Bible Question:
Thanks for answering, Beja. I follow your reasoning, but I still don't understand about all the measurements, which seem to be intended as literal. If Ezekiel's vision was only symbolic, how do they fit in? By the way, if one menorah is an almond tree, does that mean that ten (as in Solomon's Temple) are an orchard (like the garden in Eden)? loavesnfish |
Bible Answer: Loavesnfish, I think you are pressing details too far. In every vision and prophecy we see a tendancy to provide details that are simply filling out the vision. Usually, not always but usually, prophecies tend to have one central point. However, here is what I think we should get from the measurements. First, the scope of the temple is huge. It is a "greater" temple than solomon's. Hence we are looking to something bigger and better than what had come before. Second, the entire thing is a square. The only other two places we see this in scripture is the most holy place, and the new Jerusalem. In both the later cases the square measurments are meant to draw on the significance of the first occurance. The "Holy of Holies" the very presence of God has filled the entire temple in Ezekiel's vision just as we now have direct access to the very presence of God through Christ. And ultimate in the new Jerusalem, John is not trying to tell us we are going to eternally dwell in a giant cube but rather it is meant to show that the direct presence of God has filled the entirity of the new Jerusalem. In the end, this is my view. I did not invent it, and it is well represented through the history of Christianity. But I leave it to your own prayerful consideration. In Christ, Beja |