September 9, 2012 … Return to Glory

Chronological Bible Reading Plan - Day 253

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Ezekiel 43-45 To study these chapters, go to this link - 
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Highlight Passage: Ezekiel 43: 1-5: 9-12; 25-27 : [NLT] … 1 After this, the man brought me back around to the east gateway. 2 Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel appeared from the east. The sound of his coming was like the roar of rushing waters, and the whole landscape shone with his glory. 3 This vision was just like the others I had seen, first by the Kebar River and then when he came to destroy Jerusalem. And I fell down before him with my face in the dust. 4 And the glory of the LORD came into the Temple through the east gateway. 5 Then the Spirit took me up and brought me into the inner courtyard, and the glory of the LORD filled the Temple. … 
9 Now let them [i.e., the remnant of faithful believers] put away their idols and the sacred pillars erected to honor their kings, and I will live among them forever. 10 “Son of man, describe to the people of Israel the Temple I have shown you. Tell them its appearance and its plan so they will be ashamed of all their sins. 11 And if they are ashamed of what they have done, describe to them all the specifications of its construction — including its entrances and doors — and everything else about it. Write down all these specifications and directions as they watch so they will be sure to remember them. 12 And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness! The entire top of the hill where the Temple is built is holy. Yes, this is the primary law of the Temple. … 
 25 “Every day for seven days a male goat, a young bull, and a ram from the flock will be sacrificed as a sin offering. None of these animals may have physical defects of any kind. 26 Do this each day for seven days to cleanse and make atonement for the altar, thus setting it apart for holy use. 27 On the eighth day, and on each day afterward, the priests will sacrifice on the altar the burnt offerings and peace offerings of the people. Then I will accept you, says the Sovereign LORD.” 
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Highlight Passage: Ezekiel 43: 9; 15 : [NLT] … 9 “So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: No foreigners, including those who live among the people of Israel, will enter my sanctuary if they have not been circumcised and do not love the LORD. … 
15 “However, the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok continued to minister faithfully in the Temple when Israel abandoned me for idols. These men will serve as my ministers. They will stand in my presence and offer the fat and blood of the sacrifices, says the Sovereign LORD.  
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Highlight Passage: Ezekiel 43: 1; 21-22; 25 : [NLT] … 1 “When you divide the land among the tribes of Israel, you must set aside a section of it for the LORD as his holy portion. This piece of land will be 8 1/3 miles long and 6 2/3 miles wide. The entire area will be holy ground. … 
21 “On the fourteenth day of the new year, you must celebrate the Passover. This festival will last for seven days. Only bread without yeast may be eaten during that time. 22 On the day of Passover the prince will provide a young bull as a sin offering for himself and the people of Israel. … 
25 “During the seven days of the Festival of Shelters, which occurs every year in early autumn, the prince will provide these same sacrifices for the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the grain offering, along with the required olive oil.  
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Cross Reference Passage: Hebrews 9: 13-14 : [NLT] … 13 Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s bodies from ritual defilement. 14 Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our hearts from deeds that lead to death so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. 

My Journal for Today: Well, as Ezekiel’s prophesies, directed primarily to the remnant of true believers who were captured in Babylon, continued from those reviewed in my journal yesterday, in today’s three chapters we have God’s prophesy of the Temple rebuilt and His Spirit revealing to Ezekiel of God’s return to the Temple in Glory with those purified Priests and cleansed believers returning to worship God the way He had intended to be worshipped under the system declared to Moses.

And being a New Covenant Christian, covered by the blood of Yeshua, Ha’Mashiach, i.e., Jesus, The Messiah, I know that God’s temple is now my body; and He has covered all my sins, through my faith in His atoning work on the cross; and I can not worship Him, even in my sinful state; because His work was fully complete to render even my body as a holy place for the Lord to reside in the Person of His Spirit.

But those believers in Babylon could only see the return of God to His Temple in the light of the established Levitical order, those systems of worship given by God through Moses to His people; and so Ezekiel paints in his prophesies the return of God to His Holy place in the light of that Old Covenant system of sacrifice and practices. But Ezekiel’s prophesies to the repentant and faithful remnant in Babylon is a foreshadowing of the One Who would one day provide for all who are repentant for their sinfulness and believe in the Atoning Grace of the Holy Lamb of God to allow The Christ to cleanse them of their sins and to cover them with the glory of God in His Temple forever.

 May all the repentant believers reading these chapters in Ezekiel’s journal take heart from these prophesies and know that God is in His Temple and will reign there – in the hearts of true believers – forever.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, You reign in my heart forever! Amen