Monday, October 11, 2021

Martin J. Palmer on the Temple in the Book of Revelation Being Modeled after Ezekiel's Eschatological Temple

  

. . .the so-called “Jerusalem appendix” (Rev. 21:9-22:5) is itself modeled on the description of the temple in Ezekiel 40-48. Ezekiel was carried away by the hand of the Lord to a high mountain to view the temple city (see Ezek. 40:1-2); John was similarly carried away by the Spirit to a high mountain to see the descent of the New Jerusalem (see Rev. 21:10). A “man” appeared to Ezekiel, carrying a measuring reed and a rod, and guided him through the structure of the temple; John also had the services of a guide with a measuring rod. The bulk of Ezekiel’s vision consisted of a description of the temple (see Ezek. 40:5-47:12); John was shown the temple city itself and not a particular building.

 

Other concepts from the Ezekiel temple chapters appear in the Jerusalem appendix with regard to the descent of the New Jerusalem. Nothing unclean was permitted to enter the temple of Ezekiel (see Ezek. 43:7-9; 44:5-9), and nothing unclean will be permitted to enter the New Jerusalem (see Rev. 21:27). A healing river flowed from underneath Ezekiel’s temple, its bank lined with miraculous fruit trees with leaves of great medicinal value (see Ezek. 47:1-12); in the New Jerusalem a river will flow from underneath the throne of God, and there will also be similar trees with healing leaves (see Rev. 22:1-2). In short, all of the motifs dealing with life and fertility that were associated with temples in the Old Testament, including the temple of Ezekiel, are also found centered in the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation. (See Collins, The Combat Myth in the Book of Revelation, 229)

 

In the following passage, the future reconstruction of the temple-city in the eschaton is specifically referred to as an act of creation:

 

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth:
and the former shall not be remembered,
nor come into mind.

But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create
for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing,
and her people a joy (Isa. 65:17-18)

 

The reconstruction of the temple-city will be more than a nationalistic symbol of the restoration of Judah. It will be a renewal of the entire cosmos, of which the temple is a miniature replica. Notice that the Lord said in verse 18 that He would create Jerusalem, not build it, just as He created a new heaven and a new earth in verse 17. (Levenson, Creation and the Persistence of Evil, 89-90) . . . a whole new creation at the end of the world entails far more than a simple return to the conditions of Eden. The new world will be of a higher order than Eden, and, of course, a much higher order than that presently prevailing upon the earth. The main features of the new creation are outlined in Revelation 21:

 

·       Revelation 21:1: There will be no more sea (the sea was the symbol of the initial chaotic disorder described in Gen. 1:2).

·       Revelation 21:2: The relationship between bride and groom (Christ and His people) will be formalized.

·       Revelation 21:3: God will dwell among His people.

·       Revelation 21:4: There will be no more death, mourning, or pain (these are characteristics of chaos and disorder).

·       Revelation 21:5: The Lord will sit “upon the throne” (this is another way of depicting the “rest” of the seventh day of creation; enthronement of the Deity in His temple always follows a new creation).

·       Revelation 21:22: There will be no physical temple building because of the omnipresence of both the Father and the Son. The temple marks the center place, with zones of less-sacred space radiating outward to the edges of the earth, where the forces of chaos lurk. In the new creation, God will be present everywhere; thus there will be no diminishing of sacred space. There will be no “center place”—or in other words, the temple place will be everywhere. (Martin J. Palmer, The Creation Concept: The Genesis Creation Narrative In Light of Documents From the Ancient East [Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2021], 390-91, 393)