Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Ezekiel 43:1 - 43:12

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Ezekiel 43:1 - 43:12


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The Entrance of Jehovah's Glory

v. 1. Afterward He brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east, the main entrance of the Temple,

v. 2. and, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east,
to make the Temple of the New Testament, the glorious structure of His Church, the dwelling of His merciful presence; and His voice was like a noise of many waters, that associated also with other manifestations of the Lord's glory, Eze_1:24; Rev_1:15; Rev_14:2; and the earth shined with His glory, with the reflection of the Shechinah, the wonderful cloud of the presence of Jehovah in the Old Testament, that which was also seen at the transfiguration of the Lord, Mat_17:5.

v. 3. And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw,
Eze_1:4-28, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city, at the time when he was given the prophecy concerning the fall of the city, in the first chapters of his book; and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar, Eze_3:23. And I fell upon my face, overcome by the glory of a manifestation which sinful men cannot behold without quaking.

v. 4. And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east,
the majesty of God appearing in the fullness of His grace, to enter into the portal of His everlasting Temple. Cf Psa_24:7-10.

v. 5. So the Spirit,
Eze_3:12-23; Eze_10:15, took me up and brought me into the inner court, while the prophet was in this state of ecstasy; and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house, as it did at the dedication of Solomon's Temple, 1Ki_8:10-11.

v. 6. And I heard Him speaking unto me out of the house,
out of the Sanctuary, where Jehovah at once established His throne; and the Man stood by me. Note that a distinction is made between the person of Him speaking on the inside of the Temple and Him who stood beside Ezekiel; and yet their identity is clear from the following.

v. 7. And He said unto me, Son of man, the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet,
their permanent resting-place, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever, as the King of his people, and My holy name shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they nor their kings, by their whoredom, by the spiritual adultery of their idolatry, nor by the carcasses of their kings in their high places, the latter referring to their idols as having had lordship over Israel in past times. What the Man says identifies Him entirely with Jehovah; His speech legitimates itself as the Word of Jehovah; He is the Word of God which was with God from the beginning. Cf John 1.

v. 8. In their setting of their threshold by My thresholds and their post by My posts,
as when Manasseh built altars in the courts of the Temple to the host of heaven, 2Ki_21:5, and the wall between Me and them, or, "with only the wall between Me and them," they have even defiled My holy name by their abominations that they have committed, as was so abundantly set forth by the various prophets before the Exile; wherefore I have consumed them in Mine anger.

v. 9. Now let them,
all those who wish to be members of the spiritual Israel, put away their whoredom, their idolatry in every form, and the carcasses of their kings, of their dead idols, far from Me, and I will dwell in the midst of them forever, in the everlasting manifestation of His grace and mercy in Christ Jesus, the Redeemer.

v. 10. Thou son of man, show the house,
this new wonderful structure of the Messianic Temple, to the house of Israel that they may be ashamed of their iniquities, for the realization of the unmerited greatness of God's goodness- and mercy awakens a feeling of shame and repentance; and let them measure the pattern, the harmony of proportion shown in this marvelous edifice, so that they would understand what the Lord is offering through His Church. With the picture of its perfection before their eyes always, Eph_5:26-27, they would have the strongest incentive to keep themselves in the way of holiness.

v. 11. And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, show them the form of the house,
as it appeared to the beholder in its entirety, and the fashion thereof, its arrangement, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, the various ascents and stairways, and all the forms thereof, the individual sections, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof, everything pertaining to all its parts; and write it in their sight that they may keep the whole form thereof and all the ordinances thereof and do them.

v. 12. This is the law of the house: Upon the top of the mountain,
on which this wonderful structure is supposed to have been built, the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy, preserved from all acts of idolatry and every profaning influence. Behold, this is the law of the house. In the New Testament the entire edifice of God's Church is altogether holy, not having a spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but altogether holy and without blemish. Cf Eph_5:27.