[Note: I originally wrote this in the fall of 2017, the first time I listened to the entire Bible in a year.]
Just get to the point, God!
I’ve been reading Ezekiel lately. And by “reading” I of course mean “listening to” because Mama Ain’t Got Time To Read. Most of the time I’m incredibly thankful for my audio Bible because it allows me to spend time in the Word of God during a stage of life when I otherwise wouldn’t. But there are times when the audio Bible starts to get inconvenient, and those times are mainly the sections of the Bible where I would totally skip over skim if I were actually reading it on paper. (Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about! Show me someone who says they love it when they reach the third set of genealogies in Chronicles, and I’ll show you someone who’s breaking the 9th commandment.)
Just such a section of scripture is Ezekiel 40-42. In this section, God shows Ezekiel a vision of the temple rebuilt in Jerusalem after the exile. Ezekiel tours the temple with an unnamed man who’s carrying a measuring rod and painstakingly notes all of the measurements and descriptions of the temple. Here’s a juicy excerpt: “Then he measured the length and width of the north gate, leading into the outer court. Its alcoves—three on each side—its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as those of the first gateway. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.” (Ezekiel 40:20-21)
Three. Chapters. Of that.
Quick peek into Steph’s mental rabbit hole when listening to this portion of scripture… What’s a cubit? I should know that, right? I’ve had 16 years of Christian education. Is it like a yard? Or a meter – whatever that is? Ugh I’m such an American. The metric system is meaningless to me. What was the standard of measurement for this guy’s measuring rod? Was it based on a person’s body, like how a yard was based on the size of Caesar’s arm, or something like that? Was it Caesar? [sidenote: No. It was not. Wow, Steph, you got that fabulously wrong.] Wait. Why am I thinking about Caesar building things?
So there I am applying makeup in my bathroom mirror and thinking about the Little Caesar’s mascot in a hard hat at a construction site while God’s holy scripture is being read in my presence. For two days in a row.
Totally winning at religion.
Oh that WAS the point? My bad.
As with all the other tedious portions of scripture I’ve listened to this year, once I realized I’d been completely tuning it out, I tried to refocus and contemplate what these monotonous lists of ancient measurements meant to the original audience and what they might teach me about God. And, as always, when invited, the Holy Spirit began to shift my thinking.
As I reached the end of chapter 42, I began to consider how detailed and precise all these descriptions were. This temple had to be perfect. I mean, PERFECT. I started to feel this anxiety in the pit of my stomach. I wondered if Ezekiel felt the same way. “What if I mess up? What if I miss it by one cubit or describe this one palm tree wrong? What if I’m using the word ‘portico’ incorrectly? Construction is not actually my specialty, God!”
Then chapter 43 began, and [spoiler alert] God shows up. His awe-inspiring, holy presence blows into the temple to take residence. Ezekiel has to hide his face from the holiness. As God fills the temple, He says this to Ezekiel: “Describe the temple to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their sins. Let them consider its perfection, and if they are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement, its exits and entrances—its whole design and all its regulations and laws. Write these down before them so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations.” (verses 10-11, emphasis added)
Here’s where I felt awesome and terrible and relieved all at the same time.
Awesome because my brain actually (eventually) went where it was supposed to go. All the intricate details and descriptions really made me feel my own ineptitude, and it turns out that’s how God wanted those who heard this vision to feel.
Terrible because, well, I’m imperfect. I would NEVER be able to follow that design and all its regulations. Like, even if I were really trying and not just blithely imagining fast food-based cartoon characters building ancient structures. I would fail so hard.
Relieved because… Jesus fixed this.
The Perfect Temple
Thing is, I’ve also been reading the book of Hebrews lately. The first half of the book deals largely with the idea that the old institutions of Hebrew religion, like the temple & the priesthood, have been surpassed by Jesus. Obviously that’s a big subject which the Hebrews author dives deeply into, but I think chapter 7:18-19 summarizes it nicely: “The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.” (emphasis added)
That better hope? Jesus. I don’t have to strive for perfection or get every precise detail right (or know what a cubit is) in order to be worthy of a perfectly holy God – because Jesus made me worthy!
God’s presence no longer resides only in the temple; it resides in His people. I am the temple of the holy God! (I Cor 6:19; 2 Cor 6:16) And the best news is: Jesus built this new temple. He made me right through His sacrifice in a way I could never have made myself right through all the details and regulations Ezekiel lays out.
Ezekiel reminds me that God’s presence isn’t to be taken lightly. He is holy and demands a perfect temple. And according to Paul in the New Testament, I am now that temple. It’s incredibly humbling and gratifying to be reminded of just how Amazing the grace of Jesus is. He built me into the perfect temple.
… And I didn’t have to measure one cubit to get there.