20th Meeting - Discussion on Millennial Temple

As Paul told us that we needed a second Adam to take sin out of the world that the first Adam introduced when he ate of the fruit. In the same way we needed a second Temple to show the world how the first Temple was to function. Jesus is the second Adam, the God-Man chosen to take sin out of the world. Ezekiel's Temple shows us how the Temple is to operate during the 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ on earth. When Jesus reigns, he will be our King of Kings and our High Priest. Ezekiel and Hebrews are both books in our Bible. We call the Bible the Word of God; since both books are in the Bible then we need to look at both of these being true. God can not contradict Himself. Instead of choosing not to look at Ezekiel because we can not understand it. We should choose to try to find ways to make both books be true. This is what I have tried to do with this study.

In Ezekiel, the High Priest was to come from the line of Zadok. Why Zadok? When you look up Zadok, you will find that he lived during the time of King David. Zadok (1Chronicles 12) is remembered for his loyalty to both David and God. The High Priest was to remind the king that he was to rule according to God's Laws. The High Priest was also to reside over the animal sacrifices and to act as an intercessor between man and God. Since Jesus is our High Priest, He will take over this part of the job. The line of Zadok will be responsible for doing the work of running the Temple. Why is Jesus not responsible for this? Jesus completed His part of task on the cross. This is why Jesus is sitting on the right hand of the Father (His work is finished). In Ezekiel the people who were high priests, but did not stay true to God (Ezekiel 8) will be demoted to lesser priests and do menial tasks (Ezekiel 44). Since these men have already died and are working in the Temple, is spoken plain in Ezekiel but does not make sense to us. God tells us that His ways are not our ways, and that it would be impossible for us to understand everything before it happens. Only after prophecy is fulfilled, can we look at it and understand it; and sometimes not even then.
The high Priest's duties will be carried out by the line of Zadok. Why is there this distinction? When Ezekiel was taken in the spirit from Babylon to the Temple in Jerusalem, the angel that went with him showed Ezekiel all the places the high priests had hidden their idols within the Temple. This was an abomination in the eyes of God. The High Priests that were to show the Israelites the true God, were now the ones responsible for adding to their unbelief. The line of Zadok were the only high priests not to turn away from God during this time.
Going back to what I mentioned earlier in this post, things not making sense. God chose the people of Israel, He judged them more severely than anyone else and if God chooses to show mercy to Israel above that which He does for others; God as God can do whatever it is He wants, and we can not say anything about it. All through out history, the Christians (and the world) have been envious of the Jews, that is why the Jews have been persecuted so unmercilessly by the world. Think about it, no matter where you find a Jew in the world he is still known as being a Jew; even when they had no homeland to call their own, they were still called Jews and not refugees.