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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Then the man led me northward into the outer court and brought
me to the rooms opposite the temple courtyard and opposite the outer wall on
the north side. The building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits long
and fifty cubits wide. Both in the section twenty cubits from the inner court
and in the section opposite the pavement of the outer court, gallery faced
gallery at the three levels. In front of the rooms was an inner passageway ten
cubits wide and a hundred cubits long. Their doors were on the north. Now the
upper rooms were narrower, for the galleries took more space from them than
from the rooms on the lower and middle floors of the building. The rooms on the
top floor had no pillars, as the courts had; so they were smaller in floor
space than those on the lower and middle floors. There was an outer wall
parallel to the rooms and the outer court; it extended in front of the rooms
for fifty cubits. While the row of rooms on the side next to the outer court
was fifty cubits long, the row on the side nearest the sanctuary was a hundred
cubits long. The lower rooms had an entrance on the east side as one enters
them from the outer court.
On the south side along the length of the wall of the outer
court, adjoining the temple courtyard and opposite the outer wall, were rooms
with a passageway in front of them. These were like the rooms on the north;
they had the same length and width, with similar exits and dimensions. Similar
to the doorways on the north were the doorways of the rooms on the south. There
was a doorway at the beginning of the passageway that was parallel to the
corresponding wall extending eastward, by which one enters the rooms.
Then he said to me, “The north and south rooms facing the
temple courtyard are the priests’ rooms, where the priests who approach the
Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will put the most holy
offerings—the grain offerings, the sin offerings and the guilt offerings—for
the place is holy. Once the priests enter the holy precincts, they are not to
go into the outer court until they leave behind the garments in which they
minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they go
near the places that are for the people.”
When he had finished measuring what was inside the temple
area, he led me out by the east gate and measured the area all around: He
measured the east side with the measuring rod; it was five hundred cubits. He
measured the north side; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. He
measured the south side; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. Then
he turned to the west side and measured; it was five hundred cubits by the
measuring rod. So he measured the area on all four sides. It had a wall around
it, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy
from the common.
Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the
sanctuary, the one facing east, and it was shut.
The Lord said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It must
not be opened; no one may enter through it. It is to remain shut because the Lord,
the God of Israel, has entered through it. The prince himself is the only one
who may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the Lord. He is to
enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.”
Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the
front of the temple. I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling the temple
of the Lord, and I fell facedown.
The Lord said to me, “Son of man, look carefully, listen
closely and give attention to everything I tell you concerning all the
regulations and instructions regarding the temple of the Lord. Give attention
to the entrance to the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary. Say to
rebellious Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough of your
detestable practices, people of Israel! In addition to all your other
detestable practices, you brought foreigners uncircumcised in heart and flesh
into My sanctuary, desecrating My temple while you offered me food, fat and
blood, and you broke My covenant. Instead of carrying out your duty in regard
to My holy things, you put others in charge of My sanctuary. This is what the
Sovereign Lord says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh is to enter
My sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among the Israelites.
“‘The Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray
and who wandered from Me after their idols must bear the consequences of their
sin. They may serve in My sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple
and serving in it; they may slaughter the burnt offerings and sacrifices for
the people and stand before the people and serve them. But because they served
them in the presence of their idols and made the people of Israel fall into
sin, therefore I have sworn with uplifted hand that they must bear the
consequences of their sin, declares the Sovereign Lord. They are not to come
near to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or My most holy
offerings; they must bear the shame of their detestable practices. And I will
appoint them to guard the temple for all the work that is to be done in it.’”
“‘But the Levitical priests, who are descendants of Zadok
and who guarded My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to
come near to minister before Me; they are to stand before Me to offer
sacrifices of fat and blood, declares the Sovereign Lord. They alone are to
enter My sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table to minister before Me
and serve Me as guards.’”
“‘When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to
wear linen clothes; they must not wear any woolen garment while ministering at
the gates of the inner court or inside the temple. They are to wear linen
turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must
not wear anything that makes them perspire. When they go out into the outer
court where the people are, they are to take off the clothes they have been
ministering in and are to leave them in the sacred rooms, and put on other
clothes, so that the people are not consecrated through contact with their
garments.’”
“‘They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow
long, but they are to keep the hair of their heads trimmed. No priest is to
drink wine when he enters the inner court. They must not marry widows or
divorced women; they may marry only virgins of Israelite descent or widows of
priests. They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the
common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.’”
“‘In any dispute, the priests are to serve as judges and
decide it according to my ordinances. They are to keep My laws and My decrees
for all My appointed festivals, and they are to keep My Sabbaths holy.’”
“‘A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead
person; however, if the dead person was his father or mother, son or daughter,
brother or unmarried sister, then he may defile himself. After he is cleansed,
he must wait seven days. On the day he goes into the inner court of the
sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, he is to offer a sin offering for
himself, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
“‘I am to be the only inheritance the priests have. You are
to give them no possession in Israel; I will be their possession. They will eat
the grain offerings, the sin offerings and the guilt offerings; and everything
in Israel devoted to the Lord will belong to them. The best of all the
firstfruits and of all your special gifts will belong to the priests. You are
to give them the first portion of your ground meal so that a blessing may rest
on your household. The priests must not eat anything, whether bird or animal,
found dead or torn by wild animals.’”
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As we close out or study of Ezekiel, we find the prophet
receiving visions of restoration, the theme of this devotional series.
Yesterday, we saw where the temple itself would one day be rebuilt with exact
specifications provided by God through the divine being with the measuring rod
who was in the vision with Ezekiel. In today’s devotion, we turn to the
restoration of the priests, the spiritual leaders who would be needed to ensure
temple worship was conducted in appropriate fashion. Look again at these verses
from Ezekiel, Chapter 42:
Then the man led me
northward into the outer court and brought me to the rooms opposite the temple
courtyard and opposite the outer wall on the north side. The building whose
door faced north was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide. Both in the
section twenty cubits from the inner court and in the section opposite the
pavement of the outer court, gallery faced gallery at the three levels. In
front of the rooms was an inner passageway ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits
long. Their doors were on the north. Now the upper rooms were narrower, for the
galleries took more space from them than from the rooms on the lower and middle
floors of the building. The rooms on the top floor had no pillars, as the
courts had; so they were smaller in floor space than those on the lower and
middle floors. There was an outer wall parallel to the rooms and the outer
court; it extended in front of the rooms for fifty cubits. While the row of
rooms on the side next to the outer court was fifty cubits long, the row on the
side nearest the sanctuary was a hundred cubits long. The lower rooms had an
entrance on the east side as one enters them from the outer court.
On the south side
along the length of the wall of the outer court, adjoining the temple courtyard
and opposite the outer wall, were rooms with a passageway in front of them.
These were like the rooms on the north; they had the same length and width,
with similar exits and dimensions. Similar to the doorways on the north were
the doorways of the rooms on the south. There was a doorway at the beginning of
the passageway that was parallel to the corresponding wall extending eastward,
by which one enters the rooms.
Then he said to me,
“The north and south rooms facing the temple courtyard are the priests’ rooms,
where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There
they will put the most holy offerings—the grain offerings, the sin offerings
and the guilt offerings—for the place is holy. Once the priests enter the holy
precincts, they are not to go into the outer court until they leave behind the
garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other
clothes before they go near the places that are for the people.”
When he had finished
measuring what was inside the temple area, he led me out by the east gate and
measured the area all around: He measured the east side with the measuring rod;
it was five hundred cubits. He measured the north side; it was five hundred
cubits by the measuring rod. He measured the south side; it was five hundred
cubits by the measuring rod. Then he turned to the west side and measured; it
was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. So he measured the area on all
four sides. It had a wall around it, five hundred cubits long and five hundred
cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common.
“‘I am to be the only inheritance the priests have. You are
to give them no possession in Israel; I will be their possession. They will eat
the grain offerings, the sin offerings and the guilt offerings; and everything
in Israel devoted to the Lord will belong to them. The best of all the
firstfruits and of all your special gifts will belong to the priests. You are
to give them the first portion of your ground meal so that a blessing may rest
on your household. The priests must not eat anything, whether bird or animal,
found dead or torn by wild animals.’” Ezekiel 42, 44
Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the
sanctuary, the one facing east, and it was shut.
The Lord said to me, “This gate is to remain shut. It must
not be opened; no one may enter through it. It is to remain shut because the Lord,
the God of Israel, has entered through it. The prince himself is the only one
who may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the Lord. He is to
enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way.”
Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the
front of the temple. I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling the temple
of the Lord, and I fell facedown.
The Lord said to me, “Son of man, look carefully, listen
closely and give attention to everything I tell you concerning all the
regulations and instructions regarding the temple of the Lord. Give attention
to the entrance to the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary. Say to
rebellious Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough of your
detestable practices, people of Israel! In addition to all your other
detestable practices, you brought foreigners uncircumcised in heart and flesh
into My sanctuary, desecrating My temple while you offered me food, fat and
blood, and you broke My covenant. Instead of carrying out your duty in regard
to My holy things, you put others in charge of My sanctuary. This is what the
Sovereign Lord says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh is to enter
My sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among the Israelites.
“‘The Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray
and who wandered from Me after their idols must bear the consequences of their
sin. They may serve in My sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple
and serving in it; they may slaughter the burnt offerings and sacrifices for
the people and stand before the people and serve them. But because they served
them in the presence of their idols and made the people of Israel fall into
sin, therefore I have sworn with uplifted hand that they must bear the
consequences of their sin, declares the Sovereign Lord. They are not to come
near to serve Me as priests or come near any of My holy things or My most holy
offerings; they must bear the shame of their detestable practices. And I will
appoint them to guard the temple for all the work that is to be done in it.’”
“‘But the Levitical priests, who are descendants of Zadok
and who guarded My sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from Me, are to
come near to minister before Me; they are to stand before Me to offer
sacrifices of fat and blood, declares the Sovereign Lord. They alone are to
enter My sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table to minister before Me
and serve Me as guards.’”
“‘When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to
wear linen clothes; they must not wear any woolen garment while ministering at
the gates of the inner court or inside the temple. They are to wear linen
turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must
not wear anything that makes them perspire. When they go out into the outer
court where the people are, they are to take off the clothes they have been
ministering in and are to leave them in the sacred rooms, and put on other
clothes, so that the people are not consecrated through contact with their
garments.’”
“‘They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow
long, but they are to keep the hair of their heads trimmed. No priest is to
drink wine when he enters the inner court. They must not marry widows or
divorced women; they may marry only virgins of Israelite descent or widows of
priests. They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the
common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.’”
“‘In any dispute, the priests are to serve as judges and
decide it according to my ordinances. They are to keep My laws and My decrees
for all My appointed festivals, and they are to keep My Sabbaths holy.’”
“‘A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead
person; however, if the dead person was his father or mother, son or daughter,
brother or unmarried sister, then he may defile himself. After he is cleansed,
he must wait seven days. On the day he goes into the inner court of the
sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, he is to offer a sin offering for
himself, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Get outside of all the measurements here and you find the
Lord seeking to ensure one thing was reinstituted in the worship life of His
people.
That thing was holiness which was highlighted in the
following ways within our scripture passage:
- The Levitical priests were to first keep themselves holy, following specific guidelines from God to that end. If they were going to be able to show the people the difference between what it was to be holy and common, then they had to me the models of holiness.
- The Levitical priests were to first keep themselves holy, following specific guidelines from God to that end. If they were going to be able to show the people the difference between what it was to be holy and common, then they had to me the models of holiness.
- The Levitical priests were to preside over and participate in the
most holy offerings, the grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. They
were set apart for this duty by God and no other people were permitted to be in
the holy spaces set aside for the priests.They were also tasked with upholding all of God's laws and decrees during appointed festivals and keeping the Sabbaths holy.
- The north and south rooms facing the temple courtyard, the
rooms reserved for the priests, were earmarked to hold the most holy offerings.
Why these rooms? Because they were designated as being holy.
- Note that the precincts themselves were labeled holy, so
much so that the priests were not permitted to wear the garments worn to
minister outside of those precincts. The garments were only to be worn in the
holy places and not in the places which were considered common, the places that
any people could go into.
So what does it mean to be holy or immersed in holiness anyways?
The answer comes by thinking about the very nature of God
Himself who is perfect in every way. He is sinless, all powerful, always
truthful, and never fails to fulfill every promise He makes. He has no equal
and no one even comes close to rivaling Him. No one. He is absolutely set apart
from anyone or anything in all creation, the creation He formed without
assistance by the way.
So when we think about holiness at its most pure and
absolute form, we think about God as the only perfect representation and
manifestation of it. He, God, is the gold standard by which anything else considered
holy is measured against thus why He challenged His people with these words:
I am the Lord your
God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Leviticus 11:44
If God expected His people to imitate His holiness, then the
priests, His spiritual leaders, had to be the role models for what holy living
looked like. They bore a lot of responsibility to that end but after God
restored them, He put them in a place, His holy temple, where they could
exercise their holiness without outside influence. All they had to do is remain
obedient to His word and will.
As we translate this matter of holiness into our lives
today, we need to remember that the Lord who called the Israelites to be holy
as He was is the same God who calls us to be holy like He is today. We are to
not conform to the ways of the world but rather allow the Lord to transform us
into being more and more like Him in every way. In other words, the Lord
desires to make us holy.
With this, I close with one question:
When the Lord looks deep into our lives, does He see
holiness or does he see sinfulness?
Where we turn our heart’s desire, whether towards Him or the
world, will give us the answer but rest assured that if you find yourself
having turned away from God for the trappings of this world, He stands ready to
restore you and bring you back to His righteousness and holiness so that you
can be more like Him in every way.
All it takes is a move toward repentance and a commitment to
be holy as He is holy, a commitment to be obedient to what He called all of us
to do.
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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