Did the Apostle John and Ezekiel meet each other in vision at God’s Temple? (part 1)

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In the vision Yekhezqel (Ezekiel) had of a temple, Yekhezqel watches a man measuring the temple. In the vision apostle Yokhanan (John) had of a temple, recorded in Revelation, God tells him to measure the temple. Was Yekhezqel watching Yokhanan measuring the temple? Did God give allow Yekhezqel to see someone who was born 600-plus years after him?

Passages: Ezekiel 40–43; Rev. 11:1–4; 21:15–23; Zech. 6:9–15; 2 Thess. 2:1–4; Eph. 2:19–22; 1st Cor. 3:16; 6:19–20; 2nd Cor. 6:16–18; Matt. 26:61; John 2:19–21

In Yekhezqel’s record, he watches a bronze man measuring the outer perimeter of the temple and then this same man, measures the inner court and the sanctuary. Once this measuring is complete, Yekhezqel is shown the measurements of this temple, which was the equivalent of one mile square. The entire old city of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) is only about five miles square. This temple is far bigger than either Solomon’s, Nehemiah’s or Herod’s temples.

Solomon had to haul in rock and dirt just to have enough space to build his temple for God. He could not have possibly built the temple that Yekhezqel was shown here.

Revelation 11 shows us the other side of the vision. Yokhanan was told to measure the court but he did not take down the measurements. Why would you take measurements and not write them down? It’s because Yekhezqel was writing them down.

How can this be? Time is irrelevant to God. God is outside of time and is able to bring Yekhezqel and Yokhanan outside the realm of time to measure God’s temple.

This is the same story and it required two witnesses and the two witnesses God chose were Yekhezqel and Yokhanan, together at the same time even though they were born over 600 years apart.

Yokhanan was not told to measure the city itself so Yekhezqel doesn’t reveal how big the city was. Revelation later records how large the city itself. This information was not given to Yekhezqel.

Ezekiel records that the Levites were to own the land immediately around the temple. In Yokhanan’s vision of the same place, Yeshua tells Yokhanan that this area will be occupied by gentiles (the nations), not Levites for a particular period of time.

Revelation 21 records that Yokhanan is speaking with Yeshua and someone else is measuring the outside of the city, its walls, foundations, etc. It has 12 gates yet no temple. In Revelation 11 Yokhanan is measuring a temple, Yekhezqel records the measurements of the temple yet in Revelation 21 says there’s no temple in the New Yerushalayim.

Zechariah 6 describes a temple commissioned by the Messiah and built by gentiles. Solomon’s temple was also built with gentile labor.

If Yekhezqel, Yokhanan and Zechariah are all speaking about the same temple, why is it that Revelation 11 says not to measure the outside because it will be trampled upon by gentiles. There no indication in Scripture that Messiah creates a temple and establishes His reign only to have it destroyed by gentiles.

In 2nd Thessalonians 2, we are told that there is a “son of perdition” who will sit on God’s throne and exalt himself as God there.

Would the Messiah build a house for the anti-Christ to occupy?

Now that we are confused, let’s go back and shed some light. Consider this: what imagery is the Apostle Paul and the Messiah giving us to rectify this conflict. Yekhezqel is told that the people in the temple are to be measured. Revelation shows us that the 12 apostles and His people are the stones of this temple.

Is Yekhezqel seeing a physical structure? Is Yokhanan measuring a physical temple? No, this temple is a temple of people, God’s people, God’s inheritance, not a physical structure.

Matthew 24 tells us that there’s a temple that will be demolished to the point that no stone will be left upon another. I would submit to you that this hasn’t been fulfilled yet. When the Romans destroyed the temple, they did not completely demolish it. There’s still a section of wall of that temple that survives to this day, which we commonly call “the Wailing Wall” or “the Western Wall.”

Don’t assume that the anti-Christ has to occupy a physical third temple or that the Messiah can’t return without a physical third temple. To create a physical third temple with the dimensions mentioned in Yekhezqel would not only require demolishing the Muslim Dome of the Rock but Christian sites such as the Church of the Sepulcher. The focus that many Christians place on folks like a the Temple Mount Faithful is just a distraction. Don’t loose the big picture by focusing on minutia.

You can have a temple without an altar and an altar without a temple.

If the vision of Yekhezqel and Yokhanan are a reference to the people of God as God’s temple rather than a physical temple, then it is possible for the anti-Christ and his false prophet to put themselves into the midst of God’s people. This could certainly be a “strong delusion” for believers to grapple.

The Bible gives physical and spiritual pictures to make a point.

Summary: Tammy.