Ezekiel's Temple Vision

Text and Content

This vision is recorded in the book of Ezekiel, chapters 40–48. "In the five and twentieth year of our captivity... in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten" (Ezekiel 40:1), Ezekiel is brought to a very high mountain in the land of Israel. There, guided by a man holding a measuring reed, he tours the temple.

• Chapters 40–42: The gates, courts, and chambers of the temple are measured one after another.
• Chapter 43: The glory of the LORD returns from the east and fills the temple. This scene is the counterpart to chapters 10–11, where the glory departs from the temple.
• Chapters 44–46: Regulations follow concerning the keeping of the east gate shut, the duties of the priests of the sons of Zadok and of the Levites, the portion of the prince, and the offerings and feasts.
• 47:1–12: Water issues from under the threshold of the temple and flows eastward. It rises to the ankles, the knees, and the loins, until it becomes a river that cannot be crossed. It passes through the Arabah and reaches the sea (generally understood to be the Dead Sea), whose waters it heals. The trees on both banks of the river bear fruit every month, and their leaves are for medicine.
• 47:13–48:35: The land is divided among the twelve tribes. An inheritance is also given to the strangers who sojourn among Israel (Ezekiel 47:22–23). The name of the city is "Jehovah-shammah," that is, "The LORD is there" (Ezekiel 48:35).

Background

In the early sixth century BC, Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. This vision was given afterward to the people living in the Babylonian exile. Ezekiel was of priestly descent (Ezekiel 1:3), and the detailed temple regulations in the vision are often explained in light of this background. Earlier, in chapters 8–11, the glory departed from the defiled temple; in this vision the glory returns. The temple rebuilt after the return from exile was not constructed according to this design.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The scene of the glory filling the temple recalls the dedication of the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34–35). The New Testament applies the idea of the temple to the body of Jesus (John 2:21) and to the church (1 Corinthians 3:16–17; 1 Peter 2:5). The Book of Revelation contains many passages that parallel this vision: the high mountain (Revelation 21:10), the gates bearing the names of the twelve tribes (Revelation 21:12–14), and the river of the water of life together with the tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:1–2). However, the New Jerusalem has no separate temple; God and the Lamb are its temple (Revelation 21:22). Some interpreters connect the water flowing from the temple with the "rivers of living water" of John 7:37–39.

Interpretations and Points of Debate

• A literal future temple: Dispensationalism holds that this temple will actually be built during the Millennium. In this interpretation, whether animal sacrifices will be offered again becomes a point of debate. Proponents explain these sacrifices as, among other things, memorials of Christ's atonement.
• Symbolic fulfillment: Many interpreters in the Reformed and covenant theology traditions regard the vision as symbolic, fulfilled in Christ and the church and in the new heavens and new earth. They understand the sacrificial regulations as a shadow (Hebrews 10:1).
• A blueprint for restoration: Many biblical scholars read the vision as an ideal plan of restoration presented to the exilic community.
• Judaism: Jewish tradition connects the vision with the temple of the messianic age. The rabbis are reported to have debated the ways in which Ezekiel's regulations differ from the Law of Moses.

The text does not say when or by whom this temple will be built. Claims such as "when a new temple is built in Jerusalem, the end is imminent" are not made directly by the text but derive from particular interpretations.