37 lines
1.9 KiB
Markdown
37 lines
1.9 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Ezekiel 41:1–26"
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date = "2023-07-04"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ezekiel41.1-26)
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The tour moves into the temple itself. Ezekiel's angelic guide provides
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measurements for the nave, the doorways, and the temple's heart, the Most Holy
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Place. In Solomon's day, this was where the Ark of the Covenant, the
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representation of God's throne on earth, was kept. As before, it is a cube,
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perfect in its symmetry. However, there is no mention of the Ark here, so it
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will probably still be lost when the temple is built again.
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The rooms around the main sanctuary are arranged in an inverted staircase
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pattern, such that the third story is wider than the second, which is wider
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than the first. As best I can tell, there are columns to support the upper
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stories, separate from the wall between the inner court and the temple. What I
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cannot tell is whether there is space between the temple and the side chambers,
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nor why there are two measurements for the "breadth of the free space". What is
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certain is that the temple was on a raised platform above the inner court, and
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there was an outbuilding of some kind towards the west.
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The temple building measured 150 feet to a side, and it was square. Wood panels
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showed decorations of palm trees and cherubim, showing God's sovereignty over
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heaven and earth. Inside was the table of show-bread, called an "altar" by
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Ezekiel, though it wasn't the golden altar of incense or the altar for burnt
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offerings which was outside the temple. Other missing implements are the sea of
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brass used for ritual washing and the golden, seven-branched lampstand. I can't
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imagine future Jews neglecting to furnish the temple with a menorah, but I
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suppose neither Ezekiel nor the angel felt the need to be completely exhaustive
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in their descriptions.
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* * *
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As Your creation reflects Your character, so does Your house point to Your
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holiness.
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