On page 451, let's start there on Ezekiel 37, 26 through 28, and it says this, Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. God's talking about Israel, and this covenant of peace, this everlasting covenant, is the new covenant, okay? And I will place them and multiply them, and I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them. and I will be their God and they shall be my people. So it's a reestablishment of that connection. Before God had divorced Israel, as you recall, and they weren't his people, now they are his people because of their belief. And the nation shall know that I am Yahweh that sanctifies Israel when my sanctuary will be in the midst of them forevermore. Notice the last phrase, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore. This is what I want you to start keying in on. As you're starting now to look at the Millennial Temple, and I gave you that handout, I don't want to get into the minutiae of a lot of it. When you read Ezekiel, a lot of it is explaining what the dimensions are. And as I mentioned last week, when you have something that literal, where it's this measurements, that measurements, this high, that wide, this long, all that stuff, that signals to the reader, this is literal, not allegorical. And so what you end up, and this is an artist's conception of what the Millennial Temple will kind of look like. That just gives you a good understanding when you're reading Ezekiel 40 through 48 what we're looking at. There's a lot of things missing in this temple. One thing to note, there's no curtains. The two curtains are missing. There's no menorah. There's no table of showbread. There's no Ark of the Covenant. All those pieces of the temple are missing. Why do you think they're missing? He's there. The anti-type, the fulfillment of the types, is there. The menorah represents Messiah, the table of showbread, the altar of incense, all that stuff. You don't need those articles because those articles pointed to the Messiah. Now the Messiah is there, so the temple doesn't need those things. The Ark of the Covenant, He's sitting on His throne. That's Him. He's right there. Okay, but one of the big things that you want to see is the necessity of a temple. And this is the thing I gave you homework about, and I want to talk a little bit about it, and we're going to read more here in just a bit. But again, I'm trying to point to something of the necessity of why is there a need for a temple in the millennial reign. Question, why do we not have a temple now? Why do we not make sacrifices? Okay, so if he fulfills the law, you got that right, so there's no need for the oblations or sacrifices of the Mosaic law, right? That's rendered inoperative according to the Apostle Paul, so you know that. Okay, so there's no need for sacrifices at this point of blood and bulls and goats, okay? Because Messiah's blood cleanses us from sin, cleanses our conscience, makes it acceptable to approach the Lord, and the heavenlies and we can go beyond the veil. Okay, so you know that, great. So here's the question then, why do we go back? Why do we end up with another temple? If that's been all accomplished and you and I are enjoying the new covenant right now, why does it seem like in the kingdom we go, it's almost like, it seems like we're going backwards. Why will, yeah, why will all the nations have to go to the millennial temple Okay, good. Now here's my question about that. Are you saved the same way today as you will in the millennial kingdom, as someone in the millennial kingdom? Are you saved the same way as you are today as someone in the millennial kingdom? Yes, no? Are you saved the same way? You believe, you're then regenerated, you're given a new nature. Is that the same as what happens in the millennial kingdom? Yes. Yeah, so distinguish, I'm not talking about the glorified saints. Take the glorified saints out. Take us out of that picture. Let's just talk to a regular mortal that lived through the tribulation that makes it into the kingdom, Jew or Gentile. Is that Jew and Gentile that makes it through, that's mortal, saved the same way you are today? Okay, let me go through the logic of that. Therefore, as Jesus said to the woman on the well, she was making a distinguish between Samaria versus Jerusalem. He says, you Jews say it's Jerusalem, we say it's here in Samaria, and Messiah responds, what? There will come a day when you will worship the Father as the Father desires. You will neither worship here in Jerusalem or here in Samaria, but you will worship the Father in what? In spirit and in truth. You won't need a location to go to. The day will come. Has it come? Yes. We're in Bakersfield and you actually can go behind the veil and worship the Father through the Messiah and His authority and have full access to Him. But what about the Millennium? Why can't you have full access to him? Why are there barriers that you can't get to him even if you are saved in the kingdom? Because you should be able to go behind the veil. You should go right up to Jesus, right? Not with a sin nature. True, they still have a sin nature, yes. They don't have glorified bodies, so they're still in their regular mortal bodies. Now that's different than you and I who have been glorified bodies at that point in time. So take yourself out of the equation. So if I'm saved during the kingdom, I still retain a sin nature, because they're not glorified until the end of the millennium. They are saved, and they will live for a thousand years. They have a sin nature, they retain their old body still, they're mortal. So why do I need to still keep doing sacrifices? Because you're just going to read about sacrifices right now. It's true, he's not going to die again, but doesn't the blood of Christ cleanse them from all sins? So why can't they just walk into the temple? If the blood of Christ is continuing to wash their sins, they're confessed up, they're forgiven. Why are there restrictions as far as in the millennial? That's what the millennial temple, the millennial temple is signaling there are restrictions to your access to me. And this dispensation, that's a good point. Maybe it's different, maybe. They're not rewarded yet. That's a good point. The reward of proximity to Him, you're right, but that's on a different scale for glorified saints. So you're right. Okay, so you're onto something. So Christ is there. So here's what I want you to think about. Read the last line again, Ezekiel 37, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore. It's telling you what? It seems obvious, but say the obvious real quick. Say the obvious. What's going on here? He is, but what is he saying about his location? He's physically there. It's signaling. I know that seems a brand new thing in the office. I know, but there's something there you have to get. He's there. Context. What happened in Ezekiel's day that Ezekiel talked about? About the temple. They defiled it. Remember? That's the big theme of Ezekiel. Is there's a reason they're in the exile because they defiled the worship of Yahweh. And you remember what was happening? Ezekiel was taken there and he was shown what was going on in the temple and they had idols. They even had the camus, stuff like that. And so the Shekinah did what? left the presence of Yahweh left and he saw it go up the presence leave to the eastern gate right so now now the Shekinah is back are you following okay you have a departure because they defiled the temple you have a return and you have a new temple that's undefiled signaling the presence of Yahweh is there in the presence of the Messiah obviously the same Yahweh is there in the presence of the second person of the Trinity okay good you're on to something even in our flesh you have access obviously to God the Father in heaven through the Messiah but we're talking about a spiritual access Yes? You don't walk right up to God. Even right now you don't. You're separated physically from God. You know that. Now you know omnipresence, his presence is everywhere. What that means is anything can be brought into his presence in an instant and he sees all. But it doesn't mean he's physically next to you. If he's physically next to you, he would kill you. You could not take the Shekinah. It would literally kill you even if you were saved or not. It would kill you. It would be too much for you. You would become unraveled, like Isaiah said. You would die. So there's an issue there that we all have to understand. Yes, you have spiritual access to the Father, but you do not have physical access. Because what is the term about heaven? No blank can inherit the kingdom of heaven. No flesh. Why can't flesh just waltz up in there? Because flesh, the current flesh we have, is tainted by the sin nature. We would defile things, okay? That's why he told Martha at Easter time or the resurrection, don't touch me. Don't touch me. Why? She would defile. He was getting ready to carry his blood back to the heavenly sanctuary. And we'll talk about that in part two of Life of the Messiah, about the cleansing of heaven by the blood of the Messiah. Because he needed to take his blood and cleanse the heavenly tabernacle of heaven according to Hebrews chapter 9. So he doesn't want her defiling him, defiling his blood by her touch. The point is, that's been a theme throughout the scriptures. The ground is not what defiles you. It's not the dirt that defiles you. Remember that the ark was falling? That one situation? That one old boy came up there and tried to prevent the ark from falling, and what happened? He got zapped, did he not? Because he touched the ark to prevent it from falling. And you think, well, he was trying to do a good thing, and he was trying to prevent it from falling in the dirt and getting dirty. But what was the point? Why did God zap him? He's defiling it, and what is the point? It is not the dirt that would defile the ark. If it fell and hit the dirt, the dirt is not going to defile the ark. What would defile it? Man's touch. The sin nature in the man, the man touching things is going to defile the things that are holy. That's been the constant theme throughout scripture. You can't come close to God because you're unholy. You have to have a certain distance. That's why they had the high priest come in there once a year from one tribe, one time a year, and he came in full blood and sprinkled the altar with blood. Okay, so now the Shekinah is back. in the manifestation of the Messiah and Second Person of the Trinity. Okay, so keep that thought, and then what I want you to do is turn over, it doesn't have too many scriptures for you, let's do this, let me read the scriptures, okay? If you start chapter 43 of Ezekiel, if you don't have your Bibles, don't worry, just listen to this. Because Fruitanbam doesn't throw out all these scriptures. But I want you to listen to this. This is chapter 43 of Ezekiel. We'll start in verse 18. And I want you to listen for key terms, okay? It'll tell you the necessity of the sacrifices. And he said to me, son of man, thus says the Lord God, these are ordinance for the altar of the day when it is made for sacrificing burnt offerings on it and for sprinkling blood on it, okay? So here's the question as he's talking about these sacrifices. What is the need or the necessity of having these sacrifices? A lot of people will say, well, there's for this and they, I don't know if they understand the implications of saying what they say. Are these sacrifices for memorials, or are they efficacious? Just keep reading. I want you to keep that thing in mind. Some people say they're for memorial, but then I want you to listen to the passages. You have to define what we mean by efficacious, and that's the key here. Because otherwise you will get twisted into a theological pretzel you won't get out of. And you have to be real careful as you tread in this area because the mistake is to not understand what the efficacious aspects are for. Okay, so follow me and see if you can get clues in the text. You shall give a young bull for a sin offering to the priests, the Levites who are the seed of Zadok who approach me. Notice the approaching. They approach me to minister to me. You shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim around it. Thus you shall cleanse it, underline the word cleanse, and make atonement for it. Then you shall also take a bull of sin offering and burn it on the appointed place of the temple outside the sanctuary. On the second day you shall offer a kid of goats without blemish for a sin offering. And they shall cleanse the altar as they cleansed it with a bull." When you have finished cleansing it, You shall offer a young bull without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish. When you offer them before the Lord, the priest shall throw salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord. Every day for seven days you shall prepare a goat for a sin offering. They shall also prepare a young bull and a ram for the flock, both without blemish. Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and purify it, and so consecrate it. When these days are over, it shall be on the eighth day and thereafter that the priest shall offer your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar, and I will accept you, says the Lord God. Did you get the emphasis? What are the reasons for the sacrifices? Did you see the common theme there? Cleanse, cleanse, cleanse. And then I will accept you, but I want this thing cleansed. And notice it uses the term sin offering several times based on that passage alone. Because there's more passages in the rest of this text that refer to sin offerings and grain offerings and all kinds of other things. It cannot simply be a memorial. It can't. If I'm to take this, what Ezekiel is saying, these offerings are efficacious. And I've seen plenty of commentators who simply are not reading Ezekiel literally and say, well, these are all just memorials and mores. And I get that to some degree. I get that all the sacrifices, even in the Old Testament, pointed towards the Messiah, and these sacrifices point back. There's no doubt about that. But that's not what Ezekiel is saying. What is he saying? You're doing this and I need this area cleansed. So then let's talk about this and let's walk in some real tricky water so we don't make mistakes. Yes. Talking about mortals, Jews and Gentiles. Yes, but also could include oblations and sacrifices from non-saved individuals as well. Yeah, so let me read Zechariah real quick. I'll add something to what you're saying. This is Zechariah 14, and it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations of the Goyim, the Gentiles, which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King. the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whatever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain. They shall receive the plague which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not keep the Feast of Tabernacles. What does that say? Who's coming up? That's Zechariah 14, 16 through 19. The Goyim is referenced there. Ah, now you already know Israel's gonna come up, they're already there for the feasts. But it's saying all the nations are gonna be required to do this. Once a year you must come to the Feast of Tabernacles and do what with him? You must worship me. I demand it. And if you don't, I will send a plague to you. This is rod of iron rule. Okay, question. Does that include Gentiles? If he's referring to the Goyim, yes, right? Question then, we know all of Israel will save and be saved perpetually through the kingdom. Therefore, the only unsaved element is in the Goyim. It's only in the Gentiles. Question, back to what Stephen was asking. Will there be unsaved Gentiles required to come to the Feast of Tabernacles and worship Jesus, even if they don't believe in him? Absolutely. You will bow a knee, whether you like it or not. You will bow a knee. That's the rod of iron rule, right? And so there's gonna be Gentiles there that don't believe. There's also Gentiles that do believe. Okay, all of Israel's still saved. Are you catching on to what's going on? then why does the temple have to be purified? There are Gentiles not saved that are forced to bow a knee to come there. Now they can't get close to him, but they're forced to come to Jerusalem, they're forced to come to the Millennial Temple. Also, the saved Jews and the saved Gentiles that are coming there because they want to go there, obviously because they're saved, what's the problem with them too? They don't have unbelief, but they still have something else. Sin nature is still in their bodies. Yeah, then, so those Gentiles, if they don't get saved, will die, but a new generation will crop up, right? So the saved Gentiles will go on, live for the rest of the kingdom. If they don't, they've reached the age of 100, they die, but that new generation comes through. So you have 10 generations coming through. So what it'll indicate is that there will be, probably every year, probably, unsaved Gentiles That's right, and then at the end, obviously he destroys them with fire as they attack Jerusalem. But until then, they are forced to come worship him every year. So now I think when you start adding that all up, I think you start understanding what Ezekiel's talking about. So if they're efficacious, This is the theological question you have to get. How are they efficacious? They're sacrifices, man. You have to deal with that. They're shedding of blood of animals. But yet, if I go to Hebrews, it says the blood of bulls and goats could not cleanse you of sin. It just covered it. But is Ezekiel talking about the same thing as the writer of Hebrews is talking about? This is where the confusion starts happening. What is Ezekiel talking about versus the writer of Hebrews talking about? Thank you. Okay, you got it. That's the distinction. You have to keep that distinction, otherwise you will mess this up and get fouled up pretty quick. Okay, yes. The writer of Hebrews is dealing with salvation. Okay, so follow me on this. This is why he's making a point to the Judaizers that he's arguing with, who are facing going back into apostasy, into Judaism. And he's saying, look, the law can't cleanse you of sin and make you righteous to be saved. Only the blood of the Messiah can cleanse you from all sin and give you a foreign righteous for salvation. If you guys go back into Judaism, you're going back into the system that tramples on the blood of Christ, Hebrews chapter 10. Hence, his argument is only the blood of Christ cleanses you from all sin and makes you saved. But is Ezekiel talking about salvation? No, he's not. As you saw in the text, he's not referring to anything soteriology. He's referring to the word cleansing, purification. Those are the themes that Ezekiel is dealing with. Right, you had to cleanse the objects. You had to make sure things were holy versus things profane, right? Ah, okay. Yeah, the utensils, everything. So even in Moses's law, those sacrifices, some of them were efficacious for cleansing. Not salvation, we're not talking about salvation. We're talking about cleansing the location, utensils, the place itself from sin. Okay, now that starts making sense. Now if I can keep those things separate, that Ezekiel is not talking about salvation. He's talking about places, objects, things that are defiled by human beings and that these must be continuing to be cleansed because these human beings keep filing in and they're defiling the place by just being present. Their presence is defiling the place. That's why you have to have this constant cleansing going on in the temple. But none of this has to do with salvation, if that makes sense. So, Now let's back up and answer the big question. Why is there a need for a temple with sacrifices then? We talked about, let's add some things up. Who's back present? God. God is present now physically on the earth. Okay? Anytime God is physically present, things must be done in the location where he's at. Even Moses, take off your sandals. Why? You don't want somebody to be barefoot? Why? Because you're on what? Holy ground. Well, what does that mean? You do not defile the area where I occupy. Moses or anybody for that matter you're on holy ground because I'm standing here so anywhere God goes physically his presence needs to be sanctified and Guarded what's the what so so keep following me? So the sacrifices are efficacious in the sense that they cleanse the location Then you have the temple And what is the temple really about? If the presence is there, why do you still need buildings? Why do you need courts and walls and all that stuff? What is it signaling to human beings? Keep out or I'm protecting my own presence with my own buildings. You don't approach me. And so it's a protective mechanism for God's presence. Question, why don't we have a temple now? He's not here physically. If he was, it would require a temple to guard the presence. Yeah? This is what people, commentators, for some reason, will not write in their commentaries. And I don't know why. They'll say, well, these are memorial. And they don't even deal with the fact of, no, the Shekinah is here. And anytime the Shekinah is here, it needs protection from sinful human beings who would try to get close to it. Yeah. It's difficult to explain, as you can see. It takes a little gymnastics, but once you start understanding the need for a temple, a need for a sacred space, then the Millennial Temple makes complete sense. What I just went through is the major stumbling block for Reformed theology. They simply can't get past the understanding of a temple necessary for the future. Does that make sense? That's why they allegorize the whole thousand years. Well, there's no need because now we're, yeah, but we're not talking about salvation. Of course, anyone saved in the millennium can approach Messiah spiritually, can approach the Father spiritually, no doubt about that, but they still can't go physically and neither can you right now. You have to be translated or die and leave your body and your sin nature here before you can go up there. Because that's why in the rapture, what has to happen in the rapture? Do you open your body? No, what happens in a twinkling of an eye? You're given a new body. So before you get up through the gates, you will already have your new body in the rapture prior to getting to heaven. That transaction must take place before you enter in there because no flesh and blood can enter the kingdom of heaven. So at that point, that's why dead people, dead saints, can go there now because they're not with their sin nature, and their body is gone, and so they're up there spiritually now, and obviously they're gonna get their body later on, but that's why they can be in the presence of the Father now, obviously the Son and the atonement that He made. Okay, questions. Yes. And how that provision happens, I don't know. It could be angelic escort. It could be other things too. We might have the ability to escort people because we're not bound by the physical laws of the universe at that point either. We're very much like angels in our transportation as well. So the ability to transport ourselves, fly if you want to call it, would be very much available to us. Yeah, that's one thing, and then I would add that the requirement to come up to Jerusalem every year is an obedience issue, because it indicates that you have the free will to not do it either. Because if you don't, he says, I'm going to send a plague to you. And so there's an indication that you're not, it would seem that you're not transported in that sense is that you physically have to be obedient and go there. And if you don't, like he says in Zechariah, he hammers you for that. Yeah, for the mortals, yes. And the river of life, it will not be an exact duplicate, but it'll be similar to the river of life in the New Jerusalem. And it'll be for the world. And that's what actually replenishes and gives life back to the world after the judgments of the tribulation. And so that will be available. It's a symbol of grace. We'll talk about that later on. But it has supernatural abilities. It turns everything alive again. And so that will flow and be the new water source for the whole world. and whatever that creates, oceans or whatnot, I'm not sure. If you look in the tribulation, all the water sources become blood. Everything's turned to blood. There's no good water sources anymore, so the whole earth is damaged because of that. So another hand somewhere, yeah. Yeah, and you know, if you think about the different dispensations, I want you to think about something. In the dispensations that he's not physically present on earth, you will see no tabernacle. You will see no temple. Even the garden, where his presence was, there was a garden temple. It's wall-less and has no ceiling, but it's there. It's there in the garden because, like I said in the sermon, why is the garden temple wall-less and no ceiling? Right, okay, so there's no other humans to contaminate this, but What else is out there? Okay, so can walls prevent Satan from coming in a place? Ah, now you're catching on. That's why the garden... temple is wall-less or ceiling-less, we're not threatened by human beings contaminating anything. We're threatened by an individual and multiple individuals that are spirit creatures who don't care if there's walls. So there's no point in creating walls or a ceiling. Walls, ceilings, gates are for humans to keep out. But you can't keep out spirit beings. Right? So there's a garden there, but in the time of Abraham, was there a tabernacle? No. In that dispensation of promise, there's no tabernacle because God's presence is not there. How about in the days of Noah? No, no presence. So the presence then becomes only in the time of Moses through Israel, right? And then the days of Solomon, obviously all the way through, and then Messiah himself tabernacles, right? And then in the church age, what happens? No presence. No presence, you don't need a temple. He comes back, he's present on earth, guess what? You need a temple. Anytime God chooses to live on planet Earth, He requires a temple. Guess what? Go further than that. Go past the millennium. What happens then? You have eternity. Is there a temple? But it says in the New Jerusalem there is no temple. Right? Okay, so the New Jerusalem comes on the New Earth, and it says there's no need of a temple, according to Revelation. Because there's no sin, there's no one to threaten. Why do you think the walls are open? And they continually stay open all day long. There's no threat. That's not the walls, the gates. The gates are always open. They don't close. So the symbol of gates, walls, it's in the Jerusalem, but it's signaling you're protected, but there's no threat. They're open. And so that theme is carried that now in eternity, there's no threat of contamination. So there's no necessary need to keep humans out. All the humans here are redeemed and glorified. They have no sin nature. There's nothing to defile the presence of God. Hence, we shall see His face. We shall be with Him, and there's no barrier anymore at that point in time. I don't know if that makes sense, but that's the only way you can understand the sacrifices that happen in the Millennial Temple. Ah, yes, and so what does Paul make his point to the Corinth Church? Your body is the temple. Because if God is not dwelling in a location, but actually dwells in the location of the believer, do you see Paul's argumentation of why he would say your body is the temple? Because he's not dwelling in a location, he's actually dwelling in your heart or your soul. Hence, you have become the new temple in this dispensation. But what are the implications? You defile the temple. You defile your own temple. Your own temple gets defiled. Yeah? That's the problem. You have to cleanse it. Ah, you're catching on. How do you cleanse your own temple? Scrub it up, take a shower? Yes, yes. 1 John 1, 9, you confess, repent, ask for forgiveness. And what then cleanses your temple? Christ's what? Yes, as you read in 1 John 1 9 in the preceding passages, the blood of Christ continually cleanses your temple. Same theme. Dude, you can't write that. You can't make that up. Everything is consistent. Wherever the Godhead dwells requires a temple. And it needs cleansing constantly. And that's why you have to then confess your sins and ask for forgiveness on a continual basis because it cleanses the temple. There's a lot of dots connected. But if you see it, it makes total sense. You have defiled the temple in which He dwells. You have defiled. And what did He do? with any priest who comes in there defiled. You're dead. So to your point, you come into the presence like that and you defile. That's why he said some of you are sick, some of you are weak, some of you have died because you are coming in fellowship and communion and you haven't cleansed your temple. Yeah, they drag him out. Or the high priest, if he dropped dead or had a heart attack or something like that, or he was defiled, they would have to pull him out. So I think you see the constant theme. So there is a benefit now for us not having a temple. You're your own temple. You carry this temple around. Hence, now you understand when he told the woman at the well, you won't have to go to Jerusalem in this next dispensation, nor will you have to go to Samaria. You can do it right where you're at because your body will become the temple and you can worship the Lord in spirit and truth because this has become a temple now in this dispensation. Ah, gotcha. And now that makes perfect sense. And I'm telling you what, when you connect all these dots, everything is consistent. There's nothing you really can't explain when you just do the deep work and connect the dots. Because like our reformed Christians out there who can't accept that there's millennial sacrifices, the reason they can't accept it is because they haven't connected all the dots. They think there's something, they think Ezekiel's sacrifices are efficacious for salvation. And that's not what he's talking about. He's for cleansing. Right? Only Messiah can cleanse you for salvation.