Beware of ads that may appear in this article, even those that may appear to be of a Biblical nature.
I. Details Of The Kingdom Temple.
A. Through the prophet Ezekiel numerous details are given to us concerning this temple that becomes the center of the earth during the millennial kingdom age. The gates and courts surrounding the temple are first described (Ezek. 40:5-47). The entire area is enclosed by a wall (40:5) which is to separate that which would defile. The outer courtyard is described (40:6-27) where the people gather. This is entered by three gates, one of which, built like all the rest, is the east gate (40:6-16), a structure 25 by 50 cubits (40:21), through which the Shekinah glory enters the temple (43:1-6), which is kept closed (44:2-3). There is a gate on the northern side (40:20-23), and on the southern side (40:24-27), each of which is entered by seven steps (40:26), but none on the west (40:24). In connection with each gate there were six small chambers, three on each side (40:7-10). Around the outer court were thirty chambers, five on each side of each of the gates, arranged around the northern, eastern, and southern walls (40:17- 19). Before these chambers is a pavement (40:17-18) that extends around three sides of the area.
B. The prophet next describes the inner court (40:28-47), an area 100 cubits on each side (40:47), where the priests minister. There are three gates, each directly opposite the gates in the outer wall and 100 cubits within that outer wall, through which access is gained to the inner court; one on the south (40:28-31), east, and north (40:32-37). This inner court area is reached by eight steps (40:37), so that it is elevated above the outer court. Adjacent to the north gate in this area there were eight tables for preparing sacrifices (40:40-43). And within the outer court, but without the inner court, were chambers for the ministering priests (40:44-46). The center of this area is occupied by an altar (40:47; 43:13-17) where sacrifices are offered.
C. Ezekiel then describes the temple itself (40:48—41:4). He describes first the porch or vestibule of the temple (40:48-49), which is 20 cubits by 11 cubits. The porch has two large pillars on it (40:49), and is reached by steps (40:49), so that this area is elevated above the rest. This porch leads into the “temple” which would be the holy place, an area forty cubits by twenty cubits (41:2), in which is a wooden table (41:22). Beyond this is the inner part of the temple, or most holy place, a chamber twenty cubits by twenty cubits (41:3-4). Surrounding the wall of the house were chambers, three stories high, thirty to a story (41:5-11), concerning whose use the prophet does not speak. The temple is surrounded by an area 20 cubits by 100 cubits, called the separate place (41:12-14), which surrounds the temple on all sides except the east side, where the porch is located. The interior of the temple is described (41:15-26). It was paneled with wood (41:16) and ornamented with palm trees and cherubim (41:18). There were two doors into the sanctuary (41: 23-26). It is noteworthy that in all the description there is no mention of an ark, or mercy seat, or veil, or cherubim above the mercy seat, or tables of stone. The only article of furniture described is the table or altar of wood (41:22) that answers to the table of shewbread, that which bespeaks communion with God. Included also in the temple area was a separate building, located on the west side of the enclosure (41:12), areas where the sacrifices were prepared (46:19-20), and areas at the four corners where there was a court in which sacrifices for the people were prepared (46:21-24).
D. An extensive description of the throne is given in the prophecy (43:7-12), which is seen to be the very seat of authority. The altar description is detailed (43:12-18), followed by a recounting of the offerings which will be made (43:19-27). The priests’ ministry is outlined (44:9-31) and the entire worship ritual described (45:13—46:18). The vision climaxes in the description of the river that flows out of the sanctuary (47:1- 12; cf. Isa. 33:20-21; Joel 3:18; Zech. 14:8). This river flows from the temple south through the city of Jerusalem and then divides to flow into the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, furnishing life along its banks.
II. Kingdom Prophecies (6-10).
A. 6. Israel to once again be related to God by Marriage (Isa 54:1-17; 62:2-5; Hos 2:14-23).
B. 7. Israel to be exalted above the Gentiles (Isa 14:1-2; 49:22-23; 60:14-17; 61:6-7).
C. 8. Israel to become God’s witnesses (Isa 44:8; 61:6; 66:21; Ezek 3:17; Mic 5:7; Zeph 3:20; Zech 8:3).
D. 9. Jesus to rule from Jerusalem with a rod of iron (Ps 2:6-8, 11; Isa 11:2:3; 11:4).
E. 10. David to aid in this rule as vice-regent (Isa 55:3-4; Jer 30:9; Ezek 34:23; 37:24; Hos 3:5).
III. The Journey To Jerusalem. Matthew Chapter 20.
A. Yeshua’s Death And Resurrection Again Predicted (20:17-19)
1. All of Messiah’s ministry was relentlessly taking Him closer to the cross. Soon, they would be crossing the Jordan, passing through Jericho below sea level, and then up the steep winding road to Jerusalem, about 2,550 feet above sea level. As they were walking the hot desert road to Jericho, Messiah took occasion to separate His twelve disciples from the multitude and remind them that at the end of the road, there was a cross (cf. Mk 10:32-34; Lk 18:31-34).
2. This was not the first time that Christ had mentioned His death and resurrection to the disciples (cf. Mt 12:38-42; 16:21-28; 17:22-23). It, of course, had been announced as early as Genesis 3:15 that Satan would “bruise his heel.” The shadow of the cross hung over Yeshua from the time He was born. He had clearly announced this to the disciples in Matthew 16:21-23, when Peter had attempted to rebuke Him. He had mentioned it again in Matthew 17:22-23, following the transfiguration. Now as they were moving closer and closer to Jerusalem, He said to His disciples, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.” Messiah gave accurately the details of His coming death and resurrection, and there is no question about His certainty of it. There is utmost accuracy in the details, and a calm, quiet knowledge of the actual things before Him.
3. Interestingly, although in Matthew 16 Peter rebuked Yeshua, and in 17:23 it states, “They were exceeding sorry,” here, as far as Matthew’s record is concerned, they were silent. Mark 10:32-34 indicates that before He gave them this prediction, the disciples were “amazed” and “afraid.” According to Luke 18:34, the disciples “understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither did they know the things which were spoken.” Putting these passages together, it seems that the disciples had a sense of warning that the trip to Jerusalem was dangerous, but they could not bring themselves to believe literally what Messiah was saying
B. The Request Of The Mother Of James And John. 20:20-24.
1. The unwillingness of the disciples to face the reality of Messiah’s suffering and death is illustrated in the next incident, in which the mother of James and John, the wife of Zebedee, came to Yeshua seeking favors for her sons (cf. Mk 10:35-41). When she bowed before Him, Christ asked her, “What do you want?” Her request was abrupt and to the point, “Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in your kingdom” (Mt 20:21). Her ambition was the same as that of the disciples, recorded in Matthew 18:1-14, and the question of Peter in 19:27. Here, their desire for power and position emerges again in the petition of this ambitious mother. Perhaps she can be excused partially in desiring her sons to have a prominent place in serving the Lord, but it was a request relating to ambitions of earth rather than to the glory of Yahweh.
2. Messiah dealt with her gently. He replied, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of (the cup of suffering)?” Here, as also recorded in the parallel account in Mark 10:35-41 (see below), James and John broke in and answered, “We are able.” How little they knew what they were saying. Yeshua replied sorrowfully to them, “You shall drink indeed of my cup (Mt 20:23). Early in the ministry of the church, James was to lay down his life as a martyr. Although the evidence is not complete, John may also have died a martyr’s death as did some of the other disciples. Although they were to die, in one sense as Christ died, even this did not justify granting their mother’s petition. Messiah completed the answer, “But to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.” [(Mark 10:38-39, But Yeshua said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” They said to Him, “We are able.” And Christ said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized (The cup…the baptism. Figures of speech for Messiah’s coming suffering (see Mark 14:36 and Luke 12:50).]
3. The other disciples were furious at this attempt to secure preference for these two. They apparently concluded that James and John had influenced their mother to make this request. The fact that the other disciples were angered at James and John shows that they were in heart and spirit no better than the two brothers. They all wanted the first place. Both James and John as well as the other ten disciples were far from giving up their attempts to gain the place of power in the kingdom, and their scheming continued, even to the time of the Last Passover Meal in the upper room. How frail and faulty are the human instruments that God must use to accomplish His purposes!
C. Messiah Comments On Their Ambitions. 20:25-28.
Using this incident as an occasion for further discussion of the disciples’ ambition to be great, Christ pointed out some obvious lessons. He acknowledged that in worldly kingdoms, places of power with great authority are sought. But He declared that in the kingdom of God it shall be different, “But it shall not be so among you: but whoever will be great among you, let him be your minister: And whoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant” (Mt 20:26-27). The goal in the kingdom is not to rule but to serve. Yeshua used His own ministry as an illustration, “Even as the Son of man came not to be to ministered unto, but to minister, to give his life a ransom for many” (v. 28). The road to privileged authority is often paved with lowly service.
Eternity 