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Ezekiel 40:1-3 The best is yet to come - Day 280

In contrast to the interaction between Solomon and Hiram, Ezekiel's vision of the new temple is full of significance.  So this is just the beginning.

Blessings

Jeff

The beginning of Ezekiel's vision of the new Jerusalem.  The day that Jerusalem falls, Ezekiel is taken in the spirit back to Israel where he encounters this man whose appearance was like bronze and who had a measuring read in his hand.

Observations:

The worst day in Jewish history up to this point is the occasion for a promise of future restoration beyond imagination.

Ezekiel is not taken back to view the destruction of Jerusalem, but "a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south"

Some aspects are very detailed such as the measuring reed and "that very day".   But others are very vague.  The man's appearance was like bronze, the structure was like a city.

Implications

The 'memorable day".  December 7, JFK assassination, Challenger explosion, 9/11.  They are stuck in our minds.  But these are events experienced by everyone alive on those days. Ezekiel is the only one the has this experience.  There is no film footage that gets replayed again and again to drive home the events.  Ezekiel did not have anything to help him remember the vision, only the Spirit who gave him the vision.

At the depth of despair, God gives encouragement

The new temple is going to be better than the old.  In the 1 Kings reading, we have seen the size of Solomon's temple which is now destroyed.  7 years to build.  Ezekiel's vision is of a new temple that already exists.  

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