Ezekiel 41: Is Ezekiel's Temple Symbolic or Literal? | Pastor Roger Jimenez

love you do you see him praying amen amen all right well we're there in ezekiel 41 and i'm probably gonna regret asking this but did anybody really 0:41 in preparation for tonight and you don't it's fine don't don't answer that I was just gonna try to get some tips from you if you have anything that I could preach about but we are in this section of Ezekiel and of course we talked about it last week that it's is the kind of the last section he's Eco divided into several sections and this is the last section in the book and this is probably the most difficult and the most debated section of the book and it deals specifically with Ezekiel's temple if you remember last week we talked about the fact that there are some major theories in regards to Ezekiel's temple and if you remember we talked about the fact that one theory is that the temple is symbolic and it's not to be taken literally another theory is that this is the millennial reign temple and this is a temple that will be in effect during the reign of Christ the problem with that theory or the issue with that theory is that if that's true then there will be there'll be sacrifices during the millennial reign then the third theory was that this was as Rah's temple or as removals temple after the captivity when they came back and they built the temple this is a temple that Ezekiel was predicting that they built and there's some issues with that as well and then the fourth series that the fact that this is the temple of the eternal state after the millennial reign when we are in what we would call the eternal state new new heaven new earth New Jerusalem that this is a temple and what I told you last week because as you can tell this is a very these are difficult passages to preach through in the sense that when you know at very Baptist Church and I talked about this from time to time and you you may this may not make sense to you but the the sermons you know that that I preached in that that I try to train the guys that preach to do our very applicable to the Bible but we teach the Bible and then tell you what you should do about it what what you should do or stop doing we should believe or stop believing and when you have passages like these ones they're difficult to do that because there's so much detail and so much description so when I told you last week we're gonna start doing this week as we go through these passages I'm gonna give you I'm gonna go through a very basic format for each one of the chapters the first thing we're gonna do is as quickly as possible give you a basic outline of the chapter so that for those of you who like to take notes and have notes you can have that basic that quick and basic outline and then we're gonna go through each one of these theories so I explain the theories last week and if you weren't here for last week's sermon then I would encourage you to go back and listen to that because I went through and explained different theories and then what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take one theory every week and and show you why we don't believe those theories or why don't we don't agree that with those theories and then on the fifth week I'll give you my thoughts or my theory and then I still like to be application driven so we'll end the night with a practical application will try to take at least one practical application away each week from this chapter so let's begin with this the basic outline if you're writing notes down you can write this down but when you we get to this to this chapter and again remember we're talking money zico's template remember last week Ezekiel was caught away he was a Matalon and he was brought to Jerusalem and he is seeing this temple and he begins a tour of the temple and similar to the beginning of the book when he was brought in to see the temple with all the defilements and with all the idolatry now he's seeing a good temple a good version of that temple and he's being given this tour through the temple and there are two main categories in this chapter the first one is the dimensions of the temple so if you're writing an outline you might write letter a the dimensions of the temple and then the second one letter B is the features of the temple and I'll show those to you quickly so you got Roman numeral one basic you know a basic outline then you've got a dimensions of the temple and under the dimension that suppose there are two headings you've got the dimensions of the tabernacle you find that in verses 1 and 2 and then you got the dimensions of the holy place you find that in verses 3 and 4 so let's look at it real quickly look at verse 1 the Bible says this afterward he brought me to the temple and measured the posts now the post a post is a long sturdy piece of wood used for support he's measuring the post and he measures six cubits broad on one side and six cubits broad on the other side which was notice the breadth or the width of the tabernacle so he's given us the dimensions of the tabernacle the word Tabernacle temple the house these are all used interchangeably for the same building and he gets the breadth of the tabernacle notice verse 2 and the breadth of the door was 10 cubits and the sides of the door were five cubits on the one side and five cubits on the other side and he measured notice the length thereof so we in verse when we got the breadth of the tabernacle now we get the length thereof 40 cubits and the breadth 20 cubits so we see the dimensions of the tabernacle in verses 1 & 2 and then in verses 3 & 4 we get the dimensions of of the holy place now notice verse 3 it says this then when he inward and if you remember and I've explained this before and you may or may not remember this but when we talk about the tabernacle whether it was the tent that Moses built or the physical building that Solomon built or and in the temple you know there's several temples mentioned throughout throughout the Bible you've got the tabernacle of Moses built and that's actually called a temple even though it's made as a tabernacle or a tent then you've got Solomon's Temple Solomon built a temple of course that temple was destroyed then you have the rooibos temple or Ezra's temple which was built after the captivity then you have what's referred to as Herod's temple where Herod just kind of rebuilt or remodeled the temple that zerubabbel and ezra built as a temple that jesus is is is at the time of the new testament then of course you've got this temple that Ezekiel is talking to us about in the New Testament you've got the temple of New Testament believers were called the temple then of course a tenth times you got the Anti Christ he's got a temple he's gonna build and then in the end times you've got the tabernacle of God when it comes down from heaven with men and we'll talk about that in another sermon but you've got these different temples and in regards to all of these temples which but the physical buildings not necessarily the human body of believers but all these temples were all designed the same way you had a courtyard you had an outer space then you had the main room which is where the priest would minister and do sacrifices and then you would have this inward room it was called the Holy Place or the Holy of Holies and nobody was allowed to come into that room except for once a year on the Day of Atonement the high priest was allowed to come into the Holy of Holies this is where the Ark of the Covenant was kept this is where they would would treat this as the place where God dwelt the presence of God in the Ark of the Covenant would represent the presence of God and once a year on the Day of Atonement the high priest would walk in to that Holy of Holies and he would you know take the blood and sprinkle it upon the seat you know that when Jesus died he rent the veil that separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies and there's a whole other sermon we could go into them here in this temple we see the same thing and we see that he gives us not only the measurements for the tabernacle but he gives us the measurements for the holy place and here's what's interesting is that Ezekiel is on this tour with this angelic being or spiritual heavenly being or whatever it is and he doesn't actually walk into the Holy of Holies which is consistent with all of the Tabernacles because nobody was allowed to walk in to the Holy of Holies except for the high priest on the Day of Atonement that's why it says in verse 3 then when he inward so he tells us Ezekiel said be sure to tell us I didn't go in but he went in and measured the post of the door two cubits and the door six cubits and the breadth of the door seven cubits so he measured notice the length thereof twenty cubits and the breadth thereof twenty cubits before the temple and he said unto me this is the most holy place or the Holy of Holies the place where they would go in to do the sacrifice on the day or to sprinkle the blood on day of atonement so here's what we have we have the dimensions of the temple verses one and two is the dimensions of the tabernacle verses 3 & 4 is the dimensions of the holy place now for the rest of the chapter what we have is the features of the temple and he's just kind of telling us different unique things that this temple has and it's kind of interesting the first thing is in verses five and six and it is the fact that there are chambers or these would be like rooms where the different priests would stay and sleep and live and these chambers are actually through in three stories there are three levels or three floors to this temple and there are thirty chambers but they are divided into ten rows and each row has three stories look at verse five and he measured the wall of the house six cubits and the breadth every side and the breadth of every side chamber 40 cubits run about the house on every side verse six and the side chambers were three notice what it says one over another so you've got three there are one over another that's three stories there's another place in the in those chapter that he mentions this will see that as we go on and 30 in order and they entered into the wall which was of the house for the side chambers roundabout that they might have hold but they had not hold in the wall thereof so in verses five and six if you want to write this down you've got we are now in the features section of this chapter and in verses five or six we're told that there are three story chambers in verses 7 through 11 he explains to us and it doesn't use this terminology but he I think you'll see it when we read it that there is a winding staircase in this temple look at verse 7 and there was an enlarging and he winding about still upward to the side-chick remember he just got done telling us that there are 30 rooms in this temple and they are divided into different stories in there one above the other there's 3 story now he's telling us how you can get to these rooms and these different stories and these different levels and he's telling us that there's a winding staircase that's what we would call it it says a winding about still upward to the side chamber for the winding about of the house when it's still upward round about the house therefore the breadth of the house was still upward and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the myths and I saw also the height of the house in the foundation of the site chambers were a full read of six GRA cubits I want you to notice there when it says a full rate of six great cubits if you remember we talked about this last week that in the Bible you've got these measurements a cubit and a cubit was generally what we would consider about 18 inches it would go from your elbow to your hand and that's what you normally find in the Bible whenever you read about a cubit you can think of something that's about 18 inches long and you can make you do the math to figure out what that would translate you know when they tell us six cubits you can translate that into however many feet however in this temple in chapter 40 we were told that the cubit was the regular two cubed plus a handbreadth so the cubit for this temple was a larger cubit then the normal cubit you read about throughout the Bible so you had a cubit which is about 18 inches then you also had a handbreadth which is about four inches so the Kuban for this temple is about 22 inches that a larger cubit and that's why he says it was a full read of six great cubit so notice it's not just a regular cubit it's a great cubit because it has that extra hand breadth look at verse nine the thickness of the wall which was for the side of the chamber without was five cubits and that which was left was the place of the tight side chambers that were within and between the chambers was the wideness of 20 cubits right about the house on every side and the doors of the side chamber were toward the place that was left one door toward the north and other towards the south and the breadth of a place was left was five cubits round about numbers 12 we're told about a building that is to the west of the temple so it's a different building that's to the west of the temple verse 12 now the building that was before the separate place at the end toward the west cemani cubits broad and the wall of the building was five cubits thick run about and the length thereof 90 cubits then in verses 13 through 17 we're told that the tenant were just told about the temple building as a whole it says so he measured the house talked about the entire house the entire example and 100 cubic long and the separate place and the building with the walls are up in hundred cubits long so notice he's selling us 100 cubits lon verse 14 also the breadth of the face of the house and of the separate place toward the east and 100 cubits he tells us it's 100 cubits long in verse 13 it's a hundred cubits broad or wide in verse 14 or 15 Liu verse 15 and he measured the length of the building over against a separate place which was behind it and the galleries there up on one side and on the other side and hundred cubits with the Inner Temple and the porches of the court and the doorpost and the narrow windows and the galleries round about on there notice three stories so we see again that there are three stories for these different chambers over against the doors sealed with wood roundabout and from the ground up to the windows and the windows were covered to that above the door even unto the inner house and went out and by all the walls right about within and without by measures he's saying I'm giving you all the measurements for all these different things then in verses 18 through 20 he explains to us the designs of the temple notice he said he tells us how its decorated and the different designs that it has verse 18 and it was made with cherubims and palm trees and this is consistent with temple designs if you go back and read solomon's temple you'll find that he did that he had cherubims as decorations and palm trees as decorations it says and he was made with cherubims and palm trees so that the palm so that he palm tree was between each Arab and a cherub and every chair had two faces so he's telling us look the walls were decorated with these cherubims and normally we've read of cherubims having four faces but the ones on these walls had two faces and there was a cherubim and a palm tree and a chair and a palm tree verse 19 so that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on one side and the face of a young line toward the palm tree on the other side it was made through all the house roundabout from the ground unto above the door where cherubims and palm trees made and on the wall of the temple then in verses 21 to 26 he tells us about the doors of the temple verse 21 and the post of the temple were squared so he tells us the doors were not rectangular like you and like most doors we we have in our buildings today he said but these were big doors and they were squared and the face of the sanctuary the appearance of the one as the appearance of the other and the altar of wood was three cubits high and the length thereof two cubits he's telling us about the altar and the corners thereof and the length thereof and the walls are up or wood and he said unto me this is a table that is before the Lord notice verse 23 and the temple and the sanctuary had two doors and the doors at two leaves apiece two turning leaves two leaves for the one door and two leaves for the other door and they were made on them on the doors of the temple cherubims palm trees like as were made upon the walls and he's telling us that the same decoration on the walls as there are on the doors and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch without and there were narrow windows and palm trees on the one side or on the other side on the on the side of the porch and upon the side chambers of the house and thick planks so he was going through and needs to giving us measurements he's telling us features he's saying this is how big it was is how big the building was on the other side there's how big the doors are he's given his measurements and then he's given his features he's saying there's a staircase a winding staircase there's three stories he's telling us how he's decorated he's literally just going through and giving us a view of this temple now that's the basic outline for you tonight and hopefully that helps you understand the chapter a little bit and how it's broken up and the fact that it's not just a bunch of ramblings it's actually he's going through and explaining us what this temple looks like and I'm not a construction guy I'm not a builder so you know some of these things I'm like reading and I think I don't know I don't know what to leaves a piece are but you know I'm sure don't make sense in heaven or whatever but what I'd like to do now is I'd like to just focus in on this temple and the different theories of the temple and tonight what I want to do is I want to focus on the theory that this temple is symbolic because there are some people who have their heart in the right place and they look at this temple and they say well this temple they in their opinion which I would agree with this opinion they say this temple is not anything that was built in the Old Testament and if it's something that's going to have in the New Testament well we've got problems there because the new Tesla makes it clear that the sacrifices I've been done away with so what do we do with this temple because it didn't happen in the Old Testament during sacrifice time and if it's gonna happen in the New Testament we've got problems because there should be no sacrifices so they'll say here's the thing about the temple it's symbolic it's not meant to be taken literally everything that's in there it's just symbolism and we can learn from it now here's the thing people who believe that I don't think they're bad people I think their heart's in the right place but that is not my position is that that is not the position I take and that's not the position we take here everybody Baptist Church in regards to this temple and you say why and I'd like to explain that to you and there's a couple reasons number one the description of the temple is too specific when he describes this temple he has given us some very specific measurements and very specific things and I'm not we just read through the whole chapter and I'm not gonna go through and do that again but I want you to notice just that throughout theirs not only is he giving us a a tour of the temple but he's given us measurements in verse 1 he talks about the fact that the post are six cubits and if you remember a normal a normal number for six cubes would be about nine feet when you add the four inches to this great cubit then you looking at eleven feet he talked about the fact that they're six cubits he talked about the fact that the side of the door was five cubits and he talks about the fact that the length of the entire tabernacle was 40 cubits that would be about 60 feet on a regular cubed and 73 feet and four inches on a other cubit on the greater cubed and he just goes through the entire chapter just telling us two cubits six cubits seven cubits 20 cubits telling us a different measurement of this Tabernacle even in verse 13 when he gets to the whole building the entire thing he says it's a hundred cubits long and it's a hundred cubits in breadth and 100 cubits would be a read on a regular cubit be about 150 feet on the gray cubit which is adding the four inches would be a 180 three feet plus four inches so it's a big building and he's giving us these measurements and he's given us all there's description so you say well pastor Jimenez why is it that this could not be symbolic with all these measurements and here's why in the Bible and in fact keeper place already Zika 41 but go through the book of Matthew Matthew chapter 21 Matthew chapter 21 in the Bible there are actually a lot of symbolic passages there is a lot of passages in scripture that are not meant to be taken literally and I'll just show you a few but it's not just in that you know usually when we think of that we think of like a parable in the New Testament but it's not just in the New Testament in the Old Testament in the book of Judges you have the son of a giddy and given a story about the trees having these conversations amongst himself that's not a literal story those trees weren't actually talking to each other he's giving a parable in the same way that Jesus would give a parable about a tree or a bird or or whatever and here's what you needs understand in the Bible when we are given symbolic passages when we are given non literal passages those passages are always very generic they're very general let me just give you a few examples Matthew 21 verse 33 notice what Jesus says he says here another parable he says there was a certain householder which planted a vineyard and hedged it round about and digged a winepress in it and built a tower and let it out to husbandmen and went into a foreign country I want you notice when Jesus starts his parable he just says there was a certain householder he doesn't say there was a certain householder named Bob he'd owned this farm for you know twenty-two years and he'd got it passed down from his grandpa he's giving this story which is a not a literal story not a real story it's just symbolism he's using he's giving us a parable in order to make a comparison between that which is physical and that which is spiritual he's given us an illustration to be able to learn from and notice he always keeps it generic he just says it's a certain householder go to Luke chapter 8 look at verse 5 let me give you another example again there's so many of these in the New Testament we could spend all night looking at it let me just give you a couple Luke chapter 8 and verse 5 notice the Bible says this a sore went out to sow in the parables of he just says there's a certain householder as tor went out there sup he says there was a woman he says there's a tree he gives these parables and they're always generic and here's what you need understand when you're reading a story like this in the Bible and it's just kind of wrote generic and and if there's not very descriptive you're possibly it's very possible that you're reading a parable or something that is symbolic and by the way let me say this in Luke 16 there is a story that people like to pretend as a parable and it's about a man named Lazarus going down to hell and people say oh that's a parable that's not a real story here's a problem with that in all the parables that Jesus ever gave he never gave somebody's name he interrogated somebody's proper name or specific name he always said a certain householder he's always says ass or he said he always says that a man was traveling or a woman lost a coin he always just gives these generic way you say well what about Luke 16 when he talks about a guy named Lazarus going to hell there actually was a guy named Lazarus and there actually is the hell it's age it's a real place it's a specific place but in the Bible when you see these general stories you are probably looking at something that's it's symbolic or something that is not real and look it's not just the parables let me give another example go to Revelation chapter 12 in Revelation up to 12 I'm going to show you a passage that is a symbolic passage it is not a literal passage that doesn't make mean that it's not true that doesn't mean that it's not Scripture that doesn't mean that it's not giving us a real truth but this isn't physically literally happening it is the Bible using symbolism to tell us a story to give us a truth revelation 12 looking verse 1 here the Bible says this and there appeared a great wonder in heaven a woman clothed with the Sun and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars now look there wasn't literally a woman in the sky who had the Sun on as a gown and had the moon on as shoes and had 12 stars upon her head this is a figurative symbolic passage and look isn't it pretty obvious when you read it but it's a Moloch you know when you read the Bible and it's just kind of general and generic then you know you're reading something that symbolic and she being with child cried travailing in birth and pained to be delivered and there appeared another wonder in heaven and behold a great red dragon having seven horns excuse me seven heads and ten horns and seven Crown's about I said now look what the Bible's telling us here is true and what's being Illustrated is that the Lord Jesus Christ was born from the physical line of mankind he was born of a woman he was he came in through the lineage of Abraham and when Jesus was born Satan tried to kill him everything that's being told here the symbolism was all true but this didn't literally happened it's just a generic story that is being told so when we look at Scripture and when we look at a story and it's just kind of generic you're probably reading a parable or something symbolic you say well how do we bring that into Ezekiel here's a problem with Ezekiel's temple it is really descriptive in fact it's overly descriptive he's telling us you know the size of the windows he's telling us the size of the door he's telling us all the different declarations and the features and all the different things so generally you say why don't we believe and why don't we just say that Ezekiel's temple is symbolic there you go that answers the questions and we're done with it here's why we can't do that with integrity and we can't do that as true students of the Bible because Ezekiel's temple is way too descriptive it's way too specific and generally when we see symbolic passages in the Bible like a parable we're not given specific details but there's another reason go to Galatians chapter 4 Galatians chapter 4 if you're you got Matthew Mark Luke John acts Romans 1st 2nd corinthians galatians galatians chapter 4 and let me just say this in the bible when you are reading the bible this is just a Bible study a rule of studying the Bible and I have a class that I I try to train people for ministry and things like that and I've got a whole several weeks of lessons that we go over on rules for Bible study and here's the rule for Bible study you might want to write this down when you open the Bible you should assume that what you are reading is literal you should only you should not open up the Bible and just assume that something is symbolic you should always assume that everything because look the vast majority of what you find in the Bible is literal and literally happened only when you are convinced otherwise that it is not literal that it is symbolic that those trees didn't really talk to each other that that woman wasn't really up in the air you know clothing herself like a son only when you come to passage and you can decipher from the pastor that is non symbolic should you assume that it is a Moloch but other than that everything in the Bible you ought to just go into it believing or with the mindset that it is literal and be convinced and be proven to you that it is symbolic because today you've got people they push a lot of false doctrine and everything symbolic in the Bible I mean every story symbolizes something and every story and they can twist that and they can you know just push whatever doctrine they have and you think I do believe especially the stories in the Old Testament that they were given as an in-sample and that they are shadows of things and we can look at those stories and we can get simple as it but you better make sure you're staying within the context and that you're not just making stuff up you know that you're you're staying within the context of Scripture and your understanding so there's a balance there obviously I'm not saying it's wrong to look at symbolism in Scripture because it's definitely there but when you reading the Bible you ah to assume that everything you're reading is literal unless you it's proven to you otherwise you say well how is something proven to me as Dom being literal well one way which we already saw is when you're looking at a story and it just kind of sounds like a made-up story and and again that's not saying that it's not true it's just saying that that story was made up Jesus made up these parables in order to be able to give a truth we read about the woman in Revelation 12 in order to give us a history or the truth of how Jesus came to be and how Satan tried to attack but here's another great way to know if something is not literal and it's just when the Bible tells you when the Bible sets itself up as being in a non-literal passage and here's in Ezekiel we don't have that setup Ezekiel doesn't say let me tell you a parable let me tell you a story let me give you an allegory but throughout the Bible we see this are you there in Galatians portly verse 22 notice what Paul wrote he said for it is written Abraham had two sons the one by a bondmaid and the other by a freewoman now here's what's interesting this literally happened there was actually got a Mae bruh ham and he actually had two sons and he actually had one by a bondmaid and he actually had one by a freewoman but what Paul's going to do is he's going to take this Old Testament story and he's gonna use it as symbolism and he's gonna say look this is an actual story but I'm gonna use it it's symbolically to try to show you a truth but notice he tells us he's doing that verse 23 but he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh but he of the freewoman was by promise verse 24 which things are in allegory what's an allegory it's a story or poem a picture that can be interpreted to reveal hidden meaning or a typifying a moral truth and here's what Paul is st. Paul's and I'm going to take a story from the Old Testament and I'm gonna use it symbolically as an allegory you say how do we know he's doing that well because he tells us which things are in allegory for these are the two covenants the one from mount sinai which gendereth to bondage which is agar then he talks about the one from Jerusalem which is free and I don't want to get into that I'm not preaching on that I'm just showing you an example that here Paul tells us he's gonna give us a allegory that from a literal story but he's given us symbolism how about this Jesus would often start his parables by telling you he was going to give you a parable now I'm not I'm not I don't want you to turn to all these I'd like you to go to Luke chapter 12 but while you go to Luke 12 let me just read some of these to you Matthew 13 18 he says hear ye therefore the parable Matthew 13:24 he says another parable put he forth Matthew 13 13 says another parable spake he unto them Matthew 21 33 says hear another parable Matthew 24 32 now learn the parable love and Luke 5 36 he says the Bible says and he spake also a parable unto them Luke 13 6 says he fake also this parable and we could go on and on I mean it says he's fake also this parable and he put forth a parable and he spake this parable unto them and he spake this parable into certain which and he spake a parable then he began to speak to the people this parable so here's what I'm telling you oftentimes these symbolic stories are kind of they're put up as a symbolic story and they're and you're told hey it's just a parables just a story it's just an allegory this is just something for you to consider we don't see that with Ezekiel's temple we don't see Ezekiel telling us let me give you an allegory let me tell you a story let me give you a parable and we also see a lot of description in Ezekiel's temple which is why we choose to believe that this is a literal temple this is not a symbolic temple this is not a story that we're supposed to bring symbolism out of let me give you just one more thought in regards to kind of allegories or symbolism because a pastor - how can I know when something is not literal in the Bible here's what you should look for look for the setup here's a parable here's an allegory here's a story look for just something that's extremely general a sore went out to so a woman was hanging out in the you know in space she closes over the Sun right or look for similes what's a simile a simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two things similes explicitly use connecting words such as like as so than or various verbs such as resemble though these specific words are not always necessary a simile type wording in the Bible is in here's what I'm saying when you read the book of Revelation you might be reading a literal passage that is actually gonna happen but there might be just one little part where he's describing something to you and he says it's like this so when you find those similes realize that it's not actually gonna be that he's just trying to tell you it's like so look you look for waiting like this likened them to is like to is like unto is as be likened unto like unto or as it were because people walk away from the book of Revelation and look there are some very specific literal things that are actually going to happen in the book of Revelation in fact when you read the book of Revelation you ought to assume that what you are reading is literal that those animals and those beasts are actually going to come out of hell and they're actually going to have hair like women and they're actually going to have you know be scorpions almost like all those things are literal but when you read something the Bible and he says it's like as they just realize that's a simile it's a comparison that part isn't literal he's just trying to explain to you or help you understand what he's saying so how do we know if something is a literal passage versus a symbolic passage number one you look for the setup a parable an allegory of Story number two you look for something that's generic over something that's not that just doesn't seem like like it's like like a woman up in the in space right and she and she grabbed the moon and put it on as her shoes that's that's just symbolism trees talking to each other now look don't take this far when when Balaam's donkey starts speaking that actually happened you understand that that's not a parable it wasn't it wasn't Moses isn't telling us you know there was a certain man and no I mean we read about Balaam for chapter after chapter after chapter we read about his ministry and his death that actually happened so you have to be able to look at scripture realize okay what literally happened the Red Sea actually parted the Jordan River actually stopped the walls of Jericho actually fell down those are not symbolic we can pull symbolic truths from that but those things actually happen well when the Bible tells you it's an allegory when the Bible when it's just kind of generic there's no specific names or specific things given or when you see these types of terminologies like likened or like to or is as then know that you are probably looking at something symbolic because here's the thing in the Bible there are symbolic things so please understand in the Bible there are not there are symbolic things there is non literal literature in the Bible but you ought to assume that what you read the Bible is always literal until it's proven otherwise when we get to Ezekiel it would be easy to say symbolic not literal don't worry about it well that answers all the questions but here's a problem with that we're never told that and it's super descriptive it's very descriptive so here's our position or my position I should say very Hume at this church and I hope you hold the same position and it's this that easy goes temple is a literal temple it's an actual temple you say well what is it well stay tuned alright you come back you keep coming back for the next several weeks and we'll figure that out and we'll and we'll look at that but here's but here's what we're dealing with tonight is the temple symbolic or is it literal and it is my opinion based on how you study the Bible if you are you know if you're being honest with yourself that it is a literal specific temple all right now are you there in Luke chapter 12 remember I told you I was gonna give you three things tonight first what thing was the basic outline we did that the second thing was dismantling a theory we did that so we'll end tonight with just a practical application and you say what kind of practical application can you pull out of Ezekiel 41 and you know honestly I'll tell you this I spend the last three days writing this sermon and thinking about this sermon and this is the hardest part in Ezekiel 41 you know there's the practical application of all these measurements and these qubits and all these things but there is an application and I want you to I want you to understand it and let me set it up by saying this have you noticed in the Bible how much time God spends telling us about the measurements of buildings and how to build buildings I mean it's not just easy Co I mean Ezekiel spends from chapter 42 48 nine chapters telling us about this temple telling us about the measurements telling us but it's not just I mean half of the book of Exodus is telling us how to build the tabernacle and then telling us that they built it out and it sounds like you're reading the thing because he's telling you you need to do it this way do you say how big this many qubits you to do this and this thing and then he says and then they did and then he goes back through it again and he spends all this time in Exodus telling not when when Solomon's Temple was built the same way in in what what is it first kings and in second chronicles several chapters given to the building of the temple the measurements of the temple the decorations of the temple and it's not just a temple I mean think about if you think about all the God is just describing to you the building of the temple the building of the tabernacle the building of these buildings the measurements of decoration and then and then you throw on top of that all other chapters where he's giving you all you know so and so begat so and so and so and so begat so and so and so big it was so and so begat so and so and here's the thing and here's the beautiful thing about about the Bible and one of the reasons I believe and this is not the application right this is just a little sub point on that but one reasons I believe that we can stand firm that the Bible was written by God is this because the you if you would've wrote the Book of Ezekiel you would not have wrote the last eight chapters or nine chapters of Ezekiel neither would I yeah I I you know I would have I would have ended Exodus at about chapter 15 and been done right you would have added Deuteronomy you and have added Leviticus you would have added numbers you would have added all those so and so begat so and so and so and so begat so and so there is a lot of detail in the Bible and here's you say why why does God emphasize that why does God give that to us and here's what I believe God is trying to show us or one of the things that he's trying to show us that means actually trying to show us a temple he's actually trying to tell Moses how to build a tabernacle that's why he's so descriptive but you know what we walk away from the Bible is this that we serve a God of detail we serve a God that is interested in the detail when I was in the Air Force they would tell us you know pay attention to detail pay attention to detail and sometimes it can be frustrating when you try to work with people or you're trying to help people especially young people and they're just kind of like in those days and their heads in the clouds and they just won't pay attention to detail you know but God is a God of detail God takes the time see you would never do it I would never do it but God is more than happy to have Ezekiel spent nine chapters really you want me to write that how many cute I'm gonna give us was that one no yeah there's that really needed of God yeah write it down how many the door staircase and I mean just chapter after chapter you say what because God is a God of detail you say well why does that matter here's why it matters here's why it's interesting Luke chapter 12 are you there looking for six knows are not five sparrows so this is Jesus speaking are not five sparrows sold for a farthing here's the point that he's making a farthing is not a lot of money and five sparrows are kind of a lot of birds here's what he say sparrows are cheap Birds sparrows are birds that are very little value we're not talking about a bald eagle here we're not talking about some endangered species that you're gonna spend a lot of money Jesus eyes are not five sparrows sold for two farthings and here's what he says he says my father and your father is so detailed in his creation that not one of them is forgotten before God in Matthew he says the same thing and he says that one of them doesn't fall to the earth without God noticing he says what a sparrow is a cheap bird and our God the God of detail notices when one falls to the ground when one dies he says he says and are not one of them he says not one of them has forgotten before God and he says this for a second but even the very hairs of your head are all numbered see God as I got a detail the Bible tells us that God God is so detailed look people often look at this passage they'll say Oh God knows the number of the hairs of your head and I believe that God does know the number of the hair of your head and some of you as you've gone older you've made it easier to keep track of that for God but I I don't think that's what this passage is saying I don't think he's saying that God has your hairs numbered although I do believe that God has your hairs number but he says look the very hairs of your head are all numbered every hair has a number assigned to it so you know you take a shower and you see all that hair you know there goes number 312 there goes number 3000 - there goes number you know five is say and he says look God is so detailed that he knows when a sparrow falls to the ground God is so detailed that he has all the hairs of her head number God is so detailed that he was with chapter after chapter after chapter in the Bible telling us measurements of things that you and I don't care about telling us measurements of things that most preachers don't preach through telling us measurements of things that something that if you were honest you probably didn't read it or if you read it you just read it out of duty I'm not I'm not mad at you I'm just telling the truth because we look at everything goodnight but see we serve a god of detail go to Matthew chapter 6 chromosome we'll finish up right here Matthew chapter 6 there was a what's the application here's the application we serve a god of detail God takes the time to notice details and if God cares about a sparrow and if God cares about the hairs on your head and if God cares about a temple that were that you're never gonna see if God cares to give us all these details then you ought to take some comfort in knowing that God cares about you Oh verse 28 Matthew chapter 6 verse 28 Matthew chapter 6 verse 28 the Bible says this and why take ye thought for raiment now usually we look at this passage and we look at it at regards to prayer and that's the application he says he says don't worry about your raiment your clothes this is why take ye thought for raiment he says consider the lilies of the field how they grow they tour not neither do they spin look how much time do you spend worrying about the lilies because I don't spend a lot of time worried about lilies but here we're told Jesus consider the lilies of the field how they grow they toil not neither do they spin and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these here's what he say he's saying God cares for sparrows God's cares for the numbers of the hair on your head God cares about the cubit of every wall every window every door in that temple that Ezekiel is seeing and then he tells us God cares about the lilies he says consider the lilies they don't toil they don't spin they don't grow but yet God takes care of them he says he's a Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these verse 30 wherefore he says for that reason if God so clothe the grass of the field which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven shall he not much more clothe you O ye of little faith he says therefore take no Thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed for all these things do the Gentiles seek for your heavenly father don't miss this for your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things see when we go to God in prayer for our needs our cares otherwise we'll say casting all your care upon him pre cared for you O God I'll be honest with you I I have days where I I'm discouraged I have days where I'm upset in fact if we're gonna confess our faults one to another today I spent most of the day kind of just down I'll so my wife I don't know I need to go outside or something maybe haven't been in the Sun enough today or something but I I just you know I there's just some burden some some things going on and you know trying to help people and love people sometimes it can wear on you a little bit you know and and you spend a little time kind of worrying and we've all been there and we understand that but look here's what we could draw away we can draw away from this that the God who cared enough to measure the walls of the temple in the winter of the temple he knows what you have need of the God who takes notice when a sparrow falls to the ground he knows he tells us look our father your father know it but you have need of all these things you say so pastor what should i do should I swear my day is worried about how I'm gonna pay the rent well look go get a job I'm not telling you to just not not do you know put some feet to your actions but you know what you should do but seek ye first the kingdom of God and all his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you he says take therefore no thought for the morrow you say why for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself here's what he say you will always have something to worry about you will always have I have to learn in ministry a long time ago that there will always be somebody's life falling apart there'll always be somebody having a health problem there'll always be somebody having a find even a church our size we've got 150 people here tonight even our church our site we weekend my wife and I we get connected and we people start going through something and we will help them and we'll spend time with them and we'll pray for them and we'll have them over a wool spend time we'll take them out to coffee whatever but here's what I've noticed as soon as we get that one bound up as soon as we get that one going as soon as we get that one out the door there'll be somebody else and I'm not complaining I'm just telling you this take no thought for the morrow for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself there will always be there will always be something to be doubt about to be worried about to be stressed out about but your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things verse 34 he says take therefore no thought for the morrow for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof so here's all I'm telling you next time you're reading towards the end of Exodus and you're like God why why do I need to know the measurements of that curtain why do I need to know the thickness of that curtain next time you read through the Book of Ezekiel you're wondering why do I need to know the cubits and the furlongs and the and the wreaths why does it matter why are you tell when you're reading through first Chronicles and it's just chapter after Chapter after Chapter so and so begat so and so and begot so and so next time you read through those passages just take some comfort in knowing that the God who cares the details cares for you the God who knows when a sparrow falls to the ground he knows you it cares for you and he's involved in you so the next time I read through these passages I'm gonna think myself man thank the Lord that we have a God who cares for the details it's my head to never to pray Heavenly Father well thank you well we we do thank you for being a God who cares for details because sometimes we may overlook people sometimes we may be a little inconsiderate sometimes we may be selfish and not realize that there are people struggling with things there are people going through things there are people dealing with things and when we forget them when we get busy or when we have forgotten or to help us it's a comfort in knowing that there is always a God I was looking down on us who loves us who cares for the details or thank you we don't deserve it but we appreciate the fact that you are involved in our lives in the matchless name of Christ we pray amen turn to Psalm 455 [Music]

Channel: Verity Baptist Church

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Length: 49min 56sec (2996 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 31 2019