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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 41-43.

    At the end of yesterday’s passage Ezekiel began describing the dimensions of the new Temple which would be built after the Exiles returned to Jerusalem. It is not clear to me if this was meant to describe the Temple which was built after Cyrus ordered that the Jews be allowed to rebuild Jerusalem or one to be built in the time period when Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning Gog and Magog was fulfilled (or perhaps just figuratively). I am not really sure what purpose this detailed description serves. However, part way through the description Ezekiel describes God’s glory entering the new Temple. This is clearly in direct contrast to Ezekiel’s earlier description of God’s glory leaving the Temple. Which suggests that at least part of this description is written to contrast with his vision of the corruption and idolatry which was going on in the Temple before the fall of Jerusalem.

    In the description of God’s glory entering the new Temple we are given a little more information about the reason for Ezekiel’s detailed description of that Temple. The entire Temple mount is to be holy. In light of the fact that the New Testament tells us that our bodies are now the Temple of God, this sheds some light on what is expected of us. God has called us to be holy in all aspects of our lives. I think we pay too little attention to this because of our awareness of God’s forgiveness. As a Church today, we seem to put too much emphasis on God’s love and forgiveness. I find a real paradox in this, because our current overemphasis on God’s love and forgiveness is a reaction to an overemphasis by earlier generations on God’s judgment. On the one hand, overemphasizing God’s judgment leads us to focus too much on the mistakes (sins) we have committed in the past. On the other hand, overemphasizing God’s love and forgiveness leads us to not resist temptation sufficiently. We cannot change what we have done in the past, so it is important to accept that God will forgive us. However, that does not mean it is OK to repeat those actions.
    I want to note that there is also a theme in the New Testament that the Church is God’s Temple as well. While it may seem contrary to the idea that our bodies are God’s Temple to say this, that is not truly the case. The Church is composed of all of those who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. As such, it is a Temple composed of many individual Temples. Therefore, the Church also should be entirely holy.