Ezekiel's Temple

Commentary

The fact that details of the temple are given in the context of a prophetic vision gives rise to analysis and debate regarding the meaning, significance and purpose of the temple. Maimonides called it 'the temple that will be built' and qualified these chapters of Ezekiel as complex for the common reader and even for the seasoned scholar. Bible commentators who have ventured into explaining the design detail directly from the Hebrew Bible text include Rashi, David Kimhi, Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller, and Meir Leibush ben Yehiel Michal, who all produced slightly varying sketches of the temple envisioned by Ezekiel. Some Christian interpretations of Ezekiel's temple are: it is the temple that Zerubbabel should have built; a literal temple to be rebuilt during the millennial reign of Christ; a temple which is symbolic of the worship of God by the Christian church today; or a symbol of the future and eternal reign of God. A number of Christian commentators also believe that this temple will be a literal fourth temple, which will exist during the Millennial Kingdom, following the destruction of a future temple that will be desecrated by the Antichrist. Author Paul Backholer envisions this premise in a 3D presentation of Ezekiel's Temple. Other theorists instead see Ezekiel's Temple as the New Jerusalem described in the book of Revelation; the bride of the Lamb (whose form and composite materials are similar to the Sanctuary); the Temple of God being the Christians themselves, where his Spirit will dwell in them (1 Corinthians 3:16).