Good
Moring.
Ezekiel
41 reminds me of a recent tour of a southern plantation. The
original structure was burned prior to the Civil War and the current
building was rebuilt over several periods. Many of the guides and
publications described the home and gardens. Most enthusiastically
said, it was a “must see” part of the city, but without pictures,
the descriptions were cold and flat. Numbers, dimensions and acreage
alone have little meaning without something familiar to help put
things into perspective. Our plantation tour included three distinct
areas that only have significance together. The beautiful gardens
led to the slave quarters before we saw and heard the story of the
Manor house. Due to a hunting accident, this plantation was
inherited by a young man preparing for life as a preacher. The new
owner was prescribed to work with the soil due to illness as a way to
regain his health. In doing so, he worked side by side with the
slaves. As a preacher, he understood the need to teach them to read
in order to receive God’s Word. In today’s chapter, Ezekiel is
continuing his angelic tour of the Temple. As a sales brochure, this
chapter has little sizzle without pictures.
We
were told it was shown to him in a vision. We are finally at the
main house, the holy temple, but the angel describes measurements,
not function, “Then the man
brought me to the main hall
and measured the jambs… He also
measured the main hall; it was forty cubits long and twenty cubits
wide“. It quickly becomes
clear that the building is not spectacular until we understand its
purpose. The Temple had an important past, but this angel was
pointing toward the future. The angel “went
into the inner sanctuary“.
This was the innermost room, where the Glory of God would dwell,
“This is the Most Holy Place“.
Ezekiel could not enter.
The angel went in alone and “he
measured the length of the inner sanctuary“.
The lengths and widths are given for everything from the inner-room,
out to the outer courtyard. Everything seems stark until we are told
of the main building “everything
beyond and including the threshold was covered with wood. The floor,
the wall up to the windows, and the windows were covered“.
Finally we are told there is a picture of “carved
cherubim and palm trees“. He
describes the cherubim with, “the
face of a human being toward the palm tree on one side and the face
of a lion toward the palm tree on the other“.
I believe this is a reference to the owner who was fully man and
fully God. He came as a man to work side by side with us and
understand our temptation, but He will return as a lion and conquer
all. There
seems to be another subtle thing in the sanctuary, outside the most
holy place. “There was a
wooden altar… its sides were of wood“.
The angel said, “This is the
table that is before the Lord“.
At the Last supper, Jesus introduced the new covenant, that He would
be the once and for all sacrifice. He said, “I
have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in
the kingdom of God” (Luke
22:16). Perhaps we will share the last cup of wine and the last
piece of unleavened bread with Him at this table? Friend, are you a
slave to the past? In John 8:34, Jesus teaches us that “everyone
who sins is a slave to sin“.
But He adds, “If the Son sets
you free, you will be free indeed“.
Now, “Let us then approach
God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help us in our time of need”
(Hebrews 4:16). Leave the slave cabin; come through the garden, the
main house is open to all who believe.