Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 44-45.

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Today’s passage has more about Ezekiel’s vision of the temple which will be built in the future and the sacrifices which will be performed in it.  I could be mistaken, but I do not believe that these were meant to be taken literally.  I believe that all of these prophecies are symbolic about the relationship between God and His people.  However, in the midst of this God calls out the people of Israel for committing the abomination of admitting foreigners who were uncircumcised in heart and flesh into His sanctuary.  Further, the passage seems to imply that not only did they allow them into God’s sanctuary, they gave them charge over God’s holy things.  I know of people who interpret this to mean that we should require men to be physically circumcised before allowing them into the Church.  Since that runs counter to things taught in the New Testament, I do not believe that is what we should take from that statement.  Another way to interpret that is to believe that this passage applies only to those who are descended from Israel, those who are descended from Jacob.  Since I believe that God intends for this passage to provide understanding to those whom He adopted into His people through the death and resurrection of Jesus, I do not take that interpretation either.

So, I believe that the important part of this focuses on those who are “circumcised in heart.”  Which means those who have allowed the Holy Spirit to cut off their sinful nature and are striving to live in imitation of Jesus Christ.  All of those who make Jesus their Lord should strive for that, but we should be doubly sure that those whom we give authority over the Temple of God, which is the Body of Christ, which is the Church, are circumcised in heart and have taken this step.  Which brings me to what I think He means when He adds “and flesh” to that phrase.  I believe this means that we should be different from the society around us.  We make sacrifices which they will not make.  We look different from those around us in ways which people notice when they look closely.  We should not blithely accept into the Body of Christ those who strive to look like everyone else.  Being circumcised in heart is about how we think and feel.  Being circumcised in flesh is about how we act and look.  As we come into God’s sanctuary, as we enter the Body of Christ, let us allow the Holy Spirit to transform us so that we think, feel, act, and look different from those who have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.