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Hello and welcome to the Wisdom Journey with Stephen Davy. Stephen is the President of Wisdom
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International and he's taking you through the Bible with a new lesson each weekday.
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We have a resource that can provide answers to your Bible-related questions.
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It can instantly search through Stephen's four decades of Bible teaching and provide you with
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biblically faithful answers immediately. If you have a question about the Bible or if you just
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want to try this out, visit wisdomonline.org slash ask. There's a link in the show notes.
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Well today we come to the final pages and the final prophecy in Ezekiel and here in chapters 40
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through 48 the prophet Ezekiel is going to point once again to the future of Israel.
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Although the nation is suffering the consequences of their idolatry and rebellion,
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although their land is desolate, although the capital city of Jerusalem, here is in ruins and the
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glorious golden temple is completely destroyed and although the people are now exiles in a foreign
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land, this book of prophecy ends with a vision of the coming glory and kingdom of the Messiah.
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Now we've seen some glimpses of this kingdom already in our Wisdom journey through this book,
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but in these closing chapters we're given a more detailed and I got to say rather breathtaking
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description of your future and mine along with that of the nation of Israel.
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Now let's set the timeline here. After the seven years of tribulation,
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Jesus Christ will return to earth. He's going to destroy his enemies. He'll establish his kingdom
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on earth. That kingdom will continue for a thousand years. That's why we call it the millennial
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kingdom. Resurrected believers of all times will be there raining with Christ and they're going
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to rain over millions of people on earth who have entered the millennial kingdom alive. These are
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people from every tongue, tribe, and nation who accepted Jesus Christ as their savior during the
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tribulation, while they survived and now they witness Jesus Christ's return and they move
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literally move directly into the kingdom rain of Christ on earth. Now I don't want to get too far
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off track here because Ezekiel's focus is on the nation of Israel, those Jewish people from around
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the world who in this future day here have regathered in the land of Israel. They accepted Christ
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during the tribulation and now they've welcomed their Messiah who's returned to set up his kingdom.
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Well in a vision the Lord takes Ezekiel to Jerusalem which is now restored and rebuilt and
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their Ezekiel sees a man more than likely an angel and the angel has a measuring rod in his hand
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and he tells Ezekiel here in chapter 40 and verse 4 declare all that you see to the house of
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Israel. Well what does he see? He sees the millennial temple. This is a future rebuilt glorious
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temple for the millennial kingdom. Now we know that when the captives in Babylon eventually returned
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to their homeland they rebuilt their temple. It would be later enlarged by King Herod into the
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temple that existed during the days of Jesus but that temple was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70
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and listen the temple has never been rebuilt to this day. I've been to Israel and I've seen
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the remains of Herod's temple. You got this outer wall that's been nicknamed the wailing wall.
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That's where you go to cry. You go to pray because of all that's been lost. The Jewish people
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are longing for that temple to be rebuilt. Well let me tell you one day the weeping will cease
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and the glorious temple Ezekiel sees here is going to be present during Christ's reign on earth.
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In fact chapter 40 and 41 describe this temple in even greater detail. Now there's no reason to
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understand this prophecy as anything other than a description of a literal temple in a literal
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future kingdom. Back we're given here in chapter 40 the measurements for gates for the
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the courts even even the offices the angel gives Ezekiel a tour as they work their way from the
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outer court into the inner court of the temple and eventually they arrive here in chapter 41
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at the holy of holies the most holy place and it's interesting that there's no mention of a veil
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separating the holy place from the holy of holies and is one writer and noted there's no mention
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of the arc of the covenant either that mercy seat on which blood was sprinkled on the annual day
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of atonement. Well why not? Well because the Lord Jesus the physical visible image of the invisible
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God Colossians 115 and the Lamb of God who offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins
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Hebrews chapter 10 verse 12 well he's going to be physically visibly present. You see Jesus is
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the mercy seat. He is the place where the wrath of God would be turned away. He is the presence
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of Almighty God. Well once everything's been measured here at the end of chapter 42 Ezekiel is now
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taken out to the gate that faces east the outer perimeter of the entire temple complex is now
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measured. It happens to be a perfect square of 500 cubits on each side. One commentator puts this
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into perspective by noting that this temple complex is large enough to hold more than 13 football
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fields. This is massive. Well now the second part of this significant vision is what Ezekiel sees
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next in chapter 43 here where he sees a millennial worship taking center stage in verse 2 he writes
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the whole the glory of the god of Israel was coming from the east and the sound of his coming
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was like the sound of many waters and the earth shown with his glory. I kind of imagine the sound
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of Niagara Falls accompanied with this brilliant light moving toward the city of Jerusalem
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as the glory of God returns. See the people of Israel living in the millennium are believers.
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They have a new heart, a new spirit as the Lord prophesied. So now the Lord's presence is going
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to literally return. God says here in verse 7 I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel
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forever and the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name.
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Now a rather interesting feature of millennial worship is given to us here the descendants of
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Zedok will serve as priests. These are Levites but they're not from the line of Aaron. The sons of
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Zedok had remained faithful to the Lord and Ezekiel 44 verse 15 the Lord says the sons of Zedok who
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kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me.
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Well they're going to come near to me to minister. God is rewarding them for their faithfulness
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way back when Israel went astray. Now chapter 45 tells us that a portion of the land is going to
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be set aside as a sacred district. There's going to be a section for the temple, for the priests,
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there's going to be a section for the Levites and in addition to all of that, in fact verse 7 tells us
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here to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district extending from the
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western to the eastern boundary. While this prince is apparently a civil ruler who serves under the
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Messiah Jesus. Some believe the prince of Jerusalem will be David himself. We can't be certain. We're
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just going to have to wait to find out. Now you might wonder why priests are even needed during
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the millennial reign of Christ. After all, Jesus fulfills everything in the Old Testament sacrificial
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system. He symbolized in every aspect and now Jesus is visibly present on earth. Well chapter 46
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makes it clear that the priest will be carrying out sacrifices in the new temple. But these sacrifice
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in the millennial kingdom will have a different purpose than those of the Old Testament era. You see
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these sacrifices are going to serve as memorials to the sacrificial death of our king, king Jesus.
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They're going to be teaching tools used for a thousand years to retell the story of redemption
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to Israel and to the nations around the world. Well now the final two chapters of Ezekiel focus on
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the millennial land. There are some new features in the land of Israel. You've got this fresh
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life-giving water flowing from the temple eastward toward the Dead Sea. And by the way the Dead Sea
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is called the Dead Sea for a reason. Fish and plants can't live in it because of the extremely
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high salt content. Well listen to what Ezekiel is told here in verse 8 of chapter 47.
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When the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. First den,
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fishermen will stand beside the sea. It will be a place for the spreading of nets.
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Frankly, we can't imagine all of the new, flourishing, beautiful, glorious aspects
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of the coming kingdom of Christ on earth. It's going to be magnificent and how exciting it will be
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that you and I who believe in Christ are going to experience it first hand.
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Well with that, we come to the end of the prophecies of Ezekiel. Yes, there have been prophecies
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of judgment, but we've also been given wonderful promises of joy for everyone who repents and places
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their faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the coming King. Well until our next wisdom journey
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beloved is we begin the book of Daniel. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
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and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
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That was Stephen Davie and this is the wisdom journey, a production of wisdom international.
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Learn more at wisdomonline.org.