Ezekiel 40:8
Then he measured the portico of the gateway inside;
Sermons
God's Kingdom Divinely OrganizedJ.D. Davies Ezekiel 40:5-27
Entrance to the KingdomW. Clarkson Ezekiel 40:6-11














Much mention is made, in this description of the temple, of the gates of that building; access was provided in abundance to its interior as well as exterior compartments. Having regard to the kingdom of God (of which this ideal structure is a picture (see previous homily), and taking into our thought the work and the teaching of our Lord on the subject, we learn -

I. THAT THERE IS ONE WAY INTO KINGDOM. Jesus Christ himself is that Way. "I am the Way,... no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6); "I am the Door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved" (John 10:9). Through him "both [Jews and Gentiles] have access... unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18); "There is one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus" (1 John 2:5). To know Jesus Christ, to trust and love, to serve and follow him - that is the way to find eternal life. "Whosoever believeth in him has life eternal."

II. THAT THERE ARE MANY APPROACHES TO THE KINGDOM. Though there is but one "door" or "way" into the kingdom, but one Divine Savior in whom to trust and by whom to be redeemed, yet are there many approaches that may be regarded as "gates," many paths that lead to him and to his salvation. We may be led to him:

1. By our sense of the priceless value of the human soul and our knowledge that only he can bless it.

2. By our view of the seriousness of our human life and the desire to place it under his wise and holy guidance.

3. By the example and influence of those to whom we are most nearly related.

4. By the attractiveness we see in him, the Lord of love and truth.

5. By the felt force of the claims of the heavenly Father, anti the belief that it is God's will that we should hear and follow him, his Son, etc.

III. THAT MEN COME FROM ALL QUARTERS TO THE KINGDOM. There were gates facing the north, the south, and the east; and in another book (Revelation) we read of gates in all four directions (Revelation 21:13). To the broad and blessed kingdom of God all souls come: it is not a provision for one type of mind, or for one particular race, or for one social class, but for all types, races, classes. In Jesus Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew, male nor female, bond nor free; there is neither poor nor rich, learned nor ignorant, philosophical nor simple-minded. From every quarter in the great world of men there come to the kingdom those who need and who find all that they crave in Christ Jesus the Lord.

IV. THAT THE GATE IS TOO NARROW FOR SOME. He who is swollen with pride cannot pass through it; nor he who is cumbered with worldliness; nor he who is filled with selfishness; nor he who is gross with self-indulgence (Matthew 7:14).

V. THAT IT IS BROAD ENOUGH FOE ALL EARNEST SEEKERS. They who are in earnest as disciples of truth, as seekers after God; they who profoundly desire to return unto their heavenly Father and to secure eternal life, will not find the gate of the gospel too narrow. They will gladly part with their pride and their selfishness, with their vanities and their indulgences; they will come eagerly to the Lord and Savior of mankind, that they may take everything from him and yield everything to him. - C.

And he brought me by the steps whereby they went up to it.
There are no such steps as these to be found anywhere in the world. A step to honour, a step to riches, a step to worldly glory: these are everywhere, but what are these to the steps by which men do ascend to the house of the Lord! He, then, that entereth into the house of the Lord is an ascending man; as it is said of Moses, he went up into the mount of God. It is ascending to go into the house of God. The world believe not this; they think it is going downwards to go up to the house of God. The steps, then, by which men go up into the temple are, and ought to be, opposed to those which men take to their lusts and empty glories. Hence such steps are said not only to decline from God, but to take hold of the path to death and hell (Psalm 44:18; Proverbs 2:18).

( John Bunyan.).

People
Ezekiel, Levi, Levites, Zadok
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Covered, Cubits, Doorway, Eight, Facing, Gate, Gateway, Inside, Inward, Measure, Measured, Measureth, Porch, Portico, Reed, Rod, Vestibule, Within
Outline
1. The time, manner, and end of the vision of the city and temple
6. The description of the east gate of the outer court
20. of the north gate
24. of the south gate
27. of the south gate of the inner court
32. of the east gate
35. and of the north gate
39. Eight tables
44. The chambers
48. The porch of the house

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Ezekiel 40:1-49

     5207   architecture

Library
The Parts of the City. Sion. The Upper City: which was on the North Part.
There is one who asserts Jerusalem to stand on seven hills; but whether upon a reason more light, or more obscure, is not easy to say. "The whale showed Jonah (saith he) the Temple of the Lord, as it is said, 'I went down to the bottom of the mountains': whence we learn that Jerusalem was seated upon seven mountains." One may sooner almost prove the thing itself, than approve of his argument. Let him enjoy his argument to himself; we must fetch the situation elsewhere. "The city itself (saith Josephus)
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness.
^A Matt. IV. 1-11; ^B Mark I. 12, 13; ^C Luke IV. 1-13. ^c 1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, ^b 12 And straightway the Spirit driveth him forth ^c and ^a 1 Then [Just after his baptism, with the glow of the descended Spirit still upon him, and the commending voice of the Father still ringing in his ears, Jesus is rushed into the suffering of temptation. Thus abrupt and violent are the changes of life. The spiritually exalted may expect these sharp contrasts. After being
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Millennium in Relation to Israel.
"And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In that same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land" (Gen. 15:17, 18). Here the two great periods of Israel's history was made known to Abram in figure. The vision of the smoking furnace and the burning lamp intimated that the history of Abraham's descendants was to be a checkered one. It was a prophecy in
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

The Holy City; Or, the New Jerusalem:
WHEREIN ITS GOODLY LIGHT, WALLS, GATES, ANGELS, AND THE MANNER OF THEIR STANDING, ARE EXPOUNDED: ALSO HER LENGTH AND BREADTH, TOGETHER WITH THE GOLDEN MEASURING-REED EXPLAINED: AND THE GLORY OF ALL UNFOLDED. AS ALSO THE NUMEROUSNESS OF ITS INHABITANTS; AND WHAT THE TREE AND WATER OF LIFE ARE, BY WHICH THEY ARE SUSTAINED. 'Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God.'-Psalm 87:3 'And the name of the city from that day shall be, THE LORD IS THERE.'-Ezekiel 48:35 London: Printed in the year 1665
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Ezekiel
To a modern taste, Ezekiel does not appeal anything like so powerfully as Isaiah or Jeremiah. He has neither the majesty of the one nor the tenderness and passion of the other. There is much in him that is fantastic, and much that is ritualistic. His imaginations border sometimes on the grotesque and sometimes on the mechanical. Yet he is a historical figure of the first importance; it was very largely from him that Judaism received the ecclesiastical impulse by which for centuries it was powerfully
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Links
Ezekiel 40:8 NIV
Ezekiel 40:8 NLT
Ezekiel 40:8 ESV
Ezekiel 40:8 NASB
Ezekiel 40:8 KJV

Ezekiel 40:8 Bible Apps
Ezekiel 40:8 Parallel
Ezekiel 40:8 Biblia Paralela
Ezekiel 40:8 Chinese Bible
Ezekiel 40:8 French Bible
Ezekiel 40:8 German Bible

Ezekiel 40:8 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Ezekiel 40:7
Top of Page
Top of Page