Corona Devo 1989

Our middle child is close to getting his drivers license.  He's taken the classes, practiced his driving hours, and he has finished the in-car drive-time with an instructor.  All that's left is the test, and he is excited to take it.

But with so many variables in learning the rules of the road, traffic and signage--I was wondering if our son was nervous as he processed all of it.  However, when I asked him how he was feeling, he gave me a matter-of-fact one sentence answer that (in his mind) summed up the entire process : "Driving is just like Chemistry: you just have to do it perfectly...every time."

And, while I do not know much about Chemistry, he is (fairly) correct about driving: an incorrect move or mistake can cause an accident or worse.  Driving does sort of have to be perfect everytime...or else.

And, somehow, his chemistry-to-driving equation popped in my head when reading the Bible today:

And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness! The entire top of the mountain where the Temple is built is holy. Yes, this is the basic law of the Temple.  ~Ezekiel 43:12

God is talking to the prophet Ezekiel about a future Temple that will be built to honor Him, and God tells Ezekiel that there's just one little teensy-tiny basic law of the Temple...absolute holiness.

Oh, is that all it takes to follow God--Absolute holiness?  

Then--guess what people?  We are all doomed, because the Bible says: “There is no one righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10), and unfortunately, that "no one righteous" includes us.  

But, wait, before we waive the white faith-flag...God was describing His holy Temple when He said this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness...not us.  Or was He?  

I think it was both.

God spoke to Ezekiel through a vision, and much of the vision entailed exact and precise measurements that the Temple would be built from.  The measurements were so important that the man in Ezekiel's vision was holding in his hand a linen measuring cord and a measuring rod (Ezekiel 40:1-3), and throughout a number of Ezekiel's chapters, the man measures: 

 ...and the wall was 10 1⁄2 feet thick and 10 1⁄2 feet high (Ezekiel 40:5)

 ...the threshold of the gateway; it was 10 1⁄2 feet front to back (Ezekiel 40:6)

And...the man in the vision keeps measuring...

There were guard alcoves on each side built into the gateway passage. Each of these alcoves was 10 1⁄2 feet square, with a distance between them of 8 3⁄4 feet along the passage wall. 

The gateway’s inner threshold, which led to the entry room at the inner end of the gateway passage, was 10 1⁄2 feet front to back. 

(8) He also measured the entry room of the gateway. (9) It was 14 feet across, with supporting columns 3 1⁄2 feet thick.~Ezekiel 40:7-9

And...well, I think we get the point of the measurements.

But...do we?

God was giving exact instructions on the lengths-of-walls and widths-of-entries, and all of these specifics were in reference to building His holy Temple. Every hallway and alcove height and width mattered to God. He laid out His intended instructions because He wanted His people to follow His instructions.

Why?

Because He is God, and He has authority over the world, the universe and us.

But I venture to say that God's listings and measurements and requirements of specific and intended instructions correlate exactly with His (Heavenly Father) heart's desire for you and me as we seek to follow our Lord and to serve Him with our lives.

It's not just the Temple that God has specific instructions for...it's us.

WE, as His people, are His Temple (His church), and He wants us to read His Word (the Bible) and come as close to perfect as we can in carrying out what He says.

And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness! The entire top of the mountain where the Temple is built is holy. Yes, this is the basic law of the Temple.  ~Ezekiel 43:12

And then, God wants us to pass it on to others!

He said to me, “Son of man, watch and listen. Pay close attention to everything I show you. You have been brought here so I can show you many things. Then you will return to the people of Israel and tell them everything you have seen.”  ~Ezekiel 40:4

~~~

God spends much of the entire Old Testament speaking to His people about His exact laws, and His required sacrifices.  

God established His relationship with His people by defining His holiness (and their sin).  If they obeyed God's (exact) requirements for purification, they could have communion with Him...until their next required sacrifice was due.

Because God is holy and we are not...God's people in the Old Testament of the Bible, and during Ezekiel's time were separated from Him most of the time.  

There was a wall around Him to separate what was holy from what was common (Ezekiel 42:20).  

So the area was 875 feet on each side with a wall all around it to separate what was holy from what was common.  ~Ezekiel 42:20

UNTIL JESUS CAME and died for us and our sins.   Jesus and His sacrifice provided purification over us...and Jesus became the door in the wall that used to separate what was holy from what was common.   

Jesus is our door to our Holy God.

I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  ~John 10:9

God gives us specifics about how to live our lives for Him.  Every page of the Bible defines the measurements, height, and width of His requirements for us.  

But guess what else?  There is no longer a wall all around it to separate what was holy from what was common.  God loved us so very much that He provided His Son, Jesus as a door (for us!) in that wall.

God is still holy...every bit as much as He always has been.  But now He invites us in to His holiness.  We must absolutely still follow the measurements of His Law as best that we can because His basic law will never change: it is absolute holiness.

And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness! ...Yes, this is the basic law of the Temple.  ~Ezekiel 43:12

We don't have to do it perfectly everytime...we can't.  

But we can read God's requirements (the Bible) and seek to bring our whole-hearted effort and offering before Him.   He has made a door in the wall for us to get near to Him. 

“Son of man, describe to the people of Israel the Temple I have shown you, so they will be ashamed of all their sins. Let them study its plan, (11) and they will be ashamed of what they have done.

Describe to them all the specifications of the Temple—including its entrances and exits—and everything else about it. Tell them about its decrees and laws. Write down all these specifications and decrees as they watch so they will be sure to remember and follow them.

(12) And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness! The entire top of the mountain where the Temple is built is holy. Yes, this is the basic law of the Temple. ~Ezekiel 43:10-12

Blessings, 

Sarah 

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com