The Glory of the LORD Returns

Rev. Ned Moerbe, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Blackwell, OK, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Ezekiel 43:1-27.

Ezekiel reaches a key moment in his vision of the new temple. Previously, Ezekiel had seen the glory of the LORD leave the temple in Jerusalem, but now he sees the glory of the LORD fill the new temple. This hearkened back to the LORD’s presence in the cloud that filled the tabernacle and temple; it also points forward to the way God’s presence came to dwell among us in the incarnation of the Son. Ezekiel sees that this will be a time when the people will no longer defile the name of the LORD; we pray for this now in the Lord’s Prayer even as we await its complete fulfillment in eternity. Ezekiel’s description of the altar in the temple points forward to the final sacrifice for sins that Christ made for sinners on the cross.

“The Faithful Watchman” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Ezekiel. Just when Ezekiel should have begun his service as priest in the temple in Jerusalem, the LORD called him to be a prophet in exile in Babylon. Through fantastic visions and attention-grabbing action prophecies, the prophet Ezekiel is a faithful watchman who proclaims the word of the LORD to bring people to repentance over their sins and to faith in the coming Savior, Jesus Christ, the glory of the LORD made flesh.