The Future Kingdom Temple. Revelation 20:1 - 6, Ezekiel 40 – 48
We are looking at the spiritual life in the messianic kingdom or what we also refer to as the Millennial kingdom, because Revelation chapter twenty tells us that it will be one thousand years long—it is actually the prelude to eternity. Many things that apply to the messianic kingdom, the Millennial kingdom described in Revelation 20, continue that way beyond the end of the Millennium and on into eternity.
The only place that we get an understanding of the nature of the Millennial kingdom is in the Old Testament. All we learn from Revelation is the length of the kingdom and that Satan will be bound during that 100-year period, then released at the end of it when there will be a rebellion against God even in perfect environment. We also learn that during that time the saints will be reigning along with Christ.
Zechariah 8:3 NASB "Thus says the LORD, 'I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts {will be called} the Holy Mountain.'" This is something that they have great joy about: the fact that God will return and will take up His glory in Jerusalem in a way that has no precedent. In the Old Testament we read of the dwelling presence of God in the tabernacle, called the Shekinah glory; then we read about His glory in the Solomonic temple, but Ezekiel saw that glory depart as God had already announced judgment on the southern kingdom of Judah because they had refused to stay away from idolatry, refused to follow the law, refused to be loyal to Him. God was going to discipline the nation and remove them from the land, and that began in 605 BC with the first deportation of Jews to Babylon. Daniel was in the first deportation and Ezekiel who was a priest was in the second deportation that occurred in 597. The final assault occurred in 586 when the temple was destroyed, Jerusalem was destroyed and a huge number of Jews taken captive and removed to Babylon.
These prophecies are given in that context. Zechariah is after that deportation and so it is not the return that comes in 538 that he is talking about. He was one of the two prophets (with Haggai) who were responsible to challenge Israel as they had lost their drive to lead the rebuilding of the second temple; they were challenging the people to get with it. But in Zechariah's message he is not focusing on the glory that would come to that temple but a future temple. This is the context of Zechariah 8:3. This never happened in history, so either these prophecies are false or they have yet to be fulfilled; and they will be fulfilled exactly as God said they would. The prophecies that we know of in Scripture that were fulfilled were fulfilled to the very letter; they were precise and exact, so we can expect that the prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled will also be fulfilled with the same level of literalness and specificity.
Ezekiel has a number of different visions and then in 40:1 we are told NASB "In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was taken, on that same day the hand of the LORD was upon me and He brought me there." He doesn't have an out-of-body experience, he is miraculously transported, and then he is going to have a vision that God is going to give him of Israel and the future temple. We should note the precision of his description. It is much more precise and much more detailed than the revelation that God gave to Moses for the tabernacle. Ezekiel is given various visions about the future of Israel to give comfort. This is what gives hope and joy to the Israelites who have been evicted from their land that God is not through with them. God has a glorious future for them, it is a message of hope and confidence that they can look forward to, and they have to orient themselves to that future just as we in the church age have to orient to God's future plan for the church.
In these chapters of Ezekiel we get into the future blessings that God is going to give to Israel as He finally fulfills those prophecies that He made, starting in passages like Deuteronomy 30; Leviticus 27 & 27, that there would be a restoration to the land and a complete renewal of the people, and that they will be restored to the land from the four corners of the earth as a nation whose whole heart is given to the service of God. The way that will be implemented after the horrors of the wars described in Ezekiel chapters 38 & 39 is that there will be this new temple that will be established on the "mountain of the Lord of hosts." This temple then becomes the center of the worship for all the nations in the future kingdom. All of the Gentiles will come to Jerusalem to worship.
One of the interesting things about this as we get into all of the descriptions is that there are certain discrepancies between the description of the temple, the dimensions of the temple, mentioned in Ezekiel 40ff and the dimensions of the previous temple and the dimensions of the furniture in the tabernacle. There are also some differences between the sacrifices. There are various differences that are given and it was the rabbinical thought that these things couldn't change. It created a problem in the early period of Judaism when they were thinking through the whole issue of what should be included and what books shouldn't be in the canon. Eventually they came up with a rationale for that, that within the revelation that God gave to Moses there are a couple of phrases that allow for things to change or develop with time.
The whole doctrine of a future restored temple and future restored sacrifices isn't distinct to Ezekiel. Ezekiel expands it but there are numerous other prophets who also go into detail. Part of the element of what lays the foundation for it is the covenant that God will establish with the house of Israel and the house of Judah in the future New covenant that is put into effect when the Messiah comes. One element of this is seen in Zechariah 12:10 NASB "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced…" This is a reference to that remnant of Israel that Zechariah describes as having made it through this horrific time of warfare focusing on Jerusalem, described in chapters 10 & 11. This is a reference to Jesus as the Messiah because He was indeed pierced on the cross. We see the same thing in Isaiah 53, that He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. That is what the Old Testament prophesies about the death of the Messiah. "…and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn." So when He returns He will establish His kingdom, He will establish a new spiritual life that is related to the Spirit of God that is poured out upon them.
The fact that there will be a literal rebuilt temple is a part of orthodox Judaism. If God has all of the numerous prophecies about the destruction of the temple then the same prophecies that predict its restoration must also have a literal fulfillment. We have seen that in the future when the Messianic kingdom is established it will be a time of unprecedented positive volition on the earth, for all the nations (Isaiah 2 and other passages) will come to Jerusalem to the holy mountain to worship. Isaiah 11:9 NASB "They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea." This same thought is echoed in Habakkuk 2:14 NASB "For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea." This is stated in several places, it is central to understanding the spiritual life of the Millennial kingdom. It is different from the spiritual life in the present age, which is different from the spiritual life in the Mosaic law era. In the church age there is no ritual in a central sanctuary but in the future Millennial kingdom once again there is a return to focus on Israel, on a central sanctuary, and there will be restored sacrifices.
In Exodus 19:6 we see that Israel was originally called for a spiritual purpose: to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. They failed in that function in the Old Testament. Even after they were restored from Babylon they never fulfilled that mission to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, but that will take place in the Millennial kingdom. Dwight Pentecost has written a number of excellent books dealing with the whole topic of prophecy, writes in his book Thy Kingdom Come:
"During the Millennial reign of Christ Israel as a nation will fulfill the function for which they were originally set apart by God. They will become a kingdom of priests who are intermediaries between those who need to be saved and the King who provides salvation. They will become as they were originally appointed to be, God's lights to the world."
Another aspect of this spiritual life in the Millennial kingdom is there are going to be some overt and miraculous demonstrations of the Holy Spirit that are far beyond anything that has been seen in the church age period or in the transition in the book of Acts. The ministry of the Spirit in the Messianic kingdom is seen and often linked with passages related to the New covenant in the Old Testament. Ezekiel chapter thirty-seven reiterates in a little different language the same elements that we see in Jeremiah 31 and other passages related to the New covenant. Ezekiel 37:25 NASB "They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons' sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever.
Jeremiah 31:33, 34 NASB "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
This is related to the Holy Spirit, Isaiah 32:15 NASB "Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, And the wilderness becomes a fertile field, And the fertile field is considered as a forest." Isaiah 44:3 NASB "For I will pour out water on the thirsty {land} And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants." That never happened in the Old Testament, it is a prophecy of the future that has yet to be fulfilled. Ezekiel 39:29 NASB "I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel," declares the Lord GOD. Joel 2:28, 29 NASB "It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions.
Ezekiel 36:24-27 NASB "For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.
When we come to the temple we will see that there is a connection now between the worship at the temple and all the Millennial ritual associated with it but, unlike the Old Testament period, the future temple worship is going to have this dimension that is energized by God the Holy Spirit. So it can be seen that it is very different from the Old Testament period or the present church age. In Judaism there is no distinction seen between the Tribulation temple and the Millennial temple although there is a clear understanding of the dimensions of Ezekiel's temple. They just think of that as the next temple. In Isaiah chapter two we have seen that there is this earthquake that occurs to cause a mountain to rise in Jerusalem and it is on that mountain that the house of the Lord "will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths…'" So the whole world is focused on the spiritual life centering in Israel and centering in Jerusalem. Isaiah 25:10 NASB "For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain…" 56:7, "Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples." This last verse (7) is Isaiah talking about burnt offerings and acceptable sacrifices on the altar in that future temple.
We learn also from Old Testament passages that it will be the Messiah who builds the temple. Zechariah 6:12 NASB "Then say to him, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD.[13] Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.'" He will function as the ultimate High Priest in Israel as well. Ezekiel 37:28 NASB "And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever." The other thing that will take place according to Ezekiel 43:4, 5 is that the Shekinah glory that departed from the temple in Ezekiel's day is going to return and come into the house by way of the gate facing toward the east. This isn't the east gate that is there now, it is not the location of the east gate at the time of Jesus or even Solomon's time. So in Ezekiel we have a description of the glories of the future nation of Israel.
In the new temple the sacrifices on the altar will differ to some degree from the sacrifices carried out in the Old Testament. Those who believe in a literal interpretation of prophecy, a future literal interpretation, recognize that this has to be taken literally. We have to understand that this isn't conflict with the completed work of Christ. In the first part of Leviticus there are five different sacrifices identified—burnt offering, grain offering, peace offering, sin offering, guilt offering. We have to remember that these are sacrifices that the people in the nation are part of a redeemed nation, so naturally they are viewed as being God's firstborn already, and these sacrifices do not bring them salvation. Nobody in the Old Testament was saved by bringing a sacrifice to the temple; the sacrifices had to do with the ceremonial worship of God. All of the things that went on from the feasts that were related to the temple to the sacrifices themselves were designed to teach certain spiritual truths to the Israelites—primarily that they were worshipping a holy God, a God who could not have anything to do with sin, and that there was a penalty for sin and that that penalty had to be applied/enacted so that His justice is not compromised. The sacrifices had to do with satisfying His judicial demands. So there was a limited or temporary effectiveness to these animal sacrifices. All of this was designed to teach that sin was something that was horrible in the sight of God and couldn't be rationalized or glossed over but that God indeed had a solution.
In the process of the sin offering the priest would bring the animal (in this case the bull), Leviticus 4:20 NASB "He shall also do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; thus he shall do with it. So the priest shall make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven… [26] All its fat he shall offer up in smoke on the altar as {in the case of} the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin, and he will be forgiven." It was a real forgiveness but it wasn't a permanent forgiveness. What has to be understood is that it was good until the next sin, and then there has to be another sacrifice. That is the point that the writer of Hebrews was making by focusing on the fact that all of these Old Testament sacrifices foreshadowed a perfect sacrifice that would be the once-for-all sacrifice for sin. There would be ultimate forgiveness as a result of that substitutionary sacrifice. What would happen in the process of the sacrifice is that the worshipper puts his hand on the animal, indicating an identification and the transfer of sin, and it depicts the whole concept of a substitutionary atonement. Hebrews 10:4 NASB "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." But that verse doesn't say they did nothing; they had a temporary efficacy. It had to do with ritual purification, not ultimate judicial or soul purification.
So we look at the sacrifices that are mentioned in Ezekiel. First the burnt offering. In the burnt offering the animal was placed on the altar and burned. It depicted complete devotion to God and that the worshipper was giving his whole life in dedication to the service of God, and it depicts a complete ceremonial cleansing of the worshipper. There is nothing in that would conflict with Christ's death on the cross, which isn't for a ceremonial cleansing but for an actual or real judicial cleansing. This was not in the Old Testament sacrifices; they just gave ritual access to the temple. The grain offering is also mentioned in Ezekiel 40-48 and it was a tribute offering given to God in gratitude for His blessings in their life. The peace offering is the only offering of that nature where the worshipper ate of the meal, because he is sharing that; it is a picture of the fact that he already has peace with God. The peace offering wasn't to give peace with God, he already had it and so he is now celebrating that he has peace and fellowship with God. Then the sin offering was designed for ceremonially cleansing the worshipper from sins he didn't know were sins, inadvertent sins. The guilt offering provided ceremonial cleansing for the worshipper where his sins involved some sort of monetary or physical remuneration that could be accomplished.
In worship in the Millennial temple the priests that are born in the Millennial period will still be sinners and will still commit acts that will make them ritually and ceremonially unclean. They are going to go into the temple and serve in the temple and there has to be ritual/ceremonial cleansing for their service in the temple. That is the purpose of those sacrifices for those who are going into the temple to worship God. It is a physical representation to remind people of the actual judicial payment that was taken care of by Christ on the cross. In the Millennial kingdom we know from Ezekiel chapter forty that it is not all the Levites because it is not all the sons of Aaron that can serve but only the sons of Zadok because of their dedication and loyalty to David during the time of Absolom's rebellion.
Isaiah 56:7 NASB "Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples." [66:20] "Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the LORD, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem," says the LORD, "just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.' Jeremiah 33:18 NASB "and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually." Zechariah 14 mentions the various feasts observed during the ritual calendar. Malachi 3:3, 4 NASB "He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness.
Illustrations