Ezekiel's Greatest Hits - Part 1

A tour of the future Temple (pre-NHNE/ES) gives insight into how God does and will interact with His people and what we can expect. 

I Permanent Presence of God 

44:1 toward the east, but it was shut. 2 And the LORD said to me, "This gate* shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the LORD God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. 4 Also He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple; so I looked, and  the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD; and I fell on my face. *Not the gate on the temple mount in modern  Jerusalem, but rather that of the Millennial temple north of the “city” (40:2)  Zech 6:12

II. Missing Items

The Millennial Temple (40-44)  lacks: separate courts for the Gentiles and women, the Sea/Laver for ritual cleansing (1Kg 7:23), the Ark of the Covenant, the Altar of Incense, the Lampstand, and the Curtain which separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place

III. New Covenant in effect 

(Dt 10:18; 30:6; Ezk 11:19; 18:31; Jer 31:31; Isa 59:21 Spirit and law in circumcised heart; know God)
 37:12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it, says Yahweh. 

36:24 God will regather and replant Israel in the land; 25 Then He will cleanse them from the defilement of their sin and idols;
 26a General to Specific: Give/assign them a new heart and new spirit  (elaborated in the next two specific stmts, followed by  results):
 26b Heart: He will cause (Hiphil) their stony heart to depart and give them a sensitive heart;
 27a Spirit: He will put His Spirit in them and cause them to walk in His statutes (Phil 2:13);
 27b Result: They will keep His commands and do them;  28 Result of 27b: They will live in a loyal covenantal relationship with God
 29-30 Result of 28: God will save them from all their uncleanness and bless them. 31-32 Result of 29-30: They will kick themselves 
 A hallmark of the New Covenant is that Israel, as a nation, will keep God's law, something which only a few did previously. Those who have God's Spirit in them should will and do His pleasure, keeping His law (Phil 2:13). (See  DailyTruthbase  on #III verses)

44:6 "Now say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "O house of Israel, let Us have no more of all your abominations. 7 When you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to defile it... then they broke My covenant because of all your abominations. 8 And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but you have set others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you." 9 Thus says the Lord GOD: "No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter My sanctuary, including any foreigner who is among the children of Israel. 

Rm 8:9 you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 23 we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

IV. Consequences 

44:10 "And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity/punishment. 11 Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people (40:38-43)...12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have raised My hand in an oath against them," says the Lord GOD, "that they shall bear their iniquity/punishment. 13 And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed

V. Reward 

44:15 "But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood," says the Lord GOD 16 "They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.  2Cor 5:10

VI. Teaching How to Be Blessed

 44:23 "And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy (God's way) and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean (Prerequisite for Presence). 24 In controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings, and they shall hallow My Sabbaths. 25 "They shall not defile themselves by coming near a dead person. 27...he must offer his sin offering in the inner court," says the Lord GOD. 28 "It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I am their inheritance. You shall give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession. 29 They shall eat...30 the best of all firstfruits of any kind. See Notes on DailyTruthbase Ezk 44

Questions for Reflection/Discussion/Response: 

 
1. If the Spirit of God indwells all believers, why don't all of them experience fulness of joy in His presence (Ps 16:11; Acts 2:28)?
 
2. What's the purpose of sacrifices in the Millennium? Why didn't God duplicate the design and items/furniture of Solomon's Temple?
 
3. If people have the Spirit or the law in their heart do they automatically obey (Phil 2:13)? Why would millennial saints need teaching?
 
4. Does everyone get equally blessed? Can a person forfeit their blessings (2Jn 8)? What does a person have to do to get blessed?
 
5. How should an understanding of how God has determined things will work in the future influence our relationship with Him today?