The Place of the Millennial Temple
According to Ezekiel 40:1-46:24, the millennial age will feature a magnificent
temple that will serve as the center for the priestly rituals and offerings.
Because of the opposition to the premillennial point of view, many attempts
have been made to explain away this millennial temple. Amillenarians are obligated
to find some other explanation than the literal interpretation, because they do
not accept the concept of the Millennium itself. Accordingly, they have made a
number of explanations, none of which is supported by the facts. Some have
declared that this is a description of Solomon’s temple or of the temple that
was built by those returning from the Captivity. However, the plans of the
temple are totally different, as a comparison of the specifications of Ezekiel’s
temple (Ezek. 40:5-44:9) and passages referring to the preceding temples (1
Kings 6:2-7:15; 2 Chron. 3:3-4:22; Ezra 6:3-4) show. Failing in their attempt
to identify the temple of Ezekiel with previous temples, amillenarians have resorted
to spiritualization: the temple is merely a symbol or an ideal with the
passages are not intended to convey that an actual temple will be built. Such
an interpretation, however, does not fit the revelation given in Ezekiel which
goes into great detail about the architecture of the temple and its use, much
of which would not have symbolic significance apart from the overall
significance of the temple itself.
The most natural interpretation and one that is in keeping with the interpretation
of the prophecy in general is to accept this prophecy of a future temple as
literal—with the anticipation that in the millennial kingdom this temple will
be built as specified in Ezekiel. If the premillennial interpretation of
Scripture is accepted and the Millennium is recognized in the prophetic
program, these remains no reason why such a temple should not be built.
The significance of the temple is that it will provide a suitable vehicle
for the worship and service of God in the millennial kingdom, similar and yet
different from that provided under the Mosaic Law. The presence of the temple
will assure God’s dwelling in the midst, not only Jesus Christ on the throne in
Jerusalem, but the father and the Holy Spirit as well. The glory that had left
Solomon’s temple (Ezek. 8-11) will fill the millennial temple as recorded by
Ezekiel 44:4: “Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the front of
the temple. I looked and saw the glory of the LORD filling the temple of the
LORD, and I fell facedown.” The temple along with the written Word of God and
the visible presence of Christ will serve to provide an abundance of revelation
to the millennial scene that has not been characteristic of any previous age.
The temple to be built in the Millennium will be much larger than any
historic temple of Israel, being a square 875 feet (500 cubits) in width and
length. Like previous temples, it will face east and will have an outer wall on
the other three sides. The temple will have thirty rooms built on three levels.
Except for the western wall, the other three sides will have a large outer
court that will surround the temple itself with gates in each of the three
walls. One of the outstanding features o the temple, as in the previous temples,
will be provision for animal sacrifices.
The idea of sacrifices in the millennial kingdom seems to contradict the
concept that Christ’s one sacrifice was sufficient. As stated in Hebrews:
Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of
the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do
away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once,
and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the
sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to
bring salvation not those who are waiting for him. (9:26-28)
In attempting to explain the sacrifices of the millennial temple, the
thought is not that the death of Christ is insufficient, but rather that the
sacrifices are a memorial of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary, much as the Old Testament
sacrifices looked forward to fulfilment in Christ’s death. The provisions for sacrifice
in Ezekiel differ somewhat from those provided under the Mosaic Law. Millennium
sacrifices will be required by the ideal circumstances that characterize the
millennial kingdom in which sin would lose some of its awful character. The
sacriifcal system, accordingly , is a reminder of the necessity of blood
sacrifice that points back to the death of Christ as the one ground for salvation
from sin.
Though the sacrificial system is tied to Ezekiel’s temple here, there
are other references to sacrifices in the Millennium that support the same conclusion
(Isa. 56:7; 66:20-23; Jer. 33:18; Zech. 14:16-21; Mal. 3:3-4). At least five of
the Old Testament prophets join in affirming a sacrificial system in the
millennial kingdom. The temple and its system of sacrifices will be an important
part of life in and around Jerusalem and will serve to emphasize the necessity
of life in Christ in the Millennium as well as in other dispensations.
Concerning the worship and service of God in the temple, Ezekiel was informed
that the eastern gate should be kept closed. The explanation is, “’it is to
remain shut because the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered through it. The prince
himself is the only one who may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence
of the LORD. He is to enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the
same way’” (44:2-3). The reference to the prince seems to be a reference to
David, who is considered a prince under Christ (34:23024; 37;24-25). The setting,
of course, is the time of the millennial kingdom after the second coming of
Christ and after the resurrection of David. The ruling that the eastern gate is
to be reserved raises the interesting question concerning the eastern wall that
is now in the wall of Jerusalem and has been closed for many centuries. The
eastern gate of the present wall of Jerusalem is obviously not the same gate as
the wall mentioned in Ezekiel 44, though probably both gates will be open when
Jesus Christ comes to Jerusalem.
Various regulations were issued by Ezekiel concerning the functions of
the priests and Levites in the temple worship. Special sacrifices were to be
offered on the first month and the first day (46:18-19). The Passover feast is
also mentioned as being observed on the first month of the fourteenth day, an
event that followed the seven-day feast of the unleavened bread (45;21-25).
Taken as a whole, spiritual life in the Millennium will be on a different
level from that of any preceding generation and will form a fitting climax to
the experience of the human race throughout the various dispensations. (John F.
Walvoord, Major Bible Prophecies: 37 Crucial Prophecies That Affect You Today
[Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1991], 395-98)