era of Solomon. The remains of such gates have been discovered at Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer, and it is reasonable to hypothesize that there would have been similar gates in Jerusalem as well (cf. 1 Kgs 9.15). Ezekiel’s knowledge of this archaic style suggests that he had access to old records in Babylon. It also shows how he reused items from the tradition and adapted them to fit his particular theological agenda. Thus he changed the gates from a military to a liturgical use, and he transferred them from the city walls to the outside wall of the temple complex and to the border around the inner court.” [Klein, Ezekiel, 172]

    18. B. The New Temple: 40.5-42.20 2. Gates, Gates and More Gates East Gate (40.6-16) Other Gates (40.17-27) Vestibules and Vestries (40.28-46) “The effect is to make a demarcation between the two courts: properly entry into the sanctuary occurs only at the point of passing into the inner court. One receives the impression of the greater holiness of the inner court (cf. 42.14; 44.19; 46.1-3,3).” [Allen, WBC, 230]

    21. B. The New Temple: 40.5-42.20 3. Altar (40.47; 43.1ff.) “It is quite clear... in the continuation of the leading of the prophet, which has its goal not at the altar, but in the temple building to the west of the altar and there in the most westerly room of that building, the holy of holies. Everything is orientated towards that spot, as will also be emphasized in the later complex in 43.1 ff. and as is also expressed indirectly in the rules of procedure in the temple. Even the altar is orientated towards that spot, for it is precisely said not that it stands ‘in the center of the court,’ but ‘in front of the temple.’ It does not signify a new center of gravity, but stands submissively in front of the sanctuary whose core is in the holy of holies.” [Zimmerli, II, 355]

    22. B. The New Temple: 40.5-42.20 4. Outer and inner Courts (40.48-41.4) Although the Temple stands centrally in the grounds, with the Holy of Holies the epicenter, yet the data is sparse compared with the gates, courts, vestibules, etc. The idea may be that just as in 41.4 Ezekiel himself was not allowed to enter the Holy of Holies so mystery is intended to cover over this sacred space, even in description. “The temple itself consisted of three rooms: the vestibule (‘ulam), the nave (hekal), and the innermost room (penima). The internal measurements of these rooms are similar to those of the of Solomon, 20 by 12 cubits for the vestibule, 40 by 20 for the nave, and 20 by 20 for the most holy place (cf. 1 Kgs 6). As usual, Ezekiel only lists length and breadth. The overall length and width of the temple, counting the structures on each side and the rear, are 50 by 100.... Each entrance in the temple gets progressively narrower as one gets closer to the place of Yahweh’s presence.” [Klein, Ezekiel, 175]

    23. B. The New Temple: 40.5-42.20 5. The Temple Hall (41.1-2) 6. The Holy of Holies (41.3-4) 7. Annexes & Surroundings (41.5-15a) 8. Wall Decoration & Interior Furnishing (41.15b-26) “The reliefs on the paneling complement the palms seen in the gatehouses with two-headed cherubim, but omit the flowers added in the Solomonic temple (1 Kgs 6.29,32,35). The two heads are a two-dimensional version of the four heads of 1.10; 10.14. The all-seeing cherubim or sphinxes are vigilant guardians of God’s sovereign holiness, while the palms, as often in ancient Near Eastern art, represent the tree of life (cf. 47.1-12).” [Allen, WBC, 233]

    26. B. The New Temple: 40.5-42.20 9. Rooms for the Priestly Services (42.1-14) “It tells of the two large room structures which delimit on its two sides, north and south, the square area lying to the west behind the temple building, the area which was described in 41.12 and measured in 41.13, 15a.” [Zimmerli, II, 397]

    27. Holiness Theology “The description of the two priestly sacristies which match the temple building plus annexes in size is unmistakably at the service of very distinct concepts of holiness. This is not just true of the concluding words of the guiding figure which mark the climax of the whole description. It is already clear from the layout of the buildings which reveal their bridging function in their terrace-like ascent from the lay sphere to the priestly sphere. A wall built on the side of the building which faces the lay sphere prevents direct access to the buildings which already belong to the realm of greater holiness. The only entrance on the east side of the passage guarded by the wall makes possible an exact control of those who enter.” [Zimmerli, II, 401]

    28. Holiness Theology “At the same time, there is proclaimed in the design of the building, and then quite clearly in the man’s explanatory words, that any admittance of the profane, far less of the unsanctified, into the sphere of the sacred is strongly forbidden. And vice versa-this emerges explicitly in vv. 13f -any direct exposure of the sacred to the profane outside must be prevented.” [Zimmerli, II, 401]

    29. B. The New Temple: 40.5-42.20 10. Conclusion of Measuring the Temple Area (42.15-20) “The stated purpose of the wall in v. 20b reveals the sanctity of the temple area as the domain of God. This sphere of the divine was set aside, in the world and yet not of the world, as a colony of heaven.” [Allen, WBC, 235]

    30. C. The Glory Returns: 43.1-14; 44.1-4 1. Significance of the Return: a. God's presence: God appeared in the midst of, “people whom God should have ‘annihilated’ (hlk) because of their ‘faithlessness’ (twnz).” [Zimmerli, II, 420] “The account of God’s coming to his people shows at the same time how at this coming there occurs first of all a terrifying self-awareness which leads to a deep sense of shame. The people’s whole previous history is illumined critically and revealed in its dubiousness.” [Zimmerli, II, 421] “At God’s appearing there is heard at the same time the summons to something new which must not only be heard but also be done (v11). This new thing is described in terms of the awareness of the OT priest. The basis of correct obedience is correct differentiation and separation. Profane humanity must not penetrate God’s holy domain, but must respect the holy things of God as that which is circumscribed by God’s commands.” [Zimmerli, II, 421]

    31. C. The Glory Returns: 43.1-14; 44.1-4 1. Significance of the Return: b. Altar and sacrifices sanctified: 43.13-27 “Only one thing can be discerned through its meager description, namely that it has been at pains, in contrast to the sacrileges of earlier times (8.16), to let the adoration of God, which takes place in the sacrifice, really happen ‘before God.’ For this reason its altar turns from the ‘forward’ (i.e. easterly) direction apparently preferred by nature and faces in a westerly direction towards the place in which God has taken up residence in his holy house. Through the orientation of the sacrificial cult and the obedient turning to the place in which it has pleased God to come near to his people, this altar description too gives expression to the idea that true worship of God does not choose arbitrarily for itself the way of its accomplishment.” [Zimmerli, II, 428]

    33. C. The Glory Returns: 43.1-14; 44.1-4 1. Significance of the Return: c. Prince, Levites and Priest re-consecration: 44.5-31 “The unit gives the practical outworking of a theology of an overwhelmingly transcendent God immanent among his covenant people. It presents a challenge still relevant to modern believers. Worship that is done decently and in order (1 Cor 14.40; cf. Eze 46.9), the constant reconciliation of an imperfect people (cf. 1 Jon 1.8-2.2), and viable back-up systems of administration and economic support are issues that still confront the people of God.” [Allen, WBC, 270]

    34. C. The Glory Returns: 43.1-14; 44.1-4 2. Glory guarded by land Division: 45.1-12 45.1-8 Property Rights for Levites and Priests 45.9 An Admonition to the Princes of Israel 45.10-17 Right Measures and Offerings 3. Offerings and Feast reestablished: 45.13-24 45.18-25 Great Festivals and the Prince’s Offering 45.18-20 Annual Rite of Decontaminating the Inner Sanctuary Area 45.21-25 Passover and Festival of Unleavened Bread

    35. C. The Glory Returns: 43.1-14; 44.1-4 4. Other Ordinances: 46.1-15 Gate Ordinances 46.16-18 Prince’s Property 46.19-24 The Sacrificial Kitchens

    36. D. The River that brings fruit: 47.1-12

    37. D. The River that brings fruit: 47.1-12 “In the veiled imagery of the references to the temple spring and to the waters which flow from it 47.1-12 tries to state that the appearance of God in his sanctuary in the midst of his people does not create a self-contained ‘holy place.’ All the preparation of the sacred place with its protection against unthinking access on the part of what is ungodly, as this is reflected in the architectural layout of the sanctuary, is meant in the last resort to serve God’s intention to allow life and healing to flow out from here into the land. This life and this healing are to be effective precisely where unnatural disease and hostility to life are most obviously operative. The dead Sea, that enigma of the geography of Palestine, with its magnified hostility to life, must serve as the expression of this proclamation.” [Zimmerli, II, 516]

    38. E. New Boundaries of Land, Division of Land, and City: 47.13-48.35 Explicit Changes: “Listing the twelve tribes as the land is allotted is a way of promising that the division of the people of Yahweh will be overcome by this return to the pattern of a prior era (see 37.15-28).” [Hals, FOTL, 345] “The mention of resident aliens in 47.22-23 as having a share in the future Israel is often seen as reflecting the presence of converts to the faith of Israel from other nations, whose existence came to modify the word gerim from its original role as a technical label for a social-legal group (‘resident aliens’) in the direction of a religio-legal class (‘proselytes’).” [Hals, FOTL, 345]

    39. E. New Boundaries of Land, Division of Land, and City: 47.13-48.35 Explicit Changes: ““There is an evident concern on the part of this new arrangement to safeguard the holiness of the sanctuary.” [Hals, FOTL, 345]

    40. E. New Boundaries of Land, Division of Land, and City: 47.13-48.35

    43. F. A Theology of the Restored Glory 1. A re-built Temple, for the former was defied: a. Many Gates to guard the holiness and sanctity of God's glory. b. Worship with Altar, etc. is to be central. c. Much larger than Solomon's or Herod. d. Finds its end in the Kabod of the LORD.

    44. F. A Theology of the Restored Glory 2. Holiness is directly related to God's presence in Glory: a. 43.6-9, 10-12 b. 44.1-46.24 and its rules. c. Jerusalem is renamed and called, “The LORD is there.” d. Centrality of the LORD. 3. God's presence in Glory means fruitfulness: 47.1-12

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