Scripture Reading: Ezek. 40:17-47; 46:21-22
In the foregoing message, we covered many of the details related to the gates. They are divided into four sections: the first threshold, a passage, a further threshold, and the porch. Each gate is six cubits high and ten cubits wide. Six is the number of the Lord’s humanity, by which He fulfilled all the requirements of the Ten Commandments. This indicates that the number six fulfills the number ten; that is, the man Jesus fulfills the Ten Commandments. As we have pointed out, the dimensions of the guardrooms match the dimensions of the cross section of the wall — six cubits by six cubits. This indicates that to us the guardrooms are Christ Himself as God mingled with man. The passage, having the number eight, indicates a new beginning in resurrection. The porch, the final section of the gate, has the numbers two, six, and eight, indicating that the Lord as a man is fully in resurrection
All the numbers used in Ezekiel with respect to the building of God are very meaningful. The numbers three, five, and multiples of five are used frequently. For instance, extensive use is made of the number thirty, which signifies the Triune God in resurrection bearing the full responsibility. When Ezekiel saw the visions in chapter one, he was thirty years of age. There are thirty supporting posts, thirty chambers in the outer court, and thirty side chambers surrounding the temple. In Ezekiel the number thirty indicates both maturity which is able to bear something and also the enjoyment and expression of Christ.
The palm trees on the posts signify victory and everlasting power. Because the columns must bear the weight of the roof and support the entire building, they need to be in victory and to be everlasting. Christ is the column which supports and bears God’s building with a victorious, everlasting life.
We have also seen that the gate has thirty windows to let in light and air. These windows are covered with a lattice, or screen, to keep the negative things out. All this is precisely the work of the life-giving Spirit: He brings in the light and the air, but He continually screens out the negative things.
In this message we will go on to see that with the temple in Ezekiel there are two courts: the outer court and the inner court. Let us first consider what is in the outer court and then the inner court.
If we would enter into the temple which Ezekiel saw in his vision, we must first climb up the seven steps and then pass through the spacious gate. This would bring us into the outer court of the temple.
The first thing we need to pay attention to in the outer court is the pavement. There is pavement around the wall on the three sides of the outer court, on the east, the south, and the north.
There are six different sections, or areas, of pavement, and on each section there are five chambers. This means that there are thirty chambers. Here the number thirty is composed of five times six.
In addition to the thirty chambers on the pavement, there are four small courts, one at each corner of the outer court. These four courts at the four corners are places for boiling the sacrifices. In modern terms, these are kitchens, places for cooking food. These cooking places are used not by the priests but by the people. Whereas the priests eat in the inner court, the people eat in the outer court.
Outside of these kitchens, these cooking places, are some chambers. These chambers are for eating, just as in our homes the room connected to the kitchen is the dining room, a place for eating the food prepared in the kitchen. In Ezekiel, the chambers connected to the kitchens are dining places for the people to enjoy the sacrifices. This indicates that these chambers are places to enjoy Christ. From this we can see that the main thing in the outer court is the enjoyment of Christ as the offerings and sacrifices. After we pass through the gate, we come to the outer court and enter into the chambers to eat, to enjoy, Christ, who is the reality of all the offerings.
Ezekiel tells us that these chambers for eating are built upon the pavement (40:17). In ancient times the pavement of a court was made with stones. This indicates that whenever we are about to enjoy Christ, we need to be on a pavement made of stones. The stone pavement separates us from the dirt of the earth. Otherwise, our feet would be on the dirt. As believers in Christ, we have the pavement of the stones to separate us from the dirt. Although we are still on the earth and in the world, we are separated from any kind of dirt.
Originally, as the old creation, we were clay, being the same in nature as the earth. We came out of the earth, and we were one with the earth. But when we were saved, converted, and regenerated, we became stones, which are for the pavement. Now if we intend to enjoy Christ, we need to stand upon the stones of our regeneration.
However, in their daily situation, many genuine Christians do not stand upon these stones. After work, they may engage in certain worldly activities and entertainments. They are genuine Christians, but they are standing on dirt; they do not have a pavement of stones under their feet.
As those in the church life in the Lord’s recovery, our situation should be very different. When we come home after a day at work or at school, we may take a rest or have dinner. Then, exercising our spirit to call on the Lord, we gather together in a meeting to enjoy the Lord. This indicates that we are standing on a pavement of stones. Furthermore, in our experience the pavement on which we are standing becomes a place, a “chamber,” for us to enjoy Christ. Many of us can testify that day by day we are in the chambers enjoying Christ. This is especially true of the Lord’s Day. By contacting the Lord early in the morning, we put our feet on the stones and prepare ourselves to come into the chambers. Then in the meetings of the church we enjoy Christ by eating Him.
The number thirty, used in relation to the chambers, is composed either of five times six or of three times ten. If thirty is composed of five times six, we then have man (six) multiplied by responsibility (five). If thirty is composed of three times ten, then we have the Triune God in resurrection (three) fulfilling all the requirements (ten). The Christ whom we enjoy is the number thirty. He is not merely five or six or three. As the number thirty, He includes six, five, three, and ten. In Him we have man, the Triune God, resurrection, responsibility, and the fulfillment of all the requirements. The number ten also signifies completion and perfection. This indicates that in Christ we have completeness and perfection. Praise the Lord that we have such a rich Christ for our enjoyment!
The number thirty here corresponds to the thirty sides of the posts. This indicates that our enjoyment of Christ depends on His being the supporting posts, or pillars. The extent to which He bears, supports, and sustains, is the extent to which we can enjoy Him. Also, the thirty chambers correspond to the thirty windows. If the all-inclusive Spirit were not of the number thirty, we could not have the rich enjoyment of Christ as the number thirty.
If we consult the diagram of the plot plan, we will see that the width of the pavement equals the length of the gate. This signifies that the Christ whom we enjoy is the Christ whom we experience. How much we can enjoy Christ depends on how much we experience Christ. If our experience of Christ measures fifty cubits, then our enjoyment of Christ will also measure fifty cubits. How much are we able to enjoy Christ? This depends on how much we experience Christ. The more we pass through Christ, the more we experience Christ, and the more we experience Christ, the more we enjoy Christ. We cannot enjoy Christ if we have Christ only in doctrine. This means that we cannot enjoy a Christ whom we have not experienced. We can only enjoy the Christ whom we have experienced. The width of our enjoyment of Christ always equals the length of our experience of Christ.
The pavement is connected to the gate, for it is by the two sides of the gate. This indicates that the enjoyment of Christ is connected to the experience of Christ. If we do not have the experience of Christ, we cannot have the enjoyment of Christ. Again we see that the enjoyment of Christ depends on the experience of Christ.
In the outer court, at the four corners, are the boiling places. This indicates that, by God’s grace, the preparation of Christ for others’ enjoyment is spreading to every corner, becoming available everywhere. At every “corner” there is a “kitchen” where Christ is being “cooked” for our enjoyment. Wherever we are, there is a kitchen for us. We thank the Lord that the local churches are spreading to every corner of this country. Every corner of the country needs a “kitchen” to prepare Christ for peoples’ enjoyment.
The measurement of the corner chambers is thirty by forty. Thus far we have seen four thirties: thirty sides of the posts, thirty windows, thirty chambers, and thirty cubits. All these thirties are related and correspond to our experience. We need to pass through Christ and then we have to enjoy a Christ who has been “cooked.”
Here we have a new number — forty. Forty is the number of testing and trials. The people of Israel were in the wilderness forty years, and the Lord Jesus was in the wilderness forty days in order to be tested and tried. This indicates that without suffering, testing, and trial, Christ could not have been “cooked,” prepared, to be our enjoyment. For our enjoyment Christ was “cooked.” His suffering under the process of “cooking” was for our enjoyment of Him by eating Him.
Apart from the Lord’s suffering and trials, He could not have been prepared for us to enjoy. In a sense, when the sisters prepared food in the kitchen, the food “suffers.” While the Lord Jesus was on earth and especially while He was dying on the cross, He was under the suffering, the “cooking,” for the sake of our enjoying Him by eating Him.
From the outer court we need to pass into the inner court.
As we enter into the inner court, we also ascend higher. At the entrance to the inner court, there is another set of stairs, consisting not of seven steps but of eight. Outside on the street there are seven steps leading up to the gate of the outer court, and now we see that there are eight steps bringing us to the inner gate of the inner court. From this we see that entering into the inner court means that the more inward we travel, the higher we become. As we go inward, we also go higher. When we pass through the gate into the inner court, we are fifteen steps higher than the people who are outside the wall.
The number seven signifies completion, and the number eight signifies resurrection. This indicates that if we would come into the inner court, we need to be in resurrection. All the natural life and the natural man must be repudiated and crossed out. As indicated by the eight steps, we need to be absolutely in resurrection.
In the inner court we repeat our experience of Christ. We experience Christ again by passing through another gate. We experience the same Christ, but we experience more of Him. This ushers us into the inner court.
In the outer court there is some enjoyment through the boiling and the eating, but there is no service, no ministry to the Lord. But when we pass through the gate to the inner court, the ministering begins immediately.
There is a chamber, probably within the north gate of the inner court, for the priests to wash the burnt offerings (v. 38). In preparing a burnt offering to be offered, a number of steps had to be followed. First the animal was killed, and then it was flayed, or skinned and cut into pieces. After this, the offering was washed. After being washed, the offering was ready to be burned. Washing, therefore, was the last step in the preparation of the burnt offering. The chamber here is not for killing the burnt offering; neither is the chamber for skinning the offering or for cutting it into pieces. Rather, the chamber is only for washing the burnt offering. This indicates that at this point in our experience, we are ready to be a burnt offering for God. Only when we are in resurrection and on a higher level, are we ready to be absolute for God.
Here in the inner court begins the life that is for God. We do not see this in the outer court. In the outer court we have the enjoyment of Christ. But in the inner court we have improvement and progress, for here we are in something that is more inward and also higher. Here the priests are ready to offer the burnt offering, meaning that they are ready to be absolute for the Lord.
Within the north gate there are eight tables. Four are on one side and four are on the other side, making a total of eight. These tables are for slaying the offerings (vv. 39-41). This is the real service, the real ministry. The only ones who participate in this service are the priests. Today in the New Testament age, we all are priests. However, according to our actual experience, if we remain in the outer court, we are still only the people; we are not yet priests. In our experience we cannot be priests until we are in a situation that is both higher and more inward. Only after we get higher and more inward will we have the maturity in life. Then we are ready to be a burnt offering. At this point we can actually serve the Lord and minister to Him. Now we are no longer simply the people; we are priests ready to serve the Lord with a particular ministry.
With the tables, we once again have the number eight, which signifies resurrection. The eight tables are divided into two groups of four and also into four groups of two. These numbers show that the creature is in resurrection as a testimony. We may say that eight is composed of two times four, with four being the number of the creature. We may also say that eight is composed of four times two. Four signifies the creature, eight signifies resurrection, and two signifies testimony. Therefore, here we have the creature in resurrection as a testimony.
The tables are one and a half cubits square and one cubit high. The number one signifies the unique God. By adding the one and a half cubits of the length to the one and a half cubits of the breadth, we have three cubits. Once again, the number three signifies the Triune God in resurrection. The Triune God has been “split,” as indicated by the two sides of the gate, with each measuring one and a half cubits. In the matter of the eight tables, we see that the Triune God, the unique God who became a creature, was “split” on the cross, yet He was resurrected. Now in resurrection He is a testimony. Today our service, our ministry, must be in the Triune God, the unique God, who was “split” as a creature and is now in resurrection as a living testimony.
At this juncture, I would like to summarize what we have covered thus far concerning the burnt offering and the tables. The chambers are for washing the burnt offering, which is something absolute for the Lord. To be ready to offer the burnt offering means that we are ready to be absolute for the Lord. The eight tables, which are in four groups of two tables each, are for slaying the offerings. Eight signifies resurrection, four signifies the creature, and two signifies a testimony. Then the measurement of the tables is one cubit high. One signifies the one God. The number three (three cubits formed by adding the one and a half cubits of the length and width) signifies the Triune God in resurrection. That this three is divided into two parts indicates that the Triune God, who became a creature, was “split” through death and now He is in resurrection. Our service today is in the Triune God, the only God, who was “split” and who is now in resurrection to be a testimony.
From the gate we proceed into the court, where there are two more chambers, one on the north side and another on the south side. These two chambers are for two groups of priests: those who take care of the temple and those who take care of the altar. The chamber on the south side is for the priests who take care of the temple (v. 45), and the chamber on the north side is for the priests who keep the altar (v. 46). These chambers indicate that at this point their service, their ministry, is settled, fixed, stable, and steady. They are fully qualified and steadfast in their ministry.
Originally, we were wandering outside of the wall. Praise the Lord that we got into Christ and passed through Christ into the outer court. Eventually, by the mercy of the Lord we came into the chambers and there we began to taste Christ and enjoy Him. Once we taste Him, we do not want to leave these chambers. However, after we have considerable enjoyment of the Lord, we realize that we need to go up again and experience the significance of the number eight to be absolutely in resurrection. For this, we need to pass through Christ again and come into the inner court. Once we are in the inner court, we need to be ready to be absolute for the Lord. Here we begin the ministry, the service, with the Triune God, who became a creature, who was “split,” and who is now in resurrection as a testimony. Now we become fully qualified priests settled steadfastly in the chambers and taking care of the temple and the altar.
