Overview
Ezekiel: The Lord explains the rules of the temple to Ezekiel. The east gate will never be opened again because the glory of the Lord entered by it. The prince is the only one to sit in the gate and eat bread before the Lord.
The Lord reiterates that Ezekiel must remember all the Lord is telling him about the rules and the entrance and exits of the sanctuary. He is to tell the rebellious Israelites to stop their abominations. They are to stop letting uncircumcised in heart and flesh foreigners in the sanctuary and profaning it. They broke his covenant and even have others do the work of caring for the sanctuary.
Only the Levites who worshiped idols may enter the sanctuary and bear their punishment. They shall not come as priests but must do all the work of killing the offerings and guarding the temple. This will be their punishment and their shame.
The Levitical priest who are descendants of Zadok are the only priest to come near the Lord because they kept the temple when Israel went astray. They are the only ones that are allowed to come to the Lord’s table and minister before him.
The Lord then explained their clothing for ministering. Their conduct is also explained for ministry, marriage, keeping laws, and death of family members. They are to be the teachers and judges for the land. They will not have a possession in the land as the Lord will take care of them. Their provision will be their parts of the offerings, gifts, firstfruits, and other gifts.
The Lord then described the amount of land that will be a holy district, 25,000 cubits (7.1 miles) by 20,000 cubits (5.7 miles) with the temple in the center. The priests will live in this area. Another area of 25,000 cubits by 10,000 cubits (2.8 miles) will be for the Levites who serve in the temple. The city will adjoin these areas and will be 25,000 cubits by 5,000 cubits (1.4 miles). The Prince will have the land on the east and west of the holy district and the city (25,000 cubits wide) and extend to the borders of Israel parallel to the tribal inheritances. The princes will no longer oppress the people.
The Lord then condemns the current princes telling them to stop their violence and oppression. They are to stop cheating in commerce and defines the correct weights and measures to be used.
Psalm: The Psalmist asks for help to keep God’s word as he delights in it. It keeps him going even when princes oppose him. He has sorrows but is knows God’s word is his source of strength. He has chosen the way of faithfulness as he clings to and mediates on God’s word.
Proverbs: Getting rich by charging high interest rates on poor people will find their riches given to those who are generous to the poor. The prayers of anyone who is not obedient to the Law are abominations. People who drag innocent people into evil will die in their own evil ways. The ones who don’t work evil will have a good inheritance.
1 Peter: Peter is writing to believers who have been dispersed and are living in various regions in modern Turkey. He calls them elected by God’s foreknowledge, sanctified by the Spirit, and for obedience to Jesus Christ. He pronounces grace and peace for them.
He explains the blessings we have in God’s mercy to be born again and have a living hope through Jesus’ resurrection. We have an inheritance in heaven that will never diminish. We have faith that God is guarding us by his power until our salvation is revealed in the last days.
We rejoice in this even though our faith is tested by trial so that it will be proved genuine. When Jesus comes back our tested faith will bring glory, praise, and honor to him.
Even though we haven’t seen Jesus, we love him and believe in him, which produces joy that is beyond expression and salvation.
By Jesus’ Spirit, the prophet told about this salvation by grace but didn’t really understand it when they predicted Jesus’ suffering and his glory. However, the Lord did let them know they were serving us and not themselves. The explanation has been told to us when the gospel is preached by the Holy Spirit. Even angel didn’t understand.
What Stood Out
Ezekiel: “They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean” (Ezek 44:23).
Psalm: “I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!” (Ps 119:19).
Proverbs: “Whoever misleads the upright into an evil way will fall into his own pit” (Prov 28:10).
1 Peter: “To those who are elect … according to the foreknowledge of God the Father … he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:1-2).
Insight
Ezekiel: Some of the priest in Israel led the people astray by worshiping idols. Other, the descendants of Zadok apparently tried to keep the Law of Moses. The Lord imposes a punishment on the descendants of the priests who went astray. They were not allowed to go into the sanctuary to minister in the same way as the descendants of Zadok. Instead, they had to do all the heavy lifting of slaughtering the animals for the sacrifices and cutting them up for the offering. This continual differential between the two classes of priests was to condemn the current priests who were idolaters and to remind the future priests the consequences of sin. In addition to the restriction on their duties, the descendants of Zadok were allotted twice the amount of land as all the rest of the priests and Levites who worked in the temple services.
If this temple were supposed to continue the Mosaic Law, then there is a very big piece of it missing. As I mentioned before, the Ark of the Covenant is missing. This isn’t just oversight. The Lord tells Ezekiel that the descendants of Zadok are the only ones that may approach the Lord’s table (Ezek 44:16). While they still offer fat and blood, there is no mention of bringing blood into the holy of holies. Neither now or when the Lord told Ezekiel to purify the altar with blood, it all took place outside of the holy of holies. This is significant. This is a good reason to believe that this is the millennium temple and not the one to be built after the Babylonian captivity or one that might be built before the millennium.
In the millennium, there will not be a need for blood to be taken into the holy of holies. The reason is because Jesus took his blood into the holy of holies in heaven and has once for all offered the sacrifice for sins. There is no need for a mercy seat because Jesus gives us mercy and forgives our sins. There is only one Lord’s table and that is the sacrament of the Lord’s supper where we remember his sacrifice. Any offerings or sacrifices in the millennium will be memorials of Jesus’ sacrifice. We are blessed to be priests of God and can minister to him by proclaiming the gospel now.
Psalm: Reading about the way the Psalmist yearns for God’s word is quite convicting. It doesn’t matter what is going on; everything from realizing that this life is just a sojourn, needing help in everyday problems, to princes plotting against him. He relates everything to God’s word. If we were one tenth as in awe of God’s word as he was, we would be much better Christians.
Proverbs: Jesus said that those who cause people to sin by tempting them are going to be punished so severely that it would be better to by tied to a millstone and drowned (Luke 17:1-2). This proverb and what Jesus said isn’t just for the perverts who want to have people approve of their sins. It is for those who entice people to join them in their sins. However, when we understand what James said, that one sin is a bad as breaking them all, we must understand that most of our sins actually tempt others to sins as well. When we tell lies, we set a pattern for our kids to do the same. When we are selfish and think only of ourselves, we model that for other people. We may not consciously set a trap for others, but we will be caught up in our sins and have to face the consequences. We should be thankful that Jesus’ blood covers those sins and his grace teaches us how to overcome them and live godly lives (Titus 2:11-12).
1 Peter: Peter tells us about our faith and that it is tested by trials to be proven genuine. But even before he does that, he sets the conditions of our faith so that we don’t think it comes from us. He tells us that we are elected according to what God the Father decided way before we were even born. We are elected to become holy and we are elected to become obedient to Jesus. Lest we still think we are responsible for our salvation, he lets us know that God has caused us to be born again.
Where is our hope? Where is our faith? It isn’t in anything we brought to the table. It is all in Jesus and God. We also have the Holy Spirit working in the background to make us holy. Without the Trinity in our lives, we would be dead and lost forever. Instead we have heaven waiting for us. Do you think a trial could turn you away from God? No, it can’t, if or faith is genuine (God doesn’t give us fake things), then we are secure because God’s power is shielding us.
Bottom line – we don’t save ourselves and we don’t keep ourselves saved. God does that. But we must not forget we have been called to obedience to Jesus. There is no free pass to do whatever we want.
Application
I want to continue to have an awe for God’s word. That will help me be obedient to Jesus and to persevere through trials. I want to be able to welcome trials because I know they will test my faith and prove it genuine. I can do that because that’s what God’s word says.
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