5. (a) What assurance does Jehovah give Ezekiel? (b) What were “the carcasses of their kings” that had to be removed from the temple, and why was this important?

⁵ Then, Jehovah himself appears in the vision. He enters the temple and assures Ezekiel that He will reside there. But He calls for a cleansing of His house, saying: “Now let them remove their fornication and the carcasses of their kings far from me, and I shall certainly reside in the midst of them to time indefinite.” (Ezekiel 43:2-4, 7, 9) These “carcasses of their kings” evidently referred to idols. Jerusalem’s rebellious rulers and people had polluted God’s temple with idols and, in effect, had made kings of them. (Compare Amos 5:26.) Far from being living gods or kings, these were dead, dirty things in Jehovah’s eyes. They must be removed.​—Leviticus 26:30; Jeremiah 16:18.

19, 20. Why must the main fulfillment of the vision occur today and not in Paradise?

¹⁹ Ezekiel saw a temple that needed to be cleansed of idolatry and spiritual fornication. (Ezekiel 43:7-9) This surely could not apply to the worship of Jehovah in Paradise. Furthermore, the priests of the vision picture the anointed priestly class while still on earth, not after their heavenly resurrection or during the Millennium. Why? Note that the priests are pictured as serving in the inner courtyard. Articles in previous issues of The Watchtower have shown that this courtyard pictures the unique spiritual standing of Christ’s underpriests while they are still on the earth.c Observe also that the vision stresses the imperfection of the priests. They are told to offer sacrifices for their own sins. They are warned of the danger of becoming unclean​—spiritually and morally. So they do not picture the resurrected anointed ones, of whom the apostle Paul wrote: “The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised up incorruptible.” (1 Corinthians 15:52; Ezekiel 44:21, 22, 25, 27) The priests in the vision mingle with and serve the people directly. This will not be so in Paradise, when the priestly class will be in heaven. The vision provides, therefore, a fine picture of the way the anointed work closely with the “great crowd” on earth today.​—Revelation 7:9; Ezekiel 42:14.