Ezekiel

And yet, Israel failed to honor God’s commands. Fast-forward through the history of the divided kingdom, past the destruction of the northern tribes of Israel by the Assyrians—Israel had set up golden calves to worship instead of coming to the Temple in Jerusalem—and past the eventual destruction of Judah by the Babylonians. In this period of devastation, the prophet Ezekiel, carried away into captivity, is given a vision (Ezekiel 1:10).

Ezekiel is shown the filthiness that had been brought into the Temple. Pagan idols and fertility worship had been set up within God’s holy sanctuary. He witnesses the ultimate tragedy: the glory of God departing from the Temple (Ezekiel 10:18). We often think of consequences and punishments as something positive such as God sending a flood or famine. But this outcome is much worse. God withdraws His presence and leaves them to their sin. God can do this same thing to the church when it refuses to worship Him as He commanded.

Why would God do this? God had tabernacled with His people, but now He left them. Surely, some might say, Israel had good intentions in introducing these idols. Perhaps they thought that by including elements of pagan worship, they would make the pagans feel more comfortable and open to hearing the Law of Moses. Perhaps they sought to affirm what was "good" in pagan religions, emphasizing shared virtues and seeking common ground. They might have even viewed these idols as useful aids to worship, imagining that this would show pagans that God cared about them and their histories.

But God is holy. God commands how He is to be worshiped. Israel was called to be a light to the nations—not by adopting the practices of idolatrous cultures, but by teaching them the Law of Moses. Rather than desecrating God’s Temple with pagan idols, Israel should have exposed the sin of idolatry, calling the nations to tear down their own temples and come to worship the true and living God in Jerusalem through vicarious atonement. Instead, Israel had polluted the worship of God on earth.

Pause and reflect on the gravity of this. At that time, nowhere on earth was there correct worship of God. This tragedy was not new—it had been true before the Flood, again just after the Flood, and repeatedly throughout history. True worship of God had always been rare, a small remnant amidst the flood of nations and their idolatrous temples. And now, with God’s glory departing from the Temple, His tabernacling with humanity was broken once more.

The Temple in Jerusalem was rebuilt in the days of Ezra. In Ezra 3, after the foundation of the Temple was laid, the priests came forward with their musical instruments, following the instructions given by David. During this time, Ezra organized the Book of Psalms into the form we know today. There is a profound mystery in the order of the Psalms. Why did God inspire them to be arranged this way? What truths are we meant to learn from this divine ordering?

When the new Temple’s foundation was completed, the reaction of the people was mixed. The younger generation shouted with joy, but the old men who had seen the grandeur of Solomon’s Temple wept (Ezra 3:12). Solomon’s Temple had been magnificent and elaborate, while this new Temple was simple and sparse by comparison. Yet, the prophet Haggai declared that the glory of the latter Temple would surpass that of the former (Haggai 2:9). This was true not only in Haggai’s time but also later, during the reign of Herod the Great, when a colossal Temple complex was built. But why was the latter Temple considered greater?

An important part of Ezekiel’s prophecy sheds light on this. In Ezekiel 40–48, he describes a vision of a rebuilt Temple, emphasizing how it would be protected from uncleanness and kept holy. Through outward signs and practices, this Temple provided even more precise teaching about the defilement of sin and the holiness of God. Its greater glory came not from its physical grandeur but from its emphasis on holiness, which symbolized God’s perfect standard and humanity’s need for purification.

Haggai’s prophecy, however, goes even deeper. The greater glory of the latter Temple ultimately points forward to the Church. The Church, as the body of Christ, fulfills the purpose of the Temple by bringing people into communion with God through Jesus, the ultimate High Priest and perfect sacrifice. With this, we are now ready to consider Christian worship and how it fulfills the principles of holiness and atonement established in the Temple system.