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

While describing the temple in his vision, Ezekiel quotes God as saying, “No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh is to enter my sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among the Israelites.”  One could easily get caught up on the exclusion of foreigners from God’s sanctuary, but that would miss the real point, because we should really read that as “no uncircumcised in heart foreigner…”  Once a foreigner has allowed God’s Spirit to enter their heart and circumcise it, they are no longer a foreigner.  As I was reviewing that part of the passage in order to write the above I also noticed that this condemnation of bringing uncircumcised foreigners into the temple (and it reads to me that the important part was being uncircumcised in their hearts) was addressed not just to the priests and Levites (as most of this passage is).  It was directed at all of the people of Israel.  Then upon further reading I found that instead of carrying out their duty to care for God’s holy things, they put foreigners who had not truly joined God’s people in charge of them.  Then a little later, when Ezekiel had gotten back to speaking directly to the priests and Levites, he said that the duty of the priests and Levites was to teach people the difference between the holy and the profane.

Which brings me to the lesson for us today.  First, we should make sure that those we put in charge of God’s sanctuary, which today, in my mind , is the Church (and our various congregations and other organizations through which we carry out God’s will) are not “foreigners”, are not people who have not truly and fully dedicated themselves to serving Christ.  Second, our first duty in serving God is teaching others the difference between the holy and the profane, between the clean and the unclean.

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

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

Today’s passage begins with Ezekiel concluding his description of the temple he saw in his vision.  Ezekiel tells us that the east gate of the temple will remain shut and never be opened because God entered the temple through the east gate.  Then he mentions that only “the prince” would be allowed to sit in the gateway, which is where he would eat (I am assuming Ezekiel is referring to the prince eating of the offerings which he had made).  My initial reaction was to just move past this without giving it much thought because it was part of Ezekiel’s description of the temple he saw in his vision, and I have never understood what we are supposed to understand from that description.  However, today it struck me that there is something very specific about the gate through which the glory of the Lord entered the temple remaining shut and no one else ever passing through it.  Even having that thought left me with no understanding of what meaning it has for us.  As I wrote this it occurred to me that in some way it reflects on the fact that Jesus went through death and resurrection so that He might enter into our hearts.  No one else can pass through what He did in that experience.

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

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

As part of his prophecy about the new temple in his vision, Ezekiel condemns the Israelites for putting foreigners who did not worship God in charge of the sanctuary of God.  He refers to those who had been put in charge as uncircumcised in flesh and in heart.  Then Ezekiel goes on to talk about those who will be priests in this new temple he sees and what they are to do.  They are to teach God’s people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the clean and the unclean.  Other translations say sacred and profane instead of holy and common.  I think that the other translations give us a clearer understanding of the job of our religious leaders, and a better idea of the importance of learning this distinction.  The NIV leaves us with the impression that there is the ordinary and the holy, and, while that difference is important, that it is OK to be ordinary.  When, in fact, everything we do is either sacred or profane, clean or unclean.  So, that makes it very important that we learn to distinguish between the sacred and the profane, between the clean and the unclean.  Here Ezekiel condemns the Israelites for, in the past, bringing the profane, the unclean, into the sacred spaces of God’s temple and warns them against doing so in the future.  In Acts 10 Peter was told not to call unclean that which God had made clean.  These two commands tell us the importance of having leaders who can teach us to distinguish between the sacred and the profane.  We must not bring into God’s presence that which is profane, but we also must not exclude those whom God has declared clean.

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

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

My lovely wife married me 22 years ago on the 23rd of this month.  So I am going to wish her Happy Anniversary every day from now until then.

Happy Anniversary, Darling!

Usually, when I read this passage I do not know what to make of it.  My understanding of the New Testament says that Jesus has expanded the priesthood to all Believers, which diminishes the significance of chapter 44, and eliminated the sacrifices by sacrificing Himself, which diminishes the significance of chapter 45.  However, today I was struck by the way in which Ezekiel condemned the people of Israel as he begins his prophecy concerning the restored temple.  Once more Ezekiel condemns them for doing detestable things.  This time he also condemns them for failing to carry out their duties regarding God’s holy things.  Instead, they brought in outsiders, people who did not worship God at all, to take care of these things.  To me this sounds like a condemnation of those who outsource God’s command to care for our neighbor to the government, or some secular charity, instead of working with our fellow Believers to provide that care.  Ezekiel writes of the Israelites putting those who were uncircumcised in both flesh and heart in charge of God’s temple.  In much the same way, many Believers today  seek ever more government programs to help those who are unable to care for themselves rather than seeking for the Church to step up and implement solutions.

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

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

Ezekiel here refers to those who are “uncircumcised in heart and flesh”.  He condemns the people of Israel for bringing those who wee “uncircumcised in heart and in flesh” into the Temple, in to God’s sanctuary.  He goes on to say that after the restoration of the Temple, no one so uncircumcised is to be allowed into God’s sanctuary.  I think it noteworthy that priority is given to being uncircumcised in heart over being uncircumcised in flesh. Further, I believe that this prophecy has application to the Church today.  All too often the Church has failed to tell those who refuse to accept its teachings that they need to go elsewhere.  Time and again we see people who argue for changing the Church’s teaching on a subject continue to do so after the Church has debated, prayed, and accepted the Holy Spirit’s guidance on the issue against their stance.  Such people must be told that they are no longer welcome to take part in discussions about Church policy.  If they believe the Church is wrong, they should find like-minded people and form their own group which worships God according to their understanding of His will.  God’s Spirit will reveal, over time, which group He truly resides among.

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

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

In the year 2000, on the 23rd day of this month, my wife married me.  So here we are on day 9 of the 20 days that I am going to wish her Happy Anniversary for 20 years of marriage.  Happy Anniversary Darling!

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

In his vision as recounted in today’s passage, Ezekiel was told to take careful note of the regulations he was given here concerning the Temple and the use of its various entryways.  To be perfectly honest, I do not get the significance of most of the instructions which follow.  There are however a few which I think we can generalize and understand as having a timeless significance.  He tells the priests that they must be sure to follow all of God’s instructions.  Then a little bit later, he tells the princes, the ruling class, that they must use honest weights and honest measures.  It is not enough for the leaders and rulers to make sure the people know what the right thing to do is, they must do what is right.  We see the violation of this today with government leaders breaking government regulations which the common people must follow and with religious leaders breaking the sexual codes they preach.  Yes, our leaders are humans with human failings, but when they find themselves unable to live by the rules they promote for others they should step down until God’s Spirit gives them victory over that sin.

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 44-45.

As has been the case for most of Ezekiel’s description of the rebuilt Temple and now of the worship practices of restored Israel, I struggle with what to make of today’s passage.  I was however struck by the instructions regarding the priests.  They were to be supported by the offerings of the people, but they were not to have any property or land.  I think That this fits in well with what Paul writes regarding the support of those who manage and oversee the Church.  Those whom God has called to care for the spiritual well-being of His people should not profit from that calling, but should nevertheless be well-cared for by God’s people.

In a similar fashion, Ezekiel had strong words for the secular leaders of God’s people.  While those leaders were entitled to collect taxes from the people for their own well-being, they were not to abuse their position to take advantage of people.  They were to obtain wealth honestly, not by using their position to dispossess people and not by cheating in their dealings.  We see the sort of thing Ezekiel was crying out against in the fact that many government officials today become extremely wealthy while only earning a modest income.  Some of those government officials may have gained their wealth honestly, but the fact that practically all of them become wealthy suggests that many of them are abusing their position of trust.