Day 1009 of 1461 · 2029-10-05 · 20 verses

Ezekiel 42:1–20

My plan starts

Chambers for the Priests

¹Then he brought me out into the outer court, the way toward the north. Then he brought me into the room that was opposite the separate place, and which was opposite the building toward the north. ²Before the length of one hundred cubits was the north door, and the width was fifty cubits. ³Opposite the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in the third floor. ⁴Before the rooms was a walk of ten cubits’ width inward, a way of one cubit; and their doors were toward the north. ⁵Now the upper rooms were shorter; for the galleries took away from these, more than from the lower and the middle, in the building. ⁶For they were in three stories, and they didn’t have pillars as the pillars of the courts. Therefore the uppermost was set back more than the lowest and the middle from the ground. ⁷The wall that was outside by the side of the rooms, toward the outer court before the rooms, its length was fifty cubits. ⁸For the length of the rooms that were in the outer court was fifty cubits. Behold, before the temple were one hundred cubits. ⁹From under these rooms was the entry on the east side, as one goes into them from the outer court. ¹⁰In the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, before the separate place, and before the building, there were rooms. ¹¹The way before them was like the appearance of the rooms which were toward the north; according to their length so was their width: and all their exits were both according to their fashions, and according to their doors. ¹²According to the doors of the rooms that were toward the south was a door at the head of the way, even the way directly before the wall toward the east, as one enters into them. ¹³Then he said to me, “The north rooms and the south rooms, which are before the separate place, are the holy rooms, where the priests who are near to Yahweh shall eat the most holy things. There they shall lay the most holy things, with the meal offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering; for the place is holy. ¹⁴When the priests enter in, then they shall not go out of the holy place into the outer court, but they shall lay their garments in which they minister there; for they are holy. Then they shall put on other garments, and shall approach that which is for the people.”

Matthew Henry · 42:1–14

The prophet has taken a very exact view of the temple and the buildings belonging to it, and is now brought again into the outer court, to observe the chambers that were in that square. I. Here is a description of these chambers, which (as that which went before) seems to us very perplexed and intricate, through our unacquaintedness with the Hebrew language and the rules of architecture at that time. We shall only observe, in general, 1. That about the temple, which was the place of public worship, there were private chambers, to teach us that our attendance upon God in solemn ordinances will not excuse us from the duties of the closet.…

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We must not only worship in the courts of God's house, but must, both before and after our attendance there, enter into our chambers, enter into our closets, and read and meditate, and pray to our Father in secret; and a great deal of comfort the people of God have found in their communion with God in solitude. 2. That these chambers were many; there were three stories of them, and, though the higher stories were not so large as the lower, yet they served as well for retirement, Eze 42:5, Eze 42:6. There were many, that there might be conveniences for all such devout people as Anna the prophetess, who departed not from the temple night or day, Luk 2:37. In my Father's house are many mansions. In his house on earth there are so; multitudes by faith have taken lodgings in his sanctuary, and yet there is room. 3. That these chambers, though they were private, yet were near the temple, within view of it, within reach of it, to teach us to prefer public worship before private (the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob, and so must we), and to refer our private worship to the public. Our religious performances in our chambers must be to prepare us for the exercises of devotion in public, and to further us in our improvement of them, as our opportunities are. 4. That before these chambers there were walks of five yards broad (Eze 42:4), in which those that had lodgings in these chambers might meet for conversation, might walk and talk together for their mutual edification, might communicate their knowledge and experiences. For we are not to spend all our time between the church and the chamber, though a great deal of time may be spent to very good purpose in both. But man is made for society, and Christians for the communion of saints; and the duties of that communion we must make conscience of, and the privileges and pleasures of that communion we must take the comfort of. It is promised to Joshua, who was high priest in the second temple, that God will give him places to walk in among those that stand by, Zac 3:7. II. Here is the use of these chambers appointed, Eze 42:13, Eze 42:14. 1. They were for the priests that approach unto the Lord, that they may be always near their business and may not be non-residents. Therefore they are called holy chambers, because they were for use of those that ministered in holy things during their ministration. Those that have public work to do for God and the souls of men have need to be much in private, to fit themselves for it. Ministers should spend much time in their chambers, in reading, meditation, and prayer, that their profiting may appear; and they ought to be provided with conveniences for this purpose. 2. There the priests were to deposit the most holy things, those parts of the offerings which fell to their share; and there they were to eat them, they and their families, in a religious manner, for the place is holy; and thus they must make a difference between those feasts upon the sacrifice and other meals. 3. There (among other uses) they were to lay their vestments, which God had appointed them to wear when they ministered at the altar, their linen ephods, coats, girdles, and bonnets. We read of the providing of priests garments after their return out of captivity, Neh 7:70, Neh 7:72. When they had ended their service at the altar they must lay by those garments, to signify that the use of them should continue only during that dispensation; but they must put on other garments, such as other people wear, when they approached to those things which were for the people, that is, to do that part of their service which related to the people, to teach them the law and to answer their enquiries. Their holy garments must be laid up, that they may be kept clean and decent for the credit of their service.

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Jamieson–Fausset–Brown · 42:5

shorter--that is, the building became narrower as it rose in height. The chambers were many: so "in My Father's house are many mansions" (Joh 14:2); and besides these there was much "room" still left (compare Luk 14:22). The chambers, though private, were near the temple. Prayer in our chambers is to prepare us for public devotions, and to help us in improving them.

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The Outer Measurements

¹⁵Now when he had finished measuring the inner house, he brought me out by the way of the gate which faces toward the east, and measured it all around. ¹⁶He measured on the east side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed all around. ¹⁷He measured on the north side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed all around. ¹⁸He measured on the south side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. ¹⁹He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. ²⁰He measured it on the four sides. It had a wall around it, the length five hundred, and the width five hundred, to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common.

Matthew Henry · 42:15–20

We have attended the measuring of this mystical temple and are now to see how far the holy ground on which we tread extends; and that also is here measured, and found to take in a great compass. Observe, 1. What the dimensions of it were. It extended each way 500 reeds (Eze 42:16-19), each reed above three yards and a half, so that it reached every way about an English measured mile, which, the ground lying square, was above four miles round. Thus large were the suburbs (as I may call them) of this mystical temple, signifying the great extent of the church in gospel-times, when all nations should be discipled and the kingdoms of the world made Christ's kingdoms. Room should be made in God's courts for the numerous forces of the Gentiles that shall flow into them, as was foretold, Isa 49:18; Isa 60:4.…

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It is in part fulfilled already in the accession of the Gentiles to the church; and we trust it shall have a more full accomplishment when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in and all Israel shall be saved. 2. Why the dimensions of it were made thus large. It was to make a separation, by putting a very large distance between the sanctuary and the profane place; and therefore there was a wall surrounding it, to keep off those that were unclean and to separate between the previous and the vile. Note, A difference is to be put between common and sacred things, between God's name and other names, between his day and other days, his book and other books, his institutions and other observances; and a distance is to be put between our worldly and religious actions, so as still to go about the worship of God with a solemn pause.

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Jamieson–Fausset–Brown · 42:16

five hundred reeds--the Septuagint substitutes "cubits" for "reeds," to escape the immense compass assigned to the whole, namely, a square of five hundred rods or three thousand cubits (two feet each; Eze 40:5), in all a square of one and one-seventh miles, that is, more than all ancient Jerusalem; also, there is much space thus left unappropriated. FAIRBAIRN rightly supports English Version, which agrees with the Hebrew. The vast extent is another feature marking the ideal character of the temple. It symbolizes the great enlargement of the kingdom of God, when Jehovah-Messiah shall reign at Jerusalem, and from thence to the ends of the earth (Isa 2:2-4; Jer 3:17; Rom 11:12, Rom 11:15).

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More notes on this section (1)

Jamieson–Fausset–Brown · 42:20

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wall . . . separation between . . . sanctuary and . . . profane--No longer shall the wall of partition be to separate the Jew and the Gentile (Eph 2:14), but to separate the sacred from the profane. The lowness of it renders it unfit for the purpose of defense (the object of the wall, Rev 21:12). But its square form (as in the city, Rev 21:16) is the emblem of the kingdom that cannot be shaken (Heb 12:28), resting on prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ being the chief corner-stone. Everything was now ready for His reception. As the Shekinah glory was the peculiar distinction of the old temple, so it was to be in the new in a degree as much more transcendent as the proportions of the new exceeded those of the old. The fact that the Shekinah glory was not in the second temple proves that it cannot be that temple which is meant in the prophecy. Next: Ezekiel Chapter 43

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About a five-minute read

Drawn from the public-domain commentaries and Spurgeon sermons that cover this exact passage · ~627 words.

Matthew Henry. A survey of the whole compass of ground which was taken up with the house, and the courts belonging to it (Eze 42:15-20). There the priests were to deposit the most holy things, those parts of the offerings which fell to their share; and there they were to eat them, they and their families, in a religious manner, for the place is holy; and thus they must make a difference between those feasts upon the sacrifice and other meals. 3. The prophet has taken a very exact view of the temple and the buildings belonging to it, and is now brought again into the outer court, to observe the chambers that were in that square. When they had ended their service at the altar they must lay by those garments, to signify that the use of them should continue only during that dispensation; but they must put on other garments, such as other people wear, when they approached to those things which were for the people, that is, to do that part of their service which related to the people, to teach them the law and to answer their enquiries. Therefore they are called holy chambers, because they were for use of those that ministered in holy things during their ministration. We must not only worship in the courts of God's house, but must, both before and after our attendance there, enter into our chambers, enter into our closets, and read and meditate, and pray to our Father in secret; and a great deal of comfort the people of God have found in their communion with God in solitude. 2. We read of the providing of priests garments after their return out of captivity, Neh 7:70, Neh 7:72. Their holy garments must be laid up, that they may be kept clean and decent for the credit of their service. It extended each way 500 reeds (Eze 42:16-19), each reed above three yards and a half, so that it reached every way about an English measured mile, which, the ground lying square, was above four miles round. It was to make a separation, by putting a very large distance between the sanctuary and the profane place; and therefore there was a wall surrounding it, to keep off those that were unclean and to separate between the previous and the vile. Room should be made in God's courts for the numerous forces of the Gentiles that shall flow into them, as was foretold, Isa 49:18; Isa 60:4. We have attended the measuring of this mystical temple and are now to see how far the holy ground on which we tread extends; and that also is here measured, and found to take in a great compass.

Jamieson–Fausset–Brown. The chambers were many: so "in My Father's house are many mansions" (Joh 14:2); and besides these there was much "room" still left (compare Luk 14:22). five hundred reeds--the Septuagint substitutes "cubits" for "reeds," to escape the immense compass assigned to the whole, namely, a square of five hundred rods or three thousand cubits (two feet each; Eze 40:5), in all a square of one and one-seventh miles, that is, more than all ancient Jerusalem; also, there is much space thus left unappropriated. It symbolizes the great enlargement of the kingdom of God, when Jehovah-Messiah shall reign at Jerusalem, and from thence to the ends of the earth (Isa 2:2-4; Jer 3:17; Rom 11:12, Rom 11:15). wall . . . separation between . . . sanctuary and . . . profane--No longer shall the wall of partition be to separate the Jew and the Gentile (Eph 2:14), but to separate the sacred from the profane. The lowness of it renders it unfit for the purpose of defense (the object of the wall, Rev 21:12).

Chapter introductions and general notes (1)

Matthew Henry · ch. 42

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This chapter continues and concludes the describing and measuring of this mystical temple, which it is very hard to understand the particular architecture of, and yet more hard to comprehend the mystical meaning of. Here is, I. A description of the chambers that were about the courts, their situation and structure (Eze 42:1-13), and the uses for which they were designed (Eze 42:13, Eze 42:14). II. A survey of the whole compass of ground which was taken up with the house, and the courts belonging to it (Eze 42:15-20).

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