Ezekiel's Temple

So long as the translation makes clear what it is doing in the footnotes, there should be no problem. I think modern bibles try to convert to standard SI units, like meters, so that we can visualise what is being described. We think in meters not in reeds. MY NIV says penny and the footnote says assarion.

good advice, prayer helps to keep in the moments

I can agree with that, that’s why I wonder the reasoning behind all the different translations, maybe it’s bible publishers wanting to be different a little or copy right issues, but it’s odd the 101 bible books one can purchase it’s no wonder debates can get deep. not only on just this example about a temple but many other places among bibles are vastly different, it is what it is I guess.

This is all very well, provided you ignore the entire letter to the Hebrews. The temples were a shadow, Christ was the fulfilment. The temple signifies God living with his people. Now we are the temple, God lives in us. That is the new covenant. There is no need to build any more temples and if we do, it will be utterly irrelevant to God's purposes. The jews were judged in AD70 when the temple was destroyed. God's end time purpose for the jews is that they will acknowledge him as Messiah. God has made temple worship obsolete and the book of Hebrews has one message. Don't go back!
God has moved on. Why don't you?

I'm still waiting for Israel to sign a 7 year treaty with a country that will guarantee Israel's safety. If the temple as described in Ezekiel was not meant to be built why were the specific dimensions given?

This question is discussed in the first few posts of this thread.
Ezekiel wrote during the exile. God's promise at this time was that he had not given up on his people, he would gather them from among the nations and they would return to the land he promised. This was hard for Jews to accept, so numerous promises were made by the prophets. You could ask, why would God return the exiles and rebuild the temple and restart the sacrificial system, if he knew that the jews would sin and the whole venture would fail and that he would have to send Christ anyway? Because God was giving Israel a real second chance!
He wanted the whole world to see why law could not work and that Christ and the Spirit is the only solution for mankind. None the less, he entered into the second temple period in good faith and as he said in Ezekiel 43:10-11. the plan and the rearrangement of the tribal boundaries were given 'to make them ashamed of their sins' and to inspire them to obedience. The temple was an ideal the Israelites did not achieve. So was the idea that Israel would be a light to the Gentiles and that the nations would flock to mount Zion. It didn't happen physically, it happened spiritually. Christ is fulfilling this prophecy through the Church.
Ezekiel's temple was a missed opportunity. There are interesting you tube videos showing how the temple integrated with the new arrangement of the tribal territories. They are fascinating, but they are not the point!
I suggest to you that the seventy sevens in Daniel do not have a 2000 year gap in them! This seventieth seven took place in the first century. Jesus' ministry took 3.5 years. He was cut off in the middle of the final seven year period. It took another 3.5 years before Peter started his ministry to the Gentiles in Acts 10. That was the coming of the kingdom of God and the fulfilment of God's purposes.
There is no end time rapture, tribulation or revelation of an antichrist. It all happened in the first century. The kingdom of God, the Church age will continue until all Christ's enemies are put under his feet. Christ's Church is going to win and then the last enemy, death will be conquered when Christ returns to judge the living and the dead.

The unseen eternal has a golden measure..(unknown) No need for a literal measurement if there is one. Plenty of rooms in that mansion

Yes not of nothing it resisdents as people the bride of Christ called a city, signified by the word number 144,000. as unknown of all redeemed from the beginning to the end. God does not number days or people. When it comes to his new creation. He will come on the last day .

No literal walls to measure or gates to count .they both represent the residents of the city according to the golden rule of faith.

I was going to reply, but no need to duplicate what you wrote: I could not have said it any better! . . . I agree completely!

Thanks. It is really annoying when people try to put their own spin on Bible prophecies and make outlandish claims like N.T. Wright and that other chap have tried.

This is COMPLETE NONSENSE but if that's what you choose to believe at least keep it to yourself.

If I believe it to be true, why keep it to myself?

I have always read this to mean a literal temple that will be built during the millennial reign of Christ (1000 years) on Earth, post the AntiChrist and his false prophet being thrown alive into the lake of fire.

You make a good point, reading Isaiah 60 and especially :14 it appears to be not about a physical building.

Isaiah 60:14
The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you; all who reviled you will fall facedown at your feet and call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Then you are faced with certain difficulties. Why would a temple be built if Christ is already reigning at the right hand of the Father and the temple is a symbol for God’s presence with his people? Since Christ’s ascension He has been reigning and we, the church together with God are the temple. This is why there is no temple in the heavenly city. Hebrews explains clearly that Christ has put away all sacrifice, since His sacrifice is the substance and temple sacrifices the shadow. Ezekiel’s temple describes the provision for the sacrifice of animals. This doesn’t make sense now that Christ has come. Ezekiel’s temple was a blueprint for the second temple. It was never built. Israel fell short and the second temple was a compromise.

So, what does the 1000 year reign of Christ mean? It is a symbol for the church age. The 1000 years is not literal any more than the horns on the beast are literal. Satan is bound in the church age. Jesus said that the prince of this world is now condemned. Of course the Church age does not appear the glorious thing that the bible says it is, but we are not living in spiritual reality. According to the bible, we are victorious now and the kingdom of God is growing and will finally put all Christ’s enemies under His feet. Christ will not return to rescue a failing church. He will return to a victorious church and He will return to deal with the last enemy. Death will be destroyed by the resurrection of the dead.

1. Christ is SEATED at the right hand of God the Father, but He is not reigning on earth at the present. That will happen during the Millennium and beyond.

2. The temple is NOT merely a symbol for God's presence with His people, but a functioning temple as shown in Ezekiel. In any event, it is God who decides that their will be a fourth temple on earth -- a literal, visible, tangible, functioning temple.

1) Well, you may think Christ is sitting at the right hand of the Father doing a crossword, but I suggest to you that he is reigning now. Such a view is supported in 1 Cor 15: 25 'He must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet' and this started when he sat down i.e. at the ascension. Ephesisans 1:20-21 says he is seated 'above all rule and authority ...not only in the present age, but in the one to come' which suggests he is reigning in the present age.

2) Certainly the tabernacle and the two temples were physical temples and real animal sacrifices were offered. Ezekiel's temple too was envisaged as a temple offering animal sacrifices, but why, after the revelation and sacrifice of Christ, you should imagine that God would revert to a physical temple at some time in the future, when he has already sent Christ to make a final, once and for all atonement, is most odd. What do you think the book of Hebrews is all about? Why will there be no temple in the heavenly city? Because the bible tells us what a temple really means. The temple points to a greater reality. Christ brought a spiritual kingdom, not a physical one. This is what caught the jews out. They expected Christ to institute physical rule, victory over Rome, but Jesus established a spiritual kingdom.

The book of revelation is a book of symbols. The meaning of the symbols is established in the old testament and revealed in the light of Christ. The book is not a linear series of events as in seals, then trumpets, then bowls. They are all going on at the same time. They are snapshots taken from different angles showing different aspects of our present age. At least that is how I see it and I am by no means alone. The dispensational view that you believe in is very modern. I don't think it will stand the test of time.