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