I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 46-48.

As I read the rules Ezekiel gave concerning the gateways to the Temple they came across as very meaningful, but I do not understand the meaning.  On certain days the prince will enter the east gateway, worship God from the entry room, then leave the way he came in.  However, the common people will enter through either the north or south gateway and leave through the gateway opposite the one they entered.  All of that reads as spiritually very significant to me, but I do not understand the significance.

However, I think that I do understand part of the significance of the River of Life which Ezekiel describes as flowing out from God’s presence in the Temple.  Ezekiel describes the river as getting progressively deeper as it flows away from the Temple, but without any other sources.  I suspect there is a meaning here besides what I see, but to me Ezekiel is describing God’s love and how He expects us to respond to it.  There is a story I heard many years ago which sums this up.  I do not know if the story was true and I no longer accurately remember the details, but I am going to tell it as I remember it because it sums up the river which Ezekiel describes.  There was a woman in a small town who never married, but who taught Sunday School her whole life.  She touched the lives of perhaps a few hundred people, but one of those people grew up to be an evangelist.  That evangelist brought tens of thousands of people to the Lord.  One of those who came to serve God through that evangelist was Billy Graham, who went on to bring tens of millions of people to know and serve God.  Whether or not that story is true, it reflects the message of the River of Life which Ezekiel describes.  Each of us is God’s Temple and His love flows out from us.  Perhaps we have little direct impact on the world, but if we show God’s love to the people around us, God will change their lives.  Some of them will show God’s love to many more people and the river which is God’s love will get deeper, bringing life to all who encounter it.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 44-45.

As has been the case for most of Ezekiel’s description of the rebuilt Temple and now of the worship practices of restored Israel, I struggle with what to make of today’s passage.  I was however struck by the instructions regarding the priests.  They were to be supported by the offerings of the people, but they were not to have any property or land.  I think That this fits in well with what Paul writes regarding the support of those who manage and oversee the Church.  Those whom God has called to care for the spiritual well-being of His people should not profit from that calling, but should nevertheless be well-cared for by God’s people.

In a similar fashion, Ezekiel had strong words for the secular leaders of God’s people.  While those leaders were entitled to collect taxes from the people for their own well-being, they were not to abuse their position to take advantage of people.  They were to obtain wealth honestly, not by using their position to dispossess people and not by cheating in their dealings.  We see the sort of thing Ezekiel was crying out against in the fact that many government officials today become extremely wealthy while only earning a modest income.  Some of those government officials may have gained their wealth honestly, but the fact that practically all of them become wealthy suggests that many of them are abusing their position of trust.