In his earlier ministry Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord leave the temple and the city, and in his later ministry he saw the glory coming back. The glory of the Lord returned from the east, that is, from the direction of the sunrise (43:2). The direction of the sunrise always signifies glory (Num. 2:3; Ezek. 43:2). The Lord came back from the glory. He left toward the east and He came back from the east.
The Lord returned not only with glory, but also with much noise. His voice was like the noise of many waters. Whenever the Lord's glory comes back to the church, there will be a lot of noise. When the glory of the Lord leaves the church, surely the church will be quiet. Quietness indicates that the glory has gone, but noise indicates that the glory has returned. In Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, it was not quiet. A rushing, mighty wind and a sound, a voice, filled the house. Every time the church has a revival, there is some sound and some voice. After the voice came, "the earth shined with His glory" (43:2). The whole earth was under the light, under the shining of His glory. There was no darkness. It is so wonderful that in the church in Los Angeles in the past years, we have had the sensation that the glory of the Lord has come back. We also have had a lot of noise among us, and we have had the sensation that something is shining here. When you come into the church meetings in Los Angeles, you have the sense that you come, not into the darkness, but into the light.
Ezekiel 43:3 says that the appearance of the Lord was the same when He returned as when He came with the prophet to destroy the city. In appearance, He was the same. When the Lord Jesus comes to the church today, He is still the same as in the past. Then, it says that the Lord came in appearance as in a vision that Ezekiel saw by the river Chebar. This comforting word shows us how merciful the Lord was. Even while Ezekiel was in captivity, the vision of the Lord went there. The vision of the Lord came not only to the holy land, but also to the place of the captivity. In Zechariah 1:8 the Lord Jesus was riding on a red horse among the myrtle trees in the bottom. The Lord's people at that time were in a low place, in the bottom, but the Lord Jesus was riding among them to bring them out. The Lord Jesus was with those captives in the bottom, and He was also with those in the captivity by the river Chebar. The Lord was still with His people, but not in a normal way.
After the building up of the house, the Lord came back to the holy land in a normal way. He came back by the east gate. In the church life we need several gates, but the most important one is the east gate. It is the east gate which is open to the glory of the Lord. We need a gate which is open to the glory of the Lord. The temple had three gates: one toward the east, one toward the south, and one toward the north. The gates on the south and the north are for the convenience of the people; but the gate toward the east is not only for the convenience of the people, but also for the glory of the Lord to come in. We should not care merely for the convenience of the people, we must care for the glory of the Lord. In the church life the first consideration we should have is the Lord's glory. Even a decision concerning what time or what day to have the meetings should not be concerned wholly with peoples' convenience. It should care for the Lord's glory. The decisions in the church must be made primarily according to the Lord's glory. The church must be open to the Lord's glory so that His glory may come into the church. Eventually the house and the inner temple were filled with the glory of the Lord.