Renewing Holiness

Day 187: Ezekiel 40-44

Ezekiel has a vision of a specific temple, and these chapters detail what the temple will look like. The temple Ezekiel envisions includes a wall, many different gates, outer and inner courts, rooms for the priests and for preparing sacrifices, a sanctuary, an altar, and the most holy place. It doesn't appear that this temple was ever built, and I'm not quite sure of the significance of this temple. Perhaps Ezekiel's detailed explanation about the temple is to serve as a message to Israel about the holy people they are supposed to be. The temple gives Israel a place of worship and might encourage them to return to holiness, to renew their commitment to the Lord.

It's interesting to me--and I know I've said this before--how much of the Bible reflects the same theme, the same story, just told in different ways. Israel is God's people. Israel leaves the Lord. The Lord pleads for them to repent. Israel repents. Israel strays again. And over and over and over again you have this motif.

But what I also find interesting is that we do the same thing as Israel does. Israel didn't get it, and neither do we. God wants us to pursue him. He wants us to be holy. He has called us. He has named us. But we stray. We sin. We turn our back on the Lord. We look out for our own self-interests. And through scripture, God is calling us to renew our hearts and minds by worshiping him in the temple. He's built this great place for us, and he wants us to come. To sit by His side and listen to Him. To worship Him. To love Him. If we renew our faith, He will make us holy.