Chapter XXXIX
Ver. 1-29. Continuation of the Prophecy against Gog. 1. Repeated from ch. 38. 3, to Impress the prophecy more on the mind. 3. leave but the sixth part of thee Margin, "strike thee with six plagues" (viz., pestilence,
t. e., in the times just before the coming of Messiah, viz., under Antlochus, before His first coming; under Anti-
christ, before His second coming, the mountains of Israel . . . always waste— i. e., waste during the long period of the captivity, the earnest of the much longer period of Judea's present desolation (to which the language "always waste" more fully applies). This marks the impious ati oclty of the act, to assail God's people, who bad only begun to recover from their protracted calami-
blood, overflowing rain, hailstones, fire, brimstone, ch.
38. 22) ; or, "draw thee back with an hook of six teeth" (ch.
3S. 4), the six teeth being those six plagues. Rather, " lead thee about" [LuDOVicus de Dieu and LXX.], as Antlochus was led (to his ruin) to leave Egypt for an expedi-
tion against Palestine; so shall the last great enemy of God be. north parts—from the extreme north. [Faik-
ties, but It Is brought . . . and they shall dwell—rather, "And they (the Israelites) were brought . . . dwelt safely." [FAlitBAiRN.] English Version means, "Against Israel, which has been waste, but which (i. e., whose people) is now (at tlie time of the invasion) brought forth out of the nations where they were dispersed, and shall be found by
liAiRN.] 3. bow—in which the Scythians were most ex-
I)ert. 4, 5. (Cf. v. 17-20. ) upon the mountains of Israel—
the .scene of Israel's preservation shall be that of the ungodly foe's destruction. 6. carelessly—in self-confident
security, the isles-those dwelling in maritime regions,
wlio had helped Gog with fleets and troops, shall be visited with the fire of God's wrath in their own lands. 7. not
tlie Invader dwelling securely, so as to seem an easy prey
to him." 9. cloud . . . cover the land—with the multitude of tliy forces. 10. an evil thought^as to attacking God's people in their defenceless state. 11. dwell safely
let tlicm pollute my holy name—by their sins bringing down Judgments wiiich made the heathen think that I was unable or unwilling to save my people. 8. it is come
—i. f., securely, without fear of danger (cf. Esther 9. 19). Antioohus, t he type of Antichrist, took Jerusalem witliout
. . . it is done — the prediction of the salvation of my
people, and the ruin of their enemy. Is come to pass—Is done: expressing that the event foretold Is as certain as
a l)low. 1>J. midst of the InnA—lit., the navel ot the land
(Ju Iges 9. 37, Margin). So, in ch. 5. 5, Israel is said to
if It were already accomplished. 9, 10. The burning of
be set "In the midst of the nations;" not physically, but
the foe's weapons implies that nothing belonging to thero
morally, a central position for being a blessing to the
J7ie Feast of the Fowls. EZEKIEL XL. A Piclure of the Realored Timplt.
should be left to pollute the land. The seven years (seven being the sacred nmiiber) spent on this work, implies the completeness of the cleansing, and the people's zeal for puiity. How different from the ancient Israelites, who
11. 26). The restorations of Israel heretofore have been jiartial ; tliere must lie one yet future tliat is to be unn*>-i .«</(Hosea 1. 11). 2«. After tliat they have borne thtir shame-the punishment of their sin: after they have become sensible of their guilt, and ashamed of it (ch. 20. 43; 36. 31). 27. sanctifled in them—vindicated as holy in my dealings with them. 28. The Jews, having no dominion, settled country, or fixed property to detain tliem, may return at any time without difficulty (cf. Ilosea 3. 4,
left not merely the arms, but the heathen themselves, to remain nraonf; them [Fairbairn] (Judges 1.27, 28 ; 2. 2, 3; Psalm 106. 34-36). The desolation by Antiochus began in the one hundred and forty-first year of the Seleucidfe. From this date to 1-18, a period of six years and four montlis
5). 29. pourefl out my Spirit upon . . . Israel—the sure forerunner of their conversion (Joel 2. 28 ; Zechariah 12.
(*'2;?00 days," Daniel 8. H), when the temple worship was restored (1 Maccabees 4. 52), God vouchsafed many triumphs to His people; from this time to the death of Antiochus, early In 149, a period of seven montlis, tlie Jews had rest from Antiochus, and purified their land, and on the twenty-flftli day of the ninth month celebrated the EnciBnia, or feast of dedication (John 10. 22) and purification of the temple. The whole period, in round numbers, was seven years. Mattathias was the patriotic Jewish leader, and his third son, Judas, the military commander under whom the Syrian generals were defeated. He retook Jerusa lem and purified the temple. Simon and Jona-
10). The pouring out of His Spirit is a pledge that He will hide His face no more (2 Corinthians 1.22; Ephesians 1.
14; Philippians 1. 6). CHAPTER XL,
Ver. 1^9. The Remaining Chaps., 40.-48., give an Ideal Picture of the Restored Jewish Temple. The arrangements as to the land and the temple are, in many particulars, different from those subsisting before the captivity. There are things in it so improbable physically as to preclude a purely UteraX interpretation. Tiio general truth seems to hold good that, as Israel served tlie nations for his rejection of Messiah, so shall they serve him in the person of Messiah, when he sliall acknowledge Messiah (Isaiah 60. 12; Zechariah 14. 17-19 ; cf. Psalm 72. 111. The ideal temple exhibits, underOld Testament forms, used as being those then familiar to the men whom Ezekiel, a priest himself, and one who delighted in sacrificial images, addresses, not the precise literal outline, but the essential character of the worship of Messiah as it sliall be when He shall exercise sway in Jerusalem among His own people, the Jews, and thence to the ends of the earth. The very fact tliat the wliple is a vision (v. 2), not an or»l face-to-face communication sucli as that granted to Moseg (Numbers 12. 6-8), implies that the directions are not to be understood so precisely literal as those given to the Jew-
tli.m, his brothers, succeeded him: the independence of the Jews was secured, and the crown vested in the Asmonean family, in which it continued till Herod the Great. 11. place . . . of graves—Gog only found a grave where he luid expected the spoil* of conquest, valley—so vast were to be the masses that notliing but a deep valley would suffice for their corpses. tUe passengers on the east of tine sea—those travelling on the high road, east of the Dead Sea, from Syria to Petra and Egypt. The publicity
ol the road would cause many to observe God's judgments, as the stench (as English Version translates) or the jiuiltitude of graves (as Henderson translates, "it shall slop the passengers") would arrest the attention of passersby. Tlieir grave would be close to that of their ancient prototypes, Sodom and Gomorrah in the Dead Sea, both
alilte t)eing signal instances of God's judgments. 13. I... glorlfted—in destroying tlie foe (ch. 28. 22). 14. wltli tlie passengers—the men employed continually in the burying were to be helped by tliose happening to pass by; all were to combine, after tlie end of seven montlis slinll tliey searcli—to see if the work was complete. [Munstek.] 15. First "aW tlie people of the land" engaged in the burying for seven months; then special men were erriployed, at the end of the seven months, to search for any still left uiihuried. The passers-by helped them by setting up a mark near any such bones, in order to keep others from being defiled by casually touching them, and that tlie buriers might come and remove them. Denoting the minute care to put away every relic of heathen pollution from the Holy Land. 16. A city in the neighbourhood was to receive the name Hamonah (multitude) to commemorate the overthrow of the multitudes of the foe. [Hender-
isli lawgiver. The description involves things which, taken litei-ally, almost involve natural impossibilitieis. The square of the temple, in ch. 42. 20, is six times as largo as the circuit of the wall enclosing the old temple, and larger than all the earthly Jerusalem. Ezekiel gives three and a half miles and 140 yards to his temple square. The boundaries of the ancient city were about two and a half miles. Again, the city in Ezekiel has an area between three or four thousand square miles, including the holy ground set apart for the prince, priests, and Levites. This
is nearly as large as the whole of Judea west of the Jordan. As Zion lay in the centre of the ideal city, the onehalf of the sacred portion extended to nearly thirty miles south of Jerusalem, i. e., covered nearly the whole southern territory, which reached only to the Dead Sea (ch. 47.
, SON,] The multitude of the slain shall give a name to the city of Jerusalem after the land shall have been cleansed. [GuoTius.] Jerusalem shall be famed as the conqueror of multitudes. 17. (Revelation 19. 17.) sacrifice—anciently worshippers feasted on the sacrifices. Tlie birds and beasts of prey are invited to the sacrificial feast provided by God (cf. Isaiah 18. 6; 34. 6; Zephaniah 1. 7; Mark 9. 49). Here this sacrifice holds only a subordinate place in the
19), and yet five tribes were to have their inheritance on that side of Jerusalem, beyond the sacred portion (ch. 48.
2.3-28). Where was land to be found for them there ? A breadth of but four or five miles apiece would be left. As the boundaries of tlie land are given the same as under Moses, these incongruities cannot be explained away by supposing physical changes about to be effected in the land such as will meet the difliculties of the purely literal interpretation. The distribution of the land is in equal portions among the twelve tribes, without respect to their relative numbers, and the parallel sections running from east to west. There is a difficulty also in the supposed separate existence of the twelve tribes, such separate trilieships no longer existing, and it being hard to imagine how they could be restored as distinct tribes, mingled as they now are. So the stream that issued from the east threshold of the temple and flowed into the Dead .Sea in the rapidity of its increase and the quality of its waters,
l icture, and so is put last. Not only shall their bones
lie long uiiburied, but they shall be stripped of the flesli by beasts and birds of prey. 18." rams . . . lambs . . . goats—by these various animal victims used in sacrifices are me.ant various ranks of men, princes, generals and B<)ldiers (cf. Isaiah 34. 6). fatllngs of Baslian—ungodly raen of might (Psalm 22. 12). Bashaii, beyond Jordan, was lamed for its fat cattle. Fat implies prosperity which often makes men refractory towards God (Deuteronomy
'XL 14, 15). 20. my table-the field of battle on the mountains of Israel (ch. 38. 8, 20). cliariots— i. c, charioteers.
is unlike anything ever known in Jude.a or elsewliere in the world. Lastly, the catholicity of the Chrislian dispensation, and the spirituality of its worship, seem incompatible with a return to the local narrowness and "beggarly elements" of tlie Jewish ritual and carnal ordinances, disannulled "because of the unprofitableiie.ss tliereof" IFaikbairn], (Galatians -1.3, 9; 6. 1 ; Hebrews 9.
^•i. So the house of Israel shall know . . . Lord—Ijy niy interposition for tliem. So, too, the heathen shall be led to fear the name of the Lord (Psalm 102. 15). ^3. hid
. . . my face—(Deuteronomy 31. 17; Isaiah 59. 2). 25. bring again the captivity—restore from calamity to prosper-
ity, the whole house of Israel-so "all Israel" (Koiiians
»J13
A Picture of the Reslored Temple. EZEKIEL XL. A Description of the Gate*
to It had been .sometimes turned to common uses; e.g., Jeremiah was imprisoned in one (Jeremiah 20. 2; 29.20), But now all these were to be holy to the I,,ord. Tne gates and doorways to the city of (iod were to be imprinted in their architecture with the idea of the exclusion of everything defiled (Revelation 21.27). The east gate was to be especially sacred, as it was through it the glory of God had departed (ch. 11. 2:3), and tlirough it the glory was to return (ch. 43. 1, 2; 44. 2, 3). 6. tlve stairs—.seven in number {v. 26). tl«resl>old—the sill. [Faikbairn.] othei threshold—Fairbairn considers there is but one threshold, and tranxlutcs, "even the one threshold, one rod broatl." But there is another threshold mentioiieii in v.
JO: 10. IS). "A tpmple with sacriflces now would be a denial of the al\-siifflc-ipnoy of the sacriHne of Christ. He who sacrificed before confessed the Messiah; He who should sacrifice now would solemnly deny him." [Dou-
GI.AS.J These difficulties, however, may be all seemmc/, not real. Faitli accepts God's word as it is, waiis for tlie event, sure that it will clear up all such ditficulties. Perhaps, as some think, the beau-ideal of a sacred commonwealth is given according to the tlien existing pattern of temple-sei-vices, which would be the imagery most famil-
iar to the proplietand his hearers at the time. The minute ])articularizing of details is in accordance with Ezekiel's
style, even in describing purely ideal scenes. The old temple embodied in visible forms and rites spiritual truths affecting the people even when absent from it. So this ideal temple is made in tlie absence of the outward temple to serve by description the same purpose of symboli-
7. The two thresholds here seem to be the upiier and the lower. 1. chamber—These chambers were for the use of the Levites who watched at the temple gates; guard'
c/i«w6er.s (2 Kings 22.4; 1 Chiton icles 9.26,27); also for depositing utensils and musical instruments in. 9 post*— projecting column-faced fronts of the sides of the doorway, opposite to one another. VZ. space—rather, "the boundary." 16. narrow—latticed. [Henderson.] The ancients had no glass, so they had them latticed, narrow in the interior of the walls, and widening at the exterior. "Made fast," or " firmly fixed in the chambers." [Maueer.] arches—ratlier, " porches." pavement—tesselated mosaic (Esther 1.6). chambers—serving as lo'lgings for the priests on duty in the temple, and as receptacles of the tithes of salt, wine and oil. 18. The higher pavement was level with the entrance of the gates, the lower was on either side of the raised pavement thus formed. Whereas Solomon's temple had an outer court open to alterations and even idolatrous innovations (2 Kings 23. II, 12; I Chron-
cal instruction as the old literal temple did by forms and
acts. As in the beginning God promised to be a "sanctuary" (ch. II. 16) to the captives at the Chebar, so now at the close is promised a complete restoration and realization of the theocratic worship and polity under Messiah
ill its noblest ideal (of. Jeremiah 31. 38-40). In Revelation
21. 22 "no temple" is seen, as in the perfection of the new dispensation the accidents of place and form are no longer needed to realize to Christians what Ezekiel imparts to Jewish minds by the imagery familiar to them. In Eze-
kiel's temple holiness-stretches over the entire temple, so that in this there is no longer a distinction between the
dill'erent parts, as in the old temple: parts left undeterminate in the latter obtain nowa Divine sanction, so that
all arbitrariness is excluded. So that it is to be a perfect manifestation of the love of God to His covenant people
icles 20. ,5), in this theire was to be no room for human corruptions. Its compass was exactly defined, 100 cubits ; and the fine pavement implied it was to be trodden only by clean feet (cf. Isaiah :3.5.8). 20-27. The difterent approaches corresponded in plan. In the case of these two other gates, however, no mention is made of a building with thirty chambers such as was found on the east side. Only one was needed, and it was assigned to the east as being the sacred quarter, and that most conveniently situated for the officiating priests. 33. and toward the east —an elliptical expression for "The gate of the inner court was over against the (outer) gate toward the north (just as the inner gate was over against the outer gate) toward the east." 28-37. The inner court and its gates, according to these measures viz., the measures of the outer gate. The figure and proportions of the inner answered
(chs. 40.-43. 12) ; and from it, as from a new centre of religious life, there gushes forth the fulness of blessings to tliem, and so to all people(ch. 47). [Fairbairn and HavEiiNiCK.] The temple built at the return from Babylon can only very partially have realized the model here given. The law is seemingly opposed to the gospel (Matthew .). 21, 22, 27, 28, 3:3, 34). It is not really so (cf. Matthew
5.17, 18; Romans 3.31; Galatians 3.21, 22). It is true Christ's sacrifice superseded the law sacrifices (Hebrews
H). 12-18). Israel's province may hereafter be to show the essential identity, even in the minute details of the temple sacrifices, between the law and gospel (Romans 10. 8). The ideal of the theocratic temple will then first be realized. 1. begiiming of the year—the ecclesiastical year, the first month of which was Nlsan. the city . . . thither —Jerusalem, the centre to which all the prophet's thoughts tended. 2. -visions of Go«l—Divinely-sent visions, very highmowiitaln—Moriah, very high, as compared with the plains of Babylon, still more so as to its moral elevation
to the outer. 30. This verse is omitted in LXX., the Vatican MS. and others. The dimensions here of the inner gate do not correspond to the outer, though v. 28 asserts that they do. Havernick, retaining the verse, understands it of another porch looking inwards towards the temple, arches—the porch. [F'airbairn.] The columns on which the arches rest. [Henderson.] 31. eight steps —the outer porch had only seven (v. 26). 37. posts IjXX. and Vulgate read, " the porch," which answers better to v. 31
(ch. 17. 22; 20. 40). hy which—Ezekiel coming from the north is set down (as the i/cbro;; for " upon" may be truHSlaled) Mount Moriah, and sees the city-like frame of the temple stretching southuxcrd. In v.3, " God brings him thither," i. e., close up to it, so as to inspect it minutely (cf. Revelation 21.10). In this (dosing vision, as in the opening one of the book, the Divine hand is laid on the prophet, and he is borne away in the visions of God. But the scene there was by the Chebar, Jehovah having forsaken Jerusalem ; now it is the mountain of God, Jehovah having returned thither; there, the vision was calculated to inspire terror; here, hope and assurance. 3. mnn—The Old Testament manifestations of heavenly beings as men prepared men's minds for the coming incarnation, brass —resplendent, line—used forlonger measurements (Zechariah 2. 1). reed—used in measuring houses (Revelation
34. "The arches " or "porch." [Maurer.] 38. chaml>er8
. . . entries lit., a chambeiand its door, by the posts
t. e., at or close bij the posts or columns, where they washed the burnt offering—this does not apply to all the gates but only to the north gate. For Leviticus 1.11 directs the sacrifices to be killed north of the altar; and ch. 8.5, calls the north gate, "the gate of the altar." And i'. 40 particularly mentions the north gate. 43. hooks cooking apparatus for cooking the flesh of the sacrifices that fell to the priests. The hooks were " fastened" in the walls within the apartment, to hang the meat from, so as to roast it. The Hct>reiv comes from a root " fixed" or "placed." 44. the chambers of the singers two\n number, as proved by what follows : " and their prospect (t. e., the prospect of one) was toward the south, (and) one toward the north." So .LXX. 46. Zadok—lineally de- .scended from Aaron ; he had the high priesthood conferred on him by Solomon, who had set aside the family of Ithamar because of the part which Abiathar had taken in the rebellion of Adonijah (1 Kings 1.7; 2.20,27). 47. court , , , an hundred cubits . . . four square—not to
21. lo). It marked the straightness of the walls. 5. Measures were mostly taken from the human body. The greater
cubit, the length from the elbow to the end of the mid<lle
finger, a little more than two feet: e.xceeding theordinary
cubit (from the elbow to the wrist)by an hand-breath, i. e., twenty-one inches in all. Cf. ch. 43. 13, with ch. 40. 5. The jv(Zm was the full breadth of the hand, three and a half
liK'hes. breadth of the building-1. e., the l)Oundary
wall. The iinperfectif)iis in the old temple's Ijonndnry
wall were to have no place here. The buildings attached
C14
Tilt Chambers of the Temph. EZEKIEL XLI—XLIII. The Chunihert of the. Priest*
The interior of the temple slands empty, walling for HIb entrance to fill it witli His glory (ch. 4.3. 1-1-2). It is the same temple, but the courts of it liave become ditl'erent to accommodate a more numerous people. The entire compass of the temple mount lias become a holy of holies
be confounded with the inner court, or court of Israel, which was open to all who had sacrifices to brina, and went round the three sides of the sacred territory 100 cu-
bits broad. This court was 100 cubits square, and had the
altar in it, in front of the temple. It was the court of the
(ch. 43. 12). l;i-15. Sum of the measures of the temple, and of the buildings behind and on the side of it. 15. galleries—terrace buildings. On the west or back of the temple, there was a separate place occupied by buildings of tlie same external dimensions as the temple, i.e., one hundred cubits square in the entire compass. [Faikbairn.J 16. covered—being tlie highest windows they were "covered " from the view below. Or else "covered" with lattice-work. 17. by measure—measurements (were taken). [Fairbairn.] iJI. appearance of the one as the appearance of the oilier—tlie appearance of the sanctuary or holy of liolics wa,s similar to that of the temple. They dilteied only in magnitude. 23. table
priests, and hence is connected with those who had charge of the altar and the music. The description here is brief, as the things connected with this portion were from the
first divinely regulated. 48, 49. These two verses belong to ch. 41., which treats of the temple itself, twenty . : . eleven c«ibits—in Solomon's templed Kings 6. 3) " twenty
. . . fen cubits." The breadth perhaps was ten and a half;
1 Kings 6.3, designates the number by the leaser next round number, " ten ;" Ezekiel here, by the laryer num-
ber, "eleven." [Menochius.] LXX. read " twelve." he hmngUt me by the steps—they were ten in number
[I.XX.].