Ezekiel’s Temple, the Messianic Kingdom, and Daniel 9: ‘Video Tour’ of Ezekiel 40-48

By Wayne ODonnell

All my books can be read online free at wayneodonnell.com. “Freely you have received, freely give” (Mt. 10:8). This booklet is one section out of my book "Physical and Spiritual Salvation: Justification, Sanctification, Glorification, the Messianic Kingdom, & Ezekiel’s Temple in Ezekiel 40-48, Matthew, Romans, & 1 John."

Matthew Henry says, “Here is a vision beginning at chapter 40 which is justly looked upon to be one of the most difficult portions in all the book of God.” Yes, these nine chapters are painful for Matthew Henry and all interpreters who try to use a ‘spiritual’ instead of a literal interpretation to give symbolic meaning to all these cubits. Therefore, it’s one of the best passages in scripture to demonstrate that the approach Reformed theologians and others derive their doctrines from are invalid.

We must be careful not to confuse individual, spiritual salvation with the national, physical salvation of Israel. In Ezekiel 40-48, God has provided an in-depth, video-like tour of the future Messianic Kingdom temple, and the surrounding city and nation. Foreknowledge of this building gives us a sure hope to all the promises of the Messianic Kingdom found in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and throughout the Bible; and to our own personal physical resurrection and glorification, that will help us endure sufferings and labor more diligently during this present time.

The pictures in this booklet were taken from a video tour of a computer-generated model of the future Messianic Kingdom temple. The video tour, the computer model, and the software to view and ‘walk’ through it, are available from links at wayneodonnell.com.

"The glory of Jehovah came into the temple, ... and He said, ... ‘This is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever,’” Ezekiel 43:4-7. “Except a man be born again, he can’t see the kingdom of God,” John 3:3.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wayne ODonnell
• Release date: May 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005032777

Wayne ODonnell

Wayne ODonnell's primary ministry is to teach big picture views (surveys) of scripture, and both the gospel of the Messianic Kingdom and the gospel of the Lord Yeshua Messiah (Acts 28:31), and always free of charge (Mt. 10:8).Wayne ODonnell graduated from High School at Bob Jones Academy, attended Tennessee Temple Bible School, and earned a BA in History and an MBA in Finance from the University of Hawaii. After graduation, he worked in finance and then software development, while teaching Bible to small groups. After retiring from programming, he took 1 year of seminary courses at Veritas International University, and began authoring books and teaching Bible Surveys via Zoom. He has been part of many kinds of local congregations over the years including Baptist, Independent Christian (Restoration-like), Calvary Chapels, Plymouth Brethren, house churches, and Messianic congregations.

Book preview

Ezekiel’s Temple, the Messianic Kingdom, and Daniel 9

‘Video Tour’ of Ezekiel 40-48

The contents of this book may be freely reproduced and used in whole or in part

June 10, 2020

Epub ISBN: 9781005032777

Wayne ODonnell

To Yeshua

Creator, Judge, Messiah, Savior, King, Master, Friend

Dr. Bruce Lackey

Dean of Tennessee Temple Bible School

for his course New Testament Survey

Dr. Alva J. McClain

for his book The Greatness of the Kingdom

Martin Anstey

for his book The Romance of Bible Chronology

Contents

Contents

Introduction

Timing and Importance

Ezekiel 40:1-2. The Mountain

Ezekiel 40:3-12. The Outer East Gate

Problems with Non-Literal Interpretations

Ezekiel 40:13-16. The Outer East Gate Continued

Ezekiel 40:17-27. The Outer Court

Ezekiel 40:28-49. The Inner Court

Ezekiel 41. The Temple

Ezekiel 42. 3-Tiered Priests’ Chambers & Overall Dimensions

Ezekiel 43-46. Sacrificial System

Ezekiel 47-48. The River and the Land

Application

The Messianic Kingdom: Handout

Daniel Chapter 9

Introduction

All my books can be read online free at wayneodonnell.com. Freely you have received, freely give (Mt. 10:8).

This booklet is included in and comprises one section of my book Physical and Spiritual Salvation: Justification, Sanctification, Glorification, the Messianic Kingdom, & Ezekiel’s Temple in Ezekiel 40-48, Matthew, Romans, & 1 John.

Matthew Henry says, Here is a vision beginning at chapter 40 which is justly looked upon to be one of the most difficult portions in all the book of God. Yes, these nine chapters are painful for Matthew Henry and all interpreters who try to use a ‘spiritual’ instead of a literal interpretation to give symbolic meaning to all these cubits. Therefore, it’s one of the best passages in scripture to demonstrate that the approach Reformed theologians and others derive their doctrines from are invalid. We must be careful not to confuse individual, spiritual salvation with the national, physical salvation of Israel.

In Ezekiel 40-48, God has provided an in-depth, video-like tour of the future Messianic Kingdom temple, and the surrounding city and nation. Foreknowledge of this building gives us a sure hope to all the promises of the Messianic Kingdom found in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and throughout the Bible; and to our own personal physical resurrection and glorification, that will help us endure sufferings and labor more diligently during this present time.

The pictures in this booklet were taken from a video tour of a computer-generated model of the future Messianic Kingdom temple. The video tour, the computer model, and the software to view and ‘walk’ through it, are available from links at wayneodonnell.com.

The glory of Jehovah came into the temple, ... and He said, ... ‘This is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever,’ Ezekiel 43:4-7. Except a man be born again, he can’t see the kingdom of God, John 3:3.

Recorded December 30, 2007 at Tioga Heights Christian Church in Philadelphia

The pictures in this booklet were taken from a video tour of a computer-generated model of the future Messianic Kingdom temple. The video tour, the computer model, and the software to view and ‘walk’ through it, are available from links at wayneodonnell.com.

Timing and Importance

My topic today is a survey of the last 9 chapters of Ezekiel, chapters 40 through 48. I wanted to prepare a Bible survey of these chapters, because this is one of the best passages I know of to validate, that as I presented to you in the survey of Matthew the last time I was here, the kingdom Yeshua offered to Israel is a physical kingdom like the one Israel was expecting because of the prophets, and Christ will set it up here on earth at his second coming.

These chapters are about the Messianic Kingdom, and especially about the kingdom temple. God took Ezekiel into the future through a vision and showed him the actual buildings of the kingdom. It’s as if he took a video camera with him, and sent back a DVD of the Messianic Kingdom. But before we travel with Ezekiel into the future, let’s consider the timing of the kingdom and the temple, and the importance of studying them.

Picture #1. Timeline to the Kingdom and Temple Described in Ezekiel 40-48.

As Picture #1 shows, we are currently in the bottom left part labeled Current Period. A 7-Year Tribulation Period is probably going to begin very soon. Before that time there will be a Resurrection and Catching Away of Church Believers who will wait out the tribulation in heaven and then Return With Christ at the end of the tribulation period.

Revelation 19:11-16 says, Behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him, that’s Yeshua, Jesus, and the armies which were in heaven followed him, that’s us, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the [Gentile] nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. He will smite the Gentile nations when he returns to defend Israel (see my references to Zechariah 12-14 in my Matthew and Romans 9-11 surveys) at the end of the 7-Year Tribulation Period, and he will rule the nations with a rod of iron during the 1000-Year Messianic Kingdom. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, because during the kingdom, there will be multiple nations, each with their own king, but Yeshua, ruling from Jerusalem, will be king over all kings.

Then, after the kingdom, there will be a New Heaven and New Earth, as shown on the right side of the diagram. Revelation 21:1-3, I saw a new heaven and a new earth, ... and ... new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. If new Jerusalem comes down from God out of heaven, it has to come to the earth, because there is only heaven and earth. And I heard ... behold, the tabernacle of God is with men .... God is going to come down and make his tabernacle with men; men are not going up to spend eternity in tabernacles in heaven. And he will dwell with them. We are not going to dwell with him in heaven. He is going to dwell with us on the new earth forever. The place Jesus prepares for us in heaven (Jn14:2-3), may not come down to earth until after the kingdom in the New Jerusalem, but we will be on earth during the kingdom also (Mt19:28).

So get the idea out of your mind that you are going to be in heaven for eternity. We are in heaven for only a very brief time. Even the people who died a thousand years ago in the Lord, and their spirits are in heaven, their bodies are still with us here on earth. And after the resurrection it’s a very brief layover in heaven before returning to earth with Christ and entering the Messianic Kingdom. So we could use a lot less songs about walking around heaven with Jesus, and a lot more songs about what it’s going to be like in the kingdom.

Since we are going to be spending so much time in the kingdom, we should learn about it; and the new earth is going to have a lot of similarities to the kingdom, although there are some differences. I know God wants us to learn about the kingdom, because he has told us so much about it in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the minor prophets, the psalms, and so forth. And the benefit of learning about the kingdom, is that it will help you persevere through trials, and help you labor more fervently.

God could have given us just an overview of the kingdom in these last 9 chapters of Ezekiel, but instead they focus a lot on one building, the temple, so that if we know this one building that will be at the center of the kingdom in a very detailed way, the entire kingdom will all be very real and solid to us, so that our sure hope of entering the kingdom in the future will help us in our trials and labors today.