The Eastern Gate: Ezekiel 43-45

Today’s reading: Ezekiel 43-45.

On Palm Sunday Jesus Christ rode a donkey from the Mount of Olives down through the Kidron Valley and up into Jerusalem through the east-facing Golden Gate. Within forty years the Romans had destroyed Jerusalem with its walls and gates, but Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt them in the 1500’s. As you can see in the picture, Suleiman closed up the Eastern Gate, perhaps because of Jewish beliefs that the Messiah would return through that entrance.

Centuries before Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Ezekiel saw a vision of a future temple with surrounding walls and an Eastern Gate. The size of the visionary temple indicates it won’t be built until the topography of Palestine is drastically altered at Jesus’ second coming. When this future temple is completed, the glory of the LORD returns through the Eastern Gate just as it departed before the Babylonians destroyed the city…