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The Temple of God is described in Ezekiel, Chapters 40 through 48. As is true of many visions of the Prophets of the Old Testament, the temple seen by Ezekiel undoubtedly has several meanings. It is likely that the Jews of the captivity would be thinking about the restoration of the Temple of Solomon whenever a prophet spoke of seeing a temple.
But the scenes that Ezekiel portrayed just before he described the temple, plus some of his statements about the temple that he saw, suggest to us that God may have included some of the spiritual truths that apply to the Body of Christ.
The Body of Christ is the true and eternal dwelling place of God Almighty. Never again will God live in a temple made with hands (Acts 7:48).
Revelation 21:22 states: "And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it>"
The entire new Jerusalem is the Church, the Wife of the Lamb, the dwelling place of God among people.
Chapter 47 of Ezekiel describes the waters that come out "from under the threshold of the house eastward." This river is the Glory of God which will be poured out until the whole earth is filled with His brightness and power. "Eastward" points toward the morning of the Day of Christ.
But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. (Numbers 14:21)
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14)
In symbolic language, Ezekiel 47:9 portrays the outpouring of God’s Glory that is to stream from the members of the Body of Christ.
And it shall come to pass that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. (Ezekiel 47:9)
Notice also verse 12 of the same chapter, and compare it with verses 1 and 2 of the twenty-second chapter of the Book of Revelation:
And by the river on the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. (Ezekiel 47:12)
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1,2)
Now, think about the following statement of the Lord Jesus:
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:38)
The Throne of God is the heart of the saint. It is out from the believers, as Jesus has declared, that the rivers of living water will flow. In the days in which we are living, Ezekiel’s "river" is springing forth as Christians are allowing the Holy Spirit of God to reveal the Glory of Christ in them.
In the hour to come the Glory of God in Christ will issue from the believers until the whole earth is filled with His Glory. The Godhead will come and abide in the Body of Christ in far greater power and revelation of Divine Glory than was experienced by the prophets of Israel in the days of the Law of Moses.
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts. (Haggai 2:9)
There have occurred many marvelous revelations of the Holy Spirit to the Israel of God, from the time of Abraham. But the vast floodgates of Heaven will be opened in the last days, the time of the return to earth of the Lord Jesus Christ with His saints and holy angels.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. (Joel 3:18)
For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. (Isaiah 61:11)
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them (raising the dead, casting out devils, healing the sick, speaking the words of the Father, the Presence of the Holy Spirit without measure); that they may be one, even as we are one: (John 17:22)
The Glory of Christ, which is the life, light and power of the age to come (Hebrews 6:5), will, according to these words of Jesus in John 17:22, cause the Church to become united in the perfect unity that exists in the Godhead.
Psalms 133 relates the unity of the brothers to the holy anointing oil that was poured on Aaron, the high priest.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment on the head, that ran down on the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended on the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. (Psalms 133:1-3)
Christ, Head and Body, is God’s High Priest. The holy anointing oil of the Holy Spirit coming down upon the Body of Christ creates the oneness that is true of the Godhead.
The rising of the Lord on His people and the putting of His Glory on them causes them to "flow together":
Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted to thee, the forces of the Gentiles [nations] shall come unto thee. (Isaiah 60:5)
When the disciples are in one accord and the Glory of God is abiding on them, believers by the multitudes are added to the Church (Acts 2:1,2, 43-47).
The Glory of God in Christ is the life-giving water that pours out from under the threshold of Ezekiel’s temple. The extent to which the Holy Spirit flows to the world is related to the degree of unity that God has created among the believer and to the amount of Glory that God has given them.
As true unity in Christ increases, the Glory of God increases. As the Glory of God increases, true unity in Christ increases. An increase in one brings an increase in the other.
As the unity and the glory increase, the Son of God, Christ, is revealed to the world, and God is glorified in Him. God has glorified His Son in order that His Son may glorify God.
God has glorified His name once in Christ and He will glorify it again (John 12:28; 17:1). The first glorification was in Christ, the Head. The second glorification will take place as the authority and power of the Head are revealed in the Body. The best is yet to come. He has kept the good wine until now. The greater works are at hand.
The new Jerusalem is described in Revelation, Chapters 21 and 22. Chapter 22, verse 1, tells of the River of Life. The perfected Church descends from Heaven, having the Glory of God (Revelation 21:11). At this point the city of Jerusalem has become the Lamb’s Wife, the dwelling place of God among people (Revelation 21:2,3).
There is no temple in the new Jerusalem because the city itself is the eternal Tabernacle of God. God has taken up His abode in and with His saints, and they will be in Him and with Him, and He in them, to the ages of ages.
From the viewpoint of the rest of the world, the new Jerusalem is the place where God lives and where the nations can come and pay tribute to God Almighty (Revelation 21:24).
God’s Temple forever is Christ—Head and Body. The victorious saints are pillars in that temple and will never again depart from the fullness of His Glory—never, never again!
The entire area is "holiness to the Lord" (Joel 3:17; Zechariah 8:3). Mount Zion has been established in the earth, and God and His Christ have come to live here eternally (Ezekiel 37:26-28). The River of Life, which always is "full of water," is now available to all who will drink. The Tree of Life, which is Christ, and those who are part of Him, provides food and healing for the nations of the earth.
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