Worship within the Temple
In this chapter we can see that God was serious a few chapters
back about saying that the east gate should be shut and used by nobody except
His princes. There is no western door to
the temple. Thus, the temple could be
entered by the north and by the south only.
As long as we’re talking about coming into the temple, note that
the people who come in from the south gate are to go out by the north
gate. The people who come in by the north
gate are to go out the south gate. God
intends for there to be an order within the movement of His people. God is a God who brings order into our lives
of chaos.
However, I believe that there is more than just order at work in
this passage. I believe God is telling
us that when we come into His presence we do not return the way we came. When we encounter God, we inevitably strike
out on a new path. An encounter with God
changes the trajectory of our life in one way or another. Therefore, the people who come into the
temple from one gate do not return by the same gate. The go through another gate to symbolize that
God has put them back on a new path.
I really like this symbolism in the worship life of the people. I like the idea that the people are to make
such a simple gesture as a part of their worship. There is a depth in the symbolism that is
unexpected in such a simple act.
As a bit of an aside, this is something that I have really come to
enjoy about worshiping in a liturgical style.
Yes, some of the things we do are often rote and perhaps even seem
mundane from time to time. When they do,
shame on us! But even in the mundane
there is a deep symbolism in our actions.
There is a process and an order.
There are things being achieved and accomplished symbolically when we
gather. What is important is that we do
not lose sight of them. It is when we
lose sight of the symbolism that liturgical worship becomes rote and mundane.
Generosity
When we look at the sacrifices that are to be made, note that
there is a specification as well as an opportunity for generosity from the
prince. There is a specific amount of
bulls and rams and oil that are to be offered.
However, when the time comes for the grain offering the amount is
flexible. The amount depends on how much
could be spared.
Again, I think this is a really neat dimension to worship of God
as well as atoning for our sins. There
are certain thresholds that must be met.
But there is also flexibility.
In worship we must proclaim God’s Word. We must point to God and not ourselves. We must remember the forgiveness of our
sin. We must give something back to
God. However, there are also some
thresholds in which we have flexibility.
Do we sing one song or ten? Do we
sing humbly or robustly? How much of our
resources do we give? Do we meet for an
hour or three hours?
With respect to atonement for our sins, the same thing is
true. There are thresholds that must be
met. Christ had to die. We must repent (confess & change). We must make an effort to make amends. However, there are areas of flexibility as
well. How do I come before the Lord
repentantly – do I sit in prayer or genuflect and bow before the altar? Do I make a simple apology to those I offend
or do I make a grand motion? How much
effort do I put towards making amends?
How much effort do I put towards making my change visible to
others? God gives us flexibility so long
as we meet certain thresholds.
Transmitting Holiness
A few days back, when we were talking about the priestly chambers,
we heard in Ezekiel a precaution regarding the transmission of holiness to the
people. Here in this chapter we have
another mention of this. To a New
Testament people, this description sounds strange. Why is holiness something that is to be
avoided giving to the people?
As you probably expect, this is something that comes because the
position of this vision is one that does not take into account the work of
Christ on the cross. You see, as New
Testament Christians we are concerned with only righteousness/sin. But in Judaism, they are concerned with both
righteousness/sin and clean/unclean. For
the Jew, the holy should never come in contact with the unclean or common. Should holiness ever come in contact with the
common (the proper word there is profane or secular), it would be bad. It would be like matter meeting anti-matter. The profane would be destroyed because the
presence of the holy is just so great. Therefore,
we can see that such a comment is made for the benefit of the people.
It is good to be a New Testament Christian. Through Christ, all things are made
clean. We no longer need to worry about
where holiness is transmitted. Where God’s
Spirit goes before us, we can go with confidence. God has made us holy; we simply need to live
out in that promise.
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