Ezekiel 40 Background Information with Maps and Images (Picture Study Bible - Ezekiel) Free Bible Online

Ezekiel 40

1 - In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was struck, in the same day, The LORD's hand was on me, and he brought me there.
2 - In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, whereon was as it were the frame of a city on the south.
3 - He brought me there; and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.
4 - The man said to me, "Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I will show you; for you have been brought here so that I may show them to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel."
5 - Behold, there was a wall on the outside of the house all around, and in the man's hand a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a hand width each. So he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.
6 - Then he came to the gate which looks toward the east, and went up its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate, one reed wide; and the other threshold, one reed wide.
7 - Every lodge was one reed long and one reed wide. Between the lodges was five cubits. The threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate toward the house was one reed.
8 - He measured also the porch of the gate toward the house, one reed.
9 - Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and its posts, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was toward the house.
10 - The lodges of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side. The three of them were of one measure. The posts had one measure on this side and on that side.
11 - He measured the width of the opening of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits;
12 - and a border before the lodges, one cubit on this side, and a border, one cubit on that side; and the lodges, six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side.
13 - He measured the gate from the roof of the one lodge to the roof of the other, a width of twenty-five cubit, door against door.
14 - He also made posts, sixty cubits; and the court reached to the posts, around the gate.
15 - From the forefront of the gate at the entrance to the forefront of the inner porch of the gate were fifty cubits.
16 - There were closed windows to the lodges, and to their posts within the gate all around, and likewise to the arches. Windows were around inward. Palm trees were on each post.
17 - Then brought he me into the outer court. Behold, there were rooms and a pavement made for the court all around. Thirty rooms were on the pavement.
18 - The pavement was by the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates, even the lower pavement.
19 - Then he measured the width from the forefront of the lower gate to the forefront of the inner court outside, one hundred cubits, both on the east and on the north.
20 - He measured the length and width of the gate of the outer court which faces toward the north.
21 - The lodges of it were three on this side and three on that side. Its posts and its arches were the same as the measure of the first gate: its length was fifty cubits, and the width twenty-five cubits.
22 - Its windows, its arches, and its palm trees were the same as the measure of the gate which faces toward the east. They went up to it by seven steps. Its arches were before them.
23 - There was a gate to the inner court facing the other gate, on the north and on the east. He measured one hundred cubits from gate to gate.
24 - He led me toward the south; and behold, there was a gate toward the south. He measured its posts and its arches according to these measurements.
25 - There were windows in it and in its arches all around, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the width twenty-five cubits.
26 - There were seven steps to go up to it, and its arches were before them. It had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, on its posts.
27 - There was a gate to the inner court toward the south. He measured one hundred cubits from gate to gate toward the south.
28 - Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate. He measured the south gate according to these measurements;
29 - with its lodges, its posts, and its arches, according to these measurements. There were windows in it and in its arches all around. It was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits wide.
30 - There were arches all around, twenty-five cubits long, and five cubits wide.
31 - Its arches were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its posts. The ascent to it had eight steps.
32 - He brought me into the inner court toward the east. He measured the gate according to these measurements;
33 - with its lodges, its posts, and its arches, according to these measurements. There were windows in it and in its arches all around. It was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits wide.
34 - Its arches were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its posts on this side and on that side. The ascent to it had eight steps.
35 - He brought me to the north gate, and he measured it according to these measurements;
36 - its lodges, its posts, and its arches. There were windows in it all around. The length was fifty cubits and the width twenty-five cubits.
37 - Its posts were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its posts on this side and on that side. The ascent to it had eight steps.
38 - A room with its door was by the posts at the gates. They washed the burnt offering there.
39 - In the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, on which to kill the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering.
40 - On the one side outside, as one goes up to the entry of the gate toward the north, were two tables; and on the other side, which belonged to the porch of the gate, were two tables.
41 - Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate: eight tables, on which they killed the sacrifices.
42 - There were four tables for the burnt offering, of cut stone, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high. They laid the instruments with which they killed the burnt offering and the sacrifice on them.
43 - The hooks, a hand width long, were fastened within all around. The meat of the offering was on the tables.
44 - Outside of the inner gate were rooms for the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate. They faced toward the south. One at the side of the east gate faced toward the north.
45 - He said to me, "This room, which faces toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the duty of the house.
46 - The room which faces toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the duty of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who from among the sons of Levi come near to the LORD to minister to him."
47 - He measured the court, one hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits wide, square. The altar was before the house.
48 - Then he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side. The width of the gate was three cubits on this side and three cubits on that side.
49 - The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the width eleven cubits; even by the steps by which they went up to it. There were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side.

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Ezekiel Images and Notes

The Book of Ezekiel

Ezekiel 3:17-19 - Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

Ezekiel 28:6-10 - Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of [them that are] slain in the midst of the seas. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I [am] God? but thou [shalt be] a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 43:1-4- Afterward he brought me to the gate, [even] the gate that looketh toward the east: And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice [was] like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. And [it was] according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, [even] according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions [were] like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect [is] toward the east.

The Old Testament - A Brief Overview

Bible Survey - Ezekiel
Hebrew Name - Yehezqel "God is strength"
Greek Name - Iezekiel (Greek form of the Hebrew)
Author - Ezekiel (According to Tradition)
Date - 595 BC Approximately
Theme - The final restoration of Israel
Types and Shadows - In Ezekiel Jesus is the son of man

The First Day. Light.

Summary of The Book of Ezekiel

Ezekiel prophesied to the the Jewish captives in Babylon. The Babylonians had invaded Judah three times and each time they took prisoners back to Babylon. The first invasion was in 607 BC and Daniel was taken as a captive to Babylon. The second invasion was in 597 BC and Ezekiel was taken as a captive to Babylon, and in 586 BC Jerusalem was destroyed and all the survivors were taken as captives to Babylon. Ezekiel was married to a beautiful woman who was "the desire of his eyes" and God told him but his beloved wife was going to die on the very same day that Jerusalem was to be destroyed. As a sign to the Jews is a cure was commanded not to mourn his wife's death. He was to prepare himself as God had prepared himself for the death of his beloved city (Ezekiel 24:15-22). God spoke many prophecies through Ezekiel using words, parables, visions, and similitudes (strange things to point to something greater). Ezekiel also prophesied about the false shepherds in Jerusalem and God said that he will be the true Shepherd Messiah and there will be a future outpouring of the Holy Spirit and a re-gathering of Israel in the land. Ezekiel also predicted the downfall of those nations that were hostile to Judah. Ezekiel 16 is probably the most remarkable chapter concerning the love of God for his people in spite of their continuing idolatry. - The above text is � Rusty Russell - Bible History Online and must be sourced for use on a website.

"Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you," says the Lord GOD. "But you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame, and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it." Ezekiel 16:14-15

The prophet Ezekiel taken captive during the time when the Babylonians began their captivity of Judah during the time of the reign of king Jehoichin, which was about 11 years before Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem. Ezekiel was one of the Jewish captives who was brought to the land of Babylon and settled on the banks of the river Chebar. While he was by this river and the "land of the Chaldeans" he had a prophetic vision and received his call to be a prophet to the people in exile. This all happened in the fourth month of the "fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity" (595 BC). There is one interesting note that Ezekiel makes when he mentions that he married a woman in the land of Babylon and had a house, and that he lost his wife on the very day that the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem took place. Something else that is interesting is that the prophecies of Ezekiel address the Jews in Jerusalem and the events taking place over there, as though he was in Jerusalem, but he was actually in Babylon.

According to Jewish tradition Ezekiel was murdered in Babylon by a Jewish prince whom Ezekiel accused of idolatry, Ezekiel was supposedly buried on the banks of the Euphrates River.

The major divisions within the book of Ezekiel reveal the purpose of this ministry. In the first half of the book of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1-33) Judah is accused of breaking all of God's commandments, and they are warned by God that they will be destroyed if they persist in their sins. After Ezekiel's announcement of Jerusalem's destruction the book of Ezekiel focuses on an entirely different subject, which is one of comfort and encouragement to the heartbroken Jews.

The contents of the book may be analyzed further as follows :

Outline of the Book of Ezekiel

I. Israel's sin and impending judgment, uttered before the final captivity (Ezekiel 1-24).

1) Biographical information concerning Ezekiel, including a note as to his personal situation and a description of his call to the prophetic ministry (Ezekiel 1-3 ).
2 ) The siege of Jerusalem portrayed in four symbolical acts (Ezekiel 4-7 ). In the first of these, Ezekiel evidently drew a picture of a city under siege, indicating that this was soon to be the condition of Jerusalem. After this, Ezekiel lay on his side for a great number of days, announcing that the nation was to be punished for its sins. By eating an inferior type of food which had been cooked on animal dung, Ezekiel predicted the famine which would accompany the siege. In the final act, Ezekiel shaved his head, burning his hair, striking it with a sword and scattering it to the winds, indicating the fate of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Ezekiel 6 and 7 contain additional oracles concerning Israel's sin and imminent doom.
3 ) Visions of idolatry in Jerusalem and the resultant judgment and destruction of that city (Ezekiel 8-11).
4 ) Further prophecies against Jerusalem (Ezekiel 12-24). This section contains a rebuke of false prophets and hypocrites (Ezekiel 12-14), a repeated emphasis on the certainty and necessity of punishment (Ezekiel 15-17), a discussion of retribution and responsibility and a reassertion of God's love toward sinners (Ezekiel 18), a lamentation or dirge over the rulers of Judah (Ezekiel 19) and final warnings before the complete destruction of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 20-24).

II. Prophecies against the nations of Am-mon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon and Egypt (Ezekiel 25-32).

III. Prophecies concerning the restoration of Israel, uttered after the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.

1 ) A discussion of the responsibility of the people to respond to the call of the prophet (Ezekiel 33: 1-20).
2 ) The announcement of the fall of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 33:21-33).
3 ) A contrast between the leadership of the faithless shepherds ( kings) of Judah and Israel and the true shepherd who was to come (Ezekiel 34).
4 ) The doom of Edom (Ezekiel 35).
5 ) The vision of the valley of dry bones, symbolizing the resurrection of the remnant of Israel (Ezekiel 36-37).
6 ) The prophecy of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38-39 ).
7 ) The rebuilt Temple (Ezekiel 40-48).

The First Day. Light.

Ezekiel Resources

The Divided Kingdom
The Northern Kingdom of Israel
The Southern Kingdom of Judah
The Assyrian Captivity
The Babylonian Captivity
The Return From Babylon
The Prophets
The Messiah

The Book of Ezekiel

More About the Book of Ezekiel
Ezekiel in the Picture Study Bible
Timeline of the Ancient World
Back to the Old Testament
Back to Bible History Online
 

Bibliography Information

Free Bible Online - Picture Study Bible, King James Version. New York: American Bible Society: www.free-bible.com, 1995-2013. Bible History Picture Study Bible. Nov 17, 2024.

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