Why Ezekiel 40-48

A thought on why Ezekiel 40-48 are such important chapters.

The other day I was reading 2 Chronicles 6:36-39, the prayer that Solomon prays when he dedicates the new temple he's just built. If the people are exiled, they can pray towards the city and the temple and God will hear.

Throughout the book of Ezekiel, the prophet Ezekiel tells the exiles to put their hope in what God will build after the exile, not in a stay of judgment on the present Jerusalem. The messages of hope only come after chapter 33, the moment that the exiles hear that the temple has fallen.

The exiles are called by God to repent of the sins perpetuated in Jerusalem, because they are not immune from these sins. They are guilty of the same things. Having accepted that God is right to judge Jerusalem for all her sins, they will then realise that they too deserve God's judgement. So their part in the wonderful future God promises is contingent on their repentance.

But this precise combination creates a problem. 1. The exiled people of God are to pray prayers of repentance towards the temple in the city of Jerusalem. 2. The people of Ezekiel's day need to repent. 3. This repentance is only possible after the tempe has fallen. So, …: To where are the exiles to direct their prayers of repentance given the temple (chapter 10) and the city (chapter 33) are gone?

There would be no hope for the exiles unless God promised a new city and a new temple.

Cue Exekiel chapters 40-48.

Ezekiel would be a very different book if it didn't have the last 9 chapters.