Preached October 16th & 23rd, 2016
In our last edition, Bro. Allen began reviewing the dimensions of the Temple Mount as it will be in the millennium. We are picking up where he left off as he continues looking at the dimension and design of the Holy Temple and the city of Jerusalem during the millennium.
According to some of the measurements we read in the book of Ezekiel, we can see that the temple is going to be a tremendous place. The blessings of God are going to be upon Israel in that day, which is going to help finance the construction and beautify the place. Then we see in the 43rd chapter, how the Spirit of God fills the house after it is built. How it comes from the east, through that eastern gate and will enter into the holy place. His presence will meet there with the people of Israel’s natural leadership. Their leadership will be the leadership of the house of God: the Levitical order under the sons of Zadok. As I said this before, God never forgets his Word. He remembers what He said. He knows everyone. He is going to be able to pick out the sons of Zadok from the rest of the Levitical order. Of course, the rest of the Levitical priesthood is going to be blessed, they are going to have a part to play too, but God is going to give leadership to the sons of Zadok. They will do the slaughtering of the lambs and the bulk of the work of the temple. There is going to be a difference though between them and sons of Zadok, because God never forgets, He remembers.
The Inner Court & The Outer Court
I know in this message I am going to be reading quite a bit, but I would like for you to bear with me as I do read because this is something important for the Millennial reign. Ezekiel 40:19, “Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate unto the forefront of the inner court without, an hundred cubits eastward and northward. And the gate of the outward court (As we look at the outer court, it is not in this area enclosed by walls. The outer court is the area outside these walls. (Pointing to picture of the temple complex, see next page) What we see in this picture is spoken of in the Bible. We will see that as we look at these different things. It has many chambers to it as you see here, around the temple area, doors and things, which all have something to do with the worship of God.) that looked toward the north, he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof. And the little chambers thereof were three on this side and three on that side; and the posts thereof and the arches thereof were after the measure of the first gate: the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees, were after the measure of the gate that looketh toward the east; and they went up unto it by seven steps.” See? There are only seven steps that go there. There is a reason that there only seven steps. How high would seven steps be? Maybe four feet would be the height. God is speaking something to us here. The priests are going to have to go up those steps. It is not going to be a mountain of steps. As you go back through the Old Testament you will find why they do that: it is so that nothing is shown as they walk up because they do have robes on. Of course, that is speaking of the perfection God is looking for. The Millennium is not the perfect age, but the Millennium is the age when God will perfect human beings in the natural sense, in order that they might go into eternity which is eternal life. Through this time God is teaching the natural people to walk with him. We see that in the scripture also. “After that he brought me toward the south, and behold a gate toward the south; and he measured the posts thereof and the arches thereof according to these measures. And there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about, like those windows; the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits. And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches thereof were before them: and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, upon the posts thereof. And there was a gate in the inner court (There was a gate to enter into the inner court. The inner court is what is going to be explained here because this is where the worship really is, the worship of God happens in that area.) toward the south: and he measured from gate to gate toward the south an hundred cubits. And he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the south gate according to these measures, (The same measures as the other.) And the little chambers thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about: and it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad. And the arches thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof: and the going up to it had eight steps.” I want to skip some here and go on down to the 39th verse. “And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slay thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering.” These tables are not big, they are small tables where they slay the animals. There are eight tables. There will be a lot of animals that are sacrificed here. Because it is the worship of God. This is all representing Christ.Biblical Measurements
| Bible | Metric | Standard |
| Span | 0.25 meters | 10 inches |
| Cubit | 0.45 meters | 1.5 feet |
| Reed | 2.7 meters | 9 feet |
| Furlong | 201 meters | 660 feet |
*approximate numbers
Animal Sacrifice
It is the people that are born and grow up during the Millennium that will come to make these offerings. They will come not knowing salvation. The ones that go into the Millennium as sheep people are different from those born during the Millennium, because as natural beings, they have been acquainted with what happened on this side of the Millennium. They will know that there has been something that has happened, and they have escaped. There has got to be people escape death in order to fill the Millennium with people. Everybody is not going to die in the tribulation.
It says there in Isaiah that there will be few men left. That is why I have talked about polygamy. Polygamy will not go on for the entire millennium, but at the beginning it will be for a time until the earth is replenished with mankind, so that the devil does win. You are not going to have millions of women in child bearing age with no hope. I know I get criticism for these things, but that is the way it is. That what it says in Isaiah 4. We are looking at scripture, we are not looking at man’s ideas. If you listen to these prophecy preachers and you are depending on them to tell you the truth, you are going to be led far from it. One will tell you one thing, and another will tell you another thing. It is all wrong. You have prophecy preachers that do not understand the seven-year period. They do not know if the rapture is going to happen before the seven-year period begins, or after it is over, or in the middle of it. God is more precise than that. God is not a guess work. That is not what His word is for. It is for a precise reason, to let us know the time we are living in. He pulled the curtain off things in 1963, something happened. There was a separation between church members and God’s people. It grew slowly. At times it was almost as though it was only Bro. Jackson’s ministry. After Bro. William Branham died it looked like people were drawn to that. It was the way God was moving. It was promised that way by the prophet of God. Because he brought everything back in line. That is what he was to do because he was an apostle called of God, appointed of God. Even in 1965, August 1965 when he went before Bro. William Branham in an interview, Bro. Branham told him, “You have a work to do, I do not know what it is but when it comes,” he held his Bible up and said, “stick with the word.” Then a couple years later Bro. Jackson had a dream. I remember him telling about it. It was one afternoon here at church. He had people to come together. He told us his experience. He told us about going before Bro. William Branham and that he had the dream. God had told him, “I have called you to be an apostle,” he was given a dated letter in a dream. It said August 1, 1965, the same day he met with Bro. William Branham. So, God has worked in this work. He is a very present help in the time of need. When Bro. Branham left the scene, people went every which way. He said they would. He told Bro. Jackson that. He said something is getting ready to happen, when it does, they will go every way. It happened. I watched it happen. I knew it happened.
Verse 39 again, “And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slay thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering.” Why does he say that there will be offering made for sin and trespasses? We are in the Millennium. This lets us know there will still be sin in the Millennium That is not talking about saints of God. That is not talking about Bride people. That is not talking about foolish virgins. That is not talking about the great multitude. That is talking about the natural people born in the millennium that have not been redeemed yet. But it will happen. They will be redeemed, those who accept God. There is a lot in this, and it will come to pass because it is God’s word. Verse 42, “And the four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a cubit and an half long, and a cubit and an half broad, and one cubit high: (See? That is not very big. See how precise God is? It has got to be uniform. That is what He expects out of us, a uniform life. We are getting there. We are not going to let this pass us. I do not care where you are from. If you are from Norway, the Philippines, we are going to get this thing right. South Africa, you are all my brothers and sisters. I love you very much. Across the United States and into Canada. What do we say? What do we preach? It is like Jesus did, a little flock. As I said, this was not very big.) whereupon also they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt offering and the sacrifice. and within were hooks, (Why would they have hooks? To hold the animal as they slew them. This is going to be a bloody thing. Remember, you had a bloody cross. I remember Bro. Bud explaining how the blood is drained. When you sink down on the cross, as you die, the blood drains out. When that soldier took that spear and pierced the Lord’s side, the blood that had not come out of Him through his hands and through his feet drained out. They put a spear in His side. My Dad used slaughter animals. You had a certain way you had to do it to drain all the blood out because you did not want blood left in it. That is the same way with these animals. They had to suffer a death, but they were put here for that purpose: to be eaten. They will still be eaten in the Millennium. They will. You animal rights activists: you are crazy. The main diet of these Jewish priests will be meat. The sacrificed animals are eaten. Within were hooks…) an hand broad, fastened round about: and upon the tables was the flesh of the offering.” See? There are a lot of animals that will pass through here to be slaughtered. This area will need to be cleaned every day. It must be clean when morning comes so that they can do it over again. In some cases, seven days straight and in some cases twenty-one days straight. It is all in here. It is in the book. Now here we are, “And without the inner gate were the chambers of the singers (What are they singing? Psalms. They are singing psalms to God. They will not have to write a bunch of new songs, they are already there. Many of the psalms are about the Millennium. The Jews are skipping twenty-five hundred years without sacrifice, without censer. Here they are fulfilling scripture. This is scripture. This is not something man thought up. Singers…) in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate: and their prospect was toward the south: one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north. And he said unto me, This chamber, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house. (These are the main priests, the sons of Zadok.) And the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: (They are guards to make sure everything is kept in order.) these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, which come near to the Lord to minister unto him. So he measured the court, an hundred cubits long, and an hundred cubits broad, foursquare; (That is how big the court is to where they are at and where the temple is at.) and the altar that was before the house.”
The Ark of the Covenant
We are going to see something done away with in the new temple, something that is not there. I know people are looking for it, but it is not there. It will never be there. When you see the Holy of Holies, there is something missing in there. But there is something else to fill its place. We will see that as we go on. Let us read Exodus 25:10-22. “And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. (Look how small that is, two cubits and a half in length and a cubit and half in breadth.) And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, (It is overlaid with gold, but the inside is wood. There is a reason for that. You know the reason, Christ was both flesh and deity. That is all represented there in Him.) and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. (Listen to what he puts in there.) And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandments unto the children of Israel.” This is all a representation of Jesus Christ. These cherubims are guard angels that are to protect what is inside the ark. The mercy seat represents what Christ is to us. As they put these staves in there, that is what they carry it with. When they are carrying it, they are not even supposed to stumble. Remember during David’s time, instead of carrying it, they put it upon a cart and the cart at one place hit a bump. The man standing beside it thought it was going to fall off and he reached out to steady it and died immediately. God’s protection was upon it. You see how God protected it. Now they are looking for the ark. They are looking for it because they think they need it to put back in this new temple, but it is not in chapter 40 through 46, the mercy seat is gone, the ark is gone. It bears out: it will not be in this new temple. It held Aaron’s rod that budded, it had the manna, the two tablets of stone. These tablets of stone were not big. Aaron’s rod, they would have had to cut that in two in order to get it in there. The manna they put in the ark never decayed. It stayed right there in the pot that it was in. It never decayed until Israel went astray. Then the ark went missing. They will never find it. They are looking for it, but they will never find it. They think they have found it in the walls of Jerusalem, but this is just speculation. There will be no ark placed in the Holy of Holies because what that represented has already came: Christ. He is our mercy seat to plead forgiveness for us before the throne of God. We look to that. This temple worship was never for Gentiles. This is for teaching the Jews all through the Millennium of what came before, because there are little children that will be born all the way through there. It will teach the little children why they were given life. It was because of Christ’s life, and they will be looking back to commemorate that. That is why there is no ark in there. You have the place that is built for where the ark used to be, but the ark will not be there because it is not necessary. Because Jesus Christ took the place of the ark. What was in there? It had bread which was manna. Jesus Christ was the bread of life. They had a miracle, they had that, but then they had the Law. This was all in there, but it all came back to Christ. When He rose from the dead it took this thing away. It was no longer necessary.
The Holy Temple
Chapter 41of Ezekiel. “Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle. And the breadth of the door was ten cubits; and the sides of the door were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured the length thereof, forty cubits: (That is not a large room. That is not talking about the whole temple area. That is talking about the Holy place.) and the breadth, twenty cubits.” Forty by twenty. That is about thirty by sixty feet. That is how big the room is. That is right in this area. (Pointing to the back portion of the temple building) See? There is not much going on in there, only once a year there is a priest going in there, the High Priest. The King James Version says prince, but it in the Lamas translation it is says High Priest. I do not say this to be different, I say it to be true. Look in the scripture: a prince does not offer a sacrifice. You have priests of the sons of Zadok, and then you have other priests of the sons of Levi who have a lesser role. From the sons of Zadok one will be brought out to be High Priest. Write your letters, whatever you want. I do not say it to be different. I say it to be true. Because there is no ark in the Holy of Holies. The only thing that is in there is the beautiful work that is in there. In there is the face of a man, and the face of a lion on one personage. They look opposite directions because there was a time span between. A time span between when Christ suffered and when He becomes King. When you look at Revelation 5, what do you see when it said that the Lion of the tribe of Judah had prevailed and opened the book or opened the seals? When he comes out there, he is that Lion. But that Lion is not going to reign until the Millennium. The Lion of the tribe of Judah. Then on the other side is the face of a man. That figure is throughout this small place, because of its beauty, the beauty of holiness. “Then went he inward, and measured the post of the door, two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door, seven cubits. So, he measured the length thereof; twenty cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he said unto me, This is the most holy place.” What did they have in there in the first temple? They had the mercy seat. They had the ark of the covenant. They had two angels standing over the ark. These things were the Holy of Holies, but nobody could go in that place but a certain man, and only once a year. Israel had those things from the time of David until it was lost, which was more or less five hundred years. Five hundred times was all that priests ever went in there. The job passed from one to another down the line until it was those things were taken away. This ark was never put back in the second temple, after Israel had lost the first temple. That second temple was not as beautiful as the first. In the day they rebuilt the second temple, Zerubbabel and other men wanted to beautify it, but they had nothing to beautify it with. They did not have the means. But they looked at the mercy of God in it. “This is the most holy place. After he measured the wall of the house, six cubits.” Which would probably be about nine or ten feet. The height of the room is pretty high, but the room’s width and breadth is small. This is all God’s measurements. It will be done right. This part will all be completed before the millennium. When the week starts, they have this part completed (pointing to the sanctuary and the inner court), but they need to still build the rest of it here (pointing to the area outside the walls of inner court), which is a lot larger. How long will it take in the Millennium to finish it? There is more to read about the sanctuary. Verse 7. “And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still upward, and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst.”
Let’s go down to verse 12. “Now the building that was before the separate place at the end toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick (that is a thick wall, it is going to last) round about, and the length thereof ninety cubits.” What would that be? A hundred and thirty-five feet by seventy, which would be like a hundred and five or a hundred and ten. So, we are looking at this, what it is going to be. Look at the thickness of it’s wall. “So he measured the house an hundred cubits long; (That is with the wall.) And the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, an hundred cubits long; Also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the east, an hundred cubits.” Now you are coming up with the wall, with the house, a hundred by one hundred. That is the size of the building. Outside of the building in here (pointing to the inner court) is the place where the priests are doing the work, all round about here. “And he measured the length of the building over against the separate place which was behind it, and the galleries thereof on the one side and on the other side, an hundred cubits, with the inner temple, and the porches of the court. The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, (It is three stories high.) over against the door, ceiled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows were covered; (He is looking at a finished work here.) To that above the door, even unto the inner house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, by measure. And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, (What a beautiful work inside.) so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces; So that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the one side, (A cherub with two faces is what it is.) and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: it was made through all the house round about. From the ground unto above the door were cherubims and palm trees made, and on the wall of the temple.” See? It is going to take time, you cannot just throw this together. “The posts of the temple were squared, and the face of the sanctuary; the appearance of the one as the appearance of the other. The altar of wood was three cubits high, (That is the altar where sacrifices will be offered. This is outside and in front of the temple.) and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before the Lord. And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors. And the doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves; (You did not just walk up to the door because it turned. God was looking at a modern time because it is going to be a modern building. Two turning leaves.) two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other door. And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubims and palm trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch without. And there were narrow windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and upon the side chambers of the house, and thick planks.”
When we look at how these things will really be, it may not match up with what our natural mind had imagined. We read the setting of the altar and the way it will be. I never would have thought it was that way. It is different than what I thought it would be, until I began looking at the scriptures. In times past we have looked at scripture in the denominational light, even though we are not of the denominations. But God has brought us to a point where we can really see beyond denominational thinking. That denominational thinking is kind of impossible to get away from until we hear a revelation to open our understanding beyond what the denominational world has. They used to have a rail across the front of churches and they called that the altar. That is not an altar at all! Some called it a mourner’s bench. That is not an altar. That is not what an altar looks like and that is not what it is. We are going to read now what this altar really looks like. I thank the Lord for the truth of His word.
Another Look at the
Inner Court
We have been in Ezekiel chapters 40 to 46, which starts by explaining the measurements of the temple in the first two chapters. Then it goes into the building of it and the layout of it when it is finished in the Millennium. If we go to Revelation 11, we will see how much is going to be done before the Millennium. What we see in Revelation 11 is all that will be done before the Millennium comes. I was asked a question about the inner court, so I want to go to chapter 11 again, the first two verses. “And there was given me a reed (Remember, a reed is a measurement that is nine cubits long. That will measure out the wall, it will measure out the altar and all.) like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. (So what is therein is what is being measured. This is the first part of that verse, the measuring of the temple and the altar, which is the inner court. That is all that will be built before the Millennium. There is nothing else there to measure. The rest will be built after this. Because it goes on to say,) But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; (There are two courts, the inner court and the outer court. The outer court is a different place. That is where the people can begin to get in closer. There is no congregation inside the inner court. This is all priesthood and singers. That is all that is in there. That is why he said measure (or count) them that worship therein. That is the sons of Zadok and they are the only ones that are in there. The other Levites are not permitted to enter, and they have to be pushed out into the outer court to do their jobs. But that will happen in the Millennium. The inner court is where the priests, the sons of Zadok, will minister. That is where the prince, which is the word used in the King James Version, will be at. The prince is the High Priest, really. As I already said, if you read the same verses in the Lamsa translation, we see that instead of prince, it says high priest. We also see, and we will read it, that the prince (or High Priest) is offering sacrifices. We are going to prove that. I am not doing that in any way to cause controversy, but it has caused controversy. Because people do not really realize that no prince offers up sacrifice. It is only the High Priest. And he is from the sons of Zadok. I will explain more about this later.) The court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.” So, the holy city, which is Jerusalem, they will tread under foot forty and two months, that starts when the two prophets are killed and continues through the second half of the week of Daniel. You see the two prophets’ message if we continue reading these verses, and by the time it is over, what is it called? Sodom and Egypt. That Sodomite spirit will entered into it because they take it over. Because the Jewish leadership will have sold out the nation.
As I read those verses, it tells about the inner court. What happens in the inner court? We know what the inner court is. The inner court is where the worship takes place. It is the place of worship. So, what will happen in the Millennium? The worship of the inner court spills over into the outer court in the Millennium. Only Levites are allowed into this inner court. Those, and the singers, that is all. People do not just walk through there. It is an orderly place.
Feast of Tabernacles
Let us read St. John chapter 7 now. I want to look at something that will be happening in the Millennium at the temple. “After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him. Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand. (When does the feast of tabernacles take place? In the fall of the year. This is when the Jews build their little booths. In some places it is called the feast of booths, which is the same things as feast of tabernacles. The Jews call it Sukkot. These are words that bring you into that season of time. This is the end of the year, the end of the harvest when everything is brought together.) His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, (See? These are His family members. This is not talking about his disciples; it is speaking of is His family members. If thou do these things…) show thyself to the world.” This is their human thinking. They came around later, but at this time they were very much opposed to some of the things Jesus has taught, because it is strange to them. Just like the things we are looking at in this hour are strange to the world. They will never receive it because it is not given to them. As Matthew 13 said, I speak to them in parables. This is like parables to the world. It is in the book, but it is like parables. Many things that Jesus spoke was in the book, it was in the Old Testament, but it became parables to them. He had to rebuke them. He told them where they were wrong. “Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is always ready.” That does not speak well of his brothers. I am talking about Mary and Joseph’s sons. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.” What is He saying? He is saying that He has testified against the world. If you say something in this hour about homosexuality there are many people that sympathize with them who will condemn and attack you. We live in a do-not-care generation. They do not care about morals. They just live any way, like animals in the forest. Why? Why would they act that way? Because that animalistic spirit is in them. It goes back to their father which was Cain. Jesus said, I speak against the world. “Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; (He did not say He was not going up, He said I go not up yet, because He did go to this feast.) for my time is not yet full come.” He is looking at the fall of the year against the spring of the year when He will be offered up. I go over these things because I want you to understand. “When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.” Verse 14, “Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. (He goes up and talks.) And the Jews marveled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” He did not go to the university. He did not need to. “Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, (That is us. They talk about a thumb print. Let us put our thumb print on something here. If any man will do His will, (the Father) he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: (Joel Olsteen) but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?” He already knew in His heart, they had done talked it over. They talked it over when Lazarus was brought forth from the grave, they were going to kill Him and Lazarus. Go on down to verse 37. “In that last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, (He is speaking loudly.) If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly (Out of his inwards. He never did talk of walking beside you. He talked about it more or less being a bubbling stream. What did he offer the woman at the well? He said “I give you living water.” He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly…) shall flow rivers of living water.” What do you think that river of life is in Revelation 22? It is the same thing. It is something that springs up into eternal life. “But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.”
Let’s go to Zechariah, 14th chapter, starting with the 16th verse, which connects with this feast. This is looking at the Millennium. “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations (See? There are going to be some people left in all nations because God is not defeated. That includes China, India, Russia, all nations.) which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.” This feast that will be kept in the Millennium. There are three great feasts God commanded the Jews to observe: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. These were types of things to come. Two of them, Pentecost and Passover, have already been fulfilled, but Tabernacles is the one that goes into the Millennium. “And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.” He is going to bring a drought on those who refuse to send representatives to Jerusalem for the feast. You see here the spirit that is in the offspring of some of the sheep people. That is stubbornness. It is bred into human beings. The Bible speaks of it as being like witchcraft. “And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.” The last scriptural feast of the year is the feast of tabernacles, because that is ingathering of everything that is grown through the year. At that time, the Jews build their little booths. I saw some on television the other day. They had it covered over with branches laid on top of it. The Jews go and stay in there for a week. They eat in there, they sleep in there. It may even be just on a balcony. But they go there for a week. They do not know what it means. It is just something commanded to them in the wilderness. Because of that, the orthodox Jews go through the motions, not realizing that it really has a deeper meaning. God had them to do that in the wilderness. In the Millennium it does not speak about booths, but it is a time of the ingathering of the world leadership. Not everybody comes to Jerusalem for the feast. It will be representatives of all nations. They come to the feast of Tabernacles and worship the Lord. “This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar.” See? It is all climaxing. “Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.” It is going to be a magnificent place. Much stuff will be overlaid with gold. It is going to be an amazing place for all those people to see when they come to worship God at the Feast of Tabernacles.
A Memorial to Jesus Christ
All the scriptures I have been looking at concerning the new temple and the surroundings, are all pointing to Jesus Christ. It is not pointing to His second coming, but it is pointing to His reign and to honor what he has done for mankind on the cross. The Jews could never keep the Law in the days of the Old Testament, but then they will keep the Law. They could never live above sin, but then they will live above sin because they are in the presence of God during that time.
I want to go back to Ezekiel now. To look at this part again. Chapter 41, verse 12, “Now the building that was before the separate place at the end toward the west was seventy cubits broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick round about, (The wall is five cubits thick which would be close to eight feet. But there are little buildings in that wall. This is really the anchor of the building but there are little sections in that.) and the length thereof ninety cubits.” Seventy cubits by ninety cubits will be the temple itself, where the inner court is. As I said before, this is where all the worship takes place. Think about the music and the horns that are being blown. It is spilling out into a larger area. The people outside are being blessed because of what is taking place inside. The only difference between that and us, is we are sitting inside. I am not saying inside Faith Assembly, but we are sitting inside with God because He has brought His presence among us to teach us. “So, he measured the house, an hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with the walls thereof, an hundred cubits long.” It is talking about the walls that hold up the building. “And he measured the length of the building over against the separate place which was behind it, and the galleries thereof on the one side and on the other side, an hundred cubits, with the inner temple, and the porches of the court.” This is what is going to be there when the middle of the week happens. This inner part with the altar will be there. All the directions for building it are here in the word. “The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, (There are three stories to the building. Each story is a little less than the other one.) over against the door, ceiled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows were covered; To that above the door, even unto the inner house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and without, by measure. And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, (Pay attention here, I want you to get this part.) so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces; (Here is what I want you to see. A cherub is an angel, but they have two faces.) So that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: it was made through all the house round about.” Why would he have a cherub there with two faces? The face of a man is the face of young life, because it represents Christ. The man was when he was here, the Lion is when He reigns in the Millennium. “The face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: it was made through all the house round about.” This is what you would see if you could go into the temple sanctuary. Gentiles will not be allowed. Bride saints will see these things because then we will not be tied to the fleshly bodies we are in now. The Bride is above all this. “From the ground unto above the door were cherubims and palm trees made, and on the wall of the temple. The posts of the temple were squared, and the face of the sanctuary; the appearance of the one as the appearance of the other. The altar of wood was three cubits high, (This is a separate altar.) and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before the Lord.” See? It is made of wood. This is not gold. It represents Christ’s life on earth. As I said before, you have no ark of the covenant in the temple. It is not there. The ark is gone. Some Jews and Gentiles have been looking for the ark. They have not found it. They think they have spotted the place where it is. If they have, why is not it brought out? It is not there. It is missing. It will never be in that temple because what it typed has already been fulfilled. The wood that made up the ark, and the gold that covered it represented Christ’s flesh and then His kingship. I will stop at that and go on down to chapter 42.
“Then he brought me forth into the utter court, (which is outside the inner court, which is still a part of the Jewish worship) the way toward the north: and he brought me into the chamber that was over against the separate place, and which was before the building toward the north.” See? He has everything lined out, north, south, east and west. When the presence of the Lord comes into the temple, it will enter from the east. East to west. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. It never changes. It never goes north and south, it is always east to west. That is where the presence of the Lord comes from: the east. It will settle right there in the temple area. That is where the high priest will sit, at that magnificent gate. It has a porch to it. What he does, he comes in from the east, and when he leaves he goes back out through the eastern gate, but he is going west when he leaves. The gospel started in the east and settled in the west. God is (I do not know what word to put for this), but God knows what He is doing. If we understand these things a little bit, it will make us understand our position. When the other people come to the temple, they come from the north gate and leave to the south gate. Or they come from the south and leave through the north. They cannot leave the same way they came in. If you come to Christ, you leave your sins behind because He is the one that bore our sins, and he causes you to change your ways. You leave your sins at the altar of God. The Jews have to go out a different direction than what they came in, because that is represents that something has changed. It shows God’s expectation: do not leave the way you come. Let him change you. Do you get it? This is thrilling to me. I am thankful He has let me see it. So, the Holy of Holies itself is thirty by sixty. That is what the inner house is: it is the Holy of Holies; only the High Priest is able to enter there. I said I will prove that to you. I will explain that later.
Priest’s Chambers
Let me go down to verse 13. “Then said he unto me, The north chambers and the south chambers, which are before the separate place, they be holy chambers, where the priests that approach unto the Lord shall eat the most holy things: (Jesus said, “except you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part of me.” The priests kill the sacrificial animals. They are the only ones that are permitted to eat from the sacrifices that are offered, because it has to go to the ministry first. You cannot have it any other way. They be holy chambers, where the priests that approach unto the Lord shall eat the most holy things. These are the things that have been sacrificed unto God. They must be the first to partake of what they kill. Because if they are going serve it as food, they are going to make sure it is safe. It is the same way with the gospel, if we deal it out, we have to be first partakers of it to see what it does in our own selves. If it does not help us, it will not help you.) there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meat offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy.” That is what we are doing in this hour. This is not dished out to the world. This is to God’s inner circle of saints, of believers.
We will see next that the sons of Zadok must put on different clothes before they go into the most holy place to perform their jobs at the temple. Not wool, not cotton, but it has to be sacred. It has to be something that does not cause sweat. When you go into the chamber of the Holy God, it could make you sweat because you are partaking of the most holy things. “When the priests enter therein, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the utter court, but there they shall lay their garments wherein they minister; for they are holy; and shall put on other garments, and shall approach to those things which are for the people.” First, they have to put on holy garments before they enter. Then they have to take them off before they go back into the outer court. The inner court is where God is dwelling. That is where you see His glory as He comes from the east and goes into the temple.
The City of Jerusalem
“Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth toward the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it round about. He measured the east side with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about. He measured the north side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about. He measured the south side, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed. He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. He measured it by the four sides: it had a wall round about, five hundred reeds long, and five hundred reeds broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.” The profane place is outside the walls of the temple mount. Like I said before, there has got to be a separation between the temple area and the rest of the city of Jerusalem. When we were last in Israel we went to the teaching steps where you walk into the temple area. That was the border between the two areas during those times. That is where the Jews approached the temple, walking, the singers led the way, singing psalms 73 through 83. That is where the worship service begins. It goes right into the temple area as they march in. The temple mount is going to be a much larger area in the Millenium. It will be between forty-five hundred and five thousand feet long and wide. All the symbols of the Catholics and denominational world are going to be torn down. Those things will be torn down to make room for the expanded temple mount. Denominational preachers are worried about the Arabs getting in and digging around the temple mount, but really, they are not reaching to where that temple will go. That is going to have to be tore out. There is an old city buried under Jerusalem. There is a holy place in that temple mount, but those Arabs will never destroy it. The Jews will find that holy place and build the temple on it, and in the Millennium they are going to broaden the temple mount. It will make the whole temple area almost a mile square. The profane place will be the area outside of that square mile area. That temple area will mostly be for the Jews during the Millennium, except the Feast of Tabernacles when the Gentiles will also come.
The Glory of God
“Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east:” The 43rd chapter. He is taking Ezekiel there after he has seen the building of the temple, and it is mostly built when he sees it here. “And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like the noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house. And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me.” He takes him to the temple, but he does not take him into that Holy of Holies. He is on the outside of the Holy of Holies, God speaks to him from inside the Holy of Holies. “And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house and the man stood by me.” The man stood by him. “And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, (Jesus Christ’s throne in the Millennium, the place of my throne, and what?) and the place of the soles of my feet, (See? The worship goes from the Father, the spirit of the Father, into the man, because he has a man speaking to him. What does he go to to say to him?) where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, (Forever is a period of time. That is not eternity. This is speaking of the thousand-year period of time.) and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredome, nor by the carcasses of their kings in their high places.”
I hope you are getting something out of this. Because it is showing a unity. It is showing the working of God. It shows how He is going about the things He is doing in this endtime. He is talking about the church of the living God, the unity. How blessed it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the oil that flowed off Aaron’s head onto his beard, and onto his garment. See? It covered him. We have to be covered with that oil. It said in Revelation 6, the third horse, three measures of barley for a penny, but see that ye hurt not the oil and wine. The oil is the Holy Ghost, and the wine is the stimulation. That is not talking about natural oil and natural wine. We need unity. We need unity among one another. We need our lives to be able to shine forth unto one another as we walk in the endtime. May the Lord bless you.
Continued in the next edition…