We were looking at Revelation 15 on Friday night, so let us turn there. We came here because of a couple of things. We had been looking at Revelation 19 at the “fine linen, clean and white” that is mentioned there and that the Bride of Christ is clothed in, which is the same language that these seven messengers in Revelation 15 are clothed in.
We are also going to find here something very similar to what we found in Revelation 9, as well as what we found in Revelation 19. We are finding over and over again that God completed His salvation program and that He has saved all of His people.
This information is the judgment. He had a Lamb’s Book of Life and He had 200 million names in it. All through history, He was saving, saving, saving and finding the sheep. Then, finally, prior to May 21, He found the last one, and then the Lamb’s Book of Life was completed. There is now no more sheep to find.
The Gospel was to go into the world, but not for the purpose of making people feel good that there was a Gospel. It was not for the purpose of them perhaps deciding to choose for Christ, which is a perversion of the Gospel. It was not because some would finally get fed up enough with their sins that they could turn to God and be saved. This was not the reason for the Gospel. It was not so that the world could have a fallback in case they ever got motivated enough to the point where they would turn to God.
What did Jesus say? Christ said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This is who the Gospel was sent to. It was sent to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” It was not sent to anybody else.
It just so happened that we did not know who these were, and so the Gospel had to go to everyone in order that they hear. But once “the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” which are found in every nation and tongue and people, were gathered and all of the sheep went into the sheepfold and the door to the sheepfold was shut because God had His flock, there was no further purpose for sending the Gospel to the world in order that people become saved.
Do we just continue to say that there is this possibility in order to make people feel good? Are we to let people think that there is the possibility of salvation when there is not? Is this not what the false gospels and religions do? They say that they have salvation, but they do not. This is what they all do.
Let us think about this for a second. Every false religion in the world – Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Shinto, and many others that I cannot even name – all have one thing in common. They do not have the truth of the Bible, because they do not have Christ. They all tell people, “This is how you get right with God and this is how you enter into Heaven.” The Jewish faith says this as well as every false religion in the world.
In all of these false religions, people are given a list of things that they have to do. They must go to Mecca or they have to wash in the Ganges River. The Hindus have over 2,000 gods and many ways that they believe in. But whatever they are saying, they do have a method and a way of getting to Heaven. They tell people, “Follow our way and you will get to Heaven.” Basically, to put this in Biblical terms, they all say that they have salvation and that they can get people to Heaven.
Likewise with the false gospels, every gospel out there says that they can get people to Heaven, whether it is the Seventh-Day Adventists or the Mormons or the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Many of these false gospels use the Bible, and so no matter what branch we are discussing or whether it is within the more mainstream Christian churches, they all say that they have the way to get people to Heaven.
They say, “Here is how you get to Heaven. Be baptized.” Some of them say that this has to be done when someone is a child and some say that someone has to be old enough to believe to be baptized, but they say that we must be baptized. Others say that we must partake of the Lord’s Table and that this will get someone into Heaven. Others say that someone has to accept Christ and that this will get them into Heaven. Others say that someone has to speak in tongues and that this will be evidence that someone has the Holy Spirit and that this will get them into Heaven. On and on and on this goes and some have a whole bunch of steps where people have to do several of these things and maybe something else. They all, though, say, “We will get you to Heaven. We have salvation.”
Can you think of one false religion or one false gospel that says, “We do not have salvation anymore and we do not have a way to get you into Heaven”?
Is this typical of false gospels? No! Are you kidding? Do we think that the television evangelist is going to get up there and tell people, “Look! Here is what the Bible says. I cannot help you. I cannot get you to Heaven. Now, send me your money”?
They are not going to say this. Are they going to say this? No; they are not going to say this. If they did, people would stop sending them their money. They certainly would.
No; they say instead, “Send me your money and I will send you a prayer hankie. Send me your money and you will be blessed in many ways. You are to do this, do that, and do the other thing. Do all of these works and God will bless you and you will get into Heaven.” They all claim salvation – all of them. They all say that they have salvation.
Satan has been behind all of this. He was that “man of sin” in the church and he was the one who has also been behind the false religions. This means that it is very typical for Satan to claim that he can provide salvation when he cannot.
It is very untypical and I cannot think of one case for a false religion or gospel to say that they cannot save and that they cannot bring anybody into Heaven. I cannot think of one case. But this is not what is meant by there being no salvation now. This does not prove anything. All of the Scriptures that we are looking at prove this.
People are saying today that salvation is still possible. This sounds so good and kind and gentle and merciful and loving. They say, “My God would not stop saving people, and it is so mean and cruel to say that God is not saving.”
Well now, what is really mean and cruel? It is always the lie that is the mean and cruel thing, and the church has been doing this for years as they tell people, “God loves you and He has a wonderful plan for your life.”
This sounds so good and this sounds so wonderful, but this is a lie. Is it nice to tell people this? At the time that God was still saving, was it loving to tell people that God loved them if they were not saved when we found verses that told us that those people were still under His wrath and that He was angry with them and that He had a plan to destroy all of the unsaved?
That was what we heard during the church age, but we have always had to tell the truth. The truth now is that this is done. This is over. This is finished. This is completed. He found them all, all of the elect, all of the sheep. He has gathered them in and He has now shut the door, the door to Heaven, the door to the sheepfold.
There is still hope for anybody who was not part of a church prior to May 21. We do not know. It could be a little child. It could be the worse skeptic imaginable. It could even be an atheist who had just been hostile towards God.
Whatever the mindset, it does not matter; there is hope for that individual throughout this period of time because God could have saved them. But we have to realize that now the door is shut and that there is no more salvation possible today if someone has not already been changed and born again in their heart.
So in Revelation 15:2-6, it says:
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: And the seven angels [or messengers]…
Remember that we can legitimately make this substitution and we should in this case. It continues:
And the seven angels [or messengers] came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
There is all sorts of evidence here that says that these angels are true believers. Number one, God speaks of seven messengers in verse 1. He then quickly transitions to those who had gotten victory over the beast with no introduction to this group, because they are the seven messengers. Number two, the seven angels are clothed in “pure and white linen.”
Look at Revelation 19:8. This is the Bride, which is the whole company of the elect. Revelation 19:8 says:
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Is this referring to their righteousness? No; it is Christ’s righteousness. Why? This is because all of our righteousnesses are as “filthy rags.” If we do not have His righteousness, we have none. This is why the Bible says, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” It is only because God covers us with the robes of Christ’s righteousness that we can say that we are righteous in His sight. This is because He no longer sees our sin at all.
This is “the righteousness of saints” and the seven messengers are clothed in "pure and white linen.” But do any angels need the covering of Christ’s righteousness? There were some angels who sinned, but there is no salvation for them. The ones who remained in Heaven did not sin and they do not need this. They do not need a covering over their sins at all.
So for one thing, the seven messengers are quickly identified as those who had gotten the victory over the beast. They are clothed in pure and white linen “having their breasts girded with golden girdles.”
Who wears girdles in the Bible? The priests do. We will not turn there, but we can read about this in Leviticus 8:7. This was part of the clothing or the attire of a priest before he ministered; and these seven messengers are coming out of the temple where a priest would minister, because a priest would minister in the temple.
Then it says in Revelation 15:7-8:
And one of the four beasts [or living creatures]…
This is actually referring to God. It continues:
…gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels [messengers] were fulfilled.
This is the end of Revelation 15.
Here, we really do not have all of the information to figure out what God is saying as we read this within this chapter; but as we look at other places in the Bible, this helps us to understand what is going on.
One place is in Exodus 40. Remember that after Israel came out of Egypt and they were in the wilderness for the forty years, God gave them instructions on building a tabernacle or a tent in which the ark would be placed and the Ten Commandments would be put in. Now in Exodus 40, this tabernacle is completed. Then it says in Exodus 40:30-31:
And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal. And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat:
The fact that the priests or the Levites had to wash before going into the tabernacle and later into the temple was really a picture indicating that we need our sins washed away. If we are going to serve God honestly, we need to be cleansed. The white robe points to this also.
So they washed and then we read in Exodus 40:32-35:
When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as JEHOVAH commanded Moses. And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of JEHOVAH filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of JEHOVAH filled the tabernacle.
We can see some of the same ingredients of Revelation 15. We see the completion of the temple here, and this is the one important thing. They finished the tabernacle, and then the cloud, which signified the presence of God, came upon the tabernacle. This was called “the glory of JEHOVAH” as it filled the tabernacle. Then Moses was not able to enter into the tabernacle after this for a period of time.
This is what we read in Revelation 15. The seven messengers came out of the temple. The temple was filled with smoke and then Revelation 15 says that “no man was able to enter into the temple” until they poured out their seven plagues. This indicated that following this, they could enter into the temple. But during the pouring out of the plagues, no man could enter into the temple. This is the first historical precedent that teaches us a little bit about what is going on in Revelation 15.
Another precedent has to do with the temple that Solomon built that we read about in 2 Chronicles chapters 4 and 5. It says in 2 Chronicles 4:1-2:
Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof. Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits…
How was that put in Revelation 15? There was a “sea of glass” that we read about twice that the seven messengers were standing upon. Here, it is a “molten sea.”
Look now at 2 Chronicles 4:6. This says:
He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in.
So God makes a sea for the priests to wash in before they minister. You have to be washed and cleansed before you serve God.
There are all sorts of people who go around this step. They are involved in all sorts of ministry, but there is no real ministry. There is no real blessing to anyone who is not a child of God. We must be cleansed from our sin. We have to be washed from all iniquity, and then God will use His people.
Here we see the sea and then we read in 2 Chronicles 4:11:
…And Huram finished the work that he was to make for king Solomon for the house of God;
Then look at 2 Chronicles 5:1:
Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of JEHOVAH was finished…
This is just like the tabernacle was finished. There was a period of time of putting together the house. They had to work at this and this was a lot of work over a period of years. I cannot remember the exact verse, but they took seven years and six months. It began in the second month. Then seven years later in the eighth month, it was finished; and so for seven years and six months, they worked at many things in order to get this house together.
Let us look at a couple of verses elsewhere and then we will come back to this.
We read about Solomon’s temple or Zerubbabel’s temple and there is a temple in Ezekiel that we read about. We read of these stones and all of the labor that they were doing. But what does all of this mean? What does this have to do with us?
Well, God tells us in a few places. Let us go to Hebrews 3. This is referring to Christ. We read in Hebrews 3:3-6:
For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we…
“Whose house are we,” we, you and me, all of the elect. We are spiritually a house. This is how God looks at us. Actually, there are many images. We are the Bride of Christ. We are Jerusalem. We are a city. In Nehemiah, we are a wall. We are a house that is the temple.
Is this not what 1 Corinthians 3 says? We read in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17:
Know ye…
“Ye” is a plural word. This is why it is important to read the King James. In the other translations, we find “you” all of the time and we do not know if it is singular or plural; but we know here that this is plural.
It continues:
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
This is referring to us. This is plural. We are the temple. We are the body of Christ.
When Solomon was working on the temple, this pictured God working on His spiritual house. It pictured the Lord Jesus Christ as He put together the house of God.
Let us go to one other place. It says in 1 Peter 2:5:
Ye also, as lively stones…
These are living stones. It continues:
…lively stones, are built up a spiritual house…
So God saved this one in the first century. We can go all the way back to Abel. He saved this one in that century, this one in another century, and each one represented another stone.
This is why Christ said of the church, “There shall not be left one stone upon another.” This is because there are two houses. There are two Jerusalems and there are two houses. There is the house that is built upon the rock and there is the house that is built upon the sand.
The church built its house upon the sand. For all of those who have remained in the churches, we can know this for sure. They did not build upon Christ, and their house is destroyed and there will be left not “one stone upon another.”
But the house built upon the rock cannot be destroyed. It is solid. It is stable. It is secure. It is all those who are the true Church, the elect church of God. We are:
…lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
This says here that we are priests. There is a spiritual house where we all serve God as priests.
So we read of seven messengers and the number 7 has to do with the perfection of God’s messengers. This is because they are all brought in. They are all complete and He has accomplished saving them all. They are coming out of the temple, out of the house of God, in order to perform a priestly function, a priestly task. This is why they are girded with golden girdles. They are going to minister to God.
By the way, before we go back to 2 Chronicles, look at Revelation 7. Revelation 7 speaks of a great multitude in verse 9. Then we read in Revelation 7:13-14:
And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes?…
Notice the white robes. It continues:
…and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir [or Lord], thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
They came out of great tribulation. May 21 is when the great tribulation ended. This great multitude came out of great tribulation. Did they go to Heaven?
Well, we have to be careful. Think spiritually. All through history when God would save an individual, as He said to Nathanael, they would ascend as an angel of God, or as a messenger, upon the Son of man and then descend. We can read about this in John 1.
This means that as an individual became saved, they were lifted up into heavenly places to be seated in Christ Jesus. Then, immediately, they were dispatched back to earth to carry the Gospel message; and yet they did not know anything about this. They had just been saved and they stayed right where they were in their seat. They did not go to Heaven in their body at all. But the way that God views this, they went up into Heaven and then He dispatched them right back to earth because they had a function, a task, a duty to do.
Likewise, when God saved that great multitude, He washed them, He gave them all white robes, and then look at Revelation 7:15. This is still referring to the great multitude. This says:
Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple…
This great multitude is serving God in His temple. Well, “ye are the temple of God.” We are before His throne. Christ said, “Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool.” The footstool is before the throne.
We are serving him “day and night,” and we cannot just overlook this because this is a time reference; but there is no time in Heaven. This is why we knew that there had to be a literal five months period of time.
What we had thought was that God would have taken all of His elect up to Heaven while there was still time on earth. But we are still here, and so now we understand that what He did was spiritual. He saved the whole body, the great multitude.
In a sense, we went up into Heaven before His throne and then He dispatched us. This is what we are reading about in Revelation 15. He dispatched us one last time, but not to bring a Gospel to save but to carry seven last plagues, the seven plagues that are being poured out right now.
If we go back to 2 Chronicles 5:1, we see:
Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of JEHOVAH was finished…
This is the key that this is going to happen after it is finished. It continues:
…and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God.
This was a joint effort. David was dead. The things that David had prepared in his lifetime were brought in. Solomon was alive. Solomon built the temple. Then all of the things that Solomon was involved in were also involved in the completion of the temple.
In other words, this is the temple of God that is made up of all of the elect. All those from the past whose bodies are in the ground are to be brought in and also those who are presently alive upon the earth. We are all the temple of God. We are living stones that have been added to the house of God.
Look now at 2 Chronicles 5:11-14:
And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course: Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps…
This sounds familiar. Did not the seven messengers in Revelation 15, which were those who got the victory over the beast, have harps? They were singing the song of the Lamb and the song of Moses, and they were clothed in white, too; and here we find similar ingredients.
It continues:
…having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:) It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking JEHOVAH…
Rejoice in your feast. Praise God that there is deliverance and that we are all found, that we are saved. The temple is complete. What is left to do? No more do we sow the Gospel in tears. Instead, we come rejoicing with singing. Here, again, we find that God is emphasizing this.
It continues:
…praising and thanking JEHOVAH; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised JEHOVAH, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of JEHOVAH; So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of JEHOVAH had filled the house of God.
Again, the glory of the Lord fills the house and then they cannot minister. Moses could not go in either. Those in Revelation 15 could also not enter in. No man could enter in until they finished pouring out the seven plagues.
Let us just try to summarize this a little bit before we look at something else. The tabernacle was finished. The temple was completed. God says that we are the temple, and so this definitely has everything to do with God finishing His work of salvation in the world and finding all of His elect.
Then the glory of the Lord fills the temple. It filled the tabernacle. The picture of this is the cloud coming down. In Revelation 15, it was smoke that fills the temple. Actually, in Isaiah 4, smoke and cloud are both spoken of; and so they are really very similar. Then no man can enter into the temple.
We are understanding and saying that God saved everyone before May 21 and that there is now no more salvation, which means that no man can enter into the temple. No one can be added. If you were not already saved, if you were not included in that number, you cannot enter in and no one can enter in until the seven plagues, the five months, are completed.
Maybe next week, Lord willing, we will look at how then God’s people enter in. But the important thing now is that no man can enter in. We just cannot do this because God has finished the temple. Instead, His glory fills it.
This is an interesting word to look up. Look at God’s glory or just look at the word “glory.” For instance, in Matthew 24:29, it says:
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
This was what happened on May 21. We know this because this is “immediately after the tribulation.” Then we read in Matthew 24:30:
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
This says that He is coming with “great glory” and this seems to follow right after May 21.
Keep in mind the clouds or smoke, glory, and power, and then let us look again at Revelation 15:8. This says:
And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power…
We see again God’s power and glory. He has filled the temple, and we have the historical precedent that this happens when the temple has been completed. He has filled it; and we understand that on May 21, He completed it. He completed His salvation. Then the Bible says that He immediately came in the clouds with power and glory.
Look also at Matthew 25:31. This says:
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels [messengers] with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
He is coming in glory to fill the temple with glory.
God indwells every single individual whom He has saved. We have the Holy Spirit. What happened is that when He saved the last one, He now indwells us all. He indwells us all. The whole temple is now indwelt by the Spirit of God. He has come to fill the temple with His glory.
Let us now go back to the book of Ezekiel. I think that this will help us to see how this relates very clearly to May 21. The last several chapters in Ezekiel are very difficult. I have never heard anyone really explain them. They have to do with the temple and the measurements of the temple. God goes verse after verse after verse measuring the temple by a reed and saying that there are so many cubits for this and so many cubits for that. But He does tell us something that is very important. He tells us to “measure the pattern” in Ezekiel 43:10:
Thou son of man, show the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern.
He wants us to take a look at this house. The measurement is important because it relates to the temple, and the temple relates to His salvation plan.
But God also tells us what to measure and what not to measure in Revelation 11:1-2:
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not…
Measure the temple, measure the altar, but do not measure the court.
So in Ezekiel we find that all of these measurements are given. Then we read in Ezekiel 42:15-20:
Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth toward the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it round about. He measured the east side…
This word “side” is better understood when it is translated as “wind.” It can also be translated as “spirit,” but it is translated as “wind.” Every time we read “side” here, this is that same word. It continues:
He measured the east side [wind] with the measuring reed, five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about. He measured the north side [wind], five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about. He measured the south side [wind], five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed. He turned about to the west side [wind], and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. He measured it by the four sides [winds]: it had a wall round about, five hundred reeds long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the profane place.
We find four winds in other places. We find in Revelation 7 language of the four winds. We might as well take a look at this. I think that reading the verses helps because then you know that I am not pulling this out of my own head. We read in Revelation 7:1-3:
And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
The angel ascending from the east is Christ. He is “the messenger of the covenant.” The east is the direction of the sun, which is the direction that the Bible likens Christ to. Here in Ezekiel, they are measuring the four winds. The angel in Revelation 7:3 indicated:
…Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
Or until all are saved.
Then look at Ezekiel 43:1-2. There is so much information here. We will try to go over this next week during the Day in the Word. I guess there is no reason to rush, but I am going to just try to read over these verses and then we can go over these things next week. It says in Ezekiel 43:1-2:
Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.
Then we read in Ezekiel 43:4-7:
And the glory of JEHOVAH came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of JEHOVAH filled the house. And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me. And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places.
So the glory of the Lord comes by the way of the east and it fills the house of God, this house where God says that He will dwell forever.
Let us now go to Ezekiel 44. Remember that it said in Ezekiel 42:15 that there was “an end of measuring,” and so the house was completed. If you look after Ezekiel 44, you are not going to find anymore measurements of the house. You will find other language having to do with sacrifices and other things, but the measurements are done by Ezekiel 42:15. The house is completely finished. It is all measured out. Then we read in Ezekiel 44:1-2:
Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. Then said JEHOVAH unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because JEHOVAH, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.
The door to Heaven, to the sheepfold, to the temple, shut once God entered in. He went into that house. He went into the temple whose temple we are or “whose house are we.” Then He shut the gate and never again can anyone come into this temple who is not one of His people.
Then it says in Ezekiel 44:3-4:
It is for the prince…
Remember that Jesus is likened to the prince in Daniel. It continues:
It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before JEHOVAH; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same. Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of JEHOVAH filled the house of JEHOVAH: and I fell upon my face.
Now God is again indicating that He is tying this in to May 21st, the day that the door shut. This is when He entered into His people.
This is a spiritual thing right now. This is all spiritual. He filled His people with His Spirit, every last one of them; and yet we are not in Heaven as yet, even though He says that He will dwell with them forever.
This is because that is not going to change. He will dwell with us eternally. There will be a transition from this world to the next, the bringing into Heaven itself and that Kingdom, but this began already. This began on May 21st and this is continuing.
So let us go back to Revelation 15:8 just to read this one more time. It says:
And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels [messengers] were fulfilled.
Again and again and again, it is very important that we understand this. It is not a light thing to think that God is still saving.
In everything that we look at, He is telling us, “No, no, no. Fire and brimstone is falling and so you cannot sow the ground.” He is telling us that men will desire to die and seek death and not be able to find it, as it says in Revelation 9:6.
Repeatedly, again and again and again, the judgment is that all of the people are saved. This is why Jacob becomes His battle axe that He uses to break in pieces all the enemies of God, all of the unsaved of the world.
It is the fact that the elect are His weapon of war and His instrument with which He is judging those in the church. He has slain them. This is also how He is judging the rest of the unsaved of the world, even though they get less torment and plagues in the sense that they still have hope from man’s perspective as to whether who is saved or not.
We will stop here.