When Ezekiel has to measure Jerusalem, he has a lot of work doing so, but this proves that Jerusalem is nevertheless to become the real and true city of God.1 The measurement is made by a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand.2 There is apparently a Temple with a Holy of Holies in the City, or in an area connected to the City.3 It is surrounded by the annexes and the priests’ quarters and it is spread out over a large area. When he has finished measuring it, the ‘Glory of the Lord’ takes up residence in the Temple.4 The land’s borders are stated and is divided among the twelve tribes of Israel.5 Fresh water flows from the Temple to the Dead Sea, so that even fishermen are able to do their work there.6
Zechariah is the prophet who came after the Babylonian Exile, so in his prophecies he is not referring to the Second Temple that was built after the return of the Jewish people from the Babylonian Captivity in the 5th century BC. But his prophecies concern another Temple in the far future. In the book of Zechariah the Lord declares: “I will choose Jerusalem yet again.” “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there My house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty. “Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.” “But Jerusalem will be raised up high and remain in its place…”7 And in the twelfth chapter of Zechariah, it is recorded that Jerusalem will remain intact in her own place, at Jerusalem. This excludes any misunderstanding or possible ‘spiritualising’ of Jerusalem as referring to another place or idea. ”…but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place.”8
Does this refer to the Temple Ezekiel saw? According to some expositors the location seems to be elsewhere than that of the Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem however. They say it will be located in the vicinity of it, somewhere in the Greater Jerusalem, at the place where Shiloh once was located, where the Tabernacle first came to rest.9 Jerusalem then being the centre of government with the Temple separate from it, some twenty kilometres to the north.10
So it appears that this Temple that John refers to here does not refer to that final Temple described by Ezekiel. Does he mean another Temple, before that final one? Could be. So, another literal Temple could be meant here, in Jerusalem for it is situated in the holy city. If that is the case then this Temple could be named the Third Temple. It could be regarded as a kind of intermediate Temple, the Temple of God in which the ‘man of lawlessness’ supposedly could proclaim himself to be a god.11 A Third, maybe somewhat smaller Temple. Solomon’s Temple then was the first and the one built after the Babylonian exile then was the Second Temple. This one was built by Zerubbabel, and embellished and extended by Herod, and destroyed in 70 AD. Thus, this Temple in the Book of Revelation could be the Third Temple – although personally I am not sure that this one will ever be built – and Ezekiel’s Temple would be the Fourth, or Final Temple.
Some think that John is referring to the Temple of God in Heaven. But has John to measure that one? How can John measure and check the proper spiritual quality of that Temple of God in Heaven? Not very likely! So: no! Also because John must leave the outer court out of the equation, because that ‘forecourt of the Gentiles’ is being trampled underfoot! How can the Temple of God in Heaven be trampled underfoot by Gentiles?
In this Temple in Jerusalem, the altar and the worshippers indeed meet the check of the proper standard’s requirements, but the rest do not! So spiritualizing this and applying to the Church of Christ then? For judgment begins with the household of God. “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God;12 Not very likely for the same reasons as just described.
John has to measure the Temple and the altar and those who are worshipping in it. Does he mean a selected part of the Jewish people who have returned to Israel and please God as they worship Him with a true heart in the ‘Third Temple’ while at the same time the hostile world is advancing? The hundred and forty-four thousand who are sealed? Whatever the case may be, these worshippers pass the divine test. They worship in spirit and in truth.13 Are we too?
• The ‘Babylonian Captivity’ or ‘Babylonian Exile’ is the period in Jewish history during which a number of people from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylonia. After the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem. There was another siege in Nebuchadnezzar’s seventh year and a later deportation occurred in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year.
• These deportations from the land of Israel are dated to 597 BC for the first, with others dated at 587/586 BC, and 582/581 BC respectively. After the fall of Babylon to the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 539 BC, exiled Judeans were permitted to return to Judah. According to the Biblical book of Ezra, construction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem began around 537 BC.
• All these events are considered significant in Jewish history and culture, and had a far-reaching impact on the development of Judaism. Archaeological studies have revealed that not all of the population of Judah was deported, and that, although Jerusalem was utterly destroyed, other parts of Judah continued to be inhabited during the period of the Exile.
Bible References:
1.Ezekiel 40–48 2.Ezekiel 40:3 3.Ezekiel 41:1-26 4.Ezekiel 43:1–5 5.Ezekiel 47:13–20, 21–48:29 6.Ezekiel 47:1–12 7.Zechariah 1:16-17, 14:10 NIV 1984 8.Zechariah 12:6 9. Joshua 18:1; Acts 7:44–47; Judges 18:31; 1 Samuel 1:3; 1 Kings 8:3–4 10.Ezekiel 48:10, 20–21 11.2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 12.1 Peter 4:17 13.John 4:19–26
