Ezekiel 43:1-7ab
Chapter 43
The Glory Returns
He took me to the gate facing east.Then I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east, accompanied by a sound like the roar of the ocean, and the earth was illuminated with His glory.
This vision resembled the one I had seen when He came to destroy the city, and also the one I saw on the bank of the river Chebar. Then I threw myself to the ground.
The glory of the Lord arrived at the temple through the east gate.
The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; the glory of the Lord was filling the house.
And I heard someone speaking to me from the temple while the man was standing beside me.
The voice said:“Son of man, you have seen the place of my throne, where I will place the soles of my feet, and I will live among the Israelites forever. The people of Israel, including their kings, will no longer defile my Holy Name with their prostitution,
Commentaries
New Temple and New Land.
The new temple is designed to avoid past mistakes: it will be reinforced. It will have new boundaries to separate the holiness of the people and their land (42:20). Everything will be reorganized from the sanctuary (43:12). God is returning to dwell among His people. This time, it will be forever (43:7).
The Glory Returns.
It was necessary to clearly mark the boundary of the temple area and, within it, the most sacred space, isolating it as much as possible from any external defilement (43:7-9) because what follows is the return of the Lord’s Glory to the new temple (43:4f); the entrance of the Glory is victorious. If for Ezekiel the experience of exile ends with the departure of God’s Glory from Jerusalem, then the end of exile begins with the return of that same Glory to its original place. The prophet notes that having the temple of the Lord and the king’s palace in the same location led to the desecration of the sacred space; therefore, the new temple includes a designated sacred area to prevent any possible defilement (43:10-12).
The place where the Glory of God made its triumphal entrance, the eastern gate, will remain closed forever, symbolizing God’s decision never to abandon his people again (44:1-9). This permanence calls for careful attention to the character of those allowed to enter the temple, excluding the uncircumcised and foreigners (44:7-9).
The next step in preparing the environment for worship involves the quality of those who will perform this ministry (44:10-31). Ezekiel differentiates between the Levites, who have lost their status due to past infidelities and are nearly second-class servants, and the priests, the sons of Zadok, who have the privilege of entering the sanctuary and must adhere to the strictest standards of personal, ritual, and cultic purity.