Falling on His Face
In the last chapter, one of the things that Ezekiel did that I
didn’t get a chance to comment upon was that he fell upon his face when He saw
the coming of the Lord. Fortunately, we
get an opportunity to see it here in this chapter. Ezekiel sees the glory of the Lord filling
the temple and he falls upon his face.
This is really the only proper response to the Lord. The presence of the Lord inspires fear and
awe. When we are in the presence of the
Lord, the only true response is humble submission. There just simply isn’t any room for any
response except for complete and utter submission. Only when lifted up by the Spirit of God can
we stand. Only when addressed by the
voice of God Himself can we do anything other than demonstrate complete and
utter submission.
Prohibition Against
Foreigners
As we move through chapter 44, we come across the Lord stressing
some rules with Ezekiel. One of the most
interesting ones is that the Lord tells Ezekiel that He has had enough of their
abominable practices. Among those
practices is allowing foreigners {the
uncircumcised} into the presence of God.
At first, this doesn’t sound at all as though it should come from the
same God as who told Peter that “all things have been made clean.”
We need to be careful that we make sure we read the words in
context, not just the words. God has an
issue with the foreigners in so much as it leads to abominable practices within
His presence. Remember the vision of the
temple of Jerusalem before the fall?
Chief priests were worshipping other gods within the temple. Worshippers were coming in and having times
of giving glory to other gods besides the one true God. God is tired of the abominable practices
occurring within the temple.
It is not the foreigners that are the problem as much as it is
their practices. Those who are
circumcised in heart are welcome to come into the presence of the Lord. Those who are circumcised in heart are
welcome to come and worship God. But
they must be prohibited from doing anything else while they are in the presence
of God. The temple is for the purpose of
worshiping God alone.
That last sentence is one that struck me as I wrote it. The temple is for the worship of God
alone. It sounds so simple. It sounds like such a no-brainer. Yet, according to the New Testament we who
believe in Christ and have the Holy Spirit within us are the temple of
God. So as I wrote the last sentence of
the prior paragraph I couldn’t help but wonder.
Is my temple – my body, my mind, my being – solely for the worship of
God?
It would seem I’ve found another chapter to lead me into a time of
repentance.
Rules for the Levites
In the verses that make up the middle of this chapter we have a
set of rules for the Levites. Prior to
the fall of Judah to Babylon, the Levites were allowed to have fairly extensive
duties within the temple. However,
because they were part of the reason that the people were led astray, they will
bear the punishment. After the exile,
the Levites will only be allowed to be gatekeepers and sacrifice slayers. They will be allowed to serve in the temple,
but they will not be allowed to perform priestly duties deeper within the
temple.
What can we learn from this?
There are consequences to sin.
Even though God forgives the sin and the iniquity of the people, there
are still consequences. Some of those
consequences last for quite a long time.
God does not look lightly upon people who lead others astray. God does not look lightly upon people who
point in a direction other than Him. I
am reminded about Jesus’ teaching about people who lead others astray and a
millstone being hung around their neck. {See Mark 9:42}
However, we also have a set of rules for the Levites of
Zadok. These were a line of Levitical
priests who did keep the faith. Just as
there is a consequence for prolonged sin, there is a reward for prolonged
faithfulness. God remembers those who
work against Him as well as those who work with Him.
Looking to these priests of Zadok, we see a number of duties. Many of those duties again point us to a time
that does not seem to recognize the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross. Moving beyond those, we see a rather interesting
set of duties proscribed to the Levitical priests of Zadok.
The priests of Zadok are charged with teaching the people. They are to teach the people about
righteousness versus unrighteousness.
But they are to do more than just teach the people. They are to live out their teaching. They are to be an example. This is spiritual dwelling with God. Spiritual leaders who dwell with God teach
with their mouth as well as with their deeds.
Spiritual leaders live a life that is worthy of being an example to
others.
What do these priests get for their trouble? They get the greatest gift that could ever be
received. These priests of Zadok receive
the Lord as their inheritance. They
dwell with God. They partake of the
offerings given to God. They are – at least
from an inheritance perspective – family.
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