From 762c56d046b6615240b1e5ef90602737a8c6b44c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Lyle Mantooth Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2023 22:50:07 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Ezekiel 43:1-12 --- content/bible_journal/ezekiel_43:1-12.md | 50 ++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 50 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/bible_journal/ezekiel_43:1-12.md diff --git a/content/bible_journal/ezekiel_43:1-12.md b/content/bible_journal/ezekiel_43:1-12.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9aa45b9 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/bible_journal/ezekiel_43:1-12.md @@ -0,0 +1,50 @@ ++++ +title = "Ezekiel 43:1–12" +date = "2023-07-08" ++++ + +### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ezekiel43.1-12) + +Something new happens in Ezekiel's vision. The Lord in His glory again appears +before Ezekiel's eyes, just as He had at the Chebar canal, when He commissioned +Ezekiel to be His prophet, and when He showed Ezekiel the abominations +happening in the temple and the city before He left it to its destruction. This +time, the Lord returns from the east to fill the temple with His glory again. +The God of Israel passes through the eastern gate, which is something of +significance that will be explained in a little while. Ezekiel either hides his +face in the ground so that he will not see the Lord with his unworthy eyes, or +he faints from the sheer awesomeness. When he says, "the Spirit lifted me up" +(_v. 5_), he is saying that he is made to stand on his feet again, not that he +was picked up and moved around. + +Then the Lord speaks from within the temple to Ezekiel, declaring that this +house is His dwelling place on the earth. Though the Lord is present +everywhere, all the time, this place gets the special designation of being +where God is said to live. Though He created every family on earth, He has +chosen Israel's family to be His special people to dwell in their midst. This +was not a choice made based on any merit they had, or any distinguishing +characteristic, but simply because He chose them. We who follow Christ do well +to remember that we were chosen in the same way for the same reasons: simply +because God decided to show His mercy and grace to us in this way. We wouldn't +even be considering what God would want us to do without that. + +Because God is holy, His neighbors, as it were, will be holy too. In the past +Israel sinned grievously, just as we all have, but in the future, when God's +glory fills the temple, there will be no more abominations or defiling +practices. It looks like there is some ambiguity around what was meant by the +"dead bodies of their kings" as that may refer to monuments set up for them. +Whatever had happened, it won't happen any more because only the Lord will be +worshipped when all is said and done. + +Ezekiel is given instructions to make known to Israel the plans and laws for +this new temple. In all of Scripture, this is the only place where anyone +besides Moses was given ritual laws for Israel to uphold, The purpose of the +temple's blueprints and operations manual were to bring shame on the readers +for the things they have committed against the Lord. If their hearts are +pricked with shame, they will be moved to construct a proper dwelling for the +Lord. + +* * * + +Your holiness is infinite, and we can only approach it because of Your power +and goodness to us.