Ezekiel 40–48

0:00 In the spring of 1916, 22 men were stranded in the southern ocean down near Antarctica on a rock, basically, an island called Elephant Island. Their ship, the Endurance, had been crushed by the ice some months earlier and had gone to the bottom months before. The guys who were stranded on the island had no shelter except two overturned lifeboats that they had managed to get upside down. They had nothing to eat on that island except penguin.

0:32 And they had no hope at all of ever being found because nobody on the face of the planet had any idea where they were. So their captain, a man named Ernest Shackleton, took five men and one of those overturned lifeboats, 22 feet long, and set out across 800 miles of some of the most dangerous waters on earth. He was going to get help. We left a man on the island named Frank Wilde in charge on that beach to keep the men's spirits up, to keep them going, to make sure that they had penguin for every single meal to eat.

1:10 Now, here's what Frank Wilde did, and I think it's really extraordinary. Every single morning, Frank Wilde got up with the sun and he made all of those men roll up their sleeping bags and pack their kit up. Crazy, right? Not only do you have to eat penguin for every meal, not only do you have no hope, basically, of being rescued because your captain is headed off into 800 miles of the worst waters on the planet, but your leader keeps making you, every single morning, roll up your sleeping bag and pack your kit.

1:43 Because every morning, he said the same words. Lash up and stow, boys. The boss may come today. It's an amazing thing, isn't it? Lash up and stow, boys. The boss may come today. For four and a half months, every morning he told them that. Lash up and stow. The boss may come today. Well, it took Shackleton 17 days to reach civilization at a place called South Georgia.

2:13 And then he had to walk over an uncharted mountain range to get to the whaling station on the other side of that island. Once he got provisioned, though, he found civilization, he got provisioned. He went back and basically did what he promised. came back for his men but the ice every single time he tried to get to Elephant Island threw him out the ice would close in and threatened to break up the ship that he was in all of it Over the course of four months Shackleton tried four different times to get a ship into his men And four different times over the course of four months, he failed.

2:44 In fact, it was months later that this little Chilean tugboat called the Yelco finally punched through the ice on the 30th of August and rescued the men. Four days later, all of those men, Ernest Shackleton, Frank Wild, all the men who were stranded on the island, they all steamed into Punta Arenas, Chile. And the town threw them a party, big party, ticker tape, brass band, the whole deal. Because everybody knew in that town that the boss had stopped at nothing to go get his men.

3:17 The boss had come back. Well, this morning, we're going to finish up the book of Ezekiel. It's been a couple of weeks since we've been there. So let me just give you a quick reminder of kind of the shape of the book and where we're landing in it on this last sermon of the series. So take a Bible if you've got one. Turn over to Ezekiel chapter 40. That's where we're going to start this morning. We're going to make our way all the way through chapter 48. So nine chapters all at once. That's what we're going to do. If you're using a Red Pew Bible in front of you or under you, you can find Ezekiel 40 on page 727.

3:51 So quick running start. You'll probably remember this. I hope you'll remember it for the rest of your life, which is why I keep catechizing you in it. Chapters 1 to 24 are just this drumbeat of judgment. Jerusalem, the capital city of the nation of Israel, is going to fall because of her sin, because of her covenant breaking. And that judgment that's been promised for 24 chapters finally falls in chapter 24. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon lays siege to the city and absolutely, excuse me, destroys it. From 25 to 32, you have this long sort of sword swing through all the nations that surrounded Israel.

4:27 So all of her enemies, one after the other, get judged by the sword of God. Then in chapter 33, this fugitive from the wreckage in Jerusalem stumbles into Babylon, where Ezekiel and all these exiles are. He stumbles into the city, and he brings word, finally, the city has fallen. It's gone. And from that moment on the whole tone of the book changes. For 33 chapters has been nothing but judgment. First judgment on Israel for 24 chapters, then judgment on the nations around Israel for another seven or eight chapters But in 33 the tone changes totally Because it no longer about judgment It now about hope and restoration There a fundamental change that happens in God mind and heart it seems like, right? He looks at his people. He sees their sin. He drops judgment on them, but as soon as the covenant is executed, as soon as its curses are executed, his heart changes.

5:27 The obstacle's out of the way. Well, today we're coming to the last nine chapters of the book, 40 through 48. And I mean, I'll be honest with you. These are, I think for most readers, the most exasperating chapters in the whole book of Ezekiel. Because you've basically waited 40 chapters for the payoff of this thing. You're like, when is the payoff coming? When is the good coming? When is God going to do something glorious? And what you get starting in chapter 40 is a whole bunch of measurements of a building.

5:58 Just one number after another. And it's exhaustive. First we measure the doors. Then we measure the rooms. Then we measure the little rooms within the rooms. Then we measure the walls and their thickness and their height. It's just one thing after another interminably. But stay with me. Because I think if you do, you're going to see that there is far more to these chapters than maybe you thought at first. So take your Bible, turn over to Ezekiel chapter 40, and we're going to start reading in verse 1.

6:35 And we're going to read it all. No, I'm just kidding you, we're not. We're going to read little bits and pieces of it here and there, but we're not going to read it all. I do want to tell you about the structure of it, though, so it might help you to kind of flip through it. I'm not exactly sure that it will. you might want to just write down this structure so you can keep up with it. In terms of the structure, there are basically three movements in this section. So from chapter 40 through the middle of chapter 43, you get a picture of this man who's really an angel, and he's got a measuring stick.

7:08 A measuring stick is about 10 feet tall. It's a reed, about 10 feet tall. And he just basically measures everything. He takes Ezekiel through this empty temple, inch by inch, room by room, And that ends in the first half of 43 with the glory of the Lord returning to the temple. It's a massive moment and we're going to talk more about it as we go on. Well, from the second half of 43 all the way through 46, it changes. We're not measuring anymore. What we getting in 40 middle of 43 through 46 is basically a description of what the temple leaders are doing So you get a description of the priests and then you get a description of this mysterious figure that we going to talk about called the prince So it the leaders of the temple the leaders of the nation Then finally in 47 to 48, you get a picture of pretty much like all the surrounding land, including this river that runs from the temple to the Dead Sea. So those are the three sections in a nutshell. You get temple, then you get priests and kings, and then you get the land. And you put

8:10 it all together, and you look at what the Bible is doing, what the Lord is doing through Ezekiel in this vision, and here's the main idea. And I think it, you know, nicely gathers up, in fact, the entire book of Ezekiel. Here it is, main idea. Despite it all, despite our sin, despite our failure, despite our rebellion, despite it all, God wants to be with us. And he will do everything necessary to bring us to himself. That's it. Despite it all, our sin, our failure, our rebellion, our grossness, all of it, God wants to be with us. And he will do everything necessary to make that happen.

8:55 all right three points to the sermon corresponding to those three sections that i just laid out for you and they're what these points are are basically three great hopes for us that these chapters uncover number one looking at those first two and a half three and a half chapters whatever it is he comes back that's the first thing he comes back number two he brings us in and number three he makes everything live. He comes back, he brings us in, and he makes everything live.

9:36 All right, let's look at some of it. Number one, he comes back. We're looking basically at chapter 40 and 41 and 42 and about half of 43. That's what we're looking at. But before we look at the details of the chapter, I want you to just kind of remember back to, I think it was earlier mid-June when we were in around chapter 10, 11, something like that. I want you to remember how dark things were back then. I want you to remember how dark things were in the story of the book of Ezekiel. So go back in your mind to chapter 10. You remember what happens in chapter 10?

10:10 Basically, Ezekiel is watching and he sees the temple. And what he sees, And it's just crushing because the glory of God, the blazing presence, the Shekinah glory that had filled the temple since Solomon's day and had assured the people that God was with them. That glory rises up out of the throne room of the temple, out of the Holy of Holies, moves to the threshold of the temple, the exit, and finally goes out the east gate.

10:41 and then in chapter 11 the glory goes out from the city lingers for a moment on the mountains out to the east and then it's just gone and ezekiel's heart breaks because what he's seeing is god abandoning his people now stop and think about that for a second because that is in ezekiel chapter 10 and 11 that is without a doubt the worst moment in the entire story of the Old Testament. It's worse than the people getting carried off into slavery. It's worse than Nebuchadnezzar's army breaking down the wall and destroying Jerusalem. It's worse than all of that.

11:20 Anybody can get their land back. Anybody can rebuild a building. But this moment in Ezekiel 10 and 11 is God moving out. He's abandoning his people. He's rejecting them. He's saying, I am not with you anymore. And then for the whole rest of the book, 30 chapters or so, nobody says a thing about him coming back. I mean, yeah, the enemies of Israel all get what's coming to them, and God makes some other promises to them, but nobody says a word about God coming back to his temple. But now come with me to chapter 40, Ezekiel chapter 40, and I do want to read a few verses.

12:04 from there chapter 40 verse 1 in the 25th year of our exile at the beginning of the year on the 10th day of the month in the 14th year after the city was struck down on that very day the hand of the Lord was upon me and he brought me to the city in visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain on which was a structure like a city to the south When he brought me there behold there was a man whose appearance was like bronze with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand. He was standing in the gateway.

12:35 And the man said to me, son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears and set your heart upon all that I am about to show you. For you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare everything that you see to the house of Israel. So 25 years into the exile and 14 years after the city was actually struck down, Ezekiel's taking in a vision to the city and there's this man shining like brazen brawn beside him and he says, listen to what I'm about to tell you. Because what I'm about to tell you is extremely important. And Ezekiel must have been on like the edge of his toes, right? Like what are you going to tell me that's so important? And he says, this thing is 10 feet tall and also 10 feet wide. Now come with me. This room is so many of these reeds and this many things. And you're getting that? Ezekiel's like, yeah, I'm getting it. And then he just keeps going.

13:25 He measures everything, the wall, the gate, the little rooms inside the gate, the door jams, the little vestibules, which are just, those are just little rooms within the rooms, the steps, the palm trees carved on the post and he keeps this up while Ezekiel is watching for three solid chapters. He just measures and calls out the measurements and I'm sure Ezekiel's thinking, do you want me to write this down? Like what are we doing here? But here's the clue to what's happening here and what's about to happen. Nobody measures a building that carefully.

14:07 unless somebody's about to move in. And then look what happens when all the measuring is done. Chapter 43, verse 1. 43, verse 1. Then this angel, this man, led me to the gate, the gate facing east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east.

14:44 And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters in the earth shown with his glory. And the vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city. And just like the vision that I had seen by the Kibar Canal And I fell on my face As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the entered court And behold I saw the glory of the Lord fill the temple. Do you see what's so glorious about this? This man brings Ezekiel to the very gate, the gate that's facing out to the east. He brings him to the very gate that the glory of the Lord had departed from back in chapter 10. And now, now the glory of the Lord comes from the east, from the same way in which he departed, he now comes back. That would have been such an extraordinary thing for Ezekiel to see and experience. Because he would have understood the significance of it. He would have understood that despite the people's rebellion, despite the

15:46 people's despising of God, despite God's even rejection of his people, the God who had left came back. There's more though. Look at chapter 44, verse 1. Just right across the page there, 44, verse 1. Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces each. So the Lord just came in that gate, right? But now he takes him from the throne room where God's presence is, takes him out to that gate again. So he took me back out to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east, and it was shut. And the Lord said to me, this gate shall remain shut. It shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it. For the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore, it shall remain shut. You see the point of that?

16:41 Do you see the point of the gate closing behind God? God came back to his people, and then he sealed the gate shut behind him. He's never leaving again. He's going to dwell with his people forever. Okay, now, before we talk a little bit more, we've got to stop and ask a question here, because I know that somebody, and it's probably not just one or two, is thinking about it. Is this description of the temple, with all its measurements, all the rest of it, is it for Ezekiel a set of blueprints?

17:16 In other words, are we supposed to be expecting somebody to build this thing someday in the nation of Israel? Well, the answer, to put it very simply, is no, we're not. And I think the text tells you that in three different ways. So let me give them to you Three different reasons why the text does not lead us to expect that this thing will be built someday So first just look back at verse 40 sorry chapter 40 verse 2 Flip back to chapter 40, verse 2. You got to just note here that this is a vision.

17:53 In visions of God, he brought me back to the land of Israel. So God tells Ezekiel what this is at the very beginning. It's a vision, like he's had visions throughout the book, prophetic visions, like Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah. All these prophets have visions. That's what they call them, and they're prophetic visions. So does that like slam the door on the idea that it should never be built? Well, no, because God could be showing him a vision that he's supposed to write all this stuff down and then go build it. That could be the case. But if you know about prophecy, if you know kind of how prophecy works and how things kind of move in and out and how they have spiritual meaning, when he says it's a vision, it at least puts it in that category. You're supposed to have your sort of antenna up and think, okay, this isn't a normal thing. This is not just sort of hardcore architectural blueprints. There's going to be a spiritual point to this, not just a physical point. That's the first thing. Second, look at how the land, just flip over to chapter 47, 48. We're not going to read any of it. But you'll see in the middle of chapter 47, you'll see that subheading,

19:03 division of the land. If you read this in advance, then you may have picked up on how the land gets divided in this kind of new Jerusalem. The tribes of Israel, the 12 tribes of Israel basically get laid out in flat parallel bands running straight east to west across the country. So there's no indication that anyone took into account rivers or mountains or cities or anything. It's just like little bands that run east to west, one right after the other, and in the center of it is Judea, right? The Jerusalem and the temple, like slices of homemade linguine or something that are being, you know, carved across the land. Nobody divides real land like that. It doesn't even make sense to divide real land like that. When you're dividing land, you pay attention to the rivers, the mountains, the geography, the cities, all of that. This doesn't happen at all. Nobody ever divides real land. I mean, if you were to, I mean, think about how absurd this is. If you took the continental United States, right, and you divided among the 50

20:08 states, the land of the continental United States, like this gets divided. Basically what you would have is And you'd have 50 of, you know, it'd be spaghetti all the way across the land. No one does that. And the point is that no one is intended to do that. The point of this whole thing is that the nations of Israel are arrayed in this kind of way so that the temple can just be set right in the center of it.

20:44 God is among his people right in the middle. And here's the third reason that we're not supposed to take this as a physical kind of thing. And really, this is the one with all the theological chops. In these chapters, the sacrifices and offerings are running again. Did you notice that if you read it? In this vision of a temple, the sacrifices are running again. And they're running at full theological throttle. Like God commands the sacrifices.

21:16 God regulates the sacrifices. God accepts the sacrifices. And it's the sacrifices in these chapters that make his people acceptable to him. They're running at full theological throttle. But the problem is that the New Testament simply does not have a category. Not once. Not in Hebrews. Not in Revelation. nowhere do you ever have animal sacrifices ever being commanded or needed again never so these chapters are not meant to be taken physically they're not like a prediction of something that's going to happen in the future in that kind of very physical way you are not supposed to be scrutinizing the headlines of the jerusalem herald or whatever to figure out when the red heifer is being born in israel nothing like that is happening here in ezekiel so what are these chapters doing What is this vision of this temple for Well here where I want to teach you some deep theological skill really one of the most useful things you can learn about reading your Bible What I about to teach you scholars call biblical theology which does not mean theology that is biblical

22:32 It means basically one single theology, one unified theology across the entire Bible, right? So it's not that John has a theology and Moses has a theology and those are different, right? It's one single theology, a biblical theology that runs across the entire canon of the Bible. And what that means is that from Genesis to Revelation, the entire Bible is one big epic story that runs from creation to new creation. And within that story, what you see over and over again are these themes that are planted early on in the story.

23:04 And then they grow and they develop. And sometimes they even become something by the end that you never would have guessed if you were just looking at the little acorn. Right? So kingship is one of those. Kingship starts in the Garden of Eden. It ends in Revelation. And by the time it gets to Revelation, it's something very different than what it was in Eden. Trees, believe it or not, are another of those. Trees do certain things in the Bible. If you think about it, you can kind of see how, oh, the theme of trees develops from Genesis all the way to Revelation.

23:34 but I think I think that probably the very best example of this kind of developing theme thing in all of the bible is lo and behold the temple I think that is one of the clearest stories that runs really without a break from Eden all the way to the new Jerusalem so I want to trace that out for you for a minute so the theme of the temple starts in the garden of Eden God is walking with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. There's no barrier at all between God and Adam and Eve. So the garden where they walk together is the temple. It's the place where God and man meet. Well, after Adam and Eve sin in Genesis chapter 3, there's a barrier that's created, right? So God puts, kicks Adam and Eve out of that temple garden, puts angels in front of the entrance to the garden with a flaming sword, and basically the message there is you are excluded, Adam and Eve, from the presence of God. You can't come back. You're outside the presence of God. Well, centuries later, God tells Moses to build him

24:37 a tent, and then later it becomes the temple, which is great, right? And the glory of the Lord comes into the temple finally with Solomon. The tent sort of gives way to the stone temple, and the glory of God comes, and he's among his people. But the problem is they're still separated from him There this giant curtain that exists between the people and the Holy of Holies and a really interesting detail about it is do you know what is embroidered into that giant curtain What's embroidered into it?

25:10 Cherubim, the very same guardians that kept Adam and Eve out of the garden are now in the embroidery, keeping the Israelites away from the presence of God. Nothing much has changed. God's there, but they're still separated. from him. I mean, just by the way, if you have a tendency to think that this Ezekielian temple is like the final form of everything, go look this week at chapter 41, verse 18. Go look. Because the walls of this temple are carved all over with cherubim too.

25:48 The physical temple was always a picture of the place we got thrown out of. And if you're Your great hope is for another temple in Jerusalem to be built. All you're doing is pining for separation between you and God. It's a massive step backwards for your relationship with God. Okay, so from there, where does it go? Well, it goes to Ezekiel next, right? The divine glory first departs from the temple. He's away from his people. Then it comes home. The gate's shut behind him. Now, that's not bad, right?

26:20 God promising, I'm home and I'm not leaving. That's not bad, but it is about as good as that old arrangement can possibly get. God's here. He's not leaving. But the curtain is still there, and you can't just walk in. You're not exactly welcome in his presence. You get Nehemiah next. That's the next step in the chain, in the story. So the people in Nehemiah's day, they build the temple back after it's been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. They build it back, and they all stand back, and they're waiting on the glory of God to fill it again.

26:50 and they wait and nothing happens. What? Why doesn't God fill the temple again? That's what we're all waiting for. They probably thought they were fulfilling Ezekiel 40 to 48. Nothing happens. Okay, but then the story goes nuclear. So John comes along and he says of Jesus Christ, the word became flesh and tabernacled, you can even think of it as templed among us, and we have seen his glory.

27:22 And then a couple chapters later in John 2, Jesus basically says in this temple that's been rebuilt, that the people rebuilt and God never filled it, he looks around and he says, not one stone is gonna be left upon another in this place And you know why Because I am now the temple Do you wanna know where God meets his people now It not in a building like this one It in a person It in me And then when he dies on the cross, that curtain with the cherubim and all the guardians on it is ripped from top to bottom by the finger of God. Because now all of a sudden in Jesus's death, the way into the presence of God is finally open again.

28:09 In the very last pages of the Bible, John looks at the new Jerusalem, the great city, the final city. You read it a little bit earlier in the service and did you notice what he said at the very end? It's not I saw this glorious temple greater than any temple that had ever been built. It's not that. It's, I saw no temple in the city. And then he basically just quotes John 2. For its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb.

28:41 See, you don't need a building. You don't need a building when the Lamb is standing right there among his redeemed people. You don't need it. I mean, it's beautiful, isn't it? The story, the sweep of it is just beautiful. and it's so much richer than a theology that just tries to match verse whatever to rock whatever in Jerusalem. The temple tells a story of God stopping at nothing to be with his people and accomplishing everything necessary to save his people through Jesus Christ.

29:18 In fact, that's what this whole book has been driving at since the beginning. Think about the direction. Everything moves in this book. At every single turn, God moves toward his people. That's what he does. He moves towards his people. Wherever they are, he goes. They're in Babylon. He goes to Babylon. Look, every religion in the world, every single one except Christianity, is built on people trying their best to climb up toward God.

29:49 But this book opens and closes with God coming to his people. And you know what the greatest example of that is in all the canon of Scripture? You know what it is? It's the eternal second person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God, becoming man and dwelling among us. Jesus the Christ became one of us.

30:20 He came for us from heaven to reconcile man and God, to live in our place and die in our place and to rip that curtain in two so that we would be welcome again in the presence of God. Think about it. You remember the main idea? What was the main idea? Despite it all, God wants to be with us and he will do everything necessary to bring us to himself. He wants to be with us and he will do everything. Now to Ezekiel, sitting in that refugee camp in Babylon and seeing this vision of the future, that was all a promise.

30:54 And that main idea is calculated exactly for Ezekiel sitting there. God someday will do everything necessary to bring us to himself. But friends, you and I, Christian, you and I are not sitting in Babylon. We're sitting on this side of the torn curtain. So you want to change the main idea? It ought to say this for you and me. Despite it all, God wants to be with us, and he has already done everything necessary to bring us to him.

31:27 It is finished. And to a Christian, that's a glorious thought, and one you ought to just spend some time rejoicing over. To a non-Christian, it's an invitation. The curtain that separates people from God is torn open. The cherubim that guard the way to God's presence have been torn apart by the blood of Jesus. It's an invitation for you to come to him and be saved from your sins and come in rejoicing to the presence of God.

32:03 here's point number two he brings us in so this is looking at middle of chapter 43 through chapter 46 so all of that about God coming back to us and wanting to be with us it raises a really hard question and and that question starts to press on you when you get to the second half of chapter 43 So the glory of God comes into the temple in the first half of 43 The question is, all right, are we just going back to the status quo? I mean, that's awesome, but that doesn't seem like quite enough.

32:35 But here's the question. It's been the question that's kind of run through the whole Bible. if God is going to live in the middle of a people like this how does a people like this survive being that close to him I've heard some people say that when the Shekinah glory filled the temple the most theologically astute people in the crowd would not have been cheering they would have been cowering because they would have realized that a nuclear bomb just came into their midst how does a people like this survive living that close to the holy God of the universe?

33:10 Well, here's the answer. From 43, 13-ish, yeah, right there where it says the altar. From 43, 13 on through chapter 46, the tour of the temple changes. So we're not getting measurements anymore. It's not about the architecture of the place anymore. It's basically about the job descriptions of the priest and this guy called the prince. In other words, it's about blood. It's about sacrifices. How do you do them? What's required? So the guy, I mean, you can see it there. Man measures the altar, lays out seven days of offerings to the content.

33:42 You get dead bulls, goats, rams, day after day after day. And then look at the end of chapter 43, because here's the point of all those sacrifices. When they have completed all of this, then from the eighth day onward, the priest will offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, and I will accept you, he says. Now, don't let that word confuse you. You can read that word as a kind of bare acceptance. Okay, fine, I accept, right?

34:12 But that's not what it's getting at. It's a word in Hebrew that actually means a lot more than the word accept. It means that he is pleased with them. It means that he embraces them because these sacrifices have been altered. But still, how? How does he accept them? On what basis? Well, turn the page to chapter 45. Chapter 45. All right. Now if you read these chapters in advance, I hope that this shadowy figure in here that shows up several different times, I hope your eye caught this mysterious figure along the way The prince And I hope that you said oh there it is Greg is going to say that Jesus If so, congrats.

35:13 Friend, you should take yourself out to lunch because that is not just you learning to anticipate my preaching, that's you learning to read the Bible better because this is Jesus. the prince actually shows up back in chapter 44 that's the first time he's mentioned in this in this section the gate for the prince but Ezekiel's been talking about him for a long time chapter 34 chapter 37 God said he was gonna set his servant David over them as prince forever so he's been talking about him for a long time but what this prince does becomes clearest in chapter 45 so look with me down at chapter 45 verse 17 chapter 45 verse 17 it shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings grain offerings and drink offerings at the feast the new moons and the Sabbath all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel he shall provide the sin offering grain offering burn offering and peace offerings to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel. Now to an Israelite,

36:17 maybe not to you, to an Israelite, that's a shocking, shocking image. This is not a normal king because normal kings don't do anything with the sacrifices. They don't offer them. They don't provide them. They don't do it on behalf of the people. Nothing. In fact, it's forbidden. There's an old king named Uzziah who tried it in all his piety. He tried to offer a sacrifice and the Lord struck him with leprosy and killed him because of it. Kings don't offer sacrifices. this king is weird. Now, look, this is shadowy. This is mysterious.

36:48 This is prophecy. It's blurry. But it's there. You've got a king of Israel, a descendant of David, who himself provides a sin offering and makes atonement for God's people. It's blurry, right? It's not the king yet laying down and being the sacrifice. Blurry, but there it is. The son of David, the king of Israel, makes atonement for his people in a very strange way. But there's more.

37:20 I want you to see what the people are doing while all this is going on. So look at 46, verse 2. 46, verse 2. So verse 1 is just about the gate On the Sabbath day we open the gate But look at verse 2 When all of these sacrifices are being made the prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside and shall take his stand by the post of the gate The priest will offer the burnt offering, his burnt offering, in fact, and his peace offerings. And he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. And then he shall go out and the gate shall not be shut until evening.

37:53 So the sacrifices are being made. The prince is providing it, right? His burnt offering, his sacrifice to make atonement for the people. Where are the people? Where are the people? Look at verse 3. The people of the land shall bow down at the entrance of the gate before the Lord on the Sabbath and on the new. Do you see the picture here? Who's doing the sacrificial work? Who's doing the work of atonement and salvation? It's the prince and the priests. They're the ones who are inside doing the work of atonement. Where are the people? They're outside at the entrance to the gate, bowing down and worshiping. Now think about what that looks like. Think about what that looks like.

38:40 You, as a person, you hand over the grain and the lamb as a kind of tax, just a normal tax, and then the king takes those goods in there, and the priests do their thing, and the king does his thing, and you are down on your face in the gate, and somebody else walks in and does the one thing that has to be done which you cannot do for yourself. In fact, it's being done at an altar and in a way that you can't see, you've never seen, and you never will see. You can't watch what's going on. You can't help what's going on. You can't even verify that the king and the priests are doing exactly what they're supposed to do according to the law of God. All you can do, all you can do is bow down out there and trust that the man who went in is competent and that God will keep his word.

39:32 You know what that looks like? In that shadowy, dream-like way that always marks prophecy? You know what it looks like? It looks like justification by faith alone in Christ alone. I mean look at it the king effects the sacrifice he provides the offering he makes the atonement and the people what do we do do we help do we contribute do we supervise no we just receive the results of it face down in the gate trust in somebody else's work on our behalf listen to me that is all God wants of you God wants of you for salvation.

40:17 To put your trust in the man whose responsibility is to make the sacrifice. That's what faith is. Faith's not a feeling that you generate. It's not a burning in the bosom. It's not creating an emotion. It's just what someone does when they're resting on work that's being done by another. You trust the king. Look, if you're not a Christian this morning, then this is the best news I've got for you.

40:51 In fact, it may be the best news. In fact, probably, not even probably, it is the best news you're going to hear in your entire life. You do not have to make yourself acceptable to God. And not only do you not have to, but you can't do that. And friend, that isn't the bad news. That's the relief. That's the good news. Why is that a relief? It's a relief because the responsibility to make yourself acceptable to God is not on you. It falls on the shoulders of a king who has already made an offering, already made the atonement, and his name is Jesus Christ.

41:30 And listen to what Hebrews says has changed because of him. We now have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus. The gates, the curtains ripped, right? So we have confidence to enter the holy place that's been cut off forever, but is now open. How? By the blood of Jesus. It's extraordinary, isn't it? That story that's told, it's extraordinary because the people who used to just bow outside the gate, now walk in because of Jesus.

42:06 So friend, come. stop trying to make yourself acceptable stop trying to qualify yourself for god's kingdom just come and trust the one who made the sacrifice for you He brings us in Number three last thing He makes everything live He makes everything live. This is just looking at chapters 47 and 48. It's the very last thing that happens in the book.

42:37 There's a lot about this book that I love. There's a lot about it that drives me crazy too. But I think of all the things that I love in this book, this may be the thing I love the most. And look at chapter 47. I'm not, yeah, let's read a little bit of it. It's fine. Chapter 47, verse 1. Then the man brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east, right? So the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, a little trickle of water, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east, and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.

43:15 So you got this water that seems to be trickling out in all these different directions from the temple. And it's a trickle. That's the word in verse 2 and a little bit later. Yeah, in verse 2 also. It's a trickle. Now you read the rest of the chapter and you see what happens next. The man with the measuring line walks a thousand cubits downstream. I don't know. You can do the math. I don't know how far that is. But he walks a little ways downstream and tells Ezekiel, okay, get in the water now. and Ezekiel says it was up to my ankles.

43:47 It's no longer just a trickle. It's up to my ankles. He goes another thousand cubits and now it's up to his knees. He goes another thousand cubits. It's at his waist. He goes another thousand and it's over his head. He says it's a river that could not be passed through. See, that's an astonishing thing and a surprising thing because that is just not how rivers work. A river is deepest where it's gathered the most tributaries, right? When all the water comes in and there's nothing feeding this river. except what's coming out of the temple. And what's coming out of the temple is a trickle.

44:18 And yet, 3,000 cubits down, you can't even wait across it. There's so much water. It just gets deeper and deeper the farther it goes. Where does it go? Where does this river go that's coming out of the temple? Well, look at verse 8. He said to me, this water flows toward the eastern region. and then it goes down into the south, the Arabah, and enters the sea. That's the dead sea, by the way.

44:49 When the water flows into the sea the water will become fresh It incredible The dead sea this is the saltiest deadest water on the face of the earth Nothing can live in this water And yet the Bible says that those waters in the Dead Sea become fresh. The Hebrew word underneath became fresh is actually healed. The waters shall be healed. And then you look at verse 9. Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live.

45:20 so everything will live where the river goes. And then you just get this explosion of life. You've got fishermen on the shore of the Dead Sea, of all places, hauling fish into their nets. And you've got animals everywhere. And you've got trees on both banks of the river bearing fresh fruit every single month, never even losing a leaf. Do you see what this is? Do you see what it is? This is not just a vision of something that someday is supposed to be built in Jerusalem. It's not what it is. This is a picture of death itself losing, of the curse from Eden being reversed.

46:00 Look, I want you to see something about the God who does this kind of thing. This is not a God who sits at the top of a mountain waiting for you to climb up to him with your qualifications. No, he runs downhill from the throne toward the deadest thing he can find. that's always the direction grace moves it always moves downhill so it's fitting i think the very last invitation the very last call to you in the bible attaches to this exact river revelation 22 let the one who is thirsty come let the one who desires take the water of life without price do you know how much salvation costs? Do you know how much life eternal costs?

46:49 Without price. You don't bring anything. You don't pay anything. You just come to the water and you drink. Now friend, I wonder if you need to do that this morning. I wonder if you need to come and drink the life-giving water of grace that Jesus the King offers. we've been in this book a long time haven't we before we close it I want to just step back for a second and look at it you think back over these 48 chapters of Ezekiel when you come right down to it this whole story this whole book is a story of God coming against all odds to erect people And that how it starts in chapter 1 The people are wrecked and yet God comes.

47:45 God comes to them on the banks of the Kibar Canal in Babylon. And then the shocking thing is that after chapter 1, the whole rest of the book is just 10,000 reasons for why they didn't deserve for him to come at all. chapter after chapter God lays out his case you're covenant breakers you're idolaters you're ungrateful whores what these people deserve is exactly what happens to them in the middle of the whole thing what they deserve is for God to shake the dust off his feet as he departs the temple and then for that temple to be raised to the ground not one stone left on another God leaves them.

48:29 And that's exactly what they deserve. But God comes back. He always comes back. He always comes back for His people. Despite their sin, despite their covenant breaking, He comes back and then He shuts the door behind Him. And you realize that's what Jesus did. That's what the second person of the Trinity did when he became man.

49:00 He shut the door behind him and said, I will now never leave you nor forsake you. And he hasn't. He hasn't ever. For 2,000 years, he's been with his people through his spirit, pointing our eyes and our hearts to the new world where everything, including us, are going to be made alive. And now that's what we look forward to. We look forward to that world and that day. You know how this whole thing ends?

49:36 Right at the very end, the very last line of the book, God gives the city a name. It's just four words long. The Lord is there. 48 chapters 48 chapters and that's the payoff friends the glory of heaven is not the streets of gold or the sea of crystal or the mansions the glory of heaven is that God came back for us and now we will live with him forever you know I wonder sometimes about Frank Wild that guy at the very beginning that was on the beach telling his men to put everything together I wonder about him I wonder how much confidence he really had

50:37 that Ernest Shackleton was going to come back for him I wonder if his eyes ever kind of scanned the horizon looking for the boss I don know but I do know that now our eyes scan the horizon and we wait for Jesus Now we don know when he come We don't know exactly how, but we know better than Frank Wilde ever could that he will not fail to come get us.

51:12 So lash up and stow, boys. The king may come today. let's pray our Lord Jesus we thank you for the great promise that you've made to us that you're going to come back and get us and Lord we pray that that day would be soon but in the meantime we pray that you would help us to be faithful and help us to be rejoicing always and praying continuously and taking the word of your gospel to this dark and dying world.

51:52 Father, help us to do these things for your glory until the day when you come back to get us. We pray that in Jesus' name. Amen.