Posted By: Charity
The Spring Atonement of Ezekiel's Temple. - 01/19/15 04:59 AM
For several years I've been keen to stimulate study and discussion of Ezekiel's temple vision. (Ez. 40-48.) This past Sabbath, as I was looking at the spring atonement (rather than a fall Day of Atonement, Ezekiel's temple has a double atonement in the spring spanning a week.) it struck me what the reason for this mysterious change might be. I thought this "must be the judgment of the living" and the more I studied it, the more it made sense. But of course I could be wrong so I thought I'd post it here for your review and comment.
We're told by Ellen White that we don't know when the judgment of the living will begin. I agree with that. I believe though that the unfulfilled spring and fall feasts such as this one give us an insight into the appointed times of the great events that many of us will witness before the return of Christ. Here are some reasons for my recent conclusion that the judgment of the living will begin in the spring sometime soon, maybe even this year, according to the vision in Ezekiel's temple:
By the process of elimination, what else can Ezekiel's temple vision be describing in Ezekiel 45:18-20 when it speaks of a spring atonement? If the fall atonement began in 1844 with the judgment of the dead, what else can the spring atonement be if it isn't the sealing and judgment of the living?
The vision depicts the final gathering of God's people at the end of time symbolized by the 12 tribes. It parallels the sealing of the 144,000 of the 12 tribes of Revelation. Ezekiel 48 and Rev. 7. The final ripening of the harvest, the final sealing of God's people is accomplished by the latter rain and is the same process as the judgment of the living.
The pure woman that appears in Revelation 12 symbolizes this final generation. Her purity and victory over sin is the result of the atonement of Christ. Which atonement? Fall or Spring? Since she is a pure royal priesthood, Spring – see below.
The promise of the latter rain and spirit-filling of the church immediately precedes the vision in the final verse of chapter 39. The latter rain is the shower of the Spirit of Truth. Truth means judgment because truth confronts us with sin and we have to decide for or against it.
The glory of God at the end of the age returns to this temple, (see Ezekiel 43:1-12.) not to the Mosaic model. This portends a transition from the early rain to the latter rain and as we've seen, the latter rain means great grace and because it is a rain of truth, it also means sanctifying judgment.
The judgment of the dead could have been accomplished in a day so the Mosaic model covers a day. The judgment of the living takes time because the final ripening of the harvest takes time. The seven days of the spring atonement doesn't necessarily mean seven years but means completion over a period of time.
The final gathering of all the 12 tribes of Israel into one body is the main theme not only of the vision but also of Ezekiel's last 14 chapters. God, in the most impressive and repeated imagery is describing the final redemption, sanctification and judgment of His living people at the end of time.
In the Mosaic service on the Day of Atonement the sin offering of the people is a goat and the offering for the High Priest is a bull. In Ezekiel's temple the offering made to atone for the people is a bull which is only for the Priesthood – there is no goat. This means that the final atonement is for a royal priesthood. This is final generation theology and points to the fulfillment of God's original plan for his people – to make them a royal priesthood. What creates the royal priesthood? The final atonement of grace at the judgment of the living.
The message of THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, and righteousness by faith is the same message as the judgment of God in favor of His people.
Please feel free to disagree and share your thoughts.
We're told by Ellen White that we don't know when the judgment of the living will begin. I agree with that. I believe though that the unfulfilled spring and fall feasts such as this one give us an insight into the appointed times of the great events that many of us will witness before the return of Christ. Here are some reasons for my recent conclusion that the judgment of the living will begin in the spring sometime soon, maybe even this year, according to the vision in Ezekiel's temple:
By the process of elimination, what else can Ezekiel's temple vision be describing in Ezekiel 45:18-20 when it speaks of a spring atonement? If the fall atonement began in 1844 with the judgment of the dead, what else can the spring atonement be if it isn't the sealing and judgment of the living?
The vision depicts the final gathering of God's people at the end of time symbolized by the 12 tribes. It parallels the sealing of the 144,000 of the 12 tribes of Revelation. Ezekiel 48 and Rev. 7. The final ripening of the harvest, the final sealing of God's people is accomplished by the latter rain and is the same process as the judgment of the living.
The pure woman that appears in Revelation 12 symbolizes this final generation. Her purity and victory over sin is the result of the atonement of Christ. Which atonement? Fall or Spring? Since she is a pure royal priesthood, Spring – see below.
The promise of the latter rain and spirit-filling of the church immediately precedes the vision in the final verse of chapter 39. The latter rain is the shower of the Spirit of Truth. Truth means judgment because truth confronts us with sin and we have to decide for or against it.
The glory of God at the end of the age returns to this temple, (see Ezekiel 43:1-12.) not to the Mosaic model. This portends a transition from the early rain to the latter rain and as we've seen, the latter rain means great grace and because it is a rain of truth, it also means sanctifying judgment.
The judgment of the dead could have been accomplished in a day so the Mosaic model covers a day. The judgment of the living takes time because the final ripening of the harvest takes time. The seven days of the spring atonement doesn't necessarily mean seven years but means completion over a period of time.
The final gathering of all the 12 tribes of Israel into one body is the main theme not only of the vision but also of Ezekiel's last 14 chapters. God, in the most impressive and repeated imagery is describing the final redemption, sanctification and judgment of His living people at the end of time.
In the Mosaic service on the Day of Atonement the sin offering of the people is a goat and the offering for the High Priest is a bull. In Ezekiel's temple the offering made to atone for the people is a bull which is only for the Priesthood – there is no goat. This means that the final atonement is for a royal priesthood. This is final generation theology and points to the fulfillment of God's original plan for his people – to make them a royal priesthood. What creates the royal priesthood? The final atonement of grace at the judgment of the living.
The message of THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, and righteousness by faith is the same message as the judgment of God in favor of His people.
Please feel free to disagree and share your thoughts.