Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

Buckle up, we've got three days of descriptions of Ezekiel's Temple Vision. But guess what? You've

already got one day under your belt. You're almost halfway through.

We made it through five chapters of blueprints for the first temple back in Exodus,

plus 18 more chapters of the descriptions of building and finishing it, so I'm confident we can tackle this too. But before we spend another minute of these three days in this text,

I want to give you a heads up. Ezekiel 40 through 48 is one of the most

challenging sections of scripture in the whole Bible. It's not as hard to read as it is to interpret.

Commentators are at odds on how to view this text, and I'll explain more about that as we

continue in the passage, but I don't want to give too much away yet, so here's what we need to know

for now.

God is giving this vision to Ezekiel in 573 BC, at a time when his people are in exile in a foreign land. For God to go on for nine chapters about this temple is like him showing up and saying,

hey, I know you've lost everything. I know the first temple was destroyed, the one Solomon built

about 350 years ago,

and we're all living here in the land of our enemies. But I want you to know without question

that I've got a plan for restoration. You're not forgotten. I'm with you. On the day Ezekiel has

this vision, it's not just any day, it's Passover. That's the day that commemorates the Israelites exodus from Egyptian

slavery. And the Passover celebration also corresponds to our modern day celebration of Easter,

because Jesus had gone to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover when he was crucified.

As part of Ezekiel's Passover vision, God gives him a complimentary tour guide. He kind of resembles

the fiery man as Ezekiel saw back in chapter 8. And remember how the linen man in chapter 9

brought his own tool belt for writing? Bronze man also comes with tools. They're both tools for

measuring, a reed and a cord, which served kind of like a tape measure and a ruler.

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