Day 3 – The Millennial Temple #2

Fred R. Coulter – September 29, 2007

Greetings, brethren, welcome to day three of the Feast of Tabernacles, 2007. And this is number two of What Kind of Temple will There Be During the Millennium or The Millennial Temple. And let’s continue on looking at the different covenants and looking at the sacrifices that took place with them. And here, let’s come to Genesis 31 and let’s see a covenant made between Jacob and Laban, his father-in-law. After Jacob and all of his family snuck off and Laban didn’t know it and chased them down and said, "Why did you do this?" And so, then they made a covenant between them. So let’s see what happened here and then we will see another kind of sacrifice that Jacob offered.

So let’s pick it up here, Genesis 31:43, KJV—Laban answered and said to Jacob, you know, after he spent "20 years in your house and served you 14 years for your two daughters and six years for your cattle and you change my wages ten times, except God had been with me you would have wiped me out" (vs 41-42 _paraphrased): "And Laban answered and said unto Jacob these daughters are my daughters… [Well the truth is, after they’re married they’re really not the daughters in the same way.] …and these children are my children… [No they’re not, they are the children that Jacob and his wives and handmaids had.] …and these cattle are my cattle, and all that thou seest is mine… [But you see, Jacob made it work.] …and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have born? Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee. And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar…. [so it must have been a long stone and he set it upright.] …And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap… [So they made a big heap of stones so that it would be there.] … and they did eat there upon the heap. And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed. And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed; And Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee. And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee; This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm. The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac" (vs 43-53).

"Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount… [Now, this was not necessarily the covenant sacrifice that was as we saw with Abraham—between God and Abraham—where it was a maledictory oath and they walked down in-between the parts of the animals. It doesn’t show that, but they just offered sacrifices] …and called his brethren to eat bread and they did eat bread; or that is to eat the meal with them… [So it was a covenant meal.] …and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount. And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place" (vs 54-55). "And Jacob went on his way…" (Gen. 32:1).

And then Jacob also—let’s come over here to chapter 35—and let’s see what happened when Jacob came back to Bethel. Genesis 35:1, KJV: "And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother…. [So he went and he did that.] …Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments… [Because they had little statues of gods that they took out of Laban’s land, wherever that was, over in the northern part of Mesopotamia, up near Syria. And so, he told them to put them away.] …And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem" (vs 1-4).

Now when he came there, let’s see what happened—verse 9: " And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel…. [So, just like with Abraham, He changed his name. However, we don’t see where the name of Isaac was changed. But we do in this particular case.] …And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him. And Jacob set up a pillar… [now let’s notice what he did]: …in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone… [now notice what happened here]: …and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon" (vs 9–14).

So here we didn’t have any sacrifice of any animals at all, but we also have the ‘drink offering’ and here we have ‘anointing oil’ which is to set aside and sanctify. So this was something! Now, another thing to note: You go through all the rest of the book of Genesis and when the children of Israel they did not offer anything to God. However, we do find that when the children of Israel multiplied there and after Joseph died, that the children of Israel got into idolatry, as God mentions in the book of Jeremiah, where He says, ‘I thought to destroy you while you were yet in Egypt, but I didn’t do it for My name’s sake and the promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ And so they got all wrapped up in all kinds of idolatry and things while they were in Egypt. And of course, then this is reflected again when we come to the incident of making the golden calves. When Aaron said take off your earrings and so forth and bring them and then he made the golden calf.

Now let’s just examine a couple of things here in the book of Exodus, so we can understand where we’re headed with this. And let’s look at the offerings that are mentioned here. Then we will see when they are codified. And this becomes important because now God lays down full description for all the sacrifices. So let’s pick it up here in Exodus 3:14,—when Moses wanted to know, "Well, who shall I say has sent me, you know, by what authority?" Any man can come in wandering out of the desert and say, "God sent me." Or walk into an office and say, "I had a vision, and God sent me." Well, how do you know? So, God told Moses what to tell the children of Israel, "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM…" [Now, if you don’t have the message on The Name of God, I AM, and how that carries all the way through in the New Testament, be sure and write in for it.] …and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations" (Exo 3:14-15, KJV). Every other name such as Jehovah or as some people call Yahweh, are subordinate to that. That’s why when we come to the New Testament in the book of John when Jesus said, "You shall know that I AM." He didn’t say, "You shall know that I am Yahweh." or "Jehovah." He said, "You shall know that I AM," because this runs constant. The name Jehovah or Yahweh was the covenant name that God gave to the children of Israel for the covenant with Israel. So now He’s saying, "I AM came to you" and now when He makes the covenant with them He will also be known as Jehovah or Yahweh.

Now we also find something that is important—let’s just continue right on here, verse 16: "Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God" (vs 16-18). Now here we’re not told what kind of sacrifices. And later on we will see that God did define the sacrifices quite clearly.

Now, let’s come here to Exodus 18. Let’s see something else concerning sacrifices that were given before they were enumerated at Mt. Sinai when God gave the covenant, the book of the law and the Ten Commandments to Moses to seal the covenant with Israel. And this is when they came back to the area where Jethro, the priest of Midian, was. It’s very interesting that Midian was one of the descendants of the children of Abraham through Keturah, who was his second wife. And so, what kind of religious view would Jethro have, though maybe not in faith as it was with Abraham? He would have something very similar to it. And so he gave Moses some very, very good advice. Now when they got together, after Moses told them all that had happened—let’s come over here to Exodus 18:9, KJV: "And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Jethro said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them…. [So God was able to take care of all of them.] …And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God… [So we have burnt offering. Now we will look at this in the book of Job here in just a minute.] …and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father in law before God" (vs 9-12). So here was just a thanksgiving meal, praising God for what He had done in bringing the children of Israel and Moses out of the land of Egypt over on their way to Mt. Sinai, and they stopped right there and spent some time with Jethro, and so forth. So here we find something that is interesting in the sacrifices. Now Jethro being the priest of Midian must have been under the patriarchal system. Now the patriarchal system began with Noah and then on down through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And now when we come to the children of Israel we will see that there is a change.

But let’s first of all go to the book of Job. Let’s come to the last chapter, Job 42. And I think that this is interesting. With all the troubles and difficulties and sins that took place, God did not ask for a sin offering. And isn’t it interesting all the way through, what we’ve covered up to this point, there is not one mention of a sin offering or a trespass offering. And that’s sort of a precursor of what the New Covenant, after Christ would come, would point to—because Christ would be the sacrifice for sin.

Now, after Job repented—Job 42:1, KJV: "Then Job answered the LORD, and said, I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge?… [he’s talking about himself] …therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee…. [So there comes a point of deep conversion, and this is what happened to Job.] …Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes…. [Now let’s see what follows with this:] …And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job" (vs 1-8). Now notice, no sin offering. But here we have seven bullocks and seven rams. So all through that time it does not appear that there were sin offerings. Repentance was required.

Now when we come to what was given to the children of Israel we find something entirely different. Let’s come back to Exodus 24, and let’s see where they sealed the covenant, how it was done, and from this time forward only the priests, with the help of the Levites, could bring the offerings of God—and the sacrifices of God. So now, beginning with the children of Israel, there was a codification, a writing down of all of the offerings, because every offering had to be as God had commanded. So we’ll see that.

Let’s come here, Exodus 24, and let’s see this offering, which was for the sealing of the covenant with the children of Israel. Exodus 24:3, KJV: "And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do. And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill… [That means at the base of the hill—now what kind of altar was this? This had to be one of earth and stone.] …and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel…. [So they set up rock which would represent pillars, and they probably put the, what we would call the banner of each tribe upon it.] …And he sent young men of the children of Israel… [See now, the Levites and the priests were not yet sanctified.] …[so] young men of the children of Israel… [probably one from everyone of the tribes] …which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD" (vs 3-5). So this is another covenant sacrifice to seal the covenant between God and the children of Israel. Now notice, it’s far different than the covenant sacrifice that Abraham did for God to take. God took a more severe, more serious sacrifice. Not that this was to be slighted or to be considered to be a light thing at all.

Now notice what Moses did: "And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people… [Just walked down through the people and took the blood and sprinkled it on them. Of course, that probably ruined the clothes they were wearing, but if the clothes didn’t wear out all the time they were there, I wonder, even in washing them, I wonder if they eventually got all the blood out or not. Who knows! Sometimes you think of those things. But notice what He says as He sprinkled it on the people.]: …and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words." (vs 6-8). So there we have sacrifice of burnt offerings and peace offerings.

Now then, God said as we saw before in chapter 25, that He said, "Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them." So God dwelling among them and that’s what we covered on the first day. Then God gave all the instructions for the tabernacle. This becomes very important when we move to understand about the temple that David built and then we go to the temple that we find in Ezekiel 40—which many claim is the millennial temple. So He gave all the detailed instructions. Nothing was to be made or to be done in the tabernacle and later in the temple that was not according to the instructions and pattern that God gave to Moses and which He later gave to David. Very important to understand. Because you can have temples, you can have religious assemblies, but if you do it according to your own way, God doesn’t accept it. We’ll see that in just a little bit.

So, we find listed then, in the book of Exodus, we find in chapter 29—now let’s go through and we’ll just survey certain verses:

• Exodus 29:14, KJV—last sentence: "…it is a sin offering." So now we have a specific sin offering.

• Verse 18: "…it is a burnt offering…"

• Verse 24: "…for a wave offering…" Now we have different categories of offerings, don’t we?

• Let’s come here to verse 28: "And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’ by a statute for ever from the children of Israel: for it is an heave offering: and it shall be an heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto the LORD."

• Now then we come down here to verse 36: then we have here "sin offering" again.

• We come to verse 39: we have the "morning offering." And we have the evening offering, or the one between the two evenings.

• Now then, beginning in verse 40 we have something that was just referred to once before as we came along we have the "…a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil…"

Remember we had the "drink offering," we had the "oil offering." Now then he says "…the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering." So now we have it formalized and described the "flour offering," the amount of the flour for the "grain offering" then—and for the oil and for the wine. So all of these things were all laid out before they were given in greater detail as we find beginning in Leviticus, the first chapter.

Now I just want to cover a little bit here in the book of Leviticus covering the offerings, because here we have it broken down into—now that you have the offering:

• What do you do with the blood?

• What do you do with the inward parts?

• What part goes to the priest?

• What part is burned on the altar?

• What part is taken out and burned without the camp in the case of a sin offering?

• And what do you do with all of these things?

Now, because the tabernacle service—which later with the temple service, too—you had to have all of these things clearly and definitively defined, because now you have a priesthood. God is not dealing with individual patriarchs as He did before. Now He’s dealing with the whole nation of Israel. But notice, even a voluntary offering—now I want you to recall what we read concerning Abel and Cain: that Abel brought an offering of the firstling of his flocks, which I said must have been according to the instructions of God. Well, ALL sacrifices have to be according to the instruction of God otherwise you can’t offer it to Him. Now let’s also understand something concerning the very first offering, which I’ll go into a little bit here in just a bit, which is this: Though God specifies what the offering is and shall be, one who brings the whole burnt offering must do it of his own voluntary will. So it’s a combination: your will from your heart, according as God has said. So we find that.

Let’s come to Leviticus 1:1, KJV: "And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock…. [No camels! No swine! Only of the flock and of the herd being an animal. Now, it talks about an offering of a turtledove, later. But those are of the clean birds.] (verse 3): …If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD. And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD…. [Now, this is not atonement for sin. This is to put him right standing with God—at-one-ment. This is different than the "sin offering" offered for the Day of Atonement—at-one-ment—this is at-one-ment with God!] …And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’ sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar… [that is at the base of the altar] …that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he shall flay the burnt offering… [that is the priest] …and cut it into his pieces. And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire… [Now, that harkens back to what we saw with what Abraham was going to do with the burnt offering. So here we have the instructions for it. Now notice the details of it:] …And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar: But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD" (vs 1-9).

Now then, he talks about the next section there concerning the offering that is with a lamb. Then the next section, beginning in verse 14, with the birds or with the fowl. Then we come to Leviticus 2:1, KJV: "And when any will offer a meat… [now that’s an incorrect translation. This should be a ‘grain offering’ or flour or cereal offering.] …offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon…"—and then all the instructions for that. Then it goes through all of them. You read all about the offerings. We have the sin offering, we have the peace offering, we have the trespass offering—all the way through the offerings that were to be given when a priest sinned, when one of the elders sinned, when the congregation sinned, when an individual sinned, and all of this is broken down. And then the other one, which is not quite as strong as the sin offering, we have a "trespass offering." And so, we find all the offerings given here.

Now, one other thing we want to cover in the way of offerings, let’s come to Numbers 28—because Numbers 28 & 29 list out the offerings which were then the community, public offerings by the priests and the princes beginning with the morning and the evening sacrifice and the Sabbath and the New Moon sacrifice and all the sacrifices on all the Holy Days. And of course, there was no sacrifice given at the temple on the Passover day for the Passover. That’s a key thing to remember. But you will see that there were sacrifices—lots of them. Then when you come to the Feast of Tabernacles—Wow! You have got sacrifices, it starts out with a great number and diminishes down each day through all the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles. So, we have seen very clearly: no sacrifice is to be given without the instruction of God.

Now, let’s see, we’ll look a little bit further into this, but let’s look at something else here. The tabernacle and the temple had to be built according to the instructions of God! Let’s come here and see this—the instructions that were given, we have 1 Chronicles 28, then we will come back and look at what happens when people did not, did not do the things the way that God said. Now David, he said here: 1 Chronicles 28:11—here’s what David did; now notice he didn’t say, "Well, let’s build a temple, what do you think it should be like?"

Now I want you to think about a temple that was supposedly a temple, or a house of God built in Pasadena, California, within our lifetimes. Was it built by the instruction of God? Was it a failure? It was doomed to failure from the very first shovelful of dirt. And most people don’t realize it, that in order to allow the workmen who worked on that—they eventually ended up calling it an auditorium—auditorium, in order to allow them to work on the Sabbath day, the very slick-willy lawyer that was for the Church said, "We can deed that section of property to the contractor during the time of construction, and therefore we don’t own it, and they can work on the Sabbath Day." And it was also doomed to destruction or at least confiscation and taken from the Church by God because of the spirit and attitude that it was done in, but also they collected money over a period of time which was supposed to be to build the house of God, which was later called the auditorium, and they used it for other building projects and then they went to the bank and got a loan for ten million dollars to build that auditorium. Now many people don’t understand that. You don’t go out and build something for God unless you have permission from God! Now, we’ll see that in a minute.

David didn’t sit down and just dream up these plans and say, "Oh, I know what I’m going to do. Isn’t this nice, God? I’m going to build it this way." NO! Let’s read it—1 Chronicles 28:11, KJV: "Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat, And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things: Also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and for all the vessels of service in the house of the LORD. He gave of gold by weight for things of gold, for all instruments of all manner of service; silver also for all instruments of silver by weight, for all instruments of every kind of service: Even the weight for the candlesticks of gold, and for their lamps of gold, by weight for every candlestick, and for the lamps thereof: and for the candlesticks of silver by weight, both for the candlestick, and also for the lamps thereof, according to the use of every candlestick. And by weight he gave gold for the tables of showbread, for every table; and likewise silver for the tables of silver: Also pure gold for the fleshhooks, and the bowls, and the cups: and for the golden basins he gave gold by weight for every basin; and likewise silver by weight for every basin of silver: And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight… [Now I’m reading it all to make a point!] …and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD. All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern" (vs 11-19). So no one’s going to pull "a Cain" on God and come and do something for God and tell God, "You have to accept this because I think it’s a good idea and this is how I want it. And my heart is good." Never happen that way.

Now, let’s look at what happens when the children of Israel, later when the temple was built, when they sinned. So let’s first of all, come to Isaiah 66. We’ve read this one many times over, but now, after I have read all of that, pertaining to the pattern that was there, now let’s read Isaiah 66:1-2, KJV—with a clearer understanding: "Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD… [God does not care about the physical things until the heart is right! That’s the whole lesson.] …but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." You can have your sacrifices, but if you do it your way and not God’s way, and if it is done in a way where the attitude is not right, it’s worthless! Notice: "He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck… [Did not God command that bullocks be brought? Yes. Did He not command that lambs be brought? Yes. But see, unless there’s repentance and a right heart and a true worship toward God, it doesn’t matter what you do.] …he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense… [As God commanded the priest to do.] …as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways…" (vs 1-3). That’s what’s important. No one can choose their own ways and come before God! Now I just suggest to all of those of you out there in Protestant land, think on that!

• Have not men chosen Sunday for themselves? Yes

• Have not they rejected the Sabbath of God? Yes

• Have they not chosen for themselves the holidays of this world, from the occult world of Satan the devil, instead of God’s Holy Days? Yes

• How does God view that?

Well, we’ll see in just a minute. Even though you’re as sanctimonious and as sweet and as purring and as self-righteous as you can be, God doesn’t accept it. Now, let’s finish here: "…Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not" (vs 3-4).

Now let’s go to Amos, the fifth chapter, and let’s carry this a little bit further. Let’s see some of the abominations and things they thought that people today think—same way as the children of Israel did back then—that it was good and right, as long as they used the name of the Lord, that’s okay. The Catholics came along and what did they do? They took every pagan feast, every pagan abomination and they put a Christian-sounding name on it and said, "Hey everybody, this is right and good and we can do this." But God never instructed them to do that. Let’s see what God says: Amos 5:21—so you think God is in your Sunday-keeping church? You think God is in a Catholic cathedral? You think God is in a Buddhist temple? You think God is in an Islamic mosque? You got another thought coming, because He’s NOT! He is where He places His name, and today He places His name upon His Church—that loves Him and keeps His commandments. Oh yes, we’re not perfect. No man is perfect, because there’s no man that does not sin. But we are keeping the commandments of God and loving Him according to the way that He desires us to love him with all our heart, mind, soul and being.

Now, Amos 5:21, KJV: "I hate, I despise your feast days… [You think that the next time you trot out there on Easter Sunday, or your tooling down the mall on Christmas thinking to buy presents.] …and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols…. [All your rocking back and forth and praise music to God.] …But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream…. [That means repentance and living God’s way—keeping His commandments.] …Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?… [No, only the priests did. What was Israel doing?] …But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts" (vs 21-27). Unless it’s done according to the instructions of God, and God’s way with His Sabbath and with His Holy Days, and when the offerings were there, according to the way that God said to bring the offerings.

Now let’s turn to Isaiah, the first chapter, and let’s see even if the children of Israel, while they had the temple—now we’re going to read of the temple here in Isaiah 1, according to the plans that God gave to David to make. If their hearts are not right and if they try and pull "a Cain" by doing add-ons or by doing it their own way, or as we saw with Manasseh, that he brought in every pagan worship and function under the sun, as we find there in 2 Chronicles 33—divination, demonism and witchcraft and to the host of heaven and idols and things like that. Even if you bring that into the house of God, God doesn’t accept it, because He only accepts what He has designated as acceptable.

Now, let’ come to Isaiah 1:10, KJV: "Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats…. [Yet, He commanded it to be done. But why doesn’t He delight in it? Because they did it by their own means! They did it by their own ways!] …When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth… [This is talking about two things: 1) keeping the feasts of God in a sinful way, even though they were on the days that God commanded, and 2) coming in with their own days, their own new moons and their own appointed feasts, which people do with their own ungodly calendars. God gave the calculated Hebrew calendars so we would know the specified times that GOD has set! Now there are some crazy people out there that say the full moon is the new moon. Well, the moon is called Luna, from where we get the name lunatic! And maybe those who call the full moon the new moon maybe ought to consider that that phraseology applies to them.] … your appointed feasts… [‘Oh, I love them, I adore them, oh I’m so happy that you do them, that you even think of Me.’—NO! God says:] … my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them" (vs 1-14).

It says in another place there in Isaiah 43:24 _{[transcriber’s correction]}: that ‘you have made Me serve with your sins! And your iniquities!’ And yet, those who want to obey God and keep His Feast, ‘Oh, you’re a sect! You’re a cult!’ The truth is, all Sunday-keeping and holiday-keeping of this world is occultism, is a cult—because they are not following God. See brethren, the truth is, every time to follow God you are correct. It’s that simple. If God says to "remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy" you do it. If God says about the Passover and the Feasts of God, to keep them, we do it. It’s just that simple. And in doing so, with the right attitude and loving God, God gives us understanding. God helps us understand the meaning of it. He also helps us to understand what is right from what is wrong. What is good from what evil. And what is true righteousness of God vs self-righteousness and the emotionality of people who are just out there sort of tickling their own senses to feel good. There is pleasure in sin. God says so. But pleasure does not equal righteousness. Now let’s continue on—God says: "…And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood…. [and the bloodiest hands that those who commit abortion.] …Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well…" (vs 15-17). So God calls to repentance.

Let’s come to Jeremiah, the seventh chapter, and let’s see what else people do. Here is a more full description of what was taking place at the temple. Now remember, Jeremiah was a priest of God, and he started as a young man—probably about 16. He had no time to be taught any of the priestly rituals because God wanted him to be a prophet. When he stood in the house of the Lord, he stood with the authority of God, and he stood as being a priest, or the priestly line from the sons of Aaron. Jeremiah 7:1, KJV: "The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD" (vs 1-2). They would come in with the pagan rituals and say, ‘This is to God.’ Or they would come in and say, ‘God is Molech.’ And then of course, just across from there, on the Hill of Abomination just west of the temple, what did you have? You had all the sanctuaries and all the incense altars that Solomon had built for his wives and people went to worship at those, too.

So notice: "Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these…. [Today we would say, ‘We’re the Church of God. We’re the Church of God.’ Well, if you’re the Church of God:

• Do you really love God?

• Do you really believe Him?

• Do you really have faith in Him?

• Do you really trust in Jesus Christ?

• Do you really believe what God the Father has commanded?

God says]: "For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:… [In this place, the temple of God. Because they came in and said, ‘Well, if we do it in the temple of God, He will accept it.] …Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before me… [God Almighty! Creator of heaven and earth!] …in this house, which is called by my name… [because ‘I put My name there.’] …and say,[We have grace] …We are delivered to do all these abominations?… [and isn’t it wonderful for the children] …Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD. But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh… [Because that’s where He put the tabernacle at first, in Shiloh.] …where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel" (vs 3-12). He didn’t destroy the tabernacle, but He had it removed and He destroyed the whole place. Now He’s warning them that He is going to destroy the temple in Jerusalem because of their sins. And the whole prophecy of Jeremiah is to tell them that they’re going into captivity, into Babylon and they are going to die by famine; die by plague; die by war; die for the sins—and have all these things come upon them. Now God does not like the death of the wicked, but that they would turn, but they didn’t do it!

"And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not… [Listen, any time a true prophet of God says something, that’s from God! Any time anyone reads the true words of God with true meaning, those are the words of God. It doesn’t matter who the man is that’s saying it. It doesn’t matter what he looks like. It doesn’t matter who he is. It matters the Word of God.] …Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim" (vs 13-15).

Now let’s consider, now we are ready to go to the book of Ezekiel. Let’s begin right in the first chapter. Let’s understand what we are talking about. Let’s see who Ezekiel was, and let’s see that when he received his visions, Jerusalem had not yet been destroyed. Because the attacks by Nebuchadnezzar came over a 20-year period—and there were three major invasions. Jehoiachin and Zedekiah each reigned eleven years, so we’re talking about a 22-23 year time period. Now minus five, as we read here in Ezekiel 1:1, KJV: "Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity… [So he had gone into captivity. So, you had his 11 years and then five more years, so that’s 16 years. Now we are ready for the last part.] …The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest…" (vs 1-3). Very important—see, the Bible in the main is an Aaronic priesthood, Levitical book—Old Testament and New Testament through Jesus Christ. Now, I explain all of that in the coming Bible, so you’ll be anxious to read it. These are not the Hebrew Scriptures, though they’re written in Hebrew. These are not the Jew’s Scriptures, these are the Words of God written, preserved and canonized by priests, the sons of Aaron; and the Apostle John was of the sons of Aaron.

Now, let’s come here to Ezekiel 40 where we first begin to receive the instructions concerning the temple that we find in Ezekiel. And I think we are going to be very, very surprised. Let’s begin to read in Ezekiel 40:1, KJV: "In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten… [So it was smitten the first time—remember there was a wave of invasion, 20 years. Some were taken off into captivity a little sooner. Some were taken off into captivity by the king of Assyria in the days of Hezekiah.] …in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither. In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south. And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall show thee; for to the intent that I might show them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel…. [So what was it.] …And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about…" (vs 1-5).

What are we talking about? We’re talking about the house of God. So He took them in vision to Jerusalem to the house of God to measure the temple area and the temple before it was finally destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. So then it describes all of it. All the chambers; everything that was there; the entrance of it. The measuring of the temple; description of the gates; the cables; the chambers and then he brings them into the inner gate of the singers. All of that is in chapter 40.

Verse 47: "So he measured the court, an hundred cubits long, and an hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar that was before the house." Now, let’s understand something: David received the plans from God—is that not true? Yes. Now we don’t have the descriptions of the plans that were given to David. But it was built according to the specifications that God gave him, as He specifically said for everything, down to even the fleshhooks. Now we also had given to Moses the instructions for the tabernacles, correct? Everything that was to be there. How it was to be made. And all of the coverings, and the boards, and the overlaying of gold, and the Ark of the Covenant, and all of that was given to Moses. So that was done according to the instructions of God.

Now why was Ezekiel taken in vision to the temple of God in Jerusalem, before it was destroyed, to measure it? Because unless He did, no one would have known how to rebuild the temple at the end of 70 years. So you go through and you read. Let’s come here to Ezekiel 41:1, KJV: "Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle." So you can go through and read all the descriptions of it. And all of them are measurements on how to rebuild the temple, what it was like. Come over here to verse 23: "And the temple and the sanctuary had two doors. And the doors had two leaves apiece, two turning leaves; two leaves for the one door, and two leaves for the other door…. [So what they did, they folded up like that] … And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubims and palm trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch without. And there were narrow windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and upon the side chambers of the house, and thick planks" (vs 23-26).

Now, Ezekiel 42:1, KJV: "Then he brought me forth into the [ outer] utter court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the chamber that was over against the separate place, and which was before the building toward the north." And then they measured it—got all the measurements of it.

Now Ezekiel 43—what I want you to do is read all of it there. And if you’re an architect, or have drafting, see if you can figure out what all these measurements are. Remember a cubit can be figured two ways: either a foot-and-half or two feet, depending on what it is. So if you do it a foot-and-half per cubit then see what you can work out and see what kind of plans you can come up with. Other men have done this and have gotten a design for the temple as described here in Ezekiel. Now, let’s pick up here in Ezekiel 43:1, KJV: "Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east, And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east… [Now that harkens back to what? The gate in the Garden of Eden come in from the east.] … And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar…" (vs 1-3). And so forth. All right, so this was done just before the city was destroyed.

And we come to chapter 44 after he had listed all the things that were done. Ezekiel 44:1, KJV: "Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut…. [So now he’s up here at the sanctuary looking east, and the door of the east was shut. Now this is the thing to understand. What we are seeing is NOT the millennial temple. What we are seeing are the instructions given to Ezekiel, the priest, to record for the Jews and the priests when they return to Jerusalem at the end of 70 years, on how to build the temple, patterned after the first one. Now let’s continue to read here—verse 2]: …Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same" (vs 1-3). Now the ‘prince’—this is important to understand. This is not talking about Jesus. After the captivity and they came back, they didn’t have a king. They had a governor and they had princes.

Now, let’s come over here to verse 9: "Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel. And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people…" (vs 9-11) Now, we are talking about physical sacrifices in a temple. And we are going to see that this is NOT the millennial temple, because, as we will learn, if this were so then all of these sacrifices would make null and void the sacrifice of Christ. So as we’re reading this, let’s ask ourselves the question:

• Today, do we need sacrifices of animals? No!

• Today, is there a Levitical priesthood? No!

• Today, is there an Aaronic priesthood? No!

Now come down here to verse 15: "But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me… [and he’s probably referring to the ones like Hilkiah, the priest, in the days of Josiah and the faithful priests—Urriah—during the days of Hezekiah and so forth. Their descendants, the sons of Zadok.] …they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD: They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge" (vs 15-16). So this has nothing to do with the spiritual temple during the millennium.

Now then, we come down here to Ezekiel 45, and we have the dividing or the setting aside of "five and twenty thousand [length] reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand" (v 1)—dividing of the land all around the temple which would be for areas in which to pitch their tents during Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles—and Passover meaning Unleavened Bread. That’s what that was for. And if you measure it out—25,000, so if we say there are 5, 280 _{[transcriber correction]} feet in a mile, and if this is a foot and a half for a cubit, 25,000 cubits would be 7 miles—it’s defining the festival area around Jerusalem. That’s not a very large area at most.

Then we come here to something that is very interesting. Let’s come to verse 16: "All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel. And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel." And that was to be done when? When they came back out of captivity. And then it tells what was to be done here. Then it also starts out and it lists the feast of Unleavened Bread, and then it lists the Sabbath (Ezekiel 46) and it lists the New Moons (v 11) the feasts and solemn assemblies (v 9) and the solemn feasts of God and what they were to do with this.

Now let’s see what else happened because this becomes important. Now when we come to Ezekiel 47, we come to something that is new. What we’re going to do, we need to understand that all the description of this temple from Ezekiel 40-46 is the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem after the 70-year captivity in Babylon. And that temple was destroyed in 70 AD. However, let’s ask the question: Where did the Church begin? It began in Jerusalem at the temple on the day of Pentecost. Correct? Yes! Now what we’re going to see here is the waters coming out from under the door represents the preaching of the Gospel going out to the world. That’s what it represents.

So let’s pick it up here in Ezekiel 47:1 _{[transcriber’s correction]}, KJV: "Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward…" Coming from God. This is a type of His Holy Spirit. Granted, they weren’t deluged with that, when the Holy Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost, but the Holy Spirit is likened unto water, is it not? Yes, it is. But in this case it came spiritually. Now here in vision, spirit you can’t see. So God does it by water. Now you can tie this in with that when the throne of God is finally there in New Jerusalem, there’s going to be constantly water coming out of it. But these are the waters of salvation. And then it shows where it went and]: …Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the [outer] utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles…. [that’s 1800 feet] … Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees…. [So it’s very shallow, showing that this is an extended period of time.] …Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over" (vs 1-5). And so, what we have here is the preaching of the Gospel going out into all the world. Beginning where? At the second temple, which was rebuilt by the Jews when they came out of captivity from Babylon.

Now then, we haven’t seen anything concerning the millennial temple. But we will begin to. What will the millennial temple be like? Let’s come to Isaiah 33—let’s see some descriptions of the temple. And then we will finish with a really fantastic description of the temple in Jerusalem, which is going to show that the temple during the millennium is going to be awesome and mind-boggling.

Isaiah 33:20, KJV: "Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down… [Now remember, what did God live in, as we covered the first day? In a tent and in a tabernacle! What does it say of New Jerusalem? There’s no temple there because God is there.] …not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams… [So, there’s going to be rivers and streams coming there which was symbolized as we saw there in Ezekiel leading to the preaching of the Gospel and so forth.] …wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us" (vs 20-22). That gives you an inkling of it. Think in terms of a tabernacle.

Now come over here to Isaiah _{[transcriber’s correction]} 35:8, KJV: "And an highway shall be there… [There’s going to be a highway coming to the tabernacle of God] …and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness…" Not just everybody’s going to go there. There isn’t going to be any animal sacrifices. Now let’s understand that. What does it say?

Just hold your place here and let’s come to the book of Hebrews, and let’s see what it says about sacrifices. Hebrews 9—now let’s just read this, put it into the record, so that we make sure that we understand during the millennium, with Christ here on earth and the saints here on earth, ruling and reigning, there will be no sacrifices. If there are sacrifices today, then there may be, but there are not sacrifices. We don’t need sacrifices. Why? Let’s read it—Hebrews 9:28, FV: "So Christ, have been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear the second time without sin unto salvation to those who are eagerly awaiting Him."

Now, let’s come over here to Hebrews 10:4, FV: "Because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins…. [And what were these all a type of? The sacrifice of Christ. Why would there be any sacrifice of animals necessary with Christ here?] …For this reason, when He comes into the world, He says, ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You have prepared a body for Me…. [That’s of Christ, talking about what He was going to do.] …You did not delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin’" (vs 4-6). So why have them? Do we need them today? No! One man told me, "Well, I can make a case for sacrifices." Well, let’s read a couple of Scriptures here and let’s see if that stands up. Verse 7: "Then said I, ‘Lo, I come (as it is written of Me in the scroll of the book) to do Your will, O God.’ In the saying above, He said, ‘Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin (which are offered according to the law) You did not desire nor delight in’… [Not only does He not delight in them, He doesn’t desire them. He doesn’t want them.] …Then He said, ‘Lo, I come to do Your will, O God.’ He takes away the first covenant in order that He may establish the second covenant. By Whose will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (vs 8-9). So when Jesus is here we won’t need it. Verse 12: "But He, after offering one sacrifice for sins for ever… [Which includes what? The millennium.] …sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time, He is waiting until His enemies are placed as a footstool for His feet" (v 13). Which then refers to what? The lake of fire when they are all incinerated.

Now, let’s come back here to Isaiah 35:8,KJV: "…the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein…. [in other words, there’s going to be conversion] …No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there… [Who are the redeemed? We are the spirit sons of God. This is a highway for us when we come up to Jerusalem.] … And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (vs 8-10) Why? Because we’re all spirit beings.

Now let’s see what it’s going to look like. Let’s come to Isaiah 2—let’s see that it’s going to be on a high mountain, higher than all the other mountains that are. Isaiah 2:1, KJV: "The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house… [It’s going to be on a mountain. And remember, we saw on the first day that Christ puts His feet on the Mt. of Olives and it does what? It splits to the east, west, north and south. And there rises up a great mountain out of that and on this mountain is going to be the Jerusalem for the earth and that is going to be where Mt. Zion is today.] …shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it…. [They’re going to come there but they’re not going to walk on the ‘highway of the redeemed.’] …And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways… [Only certain people will be allowed to come. Those who are the teachers. Those who are the priests. And then go back and teach those in the different nations.] …and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem" (vs 1-3).

Now let’s come to Isaiah 4—little, itty-bitty chapter four. And this tells us what it will look like. Not in detail, but it will be quite different from what we have thought. Isaiah 4:5, FV—it’s contained in two verses in this little, small six verse chapter: "And the LORD will create over every dwelling place of Mount Zion… [There are going to be different places, just like when the temple was there, there were different places for different things and different chambers and so forth.] …and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day… [See, because it’s going to be like a tabernacle. And wasn’t that what God led the children of Israel with—with a cloud by day and a fire by night? So we’re going to know that this is Jerusalem on earth and that the tabernacle of God is there because:] … and the shining of a flaming fire by night…. [Now, I’m reading from the coming translation of the Old Testament that we’ll have after the Feast—some time after the Feast.] (now continuing): …for over all the glory shall be a canopy…. [So it’s going to be a tabernacle with a huge canopy. Apparently a transparent canopy where you can see the flame of fire by night and you can see the cloud by day.] …And there shall be a tabernacle for shade by day from the heat, and for refuge, and for shelter from storm and rain" (vs 5-6).

So the temple in Jerusalem is going to be more like a tabernacle. It’s not going to have anything to do with Ezekiel 40-46. That’s the temple that they rebuilt after they came back from Babylon. Now, how’s it going to be? What’s it going to be like? Now, I’m sure there is going to be gold, there’s going to be silver, there’s going to be precious stones, there’s going to be beauty, there’s going to be glory, there is going to be the radiance of the glory of the sons of God and of Christ when they show in their glory. And it’s going to be a magnificent city. A huge canopy that comes down and covers Jerusalem and Mt. Zion. That’s where the tabernacle of God will be.

So where are we? That which is the beginning and the ending, right? When God began with the tabernacle, it was a tabernacle. And we end up in the end with a tabernacle. Now after the millennium, then all of this is going to be burned up and there will be a new heaven and a new earth and a New Jerusalem and the city of New Jerusalem will have all the saints of God, God the Father and Jesus Christ and there will be no temple. But this is what the temple will look like during the millennium. A huge, gigantic, magnificent tabernacle, covering all of Mt. Zion and Jerusalem.

Scriptural References

1. Genesis 31:41-55

2. Genesis 32:1

3. Genesis 35:1-4, 9-14

4. Exodus 3:14-18

5. Exodus 18:9-12

6. Job 42:1-8

7. Exodus 24:3-8

8. Exodus 29:14, 18, 24, 28, 36, 39-40

9. Leviticus 1:1-9, 14

10. Leviticus 2:1

11. 1 Chronicles 28:11-19

12. Isaiah 66:1-4

13. Amos 5:21-27

14. Isaiah 1:1-17

15. Jeremiah 7:1-15

16. Ezekiel 1:1-3

17. Ezekiel 40:1-5, 47

18. Ezekiel 41:1, 23-26

19. Ezekiel 42:1

20. Ezekiel 43:1-3

21. Ezekiel 44:1-3, 9-11, 15-16

22. Ezekiel 45:1, 16

23. Ezekiel 47:1-5

24. Isaiah 33:20-22

25. Isaiah 35:8-10

26. Hebrews 9:28

27. Hebrews 10:4-13

28. Isaiah 2:1-3

29. Isaiah 4:5-6 ** (FV)

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Exodus 25

• Ezekiel 40

• Numbers 28 & 29

• 2 Chronicles 33

• Isaiah 43:24

• Ezekiel 46:9, 11

Also referenced:

Sermon: The Name of God, I AM