If you remember, God filled the Tabernacle with His Glory in Exodus Exodus 40:34 35 (NKJV) 34

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1 INTRODUCTION: Turn to Ezekiel 43 I want to invite you to join us Thursday at 7 at the HUB This last week we had a lively discussion in our Q&A concerning the Temple that Ezekiel prophesied about in the Kingdom Age This week we are going to be wrapping up the Book of Ezekiel We will be look at Chapters then we are heading into Daniel And on Sunday mornings we will begin a new series through the Book Daniel entitled STAND Such a timely study for us at this time in American History Today we are going to look at the Second Coming of Christ, the time when the Glory of God will return to Israel And we will look at a timeline of events that will happen leading up to the Second Coming of Christ Several weeks ago, we looked at Ezekiel 10 Ezekiel has a vision of the Glory of God departing from the Temple We made the comparison between this event and the Rapture of the Church where Jesus will come for His Church The Glory of God will depart from the earth as God judges the false gods or the demonic powers that govern over the nations Here in Ezekiel 43, we see the Glory of God returning to Israel Now earlier in Israel s history, we have an example of the Glory Departing from Israel and then returning to Israel If you remember, God filled the Tabernacle with His Glory in Exodus Exodus 40:34 35 (NKJV) 34 Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. The Bible describes the glory of God as a bright light and the Hebrew word chabad used for glory means to be heavy or weighty So where the glory of God was present, there was a sense of weight or heaviness in the air you could feel it it s visceral, not theological You could also see it because there was light in the air But in 1 Samuel 4 we read that the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant and the glory departed

2 David recovered the Ark and restored it to the Tabernacle But the glory didn t return until Solomon s Temple was dedicated 1 Kings 8:10 11 (NKJV) 10 And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. Now when Solomon dedicated the Temple, God appeared to Solomon and said I will put My name there forever and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them and this house I will cast out of my sight Now you can read the full statement that God makes in 1 Kings 9 It s fascinating because that is exactly what God does in Ezekiel Ezekiel 10, the glory of God departs and the Temple is destroyed because Israel has turned to other gods and worshipped them Then in Ezekiel 43 a new temple is built and the Glory of God returns Ezekiel 43:1 5 (NKJV) 43 Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east. 2 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. 3 It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. 4 And the glory of the LORD came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. 5 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple. Ezekiel is standing in front of the Eastern Gate It was through the Eastern Gate that the glory of God departed from the Temple in Jerusalem And now the Glory of God is returning through the Eastern Gate in the same way that the Glory of God departed And as Ezekiel is watching the glory of God return, he s having flashbacks on when the Glory departed

3 Ezekiel says that His voice was like the sound of many waters and the earth shone with His glory Literally the word used for shone is better translated radiant the earth was radiant with His glory It s a term that suggests God s favor It s the same word used in the priestly blessing in Numbers 6 that says The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you As Ezekiel is seeing the glory of God shine on the earth, he falls on his face, but the Spirit lifts his up and brings him into the inner court where He sees the glory of the Lord fill the temple It s an amazing scene And we read in vs. 7 Ezekiel 43:7 (NKJV) 7 And He said to me, Son of man, this is 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 forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places. God promises to never leave His people again God says I will dwell in their midst forever However, when we come to the close of the Old Testament The glory of God has departed from Israel But John said the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth So in Jesus, the glory returns to Israel He is the glory of God Now I know I m jumping through history rather quickly, but I want you to follow me in this When Jesus ascends to heaven on the Mount of Olives, his disciples ask Him when is the Kingdom Age (The Millennium) beginning Acts 1:7 11 (NKJV) 7 And He said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

4 9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven. Now follow this, when Jesus left the earth, his physical presence left However, His glory didn t depart because Jesus said in vs. 8, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you So now, instead of the glory of God being located in One Temple or One Person Jesus The glory of God now dwells in the heart of every believer You and I are carriers of God s glory the Presence of God lives in us Now this is significant for us today That s primary purpose of the Church is to be the Glory of God, Presence of God in the world 2 Corinthians 4:7 (NKJV) 7 But we have this treasure (this deposit of glory) in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. So the glory of God remains in the world until what event? The Rapture When the Church is raptured, the glory will depart from the world We cover this in the message entitled The Glory Departs and you can see it on the front page of calvarysanclemente.org The Bible says that after the glory of God departs judgment comes So after Rapture of the Church, Russia leads a coalition of nations to attack Israel (we looked at this last week) We learned this week in Bible Study that 5/6 of the Russian army will be defeated and it will take Israel 7 months to bury the dead and 7 years to destroy the weapons that were used against them During this time, the antichrist will rise to power Paul referred to him as a man of lawlessness This lawless one will eventually lead the entire world into rebellion against God

5 2 Thessalonians 2:9 10 (NKJV) 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. The antichrist will be a genius in intellect, commerce, war, speech and politics and he will deceive the world with power, signs and lying wonders 3 ½ years after the Rapture, the antichrist will sign a treaty with Israel and that will be the beginning of the Great Tribulation Period Israel will be given permission to rebuild the Temple on the Temple Mount and they will begin making sacrifices again 3 ½ years after the peace treaty is signed, the antichrist will stop the Jews from making sacrifices and will stand in the Holy of Holies and declare Himself to be god and demand to be worshipped as god His assistant, the false prophet, will control the global economy and force people around the world the take the mark of the antichrist in order to buy or sell all of this is found in Revelation 13 Around this same time, Satan is cast out of heaven Revelation 12:12 (NKJV) 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time. And for 3 ½ years Satan will seek to utterly destroy the nation of Israel The antichrist will wage war on the saints and gather the armies of the world to destroy Israel They will attack Jerusalem and conquer it Then they will chase the Israeli army to the Valley of Megiddo, also known as Armageddon China will send a million man army to fight against Israel Israel will be completely surrounded, outnumbered and out gunned When Israel is facing totally annihilation, Hosea 6 tells us that the Jewish leaders will call for the people to return to the Lord And for 2 days they will cry out to God and on the third day

6 Just like the glory of God returned through the Eastern Gate, Jesus will return from the Eastern Sky Revelation 19:11 16 (NKJV) 11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven (the raptured church), clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS In with One Word Jesus will destroy the antichrist and his forces And then Jesus will descend on the Mount of Olives, just as He said in Acts 1 and when His foot touches the Mount, it will split in two When the ground is split in two, it will expose an underground river that will flow from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea There will be a 75 day transitional period until the 1000 year reign of Christ begins Then after the Kingdom Age begins the Temple that Ezekiel prophesies about in Ezekiel 40 will be built and it s at that time the glory will return to Israel, never to leave again Here s the Good News for us In light of the Supreme Court s decision to redefine marriage, it s easy to fall into despair But there are two realities that I have to acknowledge FIRST As long as the Church is in the world, the glory has not departed, God s Presence is here and light always overcomes dark The second reality is this we ve read the end of the story God wins Ezekiel tells us that God will cleanse the world of every idol and the demonic powers behind them and He will dwell in our midst forever. So what do we do in the meantime? We allow His glory to shine. The light shines brightest in the darkest night