He Gave Us Prophets: Unfolding EschatologySample

Early Prophetic Concern for God’s Temple: Ezekiel 43:10-11

Many Israelites had wrongly believed that the temple of God in Jerusalem was inviolable. The prophets had to speak boldly about the temple of God in Jerusalem being destroyed. For instance, Jeremiah spoke strongly against the false prophets and priests who insisted that the temple would never be destroyed. In Jeremiah 7, the prophet warned the people not to believe this false teaching. In verse 4 we read these words: 

Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” 

The true prophets of Yahweh uniformly announced that the temple of God would be destroyed at the time of exile. 

Yet the prophets also promised that in the restoration period after the exile a glorious temple would be rebuilt. More than any other prophet Ezekiel focused on the rebuilding of this glorious temple in the restoration period. Chapters 40-48 of his book concentrate on this theme. God gave Ezekiel a special picture of the restoration temple and ordered the people to build it. Consider the words of God to Ezekiel in Ezekiel 43:10-11: 

Son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their sins. Let them consider the plan, and if they are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the design of the temple… Write these down before them so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations.