Ezekiel Bible Study: March 19, 2025

So tonight, tonight we're going to continue in chapter 39 of Ezekiel. You will remember the chapter from last week, chapter 38, where we were talking about, well, chapter 37 was the Valley of the Dry Bones. Quite an inspiring chapter. Chapter 38 is also an intriguing chapter when you look at Gog and Magog and see what Gog is going to do there. You know, did a biblical worldview this week and was just talking about Ezekiel 38 because it seems to be a very popular topic in the religious world around us today.

Seems like millions of people are looking to see what does Ezekiel 38 mean and is Russia going to attack Israel now, as many of the religions in the world are saying, but it is a time for after Jesus Christ returns, as we clearly saw last night when we looked at all the scriptures that are there, it'll be after He returns that that happens.

And as we remember that God said, then they will know that I am God as He sets that example of rebellion against His people trying to attack and break the peace, that He will make an example of Gog and Magog, and the world will be at peace after that when they see the power of God and know that He means what He says. The power that we should have, the thoughts that we should have right now as we live our lives, to recognize the power that God has and to be absolutely, absolutely sincere and genuine in what we're doing, that we are following God exactly the way He says and growing in that way every day of our lives, really.

So, last week we got into chapter 39. We saw the dramatic verses where God said, as this hoard of army from Gog and Magog, that was eastern nations of Russia, China. Today we say the alliance that's out there with North Carolina as well, as they came in and just covered the land, as they were marching toward Israel, a land of unwalled villages, a land that was at peace. And they just came in with the intent to just plunder them.

But we saw where God just stopped them. And as we got into chapter 39, I think we got through the first 10 verses last week, we saw where God just, I mean, the armies just littered the land, and all the weapons that were there just littered the land. So when we look in verse 10, for instance, where we look at verse 9 as we lead into the rest of the chapter, we see that there were so many of the weapons that were going to be burned and the people that were going to have to be buried for months and months and months.

And this was going to be a memorial, you know, God says later on in this chapter, of what it means to rebel against God, that He will just stop the army, the armies. It's reminiscent, really, of what we read in Revelation 19 when Christ returns to earth. And all those armies that are gathered together against Him are just completely decimated.

So in verse 9 here in Ezekiel 39, it says, those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears, and they will make fires with them for seven years. That's a really long time. That just shows you how many instruments or how many weapons—I'm guessing man-made weapons, right? Because it talks about javelin, spears, bows, arrows, and they'll be setting fire with those things for seven years. They won't take wood, verse 10, from the field, nor cut down any from the forest, because they will make fires with the weapons.

And they will plunder those who plundered them and pillage those who pillaged them, says the Lord God. So, you know, there will be enough wood there from the instruments that they bring down, the instruments of warfare, that they won't even have to even have to harm the forests at all for any of the wood for seven years. That's the magnitude of the army that God is going to stop from invading Israel during that time. In verse 11, it says, it'll come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea, and it will obstruct travelers.

So, you've got this vast army. I was going to put a map up. I don't know if I actually got a map. I was going to show you when you look at the map of Israel, you have the Dead Sea that's there. This is talking about the area east of the Dead Sea that God is talking about here. A burial place there in Israel, the valley of those passed by east of the sea, and it will obstruct travelers.

Now, when you look in the Old King James, and when you look at the Hebrew words that are translated, obstruct travelers, there, it really means there's just a stench in that area. It's a stench. It'll stop your noses is what that phrase means. So, obstruct travelers, the New King James kind of softened the verse a little bit. Obstruct travelers could be anything like, whoa, they come across this graveyard, and it kind of like, whoa, what has happened here? But this is actually a stench. When you come there, it's an offensive smell. Something went there, and that's what the Hebrew means there. Then when you think about it, there's going to be so many people, so many people that have died as a result of this rebellion against God and Israel here, that there, it takes them seven months to bury them all. And you can imagine what the stench is like as they're doing that. For seven months, those bodies are laying there. There's only so many bodies you can bury the time and magnitude of them. So, when they come by there, it obstructs travelers, it says, because there they will bury Gog and all his multitude. Therefore, they call it the Valley of Hamon Gog. Hamon actually means it's a memorial. It is a, well, I wrote this down here, Hamon. Well, it's a memorial, right? A Hamon Gog, the city of the the the valley of the dead the dead Gog. It'll be remembered for the what they have done there and the fact that they died there. Yeah, so in verse 12 then, it says, for seven months, the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. So, you have Israel, their city, their god has protected them. You have them, you know, and then they've got all these dead bodies around them. Land, an army that has literally covered the land, for seven months that's what they're doing. They are burying the dead in order to cleanse the land. In the next few verses here, you know, it is cleansing the land and when you see the detail that God puts in here about what Israel is going to do, they've got these, they've got Gog and Magog, which are the symbol of rebellion, sin, evil, I guess, all those things, sin against God, and they go through there and they bury it. So, I think there's a reason that God has Israel do that because as they're burying, think about what they're doing. It's almost, it's similar to what we're doing as we put the leaven out of our homes in the next few weeks when we get ready for the days of unleavened bread.

While it's just a simple physical act to go through and cleanse our homes and to look through all the freezers and cabinets and get all the leavening out, it's the spiritual element that God wants us to remember that we are to be living our lives that way, that we examine, that we let Him show us where our sin is. And when we see those sins, those faults, those wrong attitudes, those things that separate us from God and each other, that we take the time to detail, use God's Spirit, and ask His power to put that out of our lives. Because He wants unity and everything, and unity begins with the truth in God. The Holy Spirit, of course, and all of us helps bind us together, but the truth that binds us together as well is the truth, the agape, it's the Holy Spirit. And as we detail and get those things out of our homes, in a way, that's what Israel is doing here where they bury the dead because they're burying, they're putting to death, those things that revolted against God, that were not part of His kingdom and part of His way of doing things then. So as we read through these verses, just think about that a little bit here. In verse 13 it says, Indeed, all of the people of the land will be burying. So it wasn't just, you know, the lower class that's going to be doing this. All, all the people of the land will be burying. There will be lessons learned as they do that. We bury the dead. Look what these people did. They rebelled against God, and this is what happened to them. This is what the consequences of sin and rebellion is. Indeed, all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown for it on the day that I am glorified, says the Lord God. Now we look at that word renown, and we think, oh yes, men have renowned. They're famous. They're people we look up to. But this is really a memorial, is what it's talking about here. This is going to be a memorial. Think about what happened to Gog and Magog. Think about that burying there as the people came in into Israel and come to the Dead Sea and the east side of the Dead Sea, and they see the Haman Gog, the Hamon as they call it there, that is there. The memorial of this is what happened. Look at the vast burial spaces. Remember what Israel did. Remember the sin that these people had done. It's a memorial as opposed to renown. It's like, wow, we are really impressed. It's not a good memorial. It's an anti-memorial. They are an infamous people, if you will, at that point. Indeed, all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown for it on the day that I am glorified, says the Lord God, because he's glorified when Israel—well, he says that his name will be known when Gog and Magog are eliminated, and their actions are eliminated.

An example is made for all the people then. You don't war against God. You don't war against him.

You obey him. It's a powerful example for the rest of the world that has lived on into the kingdom.

And Israel, what they've done, what they've learned by seven months of just burying the dead people there. So God is glorified. God is glorified when we put the sin out of our lives, when we put the things that divide us out of our lives. Isaiah 58, or I guess it's 59, verses 1 and 2 says, it's sin that separates us from God. It's iniquity that separates us from each other as well. It's the thing that divides us from one another, certainly separates us from God. We have to be on the lookout for it and be willing and ready to ask God to give us the repentance and to do the repentance to bring us all back together again. So in verse 14, they will set apart men regularly employed with the help of a search party to pass through the land and bear those bodies remaining on the ground in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months, they will make a search. So what is God doing here? Again, seven months they've been burying the dead.

All the dead are buried. And then he says, let's tend out a search party. Let's make sure everything is buried of this. Let's make sure all the leaven is out. Let's make sure all of the filth is out. Let's make sure all of the sin is out. And so he puts together this search party and says, now you're going to go out in order to really cleanse the ground.

Now you're going to go out and look and see, is there anything left? Because what God is looking for in you and me is for us to be pure. You know, it won't happen in this lifetime. There's always something. There's always some pride, some element of sin, I guess, or whatever faults, weaknesses, attitude problems, or whatever we have, but always growing to that point of what the Bible says, King James, perfection.

But it's really blamelessness that God sees in our heart. Whatever we are always searching, we are always looking to Him. We are always asking Him to cleanse us and aware of that because our goal in life is to become like Him, to become pure. And God will show us where that is, that He sees what's in our heart when those things are brought to our attention what we do with them.

So here's what's happening in verse 14. The bed are buried, but let's go out and make sure the land is cleaned. The search party, verse 15, will pass through the land, and when anyone sees a man's bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the barriers have buried it in the valley of Haman Gog.

And then the name of the city will also be Hamona. Thus they shall cleanse the land. So you have this purification of the land, you have this purging that is there. The land will be cleaned, everything will be buried, it will be dead, and there will be that memorial of what's there for people to pass by and remember, yes, we did that. Now, it should remind us of something else in the Old Testament. If you'll keep your finger there in Ezekiel 38 or 39, we'll go back to Deuteronomy 7.

As Moses is recounting the works of God, the laws of God, the way of life of God to his people before he's going to die, he makes statements in there, reminds them of course the commandments, the statutes, what they've been through, how God has delivered them, all these things he wants them to remember as they go into the Promised Land. So they don't get enamored with the things around them, but they remember it's God who provides everything.

So let's just read the first six verses here of Deuteronomy 7 because it's similar to what we just read in Ezekiel 39. It says, when the Lord your God, verse 1, brings you into the land which you go to possess, when he brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites, the Gurgashites, the Amorites, Canaanites, Parazites, Hivites, and the Jevisites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, when the Lord your God, just like he, cast down all those vast armies of Gog and Hagog, many people more than what were living in Israel at that time, and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them.

You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them, nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, you shall not take their daughter for your son, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. So again, you know, God is talking with people here, physical things that they can do. When you conquer these lands, don't make any alliances with them.

Don't try to make any covenant with them. Now think of sin and the faults and the attitudes in our lives. When God gives us the power of the Holy Spirit and He shows us what we need to overcome as we examine ourselves during this time of Passover, don't make any covenant, don't make any compromise, don't say, well that's okay, I have that thing, it's okay that I have that, God understands the rest.

No, no, no, don't make any covenant, don't show any mercy to your attitudes, faults, sins, or anything else that you may see part of you. Get rid of them is what God is saying. Just like He's saying about the people here, that's what we the attitude we have to do have toward the evil in us. Remember Jeremiah 17 9 says there is a heart that our hearts are desperately wicked, evil. Who can know it? We don't even know it. And sometimes we're appalled when God does show us, whoa, is that the thought that was in my heart?

And we show no mercy. Get rid of it. Don't make marriages, don't make covenants with them, don't bound together with attitudes that are the same of yours. Look for the perfection that God wants, because if we harbor it, as He says in verse 4, it'll turn us back. We'll go back to the way we were if we make an allowance for it. If we think it's okay to do this, and as long as we're keeping, you know, just the very basics of God's law, the Sabbath, and the Holy Days, we can do whatever we want and justify it.

No, no, no. We have to live God's way, and our hearts have to be in it. So going on in verse 5, He talks about this cleansing of the land physically, the same type of cleansing of the land that we do in our lives. But thus you shall deal with them. You shall destroy their altars, break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire. Ah! You know, and you remember, as you've read through, you know, the books of the kings and chronicles where the kings, where God would say, this is a good king, you know, when he was there, he took down all the altars.

He burned down the images, and they did the physical things to get the pollution out of that land. And so, of course, that has a spiritual meaning for us today. Cleanse yourselves, God says. 1 John 3, 3 is a verse that should be in our minds. Anyone who has the hope of being in the kingdom, what does he do? He purifies himself. So God's talking about physical things here in Deuteronomy 7 throughout the books of the kings when you read those, also here in Ezekiel 39. And he reminds us in verse 6, he reminded them they were a physical holy people.

He still loves that physical people of Israel today. We are a holy people. It tells us in 2 Peter 2, 9, the spiritual people who God has called his family, for you are a holy people to the Lord your God. He has chosen you to be a people for himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

And God was reminding them through Moses, that's who you are. Follow what I say. Adhere to what I have to say. Don't be like the nations around you. Be like him. Be like him and follow his ways. And so we have that same admonition as well. And so if we go back to Ezekiel 39, we see that same concept. God is purging. As long as we are walking with God, as long as we have his Holy Spirit, he will continually purge us. If we ever are at the point that we think we're okay, we don't have anything else to repent of, we don't have anything else to change, then we have become very hard-hearted, I guess I will, or very dull of hearing to what God says or what his Bible says as we read it or what we hear in sermons, that we have to do what God says and always examine ourselves and not think it's someone else.

We have to look at ourselves too and work in that way. So we have these spiritual principles that are here. This is a, again, after Christ returns during the millennium that this is happening because as people move into the millennium or live into the millennium, not all of them are going to become perfect and loving and wonderful people that they that Christ returned. The sin has to be purged out of there just like it has to be purged out of our lives as well.

So if we go on, if we go on in verse 17, back in Ezekiel 39, and he goes on after he talks about all this burying and cleansing the land and then searching through it to make sure every bone is buried, there's nothing left on the land. It's completely pure of that insurrection and that rebellion against God that was there. In verse 17 he says then, and as for you, son of man, talking to Ezekiel, thus says the Lord God, speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field.

He's again talking about this great carnage that's going to be there. And we'll read Revelation 19 because the verbiage back there is similar to this too. It says to the birds, and all these things who would feed on these carcasses that are out there, assemble yourselves and come. Gather together from all sides to my sacrificial meal, which I am sacrificing for you, a great sacrificial meal in the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams and lambs, of goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of fation.

You shall eat fat till you are full and drink blood till you are drunk at my sacrificial meal, which I am sacrificing for you. You shall be filled at my table with horses and riders, with mighty men, with all the men of war, says the Lord God. So we have this carnage that we see there. Seven months to bury. Certainly there's going to be the beasts out there, the physical things that are going on. Let's go back to Revelation 19, because when we see the other great carnage that is going to occur as a people united together against Jesus Christ, if we can even imagine such a thing, united together against Christ, who would bring the world to complete and utter destruction if Christ didn't return, we see the same type thing happening in Revelation 19 at the end of the age as Christ is returning.

We're in Revelation 19, and let's pick it up in 11, and just read it here, because it's a similar thing here to what we just read, and it's ahead of us as well. I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the army's in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule that with a rod of iron he himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And then he comes down, and all those armies, two hundred million men, you know is what it says in Zechariah, then I saw an angel, verse 17, standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds and in the midst of heaven, come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses, and all of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people free and slave, both small and great.

And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army. The beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. They were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone, and the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

Mass, mass, mass death, simply because of rebelling against God, not understanding the power that he has, or filled with such dislike, disrespect, and literal hate for God that they will literally fight against them, just as Gog and Magog, who, you know, we don't know how far into the millennium this this account will will occur, or this prophecy will occur, far enough into it that Israel is now rebuilt the ruins. They are living in cities. It tells us in chapter 38 that our war waslands, but now they're inhabited. They now have wealth. They have flocks. They're a land of unwalled villages. Somewhere along the line, Gog and Magog should have gotten the message. You know, you don't mess with God.

It's God's way, but they let their own thoughts and their own lost in pride take over, and this is what the result, the consequences of it is.

So, God wins. God wins, you know, a tremendous battle. You know, some people would look at this and they'll say, oh, it's just awful that God would kill all those people. But remember, this is a physical death, and there is the second resurrection. And so, you know, these people will be able, they will live again, and they will understand what they have done, you know, what they have done. And just like we've read so many times about Israel, when they come to fully understand what they've done, where they've lost their land, lost their possessions, been taken into captivity, they will load themselves. There's a lot of people who die in these type things that will load themselves when they come up in the second resurrection and they realize what they've done, and they repent of it. Not everyone, the Bible says, but we hope that most of them will.

So, let's go back. Let's go back to a good stopping point. Bessie, you got a comment or a question? We can take those verses about eating the blood or eating everything and drinking all the blood. We can take that literally, because it's so gross. Well, it's talking about the birds, you know, the birds and the beast, right? It's not talking about people.

Well, rams and lambs, goats and bulls, and I think at some point it had people in there too.

No, no, I think, I think it's because he's talking right there. He says, speak to every sort of bird into every beast of the field, is what he's talking to in those verses. The blood of the princes eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes. Yeah, well, because there will be mighty men of Gog and Magog who have fallen. They're dead, right? So, the birds will eat the flesh of the mighty, being eat the princes who are the high and mighty right there, but then they're fallen like everyone else, and the birds will eat them just like everyone else. Oh, so the existing humanity isn't doing that? It's just humanity. It's not humanity doing it, no. Right, thanks.

Okay, let's go on then. We're in verse 21.

Then God goes on, He says, I will set my glory among the nations. All the nations shall see my judgment, which I have executed, and my hand which I have laid on them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward. So you have to think of the tremendous, tremendous effect on all the world at that time of what this is going to do. When Israel sees it, when they realize what God has done for them, when they've gone out and they buried all these people, think of the physical lessons, think of the spiritual lessons that they have endured, think of what the rest of the world sees. Here's the power of God. So if there's any other nations anywhere on earth that is thinking, well, let's just go out and conquer this person, let's create a war over here, or whatever. They're stopping, they're stopping, they're thinking, um, no, we know what the end of this is, is we have a powerful king of kings and lord of lords. He, this is his way, there is a way of peace, and we're going to live by it, because if we don't live by that peace, then the consequences are more, certainly more than we can do. So it's a powerful lesson here, and God says that's his glory. This is now, the people have the message. The way of God is the way of peace, joy, everything, everything good, and the house of Israel, they get it too, maybe like they didn't even before. They should have, since Christ will have bring, be bringing, will be bringing them back from all over the world, and then they see this as well. They're sitting, they're sitting there in their lands, living peacefully like sitting ducks. This army is coming, and God literally, literally stops them in their tracks. So you can see the glory of God here in this. Again, remembering the people will live again and have an opportunity to know God, but in this, there's a powerful example. You obey God, you fear him. He's more powerful than any of us, and his way is perfect. What a blessing it is to know that. So verse 23, the Gentiles, the Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity.

Now that lesson will be learned. Yeah, you, you know, you hated Israel. They, you know, mighty nations, America, Britain, Canada, Australia, mighty nations that had a lot, they lost it all because of their iniquity, because they rebelled against God. The Gentiles will know that. They will understand it because they were unfaithful. God says to him, therefore, I hid my face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies and they all fell by the sword.

You know, we don't ever want God's face to be hidden from us, but when we sin and we are consistent in that sin and not repentant, he will turn his face away and allow these things to happen. It certainly happens to Israel. It can happen to us if we don't remain faithful, true, and aware of what's going on around us and staying close to him.

Verse 24. Verse 24. According to their uncleanness, according to their uncleanness, and according to their transgressions, I have dealt with them and hidden my face from them.

You know, God is not an unfair God. We get exactly what we deserve. He is a very just and a very just judge. And when we sin, there are consequences to it. And if we continue in that sin, we can expect those consequences. He knows us. He knows our actions. He knows our hearts.

And according to our uncleanness and transgressions, God will so deal with us. Therefore, verse 25, therefore thus says the Lord God, Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob.

You know, I'm gonna read one more verse, and I'm gonna go back to something I see in my notes that I wanted to talk about before. Therefore, says the Lord, I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name, after, after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to me, when they dwelt safely in their own land, and no one made them afraid. So again, we have this God, you know, Israel will recognize their faults, and they will repent, and they will turn to God, and He will turn to them when He brings them back, and they understand what they've done and why. I'm gonna take a couple, I think Bud's got a comment. Betsy, if you do too, I don't know if your hand is still up from before, then I want to go back to this purging, this purging here that we talked about a little bit before. Yeah, Bud, go ahead.

Okay, verses 22 and 23 talks about the house of Israel.

Yep. When we come to verse 25, it talks about the whole house of Israel.

Are they represented by Ephraim and Manasseh, Benjamin, Levi, and Judah?

It's the whole house of Israel, all 12 tribes. That's what it tells. Yep. So I agree.

That's what I thought it was. Yep. He knows where all his people are. Exactly.

Let me go back to purging a little bit. We talked about that with all the land and about ourselves as well. Since we're in this time leading up to Passover, where that's on our minds, we're examining ourselves and asking God to search our hearts, as it says in Psalm 139, verse 23. Let's go back and look at a few verses on purging and what God is doing with us spiritually. We read about it physically.

Back in Psalm 51, verse 7, in that very notable Psalm of repentance that David prayed after he recognized his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah and everything that he had done.

In verse 7 of Psalm 51, you see today's prayer. It's, you know, Yes, forgive my sin, he says. Don't take your Holy Spirit from me. Create me a clean heart, he says in verse 10. But notice what he says, purge. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.

So what he's saying there is not just forgive this sin. God, I want to be purged. I want to be purified. I want to be clean. Hyssop was a cleaning agent.

So he's saying, you know, wash away all these tendencies in me. Show me my fault. Search my heart, is what he says in Psalm 139.

Show me those wicked ways that I can be clean, but it's going to be you that has to clean me. And he says, wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. That should be our attitude, too. Certainly when we sin, wrong attitudes, the whole nine yards of iniquities, transcessions, and things that we do against God, we ask for repentance for that.

But also urge me, purify me. Make me clean the way you want me to be clean. In Isaiah 1, the very first chapter of Isaiah, you'll remember when we were back in that book, and God is decrying the state of Israel at that time. In verse 25, I'll read verse 24.

Remember, we talked about dross, all the waste stuff that goes down. And when you're purified with fire, when gold is pure and silver purified with fire, the dross sits to the bottom. That's the waste. That's the garbage that has no value. And God says, I will thoroughly purge away your dross. So because he is looking, he is looking to have us be clean and pure in his sight.

In the book of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament, Malachi 3, well, Malachi 3 and verse 3.

We'll read verse, yeah, let's read verse 2 as well. Who can endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's soap and like launderer's soap. We've got the concept here. This is cleansing. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi, and he will purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord in offering and righteousness.

You see this consistent thing? You know, if we would purge ourselves, if we would purify ourselves, and of course we can't do that on our own, if we would ask God and what his Holy Spirit readily look for those faults that he makes us aware and get rid of them, we don't have to go through that fire that he will put us through to purify us. We could do that ourselves and should do that ourselves if we are looking to the kingdom and what he is bringing us to. Of course, in 1 Corinthians 5, you're following through in that Bible reading program we have. You're going through chapter 12 of Exodus this week, and then next week you'll be in some verses in the New Testament that talk about putting sin out, putting the old man out, and putting the new man on. And of course, we get into 1 Corinthians 5 a little bit too, to show that it's a whole church activity too, to purge the church of the sin that's in there. And of course, in 1 Corinthians 5, we have the example where the church has tolerated a man who is sinning a sexual sin that Paul says isn't even named among the Gentiles. And he tells him, put the sin out. Put the sin out. It's the thing you do if you want salvation, if you want peace, if you want joy the whole nine yards of what God calls us to. So verse 7, one of these memory verses that we have, he says, purge out. 1 Corinthians 5 or 7, therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump since you truly are in leaven, for indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. Purge it out. Be willing to do that. Just put it out. Don't hold on to it. Don't hide it. I always, you know, I heard that the Jews, you know, will take the leavening out of their houses, give it to their neighbor, or bury it outside their fence, and they go bring it back in again. No, throw it out. It's a symbol of what we're putting out of our lives. We don't put our sin out just to bring it back in again. We put it out for good. When you get it out of your house, just get it out of your house. Think of the symbolism of what we're doing when we go through that house cleaning and cleansing of our refrigerators and cabinets and everything else that we do.

Verse 8, then, he says, therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. And then finally, in Hebrews 1, we will look at the first three verses here.

Verse 1, Hebrews 1, 1, God, who at various times and at various ways spoke in times passed to the fathers by the prophets, as in these last days spoken to us by his son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom he also made the world, who, being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels. So, his sacrifice, that gives us the opportunity when we come before God and accept his sacrifice to have our sins purified. So, when we're there, pass over, we remember, we commemorate his sacrifice, the suffering that he went through, that our sins could be purged. Because without that sacrifice, we are no different than all those bones that we read about in Ezekiel 37, and all those bones in Ezekiel 39 that they're burying for seven months into the valley of Hamonah, or Hamon Gog there. So, I just kind of wanted to highlight that as we're in this season, to remind us that's what we need to do individually. We need to do that, you know, as a church, too, to make sure we're following God's way the way that he says, looking at his word, not compromising it, not marrying ourselves to anything in the world, but coming out of the world more, more and more. Okay, let's go back to chapter 39. We're pretty close to finishing up chapter 39, then we'll get into a little bit about the temple here tonight. We were in... well, we were like in verse... we were in verse 20... Well, let's just read 25. I don't remember if we got through 25 or 26 or not. So, 25. Therefore, thus says... yeah, we read about their uncleanness and everything. Verse 25. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. After... yeah, we did read this, but after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness, in which they were unfaithful to me, God says, when they dwelt safely in their own land, and no one made them afraid. Verse 27. When I brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of the enemy's lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. So, again, we have this recurring theme through the book of Ezekiel. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God. Then they will know.

We need to know that now. We need to see God's power. We need to feel His power, and know. And when we know, and we truly know who He is, we will follow Him, and we will dedicate ourselves to becoming like Him. Verse 29. Then, I will not hide my face from them anymore, for I shall have poured out my spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord God.

So that is chapter 39. So we have this prophecy that really is chapter 37, 38, and 39, kind of a vision of the kingdom, the millennium when Christ returns. Actually, 37 is more of a physical resurrection later on, but it's talking about bringing the house of Israel back to life again, bringing them into their land and God's Spirit breathing life into them, as well as so they become a people again.

Before we get into chapter 40, any questions or comments anyone wants to make? Okay, let's start at chapter 40 then. We're not going to get too far in here. In 40, I'm going to read a few verses, and then I'll get into that.

In chapter 40, verse 1, the rest of this book now from 40 through 48 is all about the temple of God. Everything we've read since chapter 33 has been post the return of Jesus Christ. It's happened after the return of Jesus Christ. This temple that God gives so many detailed directions about in the next three and four chapters of Ezekiel here, the commentaries say He gives more detailed instructions about this temple than He did for Solomon's temple. There are differences.

There are differences that we're going to see between the construction of this temple and the construction of the Solomon's temple, the second temple. Notable things that aren't there. We'll talk about that a little. It'll probably be next week that we talk about that more, but we'll look at some of the differences in there because this is a literal physical temple.

It's interesting as we've looked through some of the comments of the last, I think it was the last, the last biblical worldview we did, maybe it was one before that, where we talked about the temple. How many people in the world say, no, no, it's a spiritual temple. Yes, God is building a spiritual temple in us today. We know that.

We are the temple of God, and that's what He is building in you and me. But this is a physical temple. There's physical directions there, and there's going to be a physical people that are living in that time in the millennium that will be going up, as it says in Isaiah 2, that will be going up to the mountain of the Lord to be taught His ways. That's where the Word will go out from Jerusalem, from that temple.

That will be sort of the headquarters of the earth at that time. That's where the Word will go out, and people will flow there to learn God's way. So it is a physical temple that we're going to be talking about here. Let's get into chapter 40 a little bit here and see some of the things, because as it turns out, this is the fourth vision, the fourth vision that we see in the book of Ezekiel.

We want to talk a little bit about that as we're getting to the last section here. Maybe recount a little bit of what we've talked about so far in the book. But in verse 1, it says, in the 25th year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the 10th day of the month—and that's a notable day. You know, we're reading in Exodus now, and when we get to Exodus 12, you'll read about how on the 10th day of the first month, ancient Israel was supposed to go out and select the Passover Lamb.

So it's a day. It's a notable day. It's a notable day, and it's notable that it's there. Maybe we'll see the significance of that day as we go through and talk about the temple and its construction and everything. At the beginning of the year, or the 10th day of the month, in the 14th year after the city was captured—that's Jerusalem. We talked about that back in the early 30s of Ezekiel, when that city fell. In the 14th year after the city was captured, on the very same day the hand of the Lord was upon Ezekiel, and he took Ezekiel into a vision.

Verse 2, in the visions of God, he took me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain. On it toward the south was something like the structure of a city. He took me there, and behold there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze. He had a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand, and he stood in the in the gateway. So we have Ezekiel in a vision, and as God takes him here to show him where he's going, he sees this man.

He's got a measuring line in his hand. You know, we look in, I think it's the book of Jeremiah, where we see this measuring line that's there. This, this, because God is very exact, and as he's building this temple, you know, we won't go through every single verse in the next, you know, eight chapters because they're very similar, but we'll talk about the significance of some of them.

You can see it's down to the very minute detail that God gives.

What we build when the physical temple is built, it is built to detail. It is to God's specifications that that temple will be built. When we're building the temple of God today with his Holy Spirit leading us, it's to be built to the specifications he sits in the Bible.

That's, that's our building blocks. That's what our instructions are. Those are, that's why we talk about understanding the word of God more with each passing day, each passing year, and growing closer and closer, looking more and more like Jesus Christ. As he builds that temple, individually and collectively, we look more and more like him, building into the specifications that he sits. So as God starts here, the first thing Ezekiel sees is, here's this man. He has a line of flax. He's got a measuring rod in his hand.

What is he doing? Standing in the gateway, he's going to measure. Is this done? Is it being done to God's standards? Verse 4, the man said to me, Son of Man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears and fix your mind on everything I show you. There's another instruction for us. He's saying, Ezekiel, you may be a little dazed by this vision. You may be wanting, you may find your mind wandering a little bit to see what that's over there. You might be thinking about this, but I want you to fix your mind on what you are seeing here.

As we go through our lives, fix our minds on the calling that God gives us. Keep our eyes on that vision of the kingdom ahead. It's fine to have entertainment, whatever, but to fix our minds on what God is calling and not allow ourselves to drift off and become, as Christ says, it wasn't the days of Noah. They were laughing. They were carrying on.

They were marrying and getting a marriage, and they didn't even realize what was going on. Keep your eyes, fix your minds on your calling and what God is doing. Fix your mind on everything I show you, for you were brought here so that I might show them to you.

God called us so that we would live our lives according to His standards and be a light to the world around us, to be example to the people that know us, because we are living by those standards and those ways. So we have responsibilities that are here, and as God instructs Israel, pay attention to what you're going to see, as we're going to see in the next eight chapters here. So we remember, fix our minds, fix our minds on what God has called us to. Before we get into some of the detail there, I want to go back because He talks about these visions.

One of the things we've talked about in the book of Ezekiel was that God seems to communicate to Ezekiel through these visions that He shows them. If we go back to chapter one, you know, just turn back to chapter one for a moment. The book opens in a vision, right? And God takes Ezekiel in a vision up to the throne room of heaven, and He sees all these things going on there. He sees the wheels that are turning. He sees the angels. He sees the wings. He notices everything. Finally, He's taken up to the throne where God is setting.

And let me just put some things up here. Just kind of get that out of the way. So as we go to Ezekiel 1.26, just remembering some of the things that we have read. Here in this vision, before God starts giving, so we're going to go back to Ezekiel 1.26, it starts giving Ezekiel the instructions of what he is going to do. He's got Ezekiel's attention. He has given him a vision of what the throne of God looks like and the power that's there.

Because in verse 26, you know, there it has a kind of an artist's rendering of what he's seeing here. It says, above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne in appearance like a sapphire stone. On the likeness of the throne was the likeness with under that sapphire stone are those wheels that have eyes that are looking in every direction that move in one direction as God directs.

And then in verse 27, he talks about the vision that he sees and what the appearance of that throne is. But then in verse 28, the very last sentence says, so when I saw it, I fell on my face and I heard a voice of one speaking. It's so overwhelmed, Ezekiel, that vision, that he literally lost his strength. He realized in whose presence he is, and that or was. And that's important. You know, one day we will experience that very same thing, but we see the power of God and however he reveals that to us, we should feel that now.

Other prophets have seen that. You know, Daniel fell on his face. One day we will fall on our faces, too, and we recognize the power of God. But just because we may not have seen those things right now, don't ever discount the power of God. We have seen it in our lives, and we will see it more dramatically as time goes on if we continue to follow him. You know, as you get a vision of what God is and what he's got working, to think about what it will be like when Christ returns, when all these things happen, is a marvelous motivator.

You want to be there. You want to be there to see these things, to work with Christ, to help people, to teach them God's way and the way of joy that they never understood in this lifetime. It's a beautiful thing that should motivate us all and keep us focused on who we are. So there's one vision, one vision of God, where then he takes Ezekiel and starts telling him, this is what you need to tell the people of Israel.

You need to warn them what's going on. And remember, he gives him the things that he acts out by laying on his side for a while, and there's some other things as well, to give that message to him. Because God does want the world to be warned of what is going to come. He wants us to be mindful of what is going to come as well, and to be taught what he wants us to know to become like him.

And so we have the commission that Ezekiel was given. We have the commission that God has given the Church today.

So that's one vision. The second vision we saw in Ezekiel 8. In Ezekiel 8, we have the vision where God takes...

He takes... I'll take and figure this out now. Let me stop the share for a moment and figure out how to bring it back up in advance of slide here. That's what I want to do.

Yeah, you maybe remember... No, I bet I didn't share that probably.

You probably remember this slide from when we were in there.

Yeah, okay. Oh, there we go. Okay. Ezekiel 8. This is where God takes Ezekiel. He says, Ezekiel, you have no idea what the men of Israel are doing behind closed doors. You have no idea what they're doing and the abominations that they're working before me.

And so you remember God takes Ezekiel through the temple there, right? We had on that chart there, we have the image of jealousy where Ezekiel... And as he progresses through the temple there, God says, Ezekiel. You know, it's even worth reading through that again because it's a very dramatic chapter. God says, you want to see? I'll show you even greater abominations that they're working back here. So if we go down to the end of chapter 8, this guide is showing Ezekiel, this is something that you need to be aware of. The people are not honoring God the way that they should.

And even in the temple, they're not honoring Him. They've got all these things going on in there that they shouldn't be doing. So let us look at verse 15 as we come down to the end of that chapter. And as God progresses and over and over again, it's turn again and you'll see greater abominations. In verse 15, he says, have you seen this, O Son of Man? Turn again and you will see greater abominations than these. So He brought me into the inner cart of the Lord's house and there at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about 25 men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.

And you remember that later on in Ezekiel, God goes back to those 25 men again. You see that over there to the right of the temple. They had their backs to God, but they're looking out there at the east. They're worshiping the sun. That's what they're doing at that time. And so, you know, again, we're here at Passover time. The world is looking at Easter time and we have Easter sunrise services and all these things that people do.

And even back then, they're worshiping the sun toward the east and they're looking at the sunrise service. So, you know, God says, look at the abominations. Now, the people might not know anything of these, but this is what's happening in the temple. And he said to me, have you seen this, O Son of Man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence. They have returned to provoke me to anger. Indeed, they put the branch to their nose like they don't care how it smells to God.

Therefore, I will also act in fury. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I won't hear them. And so then you go into chapter 9 and you see that God sends people into the city. And they are, you know, they've got, well, just just read it.

Why am I putting words in God's mouth? He called out of my hearing with a loud voice saying, let those who charge, who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. And suddenly, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each having his battle axe in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer's inkhorn at his side.

You remember, he's taking notes. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar. Let's drop down to verse four there. The Lord said to him, go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it. So you had people, even though the temple was, things were going on behind closed doors, but God says, you know, they shouldn't, I mean, sigh and cry over what's going on, you know.

Everyone in Judah, everyone in God, should be following his way explicitly. Sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it. And then he says, you know, go through the city and smite those that are committing these abominations. Verse six, utterly slay old and young maidens, maidens and little children and women, but don't come near anyone on whom is the mark.

So they began, something that we've talked to the elders as we went around to our regional conferences, so they began with the elders who were before the temple. You know, it's implicit on all of us to be keeping God's laws and putting the abominations out of our lives and making sure there are none in our lives. Ministers, that's our responsibility, too, to make sure our lives are pure and that we are working with the people and reminding all of us by our example, by our leadership, by reminding us of the Word of God, what it is that God has called us to. So we have the throne of God. We have God showing Ezekiel the sins of the nation, and then we go through those following chapters. And then in verse chapter 37, just a couple weeks ago, we have the valley of the dry bones where God is showing Ezekiel the, you know, what will be at the time that he returns and Israel is brought back in, and the joy that will be there.

You remember in 37, it's the unity. It's bringing the house of Judah and the house of Israel back together. The two sticks we dramatically saw bring them back together as one. David resurrected David, king over all of Israel, all of Israel. We read in Matthew 2 about the 12 apostles being kings over the 12 tribes of Israel. And then we have the temple, and then we have the temple, and this vision goes on for goes on for eight chapters. Let me pull up. Just see if I can do this without going out of the share here. I don't think that's going to work.

Bear with me for just a second here. Well, there was the valley of the dry bones, so I had a little visual of that. Okay, Ezekiel's temple.

This is an artist's rendering of what that temple will look like, and it...ah, I don't know why it does that to me.

This is just an artist's rendering. So many times when you see the millennial temple, if you're looking on the internet, an artist's rendering or pictures of it, it looks very much like Solomon's temple. But there are big differences between the two temples. In this layout here, you can see where the gates are, the four gates, the eastern gate being down there in the bottom, near the bottom right-hand side there. And you can see these elevated areas. They're like three stories high. They have windows in them. The little...we're going to read about the 30, whatever they call them, compartments around the wall there. The wall is pretty high. The whole area that the temple will sit in is around the square mile, much larger, much larger than what Solomon's temple was that included the internet, of course, you know, so that people that are looking where the temple is now or where they think it was, that isn't necessarily exactly where the Wailing Wall is, that this temple would not fit there. So will God move it down further into the city of David?

Will, as we see some things in Zachariah where some of the landscape changes, will some of those hills be flattened out? That this temple can be built it that way? When you see the artist's rendering and then compare it to what Solomon's temple looks like, you can see the size difference. I see this, not going to let me do that necessarily. Maybe it's this. Well, worry about that. We'll have some of these here next week as well. But just as we get a visual of it, it is not just a replica of Solomon's temple. It is a brand new construction, all the detail of which is here in chapter 40. So let's see what time we even have here.

806. We've been at it for about an hour.

You know what? Let me just stop there. We'll finish with verse 4, and then I'll have some different maps next week too as we begin to go through chapter 40 and some of the highlights of what God has shown in here. Because interspersed in some of these verses are some of the details that are on that temple. But let me finish with verse 4. We had read to Ezekiel, fix your mind on everything I show you, and then declare to the house of Israel everything you see. So this is here for us. When Christ returns, very, very likely. All those instructions for that building, the temple right here. One commentary I was looking at called it a blueprint, the blueprint for the millennial temple. When you look at it, it's very detailed. So let's just stop there for tonight, and the next week we'll get into more of the detail and some of the other things that we see in the next two or three chapters that were pertained directly to us, in addition to talking about some of the detail and what they might represent, and the differences between this temple and Solomon's temple, which are notable. So let me do that and open it up for any questions, comments, or anything else. Hey, Sandy, how are you? Okay. I'm sorry, did you say Sandy? Yes, I did.

You were talking about other areas. Sorry. On Ezekiel 37, the second resurrection, and if so, is God separating the nations of Israel and bringing them into Jerusalem to resettle them, and then all others who are re-resurrected in a separate place? No. I think that's one of the questions that come out of that chapter, right? Because he is bringing Israel back to their lands at the time Christ returns. There isn't a resurrection. We don't think at that physical resurrection at that time. That occurs later. I think there is some symbolism in those verses as well that shows that he's resurrecting the body of Israel, right? He's bringing them back to life again. They're all scattered all over the place. They're dead. They don't know who they are, and when he breathes his Spirit into them, now they know who they are. They recognize their sins, they repent, and they loathe themselves what they have done so they become the nation that he wanted them to be. It certainly is a picture of the second resurrection as well when God resurrects the rest of humanity, but I don't think at 37 it's not indicating that the whole house of Israel will be resurrected at that time. Okay, you muffered on me a little bit. I think I got it.

I can repeat it. So it is the second resurrection then? Well, I think the bone-to-bone is showing that, but I don't think that that doesn't happen at the time that Christ returns.

That picture is the time of Israel in the beginning of the millennium. Okay, thank you.

This is Reggie now. When Christ comes back, that will be the first resurrection. Correct.

And everything. And God is going to bring Israel back into Israel. You know, there was a separation between the Ten Tribes, Judah and Benjamin, by the time of Jeroboam and Reoboam.

So the Ten Tribes and everything went into captivity by Assyria. They were displaced and everything. And then Assyria put Babylonians and different ones, and they changed to Samaritans.

But then when Judah went into captivity by Babylon, what was that, in 520 BC or something like that?

And they were in captivity for 70 years, and then God caused some of them to come back after 70 years.

And then so the Ten Tribes were actually, you know, scattered. And God continued to bless Israel because of Abraham's covenant. And so they were scattered. We got to change the blessing. And to me, that will be the ones that will come back into Jerusalem at the return of Christ.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Yeah, he'll bring them back. Remember, remember, 90 percent of Israel dies in the Great Tribulation and everything leading up to that. So there's a remnant that is saved, and they're brought back. So, okay, thanks. Bud, how are you? Okay, regarding Ezekiel's temple, does that exist during the millennium? Is that what? Again, it exists during the millennium. Yes, it is. We pick that up in later chapters, or where do we find that out?

Well, the series of chapters that we're in indicate that everything we've been reading up to now has been the post-return of Jesus Christ. So this is as well. This temple could not be built in Jerusalem today because of the size of it. Okay. So that's one of the reasons. But we will also see there's something different about this temple. What the Jews are going to be building over there, what their plans are, are much on the order of the second temple. But we're going to see the differences in the millennial temple between what the instructions are for God's temple in the millennium versus what Solomon's temple was. And remember the Jews that are building a temple for the Old Testament, God is building a temple that does have animal sacrifices and alters and burnt offerings in it. But there are big differences between that and what's going on.

They're not going to be able to build anything over in Israel, I don't think.

They can get these sacrifices started, we know, without an actual building. This is a millennial temple. Even when you look at the river in chapter 47, that doesn't happen today. This is a river that's there in the millennium that's not there in Jerusalem today. Very good! Okay. It explains it. Very good.

Moses!

How are you doing, Moses? Your mic is on. Or you need to turn your mic on.

I'm doing good. How are you? I'm doing well, thanks.

Just a comment on how UCG Bible commentary has two maps on chapter 40 that you probably will be covering next week. Yep. I'll be looking at those. There's other maps out there, too, but yeah.

They're very small, the ones on our commentary, but I'm going to blow them up somehow. Yes. Yeah. Okay.

Tim Duncan, how are you doing? Very good. Do you have a dog in the fight in March, Matt?

I don't. I don't. I don't, really. So, do you? Well, you probably have Tennessee, right?

Yes, sir. And I like St. John's with Rick Patino and Michigan State with Tom Izzo.

Okay. That's good. I think St. John's is good. I think Tennessee is good. I'll pass on Michigan State being an IU graduate. I just assumed to see no big team except Indiana ever in the championship game again, but that's just mine. So, I got one more thing. Okay. I was disappointed that you're not the only new president at one point, but I'm going to follow you wherever you go to hear you. Yep. This will be the same time, same place, nowhere to where I am. Even the furniture and background will look the same. So, if you didn't know I was in a different state, you wouldn't know that I was any different. So, it'll go on just as it has been here. So, okay. Hey, hey, Bill. How are you doing? I saw Ben. Ben Light was in the office this week, so I saw him earlier today. So, he was wondering, is there anything that indicates how long it's going to take to build that temple? No, you know, I don't know. I, you know, actually, uh, no, I don't remember reading that in there. Maybe there is, it does give those dates. Maybe, I'll look at that. Maybe the clues, because it talks about, you know, this is the 25th year. Maybe later on the chapter talks about when it's finished, and I could look at that, but I don't know, I don't know how long. When you look at the detail, looks like the time, looks like it takes a while, so.

Remember, it's going to be manual labor, too. Solomon's Temple took seven years, wasn't it? Seven years to build, so. So, do you, do you think that temple was already built before Gog and May Gog attacked? You know, that's a good question. I, actually, I think it will be. Actually, I think it will be, because it talks about Israel is going to be, the wastelands will have been rebuilt and inhabited, so it sounds like Jerusalem is a thriving city where people are going up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles and other places. So, could be.

Stan, Stan Kitt, how are you today? I'm well, thank you, and you? And good, very good, thanks. I have a question that's really a curiosity for which I've never seen an adequate answer.

This concerns this new temple, and according to my notes here, this prophecy in chapter 40 was given in 573 BC or thereabouts, and the first restoration of Israel happened under Zerumah Bell and Joshua in 520 BC, where they were instructed to build the temple.

And I wonder what role this description of this temple had in their minds when they were instructed to build one. It's a curiosity for which I really don't have an answer, except that he didn't build it according to these specifications here. And yet, it seems to me the reason the whole scripture was given this temple is to provide inspiration for those people still in Babylon, that yes, they would return, and yes, they would build a temple, and yet they didn't build it like this.

So, it's a curiosity for which I don't need an answer for you now, but if you have one to be curious.

Well, when we get into it, we'll discuss that a little bit, right? Because I've been thinking the same thing through the years. What's the purpose? You know, Jesus Christ is there. They already know he's the sacrifice. So, what are the... But I think there are some things that we can look at as we get into the chapters on why God would have that happen. But let's defer that till next week or whatever, and think about it, and we can have some discussions on that. I don't know that we're going to have the exact answer. We're going to know that for sure when Christ returns, but I think there may be some things in there we can think about. Thank you. Can we do this tonight? Yes, just to maybe help with that Stan's answer there.

When Zerubbabel came back, and even Nehemiah came back, and so forth, they were rebuilding from the ruins of Solomon's temple. So, they just rebuilt back really where the foundations and where the walls were, which is different from the second temple, which was expanded Herod's temple, because everything was destroyed. There wasn't one stone left upon another. So, there was no... There isn't anything for impact today. They don't even really know where the temple was. That's how much the destruction was. So, there's different theories about where the temple was. It may not have been on the Dome of the Rock, for example, because there was a fortress there for the Roman soldiers.

So, you know, what I'm trying to get at is that they were rebuilding what was the basic walls and foundations were already there. They were just rebuilding what was already existing.

Okay, very good.

But just one other question while I'm at it. Yeah, I don't have it in front of me, but just off the top of my head, in Daniel 8, of course, there's the 2300 Days prophecy. And it's an interesting discussion between the Father and the Son. And where it seems like Jesus is asking the Father, how long will it be from the time the sacrifices are set up until the time the temple is cleansed, i.e. when I return? And the Father says 2300 days, and then shall the temple be cleansed, i.e. you will return. And we know also in Daniel 12 that there is a time when the sacrifices will have been set up, because we know that when the beast surrounds Jerusalem, he's going to stop the sacrifices. So we know before Christ returns, there is a time when the sacrifices will be set up. There's a time when the sacrifices will stop at the 1290 days, and 30 days after that begins the Great Tribulation. And then of course, Christ returns and comes and cleanses the temple.

So we know it can't be the spiritual temple. It can't be us, because we are, as you said in Revelation 19, we are returning from heaven with Jesus Christ down to the earth. So we are with Christ at that time. So He's not coming to cleanse us. We've already been cleansed and we've been resurrected. So He is coming to cleanse the physical temple. Anyway, just something to think about. Exactly. It's reading in Daniel 8 this week. Yeah, they need to really refresh my mind on all that. So I know there's an explanation for that. Yeah, we can talk about that more, and probably will as we go through the temple. Excuse me, this is Jeremy. Oh, hey Jeremy.

Hey, I was wondering, since we're on the topic of temples, what do you think about how, like in the Maccabees, it's like historical, but like, I don't know, sometimes it's not always trustworthy. What do you think about the part where it says that Jeremiah hid the ark of the covenant in a cave and sealed it up before he left? That's in the Maccabees? Yeah. I don't know if I believe that. I've heard so many different places where the ark could be. Only God knows where it is. Oh, okay. Yep. Okay. Stan, do you have your hand up? I hope not. Okay, I see a little hand up there, so maybe... Oh, that's... it's my hand, my little pointer. Okay, sorry. It was white instead of yellow, and I thought, well, that's a new... that's a new hand up. Okay. Okay, anything else anyone tonight? Okay, next week, you know, you write down your questions on that temple. I think those will be good discussions to have. I mean, we're going to look at just what the word... what the word of God says, but I know there's a lot of questions, and even if you look on the internet, these artists' renderings, you gotta... you gotta way through them pretty carefully to see what it looks like, because an awfully loud of them look an awfully loud like Solomon's Temple, but we want to get the real gravity of what God has recorded there, so... Okay, if nothing else, then have a very good rest of the week. Great Sabbath, and we will look forward to seeing you next Wednesday, okay?

Okay. Good night, everyone! See you, friends! Bye!