In Today's Email:
Exodus 44 Notes
In this chapter is a message for the Levites and priests serving in the End Times Temple.
vs. 1-3 – The Eastern Gate is closed after the Shekinah glory entered through it. This honors that event but also tells us the Lord’s presence will not retreat again from the Temple. The Prince (Christ?) uses this enclosed space.
vs. 4-14 – A message for the Levites that had fallen into idolatry in the days before the fall of Jerusalem. Because they had betrayed their sacred charge, they would no longer be allowed to serve in the Temple as they had before.
vs. 15-27 – The role and ministry of the priesthood. They are charged to maintain their service in holiness.
vs. 28-31 – The provision for the priesthood.
Exodus 45 Notes
In this chapter the placement and service of the Prince and priests in the Millennial Kingdom.
vs. 1-8 – Instead of being scattered throughout the Promised Land in various cities (Numbers 35:1-8). The type of measurement is not given in Hebrew but should be reeds to be consistent with the previous measurements. In that case the area is around 50 miles square.
vs. 9-17 – The government and economy of the Millennial Kingdom.
vs. 18-25 – The observances of the sacrifices and rites in the Millennial Kingdom
Exodus 46 Notes
In this chapter we finish the tour of the Temple
vs. 1-15 – The order of sacrifices and worship during the Millennial Kingdom and the participation of the Prince.
vs. 16-18 – The purpose of this passage is to emphasize the security of the land. It will not pass from the possession of the Prince or his people. The Year of Jubilee (see Leviticus 25) is back in effect to aid in this.
vs. 19-24 – A quick tour of sites in the Temple complex.
Closing Thoughts
This vision should have given the Jews in captivity great hope. God was not finished with them. Better days were ahead. Assyria? Babylon? Egypt? The golden days of Israel will eclipse them all! I like to say that prophecy is pre-written history. The day is coming when Christ shall rule and reign on this earth. He will be worshipped in a magnificent Temple. We ought to look forward to witnessing this. So many times we just look forward to Heaven because it ends our suffering here. But the testimony of Scripture is that we will rule and reign with Him (Revelation 20:4-6). We ought to get excited at the wonderful things ahead that we will witness. We ought to be excited about King Jesus’s future reign.
Hymn for Today
Our hymn today is “Jerusalem, the Golden”. It was originally written by Bernard of Cluny around 1145 and translated into English by J.M. Neale in the 19th century. Neale translated 218 of the original almost 3,000 lines. This song longs for the fulfillment of the promises of God that will surely come for His people.
Jerusalem the golden,
with milk and honey blest,
Beneath thy contemplation
sink heart and voice oppressed.
I know not, O I know not,
what joys await us there,
What radiancy of glory,
what bliss beyond compare.
They stand, those halls of Zion,
all jubilant with song,
And bright with many an angel,
and all the martyr throng;
The Prince is ever in them,
the daylight is serene.
The pastures of the blessèd
are decked in glorious sheen.
There is the throne of David,
and there, from care released,
The shout of them that triumph,
the song of them that feast;
And they, who with their Leader,
have conquered in the fight,
Forever and forever
are clad in robes of white.
O sweet and blessèd country,
the home of God’s elect!
O sweet and blessèd country,
that eager hearts expect!
Jesus, in mercy bring us
to that dear land of rest,
Who art, with God the Father,
and Spirit, ever blessed.
Brief life is here our portion,
brief sorrow, short lived care;
The life that knows no ending,
the tearless life, is there.
O happy retribution!
Short toil, eternal rest;
For mortals and for sinners,
a mansion with the blest.
That we should look, poor wanderers,
to have our home on high!
That worms should seek for dwellings
beyond the starry sky!
And now we fight the battle,
but then shall wear the crown
Of full and everlasting,
and passionless renown.
And how we watch and struggle,
and now we live in hope,
And Zion in her anguish
with Babylon must cope;
But he whom now we trust in
shall then be seen and known,
And they that know and see Him
shall have Him for their own.
For thee, O dear, dear country,
mine eyes their vigils keep;
For very love, beholding,
thy happy name, they weep:
The mention of thy glory
is unction to the breast,
And medicine in sickness,
and love, and life, and rest.
O one, O only mansion!
O paradise of joy!
Where tears are ever banished,
and smiles have no alloy;
The cross is all thy splendor,
the Crucified thy praise,
His laud and benediction
thy ransomed people raise.
Jerusalem the glorious!
Glory of the elect!
O dear and future vision
that eager hearts expect!
Even now by faith I see thee,
even here thy walls discern;
To thee my thoughts are kindled,
and strive, and pant, and yearn.
Jerusalem, the only,
that look’st from heaven below,
In thee is all my glory,
in me is all my woe!
And though my body may not,
my spirit seeks thee fain,
Till flesh and earth return me
to earth and flesh again.
Jerusalem, exulting
on that securest shore,
I hope thee, wish thee,
sing thee, and love thee evermore!
I ask not for my merit:
I seek not to deny
My merit is destruction,
a child of wrath am I.
But yet with faith I venture
and hope upon the way,
For those perennial guerdons
I labor night and day.
The best and dearest Father
who made me, and who saved,
Bore with me in defilement,
and from defilement laved.
When in His strength I struggle,
for very joy I leap;
When in my sin I totter,
I weep, or try to weep:
And grace, sweet grace celestial,
shall all its love display,
And David’s royal fountain
purge every stain away.
O sweet and blessèd country,
shall I ever see thy face?
O sweet and blessèd country,
shall I ever win thy grace?
I have the hope within me
to comfort and to bless!
Shall I ever win the prize itself?
O tell me, tell me, Yes!
Strive, man, to win that glory;
toil, man, to gain that light;
Send hope before to grasp it,
till hope be lost in sight.
Exult, O dust and ashes,
the Lord shall be thy part:
His only, His forever
thou shalt be, and thou art.