I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits, each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. He measured the wall; it was one measuring rod thick and one rod high. – Ezekiel 40:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 2, 2014): Ezekiel 40

I have a dream house. The house of my dreams is built on two levels. The basement is a walkout into the private treed yard in the back of the property. And on one end is a massive library space that is opened up so that it covers both stories of the house. The library of course would be the home of my current book collection (I know, I have to deal with my addiction) with some significant additions – books and collections of books that I don’t currently own, but would like to own. And in my dream the whole house is covered with big windows that allow in a lot of light.

It is fun to dream about my house, but I am under no illusions that the house will ever be built. The house is and will remain a house that lives only in my dreams. It is simply a dream. And, to be honest, the house of my dreams is probably really too large to be practical – especially since there are only two of us left living at home. But for those holiday times when the children and grandchildren (as well as parents, sister with her family, and grandmother) come for a visit - a house that would be a little larger than our present house would be an asset. But it is all just a dream.

Ezekiel dedicates the last nine chapters of his prophecy to a dream. The dream is of a temple. At the time that Ezekiel started to dream of his temple, there was no temple in Jerusalem. The First temple (Solomon’s Temple) had already been destroyed by Babylon and the Second Temple (Zerubbabel’s or Herod’s Temple) had yet to be built. The only temple that existed was the one inside of Ezekiel’s dream. And like a lot of the buildings and houses that we dream about, this temple was much bigger than the one that Solomon had built and that Ezekiel had experienced. The description of the outer wall that surrounded the temple area meant that the temple encompassed all of Temple Mount, not just the portion of Mount that Solomon’s Temple had occupied.

This temple was vast, and it has never been built. In fact, Ezekiel’s Temple is known as the Third Temple – the one that some Jews and Christians are waiting for and expect will be built sometime in the future. But it doesn’t really seem possible that this Temple will ever be built – unless it is the one that is built after the return of Jesus. There are too many conditions and buildings that would have to be removed for the temple to be constructed. But it is fun to dream of Ezekiel’s temple. But for now, Ezekiel’s vast temple remains nothing more than exactly that - a dream.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 41