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The Bible Breakdown
Ezekiel 40: God's New House
What happens when God decides to move back in? In Ezekiel 40, we journey through a detailed architectural vision that might initially seem like an overwhelming collection of measurements, but actually reveals the profound nature of divine restoration.
This episode unpacks the symbolic significance behind God's meticulous temple blueprint. After 25 years of exile and 14 years since Jerusalem's destruction, God shows Ezekiel an elaborate vision of a new temple – not just any structure, but a precisely measured dwelling place that symbolizes His intentional return to His people. Every cubit, threshold, and gateway represents God's careful approach to reconciliation.
For the ancient Jewish audience, nothing could be more significant than this vision. The temple wasn't merely a building; it was the epicenter of their relationship with God. When the temple was destroyed and God's glory departed (as we saw earlier in Ezekiel), it represented a spiritual catastrophe. Now, these exhaustive measurements serve as a promise – God is not only returning, but returning with greater precision and intention than before.
The significance extends beyond ancient Israel to our spiritual lives today. When God moves into our broken places, He doesn't do partial renovations. He measures everything perfectly, brings order to chaos, and establishes His presence in ways that exceed what existed before. The question becomes: are we willing to invite Him to treat our lives as His house and take over?
Whether you've found yourself walking away from God or simply need renewal in certain areas, this episode reminds us that restoration is always available. God's architectural comeback in Ezekiel 40 demonstrates that when He rebuilds, He creates something more glorious than what was lost. Ready to experience God's blueprint for your life? Listen now, and don't forget to subscribe, share, and join our discussion group to continue exploring God's Word together.
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, ezekiel, chapter 40, and today's title is God's New House, not to be confused with God's Big House. That's a song, we'll get to it later, but this is one of those that's really interesting and if we don't kind of understand what's going on, we can get lost in a bunch of measurements and stuff. That's gonna happen. But my hope is, if you've ever skipped this part of the book of Ezekiel, you'll never skip it again. Okay, so, if you have your Bibles, I want to open up with me to Ezekiel, chapter 40. While you're doing that, as always, make sure you like, share, subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast, make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown discussion on Facebook and make sure you are commenting and enjoying and just engaging with the content. There's an amazing group of people doing a wonderful job there and the more we dig, the more we find. And so, once again, if you have your Bibles, want to open up with me to Ezekiel, chapter 40.
Speaker 0:If you've been joining us the past few days, then you are beginning to see and beginning to notice that there definitely is a shift that has occurred, as Ezekiel's overall message is God's promise of renewal. And it's this amazing thought process that it takes a while for God to work out what he's doing in our lives. And so there was this season when everything was bad and everything was horrible. And I mean you and I have grown together over the past couple of weeks as we have really had to just walk through some difficult stuff where God is just grieving over the loss of relationship between him and his people. But now we see it coming full circle and God is doing amazing things. And I wanna kind of give you a little bit of a disclaimer before we jump into this, and that is this. What God has been doing is he has been saying I'm going to revisit my people. I'm going to revisit my people.
Speaker 0:Well, the symbol of God being with his people was the temple. Now, back when the nation of Israel was in the wilderness for 40 years, there was a tabernacle. It was a tent. It wasn't intended to be a permanent dwelling. It was because they were nomads through that season. But what was amazing is is God told them I want you to put my tabernacle right in the middle of the tribes, and then I want you to put the 12 tribes of Israel around my tabernacle, and one of the main reasons for this is because they were supposed to realize that God was going to be at the center of everything they did. He was going to take care of them, he was going to watch over them and he was the center of their focus, right?
Speaker 0:Well then, when they built the temple with Solomon, they built the temple in the capital of Israel, and the idea was is that's where the king was? And the true king was God. And so when the glory of the Lord left if we read that toward the beginning of Ezekiel that's why it was such a big deal is the glory of the Lord came, or the cherubim came, took the glory of God and left. And it was a symbol of God saying I'm out of here. You guys have been saying you don't want me for the past couple hundred years. Okay, well, now the king is returning, and that's what this is going to symbolize, is God is going to talk about how he is showing Ezekiel this new temple. He's going to measure it. It's going to be this huge temple, and what he's saying is is my glory, my greatness, is going to return. And so, in the mind of the Jewish person, nothing was more holy, nothing was more sacred, nothing was more symbolic than the temple and the things that were in the temple. And so when Ezekiel is measuring the size of the new temple, it is a celebration, because not only is God returning, but he is returning in a greater way than he was before. So I'm going to keep that in our mind as we read about God's new house. Okay, so here we go. Ezekiel, chapter 40, verse 1 says this new house. Okay, so here we go. Ezekiel, chapter 40, verse 1 says this on April 28th, during the 25th year of our captivity. So, in other words, this is a long time now since Jerusalem has been destroyed.
Speaker 0:14 years after the fall of Jerusalem, the Lord took hold of me. In a vision from God, he took me to the land of Israel and set me down in a valley on a very high mountain. From there, I could see toward the south what appeared to be a city. As he brought me nearer, I saw a man whose face shone like bronze standing beside a gateway entrance. He was holding in his hand a linen measuring cord and a measuring rod. He said to me son of man, son of man, or hey, buddy, watch and listen, pay close attention to everything I show you. You have been brought here so I can show you many things. Then you'll return to the people of Israel and tell them everything you have seen. Now make sure we realize this. Okay, ezekiel is telling us this didn't happen in real life. Okay, this was a vision in order to symbolize something, and we have to remember that, because many times when we read these things we can get confused and think this actually happened. No, no, these are symbols of something that God is doing. So here we go.
Speaker 0:Verse five I could see a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The man took a measuring rod completely surrounding the temple area. The man took a measuring rod and that was 10 feet long and he measured the wall, and the wall was 10 feet thick and 10 feet high. That's a pretty big wall, right. Then he went over to the eastern gateway. He climbed the steps and measured the threshold of the gateway and it was 10 feet front to back. There were guard clothes on each side built into the gateway passage.
Speaker 0:Each of these alcoves was 10 and a half feet square, with a distance between them was eight and three-fourths feet along the passage wall. The gateway's inner threshold which led to the entrance room in the inner end of the gateway passage was 10.5 feet front to back. He also measured the entry room of the gateway. It was 14 feet across, with supporting columns 3.5 feet thick, and this entry room was at the inner end of the gateway structure facing toward the temple. There were three guard alcoves on each side of the gateway passage. Each had the same measurements and the dividing walls separated them were also identical.
Speaker 0:The man measured the gateway entrance and it was 17 feet wide at the opening and 22 and three-fourths feet wide at the gateway passage. In front of each guard alcove was a 21-inch curve. The alcove themselves were 10 1⁄2 feet on each side. Then he measured the entire width of the gateway, measuring the distance between the back walls of the facing guard alcoves, and the distance was 43 3⁄4 feet. He measured the dividing walls along the inside of the gateway up to the entry room of the gateway. This distancefourths feet. He measured the dividing walls along the inside of the gateway up to the entry room of the gateway. This distance was 105 feet. The full length of the gateway passage was 87 and a half feet from one end to the other. There were recesses, recessed windows at the narrowed inward, through the walls of the guard alcoves and the dividing walls. There were also windows at the entry rooms. The surfaces of the dividing walls were decorated with carved palm trees.
Speaker 0:Now we're going to remember the idea of the palm trees and the different things, and we'll get back to that in just a moment. But once again, remember this is God showing him the care, the preciseness and the intentionality of his presence. Returning to the nation of Israel All right, verse 17. Then the man brought me through the gateway into the outer courtyard of the temple. The stone pavement ran along the walls of the courtyard and 30 rooms were built against the walls, opening into the pavement. The pavement flanked the gates and extended out from the walls into the courtyard and the same distance as the gateway entrance. This was the lower pavement. Then the man measured across the temple's outer courtyard, between the outer and inner gateways. The distance was 175 feet. That's a long way. Then the north gateway verse 20,.
Speaker 0:The man measured the gateway of the north, just as the one at the east. Here too there were three guard alcoves on each side, with dividing walls and an entry room. All the measurements matched those of the east gateway. The gateway passage was 87 feet long, at 87 and one half feet long and 43 and three-fourths feet wide between the back walls of the facing guard alcoves. The windows, the entry room and the palm tree decorations were identical to those of the east gateway. There were seven steps leading to the gateway entrance and the entry room was the inner end of the gateway gateway. There were seven steps leading to the gateway entrance and the entry room was the inner end of the gateway passage. Here on the north side, just as on the east, there was another gateway leading to the temple's inner courtyard directly opposite the outer gateway. The distance between the two gateways was 175 feet.
Speaker 0:Then the man took me around to the south gateway and measured its various parts. It was exactly the same as in the others. It had windows along the walls, as the others did, and there was an entry room where the gateway passage opened into the outer courtyard. And like the others, the gateway passage was 87 and one half feet long and 43 and three fourths feet wide between the back walls of face of facing guard alcoves. This gateway also had a stairway of seven steps leading up to it in the entry room at the inner end of the and palm tree decorations along the dividing walls. And here again, directly opposite of other gateways, was another gateway that led into the inner court. The distance between the two gateways was 175 feet.
Speaker 0:Once again, don't kind of lose thread of what's going on. God is showing precise, accurate measurements, which is a symbol of God's presence, returning with intentionality. All right, verse 28. Then the man took me to the south gateway leading into the inner court and he measured it and it was the same measurements as the other gateways. Its guard alcoves, dividing walls and entry rooms were the same size as those of the others. He also had windows in its walls and entry rooms. Like the others.
Speaker 0:The gateway was 87 1⁄2 feet long and 43 3⁄4 feet wide. The entry room of the gateways leading into the inner courtyard were 14 feet across and 43 3⁄4 feet wide. The entry room to the south gateway faced into the outer courtyard. It had palm tree decorations on its columns and there were eight steps leading to its entrance. He took me to the east gateway leading into the inner courtyard. He measured it and it had the same measurements as the other gateways it's guard alcoves, dividing walls, entry room, and they were all the same size of those others and all the windows along the walls were in the entry room. The gateway passage measured 87 and a half feet long and 43 and three fourths feet wide. Its entry room faced into the outer courtyard and it had palm tree decorations on its columns and there were eight steps leading to its entrance. He took me around to the north gateway leading into the inner courtyard. He measured it and it had the same measurements as the other gateways. Its guard alcoves dividing walls and entry room of this gateway had the same measurements as in the others and the same window arrangements. The gateway measured 87 1⁄2 feet long, 43 3⁄4 feet wide. The room faced into the outer courtyard and the palm tree decorations of the columns, and there were eight steps leading to the entrance. So we're almost finished with this chapter.
Speaker 0:But once again, I know I keep saying this, but it's easy to lose the thread of it because we're sitting there going. I don't care about how high, how long, how wide these walls are, but remember, to the Jewish mind they had been devastated because the glory had left, because the temple had been destroyed, and that was a symbol of the glory of the Lord leaving. Now God is saying I am coming purposely, particularly and exactly right back to where I was, and so it is a restoration. Every time he reads another one of these walls it is them getting a little bit of the glory back again. So for the Jewish mind, this is not only welcome, but it is refreshing to them to see God is coming, he's coming back and he's coming exactly. He's leaving nothing out. Here we go. Verse 38,.
Speaker 0:The door led to the entry room of one of the inner gateways, into a side room. So, in other words, even the things that are considered side and less important, they're all coming back again where the meat for the sacrifices was washed. On each side of the entry room there were two tables and the sacrificial animals were slaughtered for the burnt offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings. Outside the entry room, on each side of the stairs going up to the north entrance, there were two more tables. So there were eight tables in all, four inside, four outside, and there were sacrifices that were cut up and prepared. There were also four tables of finished stone for preparation for the burnt offerings 31 1⁄2 inches square, 21 inches high. On these tables were placed the butchering knives and the other implements for slaughtering the sacrificial animals. There were hooks, and each were three inches long, fastening all around the foyer walls. The sacrificial meat was laid on the tables.
Speaker 0:Inside the inner courtyard were two rooms, one beside the north gateway, facing the south, and the other beside the south gateway, facing north. The man then said to me the room beside the north inner gate is for the priest who supervised the temple maintenance. The room beside the south inner gate is for the priest who supervised the temple maintenance. The room beside the south inner gate is for the priest in charge of the altar and the descendants of Zadok, for they alone are the Levites who may approach the Lord to minister to him. Then the man measured the inner court and it was square, 170 feet wide, 175 feet across, and the altar stood in the courtyard in front of the temple. Then he brought me to the entry of the temple and he measured the wall on either side of the opening to the entry room and they were eight and three fourths feet thick, and the entrance itself was 24 and a half feet wide and the wall on each side of the entrance was an additional five and one fourth feet long. The entry room was 35 feet wide and 21 feet deep and then there were 10 steps leading up to it, with a column on each side. So, wow, there's a lot going on in that and there's a whole lot of measurement.
Speaker 0:Now that, once again, may not mean a lot to you, but have you ever met somebody who, all of their life, they wanted to build a home and it was gonna be their retirement home? And so they thought about it and they moved to different houses and they did all these different things and then the time finally came for them to build their dream home, and then they would wanna sit and talk to you about it. That is a hard conversation, because they wanna tell you about every screw, every bolt, every nail, every two by four. I mean, everything is important to them and you don't care, you're happy for them, but it's just not the same right? Well, that's where we can get lost in this one. We look at this and we go great, there was walls, there was gates, they were thick. Praise the Lord. Right.
Speaker 0:But once again, remember, this symbolized God fulfilling his promise, that God's promise of renewal was coming to pass, because God was coming back in. He was moving back in and he was building a place for God to dwell. What does that have to do with us today? And that is this. You know, one of the things I love about God is yes, sometimes we'll go through difficult times, we'll go through difficult seasons, and it's just, it's not fun. However, god doesn't give up on us and when the time is right, god always wants to renew his relationship with us.
Speaker 0:And can I tell you, if you're in a situation where you have found yourself walking away from God you found yourself in that dry place can I tell you God wants to move back in. You found yourself in that dry place. Can I tell you, god wants to move back in. God wants to be in your life the way he was. He is a simple prayer away from creating your life new and whole and over again. And I would say, when God comes in, he comes in and he brings order to chaos. God doesn't halfway do anything. God's not, he's not. He's not messy. He comes in and he cleans house. Now, the result may be the demolition of broken places, may create messiness for a moment, but he wants to establish order and calm and peace in his house. Our job is to invite him in, invite him into every aspect of our life, invite him into every area of our life and say, god, if there's anything in my life that needs to change, needs to move, I give you control and watch what God does as we invite him in and say, god, treat my life as a house and you come and take over. Let's pray together right now.
Speaker 0:God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you're with us and that you're for us, and that, god, you see us wherever we are. For some of us, god, we're right in the middle of you, just building a life in us. You're building a firm foundation. I pray that we'll never get in the way of it. And let you build, let you do what you've come to do For those of us, god, that need to turn our life over to you in a fresh and a new way. I pray give us the courage to step into that space and to let you lead. We thank you in advance for all you're doing, both the things we can see and the things that we can't. In Jesus' name, we pray amen. Anyway, what God's word says in Ezekiel 37, verse 14, I will put my spirit in you and you will live again. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Ezekiel, chapter 41.
