In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city—on that very day the hand of the Lord was on me and he took me there. (Ezekiel 40:1 NIV)

On the tenth day of the seventh month, which was the Day of Atonement, every fiftieth year, the trumpets were to be blown announcing a specially holy year, a year of proclaiming liberty throughout the land (Leviticus 35:8-13). All land bought and sold in the intervening period was to be returned to its original owners, so that those who had lost their land and been reduced to slave status might return to their ancestral heritage (25:13). 

The giving of the vision to Ezekiel on the 25th year on the tenth day, although not in the seventh month, may hold significance as a reminder to the exiles of the Year of Jubilee, which they were missing in exile and of which there is no indication they ever obeyed while in their own land. God commanded this so that every tribe of Israel would never lose the inheritance they received from the LORD throughout their history. But their disobedience to this and the other commands of God led the way to all of them losing all of their inheritance. 

Commentators differ on whether this 25th year mentioned in Ezekiel 40 was the midpoint of the Year of Jubilee or whether it was actually the fiftieth year, which would be the very year of Jubilee. Medieval Jewish scholars argue for the latter, arguing that the "thirtieth year" of Ezekiel 1:1 was the thirtieth year since the last Jubilee (n.b. this dating may only be conjecture). And since the thirtieth year was also the fifth year of the prophet's exile (Ezekiel 1:2), then the twenty-fifth year of the prophet's exile must be the Jubilee year since it is exactly fifty years from the last one. Regardless of whether it is the midpoint or the actual year, Ezekiel's declaration of a twenty-fifth year on the tenth day may have conjured up at least a remembrance of Jubilee.

Why is this significant? They may have seen a correlation between their present landless, enslaved state in exile and the predicament of many in former times who lived in between Jubilees. If it was the halfway point between Jubilees, it would be a natural time of looking forward to the release that the Lord had announced in chapters 34-37:

"'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. (Ezekiel 36:24, 28 NIV)

God would restore His people to the Land. This was the hope of Jubilee, and this was the hope Ezekiel communicated in the last section of his prophecy. In the forthcoming chapters Ezekiel would describe a new temple, a temple as yet unrealized, and a new Jerusalem, where God's glory would return to Jerusalem and inhabit the temple such that God would be among His people forever. This promise is echoed by John in the Book of Revelation:

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:2-4 NIV)

Friends, in view of this glorious hope, which is also our hope, what sort of people ought we to be? Let us live daily for the glory of God. Let us in every way exalt Christ in our lives because He has made this New Covenant hope a reality for all of us. Let us be quick to confess our sins, from the simple and obvious ones to the more nefarious things like pride, selfishness, greed, bitterness and resentment. Let us repent, changing our minds, so that after we have humbly confessed these things to God, we may turn our attention and energy to proclaiming Jesus as the Lord and Savior and submitting our every thought to obeying Christ. 

Some people say that we need to approach today's texts literally and others symbolically. I could see where their arguments are coming from but cannot be sure of which side is right. I understand, though, at least why literal translation of the chapters of the Ezekiel's temple can be theologically problematic. For the sacrificial system that is described in Mosaic Law has been obsolete because it was just shadow of what would happen in the future and the true reality came when Jesus walked on earth and died on the cross. According to the article that P Yujin provided, however, literal translation is better way to look at the text because the future temple is not for cleansing our sins but for remembering the redemptive work of Christ just as we observe communion. It is just purely mind-boggling! But I am looking forward to witnessing the prophecy come true in the future either literally or symbolically and thank God for making sure that I won't be missing the grandiose event. Brothers and sisters! Let us continue to serve God without ceasing just as His love for us endures. I have hope that we will all together stand side by side some day to watch the Lord's coming! Have a blessed day

Friends, this text and that which immediately follows may be difficult to read. There are so many architectural details. It is a description of the Temple of the LORD; however, it is no temple that has been built in Israel's history, neither the Temple of Solomon, nor Zerubabbel's Temple, nor the expanded temple by King Herod. It may be a future temple, perhaps in the Millennium. The great difficulty with this latter view is that post-cross there is no need for animal sacrifices and atonement has already been achieved, yet the description of Ezekiel's temple suggests these sacrifices will be necessary again for atonement. Some have argued (see link below) that these are only symbolic, like the Lord's Supper; however, the language in Ezekiel gives no evidence that the sacrifices will be performed only symbolically, and there is nothing in the New Testament to corroborate this perspective. Another perspective is that this was a conditional temple, dependent on the contrition and obedience of post-exilic Israel. There is little evidence of mass contrition or even mass interest in returning to the land by the exiled Israelites. There were only a few that came back and the motivation to rebuild was only sporadic; consequently, the final result caused many, who knew of the greatness of Solomon's Temple, to mourn. It was certainly nothing like Ezekiel's Temple. So this temple may be a picture of "what might have been" rather than "what will be," but of course, something greater than the Temple would come!

Just as Ezekiel earlier described the leaving of God's presence from Solomon's Temple just prior to its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C., even so, God would return to this Millennial Temple, never to leave again. 

This Temple will be magnificent. However, consider what God says is truly impoortant to Him:

Thus says the Lord: 'Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool; what is the house which you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest. All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I look, he that is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word (Isaiah 66:1-2).

Dear friends, let us be humble and contrite in spirit and follow God's Word with fear and trembling.