The Temple Chambers
After touring the temple proper, we see that the guide takes
Ezekiel on a tour of the priestly chambers.
Again, there is not too much terribly exciting going on. Ezekiel takes a tour of rooms for the
priests. It would seem that one of the
most exciting parts of this chapter is that the second and third floors are
respectively smaller than the first floor.
This is unlike the temple, where the second and third floors were larger
than the bottom floor.
However, we can notice something as we close out this opening
section. There is a special place for
the priests who go before the presence of the Lord. They have special rooms to eat the food
sacrificed to God. This was permissible
according to the Law. There was a
special place for the priests to hang their priestly garments so that they didn’t
become profaned by coming in contact with normal people.
Hopefully you already catch my drift here. Again we see the assumption that there will
be a separation between the high priests, the normal priests, and the common
people. A casual reading of this passage
presupposes that Christ has not made all things yet clean {See Acts 10: Peter’s visit with Cornelius.} This passage presupposes that there is still
a division among the people. Perhaps
even most importantly, this chapter presupposes that direct access to God is
still limited to a very special few. In
this chapter we do not have an understanding that God will dwell among His
people as He does now. We still have the
understanding that God will dwell in His special place and only be visited by a
few special people.
This is actually supported by the idea that sacrifices will still
be made. Specifically, notice the
mention of the sin offering and the guilt offering. These are offerings of atonement. A casual reading of this chapter seems to
indicate no acknowledgement of Christ and His sacrifice once-for-all.
Of course, this makes sense.
Ezekiel lived prior to Christ and would have no knowledge of
Christ. However, if this was a vision
from God about a time after Christ, you would think that God would have
knowledge of Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross. Therefore, I believe that this chapter is yet
more evidence to think of this concluding vision here in Ezekiel as a prophecy
to the Hebrew people who will come back from exile. The worship system will continue. God will not abandon them to the Babylonians.
In fact, as we get to the closing verses of this chapter we can
see that there is painstaking effort to talk about the empty space around the
temple. Ezekiel tells us that there is a
space around the temple that is 500 x 500 cubits. That’s roughly 750 x 750 feet. Another way of saying this is 562,500 square
feet.
What is the purpose of this space?
This space is there to draw a clear separation from the holy and the
common. Once more we see the need to
draw the religious distinction between that which is of God and that which has
the capability of profaning the stuff of God’s temple. Here we see a clear attempt to keep the
barriers in place between the temple and the world.
Of course, I don’t mean to sound as though I am second-guessing
God. Actually, the truth is that as I
read through these chapters I find myself more and more encouraged about the
fact that I live in an era where I can know Christ. I feel blessed to live in an era where I can
know God personally regardless of my “credentials.” I feel blessed to be able to know the feeling
of the Holy Spirit within me. I feel
blessed to know that I do not need a bishop or someone holier than me to
intercede with God on my behalf.
As I read through these chapters, I simply feel blessed. I know God personally. I feel His imprint upon my life. I feel His breath within me. There is no need for me to feel distant from
God. I rather enjoy that feeling. All praise and glory for that feeling should
be directed solely to Him.
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