May 27, Ezekiel 43
As the glory of the LORD entered the temple by the gate facing east, the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple. - Ezekiel 43:5
Back in Chapters 10-11, Ezekiel saw in a vision the glory of the Lord depart from the old Jerusalem temple. The glory of the Lord left the temple because even the priests had become reprobates. They defiled the temple by their idolatry, and lost all regard for the holiness of God.
In Chapter 43, God showed Ezekiel a vision of the glory of the Lord's presence returning to the temple. The glory did not return to the old Jerusalem temple it had left, because that temple no longer existed. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it, along with the rest of Jerusalem when he invaded the city. The Lord told Ezekiel that his glory would dwell in this new temple forever. But the promise of his abiding presence was conditional, contingent upon their commitment to respect and reflect the holiness of God in their service and lives.
God reviewed details about the priests’ service. He described the great altar and reviewed the laws about sacrifices, refreshing their minds about what was to be offered as well as explaining how and when the sacrifices were to be made.
The exiles would build a temple when they returned to their homeland. But it would not be the temple God described in this chapter. The rebuilt temple would be smaller, not larger than Solomon's temple. The people and their priests still would not honor God's holiness, defiling even their offerings by contemptuous disobedience to God's laws for their lives.
God would build another temple in which he would fulfill his promise to dwell among his people forever. That temple would not be made from stone and wood, but from living human beings. No physical structure on earth can be the true temple of God, because the One who made the vast heavens and the earth does not live in a temple made with human hands. The true temple of God where he dwells among his people is the church of Jesus Christ. In this new Israel of God, the body of Christ, the Lord's Spirit would dwell within and among his people.
The big altar was never built and the sacrifices were never offered by the priests on it. But the true altar of God is the cross of Jesus Christ. On it, the sinless Son of God was both high priest and sin offering, making himself the true and effective sacrifice to atone for our sins.
Ezekiel and his fellow exiles could not have known or understood what you and I can know about this true temple, altar, priest and sacrifice. The vision temple, priesthood and altar were things the readers could understand, But they were symbolic, not actual. When Israel failed to obey and live holy lives, many of the promised blessings they could have enjoyed never came.
You and I live in a time when we know facts on which we base our faith about the reality of the things Ezekiel saw. We see them standing and accomplished. Ezekiel only saw them in shadowy figures. We enjoy even greater blessings, making us even more accountable to God to respond in trusting faith and loving obedience to him. As God’s people today, it is still his will for us to be holy as he is holy. And by his grace revealed in the gospel, he forgives sin to reconcile us to himself, and by his Spirit enables us to live sober, righteous and godly lives. God designed the church to be a temple where he would dwell in and among his people. As members of the body of Christ, we should respect and reflect his holiness in all that we do, and do it all for his glory.
Copyright © 2024 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—May 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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