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Ezekiel’s descriptions of the Jerusalem temple are often difficult to comprehend. Since Jerusalem’s temple was completely destroyed, archaeology is helpful in reconstructing Ezekiel’s description of it. In Northern Syria lie the ruins of a temple at ‘Ain Dara‘ that closely resemble the biblical descriptions of God’s temple. It, too, had three rooms, winged beings guarding the holiest place, and an eastern gate through which a deity entered. But what might be the most helpful parallel between it and Jerusalem’s temple are its windows. Carved into the stone are false windows, each with three successively smaller window frames—the largest frame on the outside and the smallest on the inside. Apparently this architectural detail was popular in ornate Near Eastern buildings during the first millennium b.c., especially in temples, and it sheds light on Ezekiel’s obscure description.
42 Then the man whose appearance was like bronze took me north into the outer courtyard. He brought me to the chambers that were opposite the open area around the temple and opposite the outside wall on the northern end. 2 This building with its north-facing door was 175 feet long and 87½ feet wide. 3 Facing a 35-foot-wide section of the inner court and facing the paved area of the outer court were rows of chambers 3 stories high. 4 An interior passageway ran in front of each chamber. It was 17½ feet wide and ran the entire length of the gallery, 175 feet. The doors faced north. 5 All the upper chambers were narrower because the galleries took up more space than they did on the first and second levels. 6 There were no columns for the chambers on the third level—no columns like the ones in the courtyards—so the chambers on the third level were set back further than the chambers on the first and second levels. 7 The wall behind the chambers ran parallel to them and the outer courtyard for a distance of 87½ feet. 8 On the side next to the outer courtyard, the row of chambers was 87½ feet long. On the side nearest to the sanctuary it was 175 feet long. 9 The chambers on the first level could be entered from the east when coming in from the outer courtyard.
These chambers on the wall surrounding the inner courtyard are where the priests prepare themselves for their sacred duties.
10 There were rows of chambers on the south[a] side of the temple, just like on the north, separating the inner and outer courtyards. 11 There was a walkway in front of them. These chambers were exactly like the chambers on the northern side—same measurements and architecture. 12 In front of each walkway in the south chambers was a doorway near the wall that could be entered from the east when coming in from the outer courtyard.
The Man (to Ezekiel): 13 The north and south chambers that face the courtyard around the temple are sacred, set apart for the priests who come near to the Eternal to eat the holiest of offerings. In those sacred chambers, the priests store the holiest of offerings—grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. 14 As soon as the priests enter into the sacred areas, they can’t leave and go into the outer courtyard until they first take off their holy clothes in which they have ministered to the Lord. These ministerial clothes are sacred. They must put on other clothes before they go anywhere other people are allowed to be, because their priestly garments can’t come into contact with anything impure.
15 When the man completed taking measurements inside the temple, he took me out through the lower eastern gate and began measuring around the temple complex. 16 He took his measuring reed and measured the entire east side. It was 875 feet long. 17-19 He measured the north, south, and west sides; and they, too, were each 875 feet long. 20 He measured the temple complex on all four sides. The wall around it formed a square 875 feet by 875 feet. It served to separate the sacred from the common.
43 Then the man whose appearance was like bronze led me to the gate that faced the east. 2 There, I witnessed the glory of the God of Israel storming from the east. His voice thundered like a great waterfall. The entire earth reflected His shining glory.
Just as God’s glorious presence departs Jerusalem for Babylon in the east (Ezekiel 10), so He returns with spectacular fullness to the eastern gate of a restored temple.
3 The vision I saw then was just like the vision I saw when He arrived to destroy the city and was kindred to the vision I had near the Chebar Canal. I fell on my face to the ground. 4 The glory of the Eternal entered the temple by the east gate, 5 and the Spirit picked me up and brought me to the inner courtyard so I could watch as the Eternal’s glory filled the temple.
6 While the man stood beside me, I heard a voice addressing me from inside the temple.
Eternal One: 7 Son of man, this temple is the home of My throne on earth and the place where I’ll rest My feet. I will dwell here among My people Israel forever. Never again will the Israelites or their kings desecrate My holy name. Never again will they prostitute themselves by worshiping false gods or erecting monuments to their dead kings. 8 They defiled My name and committed disgusting acts right next to My sacred space by putting their thresholds and doorposts right next to Mine with only a wall separating Me from their idols. This is why I consumed them in My wrath. 9 Now it’s time for the people to change—to put away their whoring and the monuments to their dead kings. If they do that, then I will dwell among them forever.
10 Son of man, go to the people of Israel, and give them a detailed description of the temple you have seen so that they will feel ashamed of their abhorrent living. Give them some time to study the plan. 11 If they express shame for all they have done, explain to them the temple design, the structure, the complex’s entrances and exits, its rules and regulations. Write it down so that everyone can see the design and the regulations and be sure to follow the specifications and rules when the time comes. 12 Now here is My directive concerning the temple: the mountaintop and everything around the temple must be regarded as sacred ground. Pay strict attention to this directive concerning the temple.
13 The following measurements are the dimensions of the altar. They were taken with the long measure, which is 21 inches long. The gutter at the base of the altar is 21 inches deep and 21 inches wide and has a 9-inch rim around the edge of it. These are the heights of each part of the altar: 14 The altar rises from the ground 3½ feet to the lower ledge that is 21 inches wide; from there it rises an additional 7 feet to an upper ledge that is also 21 inches wide. 15 The altar’s hearth rises another 7 feet and has 4 horns that protrude from each of its 4 corners. 16 The altar’s hearth is square, 21 feet by 21 feet. 17 The upper ledge is square, too, 24½ feet on each side. The rim around it is 10½ inches, and the base is 21 inches wide all around. The steps of the altar face east.
Burnt offerings are arguably the most important sacrifices and the centerpiece of the temple practices. They are performed every morning and evening without fail, at every festival holiday, and by individuals for various personal reasons. The burnt offerings differ from other offerings because they are totally consumed in the fire. No meat is left over to serve the priests and Levites or to be the main course in a festival meal; everything is offered up to God. The burnt offerings attract God’s attention to the temple because they rise up to heaven with a pleasing aroma. Before the people can begin their steady stream of offerings to God, the altar itself must be consecrated to Him.
Eternal One: 18 Son of man, this is what I, the Eternal Lord, have to say regarding the regulations for the altar after it is built; these apply to burnt offerings and sprinkling blood on the altar. 19 For a sin offering, give a young bull to the Levitical priests who belong to Zadok’s line; these are permitted to come before Me to serve. 20 Take some of the young bull’s blood and wipe it all over the altar’s four horns, the four corners of the upper ledge, and its rim. This ceremony will cleanse the altar and cover any of the impurities. 21 Then take the young bull to the appointed area outside the temple complex and burn its carcass. 22 On the second day, offer another sin offering—a perfect male goat—and cleanse the altar the same way you cleansed it with the bull. 23 After you have finished this part of the cleansing ritual, find a perfect young bull and a perfect young ram from the flock and bring them to the altar. 24 Present them to the Eternal, and the priests will throw salt on them and give them as a burnt offering to the Eternal. 25 Then every day after that for seven days, you are to offer a male goat at the altar as a sin offering. Along with the male goat, you are to prepare a perfect young bull and a perfect ram from the flock. 26 Present these offerings for seven days in a row, and they will cleanse and cover the altar, dedicating it for service. 27 After the seven days of cleansing are over, the priests will offer your burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar. This will begin on the eighth day and continue forever. Then I, the Eternal Lord, will accept you and your offerings.
5 Hey, you rich folk, misery is on its way; so cry and moan 2 because you will watch your riches rot before your eyes as the moths devour your fine clothes. 3 Your stockpile of silver and gold is tarnished and corroded, and this rust will stand up in the final judgment and testify against you. It will eat your flesh like fire and become a permanent and painful reminder that you have hoarded your wealth through these last days. 4 Listen. You held back a just wage from the laborers who mowed your fields, and that money is crying out against you, demanding that justice be done. The cries of the people who harvested your crops and made you a profit have fallen upon the ears of the supreme Lord of heavenly armies. 5 Your life on the earth has been one of luxury, pleasure, and endless consumption; you have feasted to your hearts’ content on animals you slaughtered, but now the day of slaughter comes for you. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous man, and he did not defend himself.
7 For this reason, my brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the return of the Lord. Look! The farmer knows how to wait patiently for the land to produce vegetables and fruits. He cannot harvest a freshly planted seed. Instead, he waits for the early and the late showers to nourish the soil. 8 You need this same kind of patience, so in the meantime, strengthen your resolve because the Lord will be coming soon.
9 Brothers and sisters, don’t waste your breath complaining about one another. If you judge others, you will be judged yourself. Be very careful! You will face the one true Judge who is right outside the door. 10 The prophets who declared the word of the Lord are your role models, my brothers and sisters, for what it means to live patiently in the face of suffering. 11 Look, we bless and honor the memory of those who persevered under hardship. Remember how Job endured and how the Lord orchestrated the triumph of his final circumstances as a grand display of His mercy and compassion.
12 It is even more important, my brothers and sisters, that you remember not to make a vow by the heavens or the earth or by anything. When you say “yes,” it should always mean “yes,” and “no” should always mean “no.” If you can keep your word, you will avoid judgment.
13 Are any in your community suffering? They should pray. Are any celebrating? They should sing praises to God. 14 Are any sick? They should call the elders of your church and ask them to pray. They will gather around and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Prayers offered in faith will restore them from sickness and bring them to health. The Lord will lift them up from the floor of despair; and if the sickness is due to sin, then God will forgive their sins. 16 So own up to your sins to one another and pray for one another. In the end, you may be healed. Your prayers are powerful when they are rooted in a righteous life. 17 Remember Elijah? He was a man, no different from us. He prayed with great intensity asking God to withhold the rain; God answered his prayers and did not allow a single drop of rain to fall for three and a half years. 18 It did not rain until Elijah prayed again for God to open the skies, when the rain came down and the earth produced a great crop.
Why should we bother to pray if God already knows what we are going to ask for? Prayer involves so much more than making personal requests. It connects us with God and works to bring our wills into conformity with His.
How, then, should we pray? First, James tells us to pray in community, not just by ourselves and for ourselves. When we pray together, life is shared and community is born. We also confess our sins, not just to God, but to each other. Through this vulnerable transparency, God knits souls together in authentic community, and we discover the true benefit of prayer.
19 Brothers and sisters, if someone you know loses his way and rebels against God, pursue him in love and bring him back to the truth. 20 Know this: If you turn a sinner back from the error of his ways, then you will rescue him from the grips of death and cover the pain and consequences of untold sins.
Psalm 119[a]
Psalm 119 is the longest psalm in the collection. It is a hymn in praise of and appreciation for God’s instructions to His people. You see, God not only called Israel to be His people and gave them a wonderful land, but He gave them a blueprint for living. The Hebrew word for that is torah, sometimes translated “law” or “teachings.” In torah God tells them how to structure their lives and communities so that they will live long, prosperous lives in the land He has given them. As you read through the psalm, you will notice words like law, teachings, precepts, word, decrees, and commands. Each of these words is a synonym highlighting some attribute of God’s instructions to His people.
Another memorable feature of this psalm is its form. The psalmist constructs this hymn as an elaborate acrostic poem that moves artfully through each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Essentially, all the elements of this psalm combine to emphasize the importance of God’s Word to His people, to the praise and glory of the one True God.
Aleph
1 Happy are the people who walk with integrity,
who live according to the teachings of the Eternal.
2 Happy are the people who keep His decrees,
who pursue Him wholeheartedly.
3 These are people who do nothing wrong;
they do what it takes to follow His ways.
4 You have given us Your precepts
so we would be careful about keeping them.
5 Oh, that every part of my life would remain in line
with what You require!
6 Then I would feel no shame
when I fix my eyes upon Your commands.
7 With a pure heart, I will give thanks to You
when I hear about Your just and fair rulings.
8 I will live within Your limits;
do not abandon me completely!
Beth
9 How can a young person remain pure?
Only by living according to Your word.
10 I have pursued You with my whole heart;
do not let me stray from Your commands.
11 Deep within me I have hidden Your word
so that I will never sin against You.
12 You are blessed, O Eternal One;
instruct me in what You require.
13 My lips have told how
You have delivered all Your wise rulings.
14 I have celebrated Your testimonies
as though rejoicing over an immeasurable fortune.
15 I will fix my mind on Your instructions
and my eyes on Your path.
16 I will find joy in Your ordinances;
I will remember Your word forever.
6 It is better to be a pauper walking in integrity
than a dishonest man, even if he is rich.
7 Whoever follows God’s teaching is a wise child,
but the one who spends time with gluttons and drunks disgraces his parents.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.