Week 28 Ezekiel
Reading-through means I’m pretty much committed to the Total Content Rule…which says that now that I’ve arrived at Ezekiel 40-46 I have to read it.
It describes Ezekiel’s temple vision. It’s detailed and uninteresting enough that it makes for a plodding architectural narrative. At first I’m forming a vague mental picture of a boxy geometric structure but soon I’m lost in detail – measurements gates windows pillars porches courtyards rooms – for guards-priests-singers-storage – doors stairways plazas galleries walkways and also quite a bit of decorative art.
Then right in the middle of the section the Lord tells Ezekiel to: 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. And if they are ashamed of what they have done, describe to them all the specifications of its construction.
So Ezekiel was supposed to give an oral presentation of his temple vision. If the people turned toward the Lord then Ezekiel could then give them the construction details. It’s hard to imagine how these architectural specifics would assist the people’s faith. But however that part worked Ezekiel’s concluding add-on was definitive: this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness!
Ezekiel’s Vision-Temple was never built (that I know about) and whether it’s a future building-project waiting-to-happen is debatable. But what seems pretty basic and lasting and necessary is the being-personally-holy part of the plan.
Note: quotes from (Ezekiel 43:10-11 & 12 (NLT)