LIFE-STUDY OF EZEKIEL
Read and pray: “That you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God.” (Eph. 3:18, 19)
The Holy Chambers
Verse 6 says, “For they were in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper ones were narrower than the lower and the middle ones.”
Although the holy chambers were in three stories, they did not have any pillars. With respect to spiritual experience, this indicates that those who enjoy Christ to such a high degree are not like those who are at a relatively low level.
Those who are in the holy chambers do not express the power of Christ, which is typified by the pillars. Instead, there is an emphasis on the excellence and superiority of Christ.
The chambers on the pavement and at the four corners emphasize the humility and applicability of Christ; the porch indicates the availability of Christ; the galleries connected to the temple and the free space beside the side chambers point to the fullness and surplus of Christ; and the separated area around the temple and the vacant building manifest the riches and abundance of Christ.
Now we need to realize that the holy chambers emphasize the excellence and superiority of Christ. For this reason, the holy chambers are in three stories but have no pillars like the pillars of the courts.
The galleries on the third story, the highest level, face one another. This indicates that the more Christ we have, the more confirmation we will have. The higher we go in the enjoyment of Christ, the more fellowship and mutual confirmation we will have. When we have the enjoyment of Christ represented by the third level, we appreciate fellowship, confirmation, and being open to others. I do not want to be alone or closed.
However, those who are young in the Lord and who do not have much spiritual growth do not feel the same need for fellowship and confirmation and may prefer to be alone.
Those who enjoy Christ, store Christ, put on Christ, live by Christ, and serve God because of Christ will mature and come to a level of spiritual experience where they will live a full life of fellowship, mutual testimony, confirmation, and openness.
Because of the space occupied by the galleries, the chambers on the third story are smaller than those on the first and second stories. This indicates that when our experience and enjoyment of Christ reach the third level, we will be more enlarged toward others in fellowship and confirmation and will have less reserved toward others than we had when we were on the lower stories.
THE TWO PLACES FOR COOKING
At the rear, at the back, there were places for cooking, two places for the priests to boil their offerings and to bake the meal offerings (46:19-20). These places are the priestly “kitchens.” The kitchens for the people are at the four corners of the outer court, but the kitchens for the priests are these two places within the holy place.
THE GROUND AROUND THE TEMPLE
After the measuring of the temple was completed, Ezekiel was brought outside the temple complex, where the man measured the ground outside the wall (42:15-20). In each direction, the measurement of the ground was not five hundred cubits but five hundred reeds (vv. 16-19). One reed equals six cubits.
Thus, the ground outside the wall is three thousand cubits square, making a total of nine million square cubits. However, only an area in the center of the five-hundred-cubit square was used, leaving a vast and spacious ground around the temple complex.
A Strong Impression of Separation
The design of the temple gives a strong impression of separation. The wall around the spacious part of the land separated what was holy from what was common.
Altogether, there were at least four walls: the wall around the entire plot, the wall around the outer court, the wall around the inner court, and the wall around the temple. These walls enclosed the temple, separating the sacred from the common. This reveals that when a person enters the temple, he has passed through a fourfold separation. What a great margin of separation there was!
On each side of the temple complex, there is a spacious “periphery” of one thousand two hundred fifty cubits to reach the wall. This indicates the vastness of the separation in Christ.
An Impression of Progression
The design of the temple also gives an impression of progression. The further we advance inward, the higher we become. When we are in the temple, we are fifteen cubits above ground level. Furthermore, the higher we go, the broader and more spacious we become. Inward, higher, broader, more spacious—this is progression. This experience of the holy building of God is progressive.
An Impression of Balance
Moreover, in the appearance of the temple there is a clear impression of balance, of symmetry. In this design, nothing is unbalanced or crooked. Everything is fully balanced, square, and upright. Nothing is crooked.
A Picture of the Church Life
This is a picture of the church life. The church life is a life of absolute separation, a life of progression, and a life of balance. The church life is in an upright position, square, and in a straight line.
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Hymn: The Church - “As One New Man”
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