I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 46-48.

    Ezekiel finishes out his description of the new Temple in today’s passage. Today, he describes how the Temple will be entered and exited. First he tells us that the eastern gateway will be closed except on the Sabbath and feast days. On those days it will be opened to allow the prince (I never thought about it before, but it is interesting that Ezekiel refers to the ruler of Israel as “prince” rather than as “king”) to enter through it. However, the prince will only enter into the entry room associated with this gateway, where he will remain while the priest makes his offerings. Then the prince will bow down in worship and leave the way he came in. On the days which the eastern gateway is opened it will remain open until sunset and the common people will worship in front of it (as I read this, Ezekiel means inside the Temple courtyard). Aside from the prince, everyone will enter the Temple from either the northern or southern gate. When they are done in the Temple they will leave through the gate opposite the one they entered. This all seems very significant, but I have no idea of what.

    Perhaps the most interesting part of the description of the new Temple is Ezekiel’s description of the stream which flows out from under the east door of the Temple. It flows from there out through the south side of the eastern gateway of the Temple courtyard and all the way down to the Dead Sea. As the stream flowed away from the Temple it got steadily deeper, becoming a river. Ezekiel’s guide told him that this river would turn the Dead Sea into fresh water resulting in the Dead Sea becoming filled with fish. In addition, fruit trees would grow along both banks of the river, producing a new crop of fruit every month. I do not know if Ezekiel’s vision will be literally fulfilled, or if it is just a figurative example of the life giving love which flows out from God. I know that in previous years I have written a figurative interpretation of this vision. I think that there is some value in that. I have seen several articles which contend that as the Jewish people have returned to the land of Israel and taken control over it, rainfall in that land has increased. Some of those articles have made correlations between Jewish agricultural practices in Palestine and the increased rainfall. Others have made correlations between the prophecies of the Old Testament and that rainfall. I have been unable to confirm the premise of those articles about rainfall increasing, but I believe that if it is true, both correlations are valid.