Category: Ezekiel

Ezekiel 41:4 – “The inner room of the sanctuary was 35 feet long and 35 feet wide. ‘This,’ he told me, ‘is the Most Holy Place.'”

Read the full chapter here.

We’re still on the grand tour of God’s new Temple, and there’s a room we will linger in for a bit today: the Most Holy Place. This was the innermost room in the temple, and only priests were allowed in once a year. There were a lot of rules about that room as it was a highly protected space.

Want to hear something really unbelievable? You are now allowed into that Most Holy Place. Yes, you. And me. We can now walk right into God’s throne room. When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain blocking that room off tore from the top to bottom (Matthew 27:50-52). Hebrews 9-10 explains how Jesus removed the need for priests to go between us and God. We can pray and ask him for anything because the Holy Spirit dwells within us.

Here’s your freedom for today:

You have total access to God.

The system that God set up in the Old Testament involved a bunch of rules and laws to follow. This was not because animal sacrifice worked somehow, but it revealed to God’s people just how helpless they were to live perfect lives. They could not follow the law at all times. Neither can we. But Jesus came as a Rescuer to save us all, and when he did he fulfilled all of the old laws. Now, we can pray and talk to God freely. We have the Holy Spirit guiding us every day when we follow Jesus. Turns out God prefers people over buildings any day of the week.

Ezekiel 42:13-14 – “Then the man told me, ‘These rooms that overlook the Temple from the north and south are holy. Here the priests who offer sacrifices to the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. And because these rooms are holy, they will be used to store the sacred offerings—the grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. When the priests leave the sanctuary, they must not go directly to the outer courtyard. They must first take off the clothes they wore while ministering, because these clothes are holy. They must put on other clothes before entering the parts of the building complex open to the public.’”

Read the full chapter here.

As we move through these final chapters of Ezekiel, we will be reading some interesting and hopeful prophecies that speak to things to come. Today we finish the major part of our tour of the temple, focusing on the rooms for the priests. In the highlighted verses, we see the rituals that the priests were instructed to perform to maintain the holiness of the Temple.

The types of offerings described — grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings — are first detailed in the book of Leviticus. God gave his people his laws and his requirements for offerings made to him. The grain offering was most similar to what we know know as a tithe. It was the first portion of the crop given to God. The sin or guilt offering was given when a person unintentionally broke one of God’s commands. The killing of a young bull would be the sacrifice required to bring the person back into right relationship with God.

Here’s your freedom for today:

You have been offered right standing with God.

As we discussed yesterday, we no longer kill animals in order to try to become right with God. Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection (conquering death permanently) fulfilled the sacrificial requirements once for all. Through Jesus, you are given an offering from God instead of the other way around. He’s offering you right standing with him. Restored relationship. Eternal life. However, this offer does require a counteroffer — your life. As Romans 12 describes, we lay our lives down as a sacrifice. We accept his forgiveness and leadership in our lives. Have you accepted Jesus’ offer and given your life to him in surrender and sacrifice? Start by having a conversation with him. Invite him in.

Ezekiel 43:2-3 – “Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel appeared from the east. The sound of his coming was like the roar of rushing waters, and the whole landscape shone with his glory. This vision was just like the others I had seen, first by the Kebar River and then when he came to destroy Jerusalem. I fell face down on the ground.”

Read the full chapter here.

Today’s chapter is all about God restoring his people into proper relationship with him. Our highlighted verses show the natural and proper response to God: falling face down on the ground. When people come face to face with God in the Bible, they typically have that reaction. There are some moments when we encounter great power and we realize our own smallness.

Have you ever been captured by the power of the ocean? We might imagine a sunset on the beach, but what about the power of getting caught in a boat in a storm? Jesus used this specific event to demonstrate his own power by commanding the wind and waves to stop. (Spoiler alert: it worked.) God might seem to have been flexing throughout the book of Ezekiel, and we could perceive that as grandiose or self-centered. That’s only true when we pretend to have power that we do not actually have. God is a different story.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God’s power is worthy of praise.

When people try to assert their power over others, or try to tear others down, it is rooted in selfishness, pride, pain, and evil. When God asserts his power, it is deserved and real. He is interacting with a world he created, and he is seeking to use his power to love. We can fall down on our faces in worship because that is what encountering God produces. Admiration. Respect. Love. Surrender. If we can feel those things towards people who are kind or loving, we can begin to understand this reaction to a genuine encounter with God. He is the kindest, most loving, most remarkable being that we could ever imagine. I am confident of this because I have watched people’s lives change through my kindness and my love for them. There’s no way I can out-kind or out-love God — if he were selfish and punishing then when I demonstrate kindness and love I would be greater than God. That math doesn’t add up. I hope that those who see my kindness and love see a small piece the true character of God living in me. Perhaps the same could be said of you.

Ezekiel 44:7-8 – “You have brought uncircumcised foreigners into my sanctuary—people who have no heart for God. In this way, you defiled my Temple even as you offered me my food, the fat and blood of sacrifices. In addition to all your other detestable sins, you have broken my covenant. Instead of safeguarding my sacred rituals, you have hired foreigners to take charge of my sanctuary.”

Read the full chapter here.

The verses highlighted for today present some interesting ideas, particularly in light of Jesus’ life and the New Testament. When Jesus came, “uncircumcised foreigners” were suddenly allowed into God’s family, and not everyone could wrap their heads around that. Acts 15 gives a great summary of that debate.

What I find interesting here is that the qualifier for the “uncircumcised foreigners” is “people who have no heart for God.” In Acts 15, it is clear that Gentiles received the Holy Spirit and their hearts were more for God than some Jews who rejected Jesus as the Messiah. God’s people have abandoned him more than once. Here they broke their relationship with God, in the New Testament many Jews/Israelites rejected Jesus, and today many who call themselves “Christians” have no heart for God.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God is intimately connected with your heart.

Whether you want him to or not, God knows your heart. Some might find that encouraging, and others perhaps find it intrusive. Ultimately, it’s not about what family you come from or what you call yourself. You either act like Jesus or you don’t. You either welcome relationship with God or you don’t. Your relationship with God may have its ups and downs, but in the end if you are not seeking him you will not find him. The Israelites demonstrated that many times. In the end, when Jesus came, a whole lot of them totally missed God. When he comes again, will we know him?

Ezekiel 45:9 – “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Stop your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Quit robbing and cheating my people out of their land. Stop expelling them from their homes, says the Sovereign Lord.”

Read the full chapter here.

Today God is giving his instructions for dividing up the land of Israel, including a holy section for himself. He’s talking about boring stuff like taxes and yearly rituals. Verse 9 struck me as another example of God’s character: he continually opposes violence and oppression. When God takes control, righteousness and order are restored.

God is against robbing people, cheating them, or in any other way taking advantage of them. When God gets extremely angry in the Bible, it’s because he sees people being oppressed. Jesus didn’t get angry much, but the one time we know he did it was because the powerful religious people were charging exorbitant prices for sacrifices. (This is like that $14 hot dog you buy at a baseball game, except it was your “access” to God. Not cool.)

Here’s your freedom for today:

God will stand up for those who are cheated and robbed.

Here God is saying, “Do the right thing!” He’s warning those in charge that they better not try to use their power to cheat and rob others. Being taken advantage of takes all kinds of forms, like abuse or manipulation or trickery, but in the end it’s all about power and control. We know from reading Ezekiel that God is definitely in charge and is more powerful than any earthly ruler. He’s proven that. What he says goes. And what he says is that we all need to treat others well. His kingdom runs on love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5). When you have power, that’s what it looks like when you are doing things God’s way.