Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 41-43.

Every year when I come to this passage I struggle with what to write.  Ezekiel goes into a detailed description of the measurements of the rebuilt temple he saw in his vision.  As I read that my eyes start to glaze over and before I get to the end of chapter 42 I’m reading the words but not really comprehending them.  Today, I really made an effort to re-engage my brain when I got to the place where the man guiding Ezekiel told him about the room where the priests would eat the most holy offerings.  There he tells Ezekiel that the priests must change out of the garments they wear while ministering in the temple before going out among the common people.   I never really took notice of that before because it is not that different from the instructions Moses gave Aaron and his sons regarding the garments they wore in the Tabernacle.  However, I took note of it today and saw that Ezekiel was emphasizing that restatement of the commandment from Moses in order to highlight the way in which the people of Jerusalem had failed to keep the temple and its surrounds holy.  Ezekiel writes about how the people of Jerusalem had practiced their detestable practices right next to the temple, in areas which should have been kept holy in order to prevent contamination of the temple.  To what degree do we allow ourselves to practice detestable practices with but a wall in our minds between them and the holy place where God dwells within us?

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